The city wall had four main public gates, one each to the north, south, east, and west of the city that had been installed when the walls were built. The roads leading from those gates were the main thoroughfares of travelers and merchants in and out of the city. Few people dared to venture off those roads and into the wild overgrowth and ruins. Though some communities and villages existed in those wild places, they were generally inhabited by cutthroats and thugs. There were a few, well-guarded, smaller gates cut into the north and south walls, which were many miles long. The smaller gates were used primarily for guard patrols and emergencies, and the roads that led away from the city were little more than narrow horse paths that looped around to the other major roads.
Ian and Jarrett took the Charlotte gate. It was a supply gate used for official city deliveries from city-state run farm communities and prison compounds in the south. The gate was simply a double metal door set into the concrete wall, just wide enough for a horse and cart to get through. The path beyond, leading from the city, was just wide enough for two horses to ride side by side.
“According to the map,” Jarrett said, “if we go about a mile, the Parthenon will be about a thousand yards off to the east. But that undergrowth is so thick, we’ll never get the horses through unless there is a path cut.”
“If he is coming and going through the south gate, he would likely use the cut-through path to get to this road, so I’m hoping there is some sort of path already there,” Ian agreed. And I really hope this isn’t a wild goose chase, he added silently. There didn’t seem to be any reason to voice it out loud, Jarrett was just as tense as he was.
Ian leaned forward, patting Mal’s next. “If you see a path I don’t see, you let me know. If you can sense Fiona, you find her, okay pal?”
Mal snorted, and Ian was positive the horse had understood him. He sat straight up and cut Jarrett a look, daring him to make a joke.
The vampire laughed. “Hey, no judgments here, man. I’ve seen that horse in action. He and Fiona have a bond like nothing I’ve ever witnessed. You should see the two of them in battle together; it’s like they share a mind. Well, at least a mental connection. If she can be found, Mal will find her.”
Ian hoped the big man was right. The thought of losing Fiona was more than he could bear. If she didn’t want to be with him, he would find a way to deal. But if something happened to her… he didn’t want to imagine the possibility.
They rode in silence about three quarters of a mile as fast as was safe on the rocky path when Mal abruptly stopped in the road and began snorting and prancing. Ian held out his lantern and scanned the tree line, but he saw nothing. “I don’t see anything,” he said.
Mal snorted again, and when neither Ian nor Jarrett responded, he walked to the edge of the trees and started nudging with his nose, then grasped on to some leaves and pulled. A large branch slid several feet as Mal backed up.
“I’ll be damned!” Jarrett yelled as he hopped off Davidson. “A hidden path.”
“Good job, Mal. Good job.” Ian patted the horse’s neck, and then jumped down to help Jarrett pull the brush aside to reveal a well-worn cart path. “Someone didn’t want this path found,” he said, heaving a large branch to the side. I’m going to hazard a guess that we are on the right track.”
Once the path was clear, the men remounted their horses. The pace was slower now. While the path was well worn, the foliage overhead was so thick that no moonlight could get through. Jarrett took the lead, his vampire eyesight even better than the dim, golden glow cast by Ian’s oil lantern. They picked their way through the winding passage for fifteen minutes before Jarrett held up a hand, signaling Ian to stop.
Ian pulled Mal to a stop and waited for Jarrett. He didn’t want to speak in case Jarrett had sensed danger nearby. The last thing they needed was a fight in the tiny confines of the path.
After a few minutes, Jarrett dismounted Davidson and turned to Ian. “I hear something up ahead. We should check it out before going ahead with the horses.”
“Right behind you.” Ian dismounted, and then turned his lantern down until the flame flickered out. There was no sense in calling undo attention to them.
“Can you see okay?” Jarrett asked as they walked.
“My eyes are adjusting pretty quickly,” Ian told him. In just a few minutes, the path opened into a large clearing. Just beyond the edge of the woods was a pond, the cart path continuing around it.
The moon was bright and it was easy to see that just beyond the pond was a small village of around thirty or forty rough-built huts and tents. Despite the late hour, there were fires lit and people moving about. A large group of gray-robed figures stood at the end of a wide, torch-lit path that led from the village up a small hill to what, at first glance, looked like a huge copse of trees.
With a harder look, Ian could see that it was actually a large structure, a building that had, over the years, been completely covered by ivy and other vegetation. Trees grew tall over it, creating a protective canopy. The brush and ivy had been cut back and cleared around the entrance and steps. That was where they needed to go.
Ian touched Jarrett’s arm and nodded his head back towards the wooded path. They retreated and were quiet until they reached the horses. “That big structure, that has to be the Parthenon. I feel it in my gut—Fiona is there.”
“I’m with you,” Jarrett agreed. “So, do we head in or wait for the cavalry?”
The smart thing would be to wait for Sam and the Blades, but anything could happen in the hour or more it would take them to get there, if they were able to find them. “We go in,” he said, his voice firm. He was positive he was making the right decision. “That much activity this late at night, something major is going down, and I have a feeling Fiona is at the center of it.”
“Right on. We’ll have to go in on foot though,” Jarrett agreed. “There are too many of them to go in straight at them. We’ll have to play it stealthy, and hope like hell we can get her out without being seen, or that back-up gets here in time.” He pulled his sword from where he had it stored on Davidson’s rump and slid it into the sheath at his waist.
Ian did the same with his sword, and then stopped with a thought. He turned back to Mal. “Okay, pal, I know you want to come with us, but I need you to go back down the path and wait for Sam and the other Blades. I need you to make sure they find this path. Will you do that?” He felt a bit like an idiot talking to a horse as if it were human, but he knew Mal understood him. To confirm his suspicion, Mal snorted, stomped once, then turned around and headed back down the dark path the way they had come in.
Jarrett laughed when Ian returned to him. “I’ve never seen that horse obey anyone but Fiona. If I were you, I wouldn’t get on his bad side.”
Ian agreed. “Well, let’s go get her back for him so that doesn’t happen.” And for me, too, he added silently.
When they reached the clearing again, they kept low in the tall grass and skirted the pond, getting as close to the village as they could. The large group of grey-robes was gone, and now a low chanting was coming from inside the Parthenon.
“We’ve got to get in there, now,” Ian whispered, almost frantically. He didn’t like the sound of that ominous chanting. “But how are we going to get across that clearing without being seen? Edging the woods will take too long.”
Jarrett was silent a moment, and then he nodded toward the village. There were still several men and women milling about. They watched as four men dressed in dark pants and light tunics went into a large tent. A couple of minutes later, four gray-robed figures walked out.
“You can’t be serious. You think it will be that easy? Seems a bit obvious to me,” Ian whispered.
“Better suggestion?” Jarrett countered, one eyebrow raised.
Ian sighed. “Nope. Lead on.” And he reluctantly followed Jarrett into the village.