The first hints of the impending disaster occurred the next evening.

“Where’s Rialto?” Nedric asked.

“He was meant to be seeing Irlena and hasn’t returned.” Daiga replied.

“He should be back by now, we have to do a show soon.”

“He’ll get here, he always does.”

When the time for Rialto to get back had come and gone with no sign, Nedric began to worry. “What if he was captured?”

“Then we act the same as normal and hope they don’t trace him back to us before we get a chance to rescue him.”

Having no real choice they went to Packam’s and did their show. The response wasn’t as good as normal and this was possibly because the group didn’t put all their energy into the show. Of course the wrestling spot went over just as well as ever because even when distracted there were few men who could best a ranger in a fair fight.

Returning to their home there was still no sign of Rialto but also no sign that anyone had been following them. Nedric asked the rangers to check out Irlena’s house to see if there was any sign of his friend. They slipped off quietly into the night, as smoothly efficient in the city as they were in the forest.

After an hour, when they still hadn’t returned, Nedric and Bethan didn’t know what to do.

“There’s nothing that the rangers can’t handle that we could do better, so we just wait.” Bethan told Nedric.

“I know! But I hate waiting.” It seemed to Nedric that that was all he had been doing since Elsebeth was taken. Perhaps because he had tried to be sensible in how he tried to rescue her.

Just then there was a thump on the door. They both jumped and Bethan drew his sword. Nedric went to open the door, standing to one side so that he would not impede Bethan and could assist if there was need. He opened the door and Daiga slumped through it and onto the floor. There was a large rent in his jacket and he was losing blood from a wound in his side.

“They’ve got Scabad and Rialto, they’re taking them to the guild building, I thought I wasn’t spotted following them but I was wrong.” Daiga winced in pain with each breath.

“Were you followed here?” Bethan was coolly efficient, whilst Nedric was speechless with indecision.

“Don’t think so, killed one man, maybe two, left a third injured, he was the one who got me.”

“Then we have time to see to this wound, hold still.”

When Bethan pulled Daiga’s shirt aside the sight of the wound made Nedric gasp. There was a lot of blood around and more seeped out each time Daiga breathed. Bethan told Nedric to get water and clean cloths and proceeded to clean the wound.

“It isn’t that bad. It’s a clean puncture wound and it doesn’t look like it’s that deep or that they’ve sliced into an intestine. I’ll pour some alcohol on it and bandage it and you should be all right.” He performed the actions as he spoke and Daiga winced but said nothing.

By now Nedric had got his wits together and was assembling weapons. They had acquired a couple of crossbows as part of the rangers act and had lots of throwing daggers and enough swords to go around.

“Do you think we need bows?” he asked.

“Might help to take out the door guards. Whatever we take, make sure that it isn’t going to make a noise, we need surprise on our side if we are going to have any chance at all.” Bethan seemed to know what he was doing and Daiga was nodding.

“Have we got time to change into the black outfits?”

“We’ll make time.”

The three put on specially designed outfits that completely covered them apart from their faces. The outfits had been used by the rangers in their wrestling matches along with masks and Nedric had decided that they should each have one if they were going to raid the guild at night. He was glad for the advance preparation.

Over the outfits they wore black belts like those of Cantherin mercenaries, designed to hold daggers. The daggers were not the flashy, bright silver ones used in the shows but rather the blades had been darkened. Over this they each wore an overcoat that disguised their clothing and carried bags that held the rest of their equipment. Daiga had the heaviest bag but assured them that he would be able to carry more and would not slow them down.

Nedric would have liked to have prepared a surprise or two he had planned but they had been rushed into this raid and he wasn’t ready. He grabbed some narwood as he had no way of knowing if they would be able to return to the house and they all carried food and water. There was no knowing whether the shadow guild would know who they were but they couldn’t take chances.

They left the house by the least obvious route. They took their specially prepared wagon and left it at an inn on the far side of their destination. Nobody should realise it was anything special as the boards bearing the bright designs had been reversed.

Carefully they made their way to the guild headquarters. From the outside the building looked no different from normal. There were still two guards outside the rear entrance and none out the front. Knowing more about the layout of the building from the rear and hoping that the guards were expecting nothing they stopped in an alcove and shed their outer clothing.

“If you pass me the bow I’ll take out those guards.” Daiga stated.

Nedric passed it to him and watched in awe as the ranger swiftly pulled back on the bow and without seeming to aim let fly. Whilst the first arrow was in the air he let loose a second and a third was in the air at about the same time as the first arrow hit the first guard.

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Both the first two arrows hit their targets. The third, aimed assuming that the second guard would duck, hit him as he was falling over from being hit by the second arrow. Neither of the shots was fatal in themselves although shock might have helped. It didn’t matter. Nedric and Bethan had raced across the intervening courtyard and were slicing the throats of the guards almost before they realised they had been shot.

It was a good job that Nedric had no time to think about what he had done. When he looked down at the guard and his hands coated in blood, he had to fight to keep his stomach under control. Until then he hadn’t realised it was that easy to kill a man. He didn’t like the action but saw no choice if he was to rescue his friends.

They pulled the guards upright and leant them against the wall, using the guards’ spears to keep them in position. Hopefully from a distance they would look as normal and they would not be discovered until change of watch, by which time the raid should be concluded.

Entering the building, they found themselves walking through dimly lit corridors that were all virtually identical. At regular intervals there were doors that led into different offices. Most of the work done in the building was collection and sorting of information from all the reports that were delivered from around the country.

They reached the central stairwell and attempted to make their movements even quieter. If their information was correct then there should be guards on the level below them to stop people going below that level. They might not be there of course as it was nighttime and there was little need for them. Nedric had faith that the bureaucratic mindset would have the guards in place even when they were not needed.

The stairwell itself was typical of large government buildings everywhere. Wide stone stairs, carpeted in a rich red with sweeping wooden handrails. Sneaking a look downwards, Nedric couldn’t see any sign of the guards but he could see that the stairwell stretched down as many levels as it went up. Strange noises drifting from below told them that whilst the upper levels were unoccupied the same wasn’t true of the deeper ones.

“Do you think there are guards on each level guarding the doors?” Nedric asked.

“Probably. We need to find someone who can tell us.” Daiga answered.

“Do you think there’s a guard who patrols the upper levels? If so he should be the easiest target.”

“Good thinking. You stay here and Bethan and I will check this floor out.”

Watching his two friends drift silently away, Nedric found himself a corner behind a cabinet from which he could watch the stairwell but hopefully could not be seen. He hoped that they would not be long. So far determination and adrenalin were allowing him to do what was necessary but he knew that if he were left alone long enough he would have to think about being a murderer.

He could justify his actions on the grounds of necessity but there should have been someway that they could have taken out the guards without killing them. He could think of various distractions that they had planned but which had to be jettisoned when the others were captured. He had been planning to have an explosion or two to cause general alarm and bring the guards from their posts within the building. There was no way that he could do that without twelve hours warning.

He didn’t want to think about his recent actions and so tried to plan ahead. Without more knowledge there was nothing they could do. He could hear the occasional word from the guards below but couldn’t make out what was being said.

Daiga appeared suddenly and Nedric almost shot him with the crossbow in panicked reaction. Fortunately he recognised the ranger just in time to halt the movement before it had really started.

“There’s no one on this level, we’ll have to try the next one up and if there’s no one there try and take out the guards on the level below us.”

Nedric nodded and they carefully went up the stairs, thankful for the carpet that hushed their steps. They were no luckier with the next level but they had learnt something new.

“This level is exactly the same design as the one below. I’d be prepared to bet that they all are, bless bureaucrats for their originality.” Daiga smiled.

“So the guards will either be sat right by the stairwell or will be the other side of the wooden doors.” Nedric added.

“My bet is that they will be this side of the doors or they couldn’t see who was coming. It makes things harder. If we make any noise then any guards below us will hear everything.” Daiga continued. “The quietest solution is throwing knives, I’ll try and see how many guards are down there and if there aren’t too many we’ll try the quiet approach.”

They descended to the ground floor and then Daiga moved ahead on his own. He moved quietly to where he could see down to the next landing, making sure that he didn’t obscure any of the lamps and therefore give warning to the guards. He returned quickly muttering something about professionals under his breath.

“There’s three of them on the landing and they’re playing dice. Because they’re bent over they make hard targets for throwing but they are so ill prepared that we can probably walk up to them and take them out. Here’s what we do, Nedric, you take a crossbow and cover us, Bethan you take the left one, I’ll take out the right and then we’ll try and keep the middle one alive and conscious. Only shoot him Nedric if he reacts fast and looks like he will shout out.”

Surprisingly for such a hasty plan it worked well. Moving as silently as possible they went down one flight and then when they were visible Bethan and Daiga half-leapt, half-ran down the second flight. The two guards didn’t even have time to look up before they were grabbed around the neck and their throats cut. The third guard looked up, saw Nedric pointing a crossbow at him and paled. His mouth sagged open but he said nothing before Daiga had a dagger to his throat.

“Say a word and you die, keep quiet and you live, nod if you understand.” Daiga’s voice was full of menace. The guard nodded carefully, wary of the knife held across his jugular.

“We’re going upstairs and into an office so you can’t be heard, walk slowly and don’t do anything stupid.”

The three friends and the guard moved up a flight and away from the stairs. The thick walls and solid doors of the offices meant that it was highly unlikely that even a scream would be heard and the guard was well aware of that.

“Where do they take the prisoners?” Daiga asked him.

“Th-third floor below ground.” He stammered a little but didn’t move his head as Daiga was still holding the knife to his neck.

“How many guards down there?”

“One on the floor below us, you killed his partner. Two on the third.”

“And how many guards are beyond the doors?”

“None.”

Nedric, who was staring at the guard’s face, thought he saw something in his eyes as he replied that time. He forced himself to sound hard.

“He’s lying! Kill him now.”

“N-no!” The guard’s face became paler.

“How many guards on the floor?”

“Maybe six or seven. There’s a guard room on each of the below ground floors and people wander around.”

“Who else will be there?”

“Normally there are two torturers and a clerk to take notes. There shouldn’t be anyone else.”

“Describe the layout of the floor.”

The guard talked as though his life depended on it, which it did. He described the floor in detail and it was clear that in general it kept to the same plan as the higher floors. The rooms that the prisoners were in were on the other side of the guardroom and they had to go through it.

“Are there any other exits on the third level?”

“There’s one into the sewers but it is past the prisoners rooms and it’s alarmed.”

“Where is it?”

The guard described it, when he had finished doing so Daiga hit him on the back of the head with the hilt of his dagger. The guard slumped to the floor and the ranger used the guard’s belt to bind his arms and feet.

“You didn’t ask him if any of the rest of the floor was alarmed.” Nedric stated.

Daiga looked down at the supine figure of the guard and grinned. “It’s too late to ask him now!”

“What do we do about the guards?” Nedric asked Daiga.

“Take them by surprise and we might get away with it, give them no time to react.”

“Kill them?”

“Only if we have to, it’s safer if we don’t have to fight. Hopefully they’ll be sensible.”

The three returned to the first floor down, relieved to see that the two bodies were still lying where they had left them. “If he was telling the truth then there is only one on the next floor so I’ll take him out and then we’ll see about the last set. Daiga descended the stairwell and then quickly returned. “That was easy, let’s hope our luck holds.”

They descended to the second landing and Daiga turned to Nedric.

“Nobody will hear anything through those doors so we can do this the easy way. You and Bethan can use the crossbows from the stairwell and I’ll make sure that neither of the guards make it through the door.”

Nedric and Bethan nodded and made their way down the stairs. As he moved as silently as he could, Nedric felt his throat tighten and feared that he would start coughing. He forced himself to relax and took a position next to Bethan. It was all right for his military friends to do this but he was just an impressor. He had never expected to use his training at the keep for real.

From where he knelt he could see one guard and part of the other. Bethan who was on the step lower could see them both. With his fingers he indicated the guard he would shoot. Nedric sighted along his crossbow and realised from the stance of the guard that he would have to aim for the head.

In his peripheral vision he could see Daiga’s hand. The ranger held out his fingers and thumb. As he gradually lowered the fingers Nedric steadied himself and as the hand formed a fist both he and Bethan fired.