Chapter List
Chapter Fifteen
A human sentry stood atop the wall of a castle. He walked along the narrow strip of stone that the sentries used to survey the area from a height of forty feet above the ground. He let out a yawn, nothing ever happening at around two in the morning. It was all completely dark aside from a set of torches that were lit at nightfall. They, however, didn�t help a whole lot.
He set his spear down and stretched. He let out a loud yawn before a hand reaching around his head and covering his mouth cut off the sound. It was too dark to see anybody or anything. He felt the cool touch of a blade pressed harshly against his throat and he froze.
�Shh�� said the voice of his captor �Be still or I shall make you be forever still.� He couldn�t believe what was happening. It was only his second night as sentry. He thought to himself for a second and came to the conclusion that this was a prank by another sentry. The voice did sound close to another sentry�s voice. He reached up and grabbed hold of the gauntlet and began to pry it away. That was when he felt pain of the blade slice through his skin, veins, and arteries. He felt the warm sensation of his own blood running over his hand and down his neck. The hand that held hold of him suddenly pulled away and he dropped to the hard floor of the sentry walk. The last thing he saw was a gray furred creature walking to the edge of the wall and signaling down. That�s when everything when black.
The wolf looked down and waved towards the forest next to the castle wall. All at once animals started pouring out of the forest. The wolf stepped back away from the wall as animals started throwing large iron hooks attached to ropes onto the wall. He helped wedge the grappling hooks into place as the animals below started to climb up them, some climbing up the one he had thrown onto the wall to get up.
The first animal up onto the wall was a nineteen-year-old fox. He was wearing black pants and a black shirt with a red cape. Looped onto his belt was a large sheath with a canine shaped hilt of a sword protruding from the top.
�Good work, Terrance.� Said the fox. Terrance smiled at him.
�Nothing to it, Renard.� Terrance said. I shook my head with a smile as more animals piled over the top. None of them spoke, staying as silent as possible. I pulled my sword out of its sheath and pointed to the right.
�Alright, y�all know what t� do. Group one; take th� right t� the barracks. Group 2; you will go down th� middle t� th� main hall. Th� others an� I will go t� the King�s quarters. Everybody clear on tha�?�
�What about the sentries we captured?� I looked over to the twenty-year-old panther.
�Leave them �ere for now, Damien. Anything else?�
�Are you finally going to get some blood on that sword, Renard?� Terrance said with a slight smirk. I simply smiled at him as I stood up strait.
�Y� know me, Terrance.� Terrance smiled and shook his head.
�Let�s move�� I said to everybody. We took off in opposite directions across the sentry wall. My group went down the steps to the main hall. We followed the path told to us by our human spy we had that worked in the castle. He had told us which way to go in order to get through the castle and past the guards. So far everything was going according to plan. I looked to my right at a vixen in light armor with a short sword drawn. Fea was a very brave vixen. Most females avoid conflict and fighting. But Fea was strong at heart and was always alongside of us. To humans, women are much lower than men and are good only for cooking, cleaning, and children. That�s about it. To animals, however, they have a little more respect. Though many don�t like the idea of a female fighting with the men, nobody says their opinions out loud. It�s better that way I suppose.
�Alright, we should be close�� I whispered to my group of twelve. I held my sword to my side and stopped in front of a large door. I looked back to make sure everybody was ready before I flung the door open. To our surprise we were enveloped in a bright light, instead of the darkness we expected. I held my hand up to shield my eyes as men poured out of the room to us. I was forced downwards and fell on my back. I growled, angered by the sudden turn of events.
�The spy lied! Attack!� I yelled out. Fighting began all around me as I got up to my feet. I checked my surroundings on all angles to make sure I wouldn�t get caught off guard. I backed towards a wall so not to be caught from behind. My sharp eyes focused on two humans heading towards me. I spun the handle of my sword in my hand then got into a stance, my legs spread slightly to move quickly if needed. The two came barreling towards me, swords drawn. They both swung in unison at me only to find their swords hit the wall. I landed behind them, having leapt high into the air over them. I swung around and brought the flat side of my sword crashing against the skull of one of them, knocking him flat on his stomach. The other one spun around, his sword out in a wide arch. With a flick of my wrist I brought my sword vertical to block his. With my other hand I raked my claws across his face, leaving four long crimson gashes. He fell over, catching himself against the wall. I brought the hilt of my sword hard upon his head, dropping him to the ground.
My large ears picked up a sound from behind me and I ducked down to the side, dragging my heel across the ground. A sword stopped where my head once was. I pushed off the ground and brought my shoulder up into the humans gut and fell him. I took a quick glance around then started through the mass of fighting towards the room we had tried to enter. As I stepped in I brought my sword up over my shoulder next to my head, stopping a blunt sword from crashing into my skull. I took a sideways glance at another human, the one I had come for. I grinned slightly at him.
�Y� humans are much too loud.� I said to him. I swung my sword to the side, pulling his sword with it. His sword struck the door and became imbedded in the wood. I brought my heel up hard into his chest, knocking him backwards. I walked towards him, my armor shining in the light of the room. He tried to back up but I soon had the tip of my sword pressed against his chest. I smirked at him.
�Well, looks like y� are another prisoner t� the AFAS. The great King James �as fallen.� I said. The king glared at me but knew he was at my mercy. Fea walked up behind me.
�Renard, the castle is secure. This fool only had his guards try and protect him. We also got hold of the spy.� She told me. I nodded.
�Good, keep an eye on �im.� I said. I pulled my sword away and Fea�s soon replaced it. I sheathed my sword and walked out of the room to the hall where we fought. All the fighting was done now and eight humans were lined up on their knees with their hands bound behind their head. Four humans lay dead on the floor along with one animal. I stepped over a body and walked up to Terrance, who was with the group that went to the barracks.
�Report.� I commanded.
�We ran into some slight resistance in the barracks, not much though.� He said. I nodded and looked around.
�Damien?� I called out. He came running up and stood in front of me.
�Yes, Sir?� he asked. I rolled my eyes.
�Oh knock off th� �sir� nonsense. Y� �ave been going on with tha� since I was put in charge.� Damien grinned at me.
�Aye, I do it because you don�t like me to.� I shook my head.
�Report, y� loon.� I told him jokingly.
�Well, we lost two o� ours in all and got twenty-three prisoners. Rather small castle if y� ask me.� He said to me. I nodded in agreement.
�Aye, but it was important.� He simply shrugged and headed off. I turned and headed back towards the king�s quarters and looked down at him as his hands were being bound.
�Take �im an� th� other prisoners down t� th� dungeon.� I smirked as he glared at me while being pulled up. I watched him get dragged out of the door. I then took a glance around the king�s room. I heard Fea walk back in and stop next to me.
�So, what�re we going to do now? Why are we here?� I opened my muzzle to speak but Fea, being herself, continued.
�I mean, why this castle? Why not the smaller one? We wouldn�t have lost anybody if we did that. Renard? Are we going to stay here? Shouldn�t we-� I stopped her by grabbing hold of her muzzle and holding it lightly. She blinked then I released her muzzle with a smile.
�Why don�t y� go order some sentries int� positions on th� walls?� I asked. She smiled then nodded to me and ran off. She loved to give orders to some of the guys. Mainly because she hated being told what to do and she felt that it was her turn to get back at the guys.
I chuckled to myself then started looking through papers that were in the room. I thought back to the time when I still lived on the farm and couldn�t even read my own name. Thank goodness for Jewell. She had taught me to read over the last few years. I had been relieved to find that there were only a few people, humans and animals alike, which could read and write. Now, thanks to Jewell, I was able to do both, though I wasn�t too good at writing.
I continued my search throughout the room, looking for something specific. After a few more long minutes a smile spread across my muzzle as I had found what I was looking for.