Commander Gallion was dressed in black, as his men along with Flom city mayor's three guards; who were faces that the Westforte castle guards recognized, passed through the tunnel under the city. The mayor's guards were nervous but also understood that if they did not cooperate, Juhntt would take them out as well. They kept a straight face as they assumed their usual attitudes when making the delivery. The commander had warned them to follow orders and only act as guides when they entered the city and they intended to do so.
They got to a wooden door and knocked rhythmically. The wooden door gave way slowly to a guard holding a torch. The guard recognized only three faces among them. He counted and discovered that the number of people was still twenty, so he let them in. The pathway behind the door was lit up and guarded closely. The commander and his men were led into the castle. From the smell, the commander could tell they were still underground. The guard showed them to a door but did not follow them in.
The commander followed the guides' actions and entered a large open room. One could tell it was storage as a lot of sealed jars were stacked to the brim. If one breathed in deeply, he could smell the raw food in the air, even the smell of dried meat. Looking at the size of the storage and the amount of things inside, the commander knew that the castle would have been able to outlast the war, talk less of their little siege outside.
They were the only ones in the storage and today they were delivering weapons.
They got to work as though all was usual, following the lead of the guides.
As they stacked the crates of weapons, they moved around a lot. One would not be able to tell that they were releasing rats, who's bodies and fur were completely covered in food-rotting poison. The commander's greatest regret was that there was no water stored here, so they could directly poison it. But they knew these rats would find their way to water so he threw away his regret.
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
What they did not know was that there were actually guards inside the storage room. There has always been. It was only a matter of time before one of them spotted the rats released by them. They appeared swiftly when one of them released a signal and tried to arrest them.
The commander was shocked when he heard the grunt of a man above him and looked up. He saw a sword descending on his head and jumped out of the way.
"Look out!" he said and a fight broke out. The castle guards were but ten in number, but they were skilled. The commander retreated to the door, where he blocked any of the castle guards from going outside to signal for help.
"Don't spill blood!" he ordered. Though the mayor's guards did not know why, they followed instructions. It was harder than they thought.
As Commander Gallion broke a guard's neck, he wondered why they did not call out for help. He knew why all his men were trying to be as silent as they could while they fought, but he did not know why the other side was silent as well.
By the time all of the men were killed, he counted his men and paled. They had lost two men. Even though they had the advantage of numbers, the other side was highly skilled. Losing two men was not as bad as realizing they were going to have to walk out of there, incomplete.
He knew that they must have counted them when they entered. Two men less leaving the storage was a signal to the castle guards that something had happened inside the storage. He looked around once more and took in a deep breath. He ordered his men to drag the bodies to the end of the storage and hide away. His men worked quickly, they had stacked the bodies behind a hill of wine barrels.
Arranging their clothes, they walked out like nothing went wrong. The guard at the corner saw them emerge and started leading the way without looking back. The commander and the others were tense, as they tried to walk calmly. They were led back the same way they came they came. As his men entered the other side of the stone door, Commander Gallion stood aside with the guard for a second.
"This is the last delivery," he said, earning the guard's attention. "I was told to ask when we are done, if there is a message you want us to deliver?"
The guard frowned but shook his head.
The commander nodded and then left with the rest. They did not turn around even as they heard the rock slide close, blocking the other side. As if a weight got lifted off him, the commander sighed. They walked out of their end of the tunnel into the cool night breeze.
The commander saw the rest of his soldiers waiting by the entrance and gave out an order.
"Sink the entrance!"
[To read ahead use the Patreon button or click on the link patreon.com/MfonemanaUduak to gain access to the entirety of book one and get up to date with book two now running.]