AN: I swear I have eveything planned out! All the way to the last chapter! I have no idea why it is taking me this long to write it! I'm so sorry you all have to wait so long.
Brewing Storm
It begins with only one bell ringing sharply to interrupt a normal and quiet morning, but the message spreads on quickly. Within minutes, every single bell in the city is echoing out the same alarm and there are cries of warning spreading along with them as messengers have been sent out to inform the inhabitants of Alverton that the city is under threat.
The four rebels hiding away in the small apothecary startle awake by the noise, bolting upright and reaching for hidden weapons until they remember that this is what they were waiting for, they knew that this was coming.
Leah who is always the first one up in the mornings comes bursting through their bedroom door, letting it slam loudly against the wall. She is dressed only in her nightgown and her hair a wild mess around her face as her morning routine was disrupted halfway through. "It is time," she says, sounding both terrified and excited as she gasps for breath. "Rebels have been spotted outside the city walls, get up!"
"Thank you, we figured that much on our own with all the bells ringing," Tino says with a yawn, slowly stretching his arms above his head before he begins looking for his guard uniform among the pile of clothing on the floor without even bothering to move from the spot on the floor that serves as a bed. "We should have some time still to get ready. Torleif is just letting himself be known so he can cause some stir within the city. He is not going to attack immediately."
"Of course, we know that" Leah hisses as she taps one of her feet impatiently against the floor. "We are part of the plan, but the guards do not know that all the posturing outside is all for show. You are supposed to spend the day pretending to be part of that very clueless elite who are all panicking." She picks up a single pauldron from the floor and flings it in their general direction. "So, get dressed, and then join the idiots swarming through the city like a flock of headless chickens looking for their brains or I'll drag you there myself!"
They are quicker to move after that, throwing aside their blankets and properly search through their clothes. Leah's insistent foot-tapping is a constant rhythm as they pull on their guard uniform and sort out the pieces of armor that has gotten mixed up in their careless pile of equipment.
Matthias struggles with the various straps and buckles on his cuirass as his hands shake with a buildup of nervous energy rushing through his blood. A quick glance around lets him know that Tino is equally nervous as he fumbles with gear that usually gives him no trouble on a normal day. Berwald is hiding his nerves better than both of them, but his expression is looking far more grim than usual.
Vilje is watching them from the bed. She is sitting up but has not made any move to get up yet. "Gods, I wish that I could come with you today," she whispers weakly, voice growing tense around her words as she draws her blankets tighter around herself as if it is her armor against the world. Then she draws in a shaking breath and there are tears streaking freely down both her cheeks and she does nothing to hold them back.
One of Matthias' bracers clatters to the floor as he steps across the room to pull her into a hug instead, blankets and all, just letting her lean her entire weigh against him and she breaks down into sobs. "Please don't cry, Vilje," he says even though he knows that words are little comfort in this kind of situation. "It will be okay. In just a few hours this will all be over, and we will see each other again." No matter how many promises he makes, there is no guarantee he can fulfill any of them.
She lets go of her blanket and clings to him instead like her life depends on it, and Matthias can feel nails dig into the back of his shoulders, hard enough that it is sure to leave bruises. "It's going to be the longest few hours of my life," she sobs into his shirt, voice muffled by the fabric. "I'm the one that have to wait here and the one that has to spend every second of those hours wondering if you're all still alive and can do noting to help you. I hate this!" Her voice breaks and she gasp for air. "I don't want to say goodbye."
"Then don't say goodbye," Matthias replies quietly. "Say something else instead." He smiles against her hair, already missing her fiercely. "What about, 'see you later', instead?"
She makes a disgusted sound into his shirt at his horrible attempt at a joke and Matthias smiles even wider and hugs her closer.
Vilje finally lets him go after several long seconds where she is obviously struggling to get herself back under control. She pushes him back and gives him a stern look that carries very little impact with how red and splotchy her face looks after crying. "See you soon, dumbass," she snarks. "You better get out of here and win that war, I don't associate with losers." She points her nose towards the ceiling, pretending to ignore him, but her facade is broken by a sob, and she wipes furiously at her face with the sleeve of her nightshirt.
"You stay safe, Vilje," Matthias says.
She sniffs loudly as she turns to give Tino and Bewald a long, tearful look. It is like she is tucking away every detail of their appearance into her memory, just in case she will not see any of them again. "You look after each other," she whispers. "All of you."
It is hard to leave Vilje behind after that, but they do eventually finish dressing and have no more excuses to delay their departure any longer than they already have. They have even doublechecked all of their belongings to make sure that nothing important that they might need is left behind, because once they go outside there will be no going back here before the battle is over.
They have not spent much time on getting ready, but the city is already growing noisy outside.
Leah is downstairs waiting for them, dressed now in simple, practical clothing and with her hair pulled carefully back from her face and covered with a scarf. She is busy pulling out several baskets of medical supplies that she has prepared in the last few days and placing them on the floors next to any counters and tables that she has cleared of wares. She is expecting her shop to fill up with people desperate for help once the outer wall blows up and has prepared for such. The civilians are no target for the rebels, but people are bound to get inured in the crossfire and there is no avoiding it. The best thing they can do is prepare for when that happens and limit the loss of life and the consequences of injuries.
She stops working when she hears the rustling of the curtains by the stairs as the three of them step out in the shop. They watch as her face rapidly change through several expression until she ends up wiping away a few tears of her own on a corner of her apron as she loses the battle against her emotions. "Everything is ready," she says eventually after a few careful breaths. Everybody knows what to do and when to do it."
She steps over and gives each of them a careful hug. "I am so proud of everything we have achieved together," she says weakly. "I am even proud of the role that you forced me to play in all of this." She gives them a watery smile and blinks rapidly to force back more tears from spilling. "You have given the entre city and the Kingdom hope when there was none to be found. I have faith in our mission, and I have faith in you."
She has noting left to say to them after that and the room turns quiet.
It is with heavy hearts but firm determination that they head towards the door, ready to face the day that they have waited on for so long.
The volume of the city increases dramatically when they open the door, and it is hard to believe that the battle has not yet begun already, because there is screaming and shouting coming from every direction. People are running past them on the street, not even bothering to spare the three of them in their armor even a single glance, far too busy getting to wherever they think they can find some safety in the next few hours and looking for family members living in other parts of the city from themselves. There is the sound of window shutters slamming shut and even hammering as people are nailing windows and possibly even doors shut to barricade themselves in their homes.
The three rebels turn down the road leading towards the main square, careful to keep an ear out for trouble ahead of them before they turn down any street, not wanting to get caught up in any of the trouble that might arise as the citizens prepare for a siege and a battle. It is every man for himself on the streets now, and it is not unlikely that people might turn on each other. Dressed as guards they would be expected to keep the peace, and that is not something they have the time to deal with to keep up appearance.
As they walk, Matthias lets his mind drift towards his bond, hoping against hope that Lukas has some control over his own mind, but that hope is quickly shattered. When he reaches out there is nothing to grasp on to, an impenetrable wall of silence and coldness. He had wished desperately that Lukas would have some control over his own mind to make him maybe a little less dangerous over the course of the day, but of course the King would choose to have his best weapon close by and under tight control when there is an entire army just on their doorstep.
With his hopes crushed, Matthias pushes the thought of Lukas to the far back of his mind, knowing that he cannot afford the distraction even thought it causes his chest to feel void and leaves a bad taste at the back of his tongue. The walls of the main square loom high above the three of them and he has a job to do, one that ranks higher than his own wishes.
Berwald and Tino appear equally hesitant to take the next few steps forward and it gives Matthias some strength to know that he is not the only one nervous. Once they enter the soldier's ranks, they have lost their absolute last chance to make a run for it and save their own lives and so the last few meters hold a heavy impact as they are about to seal their own fates.
They give each other one last look to silently confirm that they are ready, and Matthias brings out the key from his pocket. "Let's do this," he whispers.
None of them had any idea what to expect once they opened the door to the district passages, but they were not prepared for the amount of noise that greets them. The soldiers are clearly very busy getting ready to defend the city. Most of them might feel confident that their plan to protect the city will work and that the rebels have no way of breaching the walls, but even they know that they must be ready in case something unpredictable happens and so they prepare.
There is furious shouting and the loud clanging of metal from armor and weapons clashing against each other in the narrow space between districts and the stomping feet of several fully armored soldiers. The three rebels have barely stepped through the door before a group of ten or so soldiers rush right past, one of them angrily shouting at them to step the hell out of the way, but they disappear further down the hallway within seconds, the incident already forgotten. There are the sounds of several more people running around within the narrow corridors, all of them heading to their designated part of the city.
"Guess they're not as ready as they want people out there on the streets to think," Tino says quietly. "All the better for us I suppose. We should get up top and get out of the way, the sooner the better."
"You'll hear no arguments from me," Matthias replies, throwing a glance down the hallways to make sure they are not about to be run over a second time. "I do not want to risk anybody ordering us to the wrong side of the city that is for sure."
They quickly find one of the narrow stairs to the top of the wall with the goal to find the best view of the main square. The walkways are already packed to the brim with soldier, but the three rebels carefully push their way towards the outermost wall where they will be able to events unfold on the outside knowing that Torleif is planning to approach close to the main square. They also pick a spot that is only a few steps away from the intersection where they can lean over the wall and see the back alley in the commoner square so that they can signal the people waiting to set off the black powder without having to bully their way through a horde of people first.
The guards up here are standing around in a pattern that can only be described as organized chaos. Most of the guards are lined up properly, standing at perfect attention and keeping an eye on the surroundings, that being the various city streets, the main square or the outside, but there are a few not paying attention at all and are leaning their heads close together, talking quietly amongst themselves. Some are looking nervous, as one would expect when there is an enemy army standing outside their walls, but others are looking almost excited.
It does not appear that there is a specific armor or weapon for the guards on the walls. They can see everything from light armors to heavy plate and weapons ranging from swords, axes and spears to bows and the three of them realize that they have been ridiculously lucky, because when they stole their armors, they were certainly not thinking about fitting in with a specific troop of soldiers.
A few commanders are patrolling the walls, their armor and weapons singling them out from the rest of the soldier. The swords carried by their hips are larger and the pommels decorated with gold and gemstones and their armors have bold sigils on the chest rather than the simple engravings carried by all the others. They have helmets with large feathers on top that makes them visible from a distance and it makes it easier for the three rebels to turn their faces away and stand up a little straighter when the commanders walk past.
Matthias does not even know where to even look first.
Eagerness to see his own people makes him want to look outside, but there does not appear to be anything happening at the moment. It is all empty out there. The fields and roads are void of people and there is no sign of the rebels anywhere, but they must have been at some point by somebody that have brought news back to the city. They would not set of the alarm on rumors alone.
There is no knowing when the army will actually arrive, for all they know it could be hours or even days if they are unlucky. Matthias hopes the latter is not the case as the three of them need to be on the wall when the attack comes. He has no idea how they will even begin pretending to be a part of the garrison beyond standing here in wait.
He does not have much time to think about that before the quiet on the outside is interrupted by loud shouting that draws all of their attention towards the closest of the main gates. They cannot see all that well from their position, but it goes on for a few minutes and then the yells turn truly desperate and is followed by a frantic hammering, the sound of several people hammering their fists against a wooden surface. It quickly becomes clear that there are people on the outside wanting to get into the city and those on the inside are refusing to open the door for them. That explains why the outside is so empty. Those who live there have apparently flocked towards the safety of the city walls.
"Are they not going to let the farmers in?" Tino whispers in horror as he realizes what is going on. "Nobody in the city would have food if it were not for those people working all day outside the safety of the walls and now, they are just going to leave them on the outside to die? The rebels are not even within sight yet, there is still time to let them in and get the gates shut again!"
"I don't think the King or his soldiers care," Matthias whispers back, feeling a chill creep down his spine. He hangs over the barrier to see better but can see little more than part of the crowd below and not the actual gate. "If they open the gates now, then the beggars from Mudtown might manage to make their way inside along with the farmers, and we have heard how the soldiers seem to think about the lower classes. They see this rebellion as a chance to weed out the weakest citizens by letting them die as casualties of war."
There are several quiet, rapid-fire curses from Tino, and they all turn away from the gates. None of them want to stare at people being denied safety when there is nothing they can do to help, and it is impossible to block out the pleas that are growing gradually more desperate.
Instead, they turn towards the main square, but it feels no better.
The soldiers down there are yelling at the forced recruits and Matthias has to swallow down bile as they watch the people below struggle to get into armor, they are still not familiar and fit weapons to their belts while soldiers are yelling at them to hurry up and get into line.
Matthias at least had expected there to be protests from the recruits as they are being led towards their deaths, but it is worryingly quiet in the ranks. There is no begging or pleading at all, just silence. He cannot tell if it is because they have accepted death and the soldiers have scared all protest out of them, or if Einar got the word through to everybody and they trust the plan to work without a hitch. Not that it matters as they eventually manage to line up in neat troops that are decent enough to keep the commanding soldiers happy and standing in wait like that, they do look like a proper organized troop ready for battle.
If Matthias had not known that these people were forced into battle and dressed up in old armors, he would have thought there were legitimate soldiers, and he would have been nervous to meet them on the battlefield.
Nothing significant happens for the next few hours and the wait is absolutely torturous.
The guards are restless, and it is only getting worse. The entertainment they found in making bets have worn off and they are growing increasingly sick and tired of standing around on high alert without the chance to get the tension out of their system. The only short moments of excitement they have is when somebody notices movement on the edge of the forest and they all strain to see what the rebels might be up to, and rumors spread through the ranks like a wildfire. A few guards are trying to make their way from one end of the wall to the other so they can follow the observations and not be left out of any action, but the commanders are quick to shut them down and send them back into line.
"Stay on your post!" one of them snarls as they cuff the back of the head of one guard that has attempted to sneak into a new position a few feet away from Matthias. "The next person that moves without my permission will find themselves on latrine duty for the foreseeable future!"
That makes most of them settle down and turn quiet.
This is no ordinary day on the job. The guards are not left room to be lax like they have been most other days when the three rebels have infiltrated their ranks. On those days they had been free to talk with other guards they walked past and there was no commander to breathe down their next as there is today. Today they all have to be on their best behavior and keep sharp.
The farmers begging for entrance give up eventually, but only after one person makes a run towards the wall, most likely with the intent of scaling it, but he barely makes it into the field of spikes before one of the guards have him shot dead. It is an instant reminder of the invisible line where crossing means death. They shout and scream in protest, cursing out the soldiers, but with nowhere else to go and not daring to storm the wall with the archers willing to take them down, they make they choice to scatter.
Some of them head back to their small homes out on the fields, probably with little hope that they will survive for much longer but standing without any other options. Others are making a run for the forest, hoping to lose themselves among the three and find safety somewhere else. Little do they know that Torleif and his men will offer them sanctuary until a time when it is safe for them to return.
The city guards do not expect any of them survive, and many of them are laughing loudly at their misery. Matthias feels his blood boil underneath his skin, and he feels disgusting wearing the same kind of armor as people who care so little for other people and even enjoy watching them suffer.
"Have any of you seen Trollbunden yet?" Tino whispers carefully after taking a careful look around for any commanders overhearing them and Matthias takes notice of how his fingers are clenching around the pouch of ashes. "Shouldn't he be around to oversee everything? He is the highest ranked officer as far as we know, I expected to see him patrolling the wall or something and I didn't see him head out with the recruits either."
Matthias can feel Berwald's gaze turn on him, dark and accusatory, and he can practically hear his voice saying, 'If you know then you better tell us or I'll tell Tino everything, right here and right now." It leaves a bad taste at the back of his tongue, but he keeps a straight face as he pretends to look around for the man in question. He has not dared to reach out through his connection since his first attempt this morning, but he does so now because Tino does make a fair point. The King's most dangerous weapon should be present to keep an eye on the developing situation.
He cannot feel particular emotion when he reaches out, but his gaze does draw towards the center of the city and up the hill as he feels a pull from that direction. "Do you think he could be at the castle?" he asks as if he does not already know without a doubt that Lukas is there. "Might be the King is keeping him close for some reason."
Berwald follows his gaze, and he makes a grimace. "Better for us if he stays up there then," he grumbles angrily. "Less likely our plan is discovered if he is there instead of at the frontlines."
"Well, we should keep an eye out either way," Tino says, apparently not picking up the tension between Berwald and Matthias. "Out of all the commanders here, he is the only one I don't feel confident we can fool." He takes another look around the wall to make sure he cannot catch glimpse of Trollbunden and then turns his attention back to the outside like most of the other guards looking for signs of rebels.
It takes another hour or so, and then a guard not far from them begins pointing frantically towards the forest. "Hey, look!" he yells, catching the attention from those nearby. "There is something moving just outside the forest! I saw them through the trees."
There are several more people shielding their eyes from the glare of the sun to see better, to confirm for themselves that is truly something worth taking notice of and not just a spooked animal or another case of imagination running wild, but sure enough, a group of several horses comes out from the shelter of leaves to step out on the open fields. They are keeping well out of reach from any archers and so it is difficult to see what they might be doing, but they the soldiers on the wall grow increasingly tense as more people comes stepping out from the forest.
Many, many more.
Matthias sucks in air through his teeth at the sight, trying not to let his mouth drop open in blatant awe. Tino was certainly not lying when he returned to them with news. The rebel army is absolutely massive and that is when there are still more people coming out from the forest. In number they might even end up outnumbering the soldiers.
One of the many commanders pushes his way between the men just a few meters away from where the three rebels are standing so that he can hang on the railing and have an unhindered view of the field to make and assessment. Matthias can just barely hear him mutter to himself from this distance. "It would seem they have chosen their battleground." He sounds bitter, probably not happy to have been station on the side of the city that will see fighting today.
Then the commander turns around and leans over the other edge of the wall to face the main square. "The enemy forces are lining up outside," he yells down, probably to the soldiers in charge of the recruits down below. "Prepare the troops for battle!"
A few of the guards perk up at that, and there is cruel laughter shared among some of them once again. They are openly making bets between themselves on how long the armored civilians will make it against the rebel army before they are crushed and how many of the rebels they will even manage to kill before their inevitable demise. The soldiers are clearly thinking that things are going exactly the way they should, the rebels outside have not done anything unexpected and so they feel comfortable enough to turn the situation into entertainment by betting on people's lives.
Matthias' fingers flexes around the hilt of his sword, and his teeth are grinding together in anger, his entire body is itching with the urge to just strike at the damned guards to teach them a lesson. At least it helps lessen the guilt over how many of these people will die when the wall blows. Most of them appear to have zero empathy when it comes to others.
There are murmurs of unease from the main square and Matthias turns around to see the soldiers busy with bullying the recruits into proper lines, ready to march. At least they are not going to draw out the game and chooses to respond to the rebels almost immediately rather than wait.
By the exit of the square, there is a platoon of soldiers waiting on horseback. These ones are dressed in the current color scheme of the capitol and Matthias figures they must be properly trained commanders to keep the recruits in check once they step outside the gates. Apparently, they do not want to risk the recruits fleeing for their lives the moment they step outside the gates. At least they have realized that it is risky to trust the defense of the city to unwilling fighters.
Tino is beginning to look a very dangerous shade of red as he is struggling to keep quiet, and his knuckles are turning white where they are digging into the stonework of the wall. That is until Berwald very discretely takes one of Tino's hands into his own in a show of silent support, working as an anchor as the three of them have to watch the recruits clumsily move into ranks and pretend like they are not hearing the crying coming from some of them that have failed to find their courage.
It does not take that long before one of the soldiers bark out and order and one of the gates open. The soldiers on horses take the lead going first and the recruits march after them out of the square, disappearing into the commoner district in direction of the main gate closest to the rebel army outside.
On the outside, the rebels have finally stopped pouring out of the forest. Torleif, most likely though it is impossible to tell from this distance is riding back and forth in front of them, directing them to spread out wide, showing off to the city just how many they are. Had the citizens of Alverton been able to see them, they would surely have been terrified out of their minds.
It feels like Torleif is taunting the King, staying out of his reach and spreading out wide to show that they have enough people to block off pretty much any attempt at escape from the city and that he is not afraid of them either. It is a game of strategy now between the rebels and the soldiers and Torleif has moved the first pieces, waiting to see how the King will respond.
The city soldiers make them wait outside on the field for quite some time, probably hoping that the rebels might lose their patience and rush the city, but they never take the bait. Torleif and the other veterans knows how these games work and they know the city archers can take down hundreds before the rebels ever reach the wall to even begin an attempt at climbing or breaching the walls.
It is well past midday and growing closer to afternoon when the people in charge decide that they have waited long enough and there is loud shouting coming from direction of the main gate it what must be an order to open up. The air in between the soldiers is charging up as well. Several of them ignore their orders from the commanders to stand up proper in wait so that they can hang over the wall to get a better view and the excited whispering start up again.
The game is entering a new phase.
The rebels on the outside immediately turn their attention in the direction the gate, their relaxed formation changes into proper lines as people snap back into alertness.
On the wall, a commander ruins the soldiers' fun by snarling at them all to pay attention. Those who are archers ready their bows, just in case they might need them, but it is a half-hearted effort at best as they feel safe behind their walls and have zero belief that the fighting will ever come close enough for them to have to worry about it. Some of the other men grumble in annoyance at the order to stay prepared whenever their superiors are out of earshot.
The front gates are wide open as the recruits are herded outside, and this is the one chance the rebels would have an open gate should they decide to charge, except they never do.
Instead, they stand their ground at the distance, waiting patiently while the guards on the wall grow increasingly tense. None of the soldiers seem to have expected that the rebels would allow an enemy force the time to line up the way that they want to without charging at them while they are unprepared.
The gate closes again with a boom loud enough to echo through the city, deafening and final.
Torleif and his people are regrouping as they get a proper view of the opposing army and taking a position to best defend against them. A long line of archers is standing behind the main forces and they are preparing their bows, hooking the strings into place and notching arrows, just waiting for an order to draw and release.
The city-recruits are moving further out on the fields, following the orders of their commanders into some sort of formation.
Everybody on the wall is holding their breath as they watch and wait to see who will lose their nerve first and launch into an attack.
One of the commanders is taking up the lead and it looks like he is attempting to hold an encouraging speech for his people, but Matthias doubts it will have any effect on anybody but those actually trained by the capitol and not forced into service.
Then he pulls out his sword and the recruits do the same.
At the sight of the defenders drawing their weapons, so do the rebels.
Then they begin roaring and shouting, every single one of them. There is stomping of feet and those with shield begin banging their weapons against them to create even more noise.
The sound is absolutely deafening.
The city commander in charge of the recruits raises his weapon towards the sky and shouts something as a rallying cry. The other soldiers on horseback also rides up to the front, readying themselves to charge. Archers behind them pull out and draw their weapons, and that is when soldiers on the wall start to take notice that something is amiss.
"Wait a second," on of them says, his voice rising in pitch as nerves take over. "That was not a part of the plan. They were supposed to charge, not shoot! What the hells is going on?"
A commander bullies his way to the very front of the line, and he clings to the ledge as he stares at troops and his mouth drops open in shock. He's desperately trying to say something, but there are no words leaving him, as he fails to come up with anything.
Matthias' heart is beating faster in anticipation, and he clings to the edge of the wall, grateful for the support as more guards catch on that something is going wrong and several attempts to bully their way towards the front to see better just what. There is shouting and cursing as they yell for their people to look back and notice the danger.
The soldiers down on the fields does not appear to have noticed anything off yet, but then one of them turns around and immediately he is yelling out something and pulling sharply on his horse's reigns trying to maneuver away, but it is too late.
The recruits release their arrows, and the only people that fall are city commanders.
The first hail of arrows takes down most of them, but the recruits did not have the time to become sharpshooters in just the few days they had of training and many of the shots go wide. The few commanders that survive immediately realize that they are caught between a rock and a hard place. They have rebels at their front and their own forces shooting them in the back, and they barely have time to grip onto the reigns on their horses to turn around before there is another volley of arrows coming at them and then the recruits rush them with a roar that matches that of the rebels.
It is chaotic and uncoordinated, but the soldiers do not stand a chance as they are either taken out by arrows or thrown off their horses and cut through by swords as the recruits fight viciously for their lives.
"Shoot them!" one of the commanders on the wall is screaming. "Kill the damned traitors!"
The recruits must know what is coming for them now that they have killed their leaders, because when their would-be leaders are dead, they flee towards the rebels as fast as they can, and the few arrows that fly towards them from the wall all land short of any target.
As they draw closer to the forest, the rebels lower their weapons, welcoming them into their ranks like long lost brothers, pulling people into hugs even though they have never met each other before.
The rebels have the time now to do what they like and move pieces freely around the board. The city does not have another army ready to send after them and their arrows will not reach that far. All the soldiers can do is watch as their own recruits step in between the rebels and join in their ranks. Some are heading for the forest to disappear into the safety of the trees, likely the children that nobody wants involved in this mess, but most turn back around to face the city, ready to fight those that were willing to sacrifice them.
The situation on the wall is turning into chaos. The soldiers and commanders are in an uproar, furiously trying to make sense of what they just witnessed. Many questions rise and fall in between them, things like: 'What just happened', 'why did they turn on us?', "why did not the rebels attack them?', 'how did they plan it?'.
Matthias turns towards his friends, gesturing towards the wall that gives them a view of the commoner district and begins pushing his way forward in that direction. "The recruits have done their part," he says. "It is time we do ours."
Tino quickly latches on to him Berwald to keep them from getting separated now that the guards are pressing in all around them, and he nods firmly. They picked they location wisely and it only takes a few steps for Matthias to be able to lean over the edge and look down at the street below. He pulls out a piece of fabric and waives it over the edge.
Out from behind a dark corner step a darkly clad person, staring up at them. He pulls out his own piece of fabric and waives back and yells something into the back alley.
Then out from the corner comes another man running.
This one is carrying a torch and a fierce look of determination.
Matthias pulls back from the ledge. "They got the e signal," he says. "We have to move!"
He begins pushing his way further away from the outer wall and deeper into the city, pulling his friends along with him, desperate to get away from the wall that is rigged to explode at any moment, while the soldiers are too busy shouting curses at the rebels on the outside to notice their exchange.