Read Online A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond Feist - Free Book Online

but the air was almost motionless, so
he would have a betraying hint of movement close by should anyone
suddenly come at him.
    A sudden shift
in the air, and Jimmy froze. Something had changed, and the boy
immediately shrank down into the sheltering darkness of a low,
overhanging brickwork. From a short distance ahead, he heard the
faint grind of leather on metal and knew someone was descending a
ladder from the street above. A slight disturbance in the water
caused the boy to tense. Someone had stepped into the sewer and was
walking in his direction, someone who moved almost as silently as he.
    Jimmy hunkered
down, as small as he could make himself in the dark, and watched. In
the gloom, black against black, he could half-see, half-sense a
figure moving toward him. Then, from behind, light showed and Jimmy
could see the approaching man. He was slender, wearing a cloak, and
armed. He turned and whispered harshly, “Cover that damn
lantern.”
    But in that
instant, Jimmy could see a face well known to him. The man in the
sewer was Arutha - or at least resembled him enough to fool any but
his closest intimates.
    Jimmy held his
breath, for the bogus Prince was passing only a few feet away.
Whoever followed shut the lantern, and darkness enveloped the tunnel,
hiding Jimmy from discovery again. Then he heard the second man pass.
Listening for sounds indicating others, Jimmy waited until he felt
certain no one else was coming. He quickly, but quietly, rose from
his hiding spot and went to where the two men had emerged from the
gloom. Three tunnels intersected, and he would have to spend time
determining which had provided entrance to the sewers for the false
Prince and his companion. Jimmy weighed his options briefly, then
placed the need to follow the pair above the need to discover the
entrance to the sewer employed.
    Jimmy knew this
part of the sewers as well as any in Krondor, but if he fell too far
behind he would lose them. He slipped through the dark, listening at
each intersection for the sounds that told him where his quarry
moved.
    Through the
murky passages under the city the boy hurried, slowly overtaking the
two men. Once he caught a glimpse of light, as if the shuttered
lantern had been uncovered slightly so the travellers might gain
their bearings. Jimmy followed after it.
    Then Jimmy
rounded a corner, and a sudden movement in the air gave warning. He
dodged and felt something pass close to where his head had been,
accompanied by a grunt of exertion. He pulled his dirk and turned
toward the sound of breathing, holding his own breath. Fighting in
the dark was an exercise in controlled terror. Each man could die
from an overactive imagination as he sought a clue to the exact
position of his opponent. Sounds, illusory movement seen from the
corner of the eye, a feeling about where the foe stood, all could
cause a miscue that would give away a location, bringing sudden
death. Both men stood frozen for a long moment.
    Jimmy sensed a
scurrying and instantly recognized the presence of a rat, a large one
by the sound, moving away from trouble. He aborted a lunge in that
direction before it was begun and waited. His opponent also heard the
rat, but lashed at it, striking the stone. The ring of steel on stone
was all Jimmy needed and he thrust with his dirk, feeling the point
strike deep. The man stiffened, then with a low sigh collapsed into
the water. The combat had taken three blows, from the first at Jimmy
in the dark to the one that ended it.
    Jimmy pulled his
dirk free and listened. There was no sign of the man’s
companion. The youngster swore silently. While he was free of another
attack, it had also allowed the other man freedom to escape. Jimmy
sensed a source of heat nearby and almost burned his hand on the
metal lantern. Uncovering the shutter, he examined his foe. The man
was a stranger, but Jimmy knew he was a Nighthawk. No other possible
explanation could account for his presence in the sewers with an
exact