The Map - Part II

(First part located here. I have no image for this one...)

Darin didn’t have a horse or even a pair of fast running legs. But he did have a black outfit on, and he blended easily into the shadows around the house’s land. His hands had gotten sliced by the broken window glass, but he didn’t have time for pain, and ignored the bit of blood on his skin.

How had the guards gotten there so quickly? He had heard them coming, yes, but they had still seemed a good distance away. Darin ran for cover behind the shrubberies outlining the property, kneeling there to watch through the dense leaves.

The guards were just riding up, armor and swords clinking. They halted their horses and murmured among themselves.

Darin frowned. Who had knocked on the front door just moments before he had escaped through the window? Had one of the guards been ahead of the others? Darin glanced behind him. The road was close by, and he could have easily made a dash for it, but he couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

Then a girl’s scream erupted from the house followed by a crash. Darin’s skin tingled and he nearly ran back to the house to see what was the matter, but the guards were already dismounting their horses and hurrying to surround the house. Several of them noticed the broken window, and one stepped forward to peer inside. He gestured to one of the other guards.

“You, come with me,” he said. Darin recognized the man’s voice and sank lower behind the shrubs. It was Jasper, the captain of the king’s guard. He and a younger guard ducked in through the broken window and disappeared.

A few minutes passed, filled with dead silence. Then the entire house seemed to erupt with crashing and yelling. Outside, the guards drew their swords and shifted nervously. Two figures came rushing out of the broken window, but it wasn’t the guards. Their appearance was sudden, and the guards were spread too far apart. They dove at the figures, but their heavy armor slowed them, and they all landed in one big, metal pile.

Darin half-stood, realizing the figures were going to run right past his hiding spot. He knew one of them was the girl, and she was gagged and bound at the wrists. She was being dragged along by the other figure—a tall man wearing a hooded jacket. They ran across the grass, nearing the shrubs. Darin dashed to the edge of his hiding spot, stuck out his leg, and tripped the tall man. The man face-planted in the dirt, dragging the girl with him.

“Stop them!” the captain bellowed from the house.

By now, the guards had gotten back on their feet and were charging at the three figures near the end of the property.

For a painful moment, Darin had no idea what to do. The tall man was on his feet again, holding a mean-looking knife in his hand, and standing between Darin and the guards. He seemed not at all concerned of the guards rushing at them from behind, and that worried Darin. The girl was still on the ground, lying closest to Darin, though she was struggling to get up.

In the moment of Darin’s hesitation, the tall man lunged forward, slicing his knife through the air. Darin barely dodged the blow, and quickly pulled out his dagger. His glass-scraped hand burned as he grasped the dagger’s hilt, but when the tall man came at him again, Darin was ready. He feigned to the right, and managed to cut the man’s arm. The man yelled in pain and rushed forward, but suddenly tripped. Neither of them had noticed the girl crawling between them, and the tall man tumbled over her body, dropping his knife in the process.

There was only one thing left to do, though Darin didn’t really want to do it. He reached down, hoisted the girl to her feet, and took off running with her stumbling in tow. He wished he could have left her with the guards to protect her, but the tall man might have regained his knife and tried to hurt her...