"Well, that’s one big door," Sieg stated the obvious. "What are we going to do now? Knock and ask if we could use the closet for a minute?" The joke tickled a snicker out of Haylee, but it was more to loosen his own tension than hers.

"Don't worry, big guy. You are not going to do anything for now," the lithe cat-girl answered.

"What do you mean I—"

"Look to the right of the gate," Haylee interrupted him. "There are three arrow-slits, which lead into the top floor of the inner gatehouse."

Siegfried inspected the smooth, grey wall next to the gate. It was hardly visible in the dark, but he noticed three shadows that looked slightly darker than the rest of the wall. And those three shadows were at the height of a three-storey-tall building. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head. "I can imagine that you might be able to squeeze through that, barely, but how are you going to reach up there? Whatever the wall is made of, it is completely smooth."

"You'll see soon enough," Haylee answered, sounding unusually bashful.

"Even more important is how you plan to take on several enforcers by yourself," Sieg stated, unable to keep the worry out of his tone. "I was hoping that, maybe, we would have a chance together if we can fight in close quarters, but going in alone is suicide," he argued.

"Have some faith, hero," Haylee playfully rapped her knuckles at his chest. "Those red meatheads might be dangerous in a fair fight, but if you slit their throat from behind, they die as easily as anyone else. There's a normal-sized door built into the wall right next to the gate. I'll take down as many as I can on the way there and let you in. We can handle the rest together."

"Very well, not as if I could provide a better plan without knowing about the interior… just be careful, Haylee."

"I will be. Promise… Uhm, could you turn around for a moment? I work better without those clothes."

"Ok, sure," Sieg answered as he turned around.

It wasn't as if Haylee was specifically shy if it came to nudity, but showing her more animalistic side to Siegfried was a different story altogether, and she couldn't use that kind of distracting thoughts right now. The shapeshifter quickly got rid of her shirt and skirt, leaving only a pair of elastic bandages wrapped around her bust and the lower regions with a narrow space above her rear left free for the tail.

She shifted as quickly as possible, ignoring the familiar feeling of her bones and muscles rearranging and the unpleasant ache of her organs moving to settle again in different places. The instant her transformation was completed, the elegant big cat dug her claws in the ground and sprinted away.

When Sieg turned around, startled from the sound of the scraping claws, all he could see was a big shadow, shooting towards the wall.

††† Haylee †††

A few steps close to hitting the wall full-on, Haylee used her powerful hind legs to jump nearly vertically against the stonework. The sheer weight of her momentum pressed her body against the wall for the short moment she needed to cover the distance to the arrow-slit.

It was just enough to jab both front legs through the small hole and find purchase with her claws. It was a tight fit, but she squeezed through with practised ease and silently dropped to the wooden floor.

In all honesty, Haylee wasn't precisely as confident about this infiltration as she made Siegfried believe. The last time she snuck through the gate, she just hopped out the arrow slit on the opposite side. She injured herself badly at the landing but basically still slipped through without anyone noticing.

The cat-girl shifted back to her human form and lay down to prepare for a much more complex change. Her fully feline form came naturally to her, and she could just let her subconsciousness take over. A partial transformation had to be much more deliberate.

The young shapeshifter carefully altered her hip and tights first. She closely monitored each of the many new muscles that formed while lengthening the femur at the same time. She left her calves and ankles as they were but grew five small, soft paddings on the ball of each foot. Next came the most dangerous part, and Haylee went through every step with utmost care as she slowly let her body alter its spine and grow a tail.

Afterwards, she strengthened her wrist and fingerbones and grew out sturdy, razor-sharp claws. The feline ears, eyes and the smelling organ at the roof of her mouth were done in an instant.

The last step was to grow out her fur again. It was really just a short fuzz, looking more like a dark champagne skin tone that was far less visible in the dark than her actual pale-white skin.

She flexed her leg muscles and claws, making sure everything felt natural and smiled predatorily. "Let's see if the cat still knows how to hunt," she whispered to herself.

A trapdoor gave access to the stairs leading to the next level, but she could hear a muffled conversation through the thick wooden beams that the floor was compromised of. After a short search through the room, Haylee found a rectangular hole in the far corner. Iron mountings were fixed to it for holding a ladder— an older temporary access that no one bothered covering up after the stairs were finished. There was hardly any light reaching that far, and so Haylee risked a peek through it.

The weak illumination came from a few candles lit on the sparse furniture and creating dim spheres of light. Two enforcers were seated at a sturdy table, engaged in conversation and drinking as it seemed.

Haylee noticed with glee the maze of wooden beams crossing the room, close to the ceiling. Several chains with meathooks were attached to them. Apparently, this was planned as a storeroom for food in case of a siege.

The nearest of the sturdy beams was just close out of reach. The nimble cat-girl turned around and squatted down on her haunches. She quietly sunk the claws of her hands into the wood near the edge and slowly lifted her rear backwards through the opening while keeping her calves planted next to her hands. Bending her legs, she took the weight of her arms, hanging upside down from the hole. By arching her back, she was able to soundlessly reach the timber with both arms.

Gripping the diagonal opposite edges, she flexed her arm muscles — one arm pushing, the other pulling — while maintaining the body tension and carried herself over to the beam like a weightless wraith, levitating through the air.

"And while Thomas is having fun with his whore in the first', we're stuck with guard duty in the fourth'. I swear, I'm so going to pay him back for that," the bigger of the two men rambled at his colleague. They were still oblivious to the looming death, advancing slowly above their heads, waiting for the perfect time to reap their lives.

"Sure you will. And then you come back crying cause he kicked your ass again. Just let it be, man. The day of reverence isn't far. Just work hard to get a bigger piece of the cake this time as we all do."

"Oh, shut up. We're almost out of ale anyway. I'm going for a leak and bring up another round."

The cat-girl waited patiently for the grumpy guy to leave. That would be even easier than she thought. When she was directly above the remaining enforcer, she clamped both legs around the timber beam and let herself hang down behind him.

Haylee quickly closed her hand around her prey’s mouth while simultaneously slicing open his throat. When the body went limp, she jabbed her claws in the flesh beneath its arms and hauled it up with only minor difficulty. She hung the dead enforcer across the beam by the waist and crawled further along until she was directly above the door.

It wasn’t long until her quarry stepped into the room again, furrowing his brows at his missing table companion. The grumpy man took two steps towards the table until he saw the pool of blood in the dim light of the lamp.

By the time he looked up to notice the lifeless corpse of his friend, bleeding out from the ceiling, it was already too late.

Sneaking through the open door, Haylee made her way downstairs. The next floor was already built from bHalls and stonework. The stairs led to a corridor that was lit by a few wall-mounted torches. There was one door at the end of the narrow hall and an open passage on the left side. Several voices came from that passageway, and it seemed to be well illuminated. After verifying the enforcers' position by listening for a while, the cat-girl peeked around the edge.

Apart from a chest of drawers, she spotted a few empty armour racks and a round table with an ornate dagger and five red mantles on it. It didn't come as a surprise that none of them expected an attack inside the gate. Still, at least five of the gifted warriors were sprawled out through the left side of the room. No matter how she approached it, she wouldn't be fast enough to kill all of them before they could use their gift to end her. But sneaking past would likely trap her between her enemies.

Fortunately, it seemed that the rustical chandelier, hanging from the ceiling by a thick rope, was the only source of light. Haylee quietly put out the torches in the corridor and took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves.

Letting out her last breath in a burst, she sprinted towards the table, using it as a stepping stone to reach the chandelier. She severed the rope, and her adrenaline spiked as the candles went out in the sudden drop accompanied by the surprised outcry of the men.

The cat-girl lunged at the nearest enforcer, ripping out his throat before he could even draw his sword. The second enemy reacted instantly to the gurgling groan that followed and blindly swung his blade in the direction.

Haylee bent backwards at the waist to evade the broad swipe and pierced his sword arm with three claws before he finished the movement. She jabbed her other hand straight into his chest, punctuating his hearth as the room suddenly lit up again with a red glow.

Another enforcer was already on her, executing a quick thrust at the now-visible cat-girl. Haylee bent her body around the blade like a dancer. She crooked one arm around his and grabbed him at the belt for leverage.

Just before the other enforcer finished his charge, Haylee threw the crying man into the path of his ally. The impact was deafening for her sensitive ears, and the sight of two humans colliding at such speeds made even her cringe.

Alas, the room was still filled with a red glow. Haylee had hardly time to react as the last of her opponents finished his charge, and her body moved on instinct. It was by pure luck that she had sidestepped to the right while the attack came on the left, but it wasn't enough. A deep gash opened up on the left side of her waist, eliciting a scream of agony from her lips.

Despite the injury, her body was already moving again, grabbing the dagger on the nearby table. The underhand throw was hardly aimed at all, but the short distance between them made for an easy target, and the red glow dimmed again as pain broke the enforcer's concentration. Before he could get his bearings again, Haylee was on him, eviscerating him in a fury.

She gritted her teeth, ripped off part of the dead guy's shirt and started wrapping her waist. For the first time, the cat-girl was glad that she was used to that amount of pain. Had she hesitated for the blink of an eye, this would have ended differently. She nearly chuckled at the thought that she could thank her father for this moment.

A female shout and the creaking of the door in the corridor interrupted her short respite. The tell-tale red glow seeped through the passage. "Bring a torch!" the newcomer called. Haylee bit the inside of her cheek as every movement hurt. Her time was running out. As soon as the darkness reclaimed its territory, she sped through the passage— practically noiseless on her soft paddings.

Torchlight was creeping up from the next set of stairs to the door. It was just reaching far enough to reveal Haylee's athletic figure in front of the enforcer. The black-haired woman stumbled in shock as the cat-girl slashed her throat mid-run, not bothering to even look at the 'obstacle' in her path.

She leapt through the door and down the stairs. She buried her claws into the enforcer with the torch, riding him down the last steps and breaking his neck in the process. Haylee stifled a cry as the wound ripped open further and bounded into an empty room. There were only a single drawer and a burning hearth with four simple stools inside. But on the left side of the room, Haylee could finally see the heavy steel door she told Siegfried about.