By nighfall the camp was ready, no fires where allowed so that the enemy wouldn't be alerted, they where about 30 or so minutes from the enemy fortress under a tall and almost concave hill, 50 men patrolled the woods so that in case the enemy wondered too close they would have enough time to retreat.
Hilt: [The commander ordered us to stay alert, its almost time for the invasion.]
Leif caressed his mares muzzle, Hilt had told him her name was Silv, Silv was calm, the first horse Leif had ever rode but with Hilts help he quickly got the hang of riding, specially since Silv was so receptive.
Leif: [Hows the invasion gonna go?]
Hilt: [The commander has the map of the fortress, theres a small opening by the river wich is used as a simple sewer, theyre gonna have a small group of 5 men go in and open the fortress from the inside, while that the Vice-commander will lead the troops inside and slaughter the enemy.]
Leif: [Sewers? Someones gonna have to sneak around in poop?]
Leif grimaced and the blonde teen shrugged.
Hilt: [Such is the life of a soldier, Leif boy.]
The two talked for a couple more minutes before a man with a rugged face, grey abd white hair and wearing a black cloak stood tall before them.
???: [You, child, come.]
Leif and Hilt exchanged looks as the man turned around and walked away, the boy quickly followed suit, the two of them walked together for about 15 minutes, until they united with 3 other men, a short and thin one with a long and curved nose, big round outstretched ears and a stubbled beard, another was much talller, blonde hair with many white strands and a heavy brow, in between them was a brown skinned man with a steely exppression and furrowed eyebrows, his dark brown hair had a few grey strands across them.
???: [You brought a child Brott?]
The man with the steely expression sounded, his voice firm and commanding.
Brott: [He can follow orders.]
Leif: [I can follow orders.]
The short man and the blonde man chuckled but the steely man maintained his resolve.
???: [Shut it, Rigge and Bowen, you buffoons.]
Turning his attention to the boy the man asked.
???: [Hear me boy, what were about to do, is a suicidal dive into the enemies base, you hear me?]
Leif stopped for a second, but maintained his resolve.
Leif: [Yes!]
The man smiled, somehow the expression seemed wrong in his unexressive face.
Geralt: [Good. Im General Geralt Persworth, commander of the 13th plattoon of the Pallaccian army, you are now a soldier and a made man, act like one.]
Leif: [Yes sir.]
The five men made their way throught their forest, when they could see the lights coming from the fortresses torches and fireplaces Commander Persworth made Leif wear a dark cloak aswell, despite his cloth being so dirty it looked almost black, they slowly and silently made their way around the fort, hiding in the shadows of the trees, until they saw the river running by, making their way up the river they finally arrived at their destination, where the river curved to the right they had made a small extension to the fort, the light grey rock forming a gaping maw of darkness that led up to the intestines of the fortress, and even better, with no security.
Once they had clmibed up the unpolished rock the smell was already almost unbearable, probably the worst thing Leif had ever smelled, he could tell the other men were also deeply irritated by the terrible odor, all he could do was tightly pinch his nose as him and the other men made their way up the sewers, at times they had to fully shove their boots into the excrement, slowly they made their way throught the dark foul smelling labyrinth, following the map they finally made their way into the sewer lock, fortress sewers alwasy had atleast one lock so that in case of any misshaps some poor soul could go in without diving into the latrine, thankfully this one had locks in both sides, as silent as they could the men turned the iron lock and opened the door.
The fortress was silent but well lit, there were probably half the amount of warriors they had, but the advantage of having a fortress was way to big to try and ivade them during the day, and even during the night there were probably about 20 or so soldiers vigilant around, the men slowly made their way up to gate, in the way there were two guards talking to each other while sitting around to make sure they weren't trouble the commander made Rigge and Bowen silently slit their throats while Brott looked out for any other guards around, he made sure Leif watched as the men where assasinated, according to the plan the commander had explained while they were still in the forest Rigge and Bowen where to watch and stop all guards, Brott and the commander were going down to open the gate, Leif's duty is to open the outer gate by using the crank up on the fortress wall, according to the commander the small room in wich the crank was located was guarded by a heavy metal door that hanged less then a couple centimeters above the ground, and he needed someone small to crawl under it.
As they parted ways Leif made his way up the wall as silently as he could, thankfully no many of them where along the main wall for some reason, as he walked along it he finally came face to face with the iron door, there really was a small space bellow it, even small then what Leif thought it would be, he got on his knees right in front of it, letting his sword down so that he could slide it ocer once he had crossed it, he pushed his face against the ground and crawled under the thick metal door, shoivng his torse inside he could move his face up and check around, inside there was a small room with two large windows to both sides of the wall, one facing the path throught the forest and the other facing the fortress itself, what he saw next made his hear miss a beat for a second, there was a guard, sitting on a stoll and with his head against the stone, loudly snoring, right in front of him was the crank to the outer gate.
Once he had fully pushed himself to the other side he reached under and pulled the sword, once he stood up he stepped closer to the crank, as slowly and as silently as he could, he set his hands firmly on the crank and tried to turn it without waking up the guard, but as soon as he turned it the crank made a screech that made the guard jolt up, still not realising what was happening he rubbed his eyes and Leif unsheathed his sword as fast as he could, he tried to stab the man but after the few second it took the guard had already jumped away from the blade, socking the boy on his face, Leif fell back and almost went unconscious from the force, but before he could step up the guard bringed down his fist knce more on the boys nose, he felt the crunch of his nose and the terrible pain spread throughout his skull.
???: [Fucking little shit!]
The man said as he circled his fingers around the boys neck, Leif felt his throat burn, a familiar burning sensation, the sensation of swallowing a blistering hot piece of coal, the man swore and grunted as his fingers tightened around the boys neck, Leifs jaw tightened as he gasped for air, with each impotent smack and hit against the mans arms and chestplate made the burning hot sensation going up his throat worse, as he could no longer breath, he felt his heartbeat go wild in his chest, the core of his being groing hotter and hotter, a bit of saliva oozed down his lower lip as he looked up at the man.
Leif: [[HÁRT]]
Once more all the boy could see was a shining blue light engulf his vision, raging blue flames blew the rooms door off its hinges, the flames ran throughout the top of the wall, making the fortress shine with a unnatural blue hue for a couple of seconds before the flame died down.
When Leif opened his eyes once more he was laying on his back against the stone floor, the guard was nowhere to be seen and pratically everything was charred and burned, some pieces of wood still burned with the blue fire, when the screams filled his ears Leif remembered the situation he faced, he immediately got up, tightly gripping the crank and turning it with all his strength, he heard the outer gate rumble as the chains pulled it up, he didnt pay much attention to the screams sounding all around and just kept turning it, again and again until the rumbling stoped, turning his attention to the screams once more he put his hand out of the wind facing the path of the forest, wich was now filled with soldiers, some in horses, others at foot, all doing their bests to fit through the gate with their swords and axes in hand, stepping to the other side he put his head out of the other window, where hundreds of warriors clashed against eachother, in the crowd he got to see Commander Persworth shouting orders to the soldiers and Hilts blond hair as he mixed himself in the battle.
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With a sigh the boy sat back down into the stone floor, relaxing for the first time in almost 2 of the most tense hours of his life, he clutched the hilt of his sword once more, leaning against a wall, he put the tip of his sword against the floor and the base of the blade on his shoulder, enjoying the weapons warmth.
By morning all enemies that werent prisioneirs were dead, thanks to the invasion being so late at night most enemy warriors were either asleep or drunk enough to drop dead, by morning they had settled the troops in the fortress, sending the injured back in the carriages once they had left all provisions, Leif was sat on the wall, his sword against his shoulder, resting after the difficult night when he heard someone walking towards him, when he opened his eyes he looked up to see the same grey haired older man as last night.
Leif: [Brott?]
Brott: [Child, come.]
Leif got up as the man turned around and walked down the stairs to the ground floor, following him in silence like last time, they made their way throught the bowls of the fortress, finally they made their way up the tower where Commander Persworth had installed himself, reaching the second level of the tower Brott knocked on the large wood door, from inside a voice sounded.
Geralt: [Enter.]
Brott pushed the door open, on the second floor was located the commanders meeting room and personal office, inside there was a large wood table, around it there where 6 chairs, 3 of wich sat Rigge, Bowen and the commander himself, the other 3 where vague, by the table stood a tall and slander figure, wearing a black coat with large red shoulder pad with golden ropes, long silver blonde hair fell onto the back of the coat, on the persons head was a black army general cap.
Geralt: [Thank you for bringing the boy, Brott.]
Brott lowered his head silently.
Geralt: [Boy, tell me your name.]
Leif: [Its Leif.]
Geralt: [Leif what?]
Leif: [Crows.]
Geralt: [Soldier Leif Crows, i would like to introduce you to, General Adellianna Silvers.]
The general turned around, looking down at the boy with her gelid and sharp blue eyes with black slit pupils, her hair was long and tucked behind her ears, but what called the most attetion was her fur, Leif couldnt tear his eyes away from her, a black nose connected to her mouth, short thin silver blond fur and black whiskers, she had long and furry ears aswell, looking like some sort of human Lynx.
Adellianna: [You have never seen of mine have you boy?]
Her voice was a gelid as her expression, paused and calm, Leif gulped down the knot on his throat.
Leif: [U-uh... no...]
Adellianna: [I see, where did you tell me you found him?]
Geralt: [Brott told me the boy was following the caravan here.]
Leif: [Umm... why am i here?]
The two generals looked at them boy at the same time, as if they wherent accustomed to being interrupted.
Adellianna: [Boy, i have been told you are a Warlock.]
Leif: [Ah... im just training...]
Rigge and Bowen chuckled to themselves, truing to contain an even bigger laughter, General Persworth rubbed the bridge of his nose and General Silvers sighed.
Geralt: [You delayed crucial information from your commander.... Somrthing like this couldve been used with much more finesse.]
Leif: [I... u-uh... i apologize, commander.]
Adellianna: [Who has been teaching you boy?]
Leif: [A bald man in the woods.]
Rigge and Bowen almost broke into laughter before the commander silenced them.
Adellianna: [Dont tell me... Boy, did the man have a blazing eye tattoo on his forhead?]
Leif: [Ah! Yes thats what it was...]
Adellianna sighed even heavier, rubbing her temples.
Adellianna: [I cant believe hed do something of such magnitude, teaching a commoner child and even more a Cithroam child... Thats enough to get you hanged...]
She mumbled to herself, Leif was a bit confused, could she know Laymen?
Leif: [Have... have i broken any rules?]
Adellianna: [Many... but that isnt important in the moment, i have to get you filled first.]
The woman turned around, taking a paper from a nearby pile and a quill from a pot, she sat on one of the chairs and signed for the boy to approach, Leif made his way around and approached as ordered, she handed him the quill and crossed her leg.
Adellianna: [Can you read and write boy?]
Leif: [Yes, the basics.]
Adellianna: [Then put down your name and age and the name of your master.]
The boy did as she ordered, only needing help with writting Laymen's name, speacially since he didnt know the mans last name was Draggur. While writing he couldn't help but notice the womans lomg and thick claws and the enjoyable smell she exuded, like a cat if it was bathed in fruits.
Leif: [What is this for?]
Adellianna: [You dont need to know for now boy, simply have it known that we know who you are and where you are. Keep yourself on the line.]
Leif felt his chest hurt a bit.
Leif: [Y-yes!]
The woman turned around and walked away towards the wood door the boys eyes followed her, she turned around and looked at him one last time before leaving, Geralt sighed once she did.
Geralt: [No matter how many times we meet that woman always leaves me on edge.]
He turned towards Leif, poiting at the sword the boy had clutched on his
Geralt: [Boy, can you use that sword?]
Leif: [Yes... a bit...]
Geralt: [A bit is not enough, prepare yourself, beggening tomorrow you will be beggening to train with me on the afternoons, right before you train with Laymen.]
Leif was a bit surprised.
Leif: [Uh.. Yes!]
Geralt: [Brott, make sure the boy has a settlement, a small room is enough, and boy, make sure to eat atleast twice a day, i dont want you weak and malnourished while you train, its going to restrict your development.]
Leif: [Y-yes, sir!]
Geralt: [Dismissed, take the boy Brott.]
The two left, Brott led the boy all the way to the second sector of cells being used as common rooms by the soldiers, some slept in there while others slept outside in their own tents and such, once Brott left Leif was left alone in the room made of rocks, there was only a unlit torch in there and a bed, if it could be called a bed, made out of rocks with a mattress, made out of cloth filled with hay, Leif sat down on it and pulled his sword close to him, he had spent almost the entire night knee deep in poop, maybe he could finally rest now, he only need to remember to practice runic once he woke up.
He tightly pushed the sword against his chest, feeling the rough leather against his neck as he laid down on the mattress, it wasnt comfortable but he had been sleeping on rocks and dirt for the past months, it was nice, to the warmth of his sword he drifted off to sleep.