AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The thought of them carrying me while they climbed over a massive wall was absurd. Similarly, it was implausible that they could pass the gates with an unconscious girl at their backs.
“I conjured a door on the wall,” Dearen said calmly. Fiona’s expression tightened again, and I knew why. Dearen probably had gotten the idea from his thieving days.
“Great,” I said, ignoring Fiona completely. “We can do that again.”
“We will,” Dearen replied, offering me a smile. “But to reach the wall, we have to be sneaky. And if that fails, we will have to fight our way out.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Kieran replied, but as he did, his hand instinctively went to the handle of his sword.
“Yeah,” I said, taking a step toward the door. “Because if we have to fight, the queen will know that we’re here.”
***
I SENT A SPECIAL THANKyou to Orla inside my mind as two guards passed by us without giving our odd group another look. It was exhausting to keep a cloak of fog around all five of us, but I managed to hide even the sounds of our footsteps as we turned away from the street with the inn and started walking toward the northern wall.
The streets were empty at night, which was an odd sight to behold. Terlyth had always been a city that slept, but this part of the city would usually be more hectic, even in the middle of the night.
But tonight, everywhere was quiet except for the sounds of guards patrolling the streets. We passed by a few of them as we reached the filthy river. We walked on the bank for a while, and thanks to the sounds of the river, I did not have to hide the sounds of our footsteps.
We did not speak. Hiding our voices as well would cause me to extend my power unnecessarily. I even felt the others holding their breaths whenever we ran into guards.
Fiona walked beside me, and I felt her touch wherever I sent my tendrils. She made the guards feel safe just as I told them we were not in front of them to be seen. Soon, we would both be exhausted from extending our power, but hopefully, that would come after we escaped Terlyth, and we would have time to rest.
Cari was helping. I was unsure if her help was why I could keep my influence on guards even after the distance between us increased too much, but I was thankful that she kept her mouth shut as I did my best to focus on the guards.
After walking for a while in silence, we reached the city's edge. The buildings weren’t as close to one another; gaps between them allowed for alleys, streets, and even some gardens here and there. Fewer guards were patrolling the streets, and the smoke from the chimneys did not tear up one’s eye as it had near the inn. The smell of coal and piss wasn’t as strong here either.
The city walls were tall enough to be seen from quite a distance. It would be impossible to climb over them without being seen, and it would undoubtedly be hard to pass by the guards and open the doors without them realizing it. As we neared the gate guarded by soldiers carrying torches that shone against the darkness, I realized that if we did not have Dearen with us, we would have no way of escaping the city without getting caught.
We kept walking. The wall was growing bigger, and the street was getting darker. The only light we could see was coming off the gates. Luckily, we had Brigid with us. Her improved eyesight and her familiarity with Terlyth meant that, after a while, she was the one leading the rest of us.
Since the wall was built not so long ago, the bushes and the trees haven’t had the time to grow around it. There was nowhere to hide. We ducked behind a building and waited until the guards walked by the wall, and only when they turned away did we leave our hiding spot.
“We should hurry,” Fiona said. “If anyone sees us passing through the wall, we’ll be in trouble.”
Dearen nodded. “We will have to go one by one, but wait for my sign before passing. I’ll have to have a strong grip on the conjuring to prevent it from disappearing.”
Although he hadn’t said it, I knew what Dearen meant. If the door disappeared while someone was right underneath in it, we could be stuck in the stone.
As we lined up behind him, Dearen lifted his hands and quickly created a door right in front of us, wide enough for us to pass one by one.
Kieran stood beside him as Dearen gave us the first sign.
He started conjuring a door before us.
The sound of the bell made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It grew louder as we all froze and listened to the alarming sound that echoed in the dead of night.
My chest tightened.
It was coming from the gate to our left.
“They know!” Dearen said as the door before him quickly disappeared, his brow twisted in what looked like agony. “They’re blocking me.”
I searched the night and quickly spotted them. Little flickers of flames in the night, moving toward us.
“Guards,” I said.
“Why did this happen?” Kieran asked. “We’ve had no trouble coming in.”
