The Infiltration - Part 3

It was a frightening situation, as you can imagine.

The door wasn't actually that far from them. It was close to several meters away, yet the prospect of reaching it felt like having to swim across an ocean.

And to reach it there was a sea of people between them and the shore. Most of them were alive, but a few were dead.

There were nobles and intruders, moving back and forth, fighting each other in front and to the left of them. Some nobles, mostly children and those unable or unwilling to fight, were pressed against the wall on their right, trying to keep away from the swords as much as possible. As far as Octavia could recall or see, it seemed to work out for them.

The men were only really fighting those that were attacking them. They just skipped past any other nobles that were busy cowering, not seeing them as a problem Octavia guessed. But, this meant that many of the non-combatants were forming what was akin to a jagged rock wall, which would push Octavia and Sylvia closer to the intruders.

There was also the floor to deal with, as many nobles and intruders, littered it. Only the occasional noble was actually dead, most having been knocked out in some way or restrained, the intruder's skill allowing them to do so. Octavia figured that they were quite a large organisation, if they killed a good number of nobles, then everyone would be hunting them down. They probably saw a few deaths as just collateral damage and aimed to knock out or restrain the nobles.

However, the opposite was true for the men in black, where a lot were dead, and some were even detached from other parts of their bodies. A good number were struggling on the floor, having been restrained by some of the non-combatants and nobles.

But from Octavia's point of view, the bodies on the floor just added to the obstacles that needed to be passed to reach the door.

It truly was like trying to swim through an Ocean, one where you had to stay close to a rock wall, all the while rapids and horrible waves raged beneath you, and sharks were beelining for your location.

This was not a swim Octavia would like to do. Nor would most people she imagined.

But it had to be done.

…

Both of the girls finally got themselves together and dashed towards the door. Sylvia had to step over and jump on occasion the many bodies littering the floor. Octavia however had to either swerve or risk crushing someone to death as she slithered over them.

I'm sure you can tell which route Octavia appropriated for the nobles and which one was for the other men.

As she passed over one such dead man, she did hear several bones break. Had he been alive that would have been excruciating. She probably would have cared that she had done that, but with all that was going on, that didn't enter her mind. All she cared about was getting herself and Sylvia away from these men, and possibly finding some way to save everyone else. Although that last one seemed more like a pipe dream.

"Ahh,"

Hearing a quick cry to her side, Octavia looked over and found that Sylvia had fallen to the floor. She had thought she tripped but looking down she saw that actual cause. One of the intruders laying on the floor, who had been tied up was awake and was grasping hold of Sylvia's foot for dear life. His arms were bound across his chest, but he had enough leeway to reach out and grab it as she stepped over him.

This was not something they had time for, if the shouts and sounds of swords clashing to their left were anything to go by.

Acting before thinking, she raised her tail and slammed it down on the man, sending it sprawling across his chest. She heard him cry out in pain as the sound of breaking bones could be heard, but it had the desired effect. With so much pain across his body, he lost his grip on Sylvia's foot, allowing her to get up and continue moving forward.

As they moved, she managed to find a sword on the floor, so a quick bend of her body allowed her to grab it. But while good to have a weapon, it was not one she was well versed with. It had only been the staff and poleaxe she had been training in, so wielding this meant only luck would be a factor when it came to fighting back against these men.

On their right, several of the children and non-combatants looked over at them with mixed expressions as moved past. It was clear that a lot were just worried about them as they tried to get away. The nobles could clearly see who they were and that she was the one these men were after. So, all they could do was hope that they made it out ok.

For a few, within that worried look, there was also a little bit of hope. Obviously, Octavia couldn't discern this from a quick look at their faces, but it wasn't hope they would get away safely. It was hope that if they do leave, the men would follow after them and leave the rest in peace.

There was also however a good few whose expression was the complete opposite. Anger and resentment plastered their faces as they watched them go. Octavia was at first surprised at what she saw, but it very quickly came to her the reason why.

It was because of her.

The way they saw it, if she wasn't here, none of this would have happened. She was the cause of their loved ones being hurt or killed. She was the cause of all of it.

These thoughts hadn't occurred to Octavia until she saw their looks. She didn't know how to feel about this. But she was sure that once this was over, now that she realised this, those thoughts and feelings would end up at the forefront of her mind.

But for now, there wasn't enough time to contemplate her unwitting role in this mess. She had to get away so that there was actually time to think about it.

"She's here!"

Not that that would be helped by someone calling out her location.

What was more disturbing though was where the voice came from. Rather than from the intruders to her left spotting her, it came from the wall of nobles from her right.

Looking over, she had no idea who had said it. Sure she could see some of the faces which had a contempt look on them, but it could have been anyone of them. It was just a line of people huddled against the wall, and now that they had said it, there was nothing standing out that told tell her who it was.

Something she would have to ponder on later, as the words had met their mark, given that two of the intruders nearby quickly and sharply turned their heads in her direction. Both were currently fighting off other nobles, but that was not going to stop them. Now that they had found their goal, the nobles were nothing more than an obstacle to reaching their prize.

One of the men all but ducked under the noble's next attack and then used his own blade to slash across his legs. She wasn't sure if it was skill or if he just missed, but the cut was not deep. It cleanly went through the fabric of his trousers and sliced into the man's legs, albeit not very far into them. But, she guessed that with what happened next, the intruder had planned it this way. As far as she could see the cut had its desired effect as the noble fell down almost instantly as if his legs just couldn't continue to hold his weight up. Leaving the man to step right over him and head towards her.

Panicked, she tried to dash forward all the while looking to her side to watch him as he walked over. But, this ended up with her bumping into another noble currently in a fight. The force of her movement, knocked him off balance, sending him forward towards the man he was fighting.

She couldn't see what happened in front of her, but from the thuds to the floor and two sets of groaning, it seemed like the noble had managed to knock the attacker down as well, which was quite surprising given the skill of these guys.

The other man that had spotted her before was still in his battle, the noble he was fighting against being quite the capable swordsman. But the one who had ended his fight was now right on her tail.

Which she used to put some distance between them.

After she managed to get back on her 'tail', she then used it to swipe at the man's chest as he headed towards her. She couldn't see his face given the mask but given that she ended up hitting him where she aimed, she was sure he had a look of surprise.

It didn't however actually knock him down. All it did was push him back slightly.

As she continued to move forward, she did try again, but he spotted it easily and just bent backwards slightly, to stop it from hitting him.

Octavia and Sylvia soon came to a good huddle of nobles, all cowering in fear as the fight raged on. Annoyingly, they had to get through this group to reach the door.

Sylvia pushed into the group first, squeezing through the nobles, all of whom were too frightened to move, leaving Octavia to head in after her. The problem was that the man behind them had managed to reach her.

She continued to try and hit him with her tail, but as she reached the group of people, he ducked under it and dashed forward. He found himself right behind her and was face to face with her, staring right into Octavia's eyes. She had a mix of shock and fear when she saw him make his move. It only grew as she saw him heft his sword up readying his swing down.