Retaliation
Matthias never doubted that the key would fit, but once the key turns all the way and they hear a quiet click of a lock opening, Tino lets out a long breath of air he was holding while waiting. Matthias gives the two other a look to make sure they are ready and they both nod again, pulling out their weapons and holding them at the ready, just in case and Matthias gives the door a push.
It swings open without a sound, revealing a dimly lit hallway beyond it. Tino steps in first, raising his bow, looking one way first, turns around and then he gives them another nod to indicate they are all in the clear. Berwald and Matthias step in quickly after him and carefully close the door behind themselves.
The hall they stand in is about 5 meters wide, the breadth of the wall Matthias assumes. Above them there are arches to support the walls and the high ceiling. There are lit torches placed along the walls about every 20 meters or so, that lights up the hallway which seems to stretch on forever in each direction. There is a second door directly across from the one they just entered and there is writing etched on the wall atop it. Matthias assumes that is to help the guards navigate the massive corridors and exit to the correct district and location.
"Do you think we should go directly to the next district?" Tino whispers, and despite how quiet he talks, the words echo slightly off the walls, and he winces. "If any guards come down this corridor, any chance we have of secrecy will be gone, because they will spot us pretty much immediately."
Matthias peers down the hallway in both directions. Tino is right, the lights along the walls make them visible from far away and they don not look the slightest like guards. "I think that would be for the best," he whispers back. "Next district should be the noble one. The guard district is the one beyond that. If we want to do some sabotaging, that is the one where we can do the most damage, so I say we go there. It is dangerous, but they should not expect rebels that far into the city, the guards might be slacking off, feeling safe in their own district."
Tino nods eagerly. "Agreed, now let us go before someone can hear us and come searching." He lays his head against the next door and after a few seconds he gestures for Matthias to open that one as well.
Matthias is careful as he opens the door just the tiniest crack so he can peer out on the streets beyond. After confirming it looks empty, he opens it all the way and they all scramble through, eager to get out of the narrow hallway. Tino quickly does a sweep around the area and waves them over to a particularly dark corner where they all lean against the wall.
This district does not look all that different from the one they just left, but the roads and the houses are better cared for, especially compared to the part of the merchant district where their little safe house is. The cobbles on the streets are all smooth and even and the houses stand taller and further apart from each other. Even though the wall loom tall and intimidating above them and with the next district wall also in sight, the district still seems friendlier and more open, much helped by the large, and well-kept gardens and the handwritten signs hanging by the walkways leading down to the main doors.
They glance down the different streets. "Maybe we should just aim directly towards the next wall?" Matthias suggests. "I doubt we're going to find much of use in these streets, and I'd rather we get out of the open."
Tino nods eagerly. "True," he whispers. "Straight ahead it is, but I doubt the next wall will be this easy to bypass even with a key. That entire district will be crawling with guards, and we look out of place dressed like this." He gestures down to their fine, and clearly merchant district clothing.
Matthias hums quietly. "But what if go in looking like them? Would they bother giving a second look at anyone wearing the uniform?"
Tino blinks at him, barely visible in the darkness. "You want to attack guards and steal their uniform?" he hisses. He stares anxiously down de streets as if he is expecting a group of guards to march towards them and challenge them to a duel for their clothes, right there and then.
"Maybe we should keep this conversation off the streets, and keep moving," Berwald suggests, gesturing down a road that seems to lead the most direct route towards the next ring of walls and they all start moving carefully down the streets. Tino practically glued to Matthias' side expecting an explanation and Matthias intents to give it to him.
"That was not the plan," Matthias whispers and ducks behind a bush when there is a sudden light streaming from a window in one of the closest houses. "If we assault a group of guards and take their clothes, the rest will surely know that there are people out and about with stolen uniforms, they will make sure to check every person passing the checkpoints then."
They all hold their breath as they can hear a window being opened and two people arguing, for some reason thinking it best that the entire neighborhood partakes in their quarrel. They argue for several minutes before they finally slam their window shut and the curtains follow soon after, leaving the street in proper darkness once more.
They step out of the bushes and continue their walk after confirming the streets are empty. "My thinking was that we see if we can find the guard's storage. They are bound to keep several armors around for new recruits or in reserve. It should be a lot harder for them to keep track of and nobody should notice if a few pieces disappear."
Matthias swears he can hear Tino snicker, seemingly liking that suggestion. "Well," Tino says lightly, and Matthias is endlessly relieved to hear a lighter tone from the hunter. "That sound all well and good, we just have to sneak past an unknown number of guards in the part of the city that is dedicated to them. And that is after we sneak through the gates that only they are supposed to have access too. It will be easy."
"Let's deal with one problem at the time," Berwald mutters as the voice of reason behind them.
The rest of their walk across the district is mostly calm. They have another close encounter where they end up hiding in a large rosebush for several minutes when a group of guards walk by and end up taking a break just by their hiding spot. Those minutes are long and tense as they cling on to the scraps of conversation in case the guards say something useful but learn nothing other than one guard finding his wife dreadful and the other making crude jokes in return.
After far too much time with thorny branches poking in uncomfortable places, they can finally move the last distance to the wall, approaching this one much as they did the first. Making sure they are in the clear from people atop the wall and then Tino rests his ear against the door for a full minute before he gives Matthias the all-clear to try the door.
This time, the hallway they meet is a lot wider and far better lit. Tino curses quietly as they watch their own shadows dancing along the walls from the torchlight. By the wall there is an entire barrel filled with new torches, ready for the guards heading out on patrol and a row of spears.
"Guess we know where we can get guard issued weapons," Matthias whispers.
Tino shushes him quickly. "We need to figure out which way leads where."
"Can you read the sign over the door" Matthias ask in return after making a quick look around.
"The sign says, 'training court'" Tino says after squinting at the sign above the doorway. "But that does not really help us knowing where to go. The storage could be anywhere"
"But do you think there are many guards training at this hour of the night?" Matthias whispers back.
"Probably not," Berwald mutters. "So, we can either go out here and take a look around or we can move further along the hallway and see if we can find any more signs to get a better overview of the place."
"I think that is a great idea, Ber" Tino says quickly, suddenly alerted by something. "But I don't think we have that choice. I can hear footsteps; we need to go, now." He pulls them to the next door and ushers Matthias in front to unlock the next door.
By the time Matthias has the key in the lock, he too can hear the footsteps, several of them it sounds like, marching at a rapid pace further down the hallway. His hand is shaking and moments later they all tumble out on the other side, pushing the door shut behind them.
They stand in a large, open courtyard, surrounded by stone buildings. There are some training dummies on one side of the yard and a row on targets on the other. Matthias searches for anything that can work as a cover, but Tino is faster, practically dragging them to hide behind a stack of crates just a few meters away where there is only one small crack between the crates and the wall, and they all squeeze in.
Matthias' heart is beating like mad as he shrinks down into the shadows as much as he can, clutching the axe to his chest, feeling safer with a weapon in hand. He peers around the edge of a crate towards the door but darts further back again when the door tears open just after.
"I swear I saw something!" an angry voice yells and then four people make their way out in the courtyard. The first one unsheathes his sword, judging by the metallic sound and Matthias presses his back hard against the crate, praying to the gods they are all out of sight. Tino has an arrow notched, but Berwald is keeping him back from firing.
One of the other guards snorts loudly. "You are seeing ghosts" he laughs. "Nobody can get here that is not supposed to be here. Come on, let's just go back to the barracks, play some cards or something. The night is quiet as always, let us just enjoy getting the easy patrol for once."
"It might be one of the damned rats," the first one growls, still not convinced. "They are all over the city these days and I will not let one of them sneak past me."
Matthias dares a further peek around the boxes. The one guard in front is holding a torch in one hand and a short sword in the other and he is peering around suspiciously. The others do not seem concerned in the slightest, one of them is even leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and grinning mockingly. The two others are lazily looking around, but not putting their hearts into searching for intruders.
"You are exaggerating," the guard by the door yells. "We have never even seen a rat in the noble district and maybe one or two at the most in the merchant district and that is in a whole year and now you think one has found its way all the way here?" He laughs louder. "Why do you look for trouble where there is none, rather than enjoy one of the few simple patrols available on the roster. If you want to look for rats, you can volunteer for front gate duty or market watch in the outer rings and leave the rest of us out of it."
"Wise words" one of the other guards calls out in agreement, giving up his pretended search for anything suspicious. "If it is action you want, we will all see plenty of it soon enough when the rebels arrive and from what I heard, they will arrive. It seems the forces the king sent out somehow failed to take down a bunch of untrained farmers. So, if your fingers are itching for a fight or you can volunteer, go out there, show those rebels how proper soldiers fight. I can't understand how they got this far to begin with. We should have defeated them weeks ago."
Matthias glances at the other two and they both look like they are hanging on to every word. The most suspicious guard with the torch seems to give up his search and he sighs loudly. "I do not get that either. The king sent…" he pauses and glances around as if he is worried somebody is watching them but shrugs when he sees nothing. "Well, you know who he sent. In all my time, I have not heard of a single mission where he has failed, until now it seems."
"None of us have," the final guard comments darkly. "Do you guys think the commander has lost his touch? I bet the king is furious with the lack of results. I would not like to be in his shoes these days, that is for sure."
"Do you think he has been acting strange lately?" the guard sounds hesitant as if he is not sure he even wants to ask the question, and now it is Matthias' turn to listen intently. If Lukas' behavior is making the guards suspicious, the king might start asking questions and that could turn out quite dangerous for all parts involved.
One of them snorts loudly. "Stranger than usual you mean," he says angrily. "I would not know; I make sure to steer clear whenever I can. He creeps me out."
"And I would continue staying away for as long as possible," the one leaning against the wall says and spits. "I talked John when we swapped guard today, and he said the commander almost killed somebody during training last morning, just snapped apparently and threw him against a wall. It took four guys to hold him back."
There is another loud snort from one of them. "I would not trust anything John says. He likes exaggerating and he likes sowing fear about the commander so he can appear braver himself because he shares wall duty with the damned man."
"I don't think he was lying this time," another cuts in. "The commander has been acting weird, I've seen it myself, ever since he came back from the war front. He is more unpredictable, maybe even angry, I don't know. He is supposed to be unfaced by everything."
"Things have changed then. You don't almost kill a man during training unless you're pissed off."
"Well, if I didn't know how efficient he is in battle, I'd rather we just get rid of him, the entire guard fears him, would be better without him."
Matthias feels his stomach turn into knots at their hateful words. He wants to scream at the guards, all of them. They don't understand what the king has done to Lukas, that he is not completely in control of his own actions. He is protecting the people of the capitol and still all its inhabitants seem to dislike him no matter what caste they belong to. It is unfair how much hate he receives and Matthias bites down on his tongue to keep quiet.
"Just wait until the day comes when rebels attempt to launch an assault our city," a guard growl. "You will be glad to have him at the ready then and all we will have to do is stand on the sidelines and watch the rebels die like flies before him." The guard walks along one of the walls, and Matthias and the others flattens against the crates again, but he is not looking at the crates or searching for anything behind them. He just turns his back to the rest of the guards and takes a piss against the wall.
"I'm freezing my ass off," one of them comments with clear annoyance in his voice. "We've wasted enough time, and as you can see there is nobody out here. Let's go back play some cards like I suggested."
The group of guard finally take their leave and the group heave a collected sigh of relief. Matthias sags against the crates, knocking the back of his head against the wood.
"That was close," Tino whispers and clambers out from between the crates. "Did you guys hear all that?" he asks excitedly. "It seems not everything is smooth sailing within the royal army."
"Don't take what they say too seriously," Berwald says reasonably. "These guys are bored and most of their entertainment come from gossip, so I don't know how much of their words we should take too seriously, but I agree, if they have problems within their ranks, it is only good for us."
They crawl out of their little hiding space and the courtyard lies empty before them. Matthias has a bitter taste at the back of his tongue that keeps getting worse the more people talk. "Why don't we just search around? See what's around here." He knows he needs to keep his attention on the mission and not on other things or he will go mad.
He walks a circle around the courtyard, trying to stay clear of any windows where there is light seeping out. He peeks inside one where there is only a soft glow reaching out and no visible shadows moving around to indicate there are people inside. He sees a large room, filled with boxes of what might be gear, but what kind, he cannot tell standing on the outside. "Hey, I think I found something." He hisses quietly and waives the others over.
The group quickly look inside more windows and find out which door will lead them to the right room. Matthias rests a hand on the door handle, waiting to open it until the others nod once again after listening at the door. The move already feels practiced, and they easily read each other's intentions and open the first door.
This time the room they enter is dark and they quickly move on through to the room where they saw the possible supplies through the window. The soft light they saw from the outside, stems from a nearly burned down torch on one of the walls, left to burn out alone. Along the walls, they find large crates of wooden practice swords and a few leather jerkins, heavily worn and dented, most likely gear used for practice.
Tino holds up one that is close to ripping at the seams. "I don't think we will get very far using these," he sighs.
Matthias wrinkles his nose. "I don't think so either. There has to be a proper storage somewhere else, we just have to find it."
Tino looks a little anxious at that. "That's great!" he says mockingly and tosses the gear back into the crate. "We just have to rely on generally shitty guard quality throughout the entire district. Now, if I was a guard, where would I store supplies?"
They tear through the contents of a few more crates, just to make sure there is nothing of use to them, and that is when Matthias feels his chest grow tight. A shudder washes over him as it gets harder to breathe. He closes his eyes and lets the feeling wash over him. It does not hurt, but it feels familiar, a sort of pulling sensation and he freezes, realizing they are some serious trouble. The pull feels close, much too close for comfort and he needs to come up with something to get the others moving quick. "Guys," he hisses. "I think I hear something." It is a total lie, but it might enough to scare the others into moving.
"I can't hear anything" Berwald says hesitantly, but moments later, Tino freezes and points towards a door at the back of the room.
"There is someone in that hallway" Tino whispers. He sneaks across the room and leans his head against the door, waiving them over and making a sign for them to be quiet.
Matthias follows slowly, terrified of making a wrong step especially since he thinks he knows who is on the other side. He puts his ear against the door, next to Tino so they face each other, both listening intently. Matthias feels the pull in his chest grow even stronger and when he hears the voices from the hallway, he can practically feel the blood drain from his face as his head fills with white noise, almost drowning out the conversation all together as his fears are realized.
Tino is instantly alert and gestures towards the pouch in his hip and the door in obvious question.
Matthias shuts his eyes and nods in confirmation. It is Lukas on the other side of that door, only meters away although he can hardly recognize his voice from how cold and dead it is. Matthias hates that tone; it belongs to the commander alone, not the person he cares about.
The voices outside suddenly stop and the group hold their collective breath. Then Matthias realizes how dangerous this whole situation might be. If Lukas is in the state of mind his voice indicates, he will not have the strength to fight back the order of killing rebels and if Matthias could sense his presence, Lukas can most certainly sense him back.
"Commander?" Mathias hear a hesitant voice on the other side of the door and his fist clenches around the handle of his axe on instinct.
"My presence is needed elsewhere," Lukas suddenly says coolly. "You are fortunate I have better things to do than deal with a simple guard sleeping on the job. But beware. This is your first and final warning. Do it again and you will find yourself in the stockade. Return to your post."
They hear hasty, sure footsteps moving down the hallway and Matthias sighs in relief as he feels the pressure in his chest ease up. Lukas is out of the way for now and there is one guard left outside and he is cursing quietly, seemingly annoyed at being caught sleeping on the job, or maybe just sharing the same annoyance as the earlier guards toward the mere exitance of their commander.
The guard does not seem like he is intending on moving immediately and Matthias gets an idea, but they need to act quick for it to work. He holds up one finger and points towards the door, indicating the one guard on the other side of the door. Tino frowns but nods, showing that he understands so far but is most likely skeptical of what he will follow up with. He gestures at them as a group and points towards the same door and knocks his fist quietly against the palm of his hand indicating an assault on the soldier. He points at the door and makes a signal for talking waiting to see if they understand him. Tino frowns harder but then lights up and nods quickly. Berwald seems more hesitant, but he moves up behind Matthias and taps him on the back to signal he is ready.
He holds up three fingers, counting down. two, one.
The pull the door open and rush out in the hallway.
The guard reacts to the sudden sound and turns around to see what it is, but he does not have time to do anything else. Matthias slaps a hand over the man's mouth to keep him from yelling out an alarm and pulls one of the man's arms back. The guard fights on instinct, but Berwald takes his other arm and then Tino has a knife at his throat, and he freezes on the spot.
"If you value your throat intact, I suggest you tell us where the storage room is," Tino hisses and it is impressive how dangerous he looks when armed and full of intent. He leans closer, right up in the soldiers' face. "I will ask my two friends there to let you go enough that you can talk, but if you scream, I will cut your throat, and I will not even feel bad about it. Nod if you understand."
Matthias is a little impressed, he cannot even tell if Tino is bluffing or not, and neither does it seem the guard can, for he nods slowly, careful of the knife at his throat. When Tino nods, Matthias carefully eases up the hand covering the man's mouth.
The man breathes harshly, clearly terrified. "You want the storage room?" he asks, and his voice breaks on the last word.
"That is correct," Matthias adds, "and better choose an empty route on the way there."
The guard makes a terrified noise and is starting to shake, but he nods carefully again.
Tino allows the guard to lead the way but keeps the knife at the man's throat and they follow his lead down empty hallways. The guard is growing increasingly nervous, shaking, and sweating profusely which is not strange surrounded by three armed intruders.
They finally stop before an inconspicuous looking door at the end of a hallway. "This is the storage," the guard whispers weakly. "It should be empty at this time of night."
Matthias grabs a torch from one of the holders on the wall and leans against the door. There is no sound from within, so it seems the guard is telling the truth and he cracks the door open, relieved when it appears dark and empty. He pulls the door open completely and holds the torch higher up to illuminate the room a little better and the other two forces the guard inside. Matthias follows and closes the door firmly behind them.
The room has no windows and Matthias is relieved that nobody will be able to see them messing around in the storage and there is a lot to go through. There are rows upon rows of pieces of armor, swords, bows, arrows and other equipment, a treasure trove for their purposes. Matthias is drawn towards the number of shelves and crates, eager to sort through some of the gear. "Keep an eye on him," he says to Berwald while gesturing at the poor guard.
The armors are separated by type and neatly organized. There is light armor made of leather, medium armor made from heavier leather combined with pieces of chainmail or plate and a few heavy armors completely in plate. Matthias wonders for a moment which type of armor they should pick for their charade. The captured guard carries medium armor, and he tries to remember if all the guards they have seen so far has worn the same thing, but he cannot be completely sure. All his treacherous mind can remember is Lukas walking about in his light, but elegant leathers atop that wall, thinking he stood out from all the others. With that thought in mind, they should probably go for the medium armors.
Tino rifles through some other boxes of gear. "This is amazing," he whispers pulling out several arrows to admire their quality.
Matthias walks around the room to see what else might be hiding in it, and there is a door at the very back in heavy wood, much heavier than the main door to the storage, something that does not make much sense to him. "Hey, what is behind this door?" Matthias asks loudly, aiming the question on the guard. He holds the torch up to the wall next to the door, looking for any signs that might tell them what is on the other side but finding none.
The guard suddenly screams, surprising them. "Don't! You will kill us all!" He throws himself forward towards Matthias, but Berwald is faster, knocking him to the floor and placing a knee on his back to keep him down.
The guard however keeps struggling, his nails scratching against the floors as he attempts to crawl forward. "Keep that torch away from there, please! I beg you!"
Matthias keeps the torch still in front of the door, looking at the guard and moves the torch back and forth, watching how he guard tracks the flame with increased panic. "Why, is that?" he asks, kneeling before the guard and holding the torch right next his face. When the guard hesitates to answer, seemingly realizing that he is giving up secrets he is not supposed to, Matthias waives the torch again and the guard swallows.
"Please," the guard begs. "Just keep the flames away from that room."
Matthias gets back up and places the torch in one of the wall holders fully intent on finding out what is on the other side. The door does not have a lock, so he tries pushing on it. It is slow and heavy and only creaks in protest as his first attempt and refuses to budge. He pushes his entire weight on the door and finally it swings open.
With all the protests from the guard, Matthias expected the content of the room to be more exciting, but all he can see is barrel upon barrel, stacked from floor to ceiling.
Tino steps up behind him to peek over his shoulder. "What is all this? He glances to the guard. "They are just barrels."
Matthias steps further in and carefully pries open one of the lids. Without torchlight, the room is a little too dark to properly see what the content is, but it appears to be some sort of powder and then Matthias' brain fires up and he can hear an echo of Lukas' words through his mind. 'A powder that if ignited will tear down a house in seconds.'
Not only did they find the armor they wanted, but they also found the king's next secret weapon, he can hardly believe it.
Tino opens a second barrel and grimaces. "Powder? What is so special about powder."
Matthias knows exactly what is so special about the powder, but he cannot let the others know that he knows. He needs to make the guard talk and tell the others what kind of potential the powder might have. He grabs a handful of it from one of the barrels and marches back out in the first room. Berwald has allowed the guard to sit back up but is still holding on to the back of his armor. "Explain why you are so scared of this," Matthias snaps and throws the powder on the ground before the guard. "What will a little flame do to it?"
The guard turns pale. "If I tell you, I'm dead."
Matthias feels a little nauseous. When he came up with the plan of making a guard talk, he did not consider what to do with the guard after he showed them the storage and the thought that they might have to kill a man not actively trying to kill them just to keep their secret is making him feel sick. "What do you think will happen if you don't tell us?" He asks darkly, trying to keep his voice under control to keep the guards scared enough to talk.
"It explodes!" the guard cries and tears stream down his cheeks. "When fire touches the powder, it explodes and it does not matter if a building is wood or stone, it will tear it down all the same."
The group looks at each other and Matthias can see the shock and horror on their faces as they glance from the guard to the room full of black powder. Matthias hopes he plays surprised convincingly enough.
"We have to destroy it" Tino whispers. "I've never heard of such a thing, but we cannot let the king have a chance to use it against us in a fight."
"I can tell you how to ignite it safely," the guard says desperately. "If you promise to let me go, I will tell you. If anybody finds out I led you here, I am a dead man I must flee the city. You can trust me to want to live, please."
Berwald looks at Matthias and Tino in question. Matthias is not sure what to think, but he really wants to believe they can get away from this without bloodshed. Tino looks equally hesitant and is biting his lip anxiously.
The guard must sense their hesitation and moves slowly forward on his knees, grabbing a hold of the lowed edge of Tino's tunic to look up at him with pleading in his eyes. "I just want to live, I swear." His gaze wanders from one to the other as he searches for a glimmer of hope.
Matthias considers the options they have. Trusting this guard might prove fatal. When threatened, most people will be willing to promise anything to get out of problem. He could easily stab them in the back, first chance he gets, and apparently the guard sees his hesitation, because he explodes into action.
The guard throws himself forwards with a roar, seemingly aiming for the knife at Tino's belt, desperate to get his hands on a weapon.
"I'm not going to let you do this!" the guard screams, but he barely manages to put a hand around the handle of the blade before he freezes and lets out a gasp as he stares down at the tip of a swords pointing through the front of his chest and he sinks to the floor.
Tino looks horrified down at the guard and the steadily growing bloodstain on the floor. "Thank you, Ber," he whispers weakly.
Matthias drags a hand through his hair and curses under his breath. "We need to get out of here," he breathes, and his voice shakes so badly he can hardly get out the words. He stares at all the gear that surrounds them and back towards the dark room of filled to the brim with barrels only containing death. "We need to get out, and we are not leaving without destroying that." He points towards the room full of barrels putting every ounce of determination in his voice.