by Joe Jackson
Erik considered his brother’s words for a moment, a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “This is getting a little riskier than I like,” he said. “If it’s more than just Gaswell and his lieutenants in the throne room we could be outnumbered and overwhelmed fairly easily. Is it absolutely necessary for both Ty and Jol to go start trouble in the barracks?”
“Eryn seemed to think so, and I trust her judgment,” Aeligos answered. “She said she won’t be about when we attack, but once the fighting gets underway I don’t imagine she’ll be far from it. We can probably count on her help as well.”
Erik looked to each of the others around him, gauging their reactions. “Anyone have any questions or concerns?”
“Maybe I should be in the throne room with you,” Kari said. “If the dungeon only has one jailor, I’m sure Sonja can handle anything down there on her own, or with Katarina...”
Aeligos chewed his lip for a moment. “Again, we need to assume that the fortress is going to be a lot less sleepy once Maktus engages Gaswell’s army,” he said. “Eryn said that the war wizard down in the dungeon is very powerful. If we release her, she may end up killing Gaswell for us. If that’s the case, it’s more likely she’ll be well guarded once the general alarm is raised through Gaswell’s forces.”
Erik blew out a sigh. “I don’t think we can afford to second-guess ourselves or Aeligos’ plan at this point,” he said. He regarded Aeligos skeptically. “You’re sure this other demon is gone?”
Aeligos shrugged. “Eryn seems to believe so. In any case, does it make a difference? We either go through with this or we abandon the plan and let things play out between Maktus and Gaswell. If she’s still there, well, we have three demonhunters here.”
Erik nodded and fixed his younger brother with a confident stare. “We’re just going to have to be in top form.”
The rogue grabbed his pack and began to dig through it, and he withdrew a pair of leather and metal gauntlets with katars affixed to them. Kari stared at the weapons in wonder: she’d never seen the young man fight with anything but his bare hands. Once he put them on, Kari watched him spar a bit with his elder brother. His style was mostly one of slapping parries, and he worked at getting inside Erik’s range and throwing sweeping kicks. Erik proved a hard target to knock down, but any doubts Kari had as to Aeligos’ ability in a melee were quickly dispelled. She knew that once he had his opponent on the ground, he was fully in control.
The night deepened and the group prepared to sleep in shifts. They gathered into a tight circle. In the absence of Grakin, Sherman took up the role of prayer leader, and together they prayed to the gods for the safety of their companions and the success of their mission. From the looks on everyone’s faces when the prayers were complete, it was apparent that everyone was confident in their plan. Sleep came easily to them and, with the half-demon males keeping watch, the others took the first sleep shift.
Kari closed her eyes and let out a deep but quiet sigh. Aeligos had no doubt that her thoughts were fully upon Grakin, and he glanced at the fortress in the moonlight. Kari had made a promise that she would return to Grakin’s side, and Aeligos silently made a similar promise to Eryn in his mind. No matter what befell them the following night, Aeligos was determined that he would either live or die with Eryn by his side.
Chapter XVIII – Invasion
Dawn came, arid but breezy, and Gaswell’s fortress stood silhouetted against the rising sun as it came over the eastern horizon. The Silver Blades waited patiently. Aeligos could smell war in the air, and he trusted in Maktus, so he and the others passed the day chatting quietly or practicing their fighting routines. Aeligos knew that nightfall would bring either stunning victory or crushing defeat, and he steeled himself, knowing the end of their mission was upon them. Come the following morning, they would either be making their way home, or Maktus and his armies would be doing everything they could to salvage the will of the gods.
They ate a light dinner. No one wanted to be weighed down by food or have too much in their stomachs to contest with their anxiety. Every eye in their camp watched the sun retreat over the western horizon. The hour was nearly upon them, and Aeligos almost willed the sun to disappear: for the waiting to at last be over and the time for decisive action to come. As the sky faded to pink and purple and finally to a deep bruise-blue, he prepared to head to the castle, and his companions offered each other last words of encouragement and hugs of support. And then night fell, and Kari and Sonja broke off from the rest of the group and picked their way along the edge of the cliff to where Aeligos told them the sewer entrance stood.
The land was dark, as the moons had not yet ascended, and the others followed Aeligos toward the castle wall. He had them hunker down in some brush while he crept closer and watched the sentries. Like his previous visit, he watched the patrols along the western rampart, but to his surprise, there was no change in the frequency of passing guards. He watched for a short while to be certain, and once satisfied that he and his companions would have ample time to pass without drawing attention, Aeligos returned to the others and beckoned for them to follow him as quietly as possible. They moved slowly given the weight of the larger brothers’ armor, and crouched below a tree fairly close to the wall while they waited for the next patrol to pass. Once the terra-rir guard passed by, Aeligos motioned for patience and mentally counted out the minutes, and then he beckoned for Typhonix to pick up Sherman and follow him.
They flew up and over the wall, and the burly blonde showed little strain in carrying the armored human male in flight. Aeligos scanned the courtyard quickly before they glided over to the balcony he’d visited previously. He drew out his lock picks and tools and had the door open in moments, and he ushered his brother and human friend through. He had them crouch down in the dark of the bedroom, which was empty just as it had been the night before, and the rogue softly closed the balcony door and watched for the next patrol to pass. A minute and a half after the guard walked past, Aeligos flew back to the top of the wall and beckoned for Serenjols to carry Katarina and follow, and he led his eldest brother across the way to the room. He repeated the process for Erik, and soon all of them were safely inside.
Aeligos was concerned with the noise they had made: Erik, Ty, and Serenjols’ armor was heavy and far from quiet, but the sound of armored men moving about the castle seemed to have attracted no attention. He watched one last sentry pass before he was satisfied that their entry had gone unnoticed, and he regarded his companions in the dark for a moment. The humans were having obvious trouble seeing in the near-lightless room. He motioned for all of them to remain still and silent and he opened the door into the hallway slowly.
The corridor was empty, so Aeligos altered his appearance and stepped out into the hall as if nothing was amiss. He headed south and then turned east at the first intersection and passed close by what he believed was the door to the throne room. There were no voices coming from within, which he found curious; he expected Gaswell and his lieutenants to be there. He put a hand to his chin thoughtfully but continued walking so as not to mark himself as a conspicuous target for any patrolling guards. He concentrated on his memory of the castle map in comparison to where he stood, and began to wonder if any of his notations were wrong and Eryn had merely missed it. She had said the map was accurate, so he was hesitant to second-guess their plan. Instead he made his way to the eastern hallway that ran north to south. It was entirely possible that Gaswell and his men were simply still having dinner and their plans had been delayed. He pushed down his anxiety and made a full circuit of the keep interior’s upper level before he came back around to the dormitory where his companions were hiding.
He passed only a single guard who paid him little heed. Once he was satisfied that the hallway was empty again, he ducked back into the room with his friends. They regarded him for a moment, but he simply shrugged and motioned for them to remain patient. Espionage was a business that required a lot of nerves and patience, and a surgical st
rike such as the one they were performing was no different. Aeligos had done such missions many times in his fairly short life, but he knew his siblings and certainly his two human companions had not. He hoped they had the will and the calm to sit tight as long as needed, and he let out a silent sigh.
His ears perked up when he heard footsteps approaching down the hall, and he motioned for the rest of his group to remain absolutely still and quiet. As he feared, the footsteps stopped outside the room, and he rose to his feet silently and pressed himself to the wall beside the door. Someone depressed the latch and the door swung open, and a terra-rir stepped in and reached for the lantern beside the portal. In the blink of an eye, Aeligos sprang into action. He drove his knee into the man’s groin, blasting the air from him in a rush, and then drove him face-first into the floor. Aeligos kicked the door closed and back-mounted the man, wrapping himself around the man’s prone form and bringing his arm across the man’s throat. Instinctively the terra-rir reached for the Aeligos’ arm, so the rogue slipped his right arm under the man’s armpit and behind his head. Aeligos rolled his victim over and squeezed with both his arms and his legs, choking the life out of the rir male. Aeligos held tight until his victim stopped thrashing and for several seconds after, and then rolled him back over.
Aeligos worked to steady his breathing as he stared at the still form before him, and after a moment he checked the side of the rir’s neck and found a pulse. He bit his lip, unsure if he should kill what could be a guard, one of Gaswell’s lieutenants, or even Gaswell himself, for all he knew. He decided against it, and instead pulled a small pair of manacles from his belt and locked the man’s hands behind his back. He tied a short string around the end of the rir’s snout so he would be unable to do more than groan, and then carefully dragged the unconscious form around to the other side of the bed and left him there.
The others regarded Aeligos when he returned near the door, crouched in the darkness, waiting, and Aeligos hardly registered that it had to have been the first time the twins saw him nearly kill someone. He trusted they would remember what they were told: that they were there to kill, but to do so in defense of others, and that they should not feel bad for those whose lives they took. Aeligos kept his thoughts focused, and no other footsteps approached in the hallway as the long minutes passed so silently that he could hear his pulse in his ears. He sat mentally counting out the minutes, but returned to their unconscious guest’s side when he heard the captive stir. The rir’s eyes came up and widened in surprise when they met Aeligos’, and the rogue put a finger to his pursed lips and displayed one of his katars. The man nodded in understanding, and Aeligos patted him on the shoulder.
The rogue returned to the door and slipped quietly through it and out into the hallway once more. He repeated his earlier circuit in reverse, and paid particular heed to the voices he heard as he passed each door along the hallway. When he came around to the door he expected to find Gaswell and his men behind, he was alarmed to find there were still no voices. He briefly considered going down to find Eryn and ask if the general was hiding elsewhere or if his map had been wrong, but he was nervous about exposing himself to any more scrutiny than he had to. He ultimately decided it was a worthwhile risk: he needed to see if there was significant traffic between where his group was hidden and the barracks anyway. If Typhonix and Serenjols were spotted before they made it to the guard quarters, it would spell disaster: the general alarm would be raised, and they would be attacked from all directions, pinned down hopelessly in the hallways. Aeligos made his way quickly but unhurriedly to the southwest stairs, descended them, and listened for the sound of anyone approaching.
He found the lower level quiet – almost spooky – and he looked around briefly before he made his way northward toward the front door of the keep. He cursed his luck when he reached the entry chamber and found Eryn’s door ajar with no light coming from within. He took a deep, steadying breath and opened the outer door to the bailey, and the two guards stationed outside turned to regard him as he looked around. “Any trouble to report?” Aeligos asked, keeping his voice steady and with an edge of authority to it.
“No, sir,” said one of the guards. “The sentries up on the battlements have seen no one approach. The fighting is still a safe distance from our walls.”
Aeligos nodded but said nothing, and he closed the door and blew out a quiet sigh as he rolled his eyes. He nearly laughed at how difficult Gaswell was proving to find in such a small keep, but he kept his wits about him and made his way back to the upper level. He walked a last circuit around the upper level, but lay down and pressed close to the southeast stairs when he heard voices approaching around a corner. He knew that if they came to the stairs or if anyone else came up, he would have to fight his way through, but he held his breath and remained perfectly still, his nerves hardened to icy steel.
The voices turned down the westbound passage, and they were speaking about the battle and the likelihood that fighting would reach the keep itself. Aeligos let his breath out in a quiet sigh, rose silently to his feet, and crept to the corner. Looking down the hallway he saw three terra-rir males enter the suspected throne room, and he ducked back around the corner, pressed his back to the wall, and gave a silent prayer of thanks to the gods. He wasn’t sure it was Gaswell and his lieutenants, but the fact that someone had entered the room dispelled his growing suspicion that it was naught but a storage area. At the very least, he and his group would find someone to fight in there, and if all else failed, they might get some answers out of the wounded after.
Aeligos made his way back to the bedroom his siblings and human friends were hiding in and slipped quietly through the door. They looked up to him expectantly and he motioned for them to be as quiet as possible and follow him. They followed him from the room, and Aeligos led them to the southwest stairs, where he crouched down. He tilted his head down and tried to concentrate on any approaching sounds, but the castle was still and quiet. The others gathered close and Aeligos kept his voice down to a whisper.
“Ty, Jol, head down these stairs and then north,” he said, gesturing the direction they had just come from. “Turn right at the first intersection, and the barracks will be on the left. I’ve no idea how many soldiers and guards will be in there, so be careful.”
The two larger males nodded and began to make their way down the stairs, trying their best to be quiet in their heavy metal armor. Once they disappeared down the stairwell, Aeligos led the rest of the group back to the intersection and turned right. They crept up to the door on the south wall that Aeligos indicated, and the rogue spent a few moments listening at the door before he dispelled his alteration magic and nodded to Erik. The blue-eyed male moved to the door, took a deep breath, and then threw it wide and stepped in.
*~*~*~*
Kari and Sonja pried the grating off the end of the sewer slowly. The metal bent and gave under the combined strength of the two women, and they were mindful of how much noise it could make if they worked too quickly. Once free, they carried the grate to the side and laid it quietly against the pipe, and then they made their way into the dark interior of the square-cut stone passage. The stench was nearly overwhelming, and they had to give themselves a few moments to acclimate themselves to breathing as sparingly as possible. It wasn’t quite as bad for Kari: she had grown up on the streets of Solaris and her nose had smelled far worse on her own forays through that city’s sewer systems.
The sewer exit extended slightly over the cliff and was several hundred feet from the castle wall by her best guess. It would take them some time to get inside, assuming the dungeons didn’t extend beyond the foundation of the castle walls. Sonja explained it was likely the sewer was slightly graded and ran out through the foundation at exactly one point; she expressed hope that the sewer wasn’t graded too steeply and that their climb through the muck wouldn’t be any more difficult – or disgusting – than it already seemed. Kari found it odd that the sewer was large enough for people to w
alk through, but she assumed it was meant as an emergency exit should the castle be captured.
They picked their way along carefully, thankful that no disgusting flow engulfed their lower legs, but the slick remains of passing water and waste made the footing treacherous. Their eyes began to glow softly as they passed into the deeper darkness of the tunnel, and Kari put her hands high on the smooth-cut walls to brace herself in case her feet slipped even slightly. One misstep could easily send her tumbling into Sonja, and with the floor being slippery, it was possible they wouldn’t be able to stop themselves and slide right out of the pipe and down onto the rocks far below. She kept her mind on the task at hand, and after a lot of slow progress, Sonja said they had likely made it to the outer wall of the castle. They stopped in their travels when Kari spotted a corpse ahead.
It was the body of a male shakna-rir – a scout judging by his armor – and Kari wondered how he’d gotten there. Sonja started to move past her to examine the body, but Kari stopped her, looking to the walls and the ceiling suspiciously. “What’s wrong?” the larger woman whispered.
“Might’ve been a trap that got him,” Kari returned quietly. “If I was going to put a sewer running out of my castle, I’d put some nasty surprises for anyone that tried to come in that way.”
Sonja nodded and closed her eyes, and Kari watched her curiously. Sonja began to wave her finger in the air in front of her, tracing a symbol in a softly glowing amber line, and when she opened her eyes, they had changed from their normal glowing red to the same hue as the glyph. Kari waited patiently while Sonja examined their surroundings. Sonja shook her head after a minute and the amber color faded from her eyes, leaving the scarlet once more. “My incantation didn’t reveal any sections of the walls, floor, or ceiling that move,” she whispered.