“You are sure this is a good idea?” Micah asked while his eyes gazed at the street below. Standing on the parapets of the wall along with everyone else only made him feel slightly better. “The best one we have at the moment,” Almios said while putting a steadying hand on Micah’s chest.
“You aren’t wrong, but you didn’t answer my question,” Micah said while looking at Almios. “Fine,” He said in a huff, “it is a terrible idea.” Micah breathed a sigh of relief. At least now he knew he wasn’t alone in thinking this idea was terrible. “Almost ready?” Garza said while his hands wrapped around Micah’s waist. Micah nearly jumped. He hadn’t heard Garza walk up behind him.
“No, no, I am not, but do it before I change my mind,” Micah replied while feeling Garza’s grip tighten. “Alright, upsy daisy,” Garza chuckled while picking up Micah and setting him on his shoulders. Micah kept his eyes closed, not wanting to acknowledge the potential eyes staring at him. “How do I look?” Garza asked while slowly turning his body. Quick movements Micah knew would more than likely injure him or Garza.
“Honestly, you look like an overgrown man with another man on your shoulders, and that isn’t a compliment either,” Almios responded, and Micah could hear him stifling a laugh. “Haha, funny. Next time we need to carry someone, or something I will make sure to volunteer you!” Garza jerked his head forward slightly, causing Micah to lose a bit of balance. Before he could right himself, he felt a hand on his back, steadying him again.
“Alright, enough, you two,” Lissa said tersely. Micah knew that she was glaring at Garza and Almios. “You good with him, Garza?” She asked while Micah regained his balance. “Yeah, one second,” Micah felt Garza turn his head upwards, more than likely to look at his face. “I am just going to jump up. You ready?” Micah shook his head, “Just do it.” Micah felt Garza’s chest rise and fall as he took a deep breath. Before Micah could really get prepared, he felt himself being pulled down while rushing up.
He couldn’t stop himself from screaming as he went up and then back down. Micah felt the shock travel up and to his head as Garza landed. “Fucking shit,” Garza muttered after getting up from the near squat he did to compensate for the landing. “I won’t be able to do more than a handful of jumps before switching,” Micah opened his eyes and looked down at Garza as he spoke.
“No offense, but having your extra weight on my shoulders will destroy my knees,” Garza said while moving around to stretch his knees. “None taken,” Micah replied while looking at the city once again. Occasional, barely audible shouts could be heard, along with explosions. Micah looked to Lissa after seeing one of the massive explosions in the distance. One fist was clenched tightly around her sword hilt.
“Alright, everyone!” She shouted while stepping onto the parapet. “We will jump now, and only when the gap is too large for Micah to cross on his own will we carry him. We have our mission, and I will be damned if I see this city burn because of our failure!” Micah then watched her jump from the parapet onto the nearest rooftop. Micah watched as she slowly stood and looked up to the wall. “Show off,” Garza said, chuckling, “Two can play that game.” Before Micah could ask what he meant, Garza leaped off the wall. Screaming, Micah vowed internally to choose the obviously safer option next time.
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Lissa had been surprised and relieved that the fall wasn’t worse. Settling on the rooftop, she watched as everyone else joined her. Garza jumped first. She watched his plummet, and only heartbeats away from his landing did she realize what was about to happen. The world seemed to slow as her eyes met Garza’s. In them, she saw the same realization, he wasn’t going to land on the roof. He was going to plummet through it.
Lissa only had time to take in a deep breath as Garza slammed into the roof. It held for only the briefest of moments before collapsing under him. “Fuck!” Garza screamed as the rest of his body followed his feet and legs through the breach. Micah followed him down, still holding on for dear life.
The crashing and breaking of furniture followed shortly after. Lissa ran to the hole and looked down, “Garza! Micah! Are you alright?” She could see them lying in a heap in what looked like a larder. Only their combined groans came as a response. “At least they aren’t dead,” She muttered while clambering down the hole into the room. Thudding on the roof let her know the others joined them. “Are they alive!” Lissa heard Mela shouting while running across the roof. “Yes! Though they may need some healing!” She replied while checking over Micah and Garza.
Garza had a few pieces of wood impaling him in places, gashes along his body not covered in armor. Thankfully his halberd had detached itself and been embedded into a nearby wall. Lissa saw that Micah hadn’t been severely injured, but large splinters of wood still found their way into him. Blood leaked from a cut running from his chin to his right ear. “Holy,” Mela began, “Mera! Get over here!”
Lissa turned to look up at Mela as she dropped into the room, Focus in hand. “Shit, we need a few minutes,” Mela went over to Micah first and examined him. Mera quickly joined her and went over to Garza. Lissa looked back up to the roof and saw Saida, Darvick, and Almios looking through the hole. “Cover the roof while they work. I’m going to check the house,” Lissa said while advancing to the larder door.
She opened it just enough to stick her head out at first. The hallway was empty though spots of dried blood could be seen on the floor. Lissa shut the door behind her as she maneuvered into the hall. She drew her sword and quickly checked the two other rooms on this floor. One had been a bedroom, but the decaying body within promptly changed that. The other had been a bathroom, the tub overturned, and the window shattered.
Moving to the stairs, Lissa concentrated on every sound. The muttering from the Larder, the footsteps of the others on the roof. Something creaked below and made Lissa stop in her tracks. Lissa drew her sword and stood at the top of the stairs waiting. No one came. “Damn it,” She muttered while slowly walking down the stairs.
As her foot settled onto the second to last step, it creaked. Lissa froze. Her eyes darted to the corner of the landing. She waited breathlessly for someone to round the corner, but no one came. Stepping carefully to the landing, she rounded the corner. It led into the dining room, the ashes of along dead fire spread around the fireplace. Pots and pans were strewn everywhere. The table had a bloody cleaver embedded into it, and a few fingers lay on one side.
The door into the kitchen was off its hinges and lay on the floor. In the kitchen itself, two bodies were piled next to a cupboard. Both doors were smashed, and its rotting contents strewn atop the bodies. Lissa took a few tentative steps forward, senses sharp. No one came at her, and she continued into the kitchen.
Once inside, she saw another smaller fireplace on the right side. Smoldering and still glowing ashes were inside. “You can come out. We won’t hurt you,” Lissa said while heading to the door in the opposite corner. Halfway across the kitchen, she heard the creaking again, this time behind her to the left. Turning slowly, Lissa eyed the cupboards behind her. All of them were closed. She looked at the cupboards around the room. The rest were open, and the contents disordered.
Lissa took a deep breath, sighed, and walked towards the cabinets. “I’m not going to hurt you,” She said while sheathing her sword. Crouching down near the cupboards, she began opening them slowly. She made it to the last set of cupboards without finding anyone. “I know you might be scared, but you are safe now. I am going to open the doors, okay?” Lissa said while her hands touched the doors.
Another creak sounded from the cupboard, but no actual response. Slowly letting out her held breath Lissa opened the doors. Pressed into the corner, as far as they could be, was a small child. Lissa figured they couldn’t be any older than eight. Lissa looked at them with pity. Their clothes were torn and bloody, hair unkempt and knotted. She looked into their eyes and saw despair and relief in equal measure. Lissa started to reach out to them but stopped as they flinched away. “Are you alright?” She asked while drawing back her hand.
The child shook their head. “Will you come out?” again, the child shook their head. Lissa pursed her lips, “You know it isn’t safe. I can get you somewhere safe if you come out.” Lissa looked to the bodies on her left and examined their faces. They both looked similar to the child, probably their parents. Lissa pointed to the bodies with her right hand, “Are they your parents?” The child nodded slowly, tears welling up in their eyes.
Lissa touched the hand to her chest, “My name is Lissa. What’s yours?” The child looked at her, then at their knees, and back to her, “Derek. My name is Derek.” Lissa smiled. It was better than nothing, at least. “Nice to meet you, Derek. Come on out, please? I have friends upstairs who can do a quick checkup on you.” Derek seemed to hesitate for a moment before beginning to crawl out. He abruptly stopped and looked over Lissa’s shoulder, eyes wide.
Lissa wheeled around to see a Gloomed man and woman in the doorway opposite the one she came in. Their red eyes met hers for the briefest of moments before they lunged. Slamming the cupboards shut with her tail Lissa went for her sword. The woman managed to reach her just as the blade began sliding out of its sheath. Lissa sidestepped the lunge and watched the woman crash into the counter. The man managed to recover and stepped around the woman, diving for Lissa’s legs.
She had drawn her sword fully by then and slashed at the man’s face. The blade hit its mark and left a horrendous gash from the man’s scalp to his chin, cutting through one eye. Screaming in pain, the half-blind man lunged once again. Lissa slashed, cutting the man’s collarbone. A shrill scream brought her eyes back to the cupboard Derek hid in as the woman wrenched the doors free.
“No!” Lissa screamed while switching to a one-handed grip on the sword. She charged the woman using her free left arm to shove the man full force into the wall. The woman had just gotten her wrist inside the cupboard when Lissa reached her. With an upswing, she cut the arm off at the elbow. The woman’s screams joined Derek’s for a moment before Lissa gripped the sword and ran the woman through the chest.
Screaming in rage, Lissa ran with the woman into the wall and tore her sword out. Blood sprayed up the wall along with bone and viscera. Lissa turned around, letting the woman’s body slump to the floor, lifeless. The man had just recovered and ran at her. Raising her sword up, Lissa stepped forward and to the side, letting the man past her. Bringing her sword down, Lissa decapitated the man. The blade tripped his now headless body sending its stump into the dead woman’s body.
Lissa looked and watched The life leave the man’s eyes. Taking a deep, ragged breath, Lissa scanned the room and waited for more assailants. A few dozen hammering heartbeats later, she was pretty confident no one else was coming. She went back to Derek and knelt down, the sword being used to steady herself. “Derek, it’s oka….” Her words trailed off as she stared into the cupboard. Derek lay convulsing within. “Derek?” Lissa asked while reaching towards him. Her eyes darted to the woman’s arm and hand. One finger was outstretched, seemingly ready to touch something.
Lissa froze. “No, no, no,” She muttered while her eyes darted to Derek once more. “Lis! Are you alright?” Mela’s voice to her left broke Lissa from her stupor, and she glanced towards the doorway. Mela stood her talons out. “Go check wherever that door leads. There might be more,” Lissa said while jerking her head back towards the door the Gloomed used. Mela simply nodded and bounded across the room.
Lissa turned her gaze back to Derek. The convulsions were slowing now. Picking up her sword, Lissa held it, ready to thrust forward. Lissa couldn’t stop her increasingly faster breaths. Derek lay still for a moment groaning. “Please no,” Lissa whispered while Derek turned his head towards her. He opened his now red eyes and stared at her for a moment. Derek lunged forward, and Lissa thrust her sword.
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“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Mela muttered while searching the front room of the house. The door had been opened, and the noise had probably drawn the Gloomed in. She shut the door and propped a nearby chair against it. Mela heard whispering from the kitchen and started walking back to it when she heard the unmistakable sound of a blade entering flesh. She stopped, and after a moment, heard a thud. Taking small steps forward, she went back into the kitchen as Lissa shut the cupboard doors she had been looking into.
“Are you alright?” Mela asked while walking over to her. “No, no, I’m not,” Lissa stood abruptly, “But it doesn’t matter.” She looked at Mela. Her eyes cold, “How are Garza and Micah doing?” Mela blinked, “Umm, they should be good to move on their own in a few minutes. Why?” Thudding could be heard from the front room. “Because I don’t think we have a few minutes. Get them on the roof and let me know when that is done.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Mela watched Lissa stretch her neck and shoulders, her sword ready in front of her. “Lis? What are you doing?” Mela asked while turning to face the front room. “I am going to hold them back while you move them,” Lissa replied while taking a small step back. “That door should hold long enough for us to get them both up,” Mela replied, stepping back as well. “And if it doesn’t, I can hold them back while you get them up,” Lissa stared at Mela now. “Now move!” Lissa shouted, and Mela obeyed.
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Lissa didn’t know what she looked like or even sounded like as she shouted at Mela. But it was undoubtedly the quickest she had ever seen Mela run. Lissa backed up slowly, ready to strike in heartbeats. She could hear the muffled voices above her and objects being moved. The thudding intensified along with Lissa’s heartbeat. She felt her hands shaking in anger and anticipation with each step backward.
Just as she reached the stairs, the thudding turned into a crashing sound. Wood snapped, and metal hinges bent as the door finally gave way. “Got him?” Lissa heard Mera shout from upstairs. “Yeah! Now Garza!” she then heard Saida’s reply a moment later. “I can do this myself!” Lissa heard Garza shout in response. She made it five steps up before the first Gloomed finally rounded the corner. They were a rather rotund man. For the briefest of moments, their eyes met.
He surged up the stairs and received a powerful kick to the face as soon as he closed the distance. His head snapped backward sickeningly, and he collapsed against the wall in a heap. “Hurry up!” Lissa shouted while regaining her balance. A woman rounded the corner at a run, tripping over the man and into the wall. She snarled and began crawling up the stairs on all fours. She received a sword blow that cleaved her skull open.
Two more rounded the corner as Lissa heard counting. “Three! Two! One! Now!” Mera and Mela spoke in unison, and the floor creaked as they presumably jumped up with Garza. Lissa kicked one of her attackers in the face. Falling backward into another group rushing around the corner. The remaining attacker on the stairs quickly found themselves disarmed and bleeding to death on the stairs.
With a moment of reprieve, Lissa spun on her heels and dashed into the larder. The room was still a mess, but neither Garza, Micah, Mera, or Mela were there. Slamming the door shut behind her, Lissa sheathed her sword and went to the hole. She looked up and saw Almios and Saida waiting. “Come on, jump!” Saida shouted while kneeling down. Her hand hung in the air just beneath the hole. Almios quickly joined her. Taking a deep breath, Lissa crouched and sprang up as the door rattled on its hinges. She grabbed both hands, and they pulled her up. Darvick had his crossbow out and a bolt in one hand just behind Saida.
“Are we going to leave now? I am sure we stirred up a hornet’s nest,” He said while pointing to the street below. Lissa walked over once she was on the roof. Looking down, she saw dozens of Gloomed a few were staring straight up at them. Others rushed into the home they stood on.
“Give us about a minute. Think you can do that?” Mela asked while slowly removing a piece of wood from Garza’s shin. Mera held out her Focus, concentrating on the wood. Micah knelt next to them, wiping blood from his face and other wounds. Lissa looked back into the Larder as the door burst open, and Gloomed shoved their way inside. She could see their eyes dart around before looking up and seeing her.
Quickly one ran up to the hole and attempted to jump through it. They didn’t make it and fell back to the floor into the path of another. They collided, and the one that jumped first was shoved into a splintered beam. It pierced their flesh, but no cry of pain was issued. The Gloomed gathered in the room below, looking up. The stand-off lasted only a moment before one knelt down and grabbed another one by the waist. They threw their fellow upwards, and their projectile’s fingers just barely brushed the edge of the hole.
Lissa watched them fall back into the mass of bodies below. They were caught before falling entirely into the group. Lissa found it strange and drew her sword again, waiting. Her eyes went to either side of her. Thankfully Almios and Saida had their weapons ready now. Below them, the mass stirred, and two Gloomed grabbed at one. Hoisted them and then unceremoniously tossed them up.
This one made it through the hole and bent forward, trying to grab at someone. Before anyone could react, a bolt found itself buried into their skull. They fell lifeless into the mass below. “Are you fucking kidding me now!?!” Darvick shouted. The group of Gloomed below them stood still only for a moment. Soon they exploded into action, grabbing random members of the mob and throwing them up towards the roof. Many collided with each other sending them careening back into the mass. The lucky few to avoid collisions were cut down by bolt or sword in short order.
“Done, let’s go!” Mela shouted while Garza stood up, groaning. Mera ran over to Micah and picked him up quickly. She leaped to the nearest roof and carried on for a few buildings. Garza and Mela joined her shortly.
Lissa eyed Almios and Saida, “Go, Darvick, and I have this for the moment!” Almios nodded and sprinted off, leaping from building to building quickly. Saida, meanwhile, looked torn. Her eyes darting from Lissa to the mob below. “Go!” Lissa shouted again while another Gloomed shot up and was promptly killed.
“No,” Saida looked defiantly at Lissa. “Darvick! Go now and cover us!” Saida shouted. Lissa heard Darvick huff, “You both are idiots but give me a few seconds!” He gathered his crossbow and bolts quickly and leaped two buildings away.
Meanwhile, the flow of Gloomed only increased. Their appearances were horrifying. They didn’t seem to care about being covered in the blood and viscera of their fellows. Lissa and Saida cut them down all the same.
“Both of you, come on! We got more coming from the side streets,” Darvick shouted after a moment. Lissa kicked a stray limb into the mob below and turned to her right. Covered in blood Saida looked horrific, but odds are she looked the same. “After the next batch, we run,” Lissa said while her veneer of calm started to crack.
Saida simply nodded and swung her sword through an unlucky man. The bisected man fell back into the throng and, his lower body knocking another man out of the air. His upper body collided with a pair of throwers, knocking them off balance.
Lissa counted out ten seconds as she heard Saida sprint off. The mass below began to regroup as Lissa heard Saida’s grunts from landing on another rooftop. “Come on!” Saida shouted while waving Lissa over. She waited a few more seconds. Another woman was tossed up, this time aimed directly at her. Smiling, Lissa sidestepped and caved in the woman’s skull with her pommel. Quickly she grabbed the woman’s now limp legs and heaved her into the mass below.
With a suitable hindrance in place, Lissa turned and sprinted towards the waiting safety of everyone else. Two steps from the edge of the roof, Lissa kicked off. She soared through the air covering the four-meter gap with ease. Rolling to spread out the impact, she stood shaking her head. “Let’s go,” Lissa said while eyeing the gathering Gloomed on the other roof.
A man sprinted towards them and leaped. He didn’t make it more than a meter before a bolt buried itself in his throat. He fell gurgling into the street below. The others who had rushed towards them stopped short of the edge, waiting.
“We should go now,” Darvick said while jogging towards the others. Only four jumps stood between them and the others. “Agreed,” Saida replied while bounding towards them. Lissa stood there for a moment longer and looked at the crowd. In their eyes, she saw nothing but glee.
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The initial leap down from the walls should have been a sign. A sign of how little they knew of the situation. Soon after making the escape from the first rooftop, they found themselves harried at every opportunity. Dozens of Gloomed followed their quick leaps from building to building. The unlucky few who managed to get on a rooftop to intercept them died quickly.
This was a battle of attrition, and it was only a matter of time before they took a loss. Almios watched as Micah gulped air into his burning lungs. “How close are we to the temples?” He asked while straightening back up. “A few more blocks,” Almios said while pointing towards a half-circle of polished marble and granite buildings. Between them and the temples lay smoldering homes. Micah blinked. He had imagined the temples being spread out.
“How are we going to get there? Half the district in that direction is burnt down,” Micah pointed out the smoldering gap between their current rooftop sanctuary and the temples. “That is what we are trying to figure out now,” Lissa remarked while walking over to him. “Thoughts?” She added while raising an eyebrow. “We could take the streets, right?” Micah walked over to the edge of the roof. Looking down, he saw they were empty of any living creature. Both regular and burnt corpses lay in heaps at random intervals.
“We are waiting for Mera and Mela to get done scouting a bit further out, but they look promising,” Lissa answered while joining him. He knew she was just getting his mind off the inevitable death they faced. Some small part of him appreciated it, but right now, he was numb. “How about the sewers?” Micah turned his head to look at Lissa. She shook her head, “Too cramped we could easily get overwhelmed.”
Micah pursed his lips and looked towards the towering outer walls of the city. “How about going along the walls until we are closer?” Lissa bobbed her head, “Could work but considering the army stationed outside along with the Legion cohorts, we may not make it far before being shot at.” Micah put his hands up, “Alright, so the walls aren’t a good idea, the sewers aren’t a good idea, and the streets are an obviously bad idea! What’s left!?!”
Lissa smiled, “A combination plan, really.” She pointed towards the outer wall and traced it for a bit before stopping. “While we were running here, the fires didn’t burn all of the buildings around the walls. We will get to the walls and cover the distance to the unburnt rooftops quickly.” Micah held up his hands to stop her, “And then we jump down onto them. Won’t that just mean a repeat of what happened earlier?”
Lissa shook her head, smiling, “Not necessarily, since the outer walls were abandoned so quickly, rope and other equipment should still be in the towers.” Micah blinked, “What equipment?” Lissa shrugged, “Hooks, or heavy objects we can use as anchors to rappel down the walls.” Micah sighed, “You make it sound like it’s going to be easy for me.”
Lissa’s growing smile unnerved Micah. “It will be easy for you since you will be riding on Garza’s shoulders on the way down.” Micah looked from Lissa to Garza. He winked, and Micah groaned. Why couldn’t it just be simple?”
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Lissa kicked at the woman below her. The force sent her flying into the stonework and cracking her skull. The woman’s body began to slump to the stairs, dead. Lissa didn’t have time to watch the body settle and sprinted up the stairwell. “Gods damn it! Why does this tower lead to the sewers!” She shouted while climbing four stairs at a time.
After Mera and Mela came back with the surrounding streets clear, they had beelined it to the nearest tower. Less than a block away, the Gloomed came at them. Pouring from side streets and burnt buildings. They made it through the ambush quickly, but the tower offered no sanctuary. Once inside the tower base, they had all seen that the tower both ascended and descended.
Thankfully they had made it inside before the mass of Gloomed had reached the ground floor. But that was only a small blessing. Lissa, Mera, and Almios had stayed behind to slow the advance as everyone else ran up the stairs. They only had needed to buy a few precious seconds of reprieve. Barricading the doorways had slowed the mass of people who wanted to end them.
To Almios, Mera, and to her surprise, the door leading down had been burst open easily. Behind it was a man and woman, their eyes glowed menacingly. Both of their legs were bloody and bone poked through the skin. Upon seeing the ‘powered’ Gloomed, they had decided to retreat. Lissa had taken up the rearguard and dispatched the woman after foolishly following her. Ascending a few more steps, Lissa heard the outer door being ripped off its hinges.
“Fuck!” Lissa shouted while increasing her pace. She quickly caught up with Mera and Almios. Without another word, they redoubled their efforts and reached the second-highest level. Mela and Darvick stood at the landing, ready to kill anyone that came up. “Get the door!” Mera shouted while sprinting past her sister and Darvick onto the wall.
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Centurion Malum watched the walls and saw the commotion that had begun to unfold. “Sir, should we ready the sharpshooters?” Decanus Hashun said off to his right. “Yes, we should, Decanus,” Malum responded while taking a deep breath. Hashun nodded and sprinted off towards the rear. From what Malum could see, none of the individuals on the wall appeared to be infected. They even seemed to be killing the infected as they poured from the tower. But his orders guided him. No one was allowed to live on these walls on the penalty of death.
Malum closed his eyes and waited as the heavily armored footfalls settled in around him. Opening them again, he looked at the sharpshooters. Each held a bow two and a half meters tall. Bundles of arrows the size of javelins were strapped to their backs. Without needing a word spoken, they readied their bows. Malum watched as they drew them back entirely. He watched their stances shifting subtly as they tracked their targets. “Fire at will,” Malum said calmly and smiled as the shots were loosed.
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“Down now!” Lissa shouted, dropping below the parapets. She had kept one eye on the Legion troops stationed less than a hundred meters from the wall. The unnatural speed and precision that she saw from them unnerved her. But it had undoubtedly saved their lives. Everyone, except for Mera, Mela, and Darvick, fell onto their bellies. The Gloomed rushing out from the tower to meet them were quickly eviscerated. The arrows the Legion sharpshooters used carrying what remained of their targets dozens of meters past the wall. Lissa noticed that a few of the arrows had also been aimed at where Garza, Almios, and she had stood only moments ago.
“Did you find the rope?” Lissa asked as another wave of arrows killed the horde pouring towards them. “Yeah! Got enough for two of us to go down at once!” Garza replied while getting up into a crouch. “Won’t they just shoot the rope?” Micah asked while looking at Lissa. “They might yes, or they might not. Right now, the Gloomed have their attention. So let’s use this time to get off this fucking wall!” Saida shouted while crawling to Garza.
She snatched the rope from his hands and looped it around the raised portion of the parapet. Meanwhile, Lissa watched as dozens of Gloomed died to the Legion sharpshooters. She rose to a crouch and went to peek over the parapet. Lissa only had a few heartbeats to look at the sharpshooters before ducking back down. An arrow flew just where her head had been.
Meanwhile, the sound of metal impacting stone reached her ears. Saida held the slack rope in both her hands, “Fucking shit! They shot the rope! And will probably do it again if we try!”
Saida threw the rope fragments down and looked at everyone. “We can’t rappel down with them shooting at us,” She said while looking down the wall to the other tower. “We could try and go down the other tower and just…” before she could finish, the unmistakable sound of a door being smashed apart reached them. “Or not, damn it! Can’t something go right for once!”
Lissa saw Garza switch his gaze to the prone form of Micah. Their eyes met, and Micah nodded while sighing. “Looks like we’re jumping then!” Garza quickly snatched Micah up and held him close to his chest. “I hate you,” Micah said while facing Garza. “I love you to Micah,” Garza said before laughing and jumping over the inner parapet. Lissa and the others were left with little choice at that point and quickly followed them.