Arq by Emalie!

Beyond the Lydia is the gate. And movement. The movement of many men.

Row after row of human guards are entering Elftown from the gate, marching down the road until they are swallowed up by the hulking tenements. It was the guards' cadenced footsteps that I felt down in the dungeon. They advance into Elftown without speaking. Every few rows one of them holds a covered lantern. The others march with weapons drawn. It can only mean one thing. I pull back and gesture for Enturi to look.

"What is happening?" he asks.

"The red tide."

He looks back at me, gaping.

"It can't be!"

"Well then, what the hell else is it?" I ask. "Have you ever seen that many guards?"

"No."

"Are they still coming through the gate?"

Enturi peers out into the rain again. "No, there are no more coming."

"Where are they going?"

"They are all marching down Gate Way."

I push him aside and look again. The last few rows of guards disappear down Gate Way. I watch, but no more guards appear. If the gate closes, I can't hear it.

I look back at Enturi. In the dim light I can see that he is wearing that look of studied concentration he gets when he is analyzing potential courses of action. For once, I am glad he's with me. Saves me the trouble of having to puzzle out what to do myself. Because frankly, the options that come to mind don't seem that great.

Long moments pass. He's still thinking. Goddess, at this rate we'll still be sitting here when dawn pushes wearily through the rainclouds.

"What's it going to be, Enturi?" I ask. "Counterattack? Are we going to swirl around the ragged edges of the red tide and pick off stray humans? Put on their armor and escape through the gate posing as wounded guards? Get back to Jet and get some orders? Or shall we just hide here and see how it shakes out?"

He looks at me in irritation.

"I don't know yet. Let me think."

"Fine. Sage it up, smart guy." I look out the hole again, trying to figure out what is going on. I can't see anything but the rain and the darkness of the slum's night silhouette. The guards have moved deeper into Elftown, and the faint glints of light that peeked out of their hooded lanterns are no longer visible. No buildings are burning.

I listen but hear nothing over the muffling sounds of the rain. No shouting. No screaming of elves being cut down in their homes at night. Far to the left come faint sounds of the nighttime operations at the smelter. That is all.

"Maybe I was wrong," I whisper back at Enturi. "Maybe it's not the red tide. There's nothing happening out there. What do you think?"

"We'll wait here and see if something happens," he says in reply. "If it stays quiet, then we'll decide whether to sneak out in the last bit of darkness or hole up here." His plan makes sense. But unless the slum is in the middle of a slaughter, I expect I'll want to get out of here when the time comes. Goddess, I hope this human guard incursion has nothing to do with me. But I have an uneasy feeling that it does.

I watch while Enturi sits next to me, silently. I yield the hole to him for a few moments and wander down the stairs to piss in a dark corner.

Not too long after I return and resume watching, it starts. The dull sound of the incessant rain is broken by a series of pounding crashes, scattered around Elftown, though they seem to be focused in the central district. Jet's territory. I've heard this sound before, most recently at Calmorien's place. It is the sound of doors being forced.

I can feel Enturi's hand on my shoulder as he moves to crouch behind me and look over my shoulder and out into the violent night.

The pounding rises to a loud crescendo and then drops off, followed by the noises of shouting voices mixed with other sounds - the stomping of heavy boots, the clang of weapons, crashes from items thrown or broken, cries of surprise and fear and pain. Gradually the noises die down, and finally stop.

After a few more moments, I see the glow of lantern lights shining amongst the darkness of Elftown's shabby tenements, some on this side of Gate Way, some on the other; a few close at hand, and some almost all the way to the harbor. The guards have unhooded their lanterns. The lights move toward Gate Way and meet in Market Square, coalescing into a circle of light, which then elongates to an eel shape as the lights move up the street toward the gate. The sound of feet marching in unison breaks through the rain.

Whatever the humans did, they feel no need for stealth now.