They both nodded.
“Good. Everyone stay back until I give the signal, then you can advance on the warehouse.”
Without another glance at either of them, I turned and headed off in the direction of the warehouse. It was about six o’clock. We were cutting it awfully close, but we still had time enough to infiltrate the base, save the dragon, and put a stop to Boudicca’s schemes. At least I hoped we did.
Besides, the dragons would give me a few minutes’ leeway, right? Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure.
The sky above us started to darken and I heard the crack of thunder and lightning in the distance. A large group of clouds billowed out from somewhere near the center of the warehouse, spilling out and blocking out the sunlight.
“Well, I guess that answers whether or not they’re here…”
I heard Rick chortle behind me but paid him no heed and kept going. I’d have to keep my wits about me to get this next part right. This was the hard part; sneaking into the base, hopefully without alerting all their guards in the process.
As slowly as I could, I approached the dilapidated gate. The barbed wire on top of the fencing was rusted over and broken in a few spots, and I could see several holes in the chain links that were bigger than I was. I decided to slink through one of those rather than go through the main entrance, then made my way over to the waiting maw of the open doorway to the building proper.
“Were you followed?” I heard someone say a moment later. Their voice was gruff and coming from inside the structure. I thought it sounded kind of like Arlan, but I couldn’t be quite sure.
“No, of course not!” Bevan replied in a hushed tone. “I was careful!”
“Are you sure?” that was Arlan again.
I froze, certain they could see me somehow even though a wall of corrugated steel stood between us. I crept forward a little more, making my way toward the entrance on my hands and knees.
My katana scraped in the dirt, making a weird noise that sounded as loud as a firework in my ears, but my enemies didn’t seem to notice anything.
“Of course I’m sure!” Bevan fired back. “I’m not that stupid!”
“Good!” Arlan said. “I’d hate to think of what would happen if you’d been stupid.”
I heard the whoosh of something metal and the sound of someone grunting, then the thump of a body hitting the ground. In spite of myself, I rushed forward, reaching the opening in a few steps, and peered inside.
Bevan’s body lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood. His face had a surprised expression on it, and his eyes looked almost happy. Arlan was nowhere to be seen.
I took a hesitant step forward, thinking it might be some sort of trap, but no one came out of the woodwork to get either him or me. I strode over to where his body lay and swiftly beheaded his corpse.
“Poor fellow,” I said. But at least this way, I was fairly certain he wouldn’t rise again and attack me or Rick later on.
With the entryway cleared, I headed into the warehouse proper. In the low light, it was hard to make out much of anything, so I part walked and part felt my way through a small hallway. Up ahead was another door, and I could make out a hint of a light source emanating from it.
I unsheathed my katana and held it at the ready, then slowly advanced on the doorway. I couldn’t make out any shadows in the light, so I was fairly certain the coast was clear. I rounded the corner and… nothing. There was nothing there. So far so good.
I let out a long breath and took a step forward, almost running into a Celtic warrior in the process.
“Ah!” she shrieked.
That was the last sound she ever made. My blade slid into her throat with practiced ease, cutting off her windpipe and ending her life in one fell swoop. She fell to the ground, forgotten, but the damage was done. I glanced down at her corpse. It was Wiry Chick from earlier, I was almost positive. I beheaded her, too. It was for the best.
All around the warehouse, I could hear the sounds of people mulling about, clanking weapons, and shouts of high alert. The enemy base now knew I was coming.
“Well hell,” I muttered. “Guess it’s time to do this the hard way.”
I leapt forward, practically spinning around the next corner and came face to face with two more guards. The first one fell, holding his neck to keep the blood from spurting everywhere as I dispatched him much like Wiry Chick.
The second one was more ready and managed to parry my first blow. I followed it up with a low, sweeping strike at his legs, which hit the right one dead-on.
“Ack!” Second Guard squealed as he went down on one knee.
Second Guard swung his sword again, but it was too late. I deftly dodged out of the way and beheaded him not a second later.
Huffing, I looked around. Three Iceni guards were dead, plus Bevan from earlier. Only way too many more to go. Probably at least a hundred, based on all the noise I’d heard. And I was the sole man here to cut them all down.
I cracked my neck and gently stepped over my fallen foes, being careful not to step in any of the blood. Blood was sticky and wet and could be slippery in the wrong conditions. The last thing I needed was to lose my footing against a hundred Iceni warriors.
Up ahead was a series of four doorways. Two of them had light coming from them, and two of them were dark. I discarded the two dark doorways right away and headed for the first one with light in it.
Much to my surprise, the room was
