Things were eerily quiet on the southern front, an occasional drunkard passing by but not much else. Almost all of whom paid little to no attention to the hooded figures skulking through the streets, people here knew not to antagonize such a group lest others find their cold corpses floating in the sea. Around fifteen or twenty minutes had passed before the group of four arrived at the base of the wall, making sure to press up against the stone and out of sight of prying eyes.

Time ticked by; each grain of sand moving agonizingly slow. Preparing their grappling hooks and weapons helped to ease that tension, helped by focusing on something they had control over. Bows, daggers, and blades were checked, double-checked, and checked again for any problems, making certain that all items were secured tightly in anticipation of the climb. Just as they were finishing up, preparing to maybe run another equipment check, the alarm bells started to resound.

The hourglass had reached the halfway point, give, or take a few minutes, Tariq had delivered on his promise. Off in the distance, further west, the bell was ringing and resounding throughout the city, a bright orange glow could be seen spreading its light toward the skies above. Just as had been expected it did not take long for the garrison to respond, with the sound of thundering footsteps increasing, followed closely by the source. A major portion of the guard still present passed along the ramparts, rushing toward the growing fire. Now was the time to move.

In the dead of night while the twin moons were obscured in darkness, their light unable to illuminate the pair of grappling hooks soaring silently through the air. After a handful of tries they caught, snagging one of the battlements, allowing the silent hunters to begin their ascent. One by one the infiltrators took firm hold of the rope, placing one foot before the other and silently scurrying up the walls one at a time.

Having reached the ramparts successfully and without issue, the four took up their positions. With two watching the pathways to the left and right, while the remaining two retrieved the hooks and stored them away safely. Luckily none had approached, better yet the nearby area was devoid of any guards. It was clear that the distraction had been incredibly effective, the originally sparsely defended areas were now empty, with not a soul in sight. Not wishing to waste time the group proceeded with the mission, remaining within the shadows as much as possible while eliminating the enemies silently.

The few defenders they did come across were isolated, staring out over the walls keeping watch against unknown foes, many of whom were drifting in and out of sleep, blissfully unaware of the dagger at their rear. Death for these men was quick, a hand over the mouth to stifle any screams, followed by a dagger through the throat.

With the significantly reduced security presence the approach towards the gatehouse went off without a hitch. Whatever defenders were present within were still unaware of the situation on the ramparts, and the lack of alarms in the vicinity meant Maatilani’s team had to also have been successful in their infiltration.

A quick survey of the surroundings found no additional security elements, no guards on watch or patrols in the vicinity. Having taken stock of the surroundings, the Scholar and his team quietly moved forward out of the shadows, their target being the entrance doorway into the gatehouse. One of the infiltrators took position closest the door, maintaining one hand on the knob while the rest got into position. Arrows were nocked and blades unsheathed, ready to rapidly dispatch any enemies on the other side. The Scholar held up a hand to stop the rest from charging in, instead opting to open the door just a crack and slide in a small silver mirror, observing the reflection for any large human shaped shadows.

“There’s no one in the next room, keep silent and aware of the surroundings. One of you is with me, we will move up to the end of the hallway, the other two are to search the room on the other side of the door. Keep in mind this is the same process will we use moving forward, two teams of two, one to keep watch, the other to clear the rooms as we pass. No more talking past this point, hand signals only, understood?” The three just nodded in agreement to the Scholars words, one of whom pointed at himself and then the Scholar to indicate that he would be accompanying him.

The Scholar did the same, merely nodding and indicating for the point man to open the door. Rangers like these infiltrator’s were trained for years in multiple infiltration, subterfuge, and assassination techniques, following that regimen the point man cracked the door open very slowly, placing a foot into the gap before sliding in. Keeping himself between the door and wall while remaining out of line of sight as much as possible. Maintaining the gap just enough for the others to barely slip in one at a time, each soldier taking up position with bow drawn and overlapping fields of fire.

What they found on the other side of the door were barrels of supplies piled into corners and a table or two with food left uneaten. It appeared to be a guard room of sorts, most of the stuff lying around seemed to be the belonging of the men who had been charging towards the west.

“Hey, you boys back already, what was….” The hapless fool who was unlucky enough to have remained behind was cut short. Three arrows struck him almost simultaneously, two in the chest and one in the eye. By reflex the three shooters immediately nocked another arrow and aimed down towards the hallway, waiting for another to come running down the corridor. Yet to their relief, even after anxiously holding steady for a minute or two nothing else happened, no sound of retreating or approaching footsteps in the distance.

Signaling the others to follow his lead the Scholar moved forward, making sure to retrieve the arrows from the corpse as they passed by. Luckily the strike to the eye had penetrated through the eye socket and into the brain, he would have died anyway, but that strike had ensured that he would not have the chance to scream. A stroke of luck for the team, for as they passed down the corridor towards the inner part of the gatehouse, they found some more guards along the way. These men had been on earlier watch and thus were fast asleep, tucked tightly within their beds, the rangers spared none of them. Splitting off in teams of two they would clear each bedroom, their daggers cutting a bloody swath, soaking the bed covers in crimson before moving on to the next.

A truly meticulous almost mechanical method of killing, the guards had no way of knowing what was happening until the dagger had already punctured their throat, a hand pressing down over their lips to stifle the screams until they expired. Not a single alarm was raised, not a single scream or yell escaped the dead men’s lips. The infiltrators however did manage to pull together a hefty number of coins along the way, having made time to quickly rummage through the belongings and take anything of value that was simple enough to carry.

After finishing their grisly business and ensuring their rear was secure the team moved on, arriving at the stairwell that led down towards the main gate. They maintained their cautious approach, remaining in the shadows as they crept along, but upon reaching the floor below they were greeted with another bloody sight. Four cloaked figures stood triumphantly over two bodies before the latch to the outer gate.

“Glad of you to join us teacher, what took you so long?” The cheeky grin plastered across Maatilani’s face depicted her current mood perfectly. Although outwardly valiant and stoic, the woman was a battle junkie through and through, sometimes the blood haze could get to her and her personality would do a complete one eighty.

“I prefer to take my time and ensure that there are no loose ends, I cannot risk everyone’s safety for a bit of fun my dear. Besides I don’t have anywhere near as much blood caked onto my armor as you. I hope you realize that we will be on the trail for the next two weeks… I’m not even sure these next few days will give us time to stop long enough to take a dip in a river.” The playful smile on Maatilani’s face did a complete reversal as the reality sunk in. She did get to have her fun, to let loose, but it was when her armor and clothes started to stink and stain that it would be problematic.

Time for washing up or cleaning clothes in the river would be a luxury, once the caravan was out of the city and on its way, it would need to create as much distance as fast as possible. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind whether Xeander would dispatch a pursuit force, and the reality was that there was no way for the caravan with its burden of people and treasure to outrun such a force. The plan would rely on buying enough time to find a defensible position along the way, reinforce that position and try to exhaust the pursuit force as much as possible. A more thorough strategy would depend on what ultimately Xeander decided to throw at the group.

For now, they needed to leave, get as far as possible from Myrmien and obscure their tracks to delay pursuit as much as they could. Working together the two teams quickly opened the gates, both the inner and outer gates. Once the gates were open, it was just a matter of waiting for Malakos and Timeaus to arrive with the caravan.

The wait was not long, as within five minutes the slow trot of horses along cobblestone could be heard turning the corner. As there were no issues on their end, it was simple enough merely moving the bodies from the path and boarding the caravan as it strutted out the gates into the open plains. The caravan long gone before the alarm bells within the city had stopped ringing, with the discovery of the south gatehouse massacre occurring not long before the planned raid on the Elurian inn.