by David Oliver
We discussed it some more but in the end Rikol’s idea was the only practical solution. We had the Hrudan location, enough supplies and warm clothes to keep us happy - our clothes were tattered and grimy enough that we gratefully wore whatever we could find that fit - and barrels of blasting powder. If we did this right then the Hrudan wouldn’t know what hit them. The only downside was that we soon realised the pain and frustration that the Hrudan caravan had felt as we endeavoured to get the wagons turned around and headed back. My senses helped find the worst of the snow-covered holes but even so it was a rough and tiring journey.
Several hours later we were within a mile of the Hrudan controlled pass with the wagons hidden off the trail and black powder transferred into sacks that we carried - with no small amount of trepidation - on our backs. Trying to sneak into a fortified enemy encampment to blow up the surrounding mountain side was going to be hard enough without attempting to do it whilst rolling barrels of black powder along the way. I entertained brief fantasies about donning the dead men’s’ clothes and walking straight into the encampment but I doubted even the Hrudan would be that stupid as to just let us waltz in without showing our faces. We would have to do it the hard way - either sneaking through the camp or climbing the jagged and sheer rock faces that soared high above the encampment. Looking at the thickly scarred parts of my arm and feeling the dull throbbing in my shoulder I knew which choice I preferred. Not to mention that if after all her training Cassius and I got caught sneaking through a camp of humans I was fairly sure that Seya would disown me. But then again, it wasn’t us two that I was concerned about. The others were stealthy, sure, and their fun and games with Seya over the past couple of years had only served to enhance their skills, but they hadn’t achieved the same level of mastery that only those who had spent months being hunted, pounced, licked and otherwise preyed upon by a giant panther did. Unfortunately there was nothing for it. We needed all the black powder we could get and sending in a larger team once and once only likely had a higher chance of success than two people sneaking in and out of the same camp multiple times in one night.
I don’t know if Cassius shared my concerns. His confident face gave nothing away as we prepared our explosive sacks and began to walk, crawl and scramble our way to the camp. Once we reached a close enough distance where we could just about see the sentries we stopped and settled in for some much-needed rest. It was going to be a busy night.
Chapter 19
Assault
Roughly two hours after full dark had descended we slowly broke the crust of ice that had formed on our fur coated huddle and stretched out our cramped limbs before turning our eyes on the not-so-distant camp. It was less of a camp and more of a fortified approach to what we all naturally assumed was the mountain pass. The truth was that we had no idea if we had found the mountain pass or not. It could well have led into some subterranean mine for all we knew but after weeks of sleeping on rough ground and miles of hard travelling it certainly seemed like the best assumption, and if we were the hardened Imperators that we became later in life we wouldn’t have bothered scouting the camp at all and just brought the mountain directly down on the heads of the Hrudan regardless of whether or not there were innocents within.
Thankfully however, at this point in our lives we weren’t quite so hardened and calloused to causing suffering to those who might not have needed it. Whilst the most expedient method was to sneak into the camp and plant our black powder where it would cause the most devastation and retreat, none of us were comfortable with the idea that there might have been captured Meredothians within. As such it fell to Cassius and myself to carry in black powder along with the others, plant it where it would best cause as much rockfall and damage as possible whilst the others did the same, and then instead of retreating to scout for any potential slaves and free them if possible.
As plans go it wasn’t the best. I’m fairly certain that my plan with the great boar back when I was younger and being hunted by the Tracker was far more thought out than this. However we had to work with what we had and it wouldn’t be the last time that our soft natures got us into difficult situations. What we didn’t know, or only suspected at the time, was that there was a great asset on our side…just one that we weren’t aware of and so couldn’t count it in our deck to play.
With gentle pats of good luck we all set off, slinking into the darkness and utilising the terrain to hide us from any eagle-eyed sentries. We all went separate directions; aiming to approach the camp in as many different manners as possible to maximise our chances of success. The main difficulty was that the pass itself was - as you might expect - narrow. Consequently the fortified position that the Hrudan had built expanded outwards from the narrow pass, getting more concentrated the closer you got to it. If we wanted the explosives to be effective we needed to be within or above the pass itself, otherwise we might do damage but the route through would likely remain open and continue to allow Hrudan reinforcements to flood into the heartland.
Passing through the outer ring of sentries was almost too easy. My senses gave me too great an edge, allowing me to slip around sentries like a shadow. Even when the camp narrowed and there was a higher concentration of guards to available space I danced around them, at times close enough to reach out and touch, yet they had no awareness of my presence. The others, I knew, were having a little bit of a more difficult time and their progress was much slower. We had accounted for this, knowing that it was likely that Cassius and myself would reach the innards of the pass first, if at all. Indeed it was only three minutes after I had pinged a stone off a guard’s helmet and slipped past as he was busy looking up that Cassius arrived, his face flushed with excitement and exertion. Together we crept through the canyon which was just about the width of a single wagon, the rock showing obvious signs of recent work. It was likely that the pass had once been much narrower but the Hrudan had worked away at it, widening the crevice where they could into an almost serviceable road. We followed the path for a good mile, ducking along its twists and turns. Once within the path itself there were actually fewer guards which wasn’t too surprising once I thought about it - why would you need guards in a narrow pass when you have presumed control over both access points? Those that were around were about as attentive as you might imagine someone to be when in a safe location in the middle of the night and so were easy to pass by. Eventually the path began to widen and then we were out of the mountain...and if the other side had been a fortified encampment then on this side the Hrudan had built a whole damned fort.
“...Well. Shit,” I said softly, casting my eyes over the thick stone walls replete with a considerable excess of seemingly attentive guards. “Looks like the Hrudan are on a war footing and have known about this place for a long time.”
Cassius leaned in and whispered in my ear, “How much can you see?”
Whoops. I had forgotten that Cassius didn’t share my eyesight. All he could likely see was the ring of braziers that flamed atop the walls of the fort. Whilst it was likely murder on the guards’ night vision it certainly made for an imposing picture. What Cassius likely couldn’t see was the size of the overall building - it stretched back into the gloom until even my eyes couldn’t make it out. From our vantage point on the descent from the pass I could see over the walls and so could espy their width and, much more worryingly, see that there was row upon row of what I could only assume to be bunkhouses in the grounds within. All of this added up to one thing.
“The Hrudan have been planning this for a long time,” I said after I recounted what I could see. “A fort like this doesn’t just spring up. That looks like quarried stone which means that they have enough manpower to quarry that amount of material and haul it over here. If they knew about the pass and built this as a precaution against a Meredothian attack that’s one thing. But you wouldn’t have that many guards - especially as I doubt any Meredothians even know about this passage into Hrudan lands. Which makes me think -”
“-that the bunkhouses are all full of soldiers,” Cassius finished. “If that is the case then my money is on Hrudan unleashing a full-scale invasion come spring.”
I nodded grimly. “They will raze everything within the heartland if they have their way.”
“Then we best stop it here and now,” Cassius said, his eyes bright in the flickering dark. “We do our best to collapse the pass and then head back to Jadira as fast as possible. If she can assemble a force in time then they can hold the other side even if the Hrudan dig out the rubble.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed. “Except…” I kept my gaze on the fort beneath me.
“Except what Calidan?” His voice held a note of warning - he knew full well what I was going to say.
“Except the Academy would tell us to find out as much as possible about our enemies wouldn’t it. What would Kane think if he knew we had seen such a fort and turned away?”
“He would tell us well done for using our brains,” Cassius replied dryly. “But I know full well when your mind is made up so let’s get down there.”
“Not this time,” I said, holding up a hand against his chest to forestall him. “If I fail in this we still need that pass brought down. You need to take this,” I thrust my twin sacks of black powder into his arms, “and make sure that pass goes off. If I’m not back by dawn, blow it.”
He opened his mouth to argue, his face moving like a fish for a few moments and then with a grimace he slung both bags over his already laden shoulders. “Don’t be late,” was all he murmured as he walked back into the canyon - as he had said, he knew what I was like when my mind was made up. What can I say? Stubbornness runs deep in us mountain folk.
Turning away I trotted down towards the fort. Truth be told I felt lighter and more free than I had in some time, for instead of navigating the inhospitable tundra of the north eastern edge of the heartland I finally had a target in front of me, one that was unaware and ripe for the plucking. The Academy would want to know about these Hrudan, their numbers, the types of dress, the weapons - anything that would be useful to know about a potential enemy - and that fort in front of me represented the best opportunity to find this information. It also, much more frighteningly, represented the best opportunity for the Hrudan to capture and torture themselves an Imperator Academy student, though perhaps that was just my more recent brush with those morbid arts speaking. Rumour had it that the Asahani empire somewhere over to the far, far east didn’t torture their captives, instead they provided them with lush rooms, complete with plentiful food and wine and thus received all the information they could have wanted just by listening to the not-quite-so-prisoner-prisoner talk when drunk and surrounded by attractive and attentive friends - which seemed like a pretty good deal to me. Somehow though, having seen the heavyset and scowling Hrudan rape and slaughter their way through villages already I didn’t think they were in the same camp as the Asahani. Oh well. A man can dream.
Slipping through the shadows, I made my way to the base of the fort wall. It was made of large blocks of hewn stone, each one probably hauled into place by some team of unfortunate souls. If the Hrudan had any sense they would have laid out braziers on the ground outside the fort to make it easier for the guards to see any approaching figures at night, without any light to attest to my presence it was a simple matter to make my way to the base of the fort. Testing my fingers on the wall I found that I had enough purchase to lift myself up. The healing skin on my forearm pulled tight but didn’t reopen and my right shoulder bellowed at me but it held my weight without any of my important bits deciding to disconnect again.
Progress.
Swiftly and assuredly I climbed up the fort wall, pausing at the top to let a guard walk by before draping myself over the balustrade and merging into the shadows caused by the flickering braziers.
Seya, eat your heart out, I thought as I crept through the darkness. For a second I thought I felt a flicker of amusement but then it was gone. I shoved all non-essential thoughts to the back of my mind as I was forced to make a quick dive over the edge of the inner wall, catching the edge and hanging with my left arm, my right holding a dagger in preparation just as a guard passed above me. I listened carefully for any change in his heartbeat, anything to suggest that he had seen something, but he carried on completely undisturbed. Looking down I made the tactical choice and dropped the fifteen feet to the floor, landing softly with my knees bent to minimise the shock. Thankfully the shadows were thick and fast here, what little moon there was not having enough influence to peel them apart. I spent some time judging the surrounding area, trying to figure out where the fort commander would be based. If the Hrudan followed the Andurran method of military set ups then the fort commander would have a room to himself situated to the rear of the primary facing wall and that would be close to the kitchens - every good commander knows that being near the kitchens means warmth and food. The question was whether or not this fort was as fully developed as it looked from the outside, or whether it was in essence just one big wall. My money was on the former. The Hrudan had obviously put a lot of time and money into the construction of this facility and there was no way that they had missed out the commander’s room. And so, keeping one eye on the tents filled with snoring soldiers, I set off to go and find the kitchens.
It didn’t take long. Soon enough my senses were filled with the overpowering smell of flour and baked goods. Even in the early hours of the morning there was someone in there preparing for the next day's meals. It had been the same in Forgoth at the military camp that I’d called home for some time; the kitchens were never quiet. Military men were always hungry. It was a known fact. If the kitchens didn’t prepare for the next day then they would inevitably run out of food halfway through the men’s second serving and the grumbling would begin. Grumbling men meant that the day’s activities would be more difficult for the officers who would in turn grumble to each other and through the chain of command said grumbling would elevate to the commanding officer who would - if they had any sense - go straight to the source of the problem and tell the kitchens to get their shit sorted.
My nose led me along the edge of the wall until I reached a series of out-jutting buildings. Following the scent of fresh flour I came to a series of panelled shutters and then to a heavy-set wooden door. I quickly checked the other entrances to the building, each of them protected by a similar door with no other easy access points. I had a cursory feel of the hinges and then, trusting to luck, I slowly tugged on the thick iron ring, attempting to tease the door open and hopefully avoiding any squealing hinges. The door was stiff, whether from the cold or from bad hinges I don’t know, but it didn’t come easily when I pulled. Cursing under my breath I put a bit more strength into it, tugging harder and harder until the door shuddered with a muffled crack and began to open with a slow grinding sound. I froze for a second, shocked at my own stupidity. The door had been barred from the inside and had only given when I had pulled on the iron ring hard enough to snap the wooden bar. Idiot. I listened closely, waiting for the sound of yells or panic, trying in vain to still my racing heart. I could tell that whoever was in the kitchens had paused from their activities to move to the passageway, obviously curious about the sound. Quick as a cat I darted into the hallway and shut the door. Thankfully at this time of night no one had bothered to light the braziers that dotted along the hallway - it would have been a pointless waste of resources when only a few people needed to be up.
Firelight came to shine beneath the door that led off the passageway to the kitchen and another oak door creaked open as a matronly looking woman poked her head out into the hallway. The torch she carried did an admirable job of trying to beat back the shadows but in the end it was not up to the task of divining the entirety of the hallway to the door. The woman peered down the hall but seemed reluctant to step out. After a minute of peering and muttering to herself she scowled down the hallway and then retreated back into the kitchen. Safe for the moment I let
out a long breath, aware of the adrenaline coursing through my veins. That had been altogether too close. Resolving to do better rather than merely throwing my life away for the sake of not checking if the door was bolted I moved on, casting my senses as far as possible, listening for heartbeats, following scents - anything that would allow me to pinpoint a potential commander’s office.
In the end it was scent again that gave it away; a mixture of cigar smoke and brandy. The fort’s commander was obviously a man who liked his little luxuries and the scent was fresh enough for me to follow all the way to his door. Inside I could hear him sleeping, a phlegmy and rasping wheeze. I gave an experimental tug on the door in a vain hope for the best but it refused to budge. I peered down the gap between the door frame and could just make out the bar of wood that held it in place. I gently slipped the edge of my knife into the gap until it rested just underneath the wooden bar. For this to work without waking the sleeping man I would have to be very quick and trust that the commander’s attendants did a thorough job in keeping his office hinges well oiled. Once I had the blade in position I slowly began to lift. To my ears it sounded like someone was harshly scraping two bits of wood together but the sleeping figure did not stir. I kept my ear pressed to the door, listening closely for the moment I was waiting for. When it came and the wooden bar wobbled out of the top of the bracket that held it in place I tugged open the door as quickly as I dared and caught the falling piece before it hit the ground.
Proud of myself for an incredible catch it took me a moment to realise what had been amiss. Then it hit me. The door hinges had given a very audible screech as I flung it open and the officer’s breathing changed from rhythmic wheeze to a sharp gasp as he jolted out of sleep. I was on him before he knew it, driving the ridge of my hand into the side of his neck and sending his eyes rolling up into the back of his head. Safe for a few moments, I tore some strips of linen from the officer’s bedding and stuffed it in his mouth before moving back to shut the door. Searching the room for any ropes I found none and so bound his feet and arms with more strips of linen cloth. They likely wouldn’t hold very long but they would do in a pinch. Worst came to worst I could stab him, but here was another example of my youthful innocence making things harder for me; the thought of murdering someone in cold blood was still a sickening prospect.