"I-I'm sorry lad! I didn't mean to frighten you!" His fathers spitting image says frantically while his wife berates him.
"Now look at what you've done Ronny! You've made the poor boy cry. As if living in this city wasn't bad enough now he has to worry about you scaring the daylight out of him." She says slapping his arm.
"I said I was sorry Tanya! What do you want me to do about it now?" Ronny says.
"I'm sorry." Jason says wiping his eyes. "You both look just like my parents." Looking towards Ronny "My dad died when I was four and seeing you I had hoped you were him."
"Oh. Poor lad." Ronny says. "Well I feel a whole lot better now." Then looking at Jason he hastily says "No offense intended."
"None taken." Jason replies with a slight chuckle.
"Jason! Don't run off like that!" Lillian says coming up and slapping his arm surprisingly hard. As she and the rest of his friend come running up. George stopping dead in his tracks as he sees Ronny Torr's spitting image.
"Is that....?" George says unable to complete his thought.
"No. I thought so to and that's why I ran off." Jason replies.
As they all stand their awkwardly Tanya steps up. "Hi I'm Tanya Torr. And this is my husband Ronny Torr. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
The others introduce themselves in turn then Jason goes. "I'm.... Jason Torr." The couple looks at him in disbelief.
"Well. Isn't that a coincidence!" Tanya says putting a hand on her slightly swollen belly. "We are naming our little one Jason if it happens to be a boy."
Trinity pipes up from beside Jason "Awww. Your pregnant! Congratulations!!"
"Yes yes it's very exciting." Ronny says. "But my dear we do have some where we have to be."
And with sudden realization Tanya softly says goodbye and drags her husband down the street.
"Well that was.... odd." George says.
As the group walks through the city, the come to find out is called Valens Gate, Blake explains what they say on the ride here and what the young boy said happened. And after what was seen inside the city limits the group is inclined to believe the boy. As they head to the market, where the driver and boy heading, they could hear a could hear the sounds of shouting and cheering. Rounding a corner into the market there was a large platform built in the center. On it stands a a bound man. He looks to be skin and bones. With sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. A Peacekeeper steps up onto the platform with a massive blade.
"This man has been found guilty of stealing. As you know the act of stealing is punishable by death during wartime. Now tell me. Was the apple worth it?" The Peacekeeper says as two more Peacekeepers move onto the platform.
"I-It w-w-was only an a-apple!!" The hollow man cries out as the two new Peacekeepers grab him by the arms.
The Peacekeeper that spoke drew the massive sword that he was carrying. He walked up behind the man who was fruitlessly struggling against the two men holding him. The blade rises behind the man and the crowd cheers, and the the blade cuts through the man from his head to his crotch. The crowd cheers loudly. Trinity, Lillian and George puke. Blake and Jason look at each other then start walking towards the platform where the Peacekeepers were now parading the bisected body around. Just before they reach the edge of the crowd a burly man steps in front of them holding out his hands. It was the driver that brought them here. The boy that was with him steps up beside him and says "It's time for us to go. As powerful as you might be you can't take on an entire city guard. Please follow us."
As the duo heads off Jason and Blake go and get their other friends and run after the driver and the boy. It didn't take long to find the cart and they all loaded up and started rolling out. They arrive at the fort in about an hour. When they all unload the wagon Jason asks his friends "So are we helping them then?"
"Yeah. We are helping them." Blake says with the others nodding their assent.
"Then let's go see Commander Hail." Jason says.
The group walks through the fort, which looks like it's preparing for battle, they head to the second story and knock on Commander Hails door. He opens the door "Yes."
"We've decides to help you. After what we saw... those Peacekeepers need to die." Jason says.
Commander Hail grins "Perfect. Come in. I'll go over the plan with you."
The Plan was a relatively simple one. On the day of the attack the Creed will send in wagons and carts. Four men to each. Their weapons and armor will be under two layers of grain sacks in case they get searched. Jason and his friends will be one of those groups. They have the least amount of risk since they have no need for weapons or armor. All groups are to battle their way to the gate and make sure it's down. Once that is complete the rest of the Creed soldiers at Fort Al will rush the gates on foot and int carts and carriages. Once the lower city is taken they will take the high city and execute the lord in charge of the city. But plans rarely go accordingly.
Over the next two days the fort was bustling with activity. The smiths were making sure weapons and armor were in good condition. The stable boys made sure the horses were clean feed and watered. And the attacks practiced their various weapon skills. George was quickly taken in by the archers after a show of marksmanship. That mainly taught him how to shoot quickly as well as accurately. Jason even took a few lessons from them. Jason as well as most of the other soldiers took lessons from Brand, including Jason's steel soldiers. The brutes of the group took a liking to Trinity after one decided he could break through he obsidian skin with his steel gauntleted fist. Not only did he not even scratch her but he even broke his hand. Lillian showed a great amount of prowess with twin long daggers earning her the praise of the Spymaster. At midday on the second day of preparations the teams were ready. The carts and wagons were readied. Weapons were sharpened one last time. And the tensions were high.