Gideon watched silently, from a patch of thick yellow grass, for two hours, as the two guards stood half asleep before the main gate, leaning precariously upon their spears. The sun had set more than two hours ago, and he felt sure that he had their routine pretty well figured out.
Every half hour, the guards were required to call out "all's well," and the gatekeepers replied in kind. Gideon hoped they might follow a standard protocol, relieving these men now that nightfall had come. This meant he wouldn't have long to act.
With the night as his cover, Gideon eased from his patch of grass so that its rustling wouldn't startle the men. He approached silently, remaining out of view of the guard who should have been facing him but was instead trying precariously to get his pipe lit. Gideon sprang.
He snapped the neck of the guard nearest him; the one with his back turned, relieved the man of his spear and swung it toward the man with the pipe just as the guard raised his eyes to the disturbance. The wooden end of the spear struck him across the mouth, sending the lit tobacco flying through the darkness like scalded fireflies. The guard mumbled in pain, but with a broken jaw, he wouldn't be crying out any alarms in the near future. Gideon stuck him across the back of the neck and he fell unconscious with several of his own teeth oozing out from between his bloody lips.
Gideon worked fast, pulling the unconscious man out of sight into the undergrowth. The other guard he relieved of his uniform. He hid the body before assuming the man's post with spear in hand.
He didn't have long to wait before a cry spread across the wall to change the guard. Gideon waited until he heard a slide in the gate and a man calling to him from the other side. "Ready to come in for the night, lads?"
"Aye, it's getting a bit chilly out here and I need to relieve myself, besides," Gideon replied. The man closed the slide, where only his eyes had peered through into the darkness, and began to unfasten the mechanism holding the main gate into its locked position. He heard the clank of heavy metal, the withdrawal of counterweights, and knew he never would have forced it open. He smiled. This was too easy.
First one guard, then another emerged from the gate as it opened slightly behind Gideon. He stood his post just inside the torchlight, waiting for these men to notice the obvious.
"Hey, what happened to Izzy?" the first guard asked.
"I told you, I need to relieve myself," Gideon said. "Izzy couldn't wait."
The second man wandered toward the darkness, calling for Izzy as the first replacement turned to face Gideon. When the man saw his face in the light and didn't recognize it, he started to cry out. Gideon lashed out like a viper and hit the man in the throat with two fingers. The guard gasped weakly, once, before Gideon followed through with an elbow, covered in metal gauntlets, to the face. Down he went. Gideon caught the other man before he could turn completely around. He brought the handle of his spear down on the man's collarbone with enough force to send the guard crashing, unconscious, to the ground.
Within moments a call of "all's well," resounded across all stations upon the wall above him. Gideon paused from hiding the unconscious men's bodies and called out to them. "All's well!" The main gate still stood askew. He now had one half hour in order to get a few essential supplies and escape through the other side of the fortress before anyone realized the main gate had been compromised.
Gideon squeezed inside the gate and pulled the large lever to reset the spring and lock on the main gate. A dirt courtyard opened up beyond the raised portcullis above him. Sheep bleated contentedly in a pen to his left while a horse stable, lit by lamps, stood directly across from him at the rear. Beyond that, another set of heavy doors stood, which must have left out of the fortress, following the main road into the Wayland. Before he could go, he had to get food and water. It had been too long since he'd eaten and Gideon had no idea how long it would be before he came upon a town along the way.
The rest of the fortress seemed to be comprised of several stocky buildings, which must have housed the troops themselves and any facilities they might need. His best course of action would be to avoid any place with a buildup of soldiers. As he walked out into the courtyard, Gideon saw men on guard within towers and on the wall behind him.
A cistern, full of rain water, stood on his way to the horse-stalls. He stopped and bent over the edge, drinking deeply. The water was cool and refreshing-not as clean as a running stream, but not bad. Other men walked through the courtyard in pairs, but no one came near him.
Gideon decided a search for a water pouch would be too risky. If he could only find a bow, he would easily be able to hunt for any food he needed. Still, he did have a nice heavy dagger on this belt. That would be useful for hunting too, if not for making his own bow and arrows once he got out of here.
He wiped the excess water from his face and started toward the stalls. Several men tended to the horses in the well lit barn, but there were guards inside who appeared to be instructing the laborers on some aspect of their animal's care. Gideon looked beyond them to the doors at the far end. By the time he incapacitated the guards and men caring for the horses, stole a horse, then opened the doors to get away, he'd have the entire place coming down on him.
It was well known that those in the highest command positions at this fort had also been trained by The Order of Shaddai. Unfortunately the matter had turned into somewhat of a scandalous affair between Isaiah and the High Priest of Wayland's Temple, Sandoval. The latter had considered it a matter of personal service to King Stephen, while Isaiah felt it best for The Order to remain out of each country's political affairs. Still, if those men answered the alarm, Gideon would probably not make it out alive. He needed some way to get a horse and get out.
Gideon spotted a servant carrying a bucket of pitch and fresh torches in a sack upon his back. At each place where a torch waned, the servant dipped the new torch into the bucket, coating it well, then lit it before setting it in place of the other. Gideon smiled. He had his diversion.
Gideon followed the servant and came upon him as he passed through shadows upon the courtyard near one of the buildings. He took the bucket of pitch and made sure no one appeared to be looking his way. Then, in darkness, he ran toward the horse stalls and launched the bucket up and away.
It collided with the top of the archway leading into the stalls and exploded. Pitch flew out from the arch and dripped below it onto the hay strewn upon the ground. Next, Gideon grabbed a torch from a nearby mount and sent it careening through the air. It landed near the base of the arch quickly setting the pitch aflame.
As the fire spread, the men inside with the horses cried out and sounded a bell alarm within the barn. Men came rushing from everywhere. Gideon ran through a breach in the flames before it engulfed the entire entrance beneath the archway. He was inside the barn with the frantic men and animals.
Guards cried out instructions beyond the flames where Gideon had come from, but for the moment they couldn't get through. The horses grew impatient to be set free, the men and soldiers within the barn barely able to control them.
"Loose the horses!" Gideon shouted over the din. Two of the servants looked at him, puzzled, until Gideon pointed to the back doors leading out of the fortress. "Open the rear doors, you fools, and set these poor animals free before they roast alive!"
The men seemed to catch his meaning and ran for the doors. One even managed to get one of the soldiers to help. Soon the rear doors were swinging open to the outside world and the main road beyond. Gideon ran to the stalls and began to loose the locks on them.
The horses, only too glad to be set free, pushed through the stall doors and dashed out of the fortress as fast as the men could free them. Gideon spotted the animal chosen to bear him to Wayland's capital. He grabbed a saddle and quickly set to work harnessing the animal. The mare, with her patchwork brown and white coat, reminded Gideon of his former horse. He opened the stall door and led the horse out, pulling the reins to keep her from taking off without him.
One of the soldiers turned from another animal and saw Gideon climbing onto the mare. "Hey! What are you doing?"
Gideon lashed out with a boot and clipped the man's head, knocking him to the ground. Gideon goaded the mare. They launched out through the doors. The soldier regained himself, standing and crying out in alarm after the one who had just stolen his horse.