All around him sounds of battle rang out. A few ghastly screams bounced against the walls encapsulating the fort, sending the echo to all currently struggling inside.

The group crept up, silently, inside an alley lined with discarded provisions boxes.

Cordelia threw herself flat against the wall, signaling for the group to do the same.

Anya signaled for them all to keep silent.

A group of soldiers, donned with clattering armor, ran past the opening with their weapons drawn.

The group stood silent for a while before releasing the breath they’d unwittingly held.

“That was too close,” Charles whispered.

“Keep moving, stay vigilant,” Anya ordered snappily.

“It’s not much further now, this way,” Cordelia whispered from the front. She continued, leading the group through dark alleys filled with mud and discarded scraps the military didn’t need.

At long last they could hear the ocean. The docks were practically empty, all the soldiers in the fort had left to deal with the sudden uproar.

The fort had three ships at its disposal, two of which were large and lined with cannons. The last one was a medium-sized ship, a caravel with two large sails and enough room to house them all.

“That’s the one,” Bernard said and pointed at the caravel. “We take that one!”

“But the others have cannons!” Albert protested.

“Yes, and they are much clumsier and harder to sail. We take the caravel!”

“Do as he says,” Anya said, not offering any room for a discussion. “Johann, Carl, get up on the other ships and hoist the gangplank. Make sure they have to work hard to board them. We can’t have them firing cannons our way when we leave.”

“I’ll be back! Please try to wait for me!” Cordelia shouted and parted ways with the group before anyone had a chance to stop her.

“Forget her! Execute the orders!” Bernard yelled, his eyes darting around nervously, inspecting every nook and cranny of the small harbor.

The group executed the orders without any complaints. Erend climbed atop the caravel and got in position to help Peter, Charles, and Albert lift the anchor using a large capstan a few paces away from the large wheel. Mary and Thomas followed Bernard around and helped him prepare the ship for departure. Jack and Anya stood guard by the gangplank, making sure that no one except their group made it aboard the ship. Johann’s wife brought the children below deck.

Johann came running back before they’d had time to ready anything, the gangplank of the ship entrusted to him was still not hoisted, “Captain!”

Anya snapped, “What?!”

“My apologies! There are provisions on the ship. Requesting permission to borrow some with the help of Carl!”

Anya let out a relieved sigh, “Approved. But make it quick!”

Johann ran back aboard the large warship, yelling something to Carl on the way.

The capstan started giving way for their combined effort. The large chain of the anchor let out a roar as it finally allowed itself to be hoisted aboard the ship.

In the corner of his eye, Erend could see Carl and Johann haul crate after crate from the large ship to the docks. Anya and Jack received them with no little effort, carrying them aboard the caravel.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

When the anchor was fully raised Erend hurried down the gangplank to help load the large crates aboard their recently acquired ship.

The crates were heavy, something inside the one he helped Albert carry clattered with a grating sound.

A shrill voice cut through the darkness, giving them all a fright, “Intruders! Soldiers! Seize them!”

Erend turned just in time to hear the next voice, “No! Mother! They’re friends. We must board the ship with them! Staying here is a death sentence I refuse!” Cordelia protested while pulling her mother along by the arm.

“Do you mean to tell me you let the rabble inside?!” the woman wheezed and threw a slap at her daughter. “You have disappointed me greatly!”

Beside the woman stood a man, he was silent, watching over the whole thing with a calmness that Erend had never seen before. He was a spectator, not even moving a muscle to intervene.

Cordelia’s cheek glowed red from the slap, even in the darkness.

“Don’t stop now! Keep moving!” Anya barked and broke the silence.

The group set about stowing the crates away once more.

“You will not take those! Stop this immediately!” the gaudy woman screeched at them.

“Mother ... You must understand. Staying here... It’s not safe. Locking out the commoners created a discord not even the soldiers could keep in check. They outnumbered us and the soldiers by a large margin, it was only a matter of time before they took the fort anyway! Now come ... Please!”

The woman leveled her gaze at Cordelia, pronouncing each word venomously, “I. Will. Not. And Neither will you!”

The man finally spoke up, “No, dear. I think Cordelia is right. Allow her to leave. You may join her if you wish.”

“What about you father?”

“I must stay here and bear the consequences of our poor choices.”

“But you’re innocent! There’s no way you would ever vote to lock them out!”

“I might not have, but my friends and subordinates did. We must all pay the price. I for one am more than willing to pay that price if I do it knowing that you still stand a chance of survival.”

“They’ll nail you to the wall!”

“Then so be it. Go now. Your friends can’t stay here for much longer without being noticed.”

Tears ran down Cordelia’s cheeks as she tugged at her father’s sleeve.

He reached out a gentle hand to wipe them, “It’s alright, princess. This might not have to be the end. I’ve gotten out of stickier spots, have I not?”

“You have... I’ll miss you,” Cordelia managed between sobs.

Her mother still gazed upon her with a furious look, not willing to spare even one word for her daughter.

“Go now. I love you,” he said, not willing to avert his gentle gaze, and kissed her forehead.

“I love you too father, I love you both. Please stay safe.”

Cordelia ran to the caravel, wetting the docks with her salty tears.

“Raise the gangplank!” Bernard shouted from the ship’s wheel. “Set sail!”

Ever so slowly the wind was caught in the large cloths, the sails were stretched out and pulled the boat out into the bay, covered by the dark of night.

As the boat left the harbor and they were out of harm’s way, Erend and Charles walked with careful steps to Cordelia, not sure of what to say. The fort shrank in the distance, soon it would seem like naught more than a dimly lit dot, decorating the mountainous island.

“It’s going to be alright,” Charles finally managed after standing silent behind the sobbing girl for an uncomfortably long time.

“Nice one,” Erend whispered under his breath and turned to Cordelia. “You know, I lost my Mom a little more than three years ago, it gets easier.”

Charles jabbed him in the side for that and whispered, “They’re not fucking dead you idiot! They just stayed behind on Exodus!”

Erend erupted and grabbed hold of Charles’s collar, “My Mom isn’t dead either you fuckwit!” he snapped back in a whisper.

As the hushed bickering began, Cordelia wiped her tears and sniffled, “Thanks, guys. For trying. I’ll remember to never be sad with you two around again.”

The two stopped and turned to Cordelia, Erend still held Charles by the collar.

Charles looked Cordelia in the eyes and flashed her his most practiced smile, “Glad to be of help. Now excuse us for a moment, won’t you?”

Cordelia sighed and climbed below deck as the two began a wrestling match accompanied by loud swearing.

After a few minutes, Erend came out on top, and held Charles in a rear naked choke to the cheers of Albert, Jack, and Carl.

“Are you two done?” Anya asked with a sigh. “We’ve got things to do and you keep distracting my crew.”

“Crew?” Erend asked.

“Well, we aren’t guards anymore, are we?” she said with a shrug. “Come here, we’ve been going through the cargo we pilfered. There are enough provisions to last us a month or so, but more importantly, there are weapons and armor. It’s time for you to get yourselves armed.”

“Uhm, Erend,” Albert interjected, “you should probably release Charles now.”

“Oh shit!” Erend said and felt the frantic tapping against his arm. Charles had gone purple from the strain, “Sorry!”

“You. Fucker. I’ll. Get you back. When I’ve trained. Just you wait,” Charles managed to squeeze out between gasps.

“Oh yeah? You ready for round two?” Erend said and faked a punch at Charles.

Charles didn’t even flinch, he just laid down for a bit, catching his breath, “Okay. I’m ready. Where are the weapons?”