Kingdom Chronicles: Awakening

Chapter 2.2 - Armed

He lied.

Mara shook her head and told herself to focus on the task in front of her. Dwelling on the past wouldn't help her with the present.

She watched and waited for the next silhouette pass in front of the first touch on the wall in front of her. She waited until he had passed the last one on the other side, and then she bolded for the castle wall, counting off the seconds in her head until the next guard appeared.

She reached twenty when she was still a few long strides from the wall. She leaped the remaining distance, and her knees buckled under her when she landed. She froze, pressing her back against the castle wall, and tried to listen for an alarm above the sound of her heart drumming in her chest. All she heard was the faint sound of a march as the next soldier passed on the wall above her.

Mara took a deep breath, trying to slow her heartbeat and steady her breathing. She pushed herself back up on her feet and glanced down at her legs. They were the thinnest she had ever seen them, worn away by inactivity and malnutrition, and her stomach growled in agreement. She clenched her fist and hit it against the towering stone wall. She needed to regain control of her body.

She waited a few more seconds, and when the guard's footsteps faded, she took off toward the back of the castle, careful to stay up against the wall so that the shadows hid her presence.

She stopped at the back corner of the castle and peaked around to the back side. The moonlight shone brightly on the back side of the castle, revealing two guards stationed at the back wooden door just like she had expected. Most of the criminals who infested the kingdom may not have been smart enough to try the back door, but Mara wasn't one of them.

She crouched down and crept along the castle wall, aware of the guards in front of her and above her and the moon leaving her no shadows to hide in. When she got within twenty feet of the farthest guard on the ground, Mara threw her dagger at him. The blade hit its mark, burying itself right above the solder's collarbone. The other guard spun around to face Mara, but she had already covered the remaining distance between them and delivered a kick to his hand, knocking his sword to the ground.

Mara picked up the surviving soldier's sword and aimed it at his chest while she retrieved her dagger from the other soldier's body. With both blades in hand, she moved closer to the soldier who had already started trying to crawl away, pressing the tip of the sword against his cheek. He stopped wiggling.

"Open the door," Mara commanded.

The soldier didn't move or respond.

"Open the door," Mara said louder.

She saw the glint of moonlight reflecting off of metal, and she swung her sword at the solider. He brought his hidden dagger out quickly and blocked Mara's swing. She shouted as she brought her sword up to protect herself right before the soldier lunged at her with his blade.

"We're under attack!

Mara heard someone shout on the other side of the back door as the soldiers hurried to get the door open and see what their comrade was shouting about. She groaned. It would have been so much easier if the guard had just quietly opened the door without alerting anyone.

She brought her sword down again on the soldier again, but he knocked it away. She tossed the large weapon away from them, and the guard's eyes followed the sword like Mara had hoped. She used his brief moment of distraction to close the gap between them and strike his unprotected side under his right arm. He cried out, and the door behind him creaked open. Mara kicked the wounded soldier, forcing him back through the door and knocking over his fellow soldiers on the other side.