- It's their profession. You're either alive or you're somebody's lunch. I'm with the prospectors. Let's start there! We'll make our way to the armory. We don't use magic. We'll play a couple of bandits trying to rob a place and running into a game with teeth.
Breaking into the alchemy shop was no problem. Neither was accidentally hitting a guard spell. A short fight with a couple of prospectors and a quick escape, through the neighborhood waking up to the howling of guard magic.
The disturbed spell not only made a loud, nasty sound, but also created light effects. Even the siege camp would be awakened by such a thing, not to mention the fortress. The adventure, which was intended as a fun adventure, turned into a serious problem.
- The next time you and I agree, we'll have to be sure not to do that," Alexander took a deep breath to regain his breath and looked outside.
The vampires, who had slipped into a small alleyway, didn't use magic and ran at the usual human speed, so it took a while to get away from the chase.
- They'll start blocking off neighborhoods now," Leonid didn't care about the future; he had things to do in the present.
- It's good, there will be someone to fight with. Such slow running wastes more energy than normal running.
The voivode's prediction came true and soon the streets were securely blocked by military patrols. The soldiers, who had been raised in the middle of the night, did not show much zeal for duty, but they did not try to protest either. So they wrapped themselves in cloaks and jackets, hiding from the night chill, and watched carefully for anyone in the light of the weakly burning torches.
The attackers appeared as if from under the ground. A brute who had grown up in front of a soldier immediately struck him with a pole-axe, and his partner took off the head of another soldier with an axe. The ensuing fight with the two surviving patrolmen made enough noise to interest the other fortress guards, but was not long enough for them to come to the aid of their comrades. The vampires, who'd had a couple liters of blood each, had already fled the scene.
And it was all for nothing. The citadel guards didn't even move. The saboteurs could see it for themselves after only a couple of minutes. The soldiers of the elite part of the citadel didn't care about what was going on in the fortress.
- And you suggested not to kill Elos, but to take him prisoner, - Alexander looked at Leonid, - We will not be able to kill him at this rate.
- Don't moan. Commanders are not supposed to behave like that. Let's go check the secret passage.
There was indeed a passage from the citadel to the fortress and back. And it was kept in exemplary order. Only those who had seen it were not magicians, and their memory could not tell the vampires what awaited the uninvited guests.
Finding the entrance to the tunnel wasn't easy. The people who knew about it were from the citadel and had never seen the exit, knowing only its approximate location. Only the third cellar, searched thoroughly, brought the vampires success. A secret door and steps leading downward. It turned out that the entire tunnel contained absolutely no spells.
The presence of magic could be detected and any secret passage was usually done without it. Such was the case with the passage the vampires intended to use the next night. There were only some magical guards at the entrance. But to expect that the secret tunnel inside the fortress, where there was magic at every turn, would also be free of spells, was beyond the vampires' comprehension.
Naturally this did not stop them from taking advantage of the gift of fate. When exploring the tunnel, it was found out that the general principle was exactly the same as on the way out of the fortress. The guarding spells were only on the side of the citadel.
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