Ember Gods

Chapter 41

Jacob sneaked forward, keeping tight to the wall as he neared the town hall.

The villager with the big ax struck the door again, then kicked his way through the hole. All the villagers poured inside the building.

Jacob waited several seconds—no one stayed outside—then dashed forward, eyes wide open, looking for any sign of more Bald Henries. He had to go fast, before Matt returned. They'd planned it so Matt would race around the town for ten or so minutes, hopefully giving Jacob enough time to run in and out with Aloren. Doubt crept into his mind. How was he supposed to go into the town hall, grab her, and get out with people all over inside the building?

He pushed those thoughts aside and trotted up to the front door, peering inside. The room was empty. He paused. Except for a girl lying on the ground. What if it was Aloren? Jacob ran to her and rolled her over, then jumped back in fear. It was Duana. Dead, bruised, barely recognizable. His breath caught in his throat and he stepped away from her, wiping his hands on his jeans. No colors swirled around her at all. He'd gotten so used to seeing varying shades of the rainbow on people's faces that it disturbed him to see someone without it.

Noise upstairs made him jump and he stepped against a wall, flattening himself. The sounds dissipated. After giving the rooms on the first floor a cursory glance, he decided to go upstairs to find the source of the noise.

Nothing in the first few rooms. Then he turned a corner and saw the back of a villager as she disappeared into a room at the end of the hall. He scurried forward and looked into that room. Remembering the knife in his boot, he pulled it out, holding it close to him.

The woman disappeared down a set of stairs opposite Jacob. He crept across the room and glanced down. It was dark, but not so dark that he couldn't safely follow. The stairs had seen quite a bit of use in the last several minutes. There was fresh mud on the steps, and a lot of it.

He reached the bottom, where a long, tall passage opened up before him—man, Eklaron loved tunnels. At least he could plainly see everything in it. A whole ton of villagers were crowding, pushing forward, carrying torches. And there, way ahead of them, barely visible, a hunched-over figure—no, two—running toward the opposite end.

Jacob's heart felt like it was trying to exit his body. One of the figures was a girl, he was sure of it. Aloren! And the other, a larger person. Possibly Eachan?

But how was he to get to them before the villagers did? He'd have to push through the people, and somehow he knew they wouldn't be okay with that.

Then he remembered something. The freshly dug tunnel on the other side of the wall! That had to be where this passage led! From what he could tell, the direction was right. If he hurried, he might make it there to meet Aloren and Eachan!

Jacob sprinted back up the steps, down those at the other side of the town hall, then dashed out the front door, only checking briefly that no one was outside.

Back at the stairwell where he and Matt had arranged to meet, he waited a couple of seconds for Matt before getting too impatient. Then he raced down the street, not caring who or what saw him. He heard footsteps above him and looked up—Matt jumped across the roof of the building next to Jacob.

"Matt!" Jacob called up to him, again not caring who heard him.

His older brother darted to the edge of the building, jumped onto the roof of a porch, and shinnied down the support pillar.

"Where are the Dusts and Bald Henries?" Jacob asked.

"Back there," Matt said, motioning. "Where's the chick?"