The healer’s house got loud. Yells of halt thief, you won’t get away, justice will prevail and plenty of other cliched statements bounced and merged among the mounds of stuff, strangely muted at some angles and amplified at others. Peacock counted at least five voices.
A pile crashed down close to Peacock, letting him glimpse the muscular Plantfolk he’d avoided at the warriors’ house as it fell on its face into tunics. Apparently, pathfinding in the mess wasn’t easy for NPCs, either.
Unfortunately, the guard had also covered up the clear path. Not that meandering down the clear path was a great idea in a house filled with NPCs after his head.
Peacock scanned the surrounding piles. He couldn’t go back the way he came, and hiding in the house with a bounty on his head wouldn’t make them go away. It was over the piles or wait to get caught.
The fallen guard tried to stand, slipped, and hit the ground again. More yells echoed, mostly from the left.
Peacock jumped right, every thought in his head blaring two things—don’t be seen, and don’t get caught.
He landed on top of the pile of books, distributing his weight as evenly as he could. A book under his left leg shifted but didn’t fall. Peacock hunkered down. From his vantage point, he could see the other guards.
As he thought, three of the guards were to the right, trying rather unsuccessfully to work their way through the clutter while stabbing the piles with serrated blades. A chill went down Peacock’s spine. He was even more glad he hadn’t hidden in the piles.
The fifth guard, and an unexpected sixth, moved along the right side. Only a couple feet separated them.
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Peacock looked up at the domed ceiling. Good thing jungle houses come with high roofs.
He took aim, jumping from pile to pile. The guards drew closer. One more jump, and he’d be between the right-most two guards. He’d also be in direct line of sight, which meant he’d have a split second to jump over them before being tackled or stabbed.
Peacock launched and landed on top of a breastplate, chain skirt, and rug. All three items slid out from under him, sending him careening toward the floor.
Metallic clangs ricocheted around the house as he hit, the rest of the pile collapsing around him, bringing the two guards on the other side into clear view.
Peacock jerked right on instinct, seeking the cover of another pile. The new mound collapsed. In an instant, Peacock’s plan frayed, and he found himself snaking through fallen and falling debris toward the door. Something sharp pierced his foot. NPCs bellowed from behind him.
The door. All I need is to get to the door.
The door rose in front of him like a beacon. Peacock hit it hard, hand scrambling at the knob as he pushed with all his might.
The door didn’t swing open. Instead, it began a slow slide into the wall.
Shiiit.
Peacock spun to face his pursuers, dunking down and willing his body to be invisible.
He tensed in anticipation. Nothing happened. The two guards who had locked eyes with him were still shifting through the piles that had collapsed. Two of the other three were making their way toward their comrades, sinking up to their thighs as they shuffled through.
No one looked Peacock’s way.
Peacock’s heart slammed into his chest, his teeth clenched hard enough his jaw ached as the stone slab of a door completed its crawl into the door frame.
In some sort of miracle, Peacock slipped out without a single guard noticing. He dove back into the shadows and raced toward the nearest city exit.
ESCAPE SUCCESSFUL
GUARDS DISMISSED
BOUNTY SET AT THIRTY-THREE THOUSAND GOLD
Peacock didn’t slow down until the city walls were buried behind the thick foliage of jungle trees. Once far enough away, he found a thick patch of broad-leafed ferns as tall as he was, buried himself in the middle, and waited until his heart stopped trying to leap out of his throat. It took the rest of the day.