"Will you knock it off and help me look?" Aahz growled.
"Sure. What are we looking for?"
"A couple dressed roughly like us," he replied.
"What do we do if we see them?"
"Simple," Aahz replied. "We plow into them full tilt, you swap our features for theirs, and we let the mob tear them apart."
"That doesn't sound right somehow," I said doubtfully.
"Kid, remember what I told you about situational ethics?"
"Yeah."
"Well, this is one of those situations."
I was convinced, though not so much by Aahz's logic as by the rock that narrowly missed my head. I don't know how the crowd managed to keep its speed and still pick up things to throw, but it did.
I began watching for a couple dressed like us. It's harder than it sounds when you're at a dead run with a mob at your heels.
Unfortunately, there was no one in sight who came close to fitting the bill. Whomever it was we were impersonating seemed to be fairly unique in their dress.
"I wish I had a weapon with me," Aahz complained.
"We've already gone through that," I called back. "And besides, what would you do if you had one? The only thing we've got that might stop them is the fire ring."
"Hey! I'd forgotten about that," Aahz gasped. "I've still got it on."
"So what?" I asked. "We can't use it."
"Oh, yeah? Why not?"
"Because then they'd know we're magicians."
"That won't make any difference if they're dead."
Situational ethics or not, my stomach turned at the thought of killing that many people.
"Wait, Aahz! "I shouted.
"Watch this, kid." He grinned and pointed his hand at them.
Nothing happened.
Chapter Fourteen:
"A little help at the right time is better than a lot of help at the wrong time."
-TEVYE
"C'MON, Aahz!" I shouted desperately, overturning a fruit stand in the path of the crowd.
Now that it seemed my fellow-humans were safe from Aahz, my concern returned to making sure he was safe from them.
"I don't believe it!" Aahz shouted, as he darted past.
"What?" I called, sprinting after him.
"In one day I believed both a Deveel and an Imp. Tell you what, kid. If we get out of this, I give you my permission to kick me hard. Right in the rump, twice."
"It's a deal! "I panted.
This running was starting to tax my stamina. Unfortunately, the crowd didn't seem tired at all. That was enough to keep me running.
"Look, kid!" Aahz was pointing excitedly. "We're saved."
I followed his finger. A uniformed patrol was marching... well, sauntering down the street ahead of us.
"It's about time," I grumbled, but I was relieved nonetheless.
The crowd saw the soldiers, too. Their cries increased in volume as they redoubled their efforts to reach us.
"C'mon, kid! Step on it!" Aahz called. "We're not safe yet."
"Step on what?" I asked, passing him.
Our approach to the patrol was noisy enough that by the time we got there, the soldiers had all stopped moving and were watching the chase. One of them, a bit less unkempt than the others, had shouldered his way to the front of the group and stood sneering at us with folded arms. From his manners, I guessed he was an officer. There was no other explanation for the others allowing him to act the way he was.
I skidded to a stop in front of him.
"We're being chased!" I panted.
"Really? "he smiled.
"Let me handle this, kid," Aahz mumbled, brushing me aside. "Are you the officer in charge, sir?"
" I am," the man replied.
"Well, it seems that these... citizens," he pointed disdainfully at our pursuers, "intend us bodily harm. A blatant disregard for your authority... sir!"
The mob was some ten feet distant and stood glaring alternately at us and the soldiers. I was gratified to observe that at least some of them were breathing hard.
"I suppose you're right," the officer yawned. "We should take a hand in this."
"Watch this, kid," Aahz whispered, nudging me in the ribs as the officer stepped forward to address the crowd.
"All right. You all know it is against the law for citizens to inflict injuries on each other," he began.
The crowd began to grumble darkly, but the officer waved them into silence as he continued.
"I know, I know. We don't like it either. If it were up to us we'd let you settle your own differences and spend our time drinking. But it's not up to us. We have to follow the laws the same way you do, and the laws say only the military can judge and punish the citizenry."
"See?" I whispered. "There are some advantages to civilization."
"Shut up, kid," Aahz hissed back.
"So even though I know you'd love to beat these two to a bloody pulp, we can't let you do it. They must be hanged in accordance with the law!"
"What?"
I'm not sure if I said it, or Aahz, or if we cried out in unison. Whichever it was, it was nearly drowned out in the enthusiastic roar of the crowd.
A soldier seized my wrists and twisted them painfully behind my back. Looking about, I saw the same thing had happened to Aahz. Needless to say, this was not the support we had been hoping for.
"What did you expect?" the officer sneered at us. "If you wanted help from the military, you shouldn't have included us on your list of customers. If we had had our way, we would have strung you up a week ago. The only reason we held back was these yokels had given you extra time and we were afraid of a riot if we tried anything."
Our wrists were secured by thongs now. We were slowly being herded toward a lone tree in front of one of the open-air restaurants.
"Has anyone got some rope?" the officer called to the crowd.
Just our luck, somebody did. It was passed rapidly to the officer, who began ceremoniously tying nooses.
"Psst! kid!" Aahz whispered.
"What now?" I mumbled bitterly.
My faith in Aahz's advice was at an all-time low.
"When they go to hang you, flyT"
"What?"
Despite myself, I was seized with new hope.
"C'mon, kid. Wake up! Fly. Like I taught you on the trail."
"They'd just shoot me down."
"Not fly away, dummy. Just fly. Hover at the end of the rope and twitch. They'll think you're hanging."
I thought about it... hard. It might work, but... I noticed they were tossing the nooses over a lower limb of the tree.
"Aahz! I can't do it. I can't levitate us both. I'm not that good yet."
"Not both of us, kid. Just you. Don't worry about me."
"But... Aahz...."
"Keep my disguise up, though. If they figure out I'm a demon they'll burn the bodies ... both of them."
"But Aahz...."
We were out of time. Rough hands shoved us forward and started fitting the nooses over our heads.
I realized with a start I had no time to think about Aahz. I'd need all my concentration to save myself, if there was even time for that!
I closed my eyes and sought desperately for a force line in the air. There was one there... faint, but there. I began to focus on it.
The noose tightened around my neck and I felt my feet leave the ground. I felt panic rising in me and forced it down.
Actually it was better this way. They should feel weight on the rope as they raised me. I concentrated on the force line again... focus... draw the energies... redirect them.
I felt a slight loosening of the noose. Remembering Aahz's lectures on control, I held the energies right there and tried an experimental breath. I could get air! Not much, it was true, but enough to survive.
What else did I have to do? Oh yes, I had to twitch. I thought back to how a squirrel-badger acted when caught in a snare.