Shadowdance 01 - A Dance of Cloaks

expecting his booming voice to alert guards for miles, but instead out came a controlled whisper, deep and quiet. She chastised herself for such naïveté. Will had not risen to such high ranks within the Spider Guild by being foolish or unskilled. Despite his size, she now wondered if he would be better at stealth and hiding than she was. Her pride said no, but a nagging voice of reason in her mind insisted otherwise.
    “Far more men within,” Senke agreed. “Mostly bunched at entrances to all three of the lower floors. They’re far more afraid of people breaking out than breaking in. We must use that to our advantage, but also remember, the escaping may be much more difficult.”
    They waited a few more minutes, counting how long it took the roving patrol to loop around.
    “We’ll have maybe thirty seconds,” Kayla said. “Unless you want to take out the two guards.”
    “Take them out, we gain another minute to get in,” Will said. “But then we lose the rest of the night in getting out.”
    Senke nodded. If they could sneak in, their entrance would be unnoticed. Dead or unconscious guards, however, tended to attract attention.
    “What about the guard at the northwest corner?” Kayla asked.
    “We don’t know for sure he’s even there,” Senke argued.
    “Then let’s go find out.”
    They climbed up to the roof of the home they’d hidden beside. As they prepared to move west along the rooftops for a better view, Kayla wondered at Will’s dexterity. He climbed as well as she, and although he weighed more, the boards and plaster made no extra groans or creaks when he crossed.
    Lady Luck was not with them. Leaning against the corner, whistling a tune, was their unknown guard.
    “Damn,” Senke whispered as he lay on his belly peering off the roof. “That complicates things tremendously.”
    “We need him diverted,” Kayla said. “But that may mean only two of us going inside.”
    “We go as three, or not at all,” Will said.
    The woman spun at him and glared.
    “Then give us an idea, ox.”
    As if this were a serious request, Will nodded and crossed his arms.
    “Fine. Wait for me.”
    Will climbed down, his giant girth looking comical as he hung from slender handholds. Once on the ground, he strode up to the guard without any attempt to hide his presence.
    “What is he doing?” Kayla asked.
    “Calm yourself,” Senke said. He put a hand on her shoulder, and this time she did pull away. If he was offended, he didn’t show it. “Will knows what he’s doing. And if he doesn’t, well, we’re up here and he’s down there, right?”
    She didn’t reply. Silent, they watched as Will waved at the guard, a noticeable drunken gait suddenly overcoming him. He said something, but they could not hear what. The guard pointed away, as if shooing a mutt. Will turned, as if considering, and then spun around, his massive fist clobbering the guard. His beefy arms wrapped around the guard’s neck as he fell, tightening, twisting, and then the guard went still.
    Kayla counted in her head, tracking how long until the patrol would find them. Will had thirty seconds, forty at most.
    If Will was worried, he didn’t show it. Calmly, he picked up the body and propped it against the wall. He crossed the guard’s arms, adjusted his legs a tiny bit, and tilted his helmet so that it appeared he had nodded off. He kicked the legs a couple of times until they locked.
    A moment later and Will was climbing up the house, rejoining them on their rooftop perch.
    “Surely they will wake their friend,” Kayla said, not impressed with the ploy. “Once he’s awake, they will search for us.”
    “You don’t know guards,” Will said. A crude smile spread across his lips. “Why is he in back and alone? Because he’s not liked. You will see, but for now, hurry. Our chance approaches.”
    They skirted the light of the various torches hanging from large brass rings off the sides of the prison roof. They were nearing the giant wall surrounding the city, and therefore were out of homes to climb across and use to hide their presence. Only their cloaks and the shadows offered them protection, but they used them with the calm skill of experienced thieves.
    When the two patrolling guards walked around the corner, Kayla felt a bit of vindication at how quickly they noticed the guard sleeping. One yanked the helmet off him, while the other prodded him in the stomach with the hilt of his sword. When he did not wake, the