Chapter 13: A Dash In Time

A Chapter by Albert Freeman

A small time thief carries with him documents that could be the key to ending the strife to come that is beginning to mount in the empire.

         Chapter 11: A Dash In Time

           (Location: Amanar, Korpathia)

    Daishal blinked his eyes in disbelief. He could not bring himself to believe that they had found him so quickly. Sliding lower on the bench he fought off panic when the woman pointed in his general direction. He reasoned that she couldn't have actually seen him in the dingy smoke filled poor lighting of the cheap tavern he had wondered into. The place was dark enough that even with his eyes adjusted to it he had some difficulty in seeing his hands in it.
    He slumped lower on the crowded bench and held his cracked mug of watered ale up to his face and peered over it. A quick look showed him that the woman was making her way through the crowd with the help of two large thugs in light armor with tree trunks for arms.
    With a few muffled curses at the drunken men beside him he slowly came to his feet and made for an angle away from the woman. It was his intent to make it out by the back way. He hunched over and held his cloak tighter around his body.
    "Stop that man!" A woman shouted.
    Daishal stifled an oath. He kept moving. Who would pay attention to her in this place? Half of them probably had warrants out. No one would help her or her friends. Still...he cursed himself for being careless. He should have stayed seated and not panicked. He fought his way through the crowd of people and resisted the urge to pick pockets, purses and money bags. Someone was going through a lot of work to find him for a simple theft, he mused. Well he was not going to let the Shikari collect on him.
    He elbowed his way into the back hallway with a sigh of relief. A short scamper took him to the back door and he burst through it into the cool crisp night. He made a face. He hated the chill of night in these parts. Searching up and down the dank alley he made for the left and jogged out of it. He was starting to hate stealing from those merchants. Behind him he heard the back door open and someone shout his name.

Hunching his shoulders expecting a crossbow bolt in the back, he scrambled for the corner and turned out with a yelp as something whisked past his head. He ran down the muddy street, keeping as close to the buildings as possible. He wondered wildly again what it was about the scrolls he had pilfered that made these people so determined to retrieve them. He also wondered again why he could not bring himself to just drop the scrolls and hope it would end the chase.

With a muttered curse he continued running. If he could make it to thieves cubbies he could easily get lost in them and find help for a small fee to once again give the Shikari the slip. No one wanted the secret police to get anyone in the cubbies. With that in mind, Daishal continued to make his way down the street.

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