Chapter
8
Night
crept in over the city of Gallador.
The moon rose slowly as dusk settled into full darkness. The moon cast eerie shadows all across
the city. The creeping darkness
fell listlessly upon the cold cobblestone streets. Dark shadows danced merrily from the street lamps that had been
lit by the night watch. They
failed to adequately lend any semblance of security to the city at night.
As
the regular inhabitants lay down for the evening, its darker, seamier side awoke. It was a dark side that most cities
have, but never want to admit to.
Along with the city’s other evening
dwellers, two black clad shadows worked their way up the side of a
building. They hid in the murky
blackness while they used a small, finely crafted rope and grappling hook to
scale its heights. The hook had
been thrown quietly up to the roof where it had easily grabbed a ledge. The two figures expertly went up the
thin cord. They stopped just below
the roof, right in front of a closed window.
They
paused briefly in front of the window.
The first figure pulled out a small, curious looking metal tool from the
back of a sash that was tied about its waist. The figure reached up to the window and slid the tool into
the gap between the window’s two doors, easing it gently upward. The latch came up off its catch, and
then gently swung the window open with only a faint click.
The
first figure carefully eased the window open and then dropped, cat-like, down
onto the wooden floor of the small room.
The figure made no sound as it moved very slowly to the right side of
the window, making room for its companion to enter.
As
the first figure turned and moved to the right of the window, it felt something
brush lightly against its ankle.
Suddenly there was a loud crack and a burst of brilliant white light. The first figure cried out and was
blinded. The second figure, still
perched on the windowsill, drew back as the light exploded right in front of
them. The bright flash caused the
figure to lose its grip on the sill and rope, falling backward into the
night. The figure only let out a
small gasp as it fell.
The
sound and sudden light woke Jair with a start. He turned and quickly rolled off the bed, kneeling beside
it. He looked around to see what
had set off the alarm. As the
light faded, Jair saw that he was not alone. He paused long enough to grab his dagger and the satchel, and
then backed toward the door.
The
black clad figure shook its head to clear its vision, but heard Jair moving
toward the door. The figure
quickly pulled out a wicked looking short sword that had been strapped to it’s
back. The intruder waved the sword menacingly in Jair’s direction. Jair noticed the intruder’s hesitation
and concluded that it was still partially blinded from the spell.
Jair
drew back his arm and threw the satchel at the intruder. He followed the satchel by lunging
toward the intruder with his dagger.
The satchel caught the intruder in the chest, making a loud thud as it
hit. This caused the intruder to
drop his sword, which gave Jair the opportunity to come in low with his
dagger. He did this in the hope
that he could take the intruder down before he had time to recover.
Jair
thrust forward with his dagger. It
felt as if his weapon had a life of its own, guiding his hand toward his
opponent. He caught the intruder
in the lower abdomen, sinking his blade it in to the hilt. His successful attack caused the
intruder to let out a loud grunt, but didn’t immediately stop him. Jair grappled with the figure for several
moments, twisting his blade until the intruder finally relaxed its grip. He slowly slid off the blade, falling
limply to the floor.
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