than that, or he would end up dangling alongside him.
“You’re supposed to be the rational one,” he murmured to himself, looking at the sky. He obviously couldn’t barge through the front gate. Tauran had said there were small side entrances, and the stables opened into the street, but they were likely guarded, too. He’d have to climb the wall.
When Kalai continued, it was at a steadier pace. He knew where the holding cells were. Tauran had shown him during his initiation ceremony. He just had to find a way inside.
The plan was ridiculous. He was under no illusions that he could break out prisoners from a cell inside a high security military facility. But if he could find Tauran and talk to him, maybe Tauran could direct him in a way that could set him free. Would it be too much to ask for the keys to the cells to hang neatly on the wall like they always did in the suspense novels of his youth? Probably.
Kalai paused where the street opened into the space surrounding the guard grounds. He was a fool for even coming here. He ought to keep far, far away.
Trying to seem as inconspicuous as he could, he skirted the perimeter of the ground walls. They were far taller than he remembered, with neatly strung barbed wires along the top he’d also conveniently forgotten about. Unless, of course, they were a new addition. He ought to kick Tauran’s ass once they were back outside this blasted city.
The area behind the grounds was less exposed, buildings creating a narrow passageway by the wall. Kalai paused there and considered the obstacle. The other side sounded quiet.
Looking left and right, he took a few steps back until his shoulders hit a building, then ran. Jumped. The toes of his boots scraped the wall. He reached up, muscles in his shoulder straining. His hand slapped flat against the wall and he slid down and landed hard, huffing. Being of average size had never felt like much of a concern, but right this moment, he could have really used some of Tauran’s towering height.
Running a hand through his hair, he spun. He could practically feel precious seconds ticking by. Sundown was in less than an hour. Jinhai was waiting alone with half a hundred dragons.
Kalai darted between the buildings, leaned over a fence and snatched a couple empty crates from a backyard. A dog barked at him as he hauled the crates to the wall. If someone saw him now, it would be all over.
He stacked the crates against the wall. They wobbled dangerously. With careful steps, he climbed up and stretched as far as he could. It still was not enough. He’d have to run.
Blowing out a breath, he backed against the wall again, took aim, ran, and jumped.
The topmost crate cracked under his foot when he pushed off, but it didn’t matter. His fingers wrapped around the top of the wall, clutching tight enough to ache. He groaned as he pulled himself up, arms shaking, knees scraping the rough stone. The edge of the wall dug into his chest, the taut lines of barbed wire inches from his face. Panting, he looked over the wall. There was a small building directly in front of him. He could just about see the back of a ground guard from around the corner, too far away to have heard him jump.
Gritting his teeth, Kalai clambered onto the top of the wall, inching gingerly over. The wire dragged stripes up his trousers, and he hissed when a barb caught the sensitive skin on the inside of his thigh. It caught the laces of his boot, too, when he pulled his leg over. He tugged it free, then grabbed the edge, hanging by the arms before dropping.
The scrapes along his thigh throbbed in time with the beats of his heart. He pressed his back against the wall of the low building, listened and waited. A few distant voices in relaxed conversation. A whistle and a laugh. He’d done it. He was inside the guard grounds. Skies, he was out of his mind.
Taking a deep breath to steady his heart, he considered his next steps. He thought back to the night of the ceremony. The holding cell block was in the north-east corner, behind the Ground Guard work buildings.
Slowly, he edged his way along the wall until he reached the corner, shot a quick glance around, then darted to the next building. He rolled his