Senke nodded. If they could sneak in, their entrance would be unnoticed. Dead or unconscious guards, however, tended to attract attention.
“What about the guard at the northwest corner,” Kayla asked.
“We don’t know for sure he’s even there,” Senke argued.
“Then let’s go find out.”
They climbed up to the roof of the home they hid beside. As they prepared to move west along the rooftops for a better view, Kayla wondered at Will’s dexterity. He climbed as well as her, and although he weighed more, the boards and plaster made no extra groans or creaks compared to her.
Lady luck was not with them. Leaning against the corner, whistling a tune, was their unknown guard.
“Damn,” Senke whispered as he lay on his belly peering off the roof. “That complicates things tremendously.”
“We need him diverted,” Kayla said. “But that may mean only two of us going inside.”
“We go as three, or not at all,” Will said.
The woman spun at him and glared.
“Then give us an idea, ox.”
As if this were a serious request, Will nodded and crossed his arms.
“Fine. Wait for me.”
Will climbed down, his giant girth looking comical as he hung from slender handholds. Once on the ground, he strode up to the guard without any attempt to hide his presence.
“What is he doing?” Kayla asked.
“Calm yourself,” Senke said. He put a hand on her shoulder, and this time she did pull away. If he was offended, he didn’t show it. “Will knows what he’s doing. And if he doesn’t, well, we’re up here and he’s down there, right?”
She didn’t reply. Silent, they watched as Will waved at the guard, a noticeable drunken gait suddenly overcoming him. He said something, but what they could not hear. The guard pointed away, as if shooing a mutt. Will turned, as if considering, and then spun around, his massive fist clobbering the guard. His beefy arms wrapped around the guard’s neck as he fell, tightening, twisting, and then the guard went still.
Kayla counted in her head, tracking how long until the patrol would find them. Will had thirty seconds, forty at most.
If Will was worried, he didn’t show it. Calmly, he picked up the body and propped him against the wall. He crossed the guard’s arms, adjusted his legs a tiny bit, and tilted his helmet so that it appeared he had nodded off. He kicked the legs a couple of times until they locked.
A moment later and Will was climbing up the house, rejoining them on their rooftop perch.
“Surely they will wake their friend,” Kayla said, not impressed with the ploy. “Once he’s awake, they will search for us.”
“You don’t know guards,” Will said. A crude smile spread across his lips. “Why is he in back and alone? Because he’s not liked. You will see, but for now, hurry. Our chance approaches.”
They skirted around the light of the various torches hanging from large brass rings off the sides of the prison roof. They were nearing the giant wall surrounding the city, and therefore were out of homes to climb across and use to hide their presence. Only their cloaks and the shadows offered them protection, but they used them with the calm skill of experienced thieves.
When the two patrolling guards walked around the corner, Kayla felt a bit of vindication at how quickly they noticed the guard sleeping. One yanked the helmet off him, while the other prodded him in the stomach with the hilt of his sword. When he did not awake, the first guard slapped him across the face, and then he finally startled. She listened as the guards mocked him, grabbed his arm, and then marched him toward the front.
“He’s to be punished,” Kayla whispered, suddenly feeling very foolish.
“Go, now,” Will said.
The three of them ran behind the soldiers and to the back of the now unguarded prison. They made not a sound. Senke knelt beside the center of the wall and unrolled the scroll from the pocket in his cloak. He pressed it against the stone and whispered the activation word. The scroll sunk inward, dissolved, and then with an audible pop that made all of them wince, it vanished.
Senke slowly pressed his hands against the bare stone, a grin spreading across his face as it passed through like a desert mirage. His arm sank in further, and after a wink to the others, he dove head-first inside. Kayla followed.
5
It did not exist, but if it did, the temple to Karak would have