The Hole
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I gasped as the night air rushed over me, forcing my eyes shut. After a moment, I opened them and looked up to the underside of Lero's jaw, framed by the starry sky and the castle that loomed over us as he ran. In seconds, it was gone, and there was nothing above our heads but the ether. I swept my eyes downward.
"Lero, stop!"
He skidded to a halt on the grass. "This is no time to hesitate."
"Put me down. Just..." I put a hand on his chest. "I'm fine."
"What is it?" he asked, though he did set me down on my feet. I noticed that his voice, while still a bit growly, was relaxing again. Perhaps tempering with his emotions.
I took a few steps back toward the castle and knelt down, retrieving the gold coat-of-arms, the valuable trinket that had gotten me into this whole mess.
"Is that really important right now?" Lero questioned. He had stepped up beside me, casting his gaze down at the shining treasure I was holding.
"I have a safe place," I said to him. "One that will take us in and hide us, at least for tonight. This will get you in with me."
"All right, Myra," he said, "but we have to keep going."
I felt myself filled with new energy. Seeing the castle on the horizon instead of being barricaded inside of its walls was liberating. "I'll lead the way."
"How far is it?" Lero asked.
I turned to him. "It's..." My voice faltered. Before my eyes, his fur was growing shorter, his muzzle shrinking. "Oh, Lero, you're..."
He nodded. "The worst of this night is over, I hope. Before we're too deep into the forest, I'll be back to normal." He watched me silently, waiting for me to speak. "But we'd better go."
"Right. Of course." More could emerge from the estate at any moment. Maybe with the dogs again. "Follow me."
With a strange, flitting sensation of deja vu, I set us off on the same course I had been following when that damn hound had caught me. This time, though, we made it to the trees, and inside I let out of billowing sigh of relief.
"So what is this safe place?" Lero said. Once further into the trees, we had slowed our pace down a bit.
"It's...well..." I was annoyed at my own hesitance. I hadn't felt ashamed at being a thief for quite some time. Is that what this was? I was ashamed?
"Your thieves' hideout, yes?"
"Yes," I said, further irritated at the heat in my cheeks. "The Hole. We'll be safe there. I have no doubt."
"That's fine. Will we have any privacy?"
Privacy? "What...what for?"
"We have to discuss what comes next. You..." Lero paused, the two of us still on the move. "Us being together now is very significant."
"You mean..."
"Yes," Lero said. "I haven't met another one like me in many, many years. I never thought that I would again."
I didn't know what to say to that.
Much deeper into the vast expanse of forest, we reached the telltale trio of slashed oaks that signified we were close. Well, telltale to me, at least, and to my colleagues. Certainly not to Lero, who had asked more than once if I was sure I knew where I was going.
"Okay," I said, slowing down as we reached a dense bramble cluster strewn between trunks. "We're here."
"Through there, then?" Lero pulled at a thorny vine.
"Yes. Well, over this way. There's a tunnel of sorts." I led him to the right, unconsciously counting the trees in my mind as we passed them. "Here. Follow me exactly if you don't want to get scratched up."
I got down into the dirt, shifting aside a bundle of smoothed-down brambles. It revealed a low-ceilinged, arching path through the otherwise neck-high thorny brush. I stooped low and went inside, and Lero did the same.
"Hold on," I said, carefully turning around in the small space. I moved towards Lero, pressing up against him, and reached past him to grab the brush cover and pull it back over the entrance. Focused as I was on my task, I didn't miss the heat of his body against mine, or the hard contours of muscle on his spare (human) frame and shirtless torso. But I didn't linger on them, either.
"Okay," I said, and turned around. "Let's go." I patted my pocket, making sure that the dense gold emblem was there, even though I could feel its weight against my leg. Just a habit.
The tunnel was much longer than it rightly should have been, continuing even past the actual bramble patch. It sloped very slightly underground at a gradual decline, but by the time we reached the wooden door at the end, we were five feet below the surface.
"Take a step back," I muttered to Lero, raising my hand to the door. "Not so close. We're a wary bunch, especially with unfamiliar faces."
Wordlessly, he complied.
I placed my fingertips on the door and moved them to the hidden latch nestled against the frame. When pulled, it would ring a chime inside. Nobody would answer to a knock or a call. I tugged on the latch and waited.
The slat in the door slid open and I was met with a pair of sunken eyes that flickered in what must have been candlelight. Barnaby.
"It's Myra," I said.
"Who's with you?" came his quick response. Barnaby never was one for greetings.
"He's a friend, Barney. He needs asylum."
Unblinking. "What have you got for him?"
I heard Lero shift behind me as I pulled the coat of arms out of my pocket. I held it up to the dim light emerging from the slot in the door. "Solid gold."
"Let's have a look, then. He stays outside for now."
I nodded, then glanced back at Lero, who did the same. I'll wait, his eyes said.
There was some shuffling, then the door was slowly pulled open. It was a lot thicker and heavier than its unassuming exterior made it look. I slipped inside the narrow space Barnaby granted, and as soon as I was in, he pulled the door shut. It met its threshold with a loud click.
"Here." Barnaby stuck out his hand. He was a man of average height, dark features, and general scruffiness, and he had the voice and diction to match. He was the door keeper, and he decided who got in and stayed.
I gave him my spoil, surprisingly unperturbed at having to turn it over. The only reason I'd taken it in the first place was to prove that I could, and in light of what had transpired, it seemed quite insignificant.
Not to Barnaby, though. I saw his usually stoic eyes widen at the sight of the coat-of-arms, and he brought it closer to his snubbed nose.
"This is the Eaves," he said.
"Aye."
"You went back." Now his eyes looked to me, narrowed and accusing.
"Don't worry about what I have or haven't done, Barney. Just tell me, can I come in with my company or should I find a better buyer?" I did my best to look bored.
"Of course," he grumbled. "But you know Jed will ask about it the moment he sees it."
"If he's not too blinded by the sheen," I tacked on. That crack lightened Barnaby's gaze a bit, and he lowered the treasure to his side.
"Move, then. I'll open the door. Keep your friend in tow."
"Understood."
Barnaby gripped the steel handle on the inside of the door and pulled, dragging it open. I saw Lero, standing in the exact same spot. He didn't want to jeopardize any part of this, which was good. No one inside of the guild would tolerate any misbehavior from an outsider.
I tilted my head at him. "Come on, Lero. We're good."
His eyes shifted briefly to the left, where Barnaby stood beside me. "All right," he said, and came inside.
"Myra, you first," Barnaby said after closing the door. "Then your friend, and then me. We're going to the Hall."