Edwin’s comrades faded into the mist behind him as he barreled down the road. According to the map, the command center was only a short distance away, though Edwin was approaching it from the east while the main entrance was in the south. He was brimming with energy as the long, tense trip through the nightly fortress had allowed his subconscious to charge him with a steady trickle of mana. So focused had he been, he hadn’t realized the growing buzz until the attack on the mages. He was charged way past his usual levels, as fighting tended to spend his energy almost as quickly as it gathered, but the sneaking had done nothing to alleviate the pressure. His ears were buzzing and the edges of his vision were becoming distorted like cracks forming in a glass lens.

As his feet beat an ever-quickening beat on the cobblestones, the wind carried an unwelcome sound to his ears: The tortured squeal of hinges protesting against their heavy load.

They’re already closing the gate!

Edwin’s mind whirled, possibilities flashing by at the speed of thought. Assuming the gate guards didn’t randomly drop dead in the middle of their duty, they would have the way blocked within seconds. Edwin still needed to turn left along the wall which would force him to shed some of his speed, then slow down as he reached the gate so as to not overshoot…

There’s no way I make it in time.

The mists ahead of him peeled back, revealing the wall that surrounded the command center courtyard, and Edwin had a desperate idea. He didn’t have time to question it, only fractions of a second remaining for him to act until he shot out onto the junction, so he simply followed his gut. He extended his next step, giving him time to swing his back leg forward. Edwin landed with his feet together, knees bent, with only a single moment before his reckless charge would sweep him off his feet. His muscles screamed in protest, then his legs extended and shot him upwards like a rock from a catapult.

The wall ahead of him was a well-built structure of stone and mortar similar to the outer wall of the fortress, but unlike its larger, more imposing brother, it was never intended to withstand a full-on siege. Its purpose was to keep prying eyes from seeing what occurred inside and keep anyone out who had no business within. As such, it was much narrower and shorter, the walkway on top only four or five meters above the ground.

Sailing through the air, Edwin had a lot of time to consider his course of action. His jump had given him a lot of upward momentum, but it hadn’t reduced the forward momentum of his mad dash. For a few moments, Edwin worried that he might splat against the outside of the wall like a mosquito. The lights atop the wall grew closer and he adjusted his assumption: He would splat against the battlements instead. Pulling his glaive close with his right hand, he extended his left toward the approaching top of the wall. As soon as his gloved fingertips met cold stone he pulled, desperately adding to the force pushing him upwards while using his shoulder as a hinge to swing his lower body sideways.

It was enough. His glaive almost clipped the wall, but it barely cleared the hurdle as he sailed over the battlements, coming face to face with a Marradi soldier jogging along the wall. Time stood still as their eyes met, the man’s face betraying his complete befuddlement over an armored giant flying across the wall out of nowhere. Before the soldier could decide on a course of action Edwin crashed into him, swiping the soldier off the wall like a bug off a giant’s shoulder.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

It was at this point that Edwin realized something: He had assumed that his jump would allow him to reach the top of the wall, from where he could then climb down and open the gate from the inside. That might have worked if he’d allowed himself to flop against the outside, but now that he had crested the battlements, he was left without a way to stop his flight. Edwin grimaced as his momentum carried him ever forward, leaving the top of the wall behind and continuing down into the courtyard. The soldier he’d pulled along shrieked, and Edwin silently agreed with the man. This was going to suck.

Flailing his arms and legs, Edwin used what little time he had to right his fall. The inside of the courtyard was well-lit, and while he flailed, he took in the horse stables, the double doors leading inside the main building, and the dozen or so soldiers moving about. Then his time was up. The scream behind him suddenly ended with the clanging of steel on stone, then his own feet hit the cobbles and every joint in his body screamed in agony. With gravity satisfied, the remaining momentum of his run made him slide backward and into one of the soldiers, slamming into the man’s legs and forcing him into a front flip across Edwin’s wide back.

The courtyard came alive with a cacophony of surprised shouts just as Edwin skidded to a halt and rose, his entire body awash with the tingling sensation of magical healing. The soldiers were all looking in his direction, most of them already running either toward their downed comrade or him, likely not having realized yet that he was an intruder. The gate was closed, three men turning around from lifting into place the massive wooden bar that held it closed. That was Edwin’s target. Once more, he broke into a run, his rapid movement shaking the guards out of their confusion.

“Halt!”

“Identify yourself!”

A few steps in, one of them realized where he was going.

“He’s going for the gate! Seize him! Don’t let him escape!”

Edwin couldn’t help but grin. They thought he was a spy, having jumped out of one of the courtyard-facing windows, trying to flee the fortress. Two of the guards at the gate drew their swords, the third one started running to where their spears were leaning against the wall a few steps away. He changed his mind when he realized how quickly the heavily armored Edwin was bearing down on them, but by then it was too late. The glaive swept him aside before his blade had left its sheath, Edwin never slowing his charge.

The other two interposed themselves between him and the gate, swinging their arming swords at him when he drew close. The glaive was out of position from its previous swing, and instead of burning mana to bring it around and potentially destabilizing his run through the rapid shift in mass, Edwin pointed the butt spike at one of the two like a knight’s lance, then slammed into them without stopping. His thick armor deflected their swords just before the glaive punctured the right one’s chest plate. The left was thrown aside, skidding across the cobblestones on his back.

With a quick look over his shoulder to confirm that their backup was still a few seconds behind him, Edwin turned to the wooden gate. It wasn’t a particularly large specimen compared to Artelby’s main gates or the massive ones that controlled entry to cities, and the bar reflected that. Unwilling to let go of his glaive, Edwin grabbed the thick piece of wood with one hand and lifted it up, pulling it out of its metal supports and giving the gate a hearty kick to swing it open.

“Get him! Don’t let him flee…!”

The approaching soldiers were surprised when instead of slipping out of the opening gate, Edwin instead whirled around and flung the bar at them at chest height, sending four of them toppling to the ground. Hefting his glaive with both hands, Edwin put his back towards the gate and set off back into the courtyard. His vision had returned to normal, but he still had mana to burn and enemies to kill. As the Marradi charged at him from three sides, the ancient weapon in his hands began to whistle its familiar tune, promising death to all who approached.