"Infiltrations into enemy territory… ain't something for amateurs. You need the training and know-how to do it well. Best if you could get a local to either brief you of the local idiosyncrasies or better yet, guide you through the place.

Beggars can't be choosers though, so sometimes you just make do with what you got." - Khaled Ali Hassan, General and later Khagan of the Urzas Khaganate of northern Ur-Teros, circa 207 FP.

Three days later, at roughly two in the morning, the plan Varsha outlined was set into motion. Elfriede, Salicia, Grünhildr, and Nicole went with Nina and Zyd, as well as some of Varsha's trusted fighters and together the twenty five of them snuck into an abandoned warehouse some distance from the southern gate.

The city itself was in high alert, and fighting raged on the walls, as archers fired at the teeming mass of dwarves outside, only to be forced to duck back beneath cover when the dwarves returned fire.

It had been six hours since the siege had begun, when the dwarves suddenly probed the defenses from afar and rained bolts and quarrels on the defenders. The dark, moonless night had not helped the defenders, as unlike the dwarves, they could not see in the dark. Any lighting they tried to use quickly received the attention of tens of dwarven marksmen, however.

During such a commotion, Elfriede's group met with a senior guardsman in the abandoned warehouse. There the man brought out many sets of the tabard and helmet worn as uniform by the guards, and the group quickly wore those over their clothes.

Some of the outfits were not exactly the right size. Zyd's was clearly stretched to its limits by his large frame. Grünhildr's was too long and reached halfway down to her knees, while Salicia's was too short and barely reached her waist. The guardsman assured them it was not an uncommon case amongst them though.

Under his lead, they headed towards the southern wall, where the guardsman claimed that they were reporting for duty. They were waved through after a cursory inspection by the soldier on duty. It helped that the helmet the guards wore covered everything but their eyes with a cloth to preserve their anonymity.

As they strolled past the outer cordons, the hardest part was through. The guardsman parted with them once they were safely out of sight from the entrance, and hid himself as he wished to have nothing more to do with the upcoming mess.

Elfriede and the rest of her group on the other hand headed towards the large building set right behind and over the gate. The gatehouse, where the controls for the drawbridge and the portcullis were located, was set inside that building's top floor, and it remained to be seen whether they could reach it as agreed or not.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

There were only twenty-five of them, and definitely more guards inside the building. It would be ideal if they could bluff their way to the gatehouse, but none of them thought it likely. In the meantime, they hunkered down near the area, keeping themselves hidden as they observed and waited.

Roughly half an hour after they passed the checkpoint, they heard a commotion outside. Some snippets they heard mentioned a riot in the west side of town, which was the exact distraction they had been waiting for.

Cassie and Arne had been the culprit of said riot. The short-haired girl was particularly talented as a troublemaker, and did precisely that in the west side as they had planned.

Elfriede and her group waited another ten minutes, enough time for some guards to be moved away and sent to the west side, before they tossed the dice. With Zyd in the lead, they just walked in the open towards the gatehouse building and reported themselves as reinforcements.

When the guard at the entrance queried them further, Zyd played the dumb brute who was just "following orders" without knowing the details. He was a natural at that, and before too long the guard gave an exasperated sigh as he cursed the town guard's commanders and their "inability to follow proper protocol" before he waved them in.

That was an unexpected boon for Elfriede and her group. In the worst case they had expected that they might have to fight their way in much earlier. Any defenses they get to cross without fighting was just an extra boon.

Their luck ran out when they approached the stairs that led towards the second floor. The guards there were far more insistent on their questioning, and eventually, Elfriede had to take the matter into her own hands.

Neither of the two guards managed to yell out a warning before her blades pierced their throats and took their lives in short order. After they dragged the corpses into the stairwell, two of Nina's thugs who had the closest builds to the dead guards took their clothes and put them on, as they pretended to be the very guards that had just been killed.

There were no guards at the top of the stairs, as apparently they had been guarding against intruders from below, not from above. However, there were other patrolling guards in the area. As much as Elfriede's senses allowed their group to avoid several patrols, one eventually noticed their presence. They were quick-witted and immediately sounded the alarm as well, as the town guard was apparently not supposed to be in that area of the building.

Left with the choice where they either tried to bluff their way out once more or to damn all pretenses and go all out, both Elfriede and Nina chose the latter. The soldiers who stopped them for questioning never knew what hit them, as they were butchered on the spot before they could react.

The infiltrators ditched their now-useless uniforms and rushed towards the staircase to the top floor. They ran into two other patrols and slaughtered them as well, leaving three of their own dead as the cost.

After they climbed up the stairwell, they noticed that there was just a single large room at the top of the building, the gatehouse itself. There they split their group into two, as they already heard the noise of soldiers climbing up the stairs as they chased after them.

Grünhildr and Salicia, along with Zyd, all stayed back with half their forces. The narrow stairwell allowed Salicia to hold the soldiers back with her arrows while any who made it past had to deal with the rest. It was a chokepoint where the few of them can hold against many.

Elfriede, Nina, Nicole, and the rest went straight for the gatehouse. They had two of the burlier thugs kick the door in, before Elfriede slipped into the room, and came face to face with around twenty soldiers who pointed spears in her direction.

At least, until one of them, who she judged their commander by his slightly better outfit, seemed to look at her and gawked in surprise. Then he said something she had not expected at all.

"By the god-king's shriveled warty dick… drop your weapons, all of you!" commanded the man with urgency evident in his voice. After a moment the rest of the soldiers in the room obeyed the command, though Elfriede sensed that many of them turned towards the commander, likely with questioning looks in their eyes.

"We surrender," said the man.