Darkness had fallen across Albion as the revolutionists battled against the army. Everywhere we ran, buildings toppled to the ground. Even if we did win this revolution, Bowerstone would never be the same.
"Get down, grenade!"
Another ear-ringing explosion detonated behind Ben, Kidd, Jack and I as we ran as fast as possible towards Bowerstone Industrial. I felt the heat tingle on my back, it was so close.
The four groups- Diversion, Lead, Ships and Infiltration- had split up to do their separate jobs. Diversion group made their way to the east gate to distract the guards by wreaking havoc. Lead group went to the defences to take out the mortars. Ships were waiting patiently offshore until defences were breached and mortars destroyed. We were the Infiltration group; we were the ones that had to get into the castle to open the way for Walter and Annabel.
Rain began to pour only minutes after we had left the beaches, and we were drenched seconds later.
"Looks like we've got company," said Ben, pulling out his sword and pointing at the entrance to Bowerstone Industrial. There were eight of Logan's soldiers standing guard at the closed iron gates.
"I'll take ones on the left; you take ones on the right?" I asked him, also pulling out my own sword. We descended on the men, blocking blows and slicing skin. "Ah!" I yelped as one of the soldiers slit my arm, and warm blood began trickling through my soldier's uniform.
One by one, the guards were killed and they fell to the ground in a heap. "You okay?" Ben asked me.
I gripped my injured arm and nodded. "It's a small wound, I'll be fine."
Behind us, Jack and Kidd were arguing.
"I'm telling you- you're reading the map wrong!"
"Jack, I'm the navigator, you're just the lock picker!"
"That doesn't mean I'm wrong!"
Ben and I stood there, waiting for them to finish with their cat-fight. "Should we-" I began, but Ben interjected.
"No, let them have their fight whilst we open the gate. A couple of our own soldiers should be waiting for us on the other side," he said.
I took the key for the gate from one of the deceased soldiers and unlocked the gate. Whilst we opened up the gate, three men began to run towards us. Only when they got closer did I recognise who they were- Tick, Grove and Jammy. I smiled and waved at them, but they weren't smiling.
"You've got to come quickly," cried out Grove, "The orphanage is on fire!"
"Okay then, quick detour," said Kidd from behind Ben and I, "Let's get going."
We ran through the rain all the way to the Bowerstone orphanage, which was now completely in flames. A woman was screaming as fire burnt her skin and a man tried to stop the flames- but it was too late. She fell to the ground, and stayed there. The stench of rotting flesh hit my nostrils, and I had to resist the urge to gag.
Tick gave me a cloth. "Apparently there are still some children inside, and we need to get them out."
"Alright I'm on it," I replied before running past the charred corpse and into the burning building. I was immediately consumed by the smoke and heat. I could barely see a thing, but I trekked on, searching for survivors. I heard a scream, coming from upstairs.
There was a slight problem however- the stairs, the only way up, were on fire. I put the cloth Tick gave to my face, and ran as fast as I could.
"Emily?" Ben called out. "Where are you?"
"I'm over here," I said after pulling the cloth off my mouth, which I instantly regretted. The smoke began to crawl down my lungs and burn. I shoved the cloth back on my face desperately searching for breathable air.
A bloodcurdling scream came from one of the bedrooms, and I rushed over to see a woman lying underneath a beam that had fallen from the roof. It was too heavy for me to move on my own, but with Ben and I both lifting it up, the woman was able to escape the beam. A group of rescue men stood outside a window and caught her when she jumped.
By this time the fire had gotten worse, and I could barely see my own feet in the smoke. There were a couple of children we were too late to save, but I managed to find a little girl, barely breathing. She was covered in soot and tears stained her eyes, but she was alive. I carefully picked her up and carried her in my arms and jumped out the window, the same way the other woman had. There was a whoosh sound, and then I felt the impact of several linked arms on my back catch me, and lower me to the ground. A medic took the child away, and I stood for a while, hacking my lungs out whilst waiting for Ben to emerge.
It wasn't long until he also jumped out of the window, with one girl in his arms and a boy clinging onto his back. We stood, side by side recovering from the heat we had to endure.
"We have to keep going," said Ben in between breaths. He was doubled over and struggling, "We've lost precious time, and we can't afford that."
I nodded. "Let's go find Kidd and Jack."
We found them bandaging villager's wounds, but they stopped when they saw us. The fire had destroyed the entire orphanage, but the flames had lessened, so we continued through Bowerstone Industrial.
Most of the fighting was over at Old town where the dwellers had let hell run wild, so the rest of our run to the sewage plant was fairly quiet. People had boards covering up their windows, and their doors were bolted shut. Apart from the explosions in the background, Bowerstone Industrial looked dead.
We crept through back-alleys and gardens, taking out guards on patrol until we reached the gate which stood between us and the sewers. The lock on the gate was one that no skilled lock-picker could unlock, and the spikes on the top of the iron bars discouraged the idea of climbing.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"Oh, you let me handle that, lassie."
I turned around to see Sabine standing proudly behind me, his grin taking up half of his face. I could tell why he was so happy- he had a string of explosives wrapped around his neck like a scarf.
"What are you doing here Sabine?" asked Kidd. "I thought you were supposed to be with the Dwellers."
"Aye, but we Dwellers have a gut instinct. We know where we are needed, and I am needed here."
Kidd, Jack, Ben and I stood back and watched as Sabine put the explosives onto the gate. "How are the dwellers doing in Old Town?" Ben enquired.
Sabine laughed as he put together the final parts for the explosives. "They are beating those soldiers into their early graves! Never have I been prouder of my men and women."
I felt my lips twitch into a smile. It was good to hear that things were going well in the diversion group. I couldn't help it as my mind wandered to Annabel, and how she was doing. I wouldn't see her until we got into the castle and opened the gates for her, and it would have been nice to know how she was doing. I hated not knowing.
I felt a warm hand tug on my sleeve. "Best to crouch down lassie," said Sabine, "things are about to get very warm."
We all hid behind a wall, and watched as Sabine blew up the gate. The bars flew open in a tremendous crash, with debris flying everywhere. After the smoke cleared, we stood up and got closer to the gate.
"Right then! Onto the sewers," said Kidd, far too excitedly for a sentence with the word 'sewer' in it.
"You do know how to navigate through the sewers, right? I don't want us getting lost," said Jack uneasily.
Kidd was glaring at Jack. "Me, map reader. You, lock picker. Let's go."
It didn't take us long to find the entrance that would lead us to the castle. The stench coming out of it was extremely uninviting.
"We have to go in there?" I asked, scrunching my nose up. I watched as a dead rat bobbed across the water top and resisted the strong urge once again that day to throw up whatever was in my stomach.
"Oh, we dwellers have dealt with worse," Sabine was skipping into the mouth of the sewer without a care in the world.
I sighed, but nevertheless followed the man into what I would describe as a home not even a hobbe would wish to stay in. Ben went in front of me, taking my hand to help me over some of the more slippery floors. We were walking for a long time in silence, before Ben whispered softly into my ear.
"What do you think Annabel's coronation will be like?"
I smiled. I imagined Annabel in a beautiful dress, wearing the crown whilst the rest of us watched on. "I think it will be beautiful," I whispered back, "with a fantastic after-party to go with."
He laughed. "I always expect the head maid to get plastered at a coronation," he whispered sarcastically.
"It would be unprofessional not to," I replied.
"Well I will be right next to you on that."
Sabine stopped in front of us, and looked around. There were three different ways we could go. "Where do we go from here, Kiddie?"
Kidd frowned, and probably not just because of Sabine's nickname for him. He squinted at the map, turning it around and upside down. I wanted to sigh in frustration- Kidd didn't have a clue where we were. The sewers lied underneath the entire area of Bowerstone; there was no way we could wander aimlessly in hopes of getting lucky and stumbling across the entrance to the castle.
"This is why sewers should have signs," I muttered as I stared down the three tunnels. I couldn't see anything- it was too dark.
"We don't have time for this Kidd!" yelled Jack. "We can't leave Anna- the princess waiting for us."
I stifled a smile as Jack stumbled over his words. It looked like he had a little crush growing on the future Queen. I looked over Kidd's shoulder. The map was large, long and confusing, but we needed to be on our way so I tried my hardest to work out our location.
After ten long minutes, Kidd finally worked it out, and we were able to move on, but we had lost a lot of time. First the orphanage, now getting lost...we couldn't afford any more slip-ups.
We began to jog, our footsteps echoing around the tunnel. My legs protested against the exercise and my eyes began to droop; it felt like I hadn't slept in years. "How much farther do we have to go, Kidd?" I asked.
"Not long, we're almost there, I promise!"
And sure enough, Kidd stayed true to his word as minutes later we arrived at the sewer entrance to the castle grounds. The ladder to the entrance was rusty and old looking, so we agreed to climb up one at a time.
Ben went first to make sure the area was clear. "Looks like we're safe," he called back, so I went up next. It turned out the entrance was in a hidden corner of the castle's stables, and apart from the occasional snort from a horse, it was silent. I patted Annabel's old horse, glad to see that the boy was still alive and well.
"What's the plan now then?" I asked Kidd as he climbed out of the hole.
"Now, we sneak to the castle courtyard, knock out the guards and open the gate for Annabel."
"Aye, easier said than done, Kiddie," Sabine chipped in, skipping to the door out of the stables, "There's gonna be a lot of Logan's folk wandering around searching for us; they're stupid, but not stupid enough to not realise we've come for Logan's head on a plate."
"We're not here for his head on a plate Sabine," I replied harshly, making my way to the door, "Only for justice." Despite everything Logan had done, I didn't want to see him die that night.
I peeped through the keyhole; there were two guards by the steps to the library and kitchen, facing Logan's statue. "If we opened this door, they'd notice us straight away," I muttered.
"We need silent kills," muttered Ben from next to me, "Guns will attract too much attention."
"Well how are you going to get close enough?" asked Jack.
Ben smiled devilishly. "We'll get them to come to us. Jack and Sabine, hide behind something thick enough to withstand bullets." The two went and hid behind a stable door. "Emily and I will attack the men when they investigate the 'knock' that Kidd will make, before joining Jack and Sabine in hiding."
I pulled out my sword and stood beside Ben. "Let's do this."
It all went down perfectly. Ben and I stood to side of the door, partially hidden. Kidd knocked loudly on the door and joined Jack and Sabine. Seconds crawled by agonisingly as we waited for the guards to investigate. A loud creak came from the door, which was being opened by one of Logan's men.
"Show yourself! Is someone here? I order you to- urgh…" I hit him with the hilt of my sword, and he fell like a stone. Ben easily took care of the other guard the same way.
"Nice job lassie and laddie. I would clap but that may jinx it all," Sabine patted Ben's back, and ventured into the castle gardens.
It was scarily silent. The nobles were hidden away in their cosy mansions in Millfields, and the guards were protecting the front of the castle. It made me think back to the night of Logan's coronation. The chrysanthemums were in full bloom, just like then too.
We ran to the kitchen doors, the only noise our footsteps on the stones. Jack pulled out his lock picks and began to unlock the door for us with ease.
"Should I even ask how you learned these skills?" I said to Jack.
He grinned. "You need to be a little creative to survive in Bowerstone Industrial." The door opened with a 'click', and we opened the way to the luckily empty kitchen.
"The guards will be congregating in the entrance hall- be prepared to fight men at a five-to-one ratio," said Kidd.
Ben wiped a speck of blood off his sword. "One of us… against five of them? Hardly seems fair."
"To who? Us or the guards?" I smirked, cocking my pistol. "Let's go!"
We climbed the steps, stopping when we heard voices coming from the hall.
"Stay alert!" A guard yelled. "The traitors could attack at any moment."
"I say, let's blow them to smithereens," whispered Sabine.
"And take the castle with it? No way," I replied, "We're just going to have to fight our way through."
And so the fight began. Sabine, Kidd and I ran forward with our swords, whilst Ben and Jack stayed back with their rifles. Adrenaline pumped through my body as I hacked my way though. It was going easier than I expected; the soldiers were tough looking, but not too skilled at fighting. One managed to nick my leg with their sword, but I could barely feel it.
Numbers began to dwindle. Bodies began to pile up on the blood stained carpet. I watched as the light disappeared from the last man's eyes, and I pulled out my sword from his gut.
"There are more in the courtyard, by the gates. The princess is probably waiting already to be let in," Kidd looked out the windowed and I followed, noticing the guards, their backs facing us, their rifles positioned at the closed gates.
"Well then, let's make this dramatic," Ben said, walking over to the large doors, opening them up. The soldiers turned to face us, only to see that we all had our guns aimed at them. "Surrender now and we will give you mercy. If you resist, we will kill you."
Behind those giant helmets- they looked scared. Of course they did; they were only following orders, just like us. I thought of the blood, pooling on the carpet. Logan will be the one blamed for it all- but I was one of the people who killed them, not Logan.
The guards put down their weapons and held up their hands. As Ben and Kidd went to arrest them, Jack, Sabine and I hurried over to the gate. There were two parts to the gate- the metal bars, and the thick, oak doors. Jack set to work picking the lock to the bars, and Sabine began to set the explosives. We were coming to the final part of the revolution.
Jack and I pulled on the chain he had unlocked from the wall, and the bars began to lift up. "Sabine, your turn now."
Sabine lit up every explosive he had on him, and the wooden gate fell to pieces. When the dust settled, we could see Annabel, Walter and Page waiting for us on the other side.
"Took you bloody long enough!" Walter said, walking up to us. He looked over at all of us, and a smile crept onto his face. "It's good to see you're all alive."
"It's good to see you made it too Walter," called out Ben, who was tying up the last soldier.
Annabel was quiet, staring up at the castle. "So this is where it ends," She whispered, "Right where it started."
I squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back. Our silent reassurance.
"Your Majesty? It's time." Walter gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked to him, and nodded.
"Let's hope the crown fits, good luck my Queen," Ben winked at Annabel.
Uneasily she walked into the castle with Walter.
We waited in the courtyard. The revolutionists that survived began to appear, and they joined us. Kalin and her people stood together, praying. Saker and his mercenaries wiped blood off their weapons. The dwellers jumped and mingled, still full of energy. Page and her rebels stood still and silent.
Ben and I stood together, staring up at the castle. He held onto my hand, neither of us knowing just what to say to each other. My eyelids began to droop; the adrenaline had worn off and now I was exhausted. I leaned my head on Ben's shoulder and closed my eyes. I felt his soft lips touch my forehead.
After an unknown amount of time, I could hear conversations die down, and Ben nudged me awake. I opened my eyes. Walter was standing at the top of the stairs.
"Fellow revolutionists: Logan has been arrested, and the crown has been taken. Albion is ours!"
There was a brief silence, before ear-splitting cheers filled the courtyard. I jumped onto Ben, filled with joy. "We did it! We actually did it!"
I pulled away, only to have Ben pull me in again and kiss me on the lips. "It's all over now."
…It's funny. When Ben said that, I truly believed it. Oh Avo, how very wrong and naive I was.
~Authors Note~
Hello! I am so sorry for the late chapter, I had exams and then once exams finished I got a summer job, so I've been too tired to write anything of good quality.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I've managed to plan the whole of the story up to the very end now, and it's definitely going to swerve away from the gameplay now into something a little different.
Anyway, thanks for reading, see you next chapter!