The Rogue Guardian

Chapter 64: A Dance in the Woods

So I realize it's going to look to you guys like Tori just appeared out of nowhere, but I suddenly remembered that Roman had said she would go with Morane and that I was going to need her for the heist. So she's here now, and I'm going to add her into the previous chapters when I have time. You won't have to reread if you don't want to, just know that I'm going to add a scene with Tori fangirling over "the famous Joshua Coal omg he's so cool" and Morie being "no he is NOT" because how else would it go

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The night was cold and thick with mist. Cloud cover smeared shadows over everything, including the stars, making looming giants of the trees and a slithering snake of the road. Perfect sneaking weather, in my opinion. The glow of Joshua's lantern barely pierced the darkness for more than a few feet around him and Tori as they prodded their horses forward.

They were going slowly enough that I could keep up on foot along the side of the road, though I was sure they couldn't see me. Tonight I was invisible. I could barely see my own legs and arms in front of me, clad entirely in black. My hair was coiled into a knot out of my way, knife clips pinned in for easy access. I had fewer knives on my belt to minimize the nuisances they were while climbing. My climbing gloves, spotted with sticky resin on the palm side, were tucked in one pocket, lock picks in the other.

This felt good. Picking my way through the brush to practice sneaking with no noise, the tense, foreboding feeling of the night. Anything to make me feel like my old self — weightless.

Joshua's lantern suddenly swung wildly, pitching his shadow left and right. He steadied it in a moment, but I got the signal. We were entering the wide circle of guard patrols around the fort. I slipped silently away from the road. Joshua and Tori had to be seen. I had to be missed.

I slithered through the trees like a shadow, nearly insubstantial. The only sounds were the wind through the trees, the occasional skittering of a small animal across the ground, the barely audible rasp of my own breath. I had studied the timing and movements of the patrol map that Joshua had drawn all morning until I could do this dance in my sleep. The wide sweep of the guard patrols was meant to catch bands of Englian soldiers in Solangian territory — not lone thieves weaving around them. Not me.

As I stepped over a stretch of ground that showed clear signs of wear I heard shuffling and stamping from the darkness: the band of ten guards that paced the outer perimeter, passing this way. I melted back into the trees on the other side, climbing swiftly over fallen logs and thick underbrush, putting distance between me and the approaching patrol. Then I ducked behind the widest tree I'd come to, pressing my back against it and waiting with perfect stillness for the patrol to pass by. They were mumbling complaints to each other, jostling their weapons. My heart didn't even speed up. We'd known this round would be the easiest to avoid.

When they were far enough down their path that I could barely hear them, I started moving again. I needed to stay at Joshua and Tori's pace to keep the correct timing for later, and my way had far more obstacles than theirs.

So I ran as fast as I could with stones and crevices tripping my feet, straining my ears for the next patrol. That sharp breath was mine, and that muffled curse, and that scrape of leather on bark. But that lazy, hollow kick of a boot on a tree trunk — I broke off my run and spun behind a tree, my heart thumping.

This patrol would be five guards. Fewer than last time, but they didn't travel as one lump that I could avoid like one person. They would be spread out, combing the trees as individuals. They were the ones who would catch me, Joshua had warned.

No one catches me.

I stayed still as death behind the tree, a smile curling over my mouth. This was going to be dangerous.