A dark gray morning. Rain fell in comfortable sheets. Gerrick could hear thunder in the distance as the sun came up above the tombstone clouds. It only served to highlight the sleep he had lost the night before.

The velvet-covered grapple made no sound as Digs pulled it into place. Timing was everything: the two guards were pacing away, their backs to each other. In rain cloaks, their peripheral vision would be nearly useless. Digs hauled himself up with the rope ladder, one hook on each shoulder, planting it quickly. He waited for the others to come up behind him--Gerrick and Giacomo first--then quickly vaulted over the wall.

Gerrick rolled over the granite parapet, a dirk in each hand. Giacomo made a perfect three-point landing, one hand on his saber. One of the guards spotted them, but before he could shout, a crossbow bolt went through the back of his head through his open mouth. Gerrick darted for him and grabbed him. With one heaving motion, he threw the silent guard over the wall outside. Giacomo went the opposite direction, silencing the other guard and throwing him over.

"Good thing, this rain." Spider grinned.

Giacomo put a finger up to his lips, and pointed down into the courtyard under an awning where crates of supplies were being stored. "We hide there. Come on."

Less than a minute later, Gerrick crouched behind the crates under the awning with his friends. "Alright. The ships are in the hangar in th' sooth courtyard. Remember, we want small an' fast, not audacious."

"Audacious?" Digs smiled, his skin now a muddy brown. "What, us?"

Sine licked the flat of her dirk blade. "I guess I could tone it doon a wee."

They heard a door nearby creak open and closed. Someone hummed what Gerrick thought he recognized as the Marsaukan anthem. His crew ducked down, silently. The soldier--an officer, Gerrick could tell--walked right by their hiding place without missing a beat. He stopped to converse with someone in his Marsaukan dialect.

Ansley peaked out, then turned to Gerrick, holding her crossbow up slightly, a questioning look on her face.

Gerrick shook his head.

She lowered the crossbow again.

The conversation appeared to be friendly, and both men parted ways. When all was clear, Gerrick took another look.

He signaled follow, and darted out.

Around the next corner into a high-walled courtyard. Under normal circumstances, this would have been where the Inverrese would have kept the keep's tiny utility ships and the Colonel's yacht. Today, it was crowded, with people coming and going both from the ships and the hangar on the other side. the outdoor portion sat jam-packed with black-ships, and Gerrick could not begin to guess how he might pilot one.

But worse for them, the courtyard was crawling with crew.

"Shyte. Alright, back tae th--"

The alarm bell began to ring. Gerrick looked up.

In the bell-tower, a member of the Hooded tribe, a race of anthropomorphic hawks, glared at them, ringing the bell with one hand. Gerrick started to make for the crates again, but three soldiers came from that direction. He took a guess. "Follow me!" He ran for the kitchen door.

Just inside the kitchen, everything happened at once. Gerrick skidded to a halt on the dusty wooden floor, stopped by the image of a great, sable-black goblin with tangles of black hair, raising a cleaver to throw. "Gi' doon!"

Spider shoved Rose and Fearghas in, slamming the door shut behind them and barring it. The goblin spun his cleaver through the air, narrowly missing Spider's hand. Gerrick surged forward for a low tackle as the goblin drew a sharp, curved dagger.

"NO!" Ansley raised her crossbow. Gerrick impacted at the goblin's knees, doing precisely no good whatsoever. Giacomo cut one of the ropes holding up a pan-rack over the large wooden butcher's table in the center, and it swung down, with a loud metallic crash. The impact hit the goblin's dagger hand and sent a bowl of black, rotten-smelling apples bouncing across the floor. The dagger came down as Gerrick tried to scramble back. It grazed his side, leaving a bloody wound. Gerrick screamed in pain.

Ansley's crossbow snapped, and had this creature not had tusks, he might have died. As it was, the bolt shattered one tusk, causing him to flinch away. Gerrick tumbled behind him, slicing his hamstrings. The bastard crashed to his knees. Spider, taking the opening, barreled forward, beating the goblin to death with a mace in each hand.

Sine leaned back against the wall, bending over in exhaustion. She wiped her hair back tiredly. "So, Gerrick, what dae we do if th' subtle plan fails?"

Gerrick held his side, wincing. "Remind me tae get some armor."

A loud wooden bang sounded from the kitchen door. They all looked in alarm.

Another. This time, sheets of dust cascaded off the shelves around. The door jerked from the impact. They were trying to beat down the door. Gerrick signaled follow. "Come on!"

The great hall. This was a place Gerrick had seen many times, usually when his Da or Malcolm came out to inspect. It still looked much the same: long wooden table, suits of armor in Black-Watch colors, the largest chair at the end facing the huge iron-banded double-doors, where Gerrick's da would sit if he were in residence. The portcullis, for extra security, was up for now, even with the alarm ringing. They still even had the MacBoon banners up.

This was to be a trap for his father.

Gerrick ran for the doors.

"So what's your plan?" Jonas asked.

Gerrick pulled the doors open. "Get tae the main gate and get oota here."

Ansley looked at him horrified. "Gerrick, the alarm--"

Gerrick ran out. They followed instinctively.

He stopped in his tracks. There were over two dozen guards on the gatehouse parapets. One of them shouted and pointed.

"Back inside!" Gerrick turned to retreat as the arrows flew.

Rose screamed as she went down.

Gerrick turned to run back to get her, but Ansley shrieked and pulled him down. An arrow dinged off the stone right above his head. "Get her oot a' there!"

Giacomo ran out to get her. They could see Rose laying on the ground, a huge arrow shaft through her leg. Giacomo struggled to lift her.

The first soldier down the stairs was a man, six foot seven, long brambles of auburn hair falling down around his scarred face. He held a huge axe in each hand, grinning maliciously their direction. His minions began to swarm towards them. More arrows flew. Gerrick and his friends ducked back into the great-hall. He peeked out.

"ROSE!"

Giacomo stood up, drawing his saber. "Close the gate, Gerrick."

"HELP THEM!"

Giacomo saluted the brute. "CLOSE THE GATE!"

Spider tried to bolt out to help them, but a hail of arrows came right toward him. Three hit him, one in the leg, one in the right side, on in the left shoulder. Jonas lunged to grab him and pull him to safety. Fearghas ran to grab a serving platter off the table, to use as a shield. Ansley tried to draw a good bead on the attackers, but she too had to take cover.

Giacomo cut three down on the way past. Some made it through, malice in their eyes.

"CLOSE IT!" An arrow hit Giacomo's gut.

It was Sine who pulled the lever. The grate fell closed with a metalic bang. Sine flipped the locking lever. Gerrick felt Ansley and Jonas pull him away.

As they moved to retreat, Gerrick heard Rose shriek her terrible, nightmarish battle cry. He saw her leap at the brute like a crazed badger.

Gerrick pulled away from his friends and ran to the gate.

"GIACOMO!"

Giacomo danced and spun, cutting three more men down before they took out his leg and butchered him. Rose dug the eyes out of the brute's sockets as he snarled in pain. Gerrick could not tell, but he thought he saw blood spurt from his neck where Rose clawed him next. Soon, she was on the ground, as several pairs of hands pulled her down and pummeled her savagely. She managed to tear the ear off another.

Soon, she stopped moving.

Gerrick felt hot tears streaming down his face. He could not hear his own wails. Several pairs of hands pulled him away. From the direction of the kitchen, the sound of a commotion. Gerrick instinctively ran to the spiral staircase for the observation tower.

Now, more than ever, he wished his Da were here.