WOT Adv 110

--- The Wheel Turns ---
"No," Fiznak responded. "I won't leave him."

"Then what?"

"I don't know. Something. But I won't leave him." Fiznak's jaw was stubborn.

"We don't even know for sure if it is Maynard, Fizzy."

"Who else could it be?"

"Anyone." She shrugged. "There are more combatants than Maynard, Fizzy."

He looked at her doubtfully. Not very many people had the speed nor the skill to stand against Lord Timak's blade as he had seen Maynard do.

"Regardless," Maeslyn broke in. "We should help. But an all out rush to the front door of the inn probably isn't the best approach."

"Perhaps not." Maer added. "Keb and I are good at moving about quietly. We can climb up on the roof at night, find an empty room to enter through, and sneak around until we find a guarded door."

"So far I'm with you," Keb nodded. "Then what?"

"Then we kill the guards, kill whomever is guarding Maynard, get him out of there, and leave out the window."

"Light," Fiznak breathed. "That will cause a stir. Unless you're super quiet."

"If we're discovered---" Maer began.

"Which you will be!" Thenlir growled, interrupting him.

"--Thenlir and Fiznak can charge in the front door and get the guards from behind while we engage them in front."

"And if this Lord Timak appears?" Keb asked.

"If things get that ugly, and I have to face the invincible swordsman alone, I'll do a rearguard action while Keb makes it out with the prisoner, if it is Maynard. I may not be a Stone Dog, but I'm sure I can hold a mere swordsman for a moment or two."

Keb didn't look convinced. Fiznak merely nodded, his face deadly serious. "I'll wager two moments, not much more. He is very skilled, Maer."

Maer held his gaze for a moment and then nodded. "That may be. I have heard it said often that 'The Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills'. Should I fall, I have fallen helping a friend. Not one of my own Sept perhaps, but still a comrade."

"What of their channeler?" Thenlir frowned. "What if she's around?"

"Apprentice Wise One," Maer turned to Maeslyn, studying her green eyes. "Would you prefer to wait in the woods with the horses while we prepare an escape, or do you wish to join the festivities in case the enemy Wise One wishes to play?"

"I will assist in any way I can. I will remain with Thenlir and Fiznak however. I cannot move as quietly as either your or Keb. At least not without embracing Saidar."

Maer grinned. "Very well. This could be our last dance together, Apprentice Wise One."

"Yes, it very well could be." She eyed him soberly. "If you and Keb can do this silently, then perhaps we may live to dance another day."

"If anything goes wrong, just shout and we'll be there!" Fiznak grunted to Keb. "I don't want you engaging Timak alone."

"Don't worry Fizzy," she smiled up at him and then looked away, her eyes misty. "We'll be alright."

She turned and jogged north into the darkness following Maer.

"Now we wait." Thenlir muttered and pulled out his axe. Then gripping it firmly he crouched on the balls of his feet and examined the guards and the large Grolm at the front of the inn.

"Yes. We wait." Fiznak pulled free is sword and tested it's balance with a couple of swings, watching the receding shapes of Keb and Maer who were soon swallowed up in the night. Light, he muttered to himself. Timak was somewhere in the inn. Somewhere. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was going to return to the mother earth this day. And a part of him hoped and feared it would be him. These were his family now. This was the way of a boarderlander.

---

Keb and Maer moved silently and cautiously around the eastern northern side of homes on top of the hill and then cut north, using the homes for cover against the eyes of the guards and the Grolm.

They then angled away to the west, seeking a good spot to climb. They stopped on the north side of the stables. In the darkness they waited for perhaps an hour for the Seanchan to get settled. Maer stood and stretched his legs and then uncoiled his silk rope. He attached his grapple hook to the end and with a practiced swing he threw it atop the second story roof near the stables.

It sailed into the darkness and with a dull and muffled thud, hit the roof. In the distance a dog started to bark and he held his breath. There didn't seem to be any outcry. He gave it a tug and when it didn't come free he tested his weight. Good enough.

Maer gripped the rope, motioned Keb to follow and then began climbing. Near the top of the roof, he paused. A faint glimmer came from the second story window near where he clung to the rope. He edged over the side and peaked in.

There was a man inside, a Seanchan officer by the look of his breastplate. His helmet was off and his back was to the window, and a soldier inside had his head bowed. He appeared to be speaking to or giving orders to another soldier. Perhaps a soldier on watch?

"--remember the penalty for not staying awake! Now go!"

"I obey!" The soldier saluted, bowed, and then departed, exiting the room and was lost to view.

The officer sighed, took off his breastplate and turned out the light.

Good. Time to move on. Maer finished his climb, motioning with hand signals for Keb to follow quietly. She nodded and climbed up. Soon they were both atop the roof peering off the edge. The grappling hook was caught around a stout stone chimney.

They moved in a low crouch over the roof top, careful of where they stepped. Maer again secured his rope and then eased himself over the south edge just east of the stables until he was able to peer into a darkened window. "Light!" he thought to himself. "This one is occupied also." He could see a Seanchan's sword propped up near his bed and a breastplate slung over a chair.

He quietly climbed back up and tried another window. This one was also darkened.

"See anything?" It was Keb's whisper from above. He glanced up and could see her hooded head looking down at him near the edge.

He had only starlight and partial moonlight. He looked inside the deeper darkness of the room, looking for shapes. He saw the rectangular shape of a bed. A woman lay in it, blankets pulled up tight. He shook his head at Keb and looked some more.

The glint of something caught his eye at the foot of the bed. Metal. Something metallic hung on a peg. His eyes followed the dull glint and he saw that the metal led to a woman curled up on the ground, asleep on the hard floor without a blanket. A collar of some sort was about her neck. His heart skipped a beat. "Could this be Megda? She was seen wearing a collar!" But even in the darkness he could tell the hair was the wrong color. A black color, not the fiery red color he was looking for.

Then beyond the woman a third shape, too far away to make out details, also lay on the floor. But the limbs were brought up behind its back and it didn't have a blanket either. This could be the prisoner they sought.

He lightly tested the window. Shut and locked tight. He pulled himself up and crouched next to Keb whispering in her ear. "I think this is the one. The window is locked. There's two women in there with him. One on the bed, one at the foot of the bed. He's closer to the door across the room. No sign of Timak in this room at least."

Keb licked her lips nervously and nodded. "Alright. Now what?"

---

Fiznak crouched next to Thenlir and whispered. "What about their horses?"

"What about it?" Thenlir growled.

"Maer said to scatter their horses but secure our own and one for the prisoner."

"Bah! Like this is going to work. Light! As soon as an alarm is sounded, go ahead and scatter them. It should be any minute now. If you want to risk your neck and make a mess of things by causing noise before hand, go ahead! Not me!"

Fiznak shook his head watched the Seanchan guards. They had settled to patrolling in front of the door and talking to each other in low tones. Light! This waiting was intolerable. He flexed the muscled in his legs, trying to stretch them out. He stood by Maeslyn and looked at her.

She was watching the large frog-like Grolm. The beast had settled down and seemed to be sleeping. But he couldn't see whether or not the eyes closed when it slept or not. This creature was so alien to anything he had ever seen before.

Maeslyn's soft face was in profile in the pale starlight. "I wonder where it came from. It doesn't seem a creature natural to our world." Her tone was curious and interested.

"I don't want to know." Fiznak grunted.

Maeslyn smiled at him, her eyes pools of darkness that held his. "You're a good man, Fiznak. I hope this little venture of yours to rescue this prisoner doesn't end in failure. I can't help but be reminded of Tobin's Hollow. It's never easy to have a plan fail. And it's hard to lose friends."