Thar Shaddin

Ryalyn dropped her head, looking down at Ayden with concern, memories rising just below the surface, hidden to all save her and Ayden. Stooping she scooped him up in her arms. But no sooner had she done so, he shifted to a mouse, burrowing into her collar, hidden out of site. The skin to skin contact seemed to sooth him and it made made him a bit drowsy, carrying her right along with him. She staved if off however. Dipping her hands into her pockets she raised her head and regarded Heratio with a strange look. Finally, when she spoke, it was a tired, serious sounding voice, void of life and slightly apathetic.

"It's find, just don't touch him again. It's ... uncomfortable ... for the both of us. We don't know why ... but it is." she said. After a second or two she added, "And call him by his name if you don't mind. He's not just some animal you know ... " her voice sounded a bit offended underneath the tiredness. She felt she should defend Ayden since he wasn't himself at the moment.

When Heratio offered his magical abilities to make them feel better she simply shook her head. "That will not be necessary."

Taking a silent but invigoratingly deep breath, she cast her eyes about, looking deep into the shadows around them as she did so. Speaking evenly, her voice tinted with thoughtfulness, she said, "If you don't mind, could we get going now? I don't think it wise to linger here overlong..." She turned her eyes back on him. They glowed briefly before she darkened them, they would be too obvious at night otherwise.

Horatio simply nodded, thinking that the conversation would have to wait until they had both rested. "If you'd be so kind as to follow me" he said, his voice regaining some of it's happiness with her agreement. He then started off into the east, as he had before, but his time his steps were silent and he started slow at first. He knew that if she was of elvish decent, then she would be able to keep up with him, but he didn't want to loose her.

Once they had started off, the bard began to go faster and faster, his footfalls muted by an unseen force, his leaps and bounds calculated and graceful. They'd have even been considered beautiful, had it not been for the fact that both parties where not really in the mood to recognize such things at the moment. Well, at least the bard wasn't.

Horatio couldn't help but feel alittle ashamed. He didn't know his simply petting the shape shifter would shake them both so much, but he was going to make it up to them, if only by offering them his home. Soon, they reached the roof of a rather tall building, slipping into it and coming into a rather wonderfully-decorated room from which one had a magnificent view of the city thanks to a hole in the eastern wall. The room on whole was about fifty-feet square. This area of the room, which was rather a flat than a room, was about twelve feet wide and thirty feet across, and was elevated about a foot higher than the rest of the room and covered in exotic-looking rugs and giant pillows. The rest of the flat was rather lavishly decorated in the same way. Exotic silks and cloths hung from the ceiling and walls, several instruments were leaned against stands and the walls, and in the center was what looked like a fire-pit, where the guests would sit and either sleep or trade stories.

"This is my home. You may sleep here for the night. Tomorrow, we shall tour the city" he said, he himself physically and mentally exhausted. He plopped down on one of the large pillows on the higher level, slowly sliding down and closing his eyes. "Don't worry. There's no tracker nor mage alive who's powerful enough to find this place" he said reassuringly to Rya, giving her one final smile before closing his eyes.

Rya followed Heratio silently, easily keeping pace with the man. After awhile Ayden peeped his head out of her collar to watch the shadowy form in front of them with percing eyes. Soon they reached their destination, Rya, following at a comfortable distance, entering the entrance cautiously.

Once inside, Ayden slipped out of her collar wrapping his long ermine form around her neck, the front half of him supported by his paws on her left shoulder. His head turned this way and that, surveying and sensing out the room. His eyes were glowing slightly, his skepticism clearly reflected in their depths. This man lives a rather luxurious life for a mere street musician. Ayden remarked to his companion, who had approached a nearby comfy-looking chair and was running her fingers along the fabric in a puzzled manner. She hadn't seen furniture like this in ages... When Ayden's thoughts encroached upon hers she simply mentally shrugged and thought back, more of a statement than a question, But you don't sense anything amiss do you.

Ayden slinked down her arm and onto the back of the chair to look strait at her, putting his front paws on her hand to make her focus on him. She was lost in memories, he knew, but she was also very aware of their surroundings which she proved when her eyes locked with his, giving him a sly little smile.

I know you don't and neither do I. Why don't we enjoy what little privilege this is. We may not have another chance like this again ... It had been awhile since they had rested very peacefully. She had a point.... True. But how are we to know it is safe? He knew that Heratio had said no one could find this location but it was not the location that their hunters would be searching for. He was thinking about how Taelon had kept her abilities under wraps so well when Rya was younger. He suspected that it may have been because the use of her magic seemed to draw the ones that were searching for her. Wasn't that why they had to leave in the first place?

De-tangling her hand from beneath Ayden's paws, Ryalyn reached out and caressed his head lovingly. He was so protective but she was grateful. Who knows how long she could have lasted without him... Circling around the chair she carefully sat in it, settling herself comfortably, at an angle with her feet and legs curled up in the chair with her. Ayden dropped into her lap and stretched luxuriously as a serval again and sprawling himself across her lower stomach and legs. He was warm and they were both tired. Before she drifted off she said, somewhat sleepily to Heratio, "Thank you..."

Her blue eyes closed and she slipped into sleep, Ayden staying awake for awhile longer, his green eyes surveying the dark. He didn't really need to sleep but Rya was starting to pull him with her into unconsciousness. Eventually he let himself be persuaded, knowing that the both of them would wake up the second they sensed anything amiss.

His mind slowly drifting into a sleep-like meditation, he couldn't help but smile when he heard his greatful guest thank him. He knew it had been a long and hard journey for them, and he was happy that he could offer a small reprive. It was a bard's job, being vagabonds most of the time themselves, to offer a roof to anyone that needs it when they have one to offer. Many a time had Serafin and he rested and traded stories with complete strangers, who then became good friends by the time the road called to them once more. And even on occasion the two bards had feasted and sang with men one minute, and having to defend themselves from the crooks the next. But, such was the way of the bard: Humility, Generosity, and Good Spirits.

The last one in the form of both cheerfullness and drink.

~~~~~~THE NEXT MORNING~~~~~~~


Horatio opened his eyes with the sun's rays just peaking out over the cityscape. He sat up and streached a bit, at frist sensing nothing wrong. After his spine cracked a few times he began to focuse on his surroundings. He saw the piecefull slumber of Rya and the cute little Ayden, a sight with pleased him beyond what most would believe. Then the alarms started going off. Now, these are magical alarms, unheard by the slumbering pair, but blairing in the bard's mind. He quickly moved to the window to see a few men, looking like the normal street riffraff, but something was off about them. They didn't move like a bunch of thugs, they were too oganized, almost to a militant extent.

He moved away from the window and walked back to the two sleeping in the chair. His hand gently brushed Rya's cheek, a subtle bit of magic lacing into her mind and from there into the mind of her pet, letting them slumber without being disturbed for the time being. This was HIS house, and he would protect it and all in it. He couldn't ask this girl for help, it would look bad. He moved to the door at the side which lead into a staircase. Already he could hear the men's footfalls. "Hello down there! Is there anything i can help you wi-" Horatio started, but had to jerk back a bit as a crossbow bolt shot past his head. "I guess not" he said, shaking his head and pulling out his own crossbows from his magic vest.

These were quite a nice pair of weapons, a perfect combination of Elvish art and Gnomish technology. The actual crossbow was wonderfully sculpted, made of some dark wood and enchanted with a non-breaking spell or something to that affect. The only real technology is that it was clip fed from the bottom, similar to the clip-fed weapons of today, but much more beautiful.

He smiled to himself, it had been a long time since he used them. He prayed to whatever guardians may be watching down on him right now, because it was not the time to miss. He looked over the stairwell and fired, the sound of a dying man's final gurgled call bringing grim satisfaction to his face. The building was rather tall, about seventy-five floors, so that would give him some time, but they were already to about the twenty-third floor and climbing. He looked over again and fired, taking a quick count. He only saw three men waiting outside, but there was probably a good dozen comming up. "Well, this is a perfect way to start the morning" he said sarcasticly to himself, firing off a couple more times before he was forced to duck back down, the projectiles barely missing his head.

Normaly, there would be some sort of growling, or atleast angery comments, from most opponents, but not from these guys. Nothing, zip, zilch, nada. It was as if they were under some kind of spell, which would explain the nagging feeling in his gut. But that wasn't right. No mage could have found this place. Then it hit him: They didn't find his home, they found the girl. They must have been tracking her all this time, even when he lead her inside. And that must be why they didn't try posing an air attack, because they didn't know that she was on the highest level. "Oh yeah, tons of fun" he muttered again, looking back into the room with his sleeping guests, swearing that none would get them aslong as he drew breath. He then stood up and fired again several more times, each one hitting it's mark as he began his decent down the stairs, his progress being slowed by his constant need to dodge oncomming projectiles. Thankfully, it seemed that whomever sent these things after Rya had thought that this would be a mainly ground battle, because only a few were armed with crossbows, and their numbers were thinning quickly.

They would NOT get passed...

Rya tossed restlessly in her sleep most of the night, a frown on her face. She was having disturbing dreams in which she was being chased. At one point in the dream she distantly felt a touch on her cheek in the physical realm and she suddenly became aware that she was dreaming. Instinctively she attempted to wake up but quickly discovered she couldn't. She sensed resistance. Ayden, in dream with her, mentally spoke to her. <i>Something is going on in the conscious realm. I feel it,</i> he said. Her dreams faded away and she began to analyze and break down the magical barrier placed on her sleeping mind. It did not take long to bring down once she had a sense of it. It was an old trick that parents would put on their restless children. But she was no child.

The waking world came into sharp focus, bombarding her senses as she shook off the sleep still attempting to linger in her mind. She could hear shouting and the twacking of bolts hitting the walls outside. She was instantly up, ducked and crept to the window, carefully looking down below briefly, capturing an image of the ground below. Several men were converging on the building. <i>This does not look good my darling,</i> thought Ayden to her sarcastically. <i>I knew coming to the city was a bad ide-</i>

<i>Look, we don't even know for certain that they are after us. I mean, I've never seen anything like them before and neither have you.</i> Hearing more ruckus from outside she glanced at the door before taking one last survey of the ground below. <i>Either way-</i>

<i>We should probably help?</i> Ayden drawled at her, none too pleased to be caught in the particular situation.

Instead of answering she grabbed her bow and quiver which she slung upon her person automatically and headed determinedly toward the door, taking cover as she did so. One particular bolt came strait at her but rather than duck she instinctively caught it and thoughtfully placed it in her quiver for later investigation. Coming upon Heratio she asked slyly, "Is this your idea of a party? Because i would rather like to pass, thank you." She smiled at him, seizing another bolt from mid air as it came hurtling toward them. Catching a whiff of something twirled the bolt in her fingers and smelled the tip thoughtfully. <i>Valerian root?!</i> She looked puzzled. Valerian root in it's refined state could be a very powerful sedative.... Shrugging it off she stood and fired, the man who had fired dropped like a stone, dying instantly, her arrow sticking out of the man's skull. She dropped and listened and watched for another bolt. When it hit the wall behind them she stood and fired again. Another archer dropped.

"Well, this might take awhile at this rate ..." commented Ayden, oddly amused as he sat back and watched Heratio and Ryalyn pick off the ones coming from below. Rya smiled at him before standing to fire again.

Horatio looked back and was happy, if not alittle dissapointed, to see the sleeping beauty next to him, bow and quiver on-hand. "Trust me, if this were a party, there'd be more drinks" he said with a laugh as he fired three more bolts, every one slipping into the crease in the armor under the necks of his targets. He couldn't help but enjoy this, fighting alongside a beautiful woman and her shapeshifter friend. But then it became painfully obviouse that these men would be upon them before their ranks thinned enough. "Cover me" Horatio said with a sly smirk, then lept over the balcony.

He fell, spinning, flipping, and dodging hundereds of bolts and arrows as they came at him, untill his gracefull feet touched down, directly ontop of one assailent. In a flash, his dagger was out, it's magical proporties never having been more useful, as he was soon overwhelmed with soldiers. His hands worked fast and without mercy as more and more came at him, but whenever he started loosing heart, he would just look up at Rya. She was his guest, his charge, and he would protect her with his life.

It seemed as if there was no end to this; when the bard killed one person, three more seemed to take its place. And the body count was now going in fifty. The arrows rained down around him, peircing those that Horatio would not be able to kill himself. Yet still more came.

There were twenty more floors seperating him from the floor, and the bard could have sworn that he glimced a single man enter the fray followed by only the rays of the sun. It was almost over, just a hundred more to go. Just freakin peachy......

Rya's brow furrowed as she watched Heratio leap off the balcony. She covered him, knocking away arrows with her own as well as taking out the shooters. But she felt a fear. She didn't like being around this much death. It filled her with a deepening sense of unease and desperation.

Ayden stood defiantly on the banister watching the floors below. This is never going to work.... he thought to her, his voice a mere echoed among her other thoughts as she reached back for another arrow. Her hand met air. A shocked and fearful look overtook her face, her eyes darting over her shoulder and then down to Heratio. Time seemed to slow. Her hands gripped the banister as she looked downwards, the stray bolts whizzing past her through the air. Thoughts flooded to the surface of her mind, her eyelids fluttering shut, closing out the world around her. Heratio's entrancing music. And Taelon .... Taelon's singing, comforting her when she was restless, singing her to sleep. And another voice ... so far away ... singing to her in the dark ... so familiar ....

Before she realized what she was doing she began to sing. Her voice started low and quiet but soon it grew stronger, echoing down the stairwell and growing with momentum as it went, very old magic weaved within its sounds and words. The worlds felt strangely foreign yet familiar, in a tongue she had no memory of hearing or speaking before and yet still knew. The sounds of the battle faded, stopping altogether as she ended her song.

Suddenly becoming aware of herself, she shook herself out of her entranced state and opened her eyes, looking down, her face confused. Those who had not been shot down and killed by her or Heratio now lay motionless on the ground. She tried to make eye contact with Heratio but she suddenly felt very tired. She looked down at her hands which were shaking where she was gripping the banister. Her grip loosened and she slipped down to the floor, sitting down hard, Ayden dropping down carefully next to her. She was still sitting up but she felt so tired and she was still shaking, her arms wrapped around her as if she was cold. Ayden crept soundlessly up to her, carefully placing his front paws on her lap, bringing cat face close to hers. She looked up at him defiantly. Pushing him away carefully she cast a thought to him which he understood instantly. Shifting to a lemur he disappeared over the ledge. She watched him until he disappeared and then dropped her head again, closing her eyes. She couldn't let herself fall asleep....

As the music died away, as the fighting died, no one was left standing. Such power! the uncontiouse bard thought to himself,note to self, never piss her off. With that final thought, the bard began to raise himself, pushing off the bodies of those not as lucky as he. Why was he still alive, while all these other poor souls look as if their very life has been drained from them? For another timeHe reminded himself, turning up to the pearch of Rya and Ayden, then leaping up to the twelveth floor, then to the thirty sixth, and so on untill he landed next to the barly-contious Rya. "Come with me" he whispered to her, slipping something out of his pocket and around her neck, then picking her up and running out to his room and his window. "And before you say anything, shapeshifter, whoever sent them was probably watching, and i really don't think you friend would enjoy a repeat performance" he said, slipping Rya down on the chair, pulling a small pair of what looked like green-tinted glasses from off one of the display tables, and taking a look around with them.

"Well, i have good news and bad news." he said, turning to the two, "Good news is, whoever's after you still can't see us up here. The Bad news is, whoever it was was probably watching the fight through the eyes of those goons, and is also using a scrying spell to see you from above." God, Horatio had never been so thankful to be in this place, especially after those moments of paranoia Serafin would sometimes have. He walked over and flipped a small hidden switch, the door to the room being sealed off by a solid stone wall, and the window shimmering suddenly as if a wall of invisable energy passed over it. "For now, we're safe." he said, plopping down on one of the giant beanbag chairs and rubbing his temples.

Ayden slipped back up to the balcony again as Heratio reached Ryalyn, all her much treasured arrows in hand. He put them back in her quiver and, transforming into a much bigger animal, picked up her bow to follow them both inside, placing Rya's bow at easy access in her lap. Her hands grasped it like it were an anchor, keeping her in the waking world. Meanwhile, Ayden, shifting to a black serval, watched the doors closing with narrowed eyes, casting his glance at Heratio as he spoke.

"No. We cannot stay here. Those men are merely sleeping. I cannot say how long they will be unconscious but i doubt it will be for long." He looked at Rya who was now squirming in the chair in a frustrated manner. She was sensing something. He could feel it as well and it made him greatly uncomfortable.

"As for a repeat performance, she couldn't possibly do that again. It took too much out of her. Besides, she doesn't even know what she did nor how she did it." He looked at his companion thoughtfully. "I daresay she may have picked that up from you. Or at least partially, however. It's not really the first time she's been around sound magic . . . ."

Rya started to get up defiantly. Ayden, who had turned his back to them and had made his way toward the window too take a look said rather sternly "Sit!"

Rya sat down rather quickly and awkwardly, staring daggers at Ayden. As if feeling her angst he cast his eyes over his shoulder and mentally responded in a responsible yet soft tone, You must save your strength... Being connected as they were afforded certain liberties over each other if necessary. And so, Ayden gently prodded Ryalyn's mind to sleep. She fought slightly at first but she was far too tired and she knew he would watch over her as she slept. Once she had drifted off Ayden turned to Heratio, taking a position on the arm of a nearby chair. His green eyes were level with Heratio's and regarded him with an intense look.

"First of all, I want to know what it was you put around Rya's neck. Mind you, you will remove it if I don't like what I hear." He paused threateningly before continuing.

"Once that is taken care of we must find a way to leave. As I said, those men are only asleep, a modified form of sound magic I believe. I checked when I retrieved my companion's arrows."

As if sensing the man's earlier curiosity, Ayden added, "Her unconscious mind did not perceive you as a threat so you were spared. Even so, I cannot allow her to be placed in another desperate situation in which she feels threatened."

He looked away from Heratio, his eyes coming to rest on the sleeping Ryalyn as he continued, his authorative voice loosing its harshness and forcefullness, "Her powers are far too unpredictable and draining. . . . They will fail her if she tries again."

Ayden had his doubts but the man had just risked his life for theirs, thus managed to raise his status in Ayden's eyes. Besides, Ayden was a good judge of others intentions as his senses were sharp and penetrating. Ayden felt no real threat from the man and there was nothing to do but trust him. His companion was incapacitated and they would need all the help they could get, especially now. They had to get to somewhere safe where Rya could recover in peace because he knew that if her subconscious mind tried to do something like that again it could drain her energies so deeply that he would lose her forever. I cannot let that happen, he thought, the deepest love and fear for his companion glinting in his eyes.

Horatio nodded, "Don't worry, if everything goes our way, she wont have to" he said, then began his explination. "That thing on her neck is an amulet of considerable power, the origin of which we don't have time for me to get into. It allows the wearer to pass undetected by any scrying spell, which is how i belive that this place was found in the first place. She is of a unique bloodline, and with that blood comes a unique energy trail that even a novice wizard can track. With that around her neck, she will be invisable to those prying eyes. Also, about getting out of here. The spell around this room is like a bubble, and it extends around this place to an extent. And because whatever's hunting for her is now looking down at us, the shielding spell would still block us from her view even if we were to walk out the front door, which is impossible due to the army down there. So, my idea is that we, in short, jump out the window, pressing ourselves as close to the wall as we can, land on the ground, then make a break for one of the safehouses bards have created around the city." And with that, he took a deep breath in and looked to Ayden. "She's going to be alright" he added comfortingly, then smiling down at the girl.

Ayden's cool green eyes turned a shade of steely gray-green as he watched Heratio shrewdly. "What you've neglected to notice is that she cannot be moved in such a way at the moment. I'll be lucky if she wakes up soon." He cast a glance at Ryalyn who was still asleep in the chair, a frown present on her sleeping face. Turning his eyes back on Heratio he commented, "I think you underestimate the state she's in." Dropping to the floor he slunk over to her, carefully leaping up on her lap lightly. Circling carefully he plopped himself down and stared intently at Heratio.

"And if I'm not very much mistaken I do believe I heard you say 'her.' What makes you so certain our attacker is a female?"

This last question made Horatio think for a moment. In all truthfullness, he had no idea who their attacker was. But for some odd reason, it sounded right to him. That, and it felt like a woman's eyes trying to pierce the shield surrounding them. "I don't really know, it just kinda rolled off my tongue like that" he said, looking down at the shapeshifter in the girl's lap.

He then peeked out the window, glancing down at the ground. Well, this would be a fun trip. "I do not doubt that she is probably in some sort of comatose state at the moment, and that is why i don't expect her to move at all." he said simply, "I was actually planning on carrying her." The coast seemed to be clear, and he didn't think that the army resting below them would be waking up any time soon. Or, atleast he hoped they wouldn't. "Ok, Ayden. If we're going to do this, we should leave now while the gettin's good." he said, gathering up a few extra things that they might need incase they couldn't run fast enough. Simple things like scrolls, a few more bolt-clips, an ancient trinket or two, and he put them in his own travel pack, which he had yet to unpack since his return to the city. Figures, i finally come back for a vacation, and this is what happens. the bard thought to himself exasperatedly. "So, are we going?" he said, looking back down at the cat once his packing was done and the bag was slung up on his shoulder. Why he was seeking the permission of a being currently in the form of a kitten-like creature seemed a bit rediculouse considering the circumstances, but he figured it was better to ask then not and have an angery little kitty clawing out his eyes.

Ayden cease to watch Heratio and commenced in a rather cat like gesture of cleaning his fur as Heratio flitted about the room talking. Ayden simply looked up in a bored manner when Heratio asked his permission to leave.

"Whatever you like. You're the one who has to carry her. Me, I'm just going to stay on her person. I cannot risk being seen" he drawled, cuddling closer to Ryalyn, entirely tempted to be pulled into sleep with her, purring as he did so.

After a moment, sensing a bit of the man's restlessness, Ayden got up and gave Heratio a penetrating gaze. "I expect you to be careful. She gets hurt and I will entirely blame you... " he turn toward Rya, looking back over this shoulder thoughtfully. "Just so you know. After all, it seems you have claimed her as your charge. Besides, I won't be able to help you much." With that, he shifted to a mouse and disappeared into one of her pockets, out of the way and out of sight, his disembodied voice issuing in a sort of ordered warning, "And DON'T forget her things. She will never forgive you if you lose them."

The bard heard every word, every bit of superiority, or what he persived as superiority, in the cat's voice. And apon hearing all of it, he debated on whether or not Rya would be too upset if the shapeshifter were to take the leap first, while still in rat form. "Wow, you're a realy useful guy, you know that?" Horatio said under his breath at the little critter as he picked up his own bag, aswell as the rather large and heavy belongings of the girl's, wondering what use was a shapeshifter if he a) couldn't/wouldn't fight or b) couldn't/wouldn't even carry the bags. This was an indignation. I am Horatio, world renouned bard and storyteller, he thought to himself, I am not a freakin packmule!!! But whatever the thoughts going through his head, strapped the large bag to his back and gently picked up the girl.

With a final look at his beloved home, and a quick glance out the window, he jumped...

((Assuming that this morning is the morning following the events described in "Curiousity killed the rat"))

Kamar grumbled to himself as another group of nondescript men ran by the warehouse he had chosen to sleep the day away in. He sat up, stretching nimbly, then stood and grabbed his hooded robes from the hook upon which he had placed it. He threw it on, hastily belting it, then let himself out the window he had let himself in earlier, just before dawn.

Kamar slipped noiselessly to the ground in the what posed as the backyard of the warehouse, then slipped through a gate and into an alleyway. He moved swiftly through the shadows, not much more than glimmer of movement even in the early morning shadows. He pressed himself up against the wall of the warehouse as several more men trotted by. This time he was able to get a better look.

Secret police, maybe? I wonder what they are doing out in such force? Kamar thought to himself. Ever the curious one, he shrugged and decided to follow.

Glancing at the wall of the warehouse, then to the wall of the large factory next to it, Kamar smiled within the confines of his hood. He murmured under his breath, casting a spell. Within moments, millions of minute hairs grew on his hands and out of his slippers. With a nod of his head, he placed first one hand, then the other on the wall of the larger factory, and began his ascent, just as a spider would.

When he reached the top, he quickly glanced around, getting his bearings. From his perch, he could hear the sounds of fighting, and he quickly darted off in that direction, leaping rooftop to rooftop, occasionally latching on to walls and again climbing as a spider would. As he neared, a new sound erupted, what sounded like the faint sound of someone singing within the towering building just up the street. He noticed the sounds of fighting begin to die off as he crept cautiously to the edge of the building he was on. He settled himself in to watch.

"I must be more tired than I thought," he mused aloud as his eyelids began to droop. "I should get myself back to a safe place..." His eyes closed, and suddenly every alarm in his body was going off. With a struggle, he managed to get his eyes open and back to his feet, staggering back. He managed to remain standing, fighting whatever was attempting to lull him to sleep.

The singing stopped.

Kamar's eyes snapped open, then narrowed as he watched the building. He took another step back, then ran, making a leap to the next building, only two away from where the singing had been coming from. There were no sounds of movement coming from within, so Kamar crouched at the lip of the roof, just out of sight. He waited and watched for several minutes. Several of the men outside the building were splayed on the ground, as if they had fallen asleep where they stood and simply fallen. They looked like nothing more than forgotten toys left behind by a forgetful child.

From the corner of his eye, Kamar caught a movement from high up on the building. Instinctively, he crouched lower into the shadows, seeming to call more to him in order to hide him better. When he turned his head to look, he saw what looked like a man carrying a woman and a couple large bags leap from a window high up on the building.