[ON HOLD] Shadows of the Blessed | #Countryhumans AUOriginals

01: The Heist [Pt. 2]

**This was Part 3; I combined the original Parts 1 and 2 ^ - ^

Previously...

"Тебе некуда идти."

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Although she couldn't understand the language in which the guard spoke, the figure knew one thing: she was trapped. Alone.

She had to regroup before it was too late.

"Сдаваться," the guard continued, "или мы вас заставим."

Soldiers began pouring into the room. A number entered from the outer passageway; still more emerged from an unseen corridor to the right of the quarters, likely the same one the second guard had used to escape.

The soldiers surrounded her; from where she stood, she could see around 8 guards. Their swords were drawn; each stood about a meter apart, two meters from her. A few, like those dispatched to the former rendezvous, were heavily armored.

Is this even necessary...?

The first guard— the blue-eyed one with the odd winter hat, whom she'd just fought— remained some distance away, pushed back by his comrades.

Good, she thought. It was him she was wary of. Though they were out of striking distance, his eyes continued to bore into hers, watching her every act.

One wrong move and her head would be off.

The figure remained without emotion, not a sign of what she was thinking. She peeled her gaze from the first guard's. She tossed the sabre in her hand to the ground.

It fell with two clangs at her feet.

——————

She kicked one guard square in the chest, beneath their ribs. This sent them stumbling backward, wheezing, before they could react. The rest of the soldiers surged forward; the figure ducked and rolled, simultaneously taking back the sword she dropped as blades flew above her— some clashing together, some striking the ground behind her.

She spun back onto her feet, catching the nearest guard's arm in hers before pivoting and throwing them into the others, sending two sprawling down.

The figure turned to escape, but yet another guard was waiting. They lunged toward her with their dagger.

She whirled perpendicular to their attack, then seized them by the neck and drove her elbow into their back. The guard collapsed to the floor with a yell of pain.

Now clear, she made a run for it; the figure burst through the doorway. Out of the barracks and into the outer passageway she bolted, not stopping for a single breath. She continued running as fast as she could, passing what appeared to be the stables, turning corners. The place really was what it was rumored to be.

A maze.

Get in the open, she told herself. Or all you'll do is get yourself lost.

She turned left at the next cross-passage in a detour to the stables she believed she'd just passed. She remembered this was part of the outer passageways. If there were stables, they would surely lead to the outside.

But on the outskirts of the estate, more guards would be on patrol. She had to be careful.

The figure slipped in and out of the shadows as she moved along the walls. Soon enough, she could hear the sighs of sleeping horses and smell the scent of hay nearby.

A sound, something like a flap of wings, came from above. On instinct, the figure crouched and pressed herself into some barrels. A silhouette with wings— not a bird, but a humanoid figure— passed overhead and began to circle around, as if scouting the area.