Larc's arms locked around my middle in a tight grip as he mumbled something incoherently against my chest. A warm sense of being needed coursed through me as I patted his back awkwardly not sure what to do with the unfamiliarness of the emotional embrace.
"Larc, let's go we need to get you out of here before daylight. Stick close behind me."
Reluctantly, Larc broke contact and did as I said, and followed me back up the dimly lit corridor. Larc jumped like a startled rabbit, when Rolf stepped out of the shadows at the end of the hall.
"I got this for the boy."
Rolf said holding up a dark traveling cloak.
"Where did you get that?" I asked.
"The guards in the guard room had no more use for it." He replied simply.
"I see. Let's get out of here before you alter the population of the citadel too much." I said, with a smile on my face, as I headed into the darkness of the night eager to leave the confines of the dungeon.
I saw Larc take the cloak from Rolf and put it on all the while keeping a wary eye on Rolf, as if he was a snake poised to strike. It didn't help that Rolf smiled back eerily at Larc's wariness of him egging the boy on.
There probably wasn't a living guard left anywhere in the confines of the dungeon. Larc stayed close behind me, as Rolf ghosted up ahead of us. I looked out the open dungeon doors and there, as bold as daylight was Rolf strolling over to three horses, which were saddled and tied to a hitching post. They hadn't been there before! I guess the plan had changed again.
Gritting my teeth, I walked as nonchalantly as I could towards the horses followed by Larc. I hated improvising a perfectly good plan, when it wasn't needed. I had just lifted Larc up into the saddle of one of the horses, when a cry of pain rent the still night air. Wheeling around to face the citadel I looked up to where the cry had come from expecting to see guards swarming out of their stations, but no guards were visible. I looked at Rolf, who was already in the saddle; he too was puzzled over the cry that no one had responded to.
"It was the cry of a woman. In very much pain I think. It came from up there." Rolf said pointing at a window three tiers up the citadel.
Turning back to Rolf and Larc, I addressed Rolf, "Take the boy and rendezvous with the others. Don't wait for me. I'll catch up with you."