AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Year 2, Fall, Third Month, Fourth Week.

Lew look ahead and saw the small long-haired girl walking fast but stealthfully towards the walls that surrounded the magic fields. He gave a mental sigh before laughing at himself, why was he more annoyed with the fact that he was being led by a teenager than with the fact they were attacking one of the Kingdom’s facilities? Maybe he was already being affected by the villagers’ sense of normality. When they asked him to remain on the last batch being sent to the camp, they just took it as the usual untrust they had for him. However, the truth surprised him again, the crazy villagers were planning to rob the Kingdom before fleeing, so much for not rebelling and just leaving.

The moment he learned about their plan, he tried to convince Sania to abort it, but the wicked teen insisted on checking the magic fields’ security before deciding anything. They shouldn’t misunderstand his actions, he would take great pleasure in giving a punch to Kingdom, but this wasn’t the place and time for it. If this was before, the pros of damaging the Kingdom while creating a distraction would be much welcomed, but the Kingdom’s current situation was too unpredictable. Everything could happen, they might even attract one of the high Lord’s attention sooner than they should. Unfortunately, he wasn’t invited to discuss their plans neither he could convince the girl to back down.

When they neared the fields, Lew was incredulous when he saw that nobody was keeping watch over the walls. He knew about the Guards’ laziness, but he couldn’t believe it had developed to this point. Were the Guards of his section also like this? It wasn’t a wonder why he learned of the MT beast’s situation too late. After approaching the unwatched wall, Sania sent attackers to both sides to check for Guards.

“How many did you saw?”

“Three guarding the gates, but I don’t know how many inside…”

“Lew, what do you think?”

“We should abort this…”

“No that. How many do you think it’s inside?”

He struggled to answer the question but did it in the end.

“They should have enough Guards for three shifts. If they were following the rules, we could expect another six Guards inside, but they could be skipping work, so more…”

“What about a maximum number?”

“Hmm… It shouldn’t be more than ten.”

“Great. We’re moving on with the plan… Let’s observe the three for an hour and take them down if nothing happens.”

So they waited. The Guards didn’t move, they continued to talk and laugh like they were in a tavern instead of guarding the place. Sania smile, she would have to accept this gift.

A few weeks ago, Omero brought up the idea of the operation in one of the Council meetings, but because they had too many things to consider, they didn’t make any decision about it. At that time, Said objected that it could be too much for the villagers to start attacking other Humans, after all, they only had faced bests until now. The concern was also shared by the other members, especially Karl’s parents. Everyone understood that fighting against the Kingdom was a real possibility, but they still had hoped that it might never happen.

In the end, the three elders chose to capitalize on the Council's inability to decide about the operation at that time and made their own plans. To address the issue of the hunters feeling uncomfortable with fighting other Humans, they selected Sania’s team for the operation, it was an unspoken truth that her team was less emotional and more ruthless.

With Lew’s help, Sania managed to jump over the wall, thankfully, the cover of the night would keep her from being seen. Unfortunately, it would also make it difficult for her to identify the other Guards.

Thanks to the lightening enhancements on her boots, she landed smoothly and without drawing the Guard’s attention. Behind the walls, everything she managed to see was the expected, harvested fields and a few simple-looking side buildings. The light from a fire lamp in one of the buildings, marked where the rest of the Guards should be, probably sleeping or lazing around.

Sania moved carefully towards the small building, she would be ready if the attack in the front gate didn’t go as expected. When she got near enough to see the interior of the building through its only door, a smile appeared on her face. Even though she could only see a couple of beds inside, the small cabin wouldn’t be able to accommodate more than four or five beds. Against her better judgment, she decided to peek inside. Crouched and trying to avoid the light, Sania slowly approached the cabin.

The tension on her mind increased, all the sounds produced by her movements got amplified by her perception, her steps landed like a hammer, the fire burning in the lamp sounded like a raging inferno, but she didn’t stop. The attack outside would start at any moment and there was a good chance the Guards would be wake by it. She arrived at the door and was finally able to see inside. Even through the dark, Sania could put together the image of four beds, thankfully, really close to each other. One of the beds appeared to be empty, but she forced her sight for a few seconds before confirming it.

She could take three! But she was short on time. Without wasting any time, Sania stretch her left hand and took the spear on her back. With both the spear and dagger on hand, she entered the cabin and waited. At the first sound, she would move and sever their lives.

She looked at the Guards attentively, trying to guess their obscured features. She used to fear them every time they came to inspect the village, but now they look so fragile. The noise from the Guards struggling at the gate came so suddenly that Sania hesitated for a few seconds. It wasn’t loud enough to wake up the Guards, but one of them turned in the bed. She panicked and instinctively stabbed his belly.

She messed up, she wasn’t supposed to attack in this order or stab that part. The man screamed from pain, she let go of the shaft for a moment and lost hold of it in the dark, the other two woke and went for their weapons. Fortunately, Sania got ahold of herself and quickly attack the man on her right with the dagger. The blade passed through his neck leaving a muffled scream and a squirt of blood. Then, a kick came from the third Guard, standing in front of her. She crashed against the wooden wall, fortunately, the adrenaline kept her from stopping. She ran towards the woman, who was already slashing a sword at her, she dodged right bumping in the struggling bloody man. Another attack came down on her, but it landed on the already dying man. The woman hesitated for a moment after hitting her comrade, Sania didn’t waste the opening and dashed towards the woman thrusting the dagger on her chest.

The woman fell, Sania felt a strange discomfort on her side. She checked with her free hand, finding a cut on her wet coat, she had been cut. The man she wounded first, finally got over the big cut on his abdomen and ran off the cabin screaming with pain. He only ran a few meters before being slashed by Lew. Sania walked out of the door and saw her team moving towards the cabin in perfect formation, she smiled proudly before darkness took her.