章節 61: Ch. 61: Thugs On The Run
By now the men were a stone's throw away from us. I tossed the bow and began throwing my knives, keeping in mind the wind gusts and downpour of rain. One of the thugs dropped to his knees with a scream as another yelled out in anger.
Even though I'd gotten a few before they made it to us, I noticed more men heading up the steps. If Iren didn't hurry, we were gonna be overrun. I pulled out a dagger, maintaining a defensive stance. A few of the men had bows but noticing that I was blocking them from getting a clear shot at Iren, they drew their swords. Now, I'm sure they were pretty peeved that I was able to make some fatal strikes when they couldn't do the same, so I used it to my advantage. I don't care who their 'boss' is - They weren't taking me without some bloodshed.
Since the wall-walk was narrow (I mean it was built for short statures) the thugs were attempting to find an opening to get behind me, but I wasn't budging. They'd have to run me through - A fact I knew they were unable to do if they wanted to obey orders.
"Surrender now and we will keep your friend there alive." One of the brutes ordered through the chaos.
Instead of offering a reply, I pulled out a spare throwing knife and flung it at his unarmed forehead right between the eyes. As he immediately collapsed, the other thugs got the drift that I wasn't willing to cooperate.
Amid the sword clashing and rumbling thunder, I made out the wondrous sound of the drawbridge being lowered. I glanced back noticing Iren was frantically waving the lantern through the air, signaling the alarm for our troops. In the distance, I heard the unmistakable sound of our warhorn.
"Yeah buddy! Now they're in for it." Iren stepped up beside me with a look of triumph. The attack stopped as the concerned thugs peered out over the edge of the parapet noticing the troops headed our way. They looked at each other and made a quick unspoken decision to run for it. We were shocked as they ran back down the wall-walk, alerting their own backup to retreat.
Iren and I gave each other a stunned look then burst into laughter.
"Where are they gonna go? The only entrance is blocked now!" Iren giggled out.
I abruptly stopped laughing, "What if there's another exit?"
Iren widened his eyes and we took off running after them. One of the thugs down in the stone courtyard was blowing a trumpet of alarm for his companions. The ones that were closest followed into the labyrinth of stone pathways while the others (realizing it was too late to run) made a stand against the onslaught of soldiers. Surely they knew it was a suicide mission, right?
I ran forward, trying to warn our soldiers to keep the remaining thugs alive but with the wind, rain and thunder no one could hear me from my distance. The thugs were run through quickly while Toval and Rodair made their way over to Iren and me.
"We saw the light and the drawbridge being lowered. I didn't bring but maybe fifty men, is that enough?" Toval asked looking us up and down to see if we were alright. Rodair immediately came to my side with unrestrained fear in his eyes.
"Rodair has failed yet again m'lady."
"There's no reason to be downcast - I'm perfectly fine." I turned my attention to Toval, "Fifty's plenty but there's more thugs in the castle. The royals were being held hostage, so Kovin went to free them. We need to keep some of the brutes alive - they were sent here to capture me."
Rodair's eyes widened with the revelation, nonetheless he remained quiet.
"As far as we know the locals weren't in on it, so we need to keep that in mind. Use caution if we meet any Masons." Iren added.
Toval gave a nod and I ordered the men to follow us as we took off for the castle. Once inside we came upon a gruesome sight. There were about a dozen thugs scattered along the throne room floor, blood spattered across the entire expanse. The only people left standing in the midst of the horrid display were the King, Queen and Butler.
"Where's Kovin?" Iren asked loudly, worry evident in his voice. Any of the corpses could be him, but some of their faces were turned to the floor, so we'd have to sift through the dead to find his body.
"If you're talking about the man who was with you, he's not here. After he took care of these men he went to free our daughter and soldiers. They are in the dungeon below." The King answered Iren with a sympathetic yet gracious air.
It was clear that the scene before us was orchestrated by Kovin, which consequently made me smirk in admiration. He's obviously much better suited to handle covert missions instead of battlefields. Don't get me wrong, he was an excellent soldier, but from what I could see he'd be better suited as an assassin.
I turned my attention back to the matter at hand once the Queen started sobbing, "Our poor beautiful girl! You don't think they've done anything untoward to her do you? For such a fair young woman I'm so worried!"
The King patted his uncomely wife as he attempted to sooth her fears.
I turned my attention to our men, "Toval, Rodair, Iren you come with me. The rest of you will stay to guard the royals. Have someone go back and fetch about fifty more men and survey the streets. If they find any more thugs, apprehend them immediately. You!" I pointed my finger at the butler who stared back with wide eyes, "If you want to redeem yourself, you will lead us to the dungeons. If you so much as hint that you'll betray us, I will gut you worse than any corpse currently at your feet, are we clear?"
The butler nodded his bald head with terror stricken eyes, "I swear upon my life, I had no choice in the matter beforehand. I will most definitely not let you down this time m'lady. You have my word."
"We'll see." I murmured while gesturing for him to lead us.
We were led through winding corridors down small stone steps where the dungeons supposedly lay. Sure enough, we arrived in time to see Kovin finishing up with the last of the guard holding the Princess and soldiers captive.
"Kovin!" Iren greeted enthusiastically and flung a small knife toward the guard rendering him incapaciated yet very much alive. Kovin looked back to see the interruption, and once he realized it was us, he gave a small nod of acknowledgment.
Kovin reached down to finish off the guard, but I stopped him, "We need him alive for information." He stopped himself and nodded in understanding.
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