Don't Forget

#44 Break Down the Walls

     Traditionally, Adam would have gotten used to wearing armor when sparring with soldiers in the castle's training grounds. Now 21, he's never worn anything except for the tight arm guards os assassins. Even those don't really count since they don't have to bend.
     An assassin's biggest ally is mobility and silence. A suit of armor takes both of those things away. Adam would have gone without if Mitch didn't make him wear something.
     In the end, he has a weird combination of a chest plate and steal shoulder pads. It's barely enough to satisfy the Captain, but anything more would make a lot of Adam's assassin maneuvers impossible. Flesh bends easier then iron.
Another irritation is that Lachlan is making Adam wear his father's amulet. He's not sure how to feel about that one. There's a lot more expected out of him now that the captains have seen his face.
Seeing Jordan alive, after all this time, really makes Adam wonder who else got out. Ty's escape was years in the planning, but there could be more court children in hiding. Adam hopes that more will come if they can take the city.
"Red's team should have taken out most of the guards by now. We'll only have to worry about what troops are sleeping in the barracks", Mitch mumbles, crouched down next to Adam. Ty is sitting quietly on his other side.
Mitch and Lyssa's soldiers are hiding just out of sight of the city's west wall. Robin, Alister, and Jordan are to the North and South of the city.
Lachlan insisted on leaving the squids an East route to escape. It's either stupid or brilliant, depending on how you look at it. Taking the city will finally claim some ground for the troops. The squids might surrender if surrounded, but then they'd have to be taken prisoner and constantly watched. That's time, man power, and resources that Lachlan can't afford to waste. The squids will run or die.
"I suspect everyone will wake up real quick when they give the word", Jerome mutters, "As soon as we start moving, it'll be easy to hear us". The Bacca looks over Mitch's head to see the sleeping city. There's a low hill between them and the wall.
Adam tenses when Ty touches his shoulder. The street rat doesn't say anything. That's when Adam realizes that he had been shaking. Despite his years of killing, this battle is like nothing he's ever faced. People will die. Maybe people he knows. It's hard to let Ty walk into a killing field. All these people could be dead in Adam's name when the sun hits its peak.
Well, not everyone. Part of each camp and the civilians from the underground base are back at last night's camp. A team of doctors must be getting ready to treat any injured that get back there. Jason and Quinten both stayed behind to help.
"There! Look", Mitch sits up to point. An arrow streaks up from the east wall, the point lit on fire. Two more immediately follow. It's another few seconds before a forth joins it.
"Didn't Red and Ian each have their own?", Adam quietly asks. Each assassin had a few arrows in their tall boots along with a small, unstrung bow.
"They probably just met back up and fired one. Either way, most of the top wall is cleared. It'll be a while before they can get archers up", Ty tries to look on the bright side.
"Mount up", Mitch gives the order to not only the small group, but anyone else with a horse. The soldiers behind him stir in preparation as the orders keep coming. All the other Captains should be similarly preparing.
After everyone is ready, there's a few tense minutes of waiting. Adam feels like this is the part where he should say something encouraging. He's got nothing. Adam's tounge feels like sandpaper in his mouth. Mitch comes in to save him.
"I know some of you are scared, bu that's not a bad thing", the Captain starts. He makes sure to looks his own men in the eyes. "This is what we've all been striding for. This is the battle that decides if we continue, or finally loose this war. Just imagine all the stories people are going to tell about you one day! This isn't for nothing. This is for our home, and your father's father's home. This battle will decide if it's also your son's home".
Before anything else can be said, a loud horn rings through the air. Lachlan. That's the signal to charge. Adam screams then, almost as loud as the horn. His battle cry is taken up by the other soldiers as the horse launch themselves over the hill. Those on foot follow behind as quickly as possible.
Large siege machines creak as they move forwards. They're designed to break down the wooden gates. They're pretty hard to use if there are enemy archers.
Prince Adam watches the walls as he pushes his horse for speed. There are shouts and cries of alarm as squids run up top to see the approaching army. There's probably soldiers running to wake up those in the barracks. Adam can only hope that the regular people are safe. It's no surprise that the horses make it to the gate without any opposition.
"What are we suppose to do now?", Ty yells, wheeling his horse around to stay next to Adam. The street rat is pretty happy with trapping the squids behind the walls.
     "I don't know. We can't do much until the siege machine gets here, and the squids can't get out with us here", Adam shrugs.
That's when an arrow flies down from the wall, sparking off of the prince's chest plate. It just so happens to miss his face by an inch. Adam flinches back in surprise when more squid archers start to fire. Thankfully, they're lousy shots.
     "Shields!", Mitch screams out the order, and most the soldiers raise up shields to try and ward off the deadly rain. Ty pulls up his own and looks over at Adam.
"You seriously didn't take a shield?", he frowns, "Why is this job so hard?".
"I'm already wearing armor!", Adam sniffs.
"Shoulder pads won't protect your head", Ty barks back. He slides off his own horse, dragging Adam down with him. They crouch under the shield together. The horses make good targets for the archers. The other soldiers on foot are also using shields while the siege machine crawls closer.
Adam shivers. This seems awfully familiar. His visions changes, old memories messing with the present. He can't even focus on the arrows.
Sky crouches in the ally, crammed between an overhanging window and a barrel. The small space makes him feel more trapped.
It's dark out and his assassin clothes make him almost invisible. There are lots of people running around even this early in the morning. That's because the Lord living in this estate was just murdered. Sky smiles.
"Come on! He's still in here somewhere, we've got him trapped", Adam can hear the guards yelling from the street. They're right. There are way too many guards too close for Sky to make a break for it. No matter, the assassin still has his two swords and a knife. The other poisoned knife is still in the Lord's corpse.
Sky, on his hands an knees, shuffles out of the tight hiding space. He stands up and walks over to the ally to peak out. An arrow whizzes past his face as he lunges backwards.
     "There he is! Behind the ironsmith's forgery!".
     The assassin dashes the other way and runs for the estate's stables. Getting out of here without a horse will be a challenge. Sky doesn't feel like dealing with that right now. It's a long way back to the keep.
      When Sky finds the stables, he scans the street outside before going in. The assassin has both his swords drawn when the stable hand sees him.
     The kid drops the bucket he was holding, grain spilling all over the ground. He can't be much older then 13. Sky himself is only 17. The kid has dirt brown hair along with his slightly lighter eyes.
     "W-What? Who are you!?", the kid trips and falls on his back when Sky starts stepping closer. The assassin's face remains expressionless. His twin short swords are still stained in blood.
     "Wait! G-Go ahead and t-take a horse. I won't tell anyone y-your here, I promise", the kid scoots back until he hits the wall.
     No witnesses. This kid has clearly seen Sky's face. The assassin lunges. Blood splatters all over his clothes.
     "Adam! Can you here me? We need to get closer to the wall!", Ty is yelling into Adam's ear and shaking him.
"W-What?", Adam mumbles, completely out of it. He has many regretful memories of the last few years, but that one is one of the worst. He's shaking all over again. Ty, worried about Adam's glazed eyes, grabs onto him while still holding up the shield.
     "Come on Adam. Get back here already", Ty's more scared then annoyed. Adam told him about a lot that he went through, but not everything. All the recent stress is probably bringing up a lot of unwanted memories. Anxiety makes everything worse.
     Ty feels many more arrows thunk into the shield. Thankfully, Adam moves when he's nudged forwards. The two eventually put their backs to the walls where some of the other soldiers are staked out.
     The rest of the soldiers are arriving,  including the trained ground archers. They start to return fire to the squids on the wall. The arrows falling on Ty's shield slow down significantly as the focus is taken off of them. The siege machine is close enough to actually be useful at this point.
     "Sh-Shit! What happened!?", Adam flinches back and shakes his head. He's never blacked out like that in the middle of a fight before. It has happened outside of battle, though.
"You ok? I feel like the gates are going to be open soon. There's probably an army waiting for us inside", Ty looks down at Adam before looking back to the gate.
"I can't keep doing that..... I don't know what's wrong with me", Adam runs a hand through his hair in agitation. He hesitantly draws one of his swords for the attack.
     "There's nothing wrong with you. You were just..... spacing off for a minute, ok? It's not a big deal", Ty has a hard time knowing what to say. Sky would have wanted some joke about going to go kill squids, but this is Adam who needs comforting. What could Ty say that would compare to Adam's teen years?
     Both of them are startled out of their conversation when the siege machine crashes into the gate. The resounding boom echoes across the plains.
     Adam's newest problem will have to wait. There's an entire city to concur.