I clung to the wall, desperately trying to conceal my location to the group of men who were charging up the stairs behind me. They were coming to kill me; I was their intruder. The first member of the garrison under my command over the wall, it was my job to ensure it was safe in the area around the gate and then open it for the rest of my brigade to enter the city. If I was the only Captain unable to carry out this simple mission, then what would that say about my skill level? I was the youngest Captain leading their group but I did not want to be known as the least competent. They would peg it on my age.
"Where is the intruder?" A male voice asked, boredom expressed in his tone. He obviously didn't want to be here. I guess finding me was shortening his lunch break by a significant amount. It was lazy idiots like him that didn't deserve to be in the position he was in. Sina soldiers were paid a large sum of money a year and none of them did a good job at protecting the citizens whose taxes paid their wages. It was disgusting really.
"I don't know! That's why I said you had to find them. God, I don't know why I was assigned to your squad of merry morons" The same voice who I had heard first snapped at the male that had just spoken. I stuck my head around the corner, cautiously to avoid being spotted by the group of Sina soldiers. Quickly, I scanned the corridor trying to get an idea of the number of soldiers that were searching for me. There was a total of five men stood in a circle, probably discussing a game plan. One of the men held a cross bow; I'd have to take him out first. Ranged weapons were often the most fatal weapons on the battle field. Two of the men had two blades holstered at their waist, another held a pike and the last man appeared to have no weapon on his person. I had to take out the five men and open the gate. This should be fairly easy, I hope.
The men began to withdraw from the circle and break off into three groups. Two men headed for the corridor opposite me, two men headed in my direction and the last stayed protecting the stair. Quickly, I ducked behind the stack of wooden crates and watched every movement the two men. One of the men stopped at the doorway whilst the other carried on with his patrol. I should go after the one moving away from the rest of the group, maybe I can lure the other towards us. Keeping to the shadows, I followed the guard as he carried on down the corridor. Glancing over my shoulder every so often to see if the other guard had begun following or if we were now out of site. When I was sure the other guard would not see me, I pulled a small dagger out of my boot and snuck up behind the guard. Quickly, I thrust myself upwards, grabbing the guard by the throat and I plunged my dagger into his throat. Luckily the guard was so overcome with shock that he did not scream out. He dropped to his knees, crimson blood spurting like a waterfall from the wound in his neck. The guard fell to the floor with a clatter, his eyes now were glassy more akin to glass eyes rather than the real things and a pool of blood seeped out from underneath him.
"I'm sorry, I had to. Rest in peace fellow soldier" I whispered, remorse flooding my senses. Get a hold of yourself Eren. You're fighting a war, you can't afford to mourn every person that dies in this war. The time to pay respect to the dead is after the fighting is finished; there for you don't get yourself killed in the meantime. It gives you something to live for. Who will remember them if you're also gone? I dragged the soldier's body to the side and hid it behind one of the stacks of crates. I didn't want the dead body to be discovered by anyone else patrolling the wall. They'd put this section of the wall on lockdown and then we'd never be able to get into the city. Becoming a part of the shadows again, I snuck carefully back to my starting spot, making sure that I remained undetected by the dead soldier's counterpart. The second guard was facing my position, this would make the job of killing him harder. I stopped when I reached the entrance way to the section of the corridor that the guard was in. I had to lure him farther down the corridor without attracting to much attention. Mustering all my energy, I quickly sprinted across the corridor; from one stack of crates to another the other side of the corridor.
"What the hell was that? Is someone there?" The guard grunted. Footsteps thundered towards my location causing the metal armour to loudly clang with every step. "Show yourself you traitor. I promise I'll go easy on you" the guard gave out a disturbing laugh, trying to intimidate me with his comment. I wasn't easily frightened. The guard began walking to the side of the crate, trying to find me. I slowly slipped round to the other side of the crate, so that I was now behind him. After the guard realised I wasn't behind the crate, he returned to the centre of the isle, his back still to me. I cautiously snuck I behind the guard, who towered over me, preparing myself to ambush the guard. However, I was not quick enough and the guard had already turned around.
"Well you said you wanted to see me" I joked, trying to make light of the situation. Shock displayed on his face as he realised that I was not a fellow Sina guard. His hand fumbled at his waist as he tried to remove his swords from their holster.
"Well, I'm awfully sorry about this but I've got to dash." I said, masking the nerves I was feeling with amusement. I quickly swept my foot under the guard's legs, toppling him to the ground and effectively stunning him further. I jumped on top on the guard, pinning his arms to his side with my legs in the process. I grabbed the dagger I had used to kill the first guard and brought it to his throat.
"Maybe we should arrange this for another time?" I asked sarcastically, slitting his throat with the silver dagger as I spoke. Ruby red blood spurted out from the wound, spraying me in the face and pooling around the guard's head. The guard choked and spluttered as his life faded before his eyes.
"Rest in peace fallen soldier" I muttered as I sprang up and retook my place in the shadows. Two guards down. In theory, I only must take out one more guard and then open the gates. I just must be careful about how I approach taking out the next guard. I crept up to the entrance way, leaning my head around the corner to gain information about his position.
Crap. He was facing forward, meaning there was no way I could sneak up on him without him noticing me and potentially calling out for help. A three versus one scenario would not be ideal when I could just kill him. I quickly scanned the ceiling to see if there was any way I could take him out from above. No, it was just a plain plasterboard ceiling with only small light fixtures hanging off it in regular intervals. The only way I was going to be able to get down those stairs and open the gate would be if I charged at the guard, guns blazing and hoping that I kill him before he either kills me or calls for help. I gathered my thoughts, in an attempt to calm myself down and mentally prepare myself for what was bound to be a fight. Lady Luck was never one to favour me.
I unsheathed my blades, adjusting my grip on both handles, ensuring I was a prepared as possible. Keeping myself low, I charged at the guard. Almost straight away the guard noticed me running towards him and he had his sword drew, ready for my attack.
"So, you're the intruder, ey?" He sneered, looking me up and down with a wicked glint. "I have to say I never imagined them to be a cute, little thing like you. Are you sure you want to do this sweet heart? We could always do something else"
"Why are the men who work as Sina soldiers always disgusting, sexist pigs?" I spat, disgust and unease pulsing through my body.
"Oh, so you're looking for a fight are ye? Fine if that's what you want then I'll let you have it. Frank! Gerard! The intruder's over here, trying to get to the gate! She's looking for a fight. Want to give her one?" He called out to the other guards who had gone off to the other direction.
"Why not call out to the other two?" I smirked.
"Well I imagine you manged to kill them and that's how you got this far. Those two were useless. Better off dead they are if you ask me." The guard replied. Eren, why haven't you killed him already? You could have the gate open by now if you hadn't of stood here blathering. By this point the other two guards had reappeared in the room with smug looks plastered on their face.
"She's a cutie this one isn't she Steve." The shorter of the guards winked and the guard blocking the stairs.
"Why don't we show her what we do to traitorous scum like her" The other said chuckling. Dear God, please let this end well for me.