Night Rescue I

Everyone followed Ammine down the path towards the castle. Of course, they didn't take the actual road but rather followed it from the sides for obvious reasons. It was a long and stressful trip since they had to be careful to not get caught. They almost ran into someone a few times and had to wait for them to walk away before they could continue.

Although it was the middle of the night, there were still some people on the streets and also guards patrolling about. Falte made the right call in telling them to not fly over the wall to get in. They would have been caught without a doubt if they had done that.

"This would be so much easier during the morning," Falte quietly complained after they stopped for the sixth time because there was someone blocking their path.

"We're almost there," Kies cheered the demon up. They could see the light around the castle walls and the moat surrounding it. They were only a few minutes away from it. After the guard left, the four moved up and made it to the moat, but immediately had to run back to where they came from when they saw a light coming towards them.

The good thing was that they made it. The only problem was that there were a ton of guards patrolling the area. "Now what?" Falte asked.

"Can't we fly over?" Kies suggested. All they needed to do was wait for the guards to pass and then fly over to the other side of the moat. With Ammine's speed, they should get to the other side without any of them noticing.

"No, that won't work," Falte said.

"Why not? With Ammine's speed, I don't think they'll be able to see us in the dark," Kies explained his reasoning.

"Yes, but what about the rest of us?"

"Can't you just fly over while carrying one of us as well?"

"No."

"What?"

"I'm a slow flier. There is no way that I could make it to the other side without being spotted beforehand," Falte explained.

"Oh. We'll have to do something else then."

"We could just take them out and get in. As long as we don't use our magic, they'll blame it on the beastmen or someone else and not us," Ammine said.

"Hm... That works I guess." Falte pulled out his dagger and spun it around in his hands.

"But won't that mean that we will have to do every single one of them?" Kies asked. The guards were circling around the moat in small groups. They would have to take out all of them for Ammine's plan to work.

"We? I can take care of all of them myself. Toss me the dagger Falte," Ammine said like it was no big deal.

"Are you sure about this? It's more efficient if we split up into pairs and have one go clockwise while the other counterclockwise," he told her.

"Are you doubting my skills?"

"No, but-"

"Then just hand me that dagger."

"Ah, whatever. Take it. You better not mess up."

"I won't." Falte handed Ammine the dagger and the three of them watched as she sprinted off, her footsteps not making even a sound as she ran.

"While she's doing that, I guess we can take care of that group of guards over there," Falte pointed at a light coming from the opposite direction that Ammine went. "I can't do anything without my dagger so you two will have to take care of them."

"Is it fine if I knock them unconscious?" Kies asked. He didn't want to kill them if he didn't have to.

"Kill them," Falte coldly told Kies.

"Okay..." Well, it didn't look like he had a choice. He was going to have to kill humans eventually. He should get used to it now so it wouldn't pose a problem in the future. If it's anything he learned from the battles he fought up till now, it was that hesitation will get him killed.

Kies waited for the patrol to come closer before striking. Kies took a deep breath and chanted Wind Cannon. He shot it at the guard carrying the lantern and sent him flying into the moat. "Who!?"

"An enemy! Attack!" one of them shouted. The guards all took out their weapons and charged at Kies. He slashed his hand in front of him and several wind blades flew from them and hit a few of the guards, taking them down almost instantly.

"It's a magic-user! Retreat and call for help- AH!" Kies took down all the guards before they could escape. It was strange how he didn't feel any remorse when killing them. But he did feel a sense of emptiness in his chest like he had lost something.

"Good work. Quick, toss their bodies into the moat," Falte told Kies. He watched as Falte ran up to him from behind the house and kicked the bodies in one by one. "What are you doing? Help me!" Falte told him.

Kies walked over to one of the bodies that were next to the edge of the moat and pushed it with his foot. As he did so, the emptiness in his chest gnawed at him and he stopped. He couldn't do it. It felt very wrong. He shook his head and stumbled away from the edge. It was the same empty feeling he felt when he watched Tonahl die back at the ruins.

Kies walked back to the house where Falte and Jasyeu were waiting for him. "Nice work. Wait, you didn't push that body off the edge!" Falte just noticed it and was about to run up to it and kick it, but was stopped when the lights of the house they were hiding behind suddenly came on. The door creaked open and two voices spoke to each other.

"Honey, it's probably nothing. Go back to sleep," a female voice said.

"No, I definitely heard something. There's something wrong," a male voice said.

Falte silently cursed to himself. "I really hope they don't notice anything. D*mn it, go back in already."

"Come on dear, there's nothing here. Even if there is, there are guards patrolling this area so you don't have to worry about a thing."

"I hope you're right."

The door closed and a moment later, the lights went out again. Falte let out a deep breath of relief. "You need to take them out quietly next time. We were lucky this time, but we might not have a next time," he told Kies while shaking him.

"..."

Falte noticed the expression on Kies' face and stopped and asked, "Is there something wrong? You don't look well."

"What doesn't look well?" Ammine swooped in front of them, scaring all three of them. She tossed the dagger back to Falte who barely managed to catch it. It was stained with blood and Falte had to shake it off.

"You took care of all of them already?" Falte asked.

"Yes."

"What about their bodies?"

"Tossed them into the water," she answered. "I'm not a careless idiot, you know. Though... I can't say the same about you guys." Ammine pointed at a body lying right next to the edge of the moat with the right arm dangling over the edge.

"Ah, about that..."

She walked over to the body, picked up the sword lying next to it, and gave the body a nudge with her foot, rolling it over the edge and into the moat. "There, I finished your job for you. Now let's infiltrate the castle."

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