When the door finally opened Mill curled up in the corner and hid his face, quivering and weeping with terror. Then he heard a voice, familiar from somewhere beyond Waldoon, asking him, “Mill?”
He peaked out to look and saw, emerging from the shadows, the face of Strya entering the room towards him.
When Strya saw Mill’s face he said, “Thank Anan it’s you. I didn’t want to have to break down another of these doors and I wasn’t entirely sure this was your cell. I guess this means you’re the only Omnian spy they have here.”
Strya was by this point helping Mill to his feet and pulling him towards the door. “Pack your bags, we’re going on a trip,” Strya joked as he pulled him through the door.
Mill stumbled behind him, his legs sore and still not feeling entirely awake. Out in the hallway, he looked to the side and saw a guard lying on the ground unconscious. Strya held onto his hand and jerked at it for Mill to move faster. Ascending the stairs, he practically dragged Mill up them as Mill falteringly followed behind.
At the top of the stairs, Strya halted and peaked down the hall. He held Mill back as he waited for a figure in the distance to disappear. Then he led Mill in the opposite direction and up another set of stairs.
“Aren’t we at ground level already?” Mill asked, groggily and bleary eyed.
“We’re going up,” Strya said, “No good exits down there.”
The stairs they ascended spiraled upwards through a cramped space they had to stoop through. For many steps they climbed, well beyond the point when Mill started growing fatigued. When Strya felt Mill’s energy flagging, he encouraged, whispering to him, “If you don’t want to get us caught, you keep apace.” Mills legs started to ache and his lungs to burn, yet Strya kept on pulling him on without yielding.
They reached the top and Strya pushed through a heavy door. A strong wind was blowing and the air was cool. When Mill stepped out, he saw an impressive view of Waldoon. He looked over the edge and saw that there were several stories between where they were and the ground.
Strya walked over to the far end of the roof, gave a quick look down and then tossed a rope over the edge. He watched the rope unfurl and stop still at a good distance from the ground. He shrugged a little when he said, “I knew it was a bit too short. Oh well, it’ll do.”
Strya turned to look at Mill smiling and said, “I climbed up here without the rope. What a rush. I didn’t think you were too skilled in wall climbing so I brought the rope. You can thank me when you get to the end of it and see how long you have to drop.”
Strya handed Mill a pair of leather gloves. Then, wearing nothing on his hands, he hopped over the edge, holding onto the rope and announced, “Don’t linger.”
Mill had an uneasy sense of vertigo when he looked over the ledge at the ground so far below. But, with a quick prayer to Anan and a few deep breaths he followed Strya over the edge.
Strya moved down at a rapid pace, dropping hand over hand as his feet walked against the wall. When Strya got to the end of the rope, he slipped down as far as he could, with his hands holding just the tip of the rope. Then he let go and dropped the last distance.
Mill could hear him Strya’s hard landing, though he didn’t understand what it signified. He slowly lowered himself, his gloved hands gripping the rope as tightly as he could. His hands grew sore and weak and felt as if they would give way at any moment.
Finally, he reached the end of the rope. He reached out a foot, thinking that it would just touch the ground, but it only met with empty air. He looked down, and saw that he was more than two body-lengths above the ground. He was so shocked at the sight, that he lost his grip and tumbled down through the air. He landed hard in the dirt, his body collapsing painfully to the ground. His legs, ankles and bottom were all sore, though none of them apparently injured.
He thanked Anan again and stood up, seeing Strya already impatiently offering a hand to lead him on.
“Why’d you come to rescue me?” Mill asked in a tone lacking in gratitude.
Strya replied, “Not now. We still have to get out of the city.”
No comments:
Post a Comment