Free Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six by Brian S. Pratt

from above leave the windows and come
join the man in front of Illan.
    “Where’s the other guy?” James asks.
    “There is no other,” he tells them.
    “We were told to expect five here,” Illan
explains. “So where is he?”
    “I assure you,” the man says, his nervousness
rising, “there is no one else here.”
    “Jiron, take Yern and Potbelly and search the
house,” he says.
    Dismounting, Jiron says “You got it.” With
Yern and Potbelly beside him, he makes his way to the front
door.
    Raising his voice loudly, the man says, “I
assure you, there is no one inside this house!”
    Jiron pushes him out of the way and enters
through the front door, the other two right behind.
    “Miko, tie them up,” Illan says.
    Getting down from his horse, Miko removes a
coil of rope and begins securing the hands and feet of the four
men.
    “Lord Faetherton will not take too kindly to
this intrusion,” the man warns Illan as Miko ties his hands behind
his back.
    “No, I suppose not,” he replies. “And as far
as Faetherton is concerned, where might I find him?” When the man
fails to respond, he says, “No matter. I’ll find him in due
course.”
    Suddenly, from the back of the house, the
sound of a horse reaches them just before a man appears riding hard
toward the gate. “Don’t let him leave!” orders Illan.
    Aleya and Errin turn in the saddle and draw
back their arrows. After taking aim, they let their arrows fly but
the rider dodges and the arrows fly wide. A whine begins to be
heard as several slingers twirl their slings before letting their
slugs fly toward the fleeing man. One manages to strike him in the
side and almost knocks him off his horse but he somehow keeps his
balance.
    “Shorty!” Jiron yells as he races from the
back of the house.
    At the gate, Shorty and Scar have been
observing the events transpiring by the manor house. When they see
the man racing toward them, Scar moves to close the gate while
Shorty takes position in the road. Shorty removes a throwing knife
and throws, catching the horse in the chest.
    The horse stumbles and crashes to the ground,
throwing the man several feet where he lands hard. Shorty runs over
with another of his knives in hand but slows when he sees the man
is not moving. As he draws close, he finds that the man broke his
neck when he struck the ground.
    Turning to the others at the manor house, he
yells, “He’s dead!”
    “Get him and his horse out of the road and
behind the wall,” Illan hollers back to him.
    Shorty nods and then he and Scar begin the
gruesome job of dragging the dead man and horse to the wall.
    “Who was that?” Illan asks, turning back to
the man before him.
    “Nobody,” he replies.
    Illan eyes him a moment and then dismounts.
To Caleb he says, “Go tell Shorty and Scar to continue keeping
watch and to shut the gate.” When he runs off to do as bid, Illan
turns to Nerrin and Moyil. “Go down there and bring the two guards
back here with the others.”
    “Yes, sir,” Nerrin says and then they begin
running down to the gate.
    “Delia, take our prisoners around back and
keep an eye on them,” he tells her. “Don’t want them seen should
anyone approach.”
    “Right,” she replies and then gets her
slingers to escort the prisoners to the rear of the house.
    Illan gives James a glance then enters the
house with James, Jiron and Miko right behind.
    The front room looks just like any other
lady’s drawing room with couches where visitors can rest and so
forth. He makes his way deeper into the house, passing a side
corridor and several doors before coming to what looks to have at
one time been a strong wooden door. Axes or something had chopped
away at it until a hole was wide enough for a man to enter.
    “What’s in there?” Jiron asks.
    “Some of the more important items my family
holds dear,” he explains as he stops before it. Reaching into his
pocket, he produces a key and inserts it into the lock. Turning it,
he unlocks