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For those of you reading The Runesmith Chronicles for the first time I recommend starting with the first book, Oni and the Farmer. Mostly so you have a better understanding of how things like the magic system works and what's going on as I often reference earlier chapters/books.
I update my Bio with the latest Chapters and projects I'm working on each time I put up a new post.
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Enjoy!
Blu
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Edited by: Old Fart
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Chapter 4
Two figures silently made their way up to Carriston's wall, stopping just outside of the light of the torches placed along the ramparts. They had spent the last few minutes carefully observing the city's Night Watch and were now just biding their time, waiting for their opportunity to get inside.
A couple of guards stopped and talked for a moment directly above the place he and Ria had scouted out earlier. It was in the very center of the fortification between watchtowers and there were no obstructions on the other side beneath where the two men stood.
"Ready?" Kal whispered to the cloaked figure beside him.
Daxas nodded beneath the hood causing the cloak to fall open slightly and reveal one of Kal's shirts and pair of trousers, cinched and rolled up to better fit the woman. The wolf girl was extremely uncomfortable wearing human clothes but understood the necessity. Once they were inside they still had to get to the entrance of the slaver's hideout which meant going through city streets and any one of the people they met might raise the alarm if they discovered a monster girl among them. Wearing Kal's cloak she was almost indistinguishable from a human, only the bump over her rear where the cloak laid against her tail was any indication of her canine heritage.
The guards finished their chat and continued in the direction they were facing. Once the guards had gone a few steps, human and wolf dashed up to the wall. Daxas held the cloak open and Kal put his arms around her, holding her tight. The wolf girl wrapped him up leaving only his head free as his strength rune shone brightly beneath the cloak. After pushing some of the protection portion of the strength rune into his passenger, the mage bent his legs and leapt skyward.
Kal had told the wolf they were going to jump over the wall but had forgotten to mention how. Daxas was none too thrilled about her and the human's heads coming so close to the stone ramparts or how those same heads went sailing through the space so recently vacated by the guards, their feet made an arc above them as they sailed over the battlement upside-down. If not for keeping Kal and his spells covered she could have reached out and touched the guard's walkway as they began righting themselves while dropping to the ground inside the city.
She noticed a little bit of white light leaking out from inside the cloak as their descent slowed dramatically, the feather fall rune letting them land with barely a whisper.
One of the guards paused and turned around, it had sounded like something fluttering behind him a moment ago. His fellow watchman had also heard the sound and noticed that his friend had stopped walking. Scanning the sky and the lighted ground outside the wall one finally looked at the other.
"Bat?"
His friend shrugged, "Big bat, but probably."
They both turned about and continued their patrols.
When the watchmen had moved far enough away, Kal cautiously looked up, checking to be sure they wouldn't be seen, then led the wolf girl away from where they had landed and through a few of the city's darkened streets before stopping to get his bearings, as well as let out a huge sigh of relief.
"That was surprisingly easy," he said smiling back at his companion. "I'm not holding onto any hope that the rest of this rescue will be the same." His smile faded when he saw the look on her face, "Um, did I do something wrong?"
"No," said Daxas, "just warn me the next time you flip me upside down, I nearly screamed."
Kal bit back a comment about how next time he flipped her upside down she would be screaming for more. Now wasn't the time for that. Gesturing for her to follow, they made their way through the back streets of Carriston. He did his best to avoid crossing major roads and made sure there was no one on the streets when left with no alternative. Occasionally, carts with lanterns hanging off each corner, manned by the Night Watch, forced them back into the darkness of an alley but those instances were rare. Thankfully, their destination was in a part of town that had remained abandoned long after the discovery of the river beneath them. People had just started moving back into this area as recently as a few years ago. City folk were sparse there during the day, at this hour it was a ghost town.