Page 69 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

When they came out through a grate on the other side, Vaara was disturbed to find cobwebs and mysterious slime covering his cloak and coating his knees. He brushed several clinging spiders off himself.

They were outside the iron fence that surrounded the property, on a side street. “Now what?” Vaara asked quietly as Crow joined him aboveground.

She shook herself, running fingers through hair and smoothing it over her ears, then pulled her hood up and marched toward the street. “Now we take our leave.”

They’d been walking for less than a minute when they heard dogs again.

“Now?” he prompted again, because they were on a busy street in the middle of the city in the middle of the day, and he could see no promising places to hide.

When Crow didn’t answer, he turned and realized that she was no longer standing beside him. He spun until he located her twenty steps behind him, petting one of the dogs again. And further down the street, guards from the prison rounded a corner.

“Crow,” he hissed, earning a curious glance from a few passersby. She didn’t look up. After a moment of indecision, he started toward her.

Then another of the prison guards came around a corner between himself and Crow. His sword was already drawn. He started toward Vaara.

Crow finally looked up at him, eyebrows raised in alarm, but it was too late for them to reach each other. Having no other choice, Vaara turned and ran the other way.

“Hey! Stop him!” the guard shouted. Vaara wove through the crowd on the street. “Thief!” the guard shouted, and Vaara scoffed, insulted.

Someone in the crowd kicked a foot in front of him. He stumbled and went sprawling to the ground. People crowded around him.

He glared up at them, baring teeth. “If you don’t get out of my way—”

The crowd that had gathered gasped, drawing back. His scarf had fallen from his face. Good. He snarled at them, and there was another collective cry of alarm. Everyone took another step back.

He had to suppress an amused smile. That would have broken the effect a little, he supposed.

He climbed to his feet and kept running. Fading, he turned down an alley, then another, and another, at random. Eventually the shouting and pounding of chasing feet fell farther behind him. He stopped in a secluded doorway, huddling in the shadows, and waited.

Seconds passed, and then he heard panting.

One of the dogs appeared in front of him, looking directly at him despite his near invisibility. It panted, wagging its tail.

Goddess help him. These dogs would be his doom.

Whatever Crow had done to them had partially worked. At least he wasn’t being used as a chew toy yet. “Go,” he hissed at it.

The dog just stared at him.

He pointed down the road. “Go away!” he whispered.

Long seconds passed. Then the dog turned and trotted away. Vaara let out a long breath. A moment later, footsteps approached. He leaned into the shadows as one of the prison guards ran past. The man never even looked in his direction.

Using a window sill as a foothold, he climbed onto the roof of the building beside him. He crouched low against the roof tiles and scanned the people on the streets below.

He’d lost the guards. But he’d also lost Crow. He couldn’t even have guessed which end of the city he was in.

Just ahead of him was a large, open square at the meeting of eight different roads. He crept higher on the roof to sit in the shadow of a chimney, and watched.

It wasn’t long before there was a commotion in the middle of the square. People were running through the crowd. He caught a flash of a familiar set of armor, and then Alexei appeared as the crowd parted. Vaara shrank back against the chimney.

The warden had been intercepted by what looked to be the city watch. One of the watchmen held up a hand, stopping him despite Alexei’s visible protests. Vaara caught fragments of the watchman’s raised voice on the wind. “You can’t just… causing a… people here!” Vaara smirked, just a little.

The look on Alexei’s face was like ice. The watchman didn’t seem to notice. He didn’t know what that look meant, like Vaara did.

Alexei cast another lingering look around the square, searching for him. Then he turned, said something to his guards, and they dispersed into the crowd. Vaara watched them until they had all gone.

There was no sign of Crow.

---