The Land Below our Feet III (Legacy)

WAREHOUSE

-Are you sure this is going to work out? – Dahro worriedly murmured as he remained hidden in the bush along with the rest of the group and stole a furtive glance towards the building – That seems like an awful lot of guards to beat, even if you have a gun.

-That´s not all we have got – Kai firmly reminded him – We´ve got you, we´ve got the numbers, and we´ve got the element of surprise!

Roughly a dozen scarlet-dressed soldiers watched over the gates of the fortified building on the outskirts of town, and they all frowned equally in bewilderment when they saw the two silhouettes tumbling erratically towards them.

-Help! – They heard a voice shout out in distress as they watched one of the figures struggle briefly against the other and start sprinting ahead – I am the Prince of Xiblen and I have been abducted! Please, help!

They would all diligently hurry in response to that urgent call as they witnessed the running shadow trip and stumble sloppily on the ground when his persecutor caught up with him a second later and grabbed his legs, making him fall.

-Get off him! – One of them ordered, while the group of guards quickly surrounded the pair of the seemingly scrambling men with the initial intention of breaking them apart.

But by the time another one spotted the s**t-eating grins plastered on their two faces and recognized the unmistakable signs of a flagrant ambush, the ignited mob of rioters had already pounced on them and begun mercilessly attacking their unit with everything they got.

Yet, the bigger shock would come when they heard the dreadful sound of a firearm going off, and the unlikeliness of it would petrify them long enough for the damage to be done.

It was not that the assault itself was that effective or precise, the aggressors were clearly not coordinated or even slightly trained. They moved in a disorganized fashion, and they were fighting an elite brigade practically with sticks and stones. But there were almost a hundred of them!

The simple distraction that the group devised had proven to be so incredibly successful that the guards hadn´t even been able to stop the pair of impostors before the tricksters had unexpectedly jumped on their feet and scurried into the horde, disappearing in the crowd.

To add insult to injury, the few precious minutes it had taken them to react would be sufficient for their female leader and a considerable quantity of mutineers to barge into the premises before the troop could adequately handle the issue and contain the intruders.

Kai had been right in the end… The numbers surely favored them, and the advantage their ruse had given them had been quite useful in getting their team inside the warehouse, but once they were in, they were also irremediably trapped.

They found the impressive arsenal in no time, but trying to get it all out… Well, that was a completely different story. One that they hadn´t bothered to consider beforehand.

Elhyna would soon come to discover that wielding a gun was not as easy as she had thought, nor would it give her the invincibility that she had been hoping for.

She had frantically fired that powerful thing against the soldiers countless times, but she hadn´t been able to hit her mark, not even once.

Things wouldn´t get any better for them inside the storeroom either. They had located a myriad of crates filled with rifles and ammunition and they had all instantly jumped to grab one without giving it a second thought. And that´s how they´d found out about the hazards of firing those weapons indoors.

Deafened and dazzled as they were, their operation had soon turned into a hellish chaos, where bullets flew aimlessly, bouncing back, hitting plenty of their own people in the process and adding to the crescent panic that already prevailed.

Once the initial astonishment wore out, it wasn´t too difficult for the crimson garrison to quickly turn the tables and corner them to start methodically taking them down.

At this point, the trespassers had already figured out that the boxes were too heavy, and they wouldn´t be able to carry as many as they would have wanted. Not when they had a skilled regiment hot on their heels.

Most of them had soon abandoned any intention of sticking to whatever plan they might have had. Scattering like startled mice and trying to escape however they could from the site.

Nevertheless, Elhyna and the majority of her inner circle had been quite lucky to make it through a narrow back door dragging one of the coveted crates just before the talented squad had completely surrounded the building and seized every unfortunate soul remaining there.

Dahro and Kai were among that blessed group. And they had blindly panted their rocky way in the darkness, fueled by a primal fear that would make them all run nonstop until they had reached the rebellion´s den again with only two thirds of the people they had left with earlier that day.

-Yes! We made it! – The Xiblenean prince had shrieked, clapping and cackling maniacally as he felt an intoxicating rush of adrenaline course freely through his veins – What now, people? Where are we going next?

-You? Nowhere, my prince – Kai had scoffed, nodding at two other men, who promptly restrained him and tied him down – You still don´t get it, do you? You will never be one of us… You were always just a means to an end.

Ussi stood before the spread map, pensively studying it while the Yahurian Guider and her masked companion sat silently beside him when Captain Greghan opened the door and entered the room with a visibly agitated expression.

-We´ve got a situation, Sir – He informed him without preamble, shaking his head – The Argantean´s gift has been stolen.

-The gun? – Ussiariah frowned with concern, tilting his head inquiringly at him – How?

-Apparently the Xiblenean prince took it – The soldier hesitantly responded – He went inside the vault under the pretense of delivering a gift along with a servant. By the time the guards became suspicious and went in looking for them, they had long fled with the case… But that´s not all.

-What else then? – Ussi groaned, mildly exasperated. Waving his hand at him to go on.

-There was a break-in at one of our armories later this evening – Greghan sighed – A mob attacked our unit with that gun and tried to steal more of our arsenal… The prince was there as well. He claimed to have been abducted at first. But our men swear that he was in on it with them.

-What´s the aftermath? – The Commander asked in a calm voice, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table and squinting his eyes.

-A lot of dead thieves and a stolen crate – The Captain explained – Some of them managed to escape, but many fell on-site. We´ve made a few “arrests” if you can call them that, but I doubt we can make them talk any time soon. Most are in pretty bad shape… And Commander, they are practically kids! It´s quite a surreal sight!

He paused, clearing his throat briefly and producing a piece of paper, which he proceeded to read.

-There´s this boy though… Canek. Seems promising. He has done nothing but sob and blurt out gibberish since they apprehended him, but I bet he will be more cooperative once he´s had a chance to feed and sleep.

-Bring him now – Ussi instructed him in an indecipherable tone – I want to find out who these people are and what prompted them to so stupidly risk their lives.

-Commander, you already have a lot on your plate – The masked ex-cleric, who had remained observant during their conversation pleaded, placing a hand on his shoulder – Leave this one to me, please… I can handle it, and I know that name.