A smile split Temiker’s face and he peered out at the street once more. Seeing nothing visible, he sprinted across the street and down another alley. Swiftly and furtively, the wizard negotiated alley after alley until he was in the north section of the city. Standing in an alley not far from the North Gate, he summoned the fog around his feet and let it build to a thick roiling cloud. With a flick of his wrist he sent the cloud spewing forth towards the gate like an ocean wave descending upon a tiny isle. While he would have liked to watch the reactions of the invaders, Temiker turned and ran back up the alley. Shouts rang muffled through the mist as the bald mage crossed a street and headed along another alley.
Temiker was getting winded from the run across town and paused in one of the muddy alleys to catch his breath. He gazed up between the buildings and saw the first hint of the morning sky. While dawn was still some time off, the darkness he was using so effectively would be receding quickly. Removing his white robe, Temiker dragged it along the muddy alley until it was filthy. He scooped a handful of mud and smeared some on his face and bald head. Donning his now filthy robe, the wizard took off down the alley again. Each time he waited to cross a street, he brushed at the mud on his head and robe. As the caked mud began to dry, portions of it flaked off. By the time he reached the south section of the city, it no longer looked as though he covered himself with mud, he just looked filthy.
As he neared the South Gate, Temiker adopted a hunched-over walk and shuffled his feet awkwardly. He glanced anxiously about as he rolled his head from side to side as he walked. There were four Imperial Guards at the gate. There were also six men who could possibly be with the invaders, all of them darkly clad. Temiker hobbled across the street to the city wall and leaning against it, slid down to a sitting position. Rolling his head from side to side, he looked every bit a drunken beggar, yet not so drunk that the Guard would arrest him.
Quietly he observed the invaders. Two groups of three men each stood in crude circles as if they were just early rising citizens who happened to meet and talk in the street. Temiker did not see any sign of the invaders’ horses. The Imperial Guard stood in two groups of two, boringly watching the comings and goings of the predawn city. One man in each group of invaders was constantly observing the area while the others just talked.
Temiker closed his eyes and felt for the wind, felt it flowing briskly through the gate and dispersing as it caught the angles of the buildings. Lowering his normal voice about an octave, he formed the words and let them drift off into the wind, knowing the sound would become audible farther down the windstream.
“Hey there! Did you see those men take those horses? I am sure they didn’t belong to them.”
Both the invaders and the Guard turned towards where they heard the voice and looked. One of the observing invaders nodded with his head and sent two men running down the street and around the corner of a building.
After a few minutes the two men returned shaking their heads. The beggar rose and hobbled up the alley he had come down before. Carefully working his way around to the building where the two invaders had gone, Temiker found six horses tethered to a post. Soothing the beast, the wizard picked one and untied it, leading it back through the alley towards the gate. Just short of the where the alley opened to the street by the gate, Temiker placed his hands on the horse’s head and cast a calming spell. The horse would remain quiet until Temiker retrieved it.
The beggar hobbled out of the alley and back to his spot by the wall without anyone’s notice. Temiker realized that people had a tendency to categorize others and the beggar was beneath notice unless he became troublesome. Time was getting short for his escape when Temiker sent another voice along the windstream, this one with a sailor’s accent.
“Bloody right! There is fireballs and magical missiles hitting the North Gate like we is under attack. I hear’d the Imperial Guard up there is getting their heads kicked. Someone says there is people trying to free some wizard or sumptin like that.”
The invaders and Imperial Guards snapped towards the sound as one. The invaders ran towards where their horses were tethered while the Imperial Guards quickly conferred with each other. The invaders appeared back on the street with only five of them mounted and one screaming to the Guards about his horse being stolen. With hurried directions from the Guard in charge, two other Guards ran over to the invaders. Instead of talking with the victim of the horse theft, the Guards raised their pikes and forced two of the invaders to dismount. Taking the invaders’ horses, the two guards galloped up the street towards the North Gate. Cursing after them, the invaders were forced to double up on their horses and charge after the Imperial Guards to join the fight at the North Gate.
Temiker smiled as the two Imperial Guards left, talking to each other in hushed tones. His ruse had performed better than he had expected. He had not expected any of the Guards to leave. Waiting just a few moments so the others were well away, Temiker raised his voice several octaves and sent his next message out.
“Help! Help! He’s killing me! Guards! Help!”
The Imperial Guards looked at each other as the woman’s scream called to them. One nodded his head and ran off towards the sound. Temiker waited only until the Guard was out of sight before sending another message in the same voice.
“Oh my god! He’s killed the Guard! Help me!”
Knowing that nothing moves an Imperial Guard quicker than one of his own in danger, the beggar was up and hobbling towards his new horse before the sound even died. Temiker swiftly mounted the horse snapping it out of the calming spell and was riding for the gate without even a thought as to whether it was manned or not; he knew it wouldn’t be. The wizard galloped out of the gate and took the shortest path for the forest. He knew his ruse would not last for very long though. The Imperial Guards would know they had been tricked, but they would have no idea about who tricked them or why. The invaders would be a little slower to put events together, but when they did, they would know in which direction Temiker had fled. He figured he had about half an hour head start on the invaders and he planned to use it wisely.
Angling away from the coast once he gained the forest, the wizard proceeded until he found a stream. He washed his head and robe to remove the mud and cast a light fire spell on the robe to dry it. He rode the horse into the stream and turned him towards the coast. He rode all the way down the stream until he reached the beach and then turned south again. Keeping the horse just in the water, so that the surf would remove the signs of his passing, Temiker rode down the coast to a tiny fishing village.
The fishermen were all about and getting ready for a day at sea. The fishermen used small sailboats to ply their trade, usually only one or two to a boat. Temiker paused to watch their preparations as they carried nets and lines and stowed them aboard. He gazed at each fisherman for a short time until he found the one he was looking for, a sturdy fisherman who was going out by himself. He was old enough to have the endurance the wizard required and young enough to spurn his trade for a treasure. Temiker rode up and dismounted by the young fisherman.
“Greetings,” Temiker said. “Do you know these waters well?”
The wizard was aware that he had instantly become the center of attention as all work stopped and everyone turned to see what the stranger would say.