The camp was packed up and ready to move before first light. Despite the missing and potentially dead portion of the company, the group seemed to be in decent spirits moving out, albeit tempered by a resolve that would be needed to make it through a hard fight. Romulus wondered if for once he was the most relaxed among them. The removal from Skyhold had done him a service, and though he wasn't particularly proud of his skillset, it would be good to put it to use helping Khari's teacher and the others among the chevaliers. Perhaps his commanders and advisors wouldn't agree with the risk of sending in an Inquisitor alone for the cause of rescuing a few soldiers (valuable ones, but still soldiers). But they weren't here now, and his aim was to help Khari and the Inquisition. That meant getting these prisoners back.
They walked mostly in silence, though some unresolved conversations from the night before popped back up every now and then, from those that weren't comfortable sitting in the quiet. Romulus was, and so he kept near the forefront of their formation, watchful for any threat. They passed rolling hill after rolling hill, covering ground swiftly but without overly tiring themselves. There was work to be done at the end of the trip, after all. There were unfortunately few trees to work with, barely more than one in sight at any time, but the sky was beginning to cloud over. It was light enough that rain wasn't prompted, but it would conceal to moonlight later, for their attack.
The conversation grew more and more sparse as the daylight waned, and by nightfall they had ceased altogether. They kept clear of the faded road leading into the fortress, moving ahead one hill over until the target came in sight. Fortress was a generous word, Romulus thought. There were no holes in the walls, but they were crumbling in places, and one of the towers had partially collapsed on the left side, making that vantage point unusable. The gate, at least, looked to be of sturdy construction, made of interlocking bars of iron. No getting through that with the tools they had; it would indeed need to be opened. What worried Romulus more was the cast-iron pots he saw, or at least the rims of some poking out above the battlements.
"Oil or something similar above the gate," he mentioned quietly to Violette. "Doesn't look like the gate's controlled from above. I'll see if I can take care of both, but if I can only open the gate, get everyone through quickly." He was sure he didn't need to tell her that, but he had no wish for her to overestimate his abilities. He much preferred having the time to properly scout a place's defenses before breaking in. Tonight he would have to manage things on the fly.
She seemed to understand, at least. "Will do, Lord Inquisitor. We can manage if necessary, so by all means... be careful."
"I'm going to start with that tower on the right," he said, loud enough for the rest to hear while still keeping his voice down. "Might take some time. I'll need to get a good look at everything first. The gate opening will be the signal." He cracked his knuckles, looking over at those few from the Inquisition that were with him. "I'll see you soon."
āGood luck in there," Estella replied with a nod. She tugged at the hood on her cloak, for once taking a leaf out of his book and casting her face into shadow. Even if he got the gate open, it was better if they were near enough to move quickly, and so they'd have to approach as quietly as possible in the meantime.
"Be careful, okay?" Asala said with a worried frown.
āOr weāll have no choice but to tear the whole damn place down looking for you,ā Zahra added with a toothy grin. If she was at all worried about Romulus going on his own, sheād done well in hiding it. Her smile wavered a fraction before she simply nodded her head.
āDon't have too much fun without us." Khari gripped his shoulder momentarily, squeezing for just a second before she let go. āWish I was quiet enough to go with you." A pause. āAnd I don't usually wish I was quiet." She frowned at the fortress for a minute, then spoke in a lower voice. āIf things go south and you need to get out without opening the gate... do it, okay?"
"I will," he promised, pulling up his hood and making his way out from cover. If things did turn bad on him, escaping would be no simple matter. It wasn't a big fort, but the walls were high enough to make jumping dangerous, and getting clear of arrow range with a broken leg or twisted ankle would be a difficult endeavor. He'd have to be careful.
Most of his cover on the approach came in the form of large rocks and boulders, obscuring him from the faint silhouettes that patrolled the wall. Their watch was more or less wasted on a night like tonight, though. The cloud cover cast a deep blackness over the land, making it undoubtedly impossible for the chevaliers to see how Romulus was progressing. They'd be able to see the gate lift, from the torchlight within the walls, but that was about it.
Romulus crept to the base of the wall at the edge of the watchtower, taking a moment to look up and plot his ascent, as well as listen for footsteps. He could hear one pair of boots moving along the top of this section of wall. He would have no cause to look straight down, though, so it was unlikely he'd be spotted. Carefully and quietly, Romulus began to climb, a small knife between his teeth. The wall was hardly smoothed solid any more, and it gave him ample options for foot and handholds, though he had to be careful not to disturb any of it, as the sound could easily give him away and leave him defenseless to an arrow or crossbow bolt.
At the top, he let his fingers creep over the edge of the wall, one hand taking the little knife, and waited while the sounds of footsteps came closer and closer. When they stopped in front of him, he lunged up and forward, taking the watchman by surprise. The knife found his throat and cut short any cry he might've made, and his legs gave out, giving Romulus an easy opportunity to get his weight over the wall and his feet down on solid ground. He cradled the man's fall but did not let go, instead taking a quick look around to see if the act had been spotted. Clear, he listened at the door into the tower now on his left. No sound.
Pushing open the door, he carefully brought the body inside and shut the door behind him. He was on the mid-level of a three tiered watchtower, a winding wooden spiral leading up to a trap door at the top. Down below a fire carried warm air up through the guts of the structure; the heat had lulled a woman to sleep in her chair next to it. Romulus pushed the dead body against the wall and made his way up. Listening through the trap door, he could hear a low whistling from above.
He came up through the door slowly at first, peeking just to confirm there was only one atop the tower. A sword-armed woman sat comfortably in a chair, rocking back and forth and whistling a tune into the darkness. The trap door creaked ever so slightly, enough for the whistling to be cut short. The moment it happened Romulus lunged up again, seizing a fistful of the guard's ponytail and wrenching her head back, his knife quickly slicing across the throat. She thought to reach for her sword first, but her hands then went to her throat, and Romulus steadied the back of her chair to make sure it didn't tip over one way or the other.
Once she stilled, he turned and crouched low at the back of the tower, getting a good look at the fort's layout. The main central building had its back to the cliff. It was pretty much the one place Romulus knew was too great a risk to go, and also where he was mostly certain the prisoners would be, if they still lived. A hanging platform equipped with a few nooses beside the main building wasn't a great sign, but perhaps they hadn't been used yet. Executing prisoners wasn't common if they could be ransomed, and chevaliers could fetch a decent price, he was sure. Other than that, there were a few other outbuildings, including stables and what looked like the remains of a once-decent smithy.
The gate controls were on the ground level, against the wall right next to the opening. A large wheel crank, by the looks of it. He'd be able to get it open himself, but it would not be quick, or particularly quiet.
He would need to clear out some of the watchers closest to the gate before attempting to open it, starting with a pair that watched over the pots of oil from directly above it. He snuck back through the trap door and began making his way down again, stopping once he reached the middle level. The woman below was still asleep. He thought for a moment to make a move to kill her first, but then he heard two men's voices, growing louder and closer to the door.
"She says to me, 'what if this place turns into another Kirkwall mess for us?' Fucking Kirkwall. She can't put it out of her head."
"That was six years ago."
"That's what I told her! But you'd think we'd pushed off the docks yesterday. She needs to relax."
It became apparent that they weren't slowing down, so Romulus ducked to the side of the doorway, sheathing his knife and drawing his pugio and shield instead. The wooden door swung open and concealed him, the two men stepping inside. They stopped on the landing, glancing below at the sleeping woman, before the disgruntled one among them sighed, leaning against the railing.
"Business is great here, though, and we're bloody miles from Kirkwall. It's high time sheāhey, what's he doing there?" He had looked across the opening to the other side, where the first man Romulus had killed lay crumpled against the wall. They had time for little more than squinting, however, as Romulus kicked the door shut behind them and swept forward. He seized the head of the smaller one on the right and viciously twisted, snapping his neck and dropping him. The other already had his sword out, but by the time he located the threat and raised it Romulus had sank his blade right underneath his arm into his chest.
The sound of the brief fight had woken the woman below. Romulus glanced down, then let the second body he still held tip and fall over the railing. The corpse fell one full story and landing right in the middle of the firepit, blasting ash, dust, and embers outwards and into the waking woman's face. Startled half to death, she swiped at her face and eyes and struggled to rise. Romulus quickly vaulted over the railing and fell directly on top of her, slamming the rim of his shield into the top of her skull. The blow was enough to knock her unconscious, but he knelt to slice her artery all the same. Checking to make sure the fire hadn't gotten out of hand, Romulus made his way out into the grounds of the fort proper.
He was fortunate; apart from the posted guards, the majority of this Halfhand's forces seemed to be inside, if the projected numbers were accurate. A few patrolled the roads, and some still remained at their posts along the wall, but for the most part Romulus was not troubled on his way to the gate. One man wielding a poleaxe watched over the gate controls, leaning against his weapon and absently picking at his teeth. Romulus observed him for a moment from the shadow of the stables, watching for the other patrolling guards to give him an opportune moment. He knew he wouldn't have long, and the clock would start as soon as he killed the man by the gate.
When the time came he moved decisively, launching the bolt from his crossbow. The well-aimed shot punched straight into his skull through the eye socket, killing him almost instantly. He fell against the overgrown, grassy earth, his poleaxe going with him, and Romulus only bothered to move the body until it was out of his way before he set to work on the gate crank.
It was heavy, but once he got it going his progress increased, and the gate's pointed metal teeth began to rise off the ground. The sound was obvious, however, and it wasn't long before a woman was squinting at the sight from a distance. A moment later her posture tensed with recognition, and a shout of alarm was raised. She charged from the main building's front steps, mace in hand, and seconds later an arrow came in, grazing Romulus's upper arm.
He ignored it, cranking the wheel as quickly as he could until the gate was passably open, a good seven or eight feet of clearance off the ground. At that point he grabbed the gate guard's pole arm, and first turned it on the charging woman, lifting it off the ground and suddenly burying the point in her guts. She stumbled backwards and fell, writhing on the ground while Romulus shoved the now bloody spear through the gears of the crank, thoroughly jamming it. It would take time to fix and force the gate down, time they wouldn't have if his allies came with haste.
For Romulus, however, there wasn't any time, and his split-second judgement deemed that escaping out the gate was not the preferable option. Instead he chose to flee further into the fort, heading for the stables. Arrows whistled through the air around him, missing by inches and then thudding into the wooden doors of the stables once he got close. He ducked inside, grabbing a torch on his way in. Immediately he set a blaze in the rear, the hay lighting up well enough and soon catching the building as well. The horses immediately began to rear and panic. They'd be able to burst free once they became frightened enough. In the meantime, smoke billowed out from the stables as Romulus made his escape, using the darkness to switch directions and make it back into the tower, and then onto the wall. He'd lost the pursuit of the Halfhand's guards, and there was a clamor coming from the main gate, which he was given a vantage of as he made his way towards it from above.
It wasn't long before he could see the source; a troop of chevaliers in full charge was a rather impressive sight, even dark as it was. Durand and Violette both seemed to be the type to lead from the front; they were the first in. Most of the soldiers were armed either with sturdy lances or the longer cavalry-type swords. The charge broke the first line of defense that had accumulated near the gate as though tearing paper.
The one difficulty they encountered was that the gate wasn't all that wide; a few of the smarter bandits had already grabbed polearms of their own and were lining up at the sides of the entrance. Durand's horse took a spear in the flank and went down, pitching him forward. It was Khari who rode through the gap that created, leaning down sideways from her own mount and helping him to his feet, apparently content to ignore the arrow that clanged off the armor on her shoulder. Someone had given her a brace of javelins; the first found a home in the back of a bandit running towards the main building.
Even if that messenger died, though, there would be plenty more, and no doubt the tumult itself would rouse the rest from their slumber soon enough. Down on the wall adjacent to the gate, one industrious bandit was working to light the oil pots above the entranceway. The first caught flame easilyāand only about half the chevaliers were through.
The oil tipped forward, but before it fell onto the chevaliers' heads, a fluorescent blue shield sprang to life above them. The edges were raised upward while it also tapered off on either side of the gate entrance. The barrier diverted the oil harmlessly away from the chevaliers. However, the maneuver left Asala open with her arms awash in the blue hued fade energy, painting her as the prime target for the bandit archers. One such archer on the rampart nocked his arrow and aimed her direction.
Another arrow whooshed from the opposite end of the bridge.
Followed shortly by a thunking sound as it thudded into the manās leathers. Heād been in the process of notching his arrow. It fumbled from his fingers, and clattered off the ramparts. His mouth flapped open and his eyes bulgedā¦ though if he made any noise, it couldnāt be heard above the din of clopping hoof beats and the screech of battle. He staggered forward and pawed at the arrow protruding from his chest, until he simply pitched forward and fell off the wall, lying in a tangled heap at the base. Fortunately, he hadnāt fallen on the bridge at all, so he wasnāt another obstacle to stumble over.
Zahra stood with her fingers still poised beside her face, narrowed eyes refocusing on the task at hand. She knuckled at her nose and steeled herself to slip in beside Asala and her shimmering blue shield. She scanned the walls, and loosed another arrow over the top. Where the oil had come from. A shriek was heard. Barely. But by the sounds of it, she hadnāt managed to kill whoever it was. A shoulder, at best. āGreat thinking, kitten,ā she huffed with a smile, inclining her head, āLetās move forward. Iāve got your back.ā
Romulus aimed to relieve the pressure on Asala, and made as quick a dash as he could towards the section of wall above the gate. He took one archer by surprise on his way, taking him down with a hard tackle and plunging his knife into the man's torso several times before pushing off and carrying on. Over the gate, the oil-thrower was getting ready with a second pot. Romulus pulled his crossbow and shot straight at it, cracking the container and sending the oil spilling around the man holding it. It caught the flame and ignited, instantly turning the man into a pillar of fire. He staggered about momentarily, before he fell weakly and his screams faded.
Romulus nimbly hurdled around the flames and continued on towards the other side of the fort. The walls had been largely cleared thanks to Zahra's sharpshooting and his earlier efforts. All available hands were needed to engage the main force attacking them, as the arrows didn't have much success against the chevaliers' heavy armor. Romulus was able to make his way back down again unseen and get behind what appeared to be an outhouse, where he had a good view of the main building. More and more of the bandits were joining the fight from there, and rather than confront them Romulus waited patiently, hoping for an opportunity to slip inside unseen. If there were prisoners being held in there, he might be able to free them in the confusion and hit the bandits hard from the rear.
The stream of bandits exiting the building didn't stop until there were at least forty of them on the field, most clashing heavily with the chevaliers, who had since made it through the gate. By that point, Romulus's earlier efforts had paid off: the bandits' horses were free and panicked, only throwing the area into even greater confusion. Perhaps to be expected was the fact that the orderly, regimented military force handled this better than the less-organized defenders.
That said... being at the defense had its advantages as well. No few of the bandits had obviously been warned about what sort of enemies they were dealing with, and several of them were armed with pikes, or similar weapons that could be braced on the ground and used to devastating effect against cavalry. The knights increasingly found themselves forced to dismount or risk their horses, which the majority seemed unwilling to do.
Khari was fighting afoot now, too; she ranged afield from the battle lines as usual, freely hewing her way through the ranks at the expense of various seemingly-minor injuries. Elsewhere, softly-luminous blue shields flickered in and out of existence, stopping a few unlucky blows from landing on the flanks of the formation. The ground underneath everyone's feet churned and tore, the weight of horses and armor ripping grass and dirt free of native earth.
But the outpouring of bandits had stopped, at least from the main building. If Romulus was going to go, now looked like the time to do it.
Romulus observed the fighting from afar, watching the oncoming bandits carefully. They seemed to respond to several among their group in leadership roles, but none that commanded the entire force, and none that he felt fit this Halfhand woman's description, as the chevaliers had relayed it. Safe enough to conclude she was still inside. He had no intention of attacking her and several of her number on his own, but if she made herself vulnerable...
He'd have to get inside first. The chaos of the fight was enough to conceal him if he kept to the edges of it, and his lack of metal armor meant none of the light reflected from him, and also that he shared a closer appearance to the bandits than the knights attacking them. In all it was enough for him to make it to the main building unnoticed. The front entrance had been left open in the last enemy's haste to get outside and join his allies; Romulus paused at it to listen carefully. When he could hear no bandit rushing out to follow the others, he carefully slipped inside.
A few torches burned along the walls, but in their haste to make it outside, the bandits had left several of them unlit. As a result, deep shadow pervaded the interior of the fortress building. While the sounds from outside gradually faded with his progress into the keep, others picked up. There were definitely still some people moving around in here; Romulus could hear indistinct voices down another hall on the left. The tones were strident, authoritative, and definitely pitched high enough to be a woman's.
To the right, there was silence, and a staircase downwards. Having no wish to come across the Halfhand and whatever number of bandits she was likely shouting at, Romulus took the right, down the stairs. It was the likeliest place to find anything one wanted to keep under lock and key.
The stairwell had a sort of musty odor to it; most likely the building was no longer completely watertight, allowing mildew and mold to fester in the area. A couple of the stone stairs were slick under his boots, but nothing that threatened to topple him. The landing was likewise dampāa small puddle of stale water had collected there.
Of more interest was the fact that he seemed to have found the dungeon area of the keep. A few of the cells were occupied; men and women in varying states of armor and dress had been individually imprisoned, from the looks of it. A few of the more alert ones were already up against the barsāone man noticed Romulus immediately.
"You..." He squinted. "I've not seen you before."
"I'm not with Halfhand," he explained quickly, keeping his voice low. "There's a battle happening outside, Captain Routhier's leading the attack. I came to free you." He wasn't sure how exactly, but at least he knew that someone was alive down here. He didn't see any guards, which was a mixed blessing. None to threaten him for the moment, but also no sign of a key. "Is there a warden somewhere I could get keys from?"
The man grimaced, raising himself into a crouch with the assistance of the bars in front of him. "Was. Not sure where he's gone. I'm sure Halfhand has some, but you probably don't want to be going after those." He paused a moment, glancing over at the other cells. When he spoke again, his tone was urgent. "You said it's Captain Routhier, right? Who else is out there?"
There were too many to reasonably list for the man, but Romulus quickly racked his memory for those of note. He couldn't come up with much. "There's a Ser Durand and his few. We're no more than thirty, but they're holding their own outside. I'm with the Inquisition. Five of us were in the area to help." Perhaps it didn't seem like much, but he knew the five in question were worth far more than their number in a fight against bandits. As for the matter of releasing them, Romulus was beginning to get an interesting idea, but he needed some reassurance before putting it in motion. "We came looking for ten missing troops under the command of Ser Liliane. Are you them?" He glanced around at the other faces, though there was little chance of recognizing any of them.
"You can't stay here." The man shook his head emphatically, gripping the bars until his knuckles were white. "We're the ones you're looking for, but you've got to get back out there. If Ser Durand is with you, you might be twenty against the rest at any moment. He's the reason we're here in the first place. Leave us here and tell Captain Routhierāplease." Several of his more-aware compatriots nodded their agreement.
"We will be fine, but not if all of you are caught or killed as well."
Durand was the reason? Despite everything he'd been through, Romulus was still surprised. Still shocked, even though he hardly knew the man. Was he such a fool? If this was true... suddenly everything became so much more urgent. It wasn't his own safety he was trying to ensure by being quick anymore, it was Khari's, and Asala, and Zahra, and Estella. He had to get back out there. But not alone, not if there was something he could do about it.
"Get away from the bars," he instructed, leaving no room for argument. Perhaps he could get out there quicker on his own, but how much good could he do? These few he'd found, even not at full strength, could be invaluable. Once the man was clear of the door, Romulus closed his left hand around it. He'd wondered if he would be able to do it again on command, but the feeling in his chest was similar enough to before that it came naturally. It almost felt like the anger was required. His mark glowed a bright green as he focused, the light igniting the metal from within. It pulsed and vibrated momentarily, and then with a blast of magic and metal the door's lock ruptured, pieces of it disappearing into the miniscule rift before it closed and sent the rest flying. He shoved the door open.
"If you know where weapons are, get them. If not, take them from the bandits. I'll free the rest." It would be tiring work, but Romulus would not let fatigue stop him here.
They walked mostly in silence, though some unresolved conversations from the night before popped back up every now and then, from those that weren't comfortable sitting in the quiet. Romulus was, and so he kept near the forefront of their formation, watchful for any threat. They passed rolling hill after rolling hill, covering ground swiftly but without overly tiring themselves. There was work to be done at the end of the trip, after all. There were unfortunately few trees to work with, barely more than one in sight at any time, but the sky was beginning to cloud over. It was light enough that rain wasn't prompted, but it would conceal to moonlight later, for their attack.
The conversation grew more and more sparse as the daylight waned, and by nightfall they had ceased altogether. They kept clear of the faded road leading into the fortress, moving ahead one hill over until the target came in sight. Fortress was a generous word, Romulus thought. There were no holes in the walls, but they were crumbling in places, and one of the towers had partially collapsed on the left side, making that vantage point unusable. The gate, at least, looked to be of sturdy construction, made of interlocking bars of iron. No getting through that with the tools they had; it would indeed need to be opened. What worried Romulus more was the cast-iron pots he saw, or at least the rims of some poking out above the battlements.
"Oil or something similar above the gate," he mentioned quietly to Violette. "Doesn't look like the gate's controlled from above. I'll see if I can take care of both, but if I can only open the gate, get everyone through quickly." He was sure he didn't need to tell her that, but he had no wish for her to overestimate his abilities. He much preferred having the time to properly scout a place's defenses before breaking in. Tonight he would have to manage things on the fly.
She seemed to understand, at least. "Will do, Lord Inquisitor. We can manage if necessary, so by all means... be careful."
"I'm going to start with that tower on the right," he said, loud enough for the rest to hear while still keeping his voice down. "Might take some time. I'll need to get a good look at everything first. The gate opening will be the signal." He cracked his knuckles, looking over at those few from the Inquisition that were with him. "I'll see you soon."
āGood luck in there," Estella replied with a nod. She tugged at the hood on her cloak, for once taking a leaf out of his book and casting her face into shadow. Even if he got the gate open, it was better if they were near enough to move quickly, and so they'd have to approach as quietly as possible in the meantime.
"Be careful, okay?" Asala said with a worried frown.
āOr weāll have no choice but to tear the whole damn place down looking for you,ā Zahra added with a toothy grin. If she was at all worried about Romulus going on his own, sheād done well in hiding it. Her smile wavered a fraction before she simply nodded her head.
āDon't have too much fun without us." Khari gripped his shoulder momentarily, squeezing for just a second before she let go. āWish I was quiet enough to go with you." A pause. āAnd I don't usually wish I was quiet." She frowned at the fortress for a minute, then spoke in a lower voice. āIf things go south and you need to get out without opening the gate... do it, okay?"
"I will," he promised, pulling up his hood and making his way out from cover. If things did turn bad on him, escaping would be no simple matter. It wasn't a big fort, but the walls were high enough to make jumping dangerous, and getting clear of arrow range with a broken leg or twisted ankle would be a difficult endeavor. He'd have to be careful.
Most of his cover on the approach came in the form of large rocks and boulders, obscuring him from the faint silhouettes that patrolled the wall. Their watch was more or less wasted on a night like tonight, though. The cloud cover cast a deep blackness over the land, making it undoubtedly impossible for the chevaliers to see how Romulus was progressing. They'd be able to see the gate lift, from the torchlight within the walls, but that was about it.
Romulus crept to the base of the wall at the edge of the watchtower, taking a moment to look up and plot his ascent, as well as listen for footsteps. He could hear one pair of boots moving along the top of this section of wall. He would have no cause to look straight down, though, so it was unlikely he'd be spotted. Carefully and quietly, Romulus began to climb, a small knife between his teeth. The wall was hardly smoothed solid any more, and it gave him ample options for foot and handholds, though he had to be careful not to disturb any of it, as the sound could easily give him away and leave him defenseless to an arrow or crossbow bolt.
At the top, he let his fingers creep over the edge of the wall, one hand taking the little knife, and waited while the sounds of footsteps came closer and closer. When they stopped in front of him, he lunged up and forward, taking the watchman by surprise. The knife found his throat and cut short any cry he might've made, and his legs gave out, giving Romulus an easy opportunity to get his weight over the wall and his feet down on solid ground. He cradled the man's fall but did not let go, instead taking a quick look around to see if the act had been spotted. Clear, he listened at the door into the tower now on his left. No sound.
Pushing open the door, he carefully brought the body inside and shut the door behind him. He was on the mid-level of a three tiered watchtower, a winding wooden spiral leading up to a trap door at the top. Down below a fire carried warm air up through the guts of the structure; the heat had lulled a woman to sleep in her chair next to it. Romulus pushed the dead body against the wall and made his way up. Listening through the trap door, he could hear a low whistling from above.
He came up through the door slowly at first, peeking just to confirm there was only one atop the tower. A sword-armed woman sat comfortably in a chair, rocking back and forth and whistling a tune into the darkness. The trap door creaked ever so slightly, enough for the whistling to be cut short. The moment it happened Romulus lunged up again, seizing a fistful of the guard's ponytail and wrenching her head back, his knife quickly slicing across the throat. She thought to reach for her sword first, but her hands then went to her throat, and Romulus steadied the back of her chair to make sure it didn't tip over one way or the other.
Once she stilled, he turned and crouched low at the back of the tower, getting a good look at the fort's layout. The main central building had its back to the cliff. It was pretty much the one place Romulus knew was too great a risk to go, and also where he was mostly certain the prisoners would be, if they still lived. A hanging platform equipped with a few nooses beside the main building wasn't a great sign, but perhaps they hadn't been used yet. Executing prisoners wasn't common if they could be ransomed, and chevaliers could fetch a decent price, he was sure. Other than that, there were a few other outbuildings, including stables and what looked like the remains of a once-decent smithy.
The gate controls were on the ground level, against the wall right next to the opening. A large wheel crank, by the looks of it. He'd be able to get it open himself, but it would not be quick, or particularly quiet.
He would need to clear out some of the watchers closest to the gate before attempting to open it, starting with a pair that watched over the pots of oil from directly above it. He snuck back through the trap door and began making his way down again, stopping once he reached the middle level. The woman below was still asleep. He thought for a moment to make a move to kill her first, but then he heard two men's voices, growing louder and closer to the door.
"She says to me, 'what if this place turns into another Kirkwall mess for us?' Fucking Kirkwall. She can't put it out of her head."
"That was six years ago."
"That's what I told her! But you'd think we'd pushed off the docks yesterday. She needs to relax."
It became apparent that they weren't slowing down, so Romulus ducked to the side of the doorway, sheathing his knife and drawing his pugio and shield instead. The wooden door swung open and concealed him, the two men stepping inside. They stopped on the landing, glancing below at the sleeping woman, before the disgruntled one among them sighed, leaning against the railing.
"Business is great here, though, and we're bloody miles from Kirkwall. It's high time sheāhey, what's he doing there?" He had looked across the opening to the other side, where the first man Romulus had killed lay crumpled against the wall. They had time for little more than squinting, however, as Romulus kicked the door shut behind them and swept forward. He seized the head of the smaller one on the right and viciously twisted, snapping his neck and dropping him. The other already had his sword out, but by the time he located the threat and raised it Romulus had sank his blade right underneath his arm into his chest.
The sound of the brief fight had woken the woman below. Romulus glanced down, then let the second body he still held tip and fall over the railing. The corpse fell one full story and landing right in the middle of the firepit, blasting ash, dust, and embers outwards and into the waking woman's face. Startled half to death, she swiped at her face and eyes and struggled to rise. Romulus quickly vaulted over the railing and fell directly on top of her, slamming the rim of his shield into the top of her skull. The blow was enough to knock her unconscious, but he knelt to slice her artery all the same. Checking to make sure the fire hadn't gotten out of hand, Romulus made his way out into the grounds of the fort proper.
He was fortunate; apart from the posted guards, the majority of this Halfhand's forces seemed to be inside, if the projected numbers were accurate. A few patrolled the roads, and some still remained at their posts along the wall, but for the most part Romulus was not troubled on his way to the gate. One man wielding a poleaxe watched over the gate controls, leaning against his weapon and absently picking at his teeth. Romulus observed him for a moment from the shadow of the stables, watching for the other patrolling guards to give him an opportune moment. He knew he wouldn't have long, and the clock would start as soon as he killed the man by the gate.
When the time came he moved decisively, launching the bolt from his crossbow. The well-aimed shot punched straight into his skull through the eye socket, killing him almost instantly. He fell against the overgrown, grassy earth, his poleaxe going with him, and Romulus only bothered to move the body until it was out of his way before he set to work on the gate crank.
It was heavy, but once he got it going his progress increased, and the gate's pointed metal teeth began to rise off the ground. The sound was obvious, however, and it wasn't long before a woman was squinting at the sight from a distance. A moment later her posture tensed with recognition, and a shout of alarm was raised. She charged from the main building's front steps, mace in hand, and seconds later an arrow came in, grazing Romulus's upper arm.
He ignored it, cranking the wheel as quickly as he could until the gate was passably open, a good seven or eight feet of clearance off the ground. At that point he grabbed the gate guard's pole arm, and first turned it on the charging woman, lifting it off the ground and suddenly burying the point in her guts. She stumbled backwards and fell, writhing on the ground while Romulus shoved the now bloody spear through the gears of the crank, thoroughly jamming it. It would take time to fix and force the gate down, time they wouldn't have if his allies came with haste.
For Romulus, however, there wasn't any time, and his split-second judgement deemed that escaping out the gate was not the preferable option. Instead he chose to flee further into the fort, heading for the stables. Arrows whistled through the air around him, missing by inches and then thudding into the wooden doors of the stables once he got close. He ducked inside, grabbing a torch on his way in. Immediately he set a blaze in the rear, the hay lighting up well enough and soon catching the building as well. The horses immediately began to rear and panic. They'd be able to burst free once they became frightened enough. In the meantime, smoke billowed out from the stables as Romulus made his escape, using the darkness to switch directions and make it back into the tower, and then onto the wall. He'd lost the pursuit of the Halfhand's guards, and there was a clamor coming from the main gate, which he was given a vantage of as he made his way towards it from above.
It wasn't long before he could see the source; a troop of chevaliers in full charge was a rather impressive sight, even dark as it was. Durand and Violette both seemed to be the type to lead from the front; they were the first in. Most of the soldiers were armed either with sturdy lances or the longer cavalry-type swords. The charge broke the first line of defense that had accumulated near the gate as though tearing paper.
The one difficulty they encountered was that the gate wasn't all that wide; a few of the smarter bandits had already grabbed polearms of their own and were lining up at the sides of the entrance. Durand's horse took a spear in the flank and went down, pitching him forward. It was Khari who rode through the gap that created, leaning down sideways from her own mount and helping him to his feet, apparently content to ignore the arrow that clanged off the armor on her shoulder. Someone had given her a brace of javelins; the first found a home in the back of a bandit running towards the main building.
Even if that messenger died, though, there would be plenty more, and no doubt the tumult itself would rouse the rest from their slumber soon enough. Down on the wall adjacent to the gate, one industrious bandit was working to light the oil pots above the entranceway. The first caught flame easilyāand only about half the chevaliers were through.
The oil tipped forward, but before it fell onto the chevaliers' heads, a fluorescent blue shield sprang to life above them. The edges were raised upward while it also tapered off on either side of the gate entrance. The barrier diverted the oil harmlessly away from the chevaliers. However, the maneuver left Asala open with her arms awash in the blue hued fade energy, painting her as the prime target for the bandit archers. One such archer on the rampart nocked his arrow and aimed her direction.
Another arrow whooshed from the opposite end of the bridge.
Followed shortly by a thunking sound as it thudded into the manās leathers. Heād been in the process of notching his arrow. It fumbled from his fingers, and clattered off the ramparts. His mouth flapped open and his eyes bulgedā¦ though if he made any noise, it couldnāt be heard above the din of clopping hoof beats and the screech of battle. He staggered forward and pawed at the arrow protruding from his chest, until he simply pitched forward and fell off the wall, lying in a tangled heap at the base. Fortunately, he hadnāt fallen on the bridge at all, so he wasnāt another obstacle to stumble over.
Zahra stood with her fingers still poised beside her face, narrowed eyes refocusing on the task at hand. She knuckled at her nose and steeled herself to slip in beside Asala and her shimmering blue shield. She scanned the walls, and loosed another arrow over the top. Where the oil had come from. A shriek was heard. Barely. But by the sounds of it, she hadnāt managed to kill whoever it was. A shoulder, at best. āGreat thinking, kitten,ā she huffed with a smile, inclining her head, āLetās move forward. Iāve got your back.ā
Romulus aimed to relieve the pressure on Asala, and made as quick a dash as he could towards the section of wall above the gate. He took one archer by surprise on his way, taking him down with a hard tackle and plunging his knife into the man's torso several times before pushing off and carrying on. Over the gate, the oil-thrower was getting ready with a second pot. Romulus pulled his crossbow and shot straight at it, cracking the container and sending the oil spilling around the man holding it. It caught the flame and ignited, instantly turning the man into a pillar of fire. He staggered about momentarily, before he fell weakly and his screams faded.
Romulus nimbly hurdled around the flames and continued on towards the other side of the fort. The walls had been largely cleared thanks to Zahra's sharpshooting and his earlier efforts. All available hands were needed to engage the main force attacking them, as the arrows didn't have much success against the chevaliers' heavy armor. Romulus was able to make his way back down again unseen and get behind what appeared to be an outhouse, where he had a good view of the main building. More and more of the bandits were joining the fight from there, and rather than confront them Romulus waited patiently, hoping for an opportunity to slip inside unseen. If there were prisoners being held in there, he might be able to free them in the confusion and hit the bandits hard from the rear.
The stream of bandits exiting the building didn't stop until there were at least forty of them on the field, most clashing heavily with the chevaliers, who had since made it through the gate. By that point, Romulus's earlier efforts had paid off: the bandits' horses were free and panicked, only throwing the area into even greater confusion. Perhaps to be expected was the fact that the orderly, regimented military force handled this better than the less-organized defenders.
That said... being at the defense had its advantages as well. No few of the bandits had obviously been warned about what sort of enemies they were dealing with, and several of them were armed with pikes, or similar weapons that could be braced on the ground and used to devastating effect against cavalry. The knights increasingly found themselves forced to dismount or risk their horses, which the majority seemed unwilling to do.
Khari was fighting afoot now, too; she ranged afield from the battle lines as usual, freely hewing her way through the ranks at the expense of various seemingly-minor injuries. Elsewhere, softly-luminous blue shields flickered in and out of existence, stopping a few unlucky blows from landing on the flanks of the formation. The ground underneath everyone's feet churned and tore, the weight of horses and armor ripping grass and dirt free of native earth.
But the outpouring of bandits had stopped, at least from the main building. If Romulus was going to go, now looked like the time to do it.
Romulus observed the fighting from afar, watching the oncoming bandits carefully. They seemed to respond to several among their group in leadership roles, but none that commanded the entire force, and none that he felt fit this Halfhand woman's description, as the chevaliers had relayed it. Safe enough to conclude she was still inside. He had no intention of attacking her and several of her number on his own, but if she made herself vulnerable...
He'd have to get inside first. The chaos of the fight was enough to conceal him if he kept to the edges of it, and his lack of metal armor meant none of the light reflected from him, and also that he shared a closer appearance to the bandits than the knights attacking them. In all it was enough for him to make it to the main building unnoticed. The front entrance had been left open in the last enemy's haste to get outside and join his allies; Romulus paused at it to listen carefully. When he could hear no bandit rushing out to follow the others, he carefully slipped inside.
A few torches burned along the walls, but in their haste to make it outside, the bandits had left several of them unlit. As a result, deep shadow pervaded the interior of the fortress building. While the sounds from outside gradually faded with his progress into the keep, others picked up. There were definitely still some people moving around in here; Romulus could hear indistinct voices down another hall on the left. The tones were strident, authoritative, and definitely pitched high enough to be a woman's.
To the right, there was silence, and a staircase downwards. Having no wish to come across the Halfhand and whatever number of bandits she was likely shouting at, Romulus took the right, down the stairs. It was the likeliest place to find anything one wanted to keep under lock and key.
The stairwell had a sort of musty odor to it; most likely the building was no longer completely watertight, allowing mildew and mold to fester in the area. A couple of the stone stairs were slick under his boots, but nothing that threatened to topple him. The landing was likewise dampāa small puddle of stale water had collected there.
Of more interest was the fact that he seemed to have found the dungeon area of the keep. A few of the cells were occupied; men and women in varying states of armor and dress had been individually imprisoned, from the looks of it. A few of the more alert ones were already up against the barsāone man noticed Romulus immediately.
"You..." He squinted. "I've not seen you before."
"I'm not with Halfhand," he explained quickly, keeping his voice low. "There's a battle happening outside, Captain Routhier's leading the attack. I came to free you." He wasn't sure how exactly, but at least he knew that someone was alive down here. He didn't see any guards, which was a mixed blessing. None to threaten him for the moment, but also no sign of a key. "Is there a warden somewhere I could get keys from?"
The man grimaced, raising himself into a crouch with the assistance of the bars in front of him. "Was. Not sure where he's gone. I'm sure Halfhand has some, but you probably don't want to be going after those." He paused a moment, glancing over at the other cells. When he spoke again, his tone was urgent. "You said it's Captain Routhier, right? Who else is out there?"
There were too many to reasonably list for the man, but Romulus quickly racked his memory for those of note. He couldn't come up with much. "There's a Ser Durand and his few. We're no more than thirty, but they're holding their own outside. I'm with the Inquisition. Five of us were in the area to help." Perhaps it didn't seem like much, but he knew the five in question were worth far more than their number in a fight against bandits. As for the matter of releasing them, Romulus was beginning to get an interesting idea, but he needed some reassurance before putting it in motion. "We came looking for ten missing troops under the command of Ser Liliane. Are you them?" He glanced around at the other faces, though there was little chance of recognizing any of them.
"You can't stay here." The man shook his head emphatically, gripping the bars until his knuckles were white. "We're the ones you're looking for, but you've got to get back out there. If Ser Durand is with you, you might be twenty against the rest at any moment. He's the reason we're here in the first place. Leave us here and tell Captain Routhierāplease." Several of his more-aware compatriots nodded their agreement.
"We will be fine, but not if all of you are caught or killed as well."
Durand was the reason? Despite everything he'd been through, Romulus was still surprised. Still shocked, even though he hardly knew the man. Was he such a fool? If this was true... suddenly everything became so much more urgent. It wasn't his own safety he was trying to ensure by being quick anymore, it was Khari's, and Asala, and Zahra, and Estella. He had to get back out there. But not alone, not if there was something he could do about it.
"Get away from the bars," he instructed, leaving no room for argument. Perhaps he could get out there quicker on his own, but how much good could he do? These few he'd found, even not at full strength, could be invaluable. Once the man was clear of the door, Romulus closed his left hand around it. He'd wondered if he would be able to do it again on command, but the feeling in his chest was similar enough to before that it came naturally. It almost felt like the anger was required. His mark glowed a bright green as he focused, the light igniting the metal from within. It pulsed and vibrated momentarily, and then with a blast of magic and metal the door's lock ruptured, pieces of it disappearing into the miniscule rift before it closed and sent the rest flying. He shoved the door open.
"If you know where weapons are, get them. If not, take them from the bandits. I'll free the rest." It would be tiring work, but Romulus would not let fatigue stop him here.