Run, Run, Run, As Fast As You Can

Storming the castle

The stop at the HMH had been quick. I got in, stole all their chloroform, found their stash of tranquilizer guns, and got out with in a matter of minutes. I didn't see anyone; I didn't set off any alarm. It was just in and out. 

Just for fun, I left a note telling Grace that I'd found my match, but that since I wasn't in her care when it happened she wasn't going to get squat for all her time, energy and frustration, spent trying to keep me in the HMH. I thanked her for the stash of chloroform and the tranquilizer guns that I found close to the solitary confinement cell. I signed it with a flourish that I knew would make her angry, and at the bottom I "sincerely" apologized that the griffins landed in her rose garden and destroyed everything. I also informed her that she was out of meat. 

That was fun, but there was no challenge to it. They didn't have nearly as many guards there since I was gone, and that made getting in and out child's play.

Breaking into the castle on the other hand, that was going to be a challenge. 

I didn't really look like a bugler, if anything I looked like a kid dressed up as a ninja on Halloween. My pants were loose and made out of a stretchy material so that if I did get into a fight it wouldn't destroy them, but I had to wrap the bottoms with something to make sure they didn't catch on anything. Because I wanted as much of my skin covered as possible, I was wearing a long sleeved shirt with gloves. That just left my face and hair. It would be impossible to miss my blazing red hair if I left it uncovered and I didn't want anyone to see my face. Ski-masks were uncomfortable and hot though; instead, I wrapped my neck and head in a long swath of black fabric. Only leaving my eyes uncovered. I was covered from head to toe in black to make it easier to move in the shadows, that didn't mean I didn't feel ridiculous because I looked like the bad guy off a cheep Jackie Chan movie. The only things that ruined the allusion we're the black backpack slung over my shoulders and the two small tranquilizer guns at each side.

The only thing that made me feel slightly better, was that the princess of the elves also looked like an extra on a movie that people only watch for the ninja fight scenes. Even that small condolence was kind of ruined by the fact that I couldn't see her at all when she didn't want to be seen. If she stepped into the shadows, even knowing exactly where she was at, I couldn't tell if she was really there. Nobody would ever know that she was dressed so ridiculously. 

I shook my head, trying to forget the fact that if someone saw us now they would remind us that Halloween was a long ways away. It was time to focus on the job at hand. 

Sora and I had to break in to Kenrick's office, find the files that he had on all the packs that he controlled, figure out which one was for the place they were keeping the dragon child, and get out, hopefully without killing someone. We were going to need to take out all the guards that patrol the outside of the castle, if we didn't one of them might realize that something was off. Werewolves have a good sense of smell they might be able to tell that not everyone who'd been looking at the castle had been a wolf, or even a wild animal. That or, we might have to knock one out to get in and another guard could stumble onto his body. Not one could be left standing, at least outside. That's where the tranquilizer guns and chloroform came in. 

The castle was bigger than I remembered but perhaps that was just because I wasn't planning on breaking in and taking files from the king's personal office last time, and breaking out is much easier than breaking in, you only  really need to worry about the part of the castle you were in.

If this was going to go smoothly we wanted as little contact with the people inside as possible. Opening all the doors and going through the rooms wasn't a good option. There was a way to make this easier, though. I just had to figure out what that way was.