Book One Excerpt Two

“I’d better get out of the city now,” James decides. Once he’s finished getting dressed, he grabs his backpack, handing his other one to Miko. Moving slowly in the dark he goes over to the door, slides back the bolt and then opens the door.
The hallway is as quiet as a tomb. They make their way as silently as possible to the stairs and descend as quickly and quietly as they can to the ground floor. The inn is dark and deserted, the small amount of light coming in through the windows casts an eerie pall to the place. The floor boards creak as they make their way across the room to the door leading to the stables.
Upon reaching the door, James looks out the window next to it and can see shadows moving around the stables. Some of the shadows break off and approach the inn, heading for the door he’s standing next to. Only the dark of night prevents him from being seen. He turns around and starts towards the front door when it slowly begins to open.
James ducks under one of the tables, pulling Miko down under it with him. Staying as quiet as they can, they watch as several shadows enter through the front door while two more come in through the door to the stables.
They meet at the base of the stairs. James can hear whispers but is unable to make out any of the words. Four of the shadows head up the stairs after pausing only momentarily, while two of them remain down in the common room, just a few feet from where James and Miko are hiding.
James hears a door opening upstairs, then it’s silent for a few seconds before he hears the door close again. The four shadows come back down the stairs and then come over to where the two are waiting near James. “He’s not up there,” one of them whispers.
“We can’t stay here,” another responds.
“Rolin,” the first one says, “tell the boys at the stables we’re out of here.”
“Right,” James hears the reply and one of the shadows detaches itself from the others and makes its way out the back door.
“Let’s go,” the first voice says, “we’ll find him eventually.” They all turn and walk quietly out the front door.
James waits for several minutes to be sure they will not be coming back before he climbs out from under the table. “Check the front door,” James says quietly to Miko.
Miko gets up and goes over and peers out a window by the front door while James checks the back.
James doesn’t see anybody out in the courtyard by the stables so he quietly goes and checks with Miko.
“Anything?” James whispers when he reaches Miko’s side.
“They left in two parties, one to the right and another to the left,” replies Miko. “I think two of them went into that alley across the street. They may be there as a lookout to see if we show up.”
“Probably,” James agrees as he stares out into the street.
“How are we going to get out of here?” asks Miko, nervousness evident in his voice.
“I’m thinking,” James says. Considering the situation for a moment he comes up with a plan.
Pulling Miko close so his voice won’t carry far, he says, “When I tell you to, I want you to close your eyes tight and keep them closed until I tell you to open them again. Do you understand?”
“Why?” Miko asks.
Sounding impatient, James says “Just do it, I don’t have time to explain, okay?”
“Alright,” agrees Miko, though he doesn’t sound very sure that he does.
James begins to cast a spell and directs Miko to look down the street. A small, glowing dimly ball, appears to be rolling down the street towards the alley where the men are waiting. When it comes to rest in front of the alley, they can see two shadows detach from the darkness of the alley as they come out and inspect it.
“Close your eyes,” James whispers. James silently counts to himself, “One, two, three…” and then closes his own eyes, turning his head away. The glowing ball suddenly bursts into a blinding brilliance, lasting only a second.
“I’m blind!” can be heard coming from the ally.
When the light disappears, James says, “You can open your eyes now, let’s go.” They hurry to the front door and leave the inn, turning down the lane to the right. Even though they had their eyes closed, they still have spots in their vision.
The two men who were across the street continue to cry out and one has even fallen to the ground, holding his eyes.
“What did you do to them?” asks Miko, a slightly awed tone to his voice.
“I just ruined their night vision is all,” chuckles James, “maybe given them a headache as well, I’m not sure. They should realize that nothing serious was done to them when their vision readjusts again to the dark. I don’t think I did anything permanent, though it’s possible.” Pausing for a moment he asks, “Now, what’s the best way out of town at night?”