Night's Haunting Read Online Free PDF Page B

desperately hanging onto the window frame as a spear was thrust at him. Realising just how precarious his position was, Lucius grabbed the shaft of the spear with his one free hand and pulled. Perhaps thinking Lucius was trying to pull him out of the window, the mercenary relaxed his grip on the spear. That was what Lucius had been waiting for.
    Thrusting the spear back into the window, Lucius felt the butt connect with the mercenary's chest, sending him stumbling back. Lucius then leapt upwards to catch the roof of the bay and hauled himself onto the roof.
    He saw Swinherd fighting a guard, the thrusts and swings from the mercenary forcing the thief back with every step. Glancing back across to the garden, Lucius saw Grayling sliding down the rope across the wall, followed by Ambrose, mercenaries racing below in a vain attempt to stop them. Gathering what remained of his strength, Lucius pounded up the tiles towards where Swinherd was fighting.
    A vicious swipe from the guard caused Swinherd to back up, and the thief lost his footing, slipping down to one knee as he tried to keep balance on the ridge of the roof. However, the guard paid him scant attention, instead hacking down on the escape rope with his sword, the blade passing through it easily. Lucius was sure Grayling had reached safety, but he saw Ambrose fall, disappearing into the hedges. Guards were cleaving their way through the vegetation within seconds.
    The mercenary on the roof turned back to Swinherd. Roaring to distract the man, Lucius ploughed into him. The mercenary slid down the incline of the roof, frantically scrabbling to arrest his descent. With a forlorn scream, he disappeared.
    Not waiting to hear the crash of the armoured guard hitting the ground, Lucius grabbed Swinherd.
    "There will be more of them up here at any moment," he said.
    "They've already discovered the ladder and kicked it down," Swinherd said. "I've found something else though. Come on!"
    Behind them, the mercenaries had apparently erected their own ladder, for two appeared on the roof at the far end of the mansion. Heading in the opposite direction, Swinherd guided Lucius along the roofline, and then threw himself down its incline, sliding to the rear of de Lille's home. Controlling their descent, they steadied themselves as they reached the edge. Looking down, Lucius saw that an outbuilding butted onto the back of the mansion, its own sloped roof reaching up perhaps half the height of the main building.
    "It's a longer drop than I thought," Swinherd admitted.
    Lucius looked over his shoulder to see mercenaries rapidly approaching, with more close behind. He groaned in expectation of the coming pain.
    "We have little choice," he said.
    Grabbing the stone gutters, he swung his legs over and dangled for a few seconds before letting go.
    Lucius seemed to fall for an age. Then, with a jarring thud, he slammed into the roof tiles of the outbuilding, shattering dozens of them with the impact. Immediately, he began to slide down, causing a cascade of broken tiles to tumble before him. He was barely aware of rolling off the roof until he hit the grass with a blow that forced all the air out of his body.
    Another thud in the ground right next to him marked Swinherd's impact. The thief moaned in pain as Lucius forced himself to stand.
    "You alright?" Lucius asked as he reached down to help Swinherd.
    "Just twisted me ankle," Swinherd said, though Lucius saw the pain he was in, and wondered if the fall had not broken it.
    Quickly looking about him, Lucius searched for an escape route. Swinherd would slow him down, but he couldn't leave him.
    More shouts from mercenaries alerted him to hurry, as those on the roof began directing the efforts of those in the gardens. The shortest route out of de Lille's grounds was the tall wall that surrounded them on all sides, but Swinherd was in no shape to scale anything, and he could hardly throw the man over it.
    If not over, then through.
    Though he was