A/N: Thank you everyone for your comments - they are all muchly loved, as are you! I'd like to take this opportunity to ask if anyone would be interested in beta-ing this fic? The biggest challenge would be helping me revise the first few chapters, but after that you'd be getting to read new chapters before everyone else! Just contact me if you're interested. Now... go read and enjoy the new stuff!

Chapter 8: The best of plans

Zänninger & Associates Exportations: that was what was written on the mouldy plaque hanging at the front of the building. Somehow, Allen wasn't surprised that Cutty would name his business after himself and then plaster it so blatantly at the front of his so-called offices.

He and Gaddes were walking past it, trying to look casual while surveying the street where the three-story house that was Cutty's headquarters was located. There weren't any guards outside, but Allen counted a number of armed men just past the threshold as he sneaked a glance inside.

It didn't worry him. He wasn't about to fight his way in through the front door anyway.

Gaddes had told him that this part of town was the most recent, and that it had been built all at the same time because the population had grown so much so fast that it had become difficult to sustain. The soldiers at the fort had apparently received plenty of requests at the time to settle conflicts that had broken out due to the shortness of supplies, according to the Sergeant's narrative.

So, when these blocks of houses had been built, the architects had done what they could to help solve that problem as well. Each block of houses circled a common yard, that the townspeople could use to do some farming. But his sergeant had also said that when Cutty had moved in to settle on the nicer buildings, they'd received a lot of complaints at the Fort from his neighbours, who had been frightened by the constant comings and goings of his thugs. Many of those people had moved to live elsewhere, leaving most of the houses that shared Cutty's backyard empty.

That was going to be their way in, so when he was sure they were at a distance where they would not be heard, Allen gave Gaddes a nod towards a ground-level window of an abandoned house, and let his second-in-command break the glass with the hilt of his sword, before both of them slipped inside.

Most of the windows had been boarded up, so the illumination came mostly from the hole they had just made. Allen had no trouble squinting his way safely through the room. The adrenalin rushing through his veins was heightening his senses and clearing his head in a way that he had yet to feel since arriving at Fort Castelo. He felt in his element, finally in control, not having to worry about what his new subordinates thought or did.

This was the type of cavalier operation he liked to run: saving damsels from untold dangers, or going up against impossible odds for a comrade. He would never admit it - would never even consider it - but it was a trait that he had probably inherited from his reckless father.

Gaddes, however, not sharing in the perks of Schezar genes, was having a little more difficulty. Short after they had started moving towards the back, Allen heard a pained grunt from his sergeant and the sound of a chair crashing to the ground.

The knight turned back just in time to see Gaddes quickly straightening up after furiously rubbing one of his shins and acting like nothing had happened. Then he watched as the man reached out with his arms to feel his way, probably thinking that since Allen had not said anything, he was just as blind. When his second-in-command's arms bumped against his, he was amused to see the man take on a completely unconvincing air of innocence. It was difficult to conciliate the childish antics of the moment with the gruff image the sergeant had been presenting so far.

Soon, though, neither of them had to worry about navigating gloomy house divisions, as the light coming from the back entrance reached them. All amused thoughts instantly fled the knight's mind as he focused on the confrontation that would ensue.

Once again, he was not worried. He knew that no matter how many second-rate thugs were in wait of them, they could not possibly compete with the skill of a Knight Caeli, least of all when that Knight was him. It had taken a stand-off with Balgus, one of the three great swordsmen of Gaea, for him to be defeated, back when he had wandered the wild, and he had only grown better since. He figured the odds this time were very much in his favour.

He was not very fond of the roundabout tactic, but it was necessary not to raise any more alarms than necessary, and also because he had yet to see what his men were capable of in action.

They reached the door that led into the backyard, and Gaddes stood by - sword drawn and ready, waiting for his signal to bring down the door. Feeling a trickle of excitement coursing down his spine, Allen placed a hand over the amethyst ivory hilt of his sword and let a confident little smirk spread over his features.

"Let's do this," he said, to which Gaddes replied with a nod.

The wooden door put up little resistance as both men brought it down with a powerful joint kick.

o

Jacob opened his mouth in a brutal yawn. Morning shifts were always a sacrifice, but especially so after a late night partying. He was idly standing in the backyard patio by some door that was never used and trying to keep himself awake and warm by stomping his feet in place, when he saw the knob to the entrance to the house turn.

"Push harder," he spoke out loud to whoever was coming in to join him. "It gets stuck sometimes during the night."

The door finally gave way to a skinny youth with freckles on his face and a gap between his front teeth. Greeting him with a wave, the newcomer made his way over to stand next to Jacob.

"New around?" Jacob asked. He'd never seen the kid.

"Yeah, first day. Thought I'd do some work around here for something extra to spend," he said.

Jacob nodded wisely to that. He had done the odd job himself when he was growing up. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure if he had ever left the stage - but that was something to think about when he was feeling more awake.

Sadly, he would not be getting that chance any time soon, for without further warning, the door that was never used came down with a bang, hitting both him and the kid clean on the back of their heads. Both fell down like logs.

"Nice," Allen commented as he took note that their opposition had been taken care of for the moment. "It won't be so easy from now on, though. Feeling up to it?"

"Ready whenever you are, sir!" Gaddes gruffly exclaimed.

"Right. We'll split up to search for our men. You search the ground level and proceed to the second level if you don't find Reeden and the others there. I'll take the top floor and make my way down from there."

Gaddes nodded and watched reluctantly as his commander ran up the outer emergency stairs two at a time. He still wasn't too comfortable with the thought of leaving the young Knight to fend for himself. Schezar's sword had looked like it had never been used as anything other than ceremonial paraphernalia: the hilt did not have a speck of grime and the blade was without a nick. Very much unlike his own. But there was nothing he could do about it; he had his orders.

He pushed on the door he knew belonged to Cutty's place, but it didn't budge. He tried shoving it a bit more forcefully, but nothing still. It was because of the humidity in the air, he figured. It could get very high during the night this close to the marshes. So he threw himself at it, shoulder first.

The door finally opened, but Gaddes also found himself very much out of balance and face to face with three very surprised pairs of eyes. He struggled to gain his footing and place his sword between him and his enemies. The only thing that kept him from being skewered on the spot was the fact that the other men also had to take the time to draw their swords, and being that they were in a confined space, they kept getting in each other's way.

Both Gaddes and the men took about the same time to recover and moved in to engage each other at the middle of the corridor. Since there wasn't much space, Cutty's men had to come one at a time.

Gaddes locked blades with the first. The man was focusing all of his strength and weight on overpowering him, and therefore missed that Gaddes had shifted the grip on his sword to one hand only, so he could use the other to punch him.

Caught by surprise - and not really being that resilient to begin with - the thug was knocked out and fell on top of one of his companions who had been immediately behind him, trapping him under his dead weight.

The other one had been smarter and pushed himself against the wall to evade the falling bodies. He was quick to engage the sergeant and demonstrated to have some skill in dodging Gaddes' powerful blows. In the end though, the Sergeant rushed him and stuck out a foot to where he predicted the man would move to escape. The result was instantaneous: the man tripped and banged his head against the wall, slipping unconscious to the ground next to the other two.

Taking a pause to finally catch his breath, Gaddes rubbed his shoulder - that door was made of stronger stuff than it looked - and moved cautiously down the corridor.

There were several open doors along the way, and Gaddes tried to get a glimpse of their occupants. Seeing Reeden and the rest in none of the rooms, he merely did his best to sneak past them without being seen.

He had just gotten to a door that looked like it led to a basement, when a loud noise came from the floor above. He hoped Schezar hadn't gotten himself in trouble, but did not have much time to consider what to do about it as all the occupants of the rooms he had sneaked past suddenly came out into the hallway where he was and ran upstairs.

Gaddes immediately ducked down the stairs to hide from view, but did not have much luck as someone else had already been making their way up. He jumped up to grab the top of the door frame and kicked out at the man before jumping forward and downward himself.

Having been hit directly on the chin, the guard tumbled down the stairs to lay in a heap at the bottom. Gaddes also managed not to attract any unwanted attention, since the footsteps of everyone running on the wooden floors were loud enough to cover the grunts and noise of the guard tumbling down the stairs.

The basement had only one small window close to the ceiling and a pair of grimy oil lamps to illuminate it, but this time Gaddes had no trouble seeing the room where he had landed. Dividing the room in half was a wall of steel bars, behind which stood his five lost friends.

"Hey, sarge!" Reeden greeted him cheerily.

"Everyone all right?" Gaddes asked, searching the room for the keys to open the door to the makeshift cell.

"Aside from our bruised egos, just fine," Ort grumbled.

"I think the guy had the keys with him, sarge," Katz offered more helpingly.

Gaddes rolled the man he had taken down onto his back and sure enough, saw the keys clipped to a chain on his belt. He grabbed them and quickly inserted them in the lock, but the gearings were apparently rusty for the key was not moving.

"You're sure this is the key?" Gaddes grit through his teeth as he tried to make it turn.

"Yeah, definitely," Katz confirmed.

"Say, sarge. What's with all the racket upstairs?" Reeden asked.

"That would be Sir Allen."

The five that were locked shared a surprised look, before Reeden exclaimed: "That prissy Knight's here? Sarge, you didn' tell him about me, did ya?"

Gaddes' efforts finally paid off and the door was unlocked. He took a moment to look at the guard's lean frame and wondered how the man could have had the strength to lock it in the first place.

He pulled the door open and lifted his eyes to his men. He had expected them to be running out of there even before he had the chance to open the door wide, but instead they were frozen in place, looking at some point behind his back.

Suddenly feeling a chill at the back of his neck that told him someone was there, watching, he covertly let go of the keys and went for his sword. Brusquely, he turned, prepared to face whatever more guards had come, but instead came face to face with unnervingly icy eyes.

His hand was hit with such force, that he let go of his sword. Watching it skid across the floor to rest out of reach on the other side of the room, Gaddes could not even react as a sharp blade came to rest against the soft skin of his neck.

He dared to swallow, but regretted it as he felt the skin being nicked. Behind him, Reeden was moaning.

"Not again... Sonje!"