1 week later
Rei woke up, and stretched. He was very sore from all of the walking that had been done, but they arrived last night at the target. Lin'fæ laid down in his lap, and looked a bit happy. Rei picked her up gently, and placed her on the ground next to him. Rei stood up, and walked to the edge of the forest. It was an overlook to the castle, but there was a dead zone from the base of the cliff to the castle. On the other side was mountains that had a bit of snow caps, but that wasn't surprising as it was nearly winter. Rei looked down closer at the dead zone that surrounded the castle to find it was littered with corpses, and there even was some stick to the cliff face.
"Not a pretty sight" Sika said.
"I can tell. So what is the plan to get in since the surrounding area is burned?" Rei asked.
"We walk up in the middle of the night" Italia replied.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Rei asked.
"Typically yes, but tonight the amount of guards should be a third of normal troops as they are off to visit family. Today is a holiday for most of this northern province" Alice replied.
"Oh okay" Rei said.
"You know how to mask yet or no?" Italia asked.
"No" Rei replied.
"That's fine. Sika doesn't know either, so try to lay low" Italia said.
"He isn't accepting the change?" Rei asked.
"Nope. Don't need it yet" Sika replied.
"Speaking of which. You sure you are alright? You look rather pale Rei" Italia asked.
"I'm fine. Just need to get use to this" Rei replied.
"Okay. You are free to rest up, or whatever before we move. We will hand you both garbs to wear later" Sika said. All 4 backed away from the edge of the cliff, and back into the forest. Rei walked back to Lin'fæ who was still sleeping, and gently caressed her head. Lin'fæ did an involuntary swipe away, but it was hitting air. Rei stopped as he bit his lips, and clenched his fists. He slowly moved away from Lin'fæ, and lowered himself to the ground. Pain ran through his body, and it was mostly around the vines that snaked Rei's body. Eventually the pain subsided, and Rei was covered in sweat.
"Hurts?" Lin'fæ asked.
"So much" Rei replied.
"Here. Hirria figured this might happen, so we created a medicine to minimize the pain" Alice said holding out a vial.
Rei took the vial, and opened it. The smell was very bitter, and a bit repulsive.
"Been tested yet?" Rei asked.
"Not that we know of, but Shi was the one who made it. So usually it's tested plenty before it reaches our hands" Alice replied.
"Okay" Rei said before bringing the vial to his mouth, and letting a drop his his tongue. The medicine burn, but it did lessen the fever a bit.
"Your suppose to down it all" Alice said.
"I know. I only wanted to see if it was poison first" Rei replied after pulling the vial away from his mouth. Rei replaced the vial into his mouth, and downed it all. He handed the vial over to Alice, but that was before Rei started to wobble and crashed to the ground.
Rei moaned awake, and sat up. He was laying down on a rock after being moved. "Ow my head" Rei said.
"Afternoon sleepy head" Italia said.
"Is it time?" Rei asked.
"No. It's later as we are waiting to Demenure to rise higher" Italia replied.
"Oh okay. Where is Tsumina?" Rei asked.
"Gathering some berries with Alice. Need to eat a bit before we move to a better spot to storm the castle" Sika said.
"So. We march through the front or from the side?" Rei asked.
"From the side if possible. Once we scale the wall. We split to cover as many areas as possible.
You and Tsumina are 1 squad. Alice and I is another while Italia is the last one" Sika replied.
"You sure Italia will be fine alone?" Rei asked.
"This won't be my first solo run, so I will be fine" Italia replied.
"Okay" Rei said. Soon Lin'fæ and Alice returned with a small basket with berries, firewood, and some fruit.
"Okay. We should be ready to eat soon" Alice said.
"Did you remember to wash the berries?" Italia asked.
"Yup. There was a stream nearby the area we picked. Very convent" Alice said. Lin'fæ walked over and sat down next to me.
"Feeling better?" Lin'fæ asked.
"Yup, but it feels like I'm sitting on something" Rei replied.
"Let me see" Lin'fæ said as she bent Rei over a bit before pulling up his shirt. Lin'fæ pushed Rei a bit to get him off the ground, and reached a bit down his pants to pull out a small tail.
"You aren't use to having one, but you will soon" Lin'fæ said.
Rei let out a soft moan. "Can you. Please. Let go?" Rei asked between heavy breaths
"Oops forgot. New tails are sensitive to touch from outsiders" Lin'fæ replied after letting go of the tail.
"Thanks" Rei said.
Italia and Alice chuckled a bit. "You looked rather cute" Alice said.
"I guess" Rei replied.
"Enough playing around. We need to hurry up, and get ready" Sika said.
"True" Italia said.
Alice pulled the basket over, and everyone started to grab the berries out slowly.
"So how will we get around without getting spotted?" Rei asked.
"You and Tsumina are to walk up to the castle, and act like refugee soldiers that are running away from the resistance army. Tell them the army is expected to cross Alaverna in a week. If they ask where your uniform is. Tell they you were just local people called upon to fight. You are from
Frencia" Sika said.
"While that happens. Alice, Sika, and I will sneak into the castle, and we will take out the castle lord" Italia said.
"If we get found out?" Rei asked.
"Kill everyone" Alice replied coldly.
"Okay. We should get going" Rei said as he stood up.
"Good luck" Sika said.
Lin'fæ stood up, and followed Rei. They walked to the edge of the cliff, and it happened to be a bend in the road. They looked down the path to another village.
"Okay. We fake this" Lin'fæ whispered.
"How?" Rei asked.
"We run like we are trying to get somewhere. The castle should have front guards" Lin'fæ whispered.
"Okay" Rei said, and the two of them started to run towards the castle. A set of torches was lit, and in the dim light a few archers cocked their bows ready. They soon dropped them realizing Rei and Lin'fæ was unarmed and called for someone to meet them up front. Rei and Lin'fæ stopped in front of the gate, and soon a smaller door opened. A person walked out and asked "What are you two doing?" The soldier asked.
"Sorry. We just ran front the front lines, and wanted to be far enough away" Lin'fæ replied.
"Interesting. Come inside. We will talk more there. Could give you two some time to rest" The soldier said as he waved them in. Rei and Lin'fæ followed the soldier in , and saw each soldier wasn't taking their duty seriously. They probably weren't expecting anything. They followed the guard to a tatami like room, and a few pillows to sit on.
"Wait here while I bring a steward to bring us something to drink" the soldier said as he walked
away.
"So relaxed" Lin'fæ whispered into Rei's ear.
"Yup" Rei replied.
Soon the soldier with a steward returned.
"Sorry for being to the point, but I want to know why you said you were running from the front line" The soldier said
"The resistance army marched nearby Frencia, but the army didn't have enough troops. So a few of the older members got called upon to help" Rei replied.
"So the resistance still smashed the army?" The soldier asked.
"Yes. I watched as my friend Viverin died in front me trying to protect me" Lin'fæ replied with tears running down her face.
"Cheer up. Do you know the direction that are marching?" The soldier asked trying to cheer Lin'fæ up.
"The direction seemed to be here. They probably wanted to stamp out the strong center" Lin'fæ replied sadly. Rei wrapped his arms around Lin'fæ to try to calm her down.
"Okay. I'll relay the message to the Lord in the morning. He is right now resting in his quarters" The soldier said.
"We will give a private room for tonight, and in the meantime we will bring you a meal. The steward will show you to your room later after you finish" the soldier said before leaving the room with the steward.
Once out of earshot Lin'fæ whispered "Be on guard. Something is off."
"Yup" Rei replied.
"They haven't made a move yet, so I'm guess they are waiting for a bit later when the guards go to sleep" Lin'fæ said.
Rei was about to reply, but heard the steward return within earshot. She brought in two bowls of soup, and some bread.
"Do enjoy" the steward said before leaving. Lin'fæ broke off a small piece on her bread, and ate the small piece. She ate a bit of the soup, and said "Be careful. The soup is laced with sleep toxin, and poison."
"Yea something is off" Rei said as he started to the bread.
"This bread is old, and has an off taste" Rei said.
"Really?" Lin'fæ asked before pulling a larger piece off of hers.
"Yup. Poisoned as well. Eat as little as possible, but enough to not draw attention" Lin'fæ said as she ate some more of the soup. They quietly ate the meal, but only up to half of it.
"I bet snake revealed information" Lin'fæ said.
"Possible" Rei replied.
Soon the steward returned, and looked down at the half finished food.
"Not hungry?" The steward asked.
"Not really. The fear from the battle is still around" Lin'fæ replied.
"Okay. I'll take you two to your rooms" The steward said. Lin'fæ and Rei stood up, and followed the steward to the living quarters. They were both given the room, and they walked in.
"See you in the morning" the steward said before shifting the door, and locking it. It was then that two soldiers bursted from the closet with swords drawn.
"Fuck" Lin'fæ said as she caught a blade that was swung down on her head. The other swung in a diagonal, but Rei jumped in front of it to block with his forearms.
"Plan b" Rei said.
"On it" Lin'fæ said before her hair shifted color. That stunned soldier enough for Roxanna to pierce him with her tails. The other soldier was stunned by this dropped his sword, and turned for the door. However Rei tackled him, and slit the soldier's throat with the soldier's sword.
"Okay. I was hoping not to come out" Roxanna said.
"Sadly. I was hoping as well" Rei said.
"We have to go now. The lord might flee soon" Roxanna said.
"Right" Rei said before kicking down the door.
"You alright?" Roxanna asked.
"Should I not be?" Rei asked.
"Well you just killed a person" Roxanna replied.
"Well it's fight or die. I'll probably worry about that after this is all done" Rei replied.
"Okay" Roxanna said before they bolted out of the room. Roxanna quickly looked around for movements while Rei lagged behind a bit to watch their backs. They soon ran into Italia, and went different directions. The entire floor was designed as a maze to confuse any potential assassins, and it was working. Roxanna got annoyed by thing, and pulled out a sword to slice the ceiling. Roxanna and Rei jumped through the hole to find the lord surrounded by guards fully armored.
"Congrats on getting here, but it won't be that long that you are around" the lord said as the back troops cocked their bows and crossbows.
Lin'fæ moved back to have her back with Rei.
"I'm sorry for everything" Roxanna said with a tear rolling down her face.
"It's fine" Rei said. Lin'fæ slowly edged Rei to the hole while the lord was running a small monologue gloating his victory. Roxanna pushed Rei into the hole which caused the archers to let loose their volley. Rei grabbed onto Lin'fæ leg, and pulled her down. Most of the volley missed, but a few his both Rei and Lin'fæ. Lin'fæ had arrows and bolts sticking out of her legs, and her lower body. Rei lost half his left ear, and had a few arrows in his hand and arm which grabbed Lin'fæ. Rei was on the floor below in pain, and unable to get up. Lin'fæ body pretty much was over the hole, and some of her blood dripped down.
"Guess this where it all ends" Rei whispered as he saw Lin'fæ's body move from the hole, and soldiers dropped down. Soon draggers flew through the air, and stuck into the soldier's neck just below the helmet. Screams from above could be heard before bodies hitting the floor was heard. Soon Alice dropped down from the floor above with Lin'fæ over her shoulder.
"Still alive Rei?" Alice asked.
"Somehow" Rei replied barely.
"Good. Can you move?" Alice asked. Rei slowly stood up, and Italia helped balance him out.
"Good enough. We need to go. The army is moving" Alice said.
"We split in the mountains like we planned" Italia said before starting to move. Rei lagged behind a bit due to the pain, but was able to keep up. A scream up ahead, and there was Sika with his left eye missing with a cut running from the edge of his lip to the hair line.
"We good?" Sika asked.
"Somehow" Italia replied.
"Good. Hopefully there isn't that many more troops on the way there" Sika said before we started to run towards the mountain after jumping down from the wall. Lin'fæ woke up once we landed, and Alice let her down. Rei looked back to see a dust cloud of horses barreling down their path. They barely made it to the mountain before the horses, but that didn't stop them from pursuing. The heavy armor how ever did slow down the army, and made them unable to get over the areas that the group was able to nimbly cross. However the volley from the arches did slow them down as well. One arrow cut across Rei's leg, but most of them missed. Eventually they reached a part where it wasn't as steep, and more like a hill. A few trees dotted the landscape, so Alice pushed Lin'fæ onto Rei before kissing Rei.
"Good luck. We might see each other later" Alice said before pushing Rei away. She turned away with tears welling up in her eyes before the three of them bolted down one of the paths that went up hill. Rei and Lin'fæ ran down another that seemed to go down. Rei soon started to have issues as they progressed due to the injuries sustained, and Lin'fæ started to slow down as well.
"I need to rest" Lin'fæ said between heavy breaths.
"Same. Let's keep going till we find a cave to stop in" Rei said, and soon the wind started to howl.
"Shit" Rei said.
"Seriously Lin'fæ said before wind started to pick up with snow blowing around. A blizzard was starting, so they rushed ahead. Soon the ground cracked under their feet as the winds grew worse, and the ground shortly after broke dropping them down a hole. They landed on a pile of snow, but were too sore to move too much. They slowly dragged their bodies to a nearby wall, and rested against it. It was pretty much a sheet of ice. Lin'fæ climbed up on Rei and hugged him.
"Stay close to me. We need to stay warm while we rest otherwise we will freeze to death" Lin'fæ said softly.
"Okay" Rei said.
"I was going to say we both need to stay awake, but I doubt I can" Lin'fæ said.
"Yea same" Rei said.
"Hopefully we wake up soon with us both alive" Lin'fæ said before closing her eyes.
"Yup" Rei said, and soon they both fell asleep after Rei held Lin'fæ closer to him.