The barks woke him just in time. The wolf pups proved sufficient in providing warning. Anthony, having learned to sleep lightly, awoke at their sound.
Through the bottom clearance, he could see moving shadows behind the door. He equipped the huntsman attire, and with his heightened senses he heard whispers.
"These pups I will kill them, once I get my hands on them." a deep voice that could only belong to someone thirty years old or older, reached his ear. "But I don't think they're awake yet, let's make it fast."
Anthony attempted to wake up Irene. She groaned the first time, unwilling to leave her slumber. Anthony tried again and now with force to alarm her. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Anthony with a finger on his lips.
Her eyes darted towards the door, and it was then that the intruders broke it down. Torches and swords, the sight made Irene scream, having been reminded of the ransacking of Ausburn.
[Used 'Piercing Shot']
[You have killed a Thelessian Infantry Captain]
[Master +200]
[You have killed a Thelessian Infantryman]
[Mastery Points +100]
After the scream, a spear flew out of the darkness, and pierced the head of the one leading them. The intruder had no helmet on, and so the weapon tore a hole and proceeded to the man behind him, skewering his head as well.
Before the intruders knew what happened, two of them have already been slain. It was an instant morale collapse, and the rest of the men fled the scene as soon as they could.
Anthony instantly knew what was going on, and acted swiftly. He took the wolf pups inside the inventory, and Irene took the baby in her arms. Together, they hastily left the room, stepping over the pool of blood and the two corpses.
All the other rooms were closed, and with caution they traversed the corridor. Anthony kept a spear in his hand, should one come out charging from out of one of them.
They would not meet anyone until they reached the stairs. The armed man seemed to have kept watch for others and when he saw them, he immediately tried to flee. Yet, he would reach the foot of the stairs, a corpse with a spear in his head.
The door was just meters away, and if they could just exit the building, then everything would be easy from then on. So, Anthony traversed the steps as fast as he could, with Irene trying her best to match his pace.
The sheathing of swords made his skin crawl, and he pivoted his head away from the door towards the tables. There, around twenty men, all wearing mail, pointed their weapons at them. In the midst of the soldiers was the innkeeper, and no longer friendly.
Anthony readied himself for a bloody affair. He had killed so many men, and was confident he had enough experience to slaughter all of them.
"Lower your spear, or your wife and your child gets the steel."
More soldiers turned out, from above the stairs and from the door. He was surrounded from all sides. He was quick to realize that the threat was not an empty one. Even how fast he wields the throwing spears, it would be nearly impossible to protect the two while he battles.
Irene was behind him, trying to calm the baby down. She looked at him, with despair in her eyes, as if suggesting surrender. She was at the direct line of sight from the soldiers above the stairs.
"For what reason do you raise your swords against me?" he spoke to everyone, but his eyes were menacingly fixed at the innkeeper.
"You are a traitor, having assisted the enemy." the man's gaze wavered at the intensity of his.
"What is your proof?" he barked back.
"These silver coins with the face of Licenius." the innkeep displayed an imperial coin on his hand, and smirking, the soldiers looked at him for explanation.
"With that, you condemn me?"
"Enough!"
"I am Anthony, son of Alexander, captain of the garrison of Ausburn." he remembered the description from Irene and assumed Anthony's character.
"This woman is a Thelessian Noble. We endured the siege of Ausburn for six months, and survived the fall of the city and fled. And those silver coins you flaunt, I've taken from the dead Imperials I have killed."
What he said hit them like a truck and for a brief while, there was silence. He could be simply bluffing, but the fact that he easily dealt with two of them in one blow, strengthened his claim of being able to kill imperial soldiers.
He scanned the crowd and the expressions have softened. An indication that what he said made sense to them.
"Let's say you are right. You are still guilty of killing two of our brothers." it was not the innkeeper who answered, but the largest soldier among the lot. By the way, he moved and talked, it was clear he had some authority over others.
"And what do you expect me to do? Let ourselves be killed?"
"You were simply to be captured, and interrogated. One of the ones you just killed was the highest-ranking officer in this room. Why would we send someone as important as him as your assassin?"
The words made sense, and this time he was the one left dumbfounded. Irene's scream rattled him, and he impulsively threw the spear when he saw someone.
"How was I to know?" was his reply and unlike his first retort, his words fell flat.
The room, once again grew tense, as the soldiers reassumed their hostility against him. It returned to what he saw when he emerged from the stairs. Men showing serious killing intent.
"Now, we will not touch your wife and your child if you surrender. But if you choose to fight, that would be hard for us to do." the towering man walked closer, his hand on the hilt of the sword on his girdle.
"Your choice."