Last Rank

Chapter 19

- Jake -

As the sun set over the city, Jake stood in front of the house his men had gathered in with the door at his back. He needed a moment of peace for himself. Too many thoughts raced through his head. He wasn't as certain about his plans as he had wanted to be.

His mind blinked in an out of attention as he watched David approach. The young soldier was covered in an odd coat. He looked over his shoulder every other step, making it so painfully obvious that he was up to no good. Jake sighed and would have wanted to say something, but Nathaniel spoke first.

"Why don't you scream treason while at it," the demon snarked, stepping through the door, pushing Jake aside with his presence alone.

"W-What did you say?" David stuttered. He, again, glimpsed around himself, making sure the street was empty. It was.

"Any issues at the barracks?" Jake asked.

David sullenly shook his head. Guilt was written all over his face. That calmed Jake a bit. The young soldier had done his task of poisoning his comrades on rest.

On Nathaniel's signal the men left the house, they needed to be quick now. While not many people were out on the street, some would be. And some would maybe even wonder what a larger group of men and women were doing wandering about in line and order at this time of day.

"Go, boy," Nathaniel shooed David, knowing the urgency just as well.

David gulped. He was deadly pale, much like Elly had been when she had left for the castle a while earlier. The two siblings certainly were a mirror of each other at times. David very much looked like he had reconsidered – like he would not lead Jake and his group to the secret entrance to the castle after all. Then Annabelle would have gotten herself caught in the dungeons a day prior for no reason and open the door from the inside for no one. The Earl and his men would be overwhelmed when they stroke the second attack from the outside, and Elly would be trapped inside horrors.

They would fail.

Jake shook it off.

"Any moment now, boy," Nathaniel urged again.

"I am not your servant," David grumbled as he ripped his eyes from the group pouring out of the house. "And I am not a boy."

"You certainly whimper like one when –" Nathaniel trailed off with a look at David's shocked face. "Oh, well, never mind." The demon grinned to himself.

Jake couldn't quite follow that. Usually Nathaniel left no chance at unsettling someone untaken.

Maybe he was unsettled himself.

They all were.

Jake felt fear chilling his bones following David through the empty, less favoured streets. Hopefully really towards a secret entrance and not into a trap. So many things rode on this one move. Jake should have never let Nathaniel talk him into accepting this opening.

They arrived at an older house, brick built and roof cracked in at a side. David pulled a fittingly old key from his pocket and unlocked the front door. Probably unnecessarily so, Jake could have kicked it in with force alone, it had clearly seen better days.

"This is as far as I go," David declared. His voice trembled. Maybe with remorse, maybe with nerves, maybe both. "There are stairs at the back, follow the only corridor at its base and you will arrive at the castle entrance after about five minutes of walk."

Nathaniel stared David down, making him look very much like a boy as he took a step backwards, unsure what to make of it.

Jake waved the group inside, they followed command. Then Jake followed, but turned again at the entrance for Nathaniel, who still stared at David like he was about to swallow him whole.