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raced into an alley beside the tavern where they’d been waiting, Sabyna and Azla close at his heels. Jherek swung around the corner, still pulling on Frennick, who was yelling encouragement to their pursuers.
    Glawinn pulled himself up into the bench seat of the freight wagon waiting in the alley. The rear deck of the wagon contained barrels, kegs, crates, and sacks of foodstuffs and other supplies.
    “Get in!” the paladin yelled. “Pirate stronghold though this may be, they take care of their own. We’ve worn thin our welcome here.”
    Jherek wholeheartedly agreed. Azla and Sabyna easily vaulted into the back of the wagon. The half-elf pirate captain set herself to work at once, smashing open a keg of spirits with her sword hilt.
    Glawinn had the wagon going before Frennick was up in the back. The pirate dropped to his knees in an effort to keep from being forced on.
    “Leave him,” Talif snarled, hauling himself aboard the wagon.
    “No,” Jherek said.
    He sheathed the cutlass in the sash at his waist and hooked his hand under the pirate’s wide belt. He heard the yelling approach of the tavern crowd and saw the yellow glow of the lanterns paint long shadows on the wall to his left as they rounded the corner.
    There they are!”
    “Kill that salty young pup-and his friends!”
    The wagon started out slowly. Old horses and a heavy load held them back.
    Holding Frennick’s belt and the back of the pirate’s hair, Jherek lifted his prisoner to his feet and rushed toward the fleeing wagon. In three great steps, he covered the distance. He pulled Frennick over his hip and threw him into the wagon bed.
    “They’ve got Frennick!” someone yelled.
    “Or he’s with them!” another said. “I never trusted him.”
    Jherek ran to the wagon and vaulted up. He turned immediately, seeing that the tavern mob was closing the distance. Desperately, he grabbed a nearby five-gallon keg in both hands and heaved it at the lead man.
    The keg broke against the man’s chest, scattering salted pork across the alley and knocking the pirate back. Four more men went down with him, breaking the pursuit for just a moment.
    “Everything goes off,” Jherek ordered.
    He remained on his knees and tossed the wagon’s load over the back as quickly as he could. Sabyna and Talif helped him, shoving things over the end of the wagon.
    Sacks of flour burst and spilled filmy white clouds into the alley, soaking into the potholes of the uneven cobblestones. Nail kegs, broken bottles, and shattered jars created more obstacles in the path of the tavern crowd. Potatoes and beans rolled across the stones.
    As the load lightened, the horses pulled more strongly. The ironbound wheels rang against the cobblestones, knocking off accumulated rust and striking occasional sparks.
    Glawinn yelled to the horses and pulled them hard to the left as they bounded out onto the street at the end of the alley. The new street plunged down and twisted crazily on its way to the harbor.
    The crowd from the tavern made the next turn much tighter than the wagon. They were gaining. Other men walking along the new street joined in the chase. Jherek stared at the wolfs pack in dismay. Anything like a quiet escape was totally out of the question now. Flame suddenly flared at his side. He turned and watched Azla fit an arrow to the short bow she’d carried into town.
    The pirate captain pulled the string back to her cheek and fired from a kneeling position. The arrow sped true, shedding sparks from the cloth tied just behind the barbed head. The missile found a home in a man’s chest. Blue and yellow flames twisted up and caught his beard on fire, wreathing his face in flames. He fell back among his companions.
    Azla picked up another arrow that held a scrap of cloth tied to it and drenched it in the keg of spirits she’d broken open.
    “Talif,” she called calmly, her black eyes searching the street for targets.
    The thief held a green flame between his cupped palms.