The Gift (Rabiah book 1)

Chapter 20

Owen was amazed how easy it was to scamper across the roofs. There were a couple of gaps where he thought twice about leaping, but Rabiah never hesitated. She made every jump with several inches to spare. Below they could see a few people milling about, all infected by the looks of their auras. Most of the streets near the outer walls were clear of the purple fog. Nearer to the castle, it was a different story. They finally came to a jump that made even Rabiah hesitate. It was the last jump, the one to the castle wall. Owen caught up with her and grabbed her arm just as she was starting her run.

"Don't," he whispered, "Look." They could see down into part of the courtyard. There wasn't any purple fog but there were soldiers patrolling the grounds and the top of the wall. Rabiah crouched down behind a chimney. "Do you think they saw us?"

Owen squatted down beside her, "How could they not?"

She peered around the chimney. "They aren't coming after us."

"Because they don't need to. Look."

Purple fog had begun bubbling out of the top of the chimney and was now pouring down to where she was sitting. She backed to the edge of the roof and peered over. The ground around was quickly becoming covered.

"We'll have to outrun it, but they'll be able to see us wherever we go. Is there any other way in?" Rabiah jumped back to the house they'd come from and began making a circuitous route around the wall. The fog followed them, albeit slowly. Ahead, another river of fog inside the castle wall headed for the gate near the barracks, en route to block their path. She stopped.

"This is silly. We'll be running all day. We need to take his eyes out."

"Are you saying we should kill the guards?"

"No, I'm saying we should fish them."

"How are we going to do that?"

"We'd have to make it to the wall."

"They'd be able to see us from the courtyard and there are too many for us to free at once."

"Well, do you have any ideas?"

Owen peered out over the roofs in thought for a moment. "We could try the lake."

"It's outside the walls."

"There is a tunnel from the lake to a well inside the castle. We'd have to swim underwater through the tunnel for a while."

"How far."

"I'm not sure. The well is inside the castle, next to the kitchens so it has got to be at least 300 feet. The King told us someone tried to swim it once on a dare."

"Tried?"

"They never found the body."

"And they are still drinking the water?"

"They didn't for a year."

The fog was creeping closer and now there was some in front of them too.

"Let's get back to the outer wall somewhere other than the lake, then climb down, go to the lake and find a boat."

"We could just cover ourselves in oil and walk through the fog," Owen suggested.

"Do you think that would work?"

"I think the guards would shoot us."

"Boat it is then. We just need to find a way to breath."

"Or swim faster so we can get there before we run out of air," Owen said as if he knew how.