The makeshift army followed the four leaders through town. The dim light of lanterns held by a person right behind Max, Marcus, Falana, and Grace showed them the lines to stay in. Carts moved slowly, being drawn and pushed by people, the sound of their wheels echoing over the stones lining the road. With night upon them, every sound seemed amplified.

“What do you see?” Max asked quietly, keeping his eyes ahead to prevent any loss of night vision from the lamps.

“It’s clear up ahead still. I think we would be wise to wait a few hours before attacking. Surely, the guards will be more lax later.”

“It won’t matter,” Marcus grumbled. “They’ll be on guard and rotating shifts often. Our people will tire out first. Better to hit them fast and keep people from thinking too long.”

A grunt of agreement came from Max and Falana.

“I guess experience does make a difference,” Grace replied, earning a few quiet chuckles from the older three.

Grace saw Lilly moving ahead of them on the streets, vanishing in the shadows momentarily. Sometimes appearing further ahead, causing Grace to wonder what her dog was becoming.

“In about ten minutes, we need to lower the lamps to almost nothing,” Falana stated. “We don’t want to announce our presence too soon.”

Grace stood off in the distance, studying the new defenses that had appeared overnight. She could see the guard shack had barricades of barrels and sharpened stakes at the bridge that led to the keep. The walls had a few lamps inside them glowing, and Grace wasn’t sure if there were actual archers in the windows, but occasionally she saw movement.

Someone is walking between the windows… trying to make us think there is more there than there is.

“Three guards at the bridge, two with arrows and bows off to the sides away from the fire. The other has a shield and sword, only standing in the middle,” Grace said as she continued surveying their objective. “In the keep walls are a few men walking back and forth, not a full group. Two are all that I can really see.”

“How can you see all that?” Falana muttered. “I can barely make out the two guards near the bridge with the bows, and that's because I know where to look.”

“Let’s not worry about that,” Max said as he glanced back at the group of people behind him. He switched eyes, one open when looking ahead, the other when looking behind.

“You look stupid doing that,” Grace teased as she watched Max turn back toward the bridge.

“Someday, you’ll learn lots of tricks to save your night vision. It’s the difference between life and death sometimes.”

Nodding, Grace tugged on both Falana’s and Max’s tops. “Marcus is almost back.”

“We’re ready,” the man whispered. “When you say go, we’ll charge with the carts. Still seems crazy to think I’m waiting on a girl to throw stones to take out the archers.”

Max chuckled. “Just wait. You know Cedric believed in her.”

A pained grunt came from Marcus, and Grace wanted to punch Max for bringing up the memory of that man.

“Ok, be ready,” Grace said as she moved ahead, scanning the road and openings along the keep. “I’ll be on the left side.”

“Be safe,” Max called out as she left, her hand leaving the thin armor he wore as she went.

Lilly sat next to Grace as the two of them watched the guards. Both archers had their bows in their hands, but the arrows still rested in their quivers.

“I’ll take out the archers. Can you get the one by the fire?”

Standing up, Lilly moved along the houses ahead of Grace and stepped into a shadow that even she couldn’t see, vanishing from sight.

That is too scary… I wonder if that is how the one guy does it…

Taking two stones, Grace held one in each hand and began creeping forward. She knew if the Lord Knight was on the walls, he would see her, so her eyes constantly shifted between the portcullis and the keep.

Finally reaching the spot where she felt comfortable with the stone, Grace set herself and saw Lilly suddenly appear near the bridge. The fire burning in the braziers halfway across cast perfect places for her dog to hide in.

Setting her feet, Grace rotated the stone in her hand.

For what they did to Levi!

Like lighting, Grace flashed forward, her body moving so fast that had it been mid-afternoon, no one could have followed her movements completely. The stone left her hand, hurtling straight for the archer on the left, sinking into his head with a thunk.

Grace had already hefted the second stone to her right hand after the first one had left her hand, driving herself forward again. She had the second stone on its way as the first archer died.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The only sound that came was the guard by the fire moving to investigate the sound, calling out words Grace couldn’t make out but she could imagine what they were.

Four steps after the guard with a sword and shield got near the edge of the bridge, a shadow leaped up at him, clamping down on the man’s throat, biting through the tender flesh.

Gurgling sounds came from the man as he tried to call out, but as Lilly and the guard hit the ground, Grace saw her dog pulling the man toward the safety of the shadows on the bridge.

Behind her, the sounds of carts and footsteps began, and a quick glance revealed the army she had brought moving up, two lanterns having their covers opened up slightly.

Racing toward the bridge, Grace grabbed the barriers, eyes always on the walls of the keep, moving everything she could out of the way.

No movement was coming around the guard shack or anywhere else.

She had the first few barrels moved to the side, glad their contents appeared to be rocks and nothing liquid or flammable. By the time the sounds of the carts moving got close enough to echo off the walls of the keep, Grace had the first layer of the blockade gone.

Movement in the corner of her eye made Grace jump backward as an arrow plinked off the stone of the bridge.

A horn sounded, and more shapes began to form in the portcullis.

“Move it!” Max shouted from behind.

Grace ran backward, keeping an eye on the men of the keep, arrows pointed at the incoming mob.

“I only got one row!” Grace shouted as she reached the people about to find out how dangerous the next part was. “Now what?”

“Open the lanterns! Point them forward!”

Light began to spill out as four lanterns directed their light ahead, streaming out toward the bridge.

Max spun and looked at Grace, pointing at one of the carts. “You and me are going to carry one. We can use it for a shield and get to the bridge, clearing a path.”

Nodding, Grace ran with Max to the two carts. One was broader and heavier, and Grace wondered which Max wanted to take until he stopped at the smaller one.

“We take this one! You carry it, and I’ll help as needed!”

People began to complain about what Max asked Grace to do until she tipped it forward and grabbed onto the axles, lifting the eight-foot cart with relative ease.

“Holy–”

“Quiet!” Max snapped. “Be ready with the other! I need strong men and women to carry it sideways. Take your time, but keep it above your head. Once we’re across, we’ll draw most of their arrows!”

He motioned to Grace, and she started moving quickly, surprised at how easy it really was to lift the cart off the ground. Max held the top part, angling it so the edge was a foot off the ground.

“An emissary…”

Marcus’s voice rang in Grace’s ears, but she couldn’t pause to answer or even look. Max pushed her forward, glancing occasionally over the cart's edge and directing her where to go.

“He knows,” Grace grunted as they drew closer to the bridge, a few arrows thudding into the opposite side of the cart.

“It will make them fight harder,” Max replied. “Now left more. Skirt the edge of the bridge. I want us to try to ram those fortifications. If we can break that side–”

“Stop talking and help me build up speed!” Grace exclaimed.

Max smiled, not caring that Grace couldn’t see it as they ran together in unison, his hands keeping the cart angled just right, the sounds of arrows raining down on the other side.

“Five seconds!” Max shouted, clamping onto the side of the cart tightly.

She felt him pressing down on the cart, lowering the space between it and the road while keeping the angle the same.

Max was lifted off his feet for just a moment as they collided with the barrels on the edge before coming back down to the ground, sending them crashing beyond. The sound of wood cracking told her that both the barrels and the cart had been damaged.

“Five more steps, then swap. I’ll hold it up. You grab that fortification and toss it!”

Grunting, she pressed ahead, feeling the barrels on their side moving from the force she was pressing with.

On her right, the spiked fortification appeared, and she glanced up at Max, who held both hands on the underside of the cart.

“Go! I got this. Just make sure to check before you–

Grace jumped back, an arrow almost taking her in the face.

“Be smart!” Max shouted at her.

Grace didn’t reply, angry with Max for not trusting her. The moment the arrow had passed, she took one step out, knowing they had to reload, and grabbed with both hands the fortification. Planting her feet, she twisted and heaved, throwing it over the bridge and into the stream below.

Immediately, she dodged back behind the protection of the cart, three arrows thumping into the side she had just been and a fourth bouncing off the stone where she had been standing.

“Now what?”

“One more time, but it’s going to be harder,” Max told her over the sounds of more arrows striking the cart. “Those barrels are our problem. They weigh a ton and won't move. You can’t get to them, and we need to get them moved before we can get rid of the last barrier.”

Grace’s mind was racing, and she knew that Max was right. They were pinned in by the approach, and there was little room to navigate between the bridge and the angle of the arrows.

“What if I use my skill? If I use Juggernaut, I can handle the arrows and move that last barrier.”

Max stood there quietly, weighing the options as the occasional arrow plinked against their line of defense. Glancing behind him, Max saw the group gathered back down the road, waiting for a path so they could join the assault.

“That’s a big gamble… are you sure you want to do that?”

Grace nodded. “I got a plan. Just help me get close.”

“Grab the cart then. I’ll guide us and set the angle. We’ll need to be careful. Away from the bridge, our legs will be exposed if we’re off just a little bit.”

Bobbing her head, Grace grabbed the axle and took the weight of the cart from Max. “Whenever you're ready.”

Slowly, Max turned the cart, trying to keep his eyes on the keep and the holes in the wall.

Arrows bounced off the bridge near their left side when they got away from the wall, proving just how exposed they were about to be.

“Careful… a little more…”

Max adjusted his grip, trying to keep his hands moving and not give a target for an archer while shifting closer to the middle of the bridge.

“Fire!”

They heard Marcus’s voice, and Max immediately knew why the man had shouted it.

“We need to hurry!”

Grace could already smell the wood burning on the other side of the cart.