Chapter 7: Infiltration
The sun had risen. It had been quite a few days since the last time I got a full night's sleep.
'Has this bed always been this...soft...and warm?'
As much as I would've liked to snuggle a little longer, I knew it was time to go.
...
Outside the tavern, a brown horse with a long white spot running vertically across its snout, was nibbling on some grass. That was the horse I'd ride for the trip. After saddling it up, I was ready to depart the town that, admittedly, I had grown slightly attached to. Before I could get very far though, I was stopped in my tracks by the distant sound of a door opening, followed by a familiar feminine voice.
"Steve!"
It was Catherine.
"Good thing I caught you! I forgot to give you something important. Here!" they announced with relief, while handing me a sheet of paper that had green, blue and yellow splashes of color on it.
"It's a locator map. With it, you can tell where you are relative to your destination, which in this case, is the pillager watchtower. See that small white arrow on the left-hand side?"
"Uh..." After scanning the map for a bit, I finally spotted the arrow. "Is this it?"
"That's the one. It represents your current location. The closer you are physically to the watchtower, the closer the arrow will be to the respective location on the map. It's like magical! It should come in handy."
"Thanks a lot."
"It's no problem. Oh, I shouldn't keep you any longer. Get going, oh brave adventurer!" they remarked with a gleeful smile.
"Alright, on it. Thanks again, Catherine."
"Good luck!" And with that, I was off.
...
'Gotta say...this is pretty fun!'
It was the first time I had ever ridden a horse, and it was exhilarating! Feeling the wind blow through my hair was awesome. Not to mention, I was travelling at a speed unlike anything I had seen before, so riding made for a practical method of transportation as well.
'I wonder if I should give this horse a name?
...
Can't really think of anything yet...'
As I raced along, I took in the view of the landscape. For the most part, plains were the primary biome. When looking to my left however - or north, to be more specific – I could see the lushness of the valley give way to the sandy bareness of a desert which seemed to be represented by yellow on the map.
'This world is full of surprises. So many unique locations to see...'
...
A glance at the map told me that I had almost reached my destination, right as the sun reached its peak.
'A watchtower...'
My mind began to fill up with possible scenarios regarding the obstacles I would face. 'How much fighting will I have to do? If two golems and an adventurer skilled in combat didn't return from this place, do I even stand a chance? Will the 'hostages' even be there? Are they...even alive?'
My lamenting was cut short by the sight of a dome made of dark oak planks jutting out from the horizon. Soon enough, an entire tower stood out from the dense forest that surrounded it. Its foundations and frame were constructed out of cobblestone, while the walls were made out of the same materials as the dome. Below the dome, but above the main portion of the tower, was a rooftop of sorts.
Looking around, I noticed that the tower wasn't the only build in the area. Two eye-grabbing structures that resembled giant cages, a few target practice dummies that consisted of hay bale and a pumpkin and even a couple market tents were scattered around the tower.
My horse and I drew a little closer, until I heard a grunt from behind us.
"Humph."
Whipping back my head, I was met face to face with, what I could only guess was, an illager. They resembled a villager for the most part. The main differences, however, were that they had dark green eyes, eyebrows instead of a unibrow and ultimately had a pale, almost gray skin tone. 'Or is it faint blue? It's kinda hard to make out.'
From what I could catch, their outfit consisted of a light gray shirt with a maroon tunic worn over it, which was secured by a belt with an iron buckle, and dark gray pants. They were also wearing iron shoulder pads, and brown leather boots.
Before I could do or say anything to them, they revealed a crossbow and started pulling back an arrow. My eyes widened. I raised my shield instinctively, right as the arrow was fired off. To my horror however, I wasn't the pillager's target at all. They had aimed for my horse.
The hurt animal shrieked in pain and rose to its hind legs, which resulted in me falling down, and landing on my back.
"Gah!"
"Hmmph!" grunted the pillager smugly, as they marched near. Before they could pull back another arrow, I got on my feet and pulled out my sword.
"Listen! I don't want any unnecessary fighting, but if you keep pushing me, I won't hesitate!"
"Hmmph..." they responded in indifference and resumed drawing their crossbow.
I sighed in defeat. I had to knock some sense into them. Cautiously, I raised my sword and hit my opponent with the flat side of the blade, knocking them back a little. In spite of the attack acting more as a warning, the pillager didn't seem particularly fazed. If anything, they mostly seemed annoyed. They launched the arrow they were holding onto, and this time, it found its target...
'This doesn't feel right... They look so much like a regular citizen of Cornelia, but still, they are bent on taking me out. I have no choice...'
With a determined look, I turned the sword in my hand, so that the edge was now pointed at the enemy. With a jump-slash, the foe was reduced to smoke.
"..."
As I was about to feed my steed some wheat to heal it, an obnoxious, booming sound echoed through the clearing. It almost sounded like a...bell? And it was coming from the watchtower!
'Is that an alarm?'
The distant silhouettes of illagers gradually becoming bigger and clearer, confirmed my assumption. Frantically, I got on my horse once again and made a mad dash for the dark oak canopies in an attempt for the raging troops to lose me.
As their huffs quieted down, I got the impression they did, indeed, lose us. I had to come up with a way to infiltrate the tower, without drawing any unnecessary attention to myself. Trotting along between the thick trees, I was trying to find the most suitable spot to approach the watchtower from. Specifically, I was looking for someplace dense enough to provide me some cover, while also being close enough so that I wouldn't have to cover a large distance exposed to get to the entrance.
In the end, no such spot could be found. The pillagers had built their camp dead center in the middle of the opening, so that it was an equal distance away from all sides of the forest's edges. (For context, the forested area that surrounded the camp was U-shaped.) A strategic decision...
With that plan out the window, I decided I'd sneak into the tower from the back, and mine my way inside. The sun was beginning to set, so the lighting was getting more dim, which helped. I leashed the horse on a nearby shrub, because it'd probably make too much noise. Since the main troop of pillagers was still close to the main entrance, my stealthy ways led me to the back of the building.
I didn't quite have an axe with me, so I had to resort to the old reliable method of breaking blocks with my bare hands. Although it took a while, the wooden planks crumbled. The moment I peeked inside, however, I was met with an arrow to the chest!
"Ack!"
"Intruder spotted!"
"What the-!?"
There were three pillagers inside! To think I honestly believed they'd all be outside...
I raised my shield.
Arrows bounced off one after the other. Now that there were multiple foes, I could tell more clearly, that their arrows carried much greater velocity than a skeleton's. On the flipside, due to the crossbow's design that required a longer draw time, they weren't firing as much.
I used that time frame to move in a circular pattern around them – always en garde – in order to reach the main entrance. As I got closer, I got shot once again by another pillager who was camping outside. Ignoring the festering pain as much as possible, I barricaded the gateway with cobblestone, just before the outside troops got in. In the meantime, the other three shooters were still firing.
I was hurt. I could feel my heart racing, but I had to pull through. Drawing a shaky breath, I haphazardly took down the three remaining foes – not without getting shot once more – by timing when to attack and when to block. Shambling, I blocked off the make-shift entrance through which I entered.
I sat down. Hostile grunts, growls and cracking coming from outside were still perfectly audible, in spite of the sealed off entry ways. Night had probably fallen by now. The room's only light source was a single torch that was adorning a wall. The atmosphere was haunting and the situation stressful; knowing that the only thing separating you from the enemy is a thin wooden wall... It's probably enough to drive anyone mad...
I ate a little to regain some strength. It was then that I realized...I was alone... all alone...Wait a minute...
'Where are the people I'm supposed to escort?!'
I got up and began to dart my eyes all over the room, until I focused on a staircase that was by a wall. It probably led to the rooftop.
Apprehensively, I crept up the stairs. To my bewilderment, they led nowhere! At least, that's what it initially seemed like...Upon closer inspection, the way was just closed off, by...dirt blocks?
'That doesn't seem right. If there's any place someone would hide in to get away from something, it's probably here.'
I dug away the brown, earthly blocks, and got on the upper floor.
A/N: ;)