‘Yatsu,’ said Hawklan, ‘Dacu and Lord Arinndier can’t go scrabbling through that.’
Yatsu ignored him. ‘Gag the wounded,’ he said to one of his men.
Hawklan’s eyes opened in horror, and his fist tight-ened. Isloman laid a hand on him. ‘Eldric’s accepted him as Commander,’ he said. ‘If you don’t trust his judgement, trust mine. I know Yatsu, and I know these people. Do as he says without question. If anyone can get us out of here, he can.’
Before Hawklan could answer, Isloman received a nodded command from the Commander. ‘You next,’ said the Carver with a grin and, enfolding Hawklan in his powerful embrace, he lifted him effortlessly up towards the trapdoor, where four hands seized him and dragged him into the dark warmth of the roof space. Amid the buffeting he heard a hammering from down below.
He had scarcely recovered his balance before the rest of the group appeared, including the gagged figures of Dacu and Arinndier. He took charge of them immediately and led them after the others who were disappearing into the dust-laden gloom ahead.
A figure came alongside him and thrust a small torch into his hand. It had a comfortable, solid feel to it, and gave a good steady light. Ahead he could see other torches bobbing in and out between the moving shapes of the running men, and the motionless shapes of the intricate tracery of rafters and spars that supported the complicated roof. As they moved, black bands of shadow swept swiftly and silently about the roof space, adding ghostly lines to those already etched out by the roof timbers. The air was full of whispered scufflings.
Occasionally the floor swelled up in front of them, marking some elaborate ceiling below, and in places the roof dipped low so that they had to crouch almost on all fours as they moved forward. Hawklan watched Arinndier and Dacu closely. They were moving well but both were obviously weak and in pain. He felt a momentary anger at Yatsu but Isloman’s words reminded him of the stern reality of their position. At the same time it occurred to him that both Arinndier and Dacu would probably tolerate almost any pain rather than hamper the group. At least their pain will pass, he thought. My role here is to follow, help and learn.
Abruptly the light in the roof space dimmed a little as the trapdoor was dropped back into place. Yatsu caught up with him. ‘We haven’t too long,’ he said. ‘The door’s barricaded and they’ll have to find the man and the woman before they can find out where we’ve gone.’
In a flash of self-reproach, Hawklan suddenly real-ized he did not even know their names or how they came to be involved in such danger. ‘What will happen to them?’ he asked.
Yatsu shrugged fretfully. ‘We bound and gagged them. Apart from saying that we forced our way in, they’ll tell the truth about us. That’s their best protec-tion. But, I don’t know… ’
Hawklan looked at him sideways without altering his forward pace. Yatsu’s face was strained. Yes, thought Hawklan, asking others to face danger on your behalf isn’t easy, is it? He could sense the man’s mind moving back to the sound of screams and cries echoing through streets choked with fumes and ravening crowds. Not your fault, he thought, though you’ll never really accept it. Just another scar to bear. More despair. Yatsu was an old soldier. All he could offer the maimed innocents was vengeance but, as an old soldier, he knew it wasn’t enough.
Suddenly the group stopped. The way ahead was blocked by a stone wall.
‘Is it the end of the row?’ Hawklan asked.
Several of the men shook their heads irritably. ‘No,’ said one, ‘there should be as far again if my pacing’s right.’
Hawklan decided to stay silent.
Yatsu had not allowed himself the luxury of a single oath at the sight of the obstruction, but his face was as blank and hard as the wall itself.
Hawklan heard no order, but three of the men ran back the way they had come, and as their torches suddenly blinked out, he knew that the first Mathidrin to enter the roof space would die before they even realized they were under attack. Turning back to the others he saw knives scratching at the wide joints in the wall. The mortar was soft, but the wall looked very solid and the task seemed impossible. It was hard to imagine even these resourceful men overcoming this obstacle.
He turned to his charges. Gently he made Arinndier and Dacu lie down and, with a soft murmur and an almost imperceptible pressure of his hand, he sent both of them to sleep. Yatsu’s eyes widened in a mixture of concern and anger. Hawklan gestured him to the wall. ‘I’ll keep them on their feet,’ he said. ‘Sleeping like that will husband energies they’d otherwise squander in waiting and fretting.’ Yatsu looked at him and then nodded.
‘Give me light.’ Isloman was standing in compara-tive darkness a little way from the others. Yatsu directed his torch towards him. There was an exclamation of satisfaction.
‘Here we are,’ Isloman said. ‘I thought I saw it.’ He ran his finger along a dog-legged crack running through the stonework. Without a pause he drew his knife and, using his clenched fist like a hammer, quickly and expertly removed much of the mortar surrounding one stone. Hawklan had often seen Isloman work like this when carving fine details, and gave it no thought, but in the circling torchlight, the Goraidin and the Lords formed a necklace of amazed faces about the spectacle.
‘Poor workmanship this,’ Isloman muttered, sheath-ing his knife. Then closing his eyes he thrust his fingers into the open joint and even Hawklan was amazed as he saw the power of the Master Rock Worker surge down into his hands and slowly ease the damaged block from the wall. Several willing hands took it from him and he thrust his arm into the gap he had made. He looked pleased.
‘That’s lucky,’ he said. ‘Just one skin. These others will be easier.
But, for all his confidence and skill, it took him several minutes to pull free sufficient blocks to make a gap large enough for the men to pass through and sweat was running down his face when he had finished.
Hawklan had Arinndier and Dacu lifted through the gap before he roused them, and then the silent race was on again. As Isloman replaced some of the blocks, he caught a glimpse of lights in the distance. ‘They’re here,’ he whispered urgently to Yatsu.
Yatsu nodded. The Mathidrin had obviously moved through the house slowly, as he had hoped, fearing ambush after finding the bound householders. With luck they would continue to do so through the dark and complex roof space. Then Isloman’s replaced blocks would be no slight obstacle. Each one had made two of Yatsu’s men stagger. But time was still against them, and he could not begin to assess what deployment would be happening down in the street. They could simply be running towards disaster. He dismissed the thought. It served no useful purpose even if it were true.
All too soon, however, the thought presented itself again as another wall blocked their path. This was indeed the end of the long row of houses and once again three of the men disappeared into the blackness behind them.
Yatsu looked at the wall then, beckoning Isloman, moved to one side until they were both crouching in the eaves. Hawklan saw Isloman nodding and abruptly, over the sibilant cautious breathing of the waiting group, there was a sharp, brittle crack, and a bright jagged splash of light fell into the gloom, dimming the torchlight and illuminating a myriad scurrying dust motes. The whole group stood motionless in this new twilight. Yatsu’s hand went up, unnecessarily, for silence and his head turned slightly as he listened to the sounds that were entering through the gap at a more leisurely pace than the sunlight. Apparently satisfied, he nodded to Isloman, who quietly removed more tiles. Yatsu picked up several pieces and put them in his pouch. ‘There might be archers out there.’ Hawklan heard him say. Cautiously, and a little incongruously, Yatsu stood up and peered out of the opening. As he reappeared, a crash sounded flatly through the roof space, followed rapidly by another and another, each more distant than the last. Isloman’s blocks had been located and were being prised aside.