Escape from the Capital (1)

Description: Swat Merchant Outfit. Transporting 11 wagons, 15 workers, 24 horses.

Destination: Absome, Solgin

Duration: 14 Days

Date/Time of Departure: Third day of the seventh month at 5:30 am.

Job: Guard

Note: Report for work one hour before departure at warehouse 3 on Market Street. Failure to arrive on time will result in failure of job and compensation of two silver to be paid within one day.

Market Street was east of where I was and past the main thoroughfare leading to the South gate. To get there I would have to pass the patrol line which I had no doubt surrounded me by now.

Time was another problem. I had broken into the castle about one thirty this morning, after running for an hour I met up with Steven. From there, I came here and sat around for another half hour. Making the time near three o'clock. Leaving only about an hour and a half to make it to the warehouse on time.

Normally, walking from the brothel to Market Street would take about a half hour. With me having to duck guards that time could multiply by three or four times. The good news was that I could get out of the city by blending in with the others. It also turned out that the destination was the Solgin Kingdom, which was south of this kingdom, Calcadia. With Absome being the capital of Solgin.

As I stood in the alley pondering the job I'd gotten, footsteps from the main street headed my way. Only once they were just around the corner of the building did I slip into the next alley. I pushed aside all further thoughts and focused my attention on how I was going to get to warehouse three.

I couldn't go up to the roof because it was too open. There were a few high-level wind elementalists among the royal guards who were proficient in hovering or flying spells. Most likely they were responsible for monitoring the rooftops while the others focused on the ground.

I kept moving through the alleys as I stuffed the paper in my bag. Not long later, though, I ran into another patrol group of three. Backtracking I went another way only to find more guards. Walking wasn't going to work this time.

With no magic left I couldn't create a weakness in their ranks to slip through. I could let them see me to distract from where I was going, but the likelihood of getting caught increased so I tossed that plan out. Plan after plan was tossed as I tried to find a hole in the guard's patrol.

Eventually I stopped in a doorway next to a homeless man. The guards were only two buildings away in any direction. I had officially been surrounded.

"Why don't you go up?"

The voice of the homeless man next to me had me staring at him in confusion. It wasn't that he had given me a suggestion I couldn't use but that he had given me one at all.

'How many times did I pass this guy for him to get fed up enough to speak up?' I wondered before responding. "Well, sir. They have eyes on the roof, so I won't get far going up there."

"I didn't say the roof. I said go up."

With that cryptic reply he shut his eyes as if going back to sleep. 'Go up?' Thinking he might be a little crazy didn't stop me from following the advice and looking up.

The walls of the alley were made of stone and wood. Each building was a mix with the bottom half being stone and the upper portion turning into wood. The jagged transition allowed the inhabitants nearby to hang clothes lines. To reach them on the second floor and above there were wooden planks balanced between the buildings. Since there were always clothes hung to dry most of the platforms were partially covered, just enough to cause shadows in the night. Perfect hiding places.

Glancing back at the homeless man I reached for the silver piece I had just gotten. I crouched down and placed it in his hand with a soft thank you before leaving.

With time slipping past I started climbing. Up into the clothes and over the heads of the guards. The boards were warped from the weather and creaked as I settled my weight, but they held. As I passed through the alleys I froze every time a guard came within sight. They knocked on doors and talked to the homeless along the streets, but not once did they look up.

Making my way east was much easier but time consuming. With having to stop every few minutes to prevent any sounds from reaching the guards I couldn't speed up. Eventually, I made it to the main street. On both sides, the buildings housed the businesses usually run by the nobles and big merchant families. With a width of three carriages side by side, I wouldn't be able to slip across unnoticed.

As I stood on a plank over the alley, I could see a sliver of the street ahead. Guards in uniforms patrolled along the street in pairs. One of them being my cousin Sven. He did not look good.

Half his hair was missing, and the skin looked raw. The uniform he was wearing looked a size too big and was missing the junior insignia on the outside of the shoulder. His old one must have gotten caught on fire along with half his face when I threw the explosion dagger.

I felt a bit guilty. I hadn't meant to cause so much harm, just enough damage to prevent anyone from seeing where I had run to. The guilt faded as I thought about his father's reaction come morning. With enough money it was possible to hire an elementalist who could heal.

Healing magic wasn't one of the four main elements. However, with enough talent and training, it was possible to specialize in an element to the point that it barely resembled its original. The healing element was a specialty of the water element.

The stronger someone becomes the less likely it is that they wouldn't further specialize. Elementalists have eight levels of strength: basic, moderate, high, superior, master, grandmaster, formidable and pioneer.

Someone at the level of superior can touch upon specializing but only masters are known to have grasped the knowledge. Healer elementalists would be at the level of superior but Sven's father would settle for nothing less than a master. He would be back to his old self within a few days.

Seeing Sven split off from his partner got me thinking. There was a chance I could borrow the uniform of one of the guards to get across. I had gotten back enough magic for one spell and the last array I had was perfect for subduing one person.

I had less than an hour to get to warehouse three and only one shot at getting across the main street.