Crouching down, he followed the scent. It wove through the trees and followed what looked to be a game trail. He sniffed on plants and tree branches as they passed and couldn’t detect anything on them. Whatever he tracked, it had an incredible sense of forestry.
A clatter of metal brought him to a halt. His ears perked up and twitched as they searched for the source. Looking through the trees, he spotted a clearing at the edge of his vision. His senses told him the noise came from there. He stalked to the edge of the trees and peered past.
An unexpected site greeted him. The building looked like an old abandoned wilderness fort. A short stone wall surrounded the place and a three-story stone tower sat in the middle. Vines wove along the surface of both, but the grass on the inside of the wall was cut short and maintained.
The inhabitants also disturbed him. When the woman told him bandits attacked, he expected to find a group of thugs roaming the place. Instead, a group of study looking dwarves walked along the border inside the walls. Another stood on the roof of the tower. His short stature made him difficult to pick out at first.
Six of these fighters circled the outside perimeter. Those numbers wouldn’t trouble him too much, but one minor detail scared him. They carried muskets, not swords. He was well aware that this was a game, and he’d taken a lot of damage during his time playing. That damage had been easy to spot and was all in close combat. All he could picture was the devastating effects of a firearm in the real world and how bad that would hurt if hit.
I need to play this smart. I don’t know if they will worry about crossfire or not, so I can’t just rush them. Each of them is wearing sturdy leather armor. The hostage must be inside the tower.
Deciding on caution, he crept around the edge of the clearing so he could survey the entire area. The guards did a good job of protecting the entire wall, and he couldn’t spot any noticeable gaps anywhere. His cat form had one advantage he could use. It could stealth.
During his excursion around the place, he identified one spot near the back corner of the building that was well shaded. It also was right where two of the guards met on their patrol. The tall grass around the exterior wall was a fatal flaw in their defense. It made it easier for someone to sneak up.
A low crouch allowed him to creep through the space toward the wall. He was careful to watch how his body displaced the grass as he moved. Large clumps of grass randomly swaying and heading directly for the wall would be a dead giveaway.
When he finally butted up to the wall, he could smell the dwarves. They smelled like leather and freshly turned dirt. No other explanation came to him as his nose picked up those scents. Body odor didn’t seem to trouble them overly much. His ears perked up as he heard the footfalls headed his way, slowly plodding through the grass.
A guard approached from each direction, and when they met, they would both turn and head directly away from each other. Atlas planned on using that moment to leap over the wall and slink toward the shaded area to blend in. The footsteps pounded in his head as he listened. The heavy thumping in his cat senses pounded through his head.
He heard the brief stop and waited. The feet shuffled as they both turned and he gave them a handful of seconds to march away before he crouched and leaped for the short wall. At only about four feet tall, the height wasn’t a problem, and he lightly bounced off the ledge and landed quietly in the inner yard. He heard no shouting so he hurried to the shaded area and didn’t waste time to look around.
Once inside the dark recess of the building, he crouched low and swept his gaze around. The patrols didn’t cease their pattern and hadn’t even faltered. Luckily, the guard on the roof wasn’t paying attention to anything on this side of the building.
Well, I didn’t think this through very well. What am I going to do once I do rescue this person? I can’t sneak her out the same way I came in…
The solution to his problem evaded him so, instead of dwelling on it, he moved forward. Two small windows sat on this side of the building. He watched the guards’ helmets approach each other again over the short wall and waited for them to turn. Using the opening, he dashed for the nearest window and heaved himself inside.
He landed in a stone room that was the base of a stairwell. A long spiral of stone steps curved ahead of him and a bare hallway stretched behind him. Both were clear, so he stalked up the stairs.
A door swung open above him and he froze. Muffled voices echoed through the stone stairs. He tried to make out what they said, but his enhanced hearing worked against him in this space. The constant echoes and vibrations distorted all the sounds as his delicate ears tried to pick up all of it.
The door closed and the sound of boots heading his way took its place. Whoever it was wasn’t thrilled based on the grumbling noises they made as they practically stomped down the stairs. Tired of doing nothing but hiding, Atlas found a shadowed alcove on the side of the stairs and waited. It wasn’t a very big dip in the wall, but just enough for his stealth properties to activate.
A figure emerged around
