A prayer in the dark

As Carmen expected, the guards leaving the Castle to return to their homes in the nearby town weren't closely inspected outside of a quick pat down and listing names.

Which was asinine, there was no written record nearby recording a headcount, or the names of guardsmen. They simply trusted you by the uniform you wore.

Now while this might seem ridiculous, but the Stenfall guard really didn't pay too much attention to who was wearing their uniform this late at night. They were safe behind the Fortress at the Border, and they had never seen a spy let alone experience one.

Therefore a state of complacency had fallen over the Guardsmen as a whole, and outside of the regular warnings to be observant, most of the guardsmen really gave a damn.

Stating a random fake name, he quickly and easily able to make his way outside of the gates with the easy excuse of returning to his family down below.

While all this was happening, he kept a cool demeanour but internally? He was screaming in anxiety. What if they recognise me? What if they ask where I live? He'd only ever been into the town a few times for festivals and celebrations with his family, so he might have been found out if the guards took a closer look at his story for even a second.

Dropping away from the main group he took a side trail into a thicket, breaking away from the group of guards he had left with, excusing himself by informing them that 'nature calls'.

He sat down and took a few minutes to let the adrenaline cool his nerves and practised a breathing technique called 'Square breathing' to take deliberate control of his breathing, another technique brought over by Cassius.

As Cassius said, slow is smooth, smooth is fast, don't rush, take your time, stay cool. He thought to himself, repeating the mantra over in his mind in silent prayer.

A nervous grin crept over his face, he'd done it though, he'd accomplished slipping past the gate's and out of the Castle without issue. Now for the hard part…

The space directly surrounding the castle was a barren hill four-hundred in a circle surrounding the Castle, with the north side possessing a sharp rocky decline, making it the most difficult section of castle to attack.

Just to be safe though, he kept to the woods at the very far edge of the open landscape and proceeded due west. Eventually pausing to take a moment's rest, he turned to look in towards the mighty fortress, seeing dozens of torch's and braziers dotting the walls, he could spot a few men here and there, but they were mostly hidden and disguised behind the large crenellations that decorated the entire length of the battlements.

"How incredible." Carmen spoke, taking a moment to appreciate the rugged beauty of the war fortress.

It soon occurred to him though—if he was a Scout, how would he report what he's seeing? What is he really looking for? He pondered questions like this as he removed his uniform and clanky chainmail, confident he was far enough away from any trail or peering eyes that he couldn't be spotted, and donned his dark cloak.

One close encounter with a deer that metaphorically stole his soul in surprise later, he found himself low-crawling sideways along the steep north hill, trying to spot his target through the darkness while he slinked himself through the large outcropping of stone that decorated the landscape.

Eventually, he reminded himself to calm his nerves, repeating his mantra and paused to get his bearings. His eyes strained in the dark, searching the less illuminated North Wall while looking over the large rock he flattened himself against as cover.

"Shit" He muttered quietly to himself, he had overshot it. Studying the wall one last time, he crawled down from his vantage point, and after inspecting the defences for any visible guards looking down, he quickly stood up and broke into a sprint to make it to the base of the structure.

Oh my god, oh my god He shouted internally, listening for the alarm bells to ring at any second, the minutes passed like hours as he strained his senses to the maximum for any indication that he had been spotted.

Carmen was quickly realising he had bitten off far, far more than he should have by attempting this after a single day of learning, the adrenaline making his limbs go fuzzy and limp as he slumped against the Castle wall, he curled into a ball as his nerves got the best of him and nearly slipped into a full-blown panic attack.

I can do this, I can do this! Slow is smooth, smooth is fast! I CAN DO THIS!!  He broke out of his trance and slapped himself in the face, letting the sting help him gain control of his senses. Eventually, he stood once again, his resolve hardened and continued his trip down the wall, straining his ears to the maximum for any noise from above.

He smelt his objective before he saw it through the dark almost moonless night, A hole at chest height, just barely enough for a full-grown adult to squeeze into.

Go fuck myself.

He sighed in regret, tears welling up in his eyes in deep loathing of his own plan.

Too late to turn back now.

And so he stashed his bag near the opening, donned his gloves, pulled his hood up, and started his climb up the structure.

Entering into the structure, which was slick on one side with human waste, he quickly crawled his way up one foot and one hand at a time. 

Above him he gratefully saw that there was a dull gold light shining down through the covering above. The sight caused him to enter into deep prayer, prayer to his Lord, and a prayer to his god, he felt that he had prayed more deeply and religiously than any priest ever could in their life.  

Lord above, Lord below, do not allow that light to disappear.