Tainted Tides

Chapter 14

AN-Reminder! underlined means flashbacks!

*Dec's POV*

The sun rose over the horizon, rays crawling over the impatient surface of the sea. Along with the rays, the crew crawled over the side of the ship in morgue-like silence, channeling into the quiet streets of the slums. The slums were barely guarded at all. As I stalked through the streets, my father's voice echoed in my head, "What do those peasants need guards for! They don't have anything worth protecting. There will always be enough peasants, it doesn't matter if they aren't protected. "

He had said that to me years ago when he was teaching me about protecting the fortress. He didn't care about the population of his city. They were little more than insects to him.

That would be his downfall.

Behind me, covered in soft shadows cast by the early dawn light, was Ant, Robbie, and Stephen. We made no attempt to hide. We didn't need to. We were hiding in plain sight. Acting like we belonged, knowing that nobody would doubt our presence. The occupants of the slums had far too much to worry about to notice a few teens in the streets.

As planned, the crew trickled from the beach near the hidden alcove, slowly slipping in and taking their positions. Within half an hour, everyone was in position for the next step. I looked around, between the gaps of houses and into the distance to verify everyone was ready, before giving a silent nod to Ant. He returned my nod and signalled with his hands to move forward.

The crew slowly advanced onto the towering gray, stone wall, circling the impenetrable fortress. Or... Seemingly impenetrable fortress.

The two boys scampered along the inside of the wall, laughing while they chased one another. "Come on, Declan!" yelled Mark Wright, as he dipped into a small grove of trees. Declan burst into the canopy and was tackled by his giggling friend. laughter echoed off the quiet wall surrounding the fortress as Mark rolled off Dec, catching his breath from the laughter and the running. Dec pulled himself to his elbow, looking fondly at Mark; his only 'true' friend. As Dec examined the features of his his friend's face, he noticed an irregularity on the wall behind Mark. A drain cut out with very wide gaps between the bars. Wide enough to fit a person through...

I led the way through the shadows of familiar slums, towards the gap in the wall I had found with Mark. It wasn't the only one. there were eleven others around the base of the fortress, all hidden in small groves of trees. As important as it was to have drains in the walls, the poor design and ultimately, their feeling of security would work to our greatest advantage. Ant signalled to the others around the wall to being their entry. One by one, I watched as Ant beckoned his men through the gaps. I watched his serious expression occasionally turn to satisfaction or worry, seemingly at the drop of a hat. I watched as sweat beaded on his forehead, rolling down the side of his gorgeous face, catching the golden glow from the rising sun. With a harsh gulp, I swallowed my feelings for the time being. He wasn't ready to know yet... He barely even trusted me as is...

He still hadn't told me who 'she' was...

What if he already had 'someone special'?

I pushed the thought from my mind as Ant looked at me, silently asking me to enter through the bars. With a silent nod, I slipped into the familiar grove of sycamores. The canopies of the trees towered over us, just barely reaching above the tall wall, keeping us hidden from the lookouts stationed in the building in front of us. The tall building in front of us was the barracks, which led into the prison- our target.

Stationed in large stone towers, cornering the barracks, were scouts. Luckily for us, they were all pointed towards the closest gate in the south. They never expected their impenetrable wall for be breached from anywhere except the gates. All we had to do was get into the barracks and get our hands on some uniforms- ideally undetected.