The Fall of Dewan

Chapter 19Risk and Reward

Ohamed woke them all after only a few hours of sleep. They needed to get to the wall before sunrise so they still had some cover of darkness. There was about four hours before the sun would begin to peak over the horizon.

They all quickly wiped the sleep from their eyes, said their last goodbyes and set off in their separate directions.

Genevieve followed closely behind Ohamed- they were only about an hour walk from their part of the wall- they opted to walk so that they others could use the horses as they had to travel farther. The two of them did not speak at all, but their determination filled the air. Genevieve had chosen to push aside her contempt for the plan. It was happening, the best thing she could do now was fulfill her role so that the risk everyone was taking was not for nothing.

They sat not far from the wall for over two hours once they reached their destination, hiding in the cover of the neighboring trees. After watching the patrols on the fallen wall pace back and forth, they finally heard what they had been waiting for.

A loud horn blew from a far distance away, and then was echoed by many different horns closer to them. From their hiding spot they heard someone yell, "There is someone trying to get through the wall a mile east! And another about a mile west!" Solider began to hop on their horses and ride in both directions. Within ten minutes there was only ten men left to guard the hole in the wall that Genevieve and Ohamed were hoping to get through. Five of the men still seemed to be pacing the top of the wall, not necessarily guarding the hole itself but the area as a whole, but all of the were distracted- their attention was off in the distance. Genevieve and Ohamed snuck towards the wall, staying in the shadows as much as possible- they were able to get to the wall without being seen. Once they got close to the wall Ohamed whispered, "Remember we are dressed as Almorians, they will have no reason to think we are anything else. Keep your head down and let me do all the talking, do your best to not let them see your face." They had dirtied her face and hair so much in preparation that she was nearly unrecognizable but they didn't want to take any unnecessary risk if possible.

They approached the five soldiers that were surrounding the opening in the wall, "Who goes there?" One solider yelled.

"I'm sorry we were just instructed to get over to the Almorian side and head west along the wall. The officers seems to think someone might be trying to enter Almoria and wants someone on the other side just incase they manage to get through."

"Why didn't they just have you cut through one of the gates down there?", the solider asked clearly questioning the story.

"They told us to scan the forest line on our way over and to report out if we saw anyone else who we thought might be trying to get through."

"So they sent you and this pipsqueak?", another officer said, in a mocking tone.

"I hardly get to chose who they send with me, and let's be honest half of the army at this point is these 'pipsqueaks'. That's what you get when you put 16 year olds in an army." Ohamed said in a frustrated tone.

The officers all seemed to think on this for a long moment, before one of them said, "Fair enough, go ahead through. We will send out a scout to search the nearby forest as well to make sure their is no one thinking of trying to get through over here."

Ohamed said nothing, just nodding and pulling Genevieve along by the arm. They got through the hole in the wall and headed west as they had told the soldiers they would. Once out of eyeshot, they began to drift away from the wall- the scouts who sat on top of the wall gave them no mind, they were looking for Dewanian rebels attacking on the southern side, not Almrorian soldiers on the north side.

It wasn't until they were hiding in the shadows of some trees that Genevieve finally took a breath. "Is that it? We made it though?" She asked.

"I suppose we did, but now we have to get out of Almoria as quick as possible, Terterra is about a day and a half away on horseback so we best get going. First step, find horses. Second step, ride as bloody fast as we can to get the hell away from here" Ohamed said, stress etched on his face.