Chapter 298: Capturing The Tangled Tower
On the ground floor of the Tangled Tower, Captain Aiss stood with three columns of the fiercest fighters from the Dark Wolf Brigade as they prepared to execute the orders Hamdi had given him after he delivered Nyrielle’s message.
"Captain, isn’t this excessive?" one of the soldiers standing nearby asked. "Three columns is already sixty men, why do we need to wait for Captain Gawel to rouse and arm another three columns?"
"You don’t understand," Aiss told the young soldier. "Our masters may look down on the vampires of the Vale of Mists but we cannot. Even if they were as weak as the vampires of the Mongrel Horde, we would still send at least two columns to subdue a single vampire."
"The woman in the servant’s dress," the Golden Eyed captain said, shuddering as he remembered the way she’d frozen him in place with a single look. "She’s not simple. Remember, our job is to take them captive if we can and to buy time for Master Savis or Madame Birsu to return."
"Don’t worry kid," a grizzled veteran with a pair of rings in one ear said reassuringly. "I’ve fought against the Mongrel Horde before. It’s possible to overcome a vampire with numbers as long as you don’t lose your head. Follow your seniors and you’ll be hanging your first ring before you know it!"
A few minutes later, the sound of a high-pitched whistle, inaudible to most people, pierced through the night, announcing that the other force had arrived at the opposite stairwell and was ready to begin their half of the assault on the people who followed Nyrielle and the vampire she had left to watch over them.
On the floor above Nyrielle’s battle, Zedya’s ears perked up when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps and the clink of armor and weapons. There were only two entrances to the large hall they had gathered in while awaiting permission to bring Nyrielle’s baggage to the lower level.
One entrance lay in the center of the long, north wall and the other in the center of the narrower east wall. From the sounds she heard approaching, the enemy intended to enter through both sides of the hall to catch them in the middle.
"Keep your men back to defend the drivers and servants," Zedya told Captain Lennart as she hopped off her daybed and walked towards the entrance to the hall where she heard the loudest sounds of soldiers approaching.