Run, Run, Run, As Fast As You Can

Storming the castle

The floor plans would be nice, but that would probably require breaking into the builder's pack. 

I thought about the problem for a minute before turning to where I thought Sora was hiding, "We're going to need to take out all the guards on the outside except one. That one needs to be young and inexperienced. If we can scare him into telling us which room is the king's office it will make this a whole lot easier. If we can't do that then we need to find a servant that is more afraid of us than they are of the king," I said through the black cloth covering my face, "When it's time to go I want you to go right and knock out all the guards you come across. I'll go left. I want this to be done in no more than fifteen minutes. We want to avoid new guards coming out and finding their fallen comrades." 

Sora nodded and pulled something out of her bag, "I know you do not wish to kill anyone, however these could be useful for intimidation purposes," she said handing me the long bundle and pulling out one for herself. 

A small smile made its way onto my face as I pulled out the pair of double swords. It was a bit over kill, especially with my current choice in clothing, but it would add to my ability to terrify anyone that we came across. I strapped them onto my back and nodded to Sora to let her know I was ready.

Sora and I went our separate ways, both of us moving from the shadows of one tree to the shadows of the next, not letting anyone know that we were there. If it wasn't the middle of the night I might be more worried that someone would sniff us out, but everyone out here was going to be tired and they won't expect us.

When I saw my first guard I sunk up behind him and covered his mouth and nose with the chloroform covered rag. He only struggled for a second before the drug took hold and I lowered him gently to the ground before darting back into the shadows of the mercifully close trees. 

I didn't stop to look at him after he was down, I had a time limit.

Inexperienced guards were hard to find at the castle but eventually I came across a group of three guards, two who looked like they'd been here awhile and one that was getting directions from the older ones.

Looking at the newbie, I almost felt bad for what I was about to do, almost. He didn't look much older than me with his wide brown eyes, shaggy blond hair and a surfer's tan. Every little noise was making him jump, even the sound of his instructors telling him what to do startled him.

Quietly I pulled the two tranquilizer guns out of their holsters and aimed at the two older guards, feeling extremely grateful that I was ambidextrous. I pulled the triggers, wincing at the slight pop that they made. The two older guards fell to the ground, both with tiny darts protruding next to their hearts.

I saw the young guard's eyes widen at his fallen companions and I knew that we'd chosen the right person. He was terrified already.

Right as I was about to step out and take care of him, meaning make it so he wouldn't scream, Sora stepped out of the shadows and put her hand over his mouth. She put her head on her shoulder and I could only assume she was talking to him soft enough that I couldn't hear.

Sora nodded in my direction and the guy started nodding his head quickly. With his confirmation, she started whispering again and he pointed to a third story window and started to talk quietly when Sora let go of his mouth.

"Very good," Sora said patting his head affectionately with the hand that held it as she reached down and grabbed her chloroform covered rag to knock him out.

 "He says that it is on the third floor, directly in the middle of the north wall." 

I nodded at her and we walked to where our griffins were tied up. We could climb or take an inside passage, but both of those would take more time and going inside would expose us to the possibility of running into someone who was competent.