Two Chases

Mia dashed through the alley, determined not to lose track of the military procession. After entering the back alleys, it quickly became clear to her that little to no planning had gone into this city. Some paths led to dead ends. Others seemed almost as if they had been main streets at one point before new construction crowded them out. Although Mia could still hear the drummers, they were now the equivalent of several streets over, and it was getting hard to keep up.

Fortunately, Mia had one thing going for her. She’d spent years training her body. As she was in excellent shape, she could keep running for quite some time before running out of steam. On the other hand, the alleys were far from abandoned, and the people back here weren’t just standing around watching something.

“Sorry!” Mia shouted as she turned sideways and did a sort of hop through the slight gap between a woman and the wall. She didn’t quite manage to get through without making contact, but she had no time to stick around and explain herself. At her current pace the irritated cursing faded into the distance quickly, but she noted that it had sounded curiously like English.

Turning a corner, Mia dodged around a man carrying a stack of boxes. Ten paces after that she had to jump over a child playing with a crude ragdoll. She blew past an intersection, only to discover at the next turn that she’d hit another dead end, forcing her to backtrack and take the other turn instead. The new path took Mia into a tiny plaza centered around a well where several women had gathered to gossip, but Mia paid them only enough mind to give them a slight berth on the way through.

All the while, that drumbeat continued on, echoing off the stone walls of the city’s buildings. The sound carried for an incredible distance in a city like this, giving Mia the perfect beacon to follow. Now and then other sounds intruded like bells or shouting, but always the drums cut through unabated.

A gaggle of furred birds came screaming out of a crossroad ahead, nearly managing to trip Mia up, but she’d heard them coming. That gave her enough forewarning to be ready for the obstruction. She dove over the strange creatures, tucked into a roll, and came up running.

So the chase continued. Mia dodged some people, used boxes as platforms to go over others, and apologized profusely in her head after bumping into a back alley stall and knocking someone’s handicrafts to the ground. At times the drum grew further away; at others the came close. Only when the drumming stopped did Mia slow to a stop.

Before she could panic, however, Mia turned the next corner and realized why the drumming had ceased. The soldiers had reached their destination, and so had Mia. Stepping out of the alley, Mia found herself on the edge of a large, fenced compound with a broad central mustering area. Most of the soldiers were already dispersing into their barracks, leaving a small number behind to unload the carriages. One man inserted a key into the first carriage’s lock and turned. The door popped open.

“Alright, on your feet, you lot! Processing takes too damned long as it is; any delays are coming out of your hides!” the soldier commanded in distinctly comprehensible English. He had an accent, but the language was unmistakable, even from a distance.

Mia had only been able to hear him because he’d yelled so loudly, though. She decided she’d have to get closer to get a better idea of what was going on. It wouldn’t be too hard, as the area around the compound was curiously deserted. People were likely avoiding it on purpose. Creeping up to the fence, Mia peered through the bars. A few dozen soldiers remained in an area large enough to fit hundreds, and between them sat a half dozen or so of the barred carriages Mia had seen before.

At the soldier’s command, a people poured out of the carriage one after another. Both men and women were represented. Some were as young as children, but none looked older than their thirties. Chains bound each person by the wrists and ankles, making it difficult for them to walk, but the soldiers around them didn’t care, prodding or striking them if they were too slow.

The presence of children told Mia all she needed to know; these weren’t just prisoners. Still, she strained her ears to catch the chatter between the soldiers, hoping to gather a little more information.

“Been…since…this many,” one of them said. Try as she might, Mia couldn’t make out the rest.

“…attack…coast…” another replied.

“…trounced them. Raids…lot easier…”

“I’m looking forward…auction…”

“Too pricey…my blood…saving…a while!”

“There she is!” someone shouted from behind Mia. She pushed herself away from the fence, whirling around. At first she feared a patrolling soldier had caught sight of her, but the person pointing at her wasn’t wearing a uniform. He looked more like the civilians she’d seen on the streets before, actually. A handful of others filed followed him out of the alley, breathing heavily.

“Should we alert the garrison?” one of them asked. Mia didn’t wait to hear the answer; she bolted for a different alleyway further down the street. “Hey!”

A chorus of boots pounded the paving stones behind Mia as she ran into the alley, taking every turn she found in the hopes of giving them the slip more quickly. Three turns later, though, she came skidding to a stop, realizing she’d run herself straight into yet another dead end. She turned around, but she already knew there would be no escaping. Her maneuvering hadn’t succeeded in buying her all that much of a lead yet, so she wasn’t surprised when the men followed her into the alley with only couple seconds’ delay.

“Hope the boss didn’t want her for her brains,” one of the men muttered.

“Move aside,” another man commanded. The group parted to reveal a human man in fine clothing vaguely reminiscent of Victorian-era English fashion. He wore heavy makeup and a great deal of jewelry, marking him as someone important. After looking Mia up and down in a manner that made her skin crawl, he turned to one of the men in particular—a pig-eared thug with a scar running down his arm. “Excellent work, master slavecatcher. Tell me, how would you evaluate this one?”