Magic Of Light

The Chase

Tiiv froze. He stared at the door, expecting guards to rush in and catch him. No one came. The shouting on the corridor continued mixed with running footsteps and a crushing noise as if something fragile broke. They must have got Garlo. Holy Golatran, they are coming for me too.

Tiiv sneaked to the door and peered out. In the dim light of the few torches he got a glimpse of a running man, turning at the end of the main wing's corridor and disappearing from sight. Another guard arrived, coming up the stairs, fortunately turning to the other direction and hurrying towards the noise. Garlo must have led them away intentionally. There was his chance.

Tiiv felt as if his heart wanted to jump out of his chest. He wanted to run. It took serious effort to silently walk along the corridor, carefully listening for approaching footsteps, looking in every direction. He kept his satchel pressed to his body, so the loot inside wouldn't cling. For a moment he considered leaving it behind to make the escape easier, but then he decided against it. It would made the whole break-in meaningless. He hoped that Gerlo could get away, but the shouting and the loud thumps told otherwise. He paused. Should he go and help Gerlo? Maybe if he could tackle one of the guards, the older thief could deal with the other one. He shook his head. No way would he be able to fight a guard, he lacked the training. And the muscles. And the courage. Besides, the staff must have heard them, more servants were going to arrive. Tiiv's only chance was to get away as fast as he could. Later, he could explain it to Lockhead. The leader of the Nightstalkers might have some plans how to save Gerlo. He took a deep breath to calm himself. It didn't work. He continued towards the stairs.

He reached the staircase and looked down, checking if it was safe to descend when he heard someone shouting, "Hey you! There is another one." Looking back he saw a tall, muscular man running towards him, a stick in his hand. Tiiv felt a rush of panic. Without hesitating he took off, taking two stairs at a time. The man behind him continued to call for his fellow guards, and Tiiv heard heavy footsteps behind him.

Flying down he lost his balance on the last stair and stumbled into the opposite wall. He hit his shoulder hard, but didn't dare to stop. He run along the ground floor corridor towards the room they entered earlier. He heard curses from behind. His satchel was dangling, and the contents made all kind of clicking and clacking noises, but there was no point in being silent now. He almost reached the corner, when someone came around it from the other wing. They collided and went to the floor in a heap of flailing arms and legs. Tiiv let out a scared cry. It seemed he had some luck, because he landed on the top of the other man, who hit his head on the floor, and cursed. He seemed to be a little dizzy. Tiiv jumped up, shoving the man back, who also wanted to get up.

Tiiv run into the room they broke in, and bumped into the canapé. Pain shot through his right knee, he almost fell. He got around the furniture and with a few long steps he reached the window. He was half way out, when someone grabbed his satchel's strap and yanked him back.

"Not so fast, boy," a rough voice said.

Tiiv grabbed the outside window sill with his left hand, and swung his right hand back putting as many force in it as he could. His fist connected, and there was a cracking sound. His attacker cried out in pain. The man lost his grip, and the strap came free. Tiiv jumped out of the window, landing awkwardly. He tumbled to the ground, landing on his left arm. He hardly felt the pain, though, he probably lost some skin trying to soften the fall. A quick glance back confirmed that Tiiv had punched his pursuer on his nose. He was holding his face and blood seeped between his fingers. Someone pushed the bleeding man away, another guard appeared in the window and climbed out. Same time Tiiv heard shouts from the the main gate. They were coming at him from two direction now.

He got up and took off across the street, towards the shadows of the buildings. He heard a thump and then long cursing. He didn't stop to look but run as fast as he could. His heart was racing, and his vision blurred on the edges because of the fear, but he was in his element now. If he was good at anything, it was running. He knew this part of the town well enough to find the dark, narrow passages. He concentrated on his breathing and kept running. He heard shouts behind him and something else: barking. No, no, no! Not dogs, for Golatran's sake! He turned at the corner of a side alley, and leapt over an open canal. He smelled the stench for a moment, but he was already flying towards the edge of the town. Should get into water to lose the dogs. The closest one was the Rodlan river just outside of the town wall.