Unexpected visitors

CHAPTER 3

Unexpected visitors

Once again Friedrich was laying on his bed; waiting for midnight to strike since it was at that time where all the guard posts were relieved at the same time. Moments before he had gathered all the essential things for his crusade; his bayonet, water canteen, and an old rusty key that he took from one of his drawers, then he ran back to his bed so when the guard entered the dorms he wouldn't get caught. At the moment he didn't have any elaborate plans, he would just walk towards the east for three hours, to Fischersville, once there he would think of the rest. The danger of his adventure plus the risk of getting caught was enough to get his heart pumping adrenaline like a dispenser. Once he got out there wouldn't be any turning back. Surely one of his now peers would eventually go after him, to hunt him, Lilisburg would stop being his home, and he didn't feel any remorse because of that.

Under the ignorance of everyone present at the academy, a group of armed men grew closer, hidden in the sand. They were carrying big curved swords and, in a lesser quantity, muskets of an inferior quality to those issued in Lilisburg. One of those men squatted down; he started doing signals with his hand, telling everyone else that the coast was clear and they could start their act.

It was a force around four hundred men, mercenaries, but they had been getting closer to the academy moving slightly and only during the night, for various nights. This determination was beyond a fistful of gold. Once they were just under the fortified walls, stealthily they charged and stabbed both the sentinel guard and the officer with him at the gate. Two of them took from out of their pouches a pair of rounded objects, with a moldable consistency, like wax when it's warm. They were informally known in the Lilisburg military as "Kashke kisses". The men placed them at the gates and then proceeded to put a fuse on each one.

It was now midnight; it was now or never, the ideal moment to get through the walls with the lowest chance of getting spotted. Friedrich knew of a point from which it was possible to get out without crossing the gate or jumping from the high walls, he had been observing and analyzing the existence of this "alternate route" despite he never actually thought that there would be a day where he would have to use it. With a single jump he down from his bed; he took his belt with his sheathed bayonet, his water canteen which he adjusted in his belt and placed the rusty key in his right pocket. He got out of his room, closing the door behind him with the utmost care, keeping the knob turned to then let it go smoothly so as to avoid doing any noise, then with quick light steps he walked towards the dorm's door. He opened the door and before getting out to the patio he took a quick view to make sure that there weren't any unconsidered factors.

Unexpectedly, a thunderous explosion threw the enormous doors which fell loudly, waking up all the souls in the desert. ''Shit'' Friedrich thought. His cover had been blown. Friedrich instinctively put his head back in the dorm, but what the hell was going on? Once again he peeked through the door; a massive flame was slowly consuming the fortified walls. He could see clearly how the guards were running through the west side of the walls, some of them running with buckets and others with the musket on a shooting stance. The voices were echoing everywhere; chaos and confusion further complicated the understanding of the situation.

''We're under attack! Stay alert, all those bastards will be coming soon.'' A cadet on guard duty shouted.

''Give me the damage report.'' One of the officers was yelling to the cadet in charge of the armed guard, distinguished with the red band that he was carrying on his left arm.

''Sir, the main gates have been destroyed, there's a huge fire that we are trying to extinguish and we lost both the sentinel guard and chief of access.''

''Sound the alarm with the cornet, everyone to the call of arms!'' Another officer on the first floor screamed to a cadet that barely understood what was being ordered.

The cornet started giving the call, with its warlike accent, so that all the cadets got out their beds to dress as quickly as possible. Friedrich without thinking it twice ran towards the armoury, he suddenly felt a hand in his shoulder, when he turned he saw Otto who gave him his powder flask and with a hand gesture told him to keep running. Once there, they noticed how the poor guy that was in charge of the powder depot that night and how he was trying to supply all the cadets with their muskets and powder so they could immediately go fight the aggressors. Friedrich and Otto took handfuls of powder that they desperately inserted into their flasks; they took as many projectiles as they could the same way, which they clumsily placed in all their available pockets. They loaded one musket shot each, which they bayonetted. The situation was total chaos; there were screams and gunshots that sounded in the eardrums of everyone at the academy, Otto and Friedrich ran outside the academy, to look for an advantageous position, but they were halted by an officer.

''Friedrich, Otto, you two with me'' He shouted while he pointed towards the pair with his index finger. It was Major Tobias, an officer that despite having a young appearance was extremely talented. With just thirty years of age, he had the fame of being a likeable and comprehensive man; all his subordinates and peers were unconditionally loyal to him. He was respected by many, especially by Friedrich, who had adopted him as some sort of mentor, after all, he was one of the few officers that knew about Friedrich's story before entering the Royal Academy and because of that, he sympathized with him.

''Where are we going, Major?'' Friedrich asked whilst he was running next to Otto, following the Major.

''We have to get your highness out of here. This Kashke attack was well organized, surely they know of her presence here and I suspect that she might be the objective of this skirmish.'' Otto's eyes shined once his objective was mentioned, while Friedrich was perplexed. Those bastards dared to break the truce after so many years?

The trio was going up the stairs and moving towards the room where the princess was staying. The conflict, like fire, spread to the insides of the Royal Academy's walls; cadets and officers equally were fighting brutally against the invaders, their swords represented a big threat, and a clear disadvantage for the armed forces of Lilisburg in such closed space, where a musket with a bayonet attached was such a big weapon to handle with ease. It was hard to admit, but the situation was drastically against them.

When they reached the second floor, they started receiving musket fire, so they instinctively took cover on the half wall. Each one of them shot once with their muskets to then load it once more, so they could win some time allowing them to move crouching. Getting in front of the door to the room where the princess was, the Mayor and Otto took positions to cover Friedrich, who had been ordered by the Major to escort her personally, far away from the desert, far away from danger. Friedrich wasn't sure if the Major was aware of the arrangement that was made earlier that day, which Friedrich was part of. He was uncomfortable with the mission he had been assigned to but it was an order and he had to obey it.

Friedrich steeled himself, with his left hand he was holding his musket from the upper part whilst with his right was resting on the doorknob. He took a deep breath and with a single move, he slammed the door open.

''Tap!''

Suddenly Friedrich felt a sting in his face; a shoe stuck on his face slowly slipped through it and fell down on the floor with a dry sound. Friedrich had the impact mark on his face, the surprise made him lower his guard and stand there, seeing the girl in the corner of the room with the other shoe on her hand, ready to throw it, she looked like a rampant lion, or rather like a cute kitty, at any case she was willing to fight even with her nails.

''What in god's name are you doing there you idiot?!'' Erika cried out upon seeing the still marked face of Friedrich, who suppressed all his thoughts and emotions out of respect for the Major's orders.

''We're getting out of here, take whatever you consider important'' Without giving her time to reply, Friedrich got out of the room and placed himself next to the Major, observing his surroundings in the lookout for a possible threat. The princess got out with a navy blue summer dress that had white flowers drawn all over its length, in one piece, which reached to her knees and gave her enough space to have mobility without being baggy.

The group moved out of the house, the Major covered Erika with his kepi and jacket, they quickly moved towards the fortified walls, up there they would have a better point of view to plan how they would get out of there. The main gate was (as far as the Major knew) the only exit and for such reason the most conflictive place in the battle. In the corner of the southeast wall, was the barn in which the horses and carriages that entered the Royal Academy were kept, that was their objective, but how would they get there without calling out the entire enemies' attention?

Friedrich noticed the dilemma in which the Major was, and thought that there wasn't a better moment to try out his "alternative route" so he placed his hand in the Major's shoulder, which interrupted his thoughts and turned back to Friedrich with curiosity.

''I know an exit, besides the main gate'' The revelation was something unexpected, but he was willing to give it a shot if he could get the princess out safely.