Shadows Within the Walls

The air felt heavy, the smell of burnt flesh was about to make him vomit, and the smoke prevented him from seeing more than two meters ahead. He could hear one of his comrades beside him shouting something, but the ringing in his ears drowned out everything. He only had one question: How? How did they not see them coming, not hear them, the dogs didn't even smell them. It was as if they were ghosts—they didn't stand a chance against them. The ringing in his ears was starting to subside.

"Len… Alen… Galen!" The voice of the knight next to him snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" Galen looked to his side; the knight was covered in soot on his face and neck.

"Get up, we have to protect the civilians; we can't let them be killed. We must fortify ourselves inside the fortress!" The knight beside him got up and ran towards the fortress entrance behind them. Galen could hear the clash of swords and the screams of his comrades as they fell in battle around him, although he couldn't see anything due to the smoke spread across the fortress courtyard.

"Garrick, wait for me!" Galen turned around and ran toward the door where Garrick was waiting for him.

Garrick knocked on the door using the distinctive code that only the knights of the fortress knew. A few seconds later, the door opened. A maid peeked through the door, and upon noticing that it was Garrick and Galen, she opened it completely, letting them in. The maid was trembling while holding a kitchen knife. All the knights were outside fighting, leaving only civilians and staff inside the fortress.

"Garrick, what the hell is happening?!" The maid asked, barely holding back her desperation.

"I don't know—enemies. But we couldn't see a damn thing. Either they infiltrated without us noticing, or there was a traitor. The armory exploded suddenly, and while we were trying to extinguish the fire, they took the opportunity to break down the main gate. The damn smoke is blinding us." Garrick walked to the kitchen and washed his face, wiping off the soot and refreshing himself a bit.

The maid looked at Garrick, terrified. Never before had the fortress been attacked successfully, not in the fifty years her family had worked there. Her gaze shifted to Galen, who was silently staring at the floor. "What's wrong with Galen?"

"It's his luck. The poor devil was carrying a box of cannonballs to the armory when it exploded. He's probably in shock from the blast." Garrick approached Galen and snapped his fingers in front of him. "Galen! Are you still with us?!"

Galen looked at Garrick, still a bit dazed. "Huh? Yeah, I'm still here. It's just… how the hell didn't we see them? We have watchmen on the damn walls, dogs trained to hear and sniff out intruders—how the hell!?" Galen vented his frustration by kicking a nearby chair, which startled the maid.

"Don't think about that now. Remember, the civilians, okay? We have to guide them through the underground escape routes. Ivy, you go with Galen; I'll go find the other staff members. You and Galen gather the civilians and lead them underground."

"But what if they break in? Most of the knights are outside, and Galen doesn't even know where he is standing!?" Desperation was evident in Ivy's voice. She trusted Garrick because he had been one of the best knights in the fortress for years, but Galen had only been transferred there two months ago.

"Ivy, calm down!" Garrick held Ivy's face with his hands, gently caressing her cheeks to calm her down. "Galen may not look it, but he's a decent knight. Besides, I taught you how to fight with knives myself. You can do it, okay?" Garrick patted her cheeks and then headed towards the stairs leading to the upper floors.

Galen looked at Ivy, who was still trembling. She knew Galen was a knight, but it didn't matter. Everyone in the fortress knew it was impenetrable, so only a well-trained force could successfully break through its defenses—or in this case, go completely unnoticed until it was too late.

Galen checked his body for injuries but found only bruises and a few scratches—nothing serious. "Ivy, we have to move."

"I know, just… let's go." Ivy didn't look at him and headed to the emergency room where the civilians were waiting.

Galen followed Ivy down a large staircase that led to the underground. The two descended the stairs until they reached a steel-reinforced door. Ivy knocked with a distinctive pattern, just like Garrick had done outside. The door opened slowly due to its weight. Inside, the room was large and looked more like a library than a security room. The "civilians" were nothing more than honored guests and nobles who had been present that afternoon for a ball hosted by the head of the fortress. One of them, dressed in elegant clothes and accompanied by his personal knight, approached Ivy and Galen.

"Where are the knights?! I demand they come here and protect us! We are nobles, damn it!" Some of the other nobles echoed his words, looking at Galen and Ivy, expecting answers.

"They're outside fighting to keep the intruders from getting in here, but I can call them so they can come and get us all killed together. Would you like that, Lord Ravenwood?" Ivy bowed, clearly being sarcastic. She looked around and then at Galen. "Over there, on the wall map, press the fortress."

Galen walked towards the map on the wall, ignoring Ravenwood's complaints about Ivy's attitude. The map was enormous. He pressed the point labeled Grimhold, and the wall began to emit the sound of gears turning, slowly opening from the middle to reveal a series of tunnels leading who knows where.

"Where do the tunnels lead?" Galen looked at Ivy, who was sitting in a chair, adjusting her boots and shortening her dress to give herself more mobility. She still seemed nervous, though less so now that they were in the security room. She lifted her head and looked at Galen. "I don't know. We've never had to use them. I think they lead to the river a few kilometers down the mountain—that's what Garrick told me." Ivy lowered her gaze again to continue adjusting her dress.

Galen sat on the floor next to the entrance to the tunnels for a few minutes, unsheathed his sword, and began cleaning it as he drifted back into his thoughts. Grimhold was located on a mountain with difficult access. There was only one route, and it was supposed to be under surveillance twenty-four hours a day. Realistically, there was no way to reach it without being seen, and even if they let you approach Grimhold, you could only do so unarmed. Every carriage was thoroughly inspected—unless it was a noble's carriage. Inspecting their carriages was considered an insult, and these arrogant sons of bitches always traveled in caravans, about three carriages per noble, with their personal knights always armed to the teeth. If the fortress had been attacked from within, that would explain how the attack began with the explosion in the armory, which was far from the walls.

Galen stood up, looking around at the nobles—some were distractedly flipping through books, others were in groups complaining about the supposed lack of security in the fortress, and others were staring at him after he stood up abruptly.

"Ivy, I need to talk to you. I think I know who…". Galen stopped.

"What? What were you going to say?" Ivy looked at him curiously.

Galen looked behind him, towards the entrance of the tunnels. If the person who organized this entire attack on the fortress was a noble, what could their goal be? In this room were several nobles, but none of them were really important or close to the king. Ravenwood was a superstitious bastard, a believer in dark arts and forgotten gods—basically a noble considered insane by other houses. Blackwood had a monopoly on tobacco. While it was heavily consumed in the kingdom, it wasn't even close to products like wheat, sugar, or salt, not even rice, a grain that most of the kingdom didn't even consume. Galen reviewed the remaining nobles—Ravenwood and Blackwood were the most important in the room, but they didn't even compare to nobles close to the crown.

"Galen! Snap out of it. What were you going to tell me?" Ivy was now standing in front of him, her brow furrowed.

Galen looked at her, then at the entrance to the tunnel, and back at Ivy. "Come with me." Galen took her hand and led her out of the room, stopping in front of the stairs.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Galen? Lost in your thoughts again? You should be alert. As soon as Garrick arrives, we're going into the tunnels."

"This attack came from inside."

"Huh?" Ivy's face turned skeptical.

"Think about it: the dogs didn't smell anything coming from outside, the watchmen didn't alert us to an attack, and the first thing that happened was the explosion in the armory. As soon as it exploded, we started getting attacked out of nowhere. One or more of the nobles is a traitor."

"What? That doesn't make any sense, Galen. These nobles wouldn't gain anything. Sure, they're nobles, but even if they killed each other in that room, they wouldn't gain anything at all." Ivy simply shook her head.

"But what if they were offered something in exchange for betraying us and the other nobles present? What if someone who isn't here offered one of the nobles money, a monopoly, or power, and all they had to do was betray a few common nobles while visiting a fortress far from the rest of civilization? They're nobles—they would do anything for more power." Galen's voice was a whisper, not wanting the traitor to overhear.

Ivy's face grew serious, and a bit of her nervousness returned. "Damn, that makes sense, but who?"

Before Galen could respond, they heard footsteps in the distance, coming from the stairs. Galen drew his sword and got ready to face whatever was coming from the staircase.

"Who's there?" Galen took a step forward, while Ivy held the kitchen knife behind him.

"It's me!" Garrick's voice came from the stairs, followed by the sound of several footsteps. One by one, the staff descended the stairs and entered the security room, all of them scared and traumatized. Behind them came Garrick, along with some knights who served as the interior guard.

Garrick patted Galen and Ivy on the shoulder. "Are you okay? No problems with the civilians?"

"Garrick, Galen thinks the attack came from within, specifically one of the nobles." Ivy looked at Garrick and Galen.

"So we came to the same conclusion? You also believe that..." Garrick tilted his head toward the tunnel entrance.

"Yes, if their goal is to eliminate the other nobles, then the attack in the courtyard is just a distraction. The nobles are down here, it's impossible to reach them, and I suppose those outside aren't letting them pass. That leaves them with only one option."

Ivy finally realized what Galen and Garrick were talking about, her eyes widening in understanding, and her gaze shifted toward the tunnel entrance, where the distant sound of footsteps could be heard.