“What a man,” Lariel said through a ragged breath, straddling my whole body and arching her back.

Her hair was a beautiful mess, spilling across her shoulders and bare chest like radiant gold. Her cheeks were flushed, the softest pink lighting her skin as she leaned in closer, hands on my chest. Her eyes were shut in bliss, and I could feel her pulse racing against mine. I was dizzy with her warmth, every sense heightened, enjoying a magnificent view.

“Let’s do it again!” she said, eyes brimming with both excitement and bliss. “It's not all about me!"

“Oh, yes,” I said, letting out a pent up breath.

She pressed against me, deepening the kiss, her fingers sliding into my hair, arching toward me until….

Just when I thought I could lose myself in this moment, I tensed, our world shattering as the words blared in my peripheral vision:

NIDAR: Are you looking out the window? More guards are coming in. I think it’s time to get out, Lord Tactician.

I stifled a groan, breaking away from Lariel’s kiss with a sigh. I’d been focused, caught in that singular moment with her, and now—leave it to Nidar to drop a bomb like that in the middle of everything. Her eyes opened slowly, taking a second to register what had happened.

Her brows knit together, mirroring my irritation, though her expression was still soft, her lips pink and slightly swollen. "Reinforcements?" she murmured, barely managing to hide her disappointment.

I gave her a tight smile. “Duty calls, it seems,” I muttered, my voice more bitter than I intended. My fingers reluctantly brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, catching a last glimpse of her flushed cheeks. She let out a quiet sigh, a rueful smile playing at her lips.

“Shit,” I hissed, snapping myself back to the problem at hand.

With a final look at her, I checked the chat again, the cold urgency of the message dousing any lingering warmth from before. She slowly started moving away from me, reaching for her robe and leaning through the window.

I sat up, reality settling back into place like an iron weight between us.

I stood and glanced out the window, noticing the ruined wing of what had been Kent’s quarters in our field of vision, and the central garden of the palace, spotting what Nidar had meant—figures moving in lines, their armor glinting faintly under the night sky as they filtered through the palace gates. The grid showed that they’d basically doubled the guards. But they were not moving toward us. They were remaining on the lower floors. I took a closer look through Aria’s system, closing up on them and watching them reach for some kind of empty storage room. They were not moving toward our quarters.

It seemed like they were waiting for a command to be given, perhaps to surround the palace and lock us in. We’d have to disrupt their plans.

At that time, the sun was fading behind the walls and the mountain, and torchmen were lightening up torches on the edges of the garden wall. Their light flickered with a golden-orange hue that danced over the stone walls, casting shadows that seemed to grow and stretch in the vast garden.

A look at the grid showed me that they were doing the same on the inner hallways.

They were a liability—bright beacons that threatened to give us away if we dared to step into their reach.

“What do you think?” Lariel said. “I can perfectly slide out the window and climb to the roof, then jump into the city.”

“I can try too, although I don’t have parkour skills or whatever, and I’d just slow you down. What if I”

And then I received another message by Nidar. I hadn’t replied to the first.

NIDAR: Lord Tactician?

CONNOR: I’m on it. But for now. Whoever is good at sliding out of windows and through the roof without arising suspicion. Please prepare. I’ll need you out in a few minutes. Please let me know who you are.

ZYRA: There’s too much light outside. They lit the torches already. Unless you have a way to put away all their fires, the scouts are present in the garden for a reason. And if you want to attack the palace, talk about destroying our only chance at peace.

CONNOR: Definitely. We will not engage in combat. De-escalate the situation if you can, which may even mean, I’m sorry to say, to desist and go back into the room. Try not to be captured and only kill if you’re one hundred percent sure you won’t draw any attention and you can hide the body.

ZYRA: Agreed.

And now I had to find a way to deal with the torches. And I had an idea: basic physics. The basic science experiment when you extinguish a candle by covering it with a glass jar.

CONNOR: Ina, are you there?

INA: Yeah. What do you want?

That kid had an annoying attitude. But she’d saved my life, so I let it go. Maybe if I was nice to her she’d reciprocate some respect.

CONNOR: Ina. You can generate force-fields. Right?

INA: Force what?

CONNOR: Those bubbles you make that shield things. Do they put out fires?

She didn’t answer for a few seconds.

INA: Yes. That works, for whatever reason. You want me to put out those torches? I can’t see them, though my room doesn’t face the garden. And I cannot do them all at once, by the way. It has to be done one by one.

CONNOR: That would do. I’ll guide you through. And we can have you attempt leaving your room to see if they follow us, if they won’t let us, or what. Is anyone in? There’s a balcony in the hallways that faces the garden. I am not so good with climbing, so I could try to meet you there.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

NIDAR: Agree. My comrades are ready.

ZYRA: Sounds good.

The plan was coming together, barely. The torches blazing in the courtyard made every shadow a danger, every glint of armor an omen. I turned to Lariel, who was already watching me intently, her playful grin transformed into a fierce determination. Her fingers brushed over my arm, a silent promise before she shrugged on her cloak, fastening it with deft fingers, and slid her bow, arrow and quiver, fastening it with her deft fingers.

“I’m ready,” she said with a wink.

I still had to put on my pants. It was time to go.

CONNOR: Ina, get ready to get out along with Zyra. We need eyes out there before Ina makes her move.

ZYRA: On my way.

I held Lariel’s gaze, fastening my trousers and putting on my shirt of chainmail. “We’re going to have to move fast. Once Ina starts extinguishing the torches, the guards will react quickly. This whole place will be on high alert.”

A glimmer of excitement danced in her eyes. “Then let’s make sure we’re gone before they know where to look.”

With a final nod, she made her way to the window, waiting for command. The courtyard was teeming with guards below, but the darkened rooftops beyond offered a pathway—if we could make it there unseen.

ZYRA: We made it past the guard.

CONNOR: How?

INA: Bribed him. Humans are so predictable. And… Zyra told him I’m her daughter and that I’m starving. They think we’re heading for the kitchens.

CONNOR: Well done. Tell me when you’re in position.

ZYRA: Already there. Where should she start?

CONNOR: Let Lariel come out first and then the one closest to you? Can you see our window from the balcony? I think we're in the third room from left to right.

INA: Got it.

The torches beneath us faded. I nodded at my elven lover.

Lariel was already poised to slip out, one hand gripping the edge of the stone ledge, her balance light and graceful.

“I’ll meet you out there,” she whispered, her eyes catching mine before she vanished out the window. In a flash, she was moving along the ledge, swift and sure-footed, a shadow against the night sky. I watched as she disappeared, climbing upward, my heartbeat quickening with both worry and admiration.

“Connor, focus,” I muttered to myself, snapping out of it. I reached for the door and opened it.

“Hey,” I said. The single guard at my door was cross armed, a large straight sword at his waist and a halberd resting against the wall. “I need to get some food. Can I go to the kitchens?”

He chuckled and his response felt mocking and unserious.

“I’m afraid not, my Lord. Orders from my own lord. For your protection.”

“I see. See, it’s gonna be alright.” I reached for the money pouch and presented him with two gold coins.

He narrowed his eyes.

“Who do you think you are?” he said, facing me. I noticed he had some kind of reed whistle hanging from his neck. He was about to reach for it, when I delivered a perfectly timed right uppercut to his chin, and he went down.

I caught him by the armor before he could tumble back and make a hell of a sound, and dragged him into the room. The next few seconds were blurry, and I acted by instinct. I gagged his mouth with the sheets, removed his armor and put it on me. It was a little short, height wise, but it worked. I didn’t need to kill him, but I tied both his arms and feet, and when I was fully dressed, I replaced my sword with his.

I made my way to the hallway, finding the balcony. Zyra and Ina were posted there, Zyra reaching for her hilt as soon as she saw me, and Ina looking like a literal kid next to the elven commander.

CONNOR: Don’t worry. It’s me.

Zyra cocked her head staring me up and down, then relaxed.

“How was the room?”

“Boring,” Ina replied.

“Time to let Nidar and his gang go,” I said to the young elf. She nodded without even looking at me, and her force magic shield began rippling through the garden below, swallowing the first torchlight in a wave of darkness. One by one, the torches sputtered out, their warm glow fading until the entire courtyard lay shrouded in shadow.

I felt Zyra tense beside me as she peered over the balcony. “Look,” she whispered. Down below, the guards were stirring, confused murmurs breaking the silence as they began clustering together, their heads swiveling as they scanned for threats. Their confusion was to our advantage.

“Now’s our chance,” I said. “Let’s move. There are fewer guards on that side.”

I motioned to Zyra, who slipped ahead, her movements as fluid as Lariel’s had been. She took the lead, her form melting into the darkness as she navigated the palace hallways. I followed, heart pounding, every sense on high alert. Ina was keeping pace with us remotely, systematically extinguishing torches along our route, leaving pockets of shadow for us to slip through unseen.

I halted them at a turn. Two guards were passing through. We stayed in the shadows, holding our breath as we let them pass, then continued our path.

As we neared the outer walls, I spotted Lariel crouched low near an arched gate, her figure barely visible in the darkness, on a section of the garden lined by dark trees. She flashed a quick grin when she saw us, motioning us over with a flick of her hand.

The three of us huddled against the wall, our breaths shallow as the final phase of our escape loomed before us. “The outer courtyard is heavily guarded,” Lariel whispered. “But if Ina can keep the path dark, we should be able to make it to the outer gates.”

I signaled to Ina, sending a message through the chat:

CONNOR: Keep going, Ina. Focus on the main courtyard now.

INA: You owe me, big time.

More torches blinked out, covering our escape in deepening shadows. Finally, we made our way toward the gate, inching closer, step by careful step, until the guards stationed there were just faint outlines in the darkness. I held my breath, feeling Lariel’s hand slip into mine as we moved together, one careful movement at a time. Zyra stayed close, her eyes scanning for any break in the shadows.

Just as we were about to pass through the gate, one of the guards let out a shout, a harsh sound that cut through the silence like a blade. “There!” he bellowed, raising his weapon as he sprinted toward us. His hand reached for another one of those reed whistles, when Lariel’s arrow struck right into his throat. His tongue stiffened, as if he were trying to let out a grunt, but he fell on his back.

Lariel climbed down the wall like a spider, reaching for the man’s pockets. She slid out keychain.

CONNOR: Great. If this key grants access to the soldier’s gate and not the main gate, we don’t need to open that big thing or climb the wall.

Everything was going great. I looked back, noticing Nidar and the other four elves that were with him moving in the shadows.

CONNOR: This way. Right toward the gate.

But something was wrong. Aside from those two guards, there had been no mass movement of attackers, no fake plan. Hadn’t they brought all those people to ambush us?

They hadn’t even ordered our capture. They would probably do so in a minute.

But it felt like we weren’t a priority. So much for assassins sneaking into the palace.

Something was wrong.

“Huh?” I saw Nidar pause for a moment. He turned around, climbing over the wall and staring into the palace. I could see faint shadows of guards moving around.

CONNOR: Nidar, get over here.

NIDAR: Did you not see that? Lord Commander. Quick, check the grid and look at those people over there.

CONNOR: You mean the new guards? The mages disguised as guards?

I did so while visualizing the lower grounds of the palace through the grid. What I saw sent a shockwave through my mind. I thought I saw two elves, conversing with each other, dressed in perfect elven armor. Except I didn’t recognize their faces.

What were they planning?