be made to stumble. The aim therefore, was to eliminate von Minterheim and cause as much disruption as possible while inside the Citadel. It was a mission that two Shadowmages, working in concert, could excel at.
They shuffled along the short line of people heading toward the southern gate of the Citadel, cloaked and hooded. The others entering the gate were, for the most part, visitors and tourists who often made it a point to witness the precision display the Vos military enacted while changing the guard. In just a few short years since the invasion, it had become as much a part of city life as the Five Markets or the great barriers at the docks. It was a piece of what made Turnitia what it was.
Lucius had left behind his sword and mail under Adrianna's guidance. Reluctant at first, she had pointed out that everyone entering the Citadel legitimately was searched for weapons and contraband, and it would do their mission no good if they were detained at the gate and forced to fight their way through. Besides, Adrianna had said, a real Shadowmage had no need of mundane weapons.
Only partly agreeing, Lucius had refused to relinquish the daggers sheathed inside his boots, and he felt grateful for their hard, metallic presence as they paced, ever so slowly, toward the gate.
The delay was down to the more rigorous than usual searches being performed by the gate guards, halting each person in turn and patting them down before nodding them ahead and turning to the next. The rumour flowing down the line was that the guards had been spooked by a break out the other night, and their lives depended upon no more trouble erupting in the heart of the Vos military presence. Few believed such an escape attempt was likely, but it made Lucius smile.
He strode up to one of the guards as they approached the gate, its arch soaring high above them while the eight inch thick reinforced greywood gates lay invitingly open. Raising his arms, he felt the guard's hands sweep over his chest, back and legs, and was thankful he had not tried to smuggle through his armour or sword, as it would have been found immediately. His hood was jerked back, and the guard, barely more than a lad sporting the first wisps of a beard, stared intently into his face. Lucius smiled back pleasantly, playing the part of a curious visitor, and it seemed to work. The guard jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating Lucius should continue, and Adrianna stepped up for inspection. Glancing over his shoulder as he crossed the threshold, Lucius had to suppress a smile as her hood was thrown back and a wilful glare dared the young guardsman to get too familiar during his search. Despite his years, it seemed as though the guard had wisdom enough not to take liberties and Adrianna was, quickly, directed through.
The courtyard swept before them as they entered, side by side. It was dominated by the keep and the five towers, but was still a vast expanse of open space within a city where real estate was usually at a premium. Around the walls that ringed the courtyard and keep were a myriad of smaller buildings; stables, storehouses, guard quarters, and forges. It was said that the Citadel could be closed for over a year and remain self-sufficient. It was only now that Lucius began to appreciate the grandeur of its design.
Guardsmen were already assembled across the courtyard, lined up in their respective units as they prepared to hand over the watch, long shadows cast from their stationary positions from the lanterns that bedecked the entire courtyard at strategic points, driving back the darkness. The visitors were shown by other guards to a waiting area in front of a wagon house, but Lucius and Adrianna had already split up, taking positions at either side of the crowd. It was not their intention to involve innocents in the attack, and by avoiding the centre of the on-lookers, any reprisals from the guard were less likely to inadvertently catch one of them.
Taking a step to one side to put some more distance between himself and a family whose two children had thick Vos accents, obviously from the heartlands, Lucius held his breath as a guardsman approached him, arm held out to one side to guide him back into the crowd. Lucius nodded at the man, who immediately spun on his heels to return to his position a few yards away.
Peering through the crowd, Lucius tried to spy Adrianna, but she had disappeared. She had told him that she would wait for his move, that he would initiate the attack, and he hoped she was merely using subtle magic to conceal her presence, rather than leaving him out to dry. He doubted she lacked sincerity, but he could never quite tell where Adrianna was concerned.
A cheer went up from the crowd, as they all realised the ceremony was about to begin. This drew some frowns from the guard themselves, particularly the older men, but one young guardsman waved until a superior bawled him out, to the amusement of the onlookers.
Movement to his left caught Lucius' eye, and another cheer was raised as the main gates of the keep were opened. From the darkness within strode von Minterheim, flanked by his entourage, six guardsmen in full dress uniform, only slightly less ostentatious than their captain's breastplate, braids, feathered hat and jewel-encrusted sword. At his appearance, Lucius began to tap into the threads, beckoning them to his reach, but he held his mind steady. It would be too easy for the captain to retreat back into the keep if he struck now.
He watched as the captain and his men paced the courtyard with solemn duty, passing each assembled unit while inspecting each man. At times, von Minterheim would mutter a word to one of his entourage, and the man would stop in front of some poor guardsman singled out for discipline for some slight in his uniform, while the captain continued his march down the line.
This continued for some time, as every active member of the guard in the Citadel was reviewed, Lucius felt some sympathy for the guards who had been on duty for the entire day and were forced to endure this charade in the name of tradition and discipline before they could finally be relieved. Von Minterheim finally rounded the last unit, and strode confidently to the centre of the courtyard, where he nodded to a junior officer. The man gave an order to a unit of trumpeters who rang out a fanfare, the sound piercing the stillness of the evening air. The assembled units began to move, one watch being relieved as another came on duty.
It was a good a time as any to act, Lucius thought.
With so much movement going on in the courtyard, no one saw him slip from the crowd as he crept along the wall past the wagon house, and on past a set of stables. The horses whinnied quietly as he stalked past them, and their agitation gave him an idea.
Stepping inside, he cast about for dry hay, finding it baled near the back of the stables. Looking upwards, he saw more stored in the loft above, and smiled wolfishly.
Checking once more that no one was nearby, he outstretched a finger and felt the familiar surge as a small jet of flame short forth, instantly igniting a bale. It was a small fire, but it grew hungrily. Even as the horses began to stir, he conjured a ball of fire to his palm before launching it into the loft. There, it flashed briefly as it consumed more hay.
He smelt smoke rising to his nostrils, and hastened out, not wanting to be anywhere near the conflagration when it was noticed. Continuing his pace along the wall of the Citadel, he closed the distance to the Keep, wanting to cut off von Minterheim's obvious escape route should the man try to run.
An cry from the crowd told Lucius that the mission had begun in earnest. Within seconds, guardsmen were charging across the courtyard to the stables. Sergeants screamed orders as buckets were grabbed from one of the storehouses and a chain formed to a well.
Von Minterheim had remained calm, though the man was scanning the courtyard, obviously searching for the cause of the fire, trying to decide whether it was an accident or something more sinister. As the man's gaze swept over him, Lucius stopped in his tracks and crouched, tugging on threads to bring the shadows cast by the wall and its outbuildings around him like a second cloak.
It was then that Adrianna weighed in with her assault. Something crackled in the air across the courtyard before, from a cloudless sky, a bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens to strike one of the Vos units square in its centre. The luckiest men flew through the air as the ground exploded beneath them, while those closest to the descending bolt were boiled in their armour. A cry went up, and Lucius saw guardsmen point to the sky. Following their gestures, he looked, then gasped as he saw Adrianna, her powers manifesting themselves for all to see.
Her cloak billowing out behind her as tightly circling winds carried her aloft, Adrianna rose into the evening sky. Gesturing at the ground beneath the guardsmen trying to fight the fire in the stables, he saw their feet become mired as the earth turned to liquid beneath them. Adrianna paid them no more attention as she rose upwards to alight on the wall, now commanding the high ground and able to see the entire courtyard below her. Under the directions of an officer determined to take charge, squads of crossbowmen assembled in front of Adrianna, cranking their weapons back and sliding bolts into place before aiming them upwards.
With a series of clicks audible across the excited courtyard, dozens of bolts shot towards Adrianna, but she stayed her ground, merely holding up a hand to ward them off. As if striking an invisible wall, the bolts sheared off course just a few feet away from her, scattering themselves as they ricocheted back into the courtyard.
