Surprise was total, and all that could be heard was muffled gurgling. A wave from Indas was all she needed. She quietly made her way through the open door as her brother disposed of the body in the river. Two sleeping guards inside she offed quickly with her dagger. Breaking open a strongbox, she found a crossbow which she quickly loaded using a hand crank fixture and rested it on the only window frame in the guard house. From her position, she could see the docks perfectly. Built in a circle, with the river running down the middle, the dockside was lined with big storehouses and grain silos. A variety of barges lay moored along the docks, with nearby stables housing the horses to pull the barges upriver as necessary.

She took aim at the guard walking perpendicular, along the waterway. She could see a pair of hands emerging from the water. She took aim and put the bolt straight through the guard’s skull, the dead body falling towards the water where it was caught with some effort by her big sister, and quietly lowered into the water without a sound.

Along the waterway, Elistin’s former husband and his four helpers hurriedly carried her big brother on a makeshift stretcher. She reloaded the crossbow with some effort and soon found her next target: Blocking the path ahead towards the grain barges were a pair of young dockworkers. Taking a break, they played around with a small ball in the yard in front of the grain silos. She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, waiting for the perfect moment. As their bodies lined up, she took the shot. A moment later, the two boys stumbled and fell choking to the ground.

They moved up towards the boat and after some work managed to load her big brother. They cut the moorings, and using sticks and oars for a head-start, the current soon took hold of the boat. Just then, there was growing shouting and she watched as another dockworker found the two dead boys and raised the alarm. Guards from other areas and guardhouses all began streaming towards the river in pursuit.

Abandoning the crossbow and the small guardhouse she went out into the street just in time to witness a series of explosions down along the approaches to the docks. She felt sad having to leave her music box behind, but to her satisfaction, the explosions blocked off most of the direct routes and she judged the time to be right to make good her escape. As a major part of the city crumbled, she turned on her heels and ran.

She rushed along the street and climbed the first house. Upon reaching the roof she rushed along the length and jumped from the house to the next. With only a short distance remaining she continued across the largest of the storehouses. In style, she leaped off the roof and dove into the river. Emerging from the water she was hauled aboard the grain barge.

“I’ll admit… By the sound of it, I was expecting the whole city to crumble… I think it was a good…” He fell silent as a muffled rumble in the distance could be heard. Behind them, two of the wall’s towers partially crumbled. With a smile, she began wringing her clothes. Her big sister sighed with exasperation but beneath her façade she could tell she too was pleased with the outcome. Her sibling signed out a sentence and she nodded, thinking it was an appropriate solution.

“Now that we’ve escaped, what’s next?”

“We’ll land further downstream, and from there we’ll board a carriage to cross the border. I’ve sent word to Elistin. All we need to do, is keep Rein alive until then.”