Blood of the Neko - 18. Chapter 18

"We're ready, my lord," Captain Brenner stated as he brought his horse in line with the duke's.

Damien nodded. He'd watched the packing and mounting up of the men with calm precision. Even in the dark, with just the moon to light their way, there was an ease of camaraderie with all of the men. The rescued men were given horses to ride, as two of the men had been sent as scouts. Finn, he noticed, was riding Arabella, and Damien was silently glad. He knew that Kayden would want his horse looked after by someone he trusted.

"Okay, let's go." He motioned the group to move.

There was no way to mask the approach of so many horses, but they hoped the cover of the dark would help mask just how many they had. On more than one occasion, Brenner had tried to talk him into not riding at the head of the contingent, but Damien had refused to move, insisting they needed a show of strength and power. Hiding within the ranks would only show Laos that they thought he was a threat. Oliver Druet, however, was to stay further back, should something happen to the duke, he would become the voice of the king.

As they approached the bottom of the mountains, a figure darted into their path, and Brenner immediately drew himself in front of the duke, his gun aimed.

"Sir!" the voice called, pulling up quickly, his hands rising. "It's Byram! Saladin sent me back to inform you that we have taken the lookout."

The captain eased his stance, slipping his gun away. "Geez, Byram, you nearly got your head shot off."

"I'm sorry, sir," the neko breathed. "I was hurrying as fast as I could to catch you. The captured lookouts said that the miners have at least forty or more men ready to fight."

"Forty?" Damien growled. "How did he get so many men to side with him against the king?"

"They said many of them are mercenaries that he hired from across the border in Polanthia."

Damien's face was grim in the moonlight as he gripped the reins. Brenner didn't look any happier.

"Get to your horse," Brenner ordered the neko guard.

Damien kicked Gemini into motion.

"Don't suppose this changes anything?" Geoff stated.

"No, it doesn't," the duke said firmly. "It just means everything could get a lot uglier."

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Kayden had slipped the keys inside his black shirt and under the dressing that wrapped around his torso. The keys bit into the healing wound a bit, but it kept them from jangling as he ran. He darted down the path toward the compound, his feet landing lightly and stealthily.

He was startled when he was yanked off his feet by the waist and swung around into the concealing brush. His yelp of surprise was cut off by a hand over his mouth. With wide eyes he looked up to see the two hybrid guards that Saladin had sent down the path to keep watch. He sagged against the one holding him in relief.

"What the hell are you doing down here?" Marcus (at least that's who he thought it was) asked.

The guard behind him (Robert?) released him now that he was sure Kayden wasn't going to make any noise to alert anyone to their presence.

"Saladin s-sent me," Kayden lied.

Marcus didn't look like he believed that.

"We found these keys on the guard up there," Kayden said, pulling out the set of keys. "He sent me to sneak into the compound and try to free some of the slaves. He hopes the freed slaves will fight with us against the miners and give his grace an advantage."

Marcus cocked his head as if considering the story. He even glanced over Kayden's shoulder to his partner for thoughts. Robert apparently just shrugged.

"Freed slaves would give his grace a much bigger advantage," Robert conceded. "It does make sense."

"Yeah," Marcus agreed, but then he narrowed his feline eyes on the young neko, "but he wouldn't send the kit to do it."

Kayden jutted his chin out, his hand closing into a fist. "I'm the only one who already knows the compound. It only made sense for me to go. He wasn't happy about it either, but I talked him into it."

Marcus took several seconds, staring at the boy, he seemed to be trying to determine if he was lying. Kayden could almost see the thoughts in the guard's eyes: 'The boy did have the keys, and Saladin wouldn't just hand them over to the kit if he didn't intend the boy to do something with them'. "Fine, we'll keep an eye on you. Try not to get caught."

Robert chuckled lightly as Kayden nodded, tucking the keys away and taking off down the pass silently.

Kayden let out a breath as he paused on the path far enough away from the guards so they wouldn't see him. He took a few seconds to get his focus back onto the compound. He'd been a bit rattled when Robert had grabbed him, and he needed to be sure he'd calmed down before he slipped out of the protective covering of the woods.

Kayden made his way to the edge of the woods. There were still a few trees between the thicker woods and the compound, but there was the possible threat of being seen moving from one to another. He carefully watched for movements of guards among the buildings, most of which seemed to be lazing idly about, if they were even awake.

He removed his cumbersome boots and the warm socks, leaving them behind the tree to retrieve later. He would need to be silent, and he couldn't do that in those dumb shoes.

Kayden hoped that they felt secure enough in their strength of numbers to not be overly concerned with lookouts. He thought maybe they were relying on their lookouts on the mountain crag to sound an alert before anyone got close, especially considering the small pass they'd have to come through.

They weren't concerned with being surrounded, and they were focused only on the mountain pass.

So, Kayden was able to circle toward the right, away from the pass, coming up nearly to the side of the compound instead of directly at it. He'd made quick darts from tree to tree, pausing only to note if anyone seemed to have noticed his movements. He was now as close as he could get under the cover of trees. He had focused on the closest slave barracks that lined the edge of the compound. He'd have to make about a thirty yard dash in the glare of the moonlight to reach the shadows at the back of the building.

He thought again of Damien, riding in to face the miner's force. The idea that Laos or any of his minions might hurt his master steeled his resolve.

He ran.

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"Hasn't the kit come back yet?" Saladin asked as he looked around the makeshift camp.

The other hybrids glanced around, seeming slightly puzzled as well that the boy hadn't returned from his bathroom break. Each of them darted their sharp eyes into the darkness, cocking their heads to focus on the sounds around them as they listened for signs of Kayden's movements.

"No, sir," one of them finally said, frowning.

Saladin rose to his feet, brushing off his pants. Odd. He turned toward the path the boy had taken. "I'll be right back. Keep watch."

"Yes, sir," they said sharply.

Saladin made his way a bit down the path, peering into the woods for signs of the younger neko. "Kayden?" he called in a hushed whisper, but he only received the quiet of the night in answer.

He trekked farther. The kit wouldn't have come this far down, would he? Certainly, the boy couldn't have gotten lost. Saladin was beginning to feel a niggle of worry creeping into his chest, especially as he was getting farther down the mountain.

"Sir?" Marcus whispered harshly to his right, obviously having recognized his superior in the small glimmer of moonlight.

"Marcus," Saladin addressed the man, even as his eyes were still darting around the foliage, "have you seen the kit?"

Marcus and Robert exchanged an odd look. "The boy, Kayden? Yes, sir."

Saladin allowed himself a sigh of relief; at least the kit wasn't missing. Thank God. "Good, where is he?"

Marcus suddenly looked uncomfortable, and Robert shrink back a bit. Marcus cast a quick glance toward the compound before licking his lips and facing his superior. "Uh, sir, he's, uh..."

Saladin frowned. "He's...?" he prompted.

"Down there, sir," Marcus gushed out quickly, pointing toward the compound.

"He's what?" Saladin hissed, controlling his voice.

Marcus looked uncomfortable, but he managed to straighten his shoulders and face the scrutiny of his superior. "He said he was to go into the compound and attempt to free some of the slaves to aid in the lord's taking over of the compound."

Saladin's frown deepened as his hands rose to his hips. "And you believed him?"

"He had the keys, sir. He said you gave them to him. He said that you'd all discussed freeing the slaves and that he convinced you that he was the best one to go."

"That little brat," Saladin mumbled under his breath. "We've got to go get him. The duke will have our hides if he finds out we let the kit do something so dangerous."

Marcus and Robert nodded, quickly turning to hurry down the trail after Saladin. About halfway, they skidded to a halt. The hybrid guard saw a dark figure racing across the open ground from the tree line to the nearest building. It was clear to them who that little figure had to be.

"Fuck," Saladin cursed under his breath, his lips set in a grim line. It was too late to stop the boy, not without risking alerting the compound by sending in more men. The duke would be furious. Brenner too. "Damn it." He pointed at Robert. "Get back up to the others; let them know what's happening and make sure they know to keep a rifle trained on the compound now. Bring one of the others back with you and meet us down the path. Marcus and I are going down now. We have to be ready to move if the kit gets in trouble."

"Yes, sir."

Saladin shook his head as he took off down the hill, leaping easily over small obstacles. "I swear, I'm going to kill the kit myself, if he doesn't fucking get caught first."

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Kayden controlled his sigh of relief when he made it to the shadows of the building without being seen. He pressed his thin body up against the brick wall, glancing briefly in both directions as well as cocking his pointed black ears checking for the tell-tale signs of any guards approaching. He only heard the occasional murmur and chuckle of the guards assigned to duty. He knew soon they all would be waking in the predawn hour to await the arrival of the duke. They had probably done the same routine each day for several weeks or maybe even months, in expectation of the king finally tiring of less product coming from the mines.

He turned and reached for the small open window. He knew if any of the others had come in his stead, they would not be able to fit through. He lifted up on his toes and peered in, the stench from inside causing his nose to wrinkle. There were two lamps lit in the large room, providing enough light to see the mass of bodies sprawled on the floor in two long rows, one on each long wall. He could hear the muffled cough many of the slaves developed after working the mines without a cloth to protect their nose and mouth from the coal dust. The coughs were so common and regular that none of them were even disturbed by it. Often the rattle of the chain linking their ankles to each other could be heard as a slave shifted in their sleep or was jerked by a particularly vigorous coughing fit.

Kayden's keen eyes quickly picked out that there was no guard present inside the barracks, which is what he had hoped and anticipated. There was undoubtedly one on the other side of the door though. Kayden lifted himself through the window, hovering briefly on the sill before turning to ease himself down the wall to land adeptly between two slaves.

As he squatted down, the slaves next to him jerked awake, but apparently conditioning by Laos and his overseers kept the men's cry of surprise near silent. Both of them looked at him with wide eyes, clearly shocked by his presence, but neither of them seemed afraid.

Kayden held his finger to his lips to indicate for them to keep quiet as he pulled the keys from inside his bandage. He held up the keys and the slaves eyes bulged, hope flooding the depths where despair had taken residence.

In silent motions, Kayden indicated that he was going to unlock their feet. He motioned for the slaves to quietly wake each person next to them and let them know what was happening, so they wouldn't be surprised and somehow alert the guard outside.

The men nodded eagerly, quickly turning to the slave laying next to them, waking them with quick efficiency and relaying what was happening. By the time, Kayden had crawled to the man's foot, found the correct key for this line of slaves, and unlocked the first man, the next few slaves were already awake.

The soft jingle of the keys had alerted a couple of lightly sleeping slaves on the other side of the room, and Kayden had to quickly shush them before they raised too much noise that would make the guard wonder what was going on.

Once he had the padlock removed from the first man, Kayden slipped that key from the key ring and handed it over to the man who was now technically free, with only the shackle still wrapped around his ankle, but easy to shake free. Kayden leaned in next to the man as he handed the key over.

"This key opens the locks on all of the ones in your chain line. Pass it down. Have them remove the locks, but keep the shackle in place just in case a guard checks in. My lord, the Duke of Whitmore, is on his way to help, but Laos' men outnumber him. When the time comes, any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated."

The man smiled widely, his crooked, yellow teeth shining in the low light of the lamp. "Anything to escape from Laos."

Kayden smiled and turned to move off, but the man grabbed his arm. "You're just a boy. Why would they send such a young one to help us?"

"I was one of you, in a way. I was too young for the mines, but the hunters who--"

A dirty hand suddenly landed on his cheek, the man's eyes going wide. "Oh, my god. You're that boy. The one those bastards whipped and tormented. Fuck, I thought they'd killed you."

Kayden smiled. "I was sold and then saved by the Duke's family. I know this compound better than any of them. Now go."

Kayden scurried across to the other row of slaves, most of whom were now awake and watching him with awe. He knelt next to the nearest and fumbled with keys until he found the one that worked. He quickly removed it and handed it over, the man knowing exactly what to do with it now. Kayden was sure word would pass quickly amongst the slaves now.

He stepped lightly down the barracks to the door. He listened carefully, and after hearing a slight snore, he started slipping keys in the door to determine which one opened it. Once he found the right one, he slipped it off the ring and handed it to the nearest slave who accepted it with a nod.

The slight rise of excited movement and praise made him put his finger to his lip to remind them to keep quiet for now as he slipped back to the window he'd come in. One down, three more to go. He peeked out the window before he hefted himself up, slipping back into the shadows of the night.