“This is far enough.”

Harek said and lifted the boat from the top of them along with Erick, Adrian, and Robert. They attempted to gently put it down before Adrian’s hand slipped and it hit the dirt with a loud and hollow bang.

“Careful!” -Robert called out.

“Sorry.” -Adrian apologized.

They looked back as the first musket volleys started from the attackers at the now-distant castle, to which the defenders answered in kind with low-caliber cannons and rifles. The sounds of battle slightly echoed as the sound bounced around the valley. Tall grass and dry bushes surrounded them while tress in the distance dotted the landscape. They must have walked a few kilometers away from the excitement of the battle. Agnes put down the paddles she was carrying in the roughly made boat the carpenters of the camp made.

“Are you sure it will hold?”

Erick asked cautiously, with slight skepticism, to which Robert replied.

“Ah, don’t you worry about that It only needs to be good enough for two trips at most, it will hold. It's a miracle those carpenter boys were able to make it this fast as is.”

"In she goes then."

Harek reached down and took off his boots, threw them in the boat, and then grabbed the side of the hull. The others followed suit and carefully pushed it into the river. Harek jumped down beside it in the water and kept it in place.

"Robert, will you be our captain?" -He asked jokingly with a faint shiver in his voice.

"My pleasure." -He gently stepped into the boat and took a seat at its helm, carefully balancing, not to flip it over.- "Boys, get in, if the displacement is not too bad, then you too Agnes."

The two others carefully took their seat, then after inspecting the water level for a moment Robert called out to Agnes who then also boarded. Harek let go of the vessel and Erick and Adrian began to carefully paddle. The river was much wider at this point, but also a lot more shallow and slow, so falling in would be unpleasant, but not life-threatening. That is not why they chose this spot, however. As the dusk plate approached from the west, blocking out more and more sunlight as it went and bathing the land golden-orange, it made this side of the valley considerably darker much sooner. Harek seeing as everyone got out safely on the other side, climbed out of the river, and gazed at its water for a few moments, the distant battle flashes and smoke reflecting upon its surface. Soon enough Robert arrived to pick him up. On the way back he asked the old man:

"What do you think about the plan?"

Robert looked at him curiously before answering.

"Well...it's reckless...but when is it not?" -A moment of silence passed, then he asked in return with a friendly manner.- "What's eating at you, young man? Can see you've been uneasy ever since ever since we left camp."

After a few moments of looking for the right words he answered:

"The Count invited Agnes to study under his patronage and also gave her a letter he wants delivered, for a suspiciously large amount of money.

"Afraid it's a trap?"

"I don't know...maybe. Agnes seems to trust him but..." -He trailed off.- "Besides, what if she does want to leave to study? Perhaps she should, she's talented. She deserves better than this."

Robert looked at the anxious and uncertain man before him and hardly recognized him. He showed bewilderment for a moment then started to laugh, which confused Harek.

"Oh, you poor boy. I had my doubts before but I'm certain now. You might have fooled the others, but you're barely any older than Agnes aren't you? I can see it in your eyes clear as day now." -He chuckled, shook his head then continued.- "If you think that girl is ever leaving your side you're a fool."

Harek didn't know what to say, he was flustered and embarrassed. He tried to show little of it but failed for the most part. Robert must have felt bad for him as he continued:

"I won't tell them, don't worry. You did a good job thus far, no reason to undermine that, not that Erick and Adrian would care too much I don't think. Besides joking about it relentlessly." -He laughed again.- "But why pretend to be older? It's quite convincing, to be honest with you, especially the voice, but what's the point?"

"Not much anymore, it's more like an inside joke we have with Agnes." -He began, embarrassed.- "When we were barely more than kids I matured pretty fast so I lied about my age. I needed to be a lot older to get any serious jobs and...we just went with it since." -He collected himself by now from his rare slip-up and continued in his grizzly deep voice.- "And the voice is real, I got lucky on the front I suppose."

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"Hmm..." -The old man sighed.- "To be young again...Try not to worry too much and focus on the here and now. Things will turn out just fine I promise."

Harek coughed, then said:

"Thank you." -Then raised his voice to call out to the others as they were getting closer and closer.- "Everything okay?"

"All good!" -Agnes gave a thumbs up.

As they touched shore they disembarked and pulled the boat out just in case. Harek stopped to dry his feet with a fur on his shoulder and produced a dry pair of socks from his bag. Erick laughed while Adrian and Robert nodded approvingly.

"Prepared for everything huh?"

Ericks asked.

"Keeping your feet dry is very important." -Robert pitched in. -" You don't want to get wet rot, do you?"

"If you say so." -He shrugged.

With that, they continued on their trek back towards the castle from the other side. After some time they reached the outer edges of the town. Its buildings have been mostly left intact. The rural clay and thatch-roofed houses at the edges gave way to finer baroque buildings as they approached the outer walls. They moved carefully, just in case, but all of them seemed to be abandoned. Its residents fled in the keep, or away to nearby towns and villages most likely. The outer walls were standing proud here with their smooth limewashed surface, but seeing how half of their length has been pulverized, they have been abandoned as well.

"Can't we just go through the gate?" -Adrian asked.

"I wouldn't recommend it." -Harek answered.- "We don't know how much attention they are paying to here now, but if there's any section they are watching, then that's the gate. Safer to climb across somewhere else."

Adrian produced a few of the hooks, or in this case, soon-to-be ladder steps, and gave them to Harek. Better prepared than last time he put in his two chainmail gloves, carefully aimed the hook, asked Agnes to rip the paper covering its rune, then waited. After a few seconds, the hook shot out from his hand and dug itself deep into the wall, the now not-so-distant thunder of guns covering it's sound.

"Nice job Agnes." -Erick said cheerfully.

"Thanks, but these walls weren't shielded yet." -She answered.

They impaled a few more steps until the top seemed reachable, then Adrian climbed up first to scout the area. He laid down on top of the wall crenelation, then after making sure there was no one around, took out a spyglass to peek at the top of the castle on the hill before him. The castle itself with its inner walls was about 300 meters away he guessed. In a straight line that is. After about 50 meters away the steep hill rose upward for about 200 meters with plenty of bushes and trees covering it at its foot that were soon replaced by sparser bushes higher up. The walls themselves were quite old-fashioned for the warfare of this century, more akin to the era of knights and trebuchets. Adrian wondered how long they would have lasted if not for the rune-protected walls. On top of the walls themselves, he spotted a few figures as they glowed in the golden rays of the sun as the dusk plate slowly passed over the castle. After a minute or two he climbed back down to report.

"I saw some figures walking about, but likely much less than what we'd have to face if not for the ongoing attack by our dear Count."

He said while pointing towards the other side of the hill, to which Harek answered.

"Can we climb up and go over?"

"Not quite. The line of sight is clear and not that far. The dusk is helping us but anyone glancing in this direction will still see us moving across the wall."

Grumbles and murmurs ensued between the other three before Erick piped up:

"Got anything we could use as cover up there?"

To which Robert asked:

"How about my smokes?"

"Would attract too much attention." -Harek shook his head

Adrian held his chin in thought, then said:

"I think the simplest solution is the best in this case. I climb up, hide behind some of the nearby boxes, keep watch with my spyglass, and whistle for when the next person can come through. There is a stairwell inside the wall not far from where we are climbing up to the left."

The others nodded in agreement and Adrian took up position on the wall. Visibility was getting worse and worse as time passed and the guards on the inner wall paid more attention to the ongoing attack than to the bushes under them, so Adrian hoped this could go smoothly.

Erick followed him closely, waiting on the ladder. A whistle. Hustling. Waiting. Another whistle for Agnes. Then a quick muffled shout:

"Wait!"

She almost slipped as she stopped her momentum before grabbing a ladder. After waiting a minute she heard the whistle again and moved across.

"Go!"

Robert followed her close behind, then Harek. Soon enough Adrian joined them under the trees on the inner side of the wall. This must have been a garden before as various trees and bushes with flowers surrounded them. "All the better." They thought. The rest of the way turned quite steep rather quickly. They won't have to climb as such but they'll have to be careful. The dusk plate bent light far enough that they were also in the shadow of the castle now, with the dark and dull colors they wore, it should be fine they hoped. As they made their way upward slowly and carefully, Agnes wished she could use one of the blessed lights she carved. The loss of light was getting both annoying and dangerous as they stepped around sharp rocks and slippery moss.

After some careful movement, they made it under the inner walls undetected. From here the walls must have been about 15 meters tall. Quite the distance, but a lot smaller than they appeared from the bottom of the hill.

"Okay, you know the plan. Everyone ready?" -Harek looked around everyone as they stood holding their equipment for their assigned role, nodding.- "Let's get this over with."