Pilos felt his hands shaking in apprehension, worrying that at any moment, someone would spot them. He kept waiting for a guard patrolling the area to come into view, to see him or the other men, and shout a warning to others.
When the young priest was halfway across the open space, as far from the protective canopy of the bushes as from the wall, Edilus signaled for everyone to halt and stay low. Pilos hit the ground, his heart thumping. He tried to look around to see what had startled the druid, but he didn't see anyone else in sight. Finally, Edilus rose up and continued, and the others rose with him.
Somehow, they all reached the wall without raising the alarm.
As they gathered together in a clump, Edilus produced a small charm, something woven of bones, feathers, and green vines, and he began to murmur as he moved it in intricate patterns. Behind him, Pilos heard the sound of ripping earth and snapping twigs, and he turned in time to see a rippling wall of plant growth rise up from the ground. The barricade of greenery twisted, wrapped, and thickened as it climbed, forming a nearly solid wall of protection against the rest of the orchard. It stopped growing when it was a good ten feet high, and it stretched between two of the closest peach trees, intertwining with their lowest branches. It formed an enclosure perhaps twenty feet long and about five feet wide with both ends open.
"That ought to keep us hidden for a few moments longer," Edilus said, examining the wall.
"Can you climb it?" Pilos asked. Until he had reached the wall, he was never certain that he might escape. Standing at the base of it, though, he began to feel some sense of hope.
"Yes," Edilus said, then he dropped to all fours and his physical shape began to alter. As Pilos watched, mesmerized, the druid elongated, his clothing and equipment absorbed into his form. His skin turned green and scaly. In the span of a breath, Edilus had become a lizard perhaps four feet long, not including his tail.
The lizard turned and scampered up the wall to the top. Once he was there, Edilus reverted to his human form and stood looking down at the men below him with a self-satisfied grin on his face.
That's twice now he's smiled, Pilos thought. Maybe he's human after all.
The druid yanked a coil of rope from his shoulder and tied one end of it around his waist. Then he motioned for Pilos to start up. "You first," he said, sitting down and bracing his feet as best as he could. "You're the lightest, and you can help hold it for the rest of them."
Pilos took hold of the rope and began to haul himself up, bracing his feet against the stone to help guide himself. It was not easy, for he was not adept at scaling walls, but he struggled to the top. Once he managed to swing his leg over and scramble to a sitting position, Edilus instructed him to sit behind him, grab hold of the druid's belt, and lean backward. Pilos hurried to comply, and once he was in position, the others began to clamber up the rope, too.
Once all six of them had attained the top of the wall, they prepared to lower themselves over the other side.
Horial, Adyan, and Grolo made it down easily, and Quill prepared to work his way down the wall next.
"Hurry," the druid hissed, looking back over his shoulder into the Generon. "Guards are coming. Go now, before we are spotted."
"I'm afraid it's too late for that," a familiar voice called from nearby.
Feeling his stomach turn somersaults, Pilos's gaze was pulled toward a movement to his side. Junce Roundface was on top of the wall, walking toward the three of them. He must have appeared there magically, for a moment before, they had been alone. Junce had a crossbow in his hands, and he was smiling, though the expression had a definite lack of joviality.
A scuffling of boots in the opposite direction caught the priest's attention next. Looking that way, the Abreeant saw Laithe strolling toward the three men. She held a wand in her hands.
The wizard saw Pilos looking at her and smiled at him. "Looks like the rat is not quite out of the trap, yet, eh?" she said. "I owe you one," she added, not smiling any longer. "For Lak and Borth."
As the two thugs closed the distance, narrowing the gap, Pilos looked back and forth between the two of them in dismay. Beside him, Quill got to his feet and seemed prepared to pull his sword free, but Junce steadied his crossbow and sighted down it.
"I wouldn't," the assassin warned. "You're not fast enough."
The strum of a bow firing sounded from street level and a crossbow bolt zipped upward at Junce. The missile flew true and struck Junce in the ribs, right under his arm, but it bounced away. Grolo, who had fired the shot, swore.
Junce chuckled. "You didn't think I'd actually get up here just so you could take target practice, did you?" and quick as a cat, he turned and returned the shot, sending the bolt right at Grolo's chest. The bolt struck true and sank into the dwarf's flesh, causing him to grunt.
As Pilos watched in horror, Grolo wavered on his feet for a moment, staring at the fletching on the end of the bolt, and his own crossbow slipped from his fingers and he sat down hard.
"Waukeen," the dwarf muttered as he tipped over, slumping to the ground.
Junce's shot had been quick, precise, but it had taken his attention away from the three men in front of him. That was all the opening anyone needed, and all around Pilos, chaos ensued.
Edilus freed the rope from his waist and was on his feet in an instant. Yanking his scimitar free, he turned and advanced toward Junce, not giving the assassin time to reload. The other man smiled again, tossed his empty weapon aside, and drew his own blade. At the same moment, Junce put something in his mouth and produced a loud, shrill whistle.
A signal, Pilos realized in dismay. Summoning the guards.
"Go on!" Quill said to the priest, leaping to his feet. "Get down!" And the mercenary was turning away, drawing steel, facing off against Laithe.
Pilos glanced around, seeing everyone moving at once, and hesitated. Adyan and Horial were both shooting at the wizard, but like Junce, the missiles bounced off. She seemed more concerned by Quill's approach, however, and backed away as he tried to close the gap. Laithe brought up her wand and aimed it at the mercenary, and a blob of something sickly green streaked forth from it, fanning out until it was a spray. The droplets showered over Quill, who arched his back in pain and cried out, dropping to one knee.
Pilos winced, realizing the caustic substance must have been an acid, and wanted to go to the man, to soothe his pain with a healing touch. But Quill wasn't done yet. Staggering, he managed to rise, and Laithe leveled her wand to give him another dose.
She wasn't quite fast enough.
Quill threw himself at the woman, wrapping his arms around her just as her magical device burped forth another blob of acid. Quill smacked into the blob head-first, causing it to dribble on himself and spatter back onto Laithe. She screamed as she stumbled back, Quill still clinging to her.
In a dual cry of pain, the pair went over the side of the wall to the street below.
Horrified, Pilos could only watch the two combatants disappear. Then he realized that the two mercenaries were yelling at him.
"Come on!" Horial yelled. "Just drop!"
Pilos glanced over at where Edilus was still fighting with Junce, and he saw a stricken look upon the assassin's face. The priest realized that Junce had seen Laithe go down, too. In his distress, he did not keep his guard up, and Edilus managed a lucky strike, cutting into the man's sword shoulder.
With a primal cry of pain and anger, Junce swung back at the druid, but his attack was awkward. Edilus bounced out of the way. With a curse, the assassin said something and vanished.