As Eskkar and his men slipped through the darkness and approached Akkad’s north wall, he refused to dwell on the countless things that could go wrong. He had to get into Akkad. If he could accomplish that task, the most difficult part of the plan would be behind them.
To scale the wall, Eskkar brought with him Grond, Mitrac, Alexar, and two of Mitrac’s best archers, the same bowmen who had followed him over the palisade at Bisitun. Mitrac with his keen eyesight led the group down into the ditch. They crept in silence across the empty space, bent over as much as possible to reduce their silhouette.
A hundred paces behind them, Drakis waited, out of sight and hopefully out of earshot, with twenty-eight more soldiers. They would approach the wall only when Eskkar and his own group reached the top.
Bantor had taken the rest of the men, leading them off toward the river gate, ready to support the handful who’d gone ahead with Yavtar.
Eskkar put everything out of his mind except the need to move without making a sound and without stumbling over some obstacle hidden by the darkness. He couldn’t see any sentries on the wall above him, but they would be there.
With his handful of men, Eskkar reached the base of the wall, at the exact spot where the Alur Meriki had launched their night attack months earlier. Eskkar led the way out of the ditch, and one by one, they spread out along the base of the wall, hugging its rough surface as much as possible.
Except for the three archers with their bows, neither Eskkar, Alexar, or Grond carried any ready weapons that might clink against the wall and give them away. All their swords and knives had been wrapped in a blanket Alexar carried. Eskkar bore a ladder, and Grond had two coils of rope slung around his neck. The ladder and ropes had come from Rebba’s farm.
They had gotten this far without seeing anyone, following the riverbank from Rebba’s house before cutting across the fields. Now Eskkar and his men knelt in the dirt, freezing into immobility when they heard the sentry’s footsteps above their heads. Time dragged by as they waited, listening to the sentry’s tread as he walked along the parapet above them.
He strolled back and forth a few times, then the sounds faded away. Eskkar couldn’t tell if the guard had moved along, or simply sat down to rest his feet, no doubt leaning his back against the wall.
Only Mitrac, waiting in the center of the ditch and covered with a dark cloak, could see the sentry. Eskkar and the others waited, still pressed flat against the wall. As long as they made no noise, they wouldn’t be discovered. The guard would have to lean out over the wall to see directly beneath it.
Eskkar heard footsteps again as the sentry returned, walking slowly, until once again his footfalls faded away. Still they waited, and Eskkar stared into the ditch, looking for Mitrac’s signal. In the heavens, the three-quarter moon had begun to descend, but it would still shed some light until nearly dawn.
Grond’s hand suddenly tightened on Eskkar’s arm. “The signal, Captain.”
Eskkar swore to himself. He hadn’t seen Mitrac give the sign, but that didn’t matter any more. “Hurry, then. The moon is sinking fast.”
Grond took the ladder hidden beneath them and leaned it up against the wall, taking care not to make any sound. Eskkar grabbed one side of it, Alexar grasped the other, and between them they held it firmly against the fifteen-foot-high wall. Eskkar had measured the ladder before they left and found it just short of ten feet. Rebba’s men used it mainly for picking fruit from trees. The soldiers had selected the sturdiest one on the farm, then tightened and reinforced its bindings and steps; a snapped rung might ruin the attempt to scale the wall.
Under Grond’s weight, the ladder sank a little into the sandy soil, and Eskkar leaned on it with all his weight to keep it from twisting. Grond mounted the rungs until he reached the highest place on the ladder, then reached up with his arms.
With his head twisted upright, Eskkar saw that Grond’s fingers were still short of the top by nearly an arm’s length. Grond merely bent his knees, taking care not to disturb his balance, then straightened them with a rush. For a moment, Eskkar thought the man had missed and would come tumbling back down on top of them. But Grond caught one hand on the top, then the other. He hung for a moment before pulling himself up. Once he had an elbow atop the wall, he jerked his body and swung a leg up and over the top.
Grond disappeared from sight. No one had raised an alarm, and Eskkar breathed a sigh of relief. He let go of the ladder and stepped back, glancing along the wall in both directions. He heard no sound or outcry.
Grond carried no weapon with him, nothing but his bare hands, but Eskkar had no doubt as to the outcome if a sentry encountered Grond.
The faint rasp of a bow being drawn made him turn around. Mitrac had moved forward and joined the others at the base of the wall, his bow ready. By now all three archers knelt in the dirt, arrows pointed toward the top of the wall.
Grond called down to them in a whisper, and Alexar straightened up and threw the first rope up and over the wall. As Eskkar watched, the rope and Grond vanished from sight. A moment later, the rest of the rope slithered up the mud-bricks. The thick hemp strand, knotted every arm’s length, would making climbing easier. Grond’s head reappeared, and he waved his hand.
Instantly, Mitrac replaced his arrow back into his quiver, climbed up out of the ditch, and stepped up to the ladder. He handed his bow and quiver to Eskkar, who took them in one hand as his weight leaned against the ladder. The young archer moved nimbly up the ladder, then took hold of the rope and pulled himself up the last few feet.
The rope made a rubbing noise against the wall, loud to Eskkar’s ears but slight enough not to be noticed from above. The instant Mitrac went over the top, the next archer started moving, clutching bow and quiver in one hand. Reaching the top of the ladder, he paused and handed up his weapon, then reached down, took Mitrac’s from Eskkar, and passed that one up as well. When the archer started up the rope, he slipped. For a moment he hung there, his feet scratching the wall for purchase, until Grond leaned down and caught the man’s arm and pulled him up the last few feet.
The third archer had already reached the ladder and began climbing, the tip of his bow nearly poking Eskkar in the eye as he handed it up before seizing the rope.
At last it was Eskkar’s turn, with Alexar holding the ladder. Eskkar pulled himself up the rope, though he welcomed Grond’s help when his friend reached down and caught him under the arm. Once over the wall, Eskkar found no one there but Grond.
The archers had disappeared along the parapet, following Mitrac’s orders to eliminate any sentries, leaving Grond and Eskkar to work the rope. They called down softly, and Alexar tossed up one end of the second rope. Attached to the other end was the blanket containing their weapons; it, too, was quickly drawn up the wall. The men’s swords and knives had been carefully rolled inside, as well as Alexar’s bow and quiver.
Only Alexar remained on the ground. He lowered the ladder, too unsteady to use without being braced, against the base of the wall, then wrapped the first rope around his waist. A moment later, Eskkar and Grond pulled him up and over the wall, to stand beside them on the parapet.
The first part of the plan had succeeded-six men had scaled the wall, and no one had detected them.
Eskkar’s eyes searched the parapet as Grond untied the bundle and distributed the weapons, the three men crouched low against the wall. Alexar took his bow and vanished down the steps and into the darkness to watch the lane, leaving Grond and Eskkar alone on the parapet. Eskkar breathed a thanks to the gods, then dangled his sword carefully alongside the wall and waved it back and forth. There would be just enough moonlight for Drakis to see the signal.
Meanwhile Grond fastened the second rope to a wooden brace a dozen paces away from the first one, then tossed the trailing end over the wall. Eskkar looked up and down the parapet, but saw nothing. Turning toward the ditch, he watched as Drakis urged his men forward and began sending them across the ditch, ten at a time. They lined up five to each rope and began pulling themselves up the wall. Eskkar ground his teeth at every noise, certain they would be discovered at any moment.
The head of the first soldier appeared over the wall and Eskkar dragged him up and over with all his strength, both of them almost falling to the parapet from the effort. But with the two of them working together, the next man came over easier and with less noise.
Eskkar took a moment to make sure he had his bearings and that no one wandered the lanes. Reassuringly, the lane remained empty. He whispered to the soldier, to make sure the man knew where to send the men when they climbed the wall. Before Eskkar left the parapet, he glanced out over the ditch, but he could scarcely see Drakis’s men as they slipped across the open space facing the wall. Turning toward the village, he heard only silence. The sentry would be dead by now, killed by one of Mitrac’s arrows, or he would have returned, making his rounds.
Stepping away from the edge of the wall, Eskkar descended the steps from the parapet and entered the city of Akkad. He crossed the space at the bottom of the wall. During the siege, this open area once measured about thirty paces wide, but since the Alur Meriki had been driven off, villagers had rebuilt or extended their houses, once again encroaching on the wall. Less than a dozen paces of open space remained at the base of the parapet. Butcher’s Lane ended there. Its familiar smells recalled the memory of how they had ambushed the Alur Meriki exactly at this spot, slaughtering their proud warriors like sheep caught in a pen.
Eskkar went to the end of the lane and waited for his men to catch up.
His eyes strained in the darkness, and he listened for every sound. Then Grond reached his side, with three more men. Looking back toward the wall, Eskkar could just make out the moving shadows as they climbed over the wall. To his ears, they sounded as loud as a herd of horses, but so far, no one had raised an alarm.
Mitrac returned, along with his two archers, at the same time that Drakis, breathing hard, came down the steps to join him.
Eskkar put his hand on Drakis’s shoulder. “You know what to do, Drakis? Wait here until all your men are with you. Then get to the gate as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, Captain,” the man replied in a whisper. “We’ll be there.”
“Good hunting, then.” Eskkar clasped his arm, then turned away, Grond, Mitrac, and five more Hawk Clan following, all of them experienced archers. Eskkar resisted the urge to rush, forcing himself to walk along at a regular pace. Counting himself, he had eight men, not as many as he preferred, but Bantor and Drakis would need every man. Besides, if Eskkar had to fight his way into his house, Trella would likely be dead before he could reach her.
They had several streets to cross as they turned and twisted their passage toward their destination. He glanced up at the fading moon. It would be dawn soon. The light of the moon had almost disappeared.
At last Eskkar reached the lane where he lived. Spacious structures lined both sides of the street, almost all of them hidden behind man-high, irregular walls that formed the passage. His house, by far the largest, loomed above the others, near the center of the lane. A faint glow emanated from the upper story, and he wondered who guarded his workroom.
Mitrac touched his shoulder, and Eskkar let the master archer slip past. Mitrac’s eyes would be almost as keen at night, and he had the hunter’s ability to move noiselessly. Only moments went by before he stepped back to Eskkar’s side.
“There are two of them, Captain. One’s leaning against the wall. I think the gate is open, but I can’t be sure.”
The gate should have been closed, but, of course, these bandits had already grown careless. “Quickly, then, Mitrac. Get your men in position.”
He watched as the archer eased across the lane, to the side opposite Eskkar’s house, and then walked slowly down that side of the street. Eskkar could scarcely see Mitrac’s path in the darkness. The archer disappeared from sight, vanished into a doorway. Two archers followed his lead, one by one. As soon as the last man reached his position, Eskkar turned to the others.
“Grond and I will start in. You three wait until we’re at the gate. Make sure no one comes up behind us.”
Eskkar turned the corner, and started moving toward the house, Grond at his side.
They walked slowly, talking loudly to each other, weaving every few steps as if from too much ale. Eskkar wanted to draw all attention to themselves, to keep the guards’ eyes focused on them, not the shadowy figures on the other side of the lane.
The guards heard them and straightened up, but did not draw their swords. They had no worries. In the last few days, Akkad’s inhabitants had learned their place. Besides, behind these sentinels, in the two houses that made up Eskkar’s residence, more than twenty of Korthac’s desert fighters took their rest. Rebba said he’d seen at least that many there.
As Eskkar approached, he saw that the gate indeed stood ajar. A closed and fastened gate would have been another problem. He guessed that more men would be in the courtyard, probably taking their ease at the table, helped by an occasional drink from a wineskin. The rest of Korthac’s men would be asleep inside, but the nighttime watch would end soon, and these guards would be looking forward to getting some sleep of their own.
Eskkar stopped about ten feet away from the guards. Just then a muffled shout reached his ears. From its direction, he guessed that Bantor’s men had reached the river gate. Hopefully the guards would not know what it meant. Before the men could react, Eskkar turned to Grond, raising his voice.
“Did you hear that? Sounds like women screaming. Maybe we should go and see if there’s room for two more.”
“No! We have to get back before Ariamus finds us. We’re in enough trouble already.”
The distant shouting faded away, and the two guards seemed confused. One took a step toward them, but the other turned in the direction of the noise.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Eskkar said loudly, and dropped down to one knee, by now only a few paces from the sentries.
“Let me help you,” Grond said, slurring the words and stooping down beside him.
The instant he was down, three arrows flashed out of the darkness and struck Korthac’s men. One of them made a strangled gasp, but Eskkar laughed to cover the sound. He and Grond reached the men, catching them before they could fall. Neither guard had a weapon in his hand, making it easy to lower them silently to the ground.
A bench scraped in the courtyard, and Eskkar began speaking again, raising his voice to cover the small sounds as Mitrac and his two archers slipped up beside them. “Maybe we should wake Korthac and tell him.
That’s good, let’s ask him to settle it.” The words meant nothing, but Korthac’s name should give the guards inside pause.
One arm around Grond’s shoulders, Eskkar pushed the gate inward, keeping his other arm extended to make sure the gate stayed wide open as he weaved drunkenly into the courtyard.
“Who are you?” came a voice from the darkness.
“We come from Ariamus,” Eskkar said, slurring his words as if from too much wine.
“Get out of here, you drunken Akkadian scum. Come back after dawn.”
The words, spoken with a strong accent, came from the big plank table placed between the two dwellings. So at least that hadn’t been moved. “Ariamus sent us,” Eskkar said humbly, bowing his head. “We have a message for Korthac.” Looking up, he saw faint flickers of light coming from the upper story, from both rooms.
“But we can’t remember what it was,” laughed Grond, and slapped Eskkar on the back.
Moving forward as he spoke, Eskkar saw the guards, two darker shadows sitting at the table, one with his feet up on its surface, the other leaning back with his hands behind his head. Their eyes shone whitely in the faint light. Glancing around the garden, he saw no one else.
Eskkar stepped away from the gate, moving sideways toward the main house. “Is Korthac awake yet? We have a message…”
The sound of many voices shouting at the tops of their lungs interrupted him. This time Eskkar realized the noise came from the west, not the river gate. That meant Bantor had entered the city and reached the barracks. The two men at the table started to move, one dropping his water cup, but they were already falling, three arrows flashing into their bodies as Mitrac and his archers stepped in from the gate.
Nevertheless, one of the Egyptians cried out as the arrow struck him, loud enough to give a warning. Eskkar ignored the dead or dying guards, certain Mitrac’s men’s arrows would finish them or anyone else issuing from the soldiers’ quarters. Instead Eskkar burst into a run, and in three giant strides reached the main entrance and flung himself with all his weight against the door.
But the portal, built to withstand just such an attack, held firm, and he bounced back, his left shoulder tingling from the impact. He’d hoped the door might not be barred or securely fastened. To his left, he heard another crash as Grond hurled himself at the kitchen entrance. But that doorway, too, was closed, and instead of a quick entry, all they’d managed to accomplish was to awaken those sleeping within.