This is completely mine... everything, the characters, the places, all of it...
Chapter I
The guard started, peering out into the darkness at one of the shadows moving.
"What the bloody H…" was all he got out as two pairs of hands snapped his and his partner's necks.
"Damn it, they were seen." John Makan muttered under his breath.
"Which one was it?" His twin Kell asked.
"Elamar, the shadow was at least an inch taller than Will or Andrea."
"So we have to yell at him when this is over."
"He's a dead man." John responded, as they moved back into the shadows.
Meanwhile Will, Elamar, and Andrea - the teams other members - were traveling ever closer to the target's (Sir Jonathan of Lincoln's) quarters.
"It's almost ten o'clock, where should we enter?" Will posed the question to his two trainees.
Andrea: a shorter, dirty-blonde girl who could blend with any crowd and used blades with amazing skill. Elamar: a tall, brown haired breaking-and-entering master who carried a sword over his back and a rope in his belt.
"We enter through his room's window, of course." Elamar said quickly.
Will let out a hissing sigh. "And if we go in his quarters and he is awake?"
"Then we are disc… oh, yeah." Elamar finished lamely.
" We go into the mess hall." Andrea put in, " It will most likely be empty, and it leads to all the other parts of the castle."
"Good, Elamar you lead."
"Yes, sir"
On arriving at the mess hall window, Elamar drew out of his sack an assortment of tools. First was a chunk of pine bark, then a vial of sap, and finally a small hammer. He poured the sap onto the smooth side of the bark, attached it to the window, and started tapping the bark with the hammer.
"No why is he doing this?" Will asked Andrea.
"He can strike the pine bark instead of the glass, which muffles the sound. Also, the sap catches the glass shards and makes it safe to enter without having to worry about being cut or alerting the enemy." She answered
"Good." Will responded softly, and put his hand on her shoulder in a semi un-business like way. He removed his arm only when Elamar had completed the hole and dove through the window.
"Ladies first." Will said.
"Is that why Elamar's already in?" Andrea asked jokingly. She then dove in the window and rolled out of the way. Will was last and went through the hole perfectly. Upon landing, he did a handspring over a short table, landing silently.
"I thought we weren't supposed to show off." Andrea said teasingly.
"It's not showing off, it's proving superiority." Will responded, "It keeps you in awe of me enough not to challenge my leadership."
The group started moving down the main corridor in a single file line, Will first, Andrea second, and Elamar guarding the rear, throwing daggers out. Eventually Will paused in front of a door.
"This is his room," Will said, "We go in we kill him we get out and we run. Got it?"
The two others nodded their understanding.
"Now quietly, damn it all."
Will opened the door and walked inside, the other two following. Will stood at the head of the knight's bed, right next to his table. Andrea positioned herself opposite him and drew her knife. Elamar walked in, but his sword caught on the door and the knight sat straight up.
"Damn it, Elamar," Will said while delivering a blow to the knight's temple, knocking him unconscious "I said quietly, when we get out of this you're a dead man."
Andrea, meanwhile, pressed her knife against the knight's throat. Then, applying slight pressure. She drew the blade across his jugular, creating a small cut and letting spill a trickle of the man's lifeblood. Eventually, his own heartbeat would drive the rest of it out of his body. Will secretly palmed something from the table as the two apprentices walked out, their final test complete.
"Let's get out of here." Will said, slightly unnecessarily. Elamar looked up from praying for the man's soul. They started sneaking to the mess hall to go out the way they came in. About two hundred yards from the hall, they ran into a pair of guards. Elamar was able to throw a dagger into the throat of the first, but the other was able to call for reinforcements before Will could get him.
"Damn the Makan's, they were supposed to take out the guards in this area."
They dove through the window that had formerly had only one hole in it. Their sturdy, black tunics and pants were able to prevent the glass from cutting into their skin. They started sprinting for the gates, vaulting over shrubs and dodging the arrows that were flying at them. Finally, they reached the gate and met up with the Makan's.
"Here are the disguises." John, dressed as a merchant to match his brother, said.
"Good, well both the merchants are spoken for, I'll be the actor." Will said.
"I'll take the horn," Andrea said, "as I am the only one who knows how to play it well."
"Well I guess that leaves me as the mercenary." Elamar said.
"Remember, we meet up by dawn in three days back in Ralaa, understood." Will said.
"Yes, sir" was the response that came back from the other four.
Will went north, Andrea went west, Elamar went south and hooked around, and the Makans went east then back to the west. They all arrived on time, with Andrea and Will a day ahead of the others.