Bright sun rays pierced through Colton's tent, waking him up for the day.
Heading outside, he was immediately greeted by the comforting warmth of the sun and relaxing scent of the environment.
The others were also starting to wake up, stretching or admiring the morning day as they emerged from their tents.
Calliope emerged from her tent, not admiring or stretching, instead taking a deep breath before walking to the others.
Upon seeing their leader walking towards them, everyone approached her, awaiting the task of today with a clear and rested mind.
"We will start heading towards the walls. To honor my promise to Quill, we will stay in the market for meat while we wait." She explained.
"Yes!" Quill audibly rejoiced, beyond happy after hearing the plan.
Everyone else was also joyful, having restrained themselves from eating the food in the market, now they can freely eat before the mission.
"Colton, get the coins left in the wagon before we depart." With the idea of food in his mind, Colton rushed to the wagon without hesitation.
Once his pouch was filled with the remaining gold they had left, the group began walking away, leaving the camp.
The mood was bright and joyful, everyone talked loudly. Even as the leader and normally cold during missions, Calliope held a small smile on her face.
After an hour of walking, they arrived at the wall.
But the gate to the inside was locked shut. Above, there were more patrols than usual.
"Our best way inside is by scaling the wall and utilizing our disguises again." Under the cover of trees, Calliope's hand glowed and a blue cloud enveloped everyone.
After a few moments of waiting, the clouds vanished, leaving them in disguises of common soldiers.
"Given our new climbing knowledge, scaling it should not be as difficult."
They crept through the open area before arriving at the wall. Above they could hear the conversations of soldiers.
Calliope waited for the right time to climb up and signal the others.
In a minute, she spoke. "Now, climb" The group started climbing the wall with great speed, reaching the top in less than twenty seconds.
After waiting a few more seconds they climbed up. On both sides were patrols of guards either looking out to the forest or moving around.
"A whole buncha soldiers. Doubt we'd have a chance to get outta here when things go rough." Marcus commented.
"Then we won't return. If the situation goes wrong, we may have to resort to hiding somewhere or using our disguises to seek refuge in a tavern or inn." Calliope replied quickly, already coming up with a backup plan.
"That works i guess."
While observing, Colton noticed. Small groups of guards were already jumping roof to roof, acting out their own patrols of the roofs.
"Guess the top ain't safe either."
"Then we may simply follow the crowd below, and avoid the soldiers as much as possible."
"Great plan leader." Quill joined the conversation. The mere mention of meat from the market had changed her tone and personality, seeming more loyal or bootlicking than before.
With no other choice, the team quickly descended down once out of the sight of wall soldiers and roof guards.
Once on the ground, they started walking close as a group, imitating the patrols they passed.
The streets were more populated than usual, with more wagons moving around and a higher number of soldiers that patrolled each street.
"We riled those guys up real good." Marcus smirked, looking at every patrol that passed.
They soon arrived at the market. Even in the morning, the familiar and irresistible smell of the meat they craved is already filling the air.
"Mmm, meat…" Quill drooled.
"We just need to stick together the entire time while moving. No sudden deviation from the path."
"Brilliant order leader." Quill quickly responded.
"Jeez, what's gotten to her?" Marcus looked at her confused, but his curiosity soon went away once he smelled the food.
The team went through the crowd and past patrols, the scent only getting stronger as they got close.
After hours of painful restraint, they finally arrived.
The stall was larger than the rest, tended by multiple cooks with someone on the side handling the money.
Behind a small wooden barrier was a grill. Small lumps of steaks were being seared and cooked.
Some in the group had to cover their eyes as the smoke blew towards them.
A large amount of people were already digging in on the side, enjoying every bite of it.
"Colton, the bag." He quickly removed his satchel and handed it to Calliope, who started counting the coins inside it.
After a moment, she approached the man tending to money on the side.
"Oh, a few guards. Well I don't discriminate with hungry stomachs. How many?" The man asked with enthusiasm in his voice.
"Just seven"
"Alrighty then, just wait for a few seconds. Total goes to 70 coins." After Calliope handed the money, the man left the counter, approaching the cooks and grill while grabbing a few short metal spikes.
He stabbed already cooked pieces of steak on the grill with the spikes, getting seven in total before returning to the counter.
"There you go, enjoy!" With 7 spikes in her hands with juicy steaks on each one, she started handing it out.
The team wasted no time, digging in the second they held the spikes.
As Quill dug into hers, tears started forming in her eyes.
"This…Steak…It's too good!" She exclaimed loudly, the others shared the same thought, eating like wolves. Even Colton.
While they ate, Calliope took smaller bites while watching her team.
"This should be an excellent method of morale boosting." She spoke to herself. Thinking of the possibility of using this more.
As they dug in, the sun had gone higher, closer to midday. But they were locked into eating the steak on the spike, almost fully controlled by it as they munched on.
It only took a few minutes of eating before they were fully famished, their desire to eat long gone as they held empty spikes in their hands. Calliope as well had already finished.
"It is almost approaching midday, it is best we move now to the designated location." Calliope warned the group.
With their hunger gone, they handed back the spikes and went on their way.
Colton noticed that there were more patrols on the roof, jumping around or looking down at the people below.
"He said to meet him near one of the cathedral walls. It is best we find him." Calliope mentioned as they approached the large cathedral.
The entrance had a larger amount of guards tuan the last time they went to the place, either standing in posts or walking around.
After a few minutes of looking for Myo, they found him, sitting on the wall with his hood down. He looked up, sensing as if the team was already there without needing to look.
"Don't worry, I know it's all of ya. Follow me." He ordered, seemingly having the ability to see through their disguises.
With a short delay, they left the area, staying close to the walls.
"The rear of this place has the least people so it'd be the best way in. Just make sure you climb quickly, roof patrols are away for a short while." Without another word, Myo started climbing. Followed by everyone behind them.
The area had less people than the other places, mostly just filled with people sleeping or street vendors who are more focused with selling their wares than anything else.
Celestine and Quill climbed faster than the rest, their competing spirit still high from last night. Almost overtaking Myo.
Once the last of them had gotten up, they made their way to the bell tower. The roof was slanted on both sides, causing them to walk in the middle, hoping to not slip and fall.
But with the knowledge they gained from the pages, they stayed balanced and reached to the foot of the bell tower.
As they looked up, a loud ding rang out to the entire city. The group covered their ears from the amount of noise from it.
After it stopped ringing, they looked above, slightly dazed.
"It's midday, we should move now." Following behind Myo, they scaled the tall tower, feeling the winds pick up as it tried knocking them off.
The climb slowly felt harder as they got closer to the top, the winds became stronger, making the climb more difficult.
Colton felt more fearful as the climb went on, hoping he wouldn't fall off.
Soon, they finally reached the very top. In front was the large bell that rang throughout the city. Near to it was a wooden stairway leading down.
"Exercise caution and discretion. Once I manage to identify a few cultists we may disguise, we can move onward freely." Calliope notified the group.
After spending a minute on the top to gain some breath and energy, they slowly descended down the stairs.