The Surprise Siege - Ranger's Apprentice

Showdown

Rodney waited in the hallway next to the audience hall next to a side door. He drew his sword and swung it back and forth in his hand, warming up his wrist, waiting for his signal. He listened through the door crack. "King's Ranger! Drop your weapons and surrender!" He heard Will yell as the main doors banged open, setting the wall next to him rumbling. He looked through a crack in the stones and could see Pauline ducking through the plants, curtains, and other drapery on the far side, unnoticed by all. Will kept up some muffled conversation with the Genovesans, most of which Rodney couldn't hear very well. At one point he yelled, "Don't look away from me when I'm talking to you!" Something must have happened to Pauline to make him yell that loudly, Rodney thought. Maybe she fell or made some noise. Pauline made her way to the Baron, sat there for a moment, and then started whispered to him. Rodney pressed his ear up against the door crack, thinking, And here's one of the flaws Will knew would inevitably come up. How am I supposed to hear my signal if I can't even hear him?

"...you should... Weapons... Surrender!" Rodney assumed that was one of the Genovesians. Will didn't have an accent like that.

"... Have... Come and get me... I... No intention.... That." That was definitely Will, thought Rodney. And that was definitely part of my signal phrase. I had better get ready.
Rodney listened as the thumping of boots filled the hall and the familiar whiz THUNK! of Will's arrows as he shot. Then the running sounds grew faint as Will ran out of the hall. Rodney turned away from the side door and looked down the hallway and saw the green gray blurr flit by the end of the hallway, which had to be Will. Then, only moments later, a larger pack of purple-cloaked men ran by, and then after that a small pack of the enemy soldiers. Rodney waited until the hallway went mostly silent, then turned, brought up his sword, and kicked down the side door, screaming a war cry as he went.

Rodney cut down any enemy soldiers that came at him with one or two slashes at most. After dispatching at least 8 of them, the rest of the soldiers in that room, about twenty, realized that they had no chance, and ran off down the long hall and out the main doors. They turned right instead of left like Will and the Genovesans had, so Rodney knew that the runaway soldiers were headed for the drawbridge. Big surprise that'll be to find a huge army sitting out there waiting for you, he thought as he slashed the chest of one of the few soldiers left in the hall. He glanced over at the other side of the hall and saw that Pauline had stood up with the Baron, Lady Sandra, and the others. The Baron had retrieved his sword from a pile at the end of the hall and was cutting down the remaining soldiers. Pauline had her knife in her hand and was stabbing at any soldier foolish enough to think she was an easy target. Then Rodney turned and saw the Genovesan. He was shooting down any soldiers that tried to run. Rodney advanced toward him. The Genovesan noticed and put down his crossbow and few his daggers. Rodney heaved his heavy broadsword at him very suddenly and managed to cut his arm on the first try. The Genovesan fought back, but he staggered under the massive weight of the broadsword.

They exchanged blows for a few seconds, and Rodney received a nick on his jaw from a dagger that stung badly. Soon, the Genovesan could no longer hold off the terrible blows, and Rodney swung his sword over his head in a massive overhand swing and bright it down on the assassin's two daggers. One of them shattered on impact, the other fell from his grip. The blow continued its downward movement, and Rodney felt the tip of his sword penetrate the Genovesan's rib cage. He felt the Genovesan take his final breath, then he pulled his sword out of the body and wiped it on the carpet. Then he turned and slashed at the remaining enemy soldiers that had been stupid enough to stand and watch him fight the assassin. He glanced one final time at the dead Genovesan. He felt no regret. The other assassin who had been shot by Will had bled out on the carpet, and now lay dead in a shining pool of his own blood. Having cut down all soldiers in his immediate vicinity, he ran over to the other side and joined Pauline and the Baron in dispatching the remaining soldiers. When the hall was finally clear of enemy soldiers, the Baron, Pauline, and Rodney stood there, panting into the silence.

Only then did they notice that all of the captive Redmont soldiers were staring up at them in awe. Pauline let them stare for a few more moments before finally breaking the tense silence by whispering, "All right men, you all should know our names, but if not, I'll enlighten you. I am Lady Pauline, this is Baron Arald, and Sir Rodney." She gestured to each of the men in turn and they nodded. "As you observed, Ranger Will, who is also trapped within these walls, has devised and already put into motion a plan to get us all out. But right now we have no time, as he is off distracting the Genovesans while we escape. So right now I need everyone to get up and run for the drawbridge. We will be sure to explain everything to you all once we get out. But one more thing! Make sure to be as quiet as you can! Ranger Will's distraction won't work if we make too much noise. So be quiet and run!" The soldiers all listened in mild shock to her soft speech, then everything sunk in at once and they all got up, completely ignoring Pauline's attempt to quiet them. I'm sorry, Will. I tried... She winced as a huge rattling sound and dull murmur filled the hall as the mass of men prepared to leave. Then they began running. A thundering sound filled the hall and surrounding corridors as the men ran out of the hall and down the hall way, out to the drawbridge. Pauline turned to Baron Arald and Sir Rodney, who were showing Lady Sandra and the rest of the nobles out.

"Did Will say to do anything else?" asked Baron Arald.

"Well, he said to get everyone out, and then follow them," Pauline said, remembering his orders.

"Come on, walk this way." She started leading them back toward the main doors.

"What, and leave without him? Abandon him in a castle that has no one left in it but... What, five, I think? Five assassins baying for his blood? Is he crazy, stupid, or suicidal?" Baron Arald said angrily.

Sir Rodney raised his eyebrows at the Baron. "I don't think Will would appreciate that, and don't forget, he can fend for himself better than any of us could. In fact, he's better off on his own." The Baron looked suitably chastened at this, and, realizing that his outburst was just his own personal anger and fear, mumbled an apology.

"He's none of those things, he just wants to keep us safe." Pauline decided she wasn't going to tell Rodney and the Baron about Will's lie. She stopped walking turned to the two men. "So I was thinking it might be a good idea to check in with Halt now. Since there are less people in the castle now, it will be easier to renter later if we need to; also he probably wants a status report on all of us. We can explain what's going on and Halt can try to work with and support Will's plan." And that will give me a chance to talk to Halt about Will and get him to go in and help him, she added silently.

Rodney grinned at her. "This is why I let you decide, your ideas are always the best."
The three of them turned and left the audience hall and headed for the draw bridge.

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Shorter section, but fast update! As always, more coming soon! Check out my newly edited covers... Hoping to make even cooler ones soon. Love all my followers, please vote and comment if you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading! ;)