"But, Sir," said the Captain. "That's all the men we have left to hold the castle and city." "Don't be absurd," the Lieutenant responded. The captain wondered if the idiot had seen all the dead bodies inside or those out on the field. The 400 he just sent were the last soldiers in the city; there was nothing between them and the enemy outside. 300 had been sent on the beachhead mission in Aman, which left them with barely 1000 total, 600 of which were already dead. He watched in awe as the 400 assaulted the enemy on the hill. Where was the General?
The General was still unconscious, but he was aboard a ship. Jon and Drena each cautiously went down a separate stairwell. They went room to room, killing quickly and quietly. Jon reached the captain's quarters first and went in. Drena ducked into the galley. Drena found the cook and two helpers, and they begged for their lives, so she bound and gagged them tightly. Jon barely dodged a swipe of the captain's sword as he entered the room. He caught it on his new bracer and thanked his lucky stars. He countered the blow with a swipe at the captain's legs, but the captain was too fast for that. This enemy was adept at swordfighting, and he wove a wall of steel before him that left almost no gaps. Jon was pressed back, and his survival instincts kicked in. He rolled forward under the attacks, and his sword found the captain's stomach. He swiped sideways, and the fight was over. Drena grinned at him when he exited the cabin. Drena's next room was the infirmary, and a smaller man was seated at a desk furiously writing. She stood over him and read, saying, "Circulatory system?" The man turned and looked at her, then held up his hands for binding. Drena waved him off, saying, "Promise not raise alarm or do harm?" The doctor looked happy and nodded, introducing himself as "Hau Tuo." "Keep working, our doctor will be along shortly," Drena said and left the room with the door open. The man was rather dumbfounded but turned back to his work. The two of them headed to the lower decks, where they found 10 crewmen and quickly dispatched them. Vast rows of bunks were all that were on this deck, designed to hold 500-600 troops. They ran down the last stairs into the prison room, making short work of a slave master and his underlings. The keys found they open three cages and freed the slaves. Jiemba hustled into the area and began questioning the slaves as to who the wind power wielders were. 6 young treekins acknowledged their roles, and Jiemba got them all, along with the other captives, and took them to the mess hall. She untied the cooks and said," Cook everything you have and feed these first. If you cause any trouble, you will all hang from the yardarm tonight. I want steaming cauldrons of hot food on every table in this mess; thousands are coming."
Across town, 20 reinforcement soldiers were running to find out what was happening. They turned a corner towards the castle and ran smack dab into a horde of fleeing treekin slaves. In front of the mass of people was a snarling group of seedy-looking characters who lit into them viciously. The troops were chopped down like firewood. Caelan led the freed slaves past the fighting and towards the 4 boats. One of the seedy sort was badly wounded, and 4 treekins picked him up and carried him towards the boats. He felt like a leaf on a river's surface as they flowed along. As the first set of explosions rang out on the hillside, the treekin arrived at the 4 ships and swarmed aboard.
On the hill, one of the troops said, "By my accounting, these may be the last troops in the city; there can't be more than 50 or 100 left. Should we raid the castle for everything in it?" Aziraphale looked to his Thrain counterparts, who looked among themselves and nodded. One of them said, "Wasn't in our plans, but it would deal a huge blow to Zon if we cleared that castle out of goods." Aziraphale nodded, saying, "Then let's strike a blow against Zon!" The assembled troops cheered. The 400 soldiers charged up the hill and watched as four more barrels rolled down towards them. They moved to avoid them, but not enough. These barrels were loaded with iron shards, which cut through their ranks like a hot knife through butter. Those that survived took another rain of arrows, and then Aziraphale shouted, "Charge!" They routed through what remained standing and then charged the walls. The idiot Lieutenant was calling for reinforcements when they cut him down along with the few still on the wall. Their numbers swept through the castle, noting where viable goods were stored and killing the few remaining troops, though they captured an intelligence officer to question later. The far gates were opened, and the 60 wagons on the hill were called in to load up ...well, everything. 6 stonekin and 4 assassins asked Aziraphale for some time to complete a short mission. Aziraphale nodded, and off they went to the bank in town. It was early morning, but the banker was opening up when his two burly guards went down behind him; they had pickaxes on the backs of their heads. 30 minutes later, 6 stonekin and 4 assassins struggled to carry backpacks full of gold and platinum bars back just in time to load into the last wagon leaving the castle gate. It was near sunup, and what a night it had been, and oh what a day it was going to be!