9: Meanwhile, Evanna and Tali had already completed their task. The guards who had been guarding Abby's tent were lying dead on the ground, an arrow stuck in each of their sides.
The two women then ran around to the back of the tent to Ezio, who was trying to quietly cut his way through the material.
"Why don't you go through the front? It's already open!" Tali breathed, looking at Ezio.
"She'll see me easily if I come through the front. I have to sneak up behind her, quickly." Ezio whispered back.
"Move over." Evanna muttered. She drew her saxe knife and carefully cut through the tent. "Tents like this aren't that difficult to cut through, with precision."
"Thank you." Ezio said in relief.
"Evanna and I will be at the entrance." Tali said to Ezio, and the women melted into the darkness.
… … …
Carter, Peter, and Eric had a relatively simple mission.
Sneak in, steal a horse, and sneak it out.
They had decided this was necessary, because even though it would be easier and safer to just have Abby double up with someone, that would slow whoever it was down, so they needed Abby to have a separate horse. Then the horse could just be led, and they would have a better chance at getting everyone out.
Only Rangers had been assigned to this for a reason, Carter thought as he and Peter and Eric crept by the soldiers sitting by their fires. They would have been spotted by now if Rae or Yue had come with them. Besides, Damian was still a bit of a rookie. Rae and Yue had years of experience fighting.
Carter, in the lead, suddenly spotted a dozen horses ahead of them. They were at the far edge of the camp by a little forest, which would help them sneak the horse out and back to Rae, Yue, and Damian.
Carter let Peter and Eric ahead of him, then turned to keep watch. Peter and Eric, for their part, selected a sturdy light brown, almost chestnut colored horse. They carefully and slowly guided the horse off into the trees. Carter followed, and they walked back to the others without a problem.
Carter couldn't believe their luck.
… … …
Abby read the message she had been offered quickly, and raised her eyebrows. Aloud, she read, but it was obvious she was talking to herself, "The Ranger base is located under the pub in Camborne. The pub is called The Swan, and the passage should take you directly to the base." Abby frowned and asked the empty air in front of her, "Why is there a passage under a pub leading to their base? That seems… deceptive. Too easy. Hundreds of people should have found it by now if that is true."
While Abby sat frowning, Ezio had finally gotten in the tent and was creeping up to Abby. He raised a knife, and brought the hilt down solidly on Abby's head. Abby's eyes rolled upwards, and she slumped forward.
There was a second of silence where neither Ezio nor Altair spoke. Then Altair said quietly, "Seriously? It was that easy?"
Ezio shrugged, "Just hurry in case our good luck runs out."
The two men picked up Abby and carried her out from the back of the tent, then carried her quickly up to the others. Halfway there, they were joined by Evanna and Tali, who kept drifting in and out of focus, due to their cloaks.
When they reached the others, they all moved quickly. Evanna and Tali strapped Abby in the saddle. Damian and Yue tied Alan to his horse. Peter took control of Abby's horse, and Eric took control of Alan's. Evanna and Tali stayed in the back to keep watch, and Carter led the way. Everyone mounted and headed back to the meadow on the outskirts of Agra.
And it wasn't just Carter who couldn't believe their luck.
… … …
The next morning, Carter announced, "We all need to go the capital."
"Why?" Peter asked.
"To warn the King!" Carter exclaimed. "He needs to know that the senators have been lying, and they are with Discordant Harmony. He may need to leave for his safety. We all need to go."
"Even me?" Damian asked.
Carter shrugged. "You have a choice. You can stay or come."
Damian thought for a moment then said confidently, "I'll go with you."
Carter nodded. "Let's head out now."
… … …
Agra was very wealthy. The King lived there, of course, and that made Agra a center for trade. The King could only have the finest food and clothes, after all. Several generations before King Percival's reign, the King at the time created a huge wall around the city. A gate was placed in the front and two guards stand at this gate. Across the top of the gate was written, "May you always be welcome."
The King's castle is at the very back of the city, right against the wall. Not very convenient, but that's where it is.
Carter was looking through the gate now, squinting at the castle in the distance.
"Worried?" Rae asked him.
Carter looked grave as he replied simply, "Yes." Then he spurred his horse toward the guard, and after talking briefly, the group was allowed through.
They didn't stop once throughout the whole city, all of them galloped straight to the doors of the castle. Evanna set the example by jumping off of her horse and sprinting right through the doors. Everyone else followed, though not by jumping off of their galloping horse.
Once inside, they started to see the carnage. Evanna had stopped abruptly and stood there waiting. When everyone else had arrived, she silently pointed. Lying against the wall was a dead guard. There were a few others here and there in the room, but nearby there was a man not wearing the guard's uniform.
Altair ran over to investigate. "He looks like a mercenary."
Yue and Ezio ran over at that, quickly followed by everyone else. Yue sounded surprised, "He's from Ang too, look at that symbol. It's Ang's seal."
"Let's go." Eric said, and he raced off through the castle. Dead bodies lay in many of the rooms. Priceless statues and painting were smashed or ripped or broken. Even some pieces of the wall were lying around.
"Remember," Altair told the others as they saw one of these, "there are a lot of bombing experiments in Ang. We've developed quite a few and they can definitely break a chunk out of the wall."
"Or your leg." Yue offered.
"Also true." Altair agreed.
Finally they reached the throne room and burst inside.
It was total chaos. People were screaming and yelling. Swords clashed and stabbed. Several explosions were set off, which sent men and pieces of the wall flying, and caused the roof to shake.
Without hesitating, the entire group threw themselves into the fray. Yue, Rae, Altair, Ezio, and Damian went in with their swords raised. Carter, Peter, Eric, Evanna, and Tali grabbed their bows and started picking the mercenaries off. Each hit with deadly accuracy every time. Not only were they deadly accurate, they were fast. They could whip out an arrow, nock, sight and fire in about five seconds. Though because of the scale of this fight, they took more time. They also divided the room so that each Ranger had their own section to shoot in.
Meanwhile, Yue was causing mass destruction with her twin swords. She created a circle of terror that only the stupid or suicidal tried to enter. Rae was more careful. She was watching Yue's back and blind spots, and picking her enemies off with very little effort. Damian was fighting near the two of them, sometimes engaging several attackers at once and always coming out unscathed with a pile of dead bodies behind him. Altair and Ezio had blitzed straight through the center, maiming all within arms' length. Sometimes they split away from each other briefly to hack at someone who put up a better fight than the others.
But when the Ranger's had exhausted all of their arrows, they pulled out their knives and joined their friends. Evanna went off on a wild rampage on the right side of the room, terrorizing everyone, including her allies. Carter and Peter followed behind her to watch her back and pick off some of the others. Eric and Tali teamed up to help a couple of guards who were being overrun by an enormous group of mercenaries. Not expecting an attack from the back, the mercenaries were quickly eliminated.
But then, a voice shouted, "Wait!"
A tall, cruel looking woman with long black hair to her waist and black, cold eyes walked into the throne room. Behind her stood every single senator of Kagari.
"Where is the King?" Elena asked.
A/N: Hey there, how's it goin'! Posted in honor of Tali and my best friend's birthday!
Well, we're close to the end here on Discordant Harmony. *sob*
But never fear! I'm going to release a lot of companion one shots with all the characters from The Waterfall Cave and Discordant Harmony! Also, the third story in this series is already being written!
Everybody say, Rosefeather is awesome! Say it, you know it's true!
Hehe, anyway, I'll see you all later. Happy Holidays, from Rosefeather and Emrald9!