“Naturally,” Rahma drawled. “Do you know anything about using black powder?”
“Umm . . .” That was where his plan fell apart. He vaguely understoodwhatit was and to keep it away from open flames, but he lacked the specialized knowledge to utilize the wealth of it in the tunnel.
“Don’t worry, Underqualified Piper.” She patted his arm with mock condescension. “Today is your lucky day.Iknow what we need.”
“How do you know about black powder?” As’ad asked, ablaze with curiosity.
“I read.” She shrugged, then grinned. “One of our neighbors was obsessed with scientific advancements and had several papers on the subject a few years ago. I only read them because my mother volunteered me to entertain him when he broke his leg and was stuck in bed for the first few weeks. That cranky old man wouldn’t let me read aloud anything that wasn’t strictly factual.” She wrinkled her nose. “But I’m glad for it now.”
“Me, too! What do we need?”
Rahma walked him through the process. The supplies they needed would be readily available in a city this size, but it would have to wait until morning. The next order of business was figuring out how to get the guards away from the tunnel.
“I think scaring them would be the most effective. Do you think a million rats would do it?” Rahma asked.
“Hmm, maybe. Will that be enough to get them away from the house, too? Or should we get everyone out of the house first?” He stood, pulled out a blanket, wrapped it around her shoulders, then sat down again. “I think we should burn the house down.”
“Thank you,” Rahma offered with a smile. Her growing shivers settled. “I agree. If this is where they collect people before shipping them out to the slave markets somewhere else, they shouldn’t get to keep it.”
As’ad couldn’t see the house from their hideaway, but he recalled its dried-out appearance. “I think the whole thing would catch pretty fast if we caught any of it on fire. What do you think?”
Rahma nodded. “You could play an illusion of fire into reality. That should be enough to get everyone out of the building.Thenwe can torch it for real.”
“Perfect! We’ll have to make arrangements with Suha to give us a signal so we know everyone is safe for sure.”
“Then what? We can get everyone out, burn the house down, and explode the tunnels, but how do we get the guards away from the children?”
A foolproof solution eluded them for a good while. None of the closest decrepit buildings showed signs of life, but that didn’t mean reinforcements weren’t close at hand. They needed something that would cause the dwarves to ditch their charges. They finally stumbled on half an idea to hide the children with an illusion. As’ad told Rahma to get some sleep while he kept watch; then he continued to ruminate on the idea.
Eventually, the outhouse saved the day. As’ad knew people tended to watch a burning building. When the guards and children escaped the “burning” house, they would run to a safe distance, then most likely turn around to watch. The guards might even try to save it. A half-crumbled well stood midway between this house and its nearest neighbor. While the dwarves were distracted, it would be fairly simple to send the children one at a time behind a wall illusion.
If As’ad made the privy invisible and set up an identical one right next to it, the children could pass through the illusion of the outhouse, which would serve as the entry point for a safe space hidden by another illusion. The guards would have no reason to search a small one-person wooden building for twenty-two children. He trusted that Suha and the older ones could keep everyone quiet while they hid. The dwarves wouldn’t be able to find them, and without a house to return to, they should scatter. If need be, As’ad could call up a plague of rats to encourage them to leave.
Rahma agreed with his assessment when she woke a few hours later. She then implored him to rest, vowing to wake him well before they needed to meet Suha.
When she shook him awake the following morning, she continued without preamble, “I think if we time it right, we can scare the tunnel guards out, start the fake fire, have everyone run out, then start the real fire and set the fuse for the explosion at the same time.” The timing would be tight, but once his sleep-addled brain caught up, As’ad agreed that that would be the best plan of action.
While they waited for the purpling of the sky that preceded true dawn, they amused the rats who had returned. Khudha and Alzali were still gallivanting in parts unknown, but Qamar, Sarir, and Yasruhk enjoyed the personalized attention from both Rahma and As’ad.
When it was finally time to meet Suha, they persuaded the pets to stay with the cart through bribery. None of the rodents noted their departure, as they were too happy with their treats. As’ad’s rock illusion was still in place, and they made the trip to the privy without trouble.
Suha appeared soon after and listened to them outline their plan. “Too bad we don’t have any trained bears hanging around. The whiny guard was asking if there were bears in the tunnel.”
As’ad and Rahma shared a smile.
“That can be arranged,” he promised.
She had to hurry back inside then, but repeated her parts of the plan a final time before doing so.
Back at the cart, As’ad renewed the melody to hide Rahma and the rats, then took off to gather supplies in the city. One way or another, everything would be over before nightfall.
Chapter Thirteen
Which Contains a Deceptive Amount of Illusions
Rahmastayedbythecart to keep an eye on things while As’ad bought what they needed. On his way back, he found a secluded area to play the necessary melodies for their plan. Since all of them required concentration, he wanted to be in a place where volume wasn’t an issue.
First, he tested the plan with smaller illusions. The trick of leaving off the last note until he was ready worked with his rat illusion, but he had never tried playing two distinct unfinished tunes. He piped a short song for a fire orb sans the final note, then did the same for a single rat. Giving himself a moment to catch his breath, he then piped the last bit for the orb, immediately followed by the end of the rat song. Both illusions went off without a hitch. That relieved his mind of a great burden.
