The countryside was completely silent. Only the sound of two horses hitting the dirt road broke the peaceful atmosphere of the night.

The full moon lit up the sky and the path so that the horses were moving at a fast pace. Their two riders were very comfortable with their pace.

Stephana and Alopex Klein had left the manor half an hour ago and were now approaching the city. The trip had been smooth, and they wanted to believe that it was a good omen.

They entered the streets of the city, which were filled with the last of the revelers and drunks. They paid no attention to them and they both were able to go behind the palace without fear of being noticed.

As soon as they saw the walls, they got off their horses and hid under the porch of a house.

“The barracks are just behind. You'll have to go through the courtyard," Alopex Klein whispered.

“I'll do that. I'm going to roll out. I think I'll be back in half an hour.”

“I'll wait for you here. Good luck.”

Stephana nodded as she pulled up her scarf to cover her face, pulled down her hood and turned toward the enclosure.

The infiltration was beginning.

Stephana ran to the wall, making sure she was not seen by the guards patrolling above. She melted into the shadows of the moon at its feet.

She walked along the wall looking for a window, that she found a few meters away. She took out a rope with a stone at one end.

Stephanie twirled the rope and when it had enough momentum, it rose to hook itself to the window shutters.

Stephanie smiled and began the climb. Accustomed to this type of exercise, it took her only a few seconds to reach her target. She checked that no one was in the room and slipped in without a sound. She then removed the rope and put it in the bag where she had planned to keep the swords.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She looked for a place to hide but there was no place to hide. So, she stood by the door, drew her dagger, and waited.

The door opened and two guards entered. Stephana knocked them out with the handle of her weapon. They collapsed. Now she had little time before they woke up.

She left the room and ran down the stairs in front of her. Lucky, she did not run into anyone and reached the courtyard.

The full moon was both an ally and an enemy. Indeed, it perfectly projected Stephana's shadow on the ground, which prevented her from crossing directly the courtyard. On the other hand, the silhouettes of the guards were quite visible.

Stephana decided to proceed in two steps. She ran to a well in the center of the courtyard and took shelter under its shadow. She discovered that two guards were protecting the barracks. She had to be quick.

She ran back to them and took advantage of the surprise effect to slit their throats. She opened the door of the barracks to enter.

She took a torch that lit a corridor to the right to illuminate the map she had just taken out of her pocket. She realized that she had to take this same hallway to find the stairs that would lead her to the basement.

She quickly walked so as not to make too much noise. She went down the stairs in a hurry after having found it.

But the inevitable happened.

She faced four guards who had noticed her because of her torch. She did not let them analyze the situation. She threw her first dagger between the eyes of the first one who approached her. The stupor froze the other three. She took the opportunity to draw her swords.

“Intruder! Intruder! Intr-” a guard whose third word remained blocked in the blood that had just come out of his throat shouted.

Stephana was fighting two guards who were not as skilled as she was. Their fate was settled in two deadly pirouettes.

She put away her swords and took the key out of her other pocket. She opened the weapons room and marveled for a moment at all the steel that reflected the light of the torches.

She set to work. She gathered about twenty swords and tied them with two small ropes before putting them in her large bag.

She put it on her back and, in order not to sag under its weight, she wrapped the cords around her chest.

The work done, Stephana went out, closed the door with key and prepared to leave by the secret passage.

As if guided by an instinct of which she did not know the origin, she took care to throw a glance at the dead guards.

It was at this moment that she saw her.

A plainly dressed woman with an impenetrable feature who gave off a mystical force.

Marshal Mei.

It was the first time that Stephana had met her. Yet she was sure of the identity of her opponent, who matched her reputation all too well.

Stephana ran to the end of the corridor and desperately looked for the lever to the secret passage. She found it, but a moment too late.

Marshal Mei's sword had just slashed her arm. Stephana screamed as she raised her sword to avoid a second attack.

Hidden in the wall, the door to the secret passageway began to open.

“Grab her by the prisons," Marshal Mei shouted.

Stephana took the risk of backing up blindly to get out of the reach of Marshal Mei, who was following closely behind her, as quickly as possible.

Stephana heard the scrape of a blade in a sheath. She rolled forward to avoid the dagger thrown in her direction. It fell right in front of her. She caught it and threw it back at her opponent.

A groan told her that she had hit her target, she got up and continued her run.

She had to get back to the surface. She desperately searched for a staircase which she found only after long minutes of wandering and decapitating guards who were in her way.

She climbed the stairs without realizing that she had missed the exit to the courtyard. She was panting under the effort and the weight of the swords. She knew that Marshal Mei was going to catch up with her and she was not at all sure she would win the fight.

The staircase ended on a door that Stephana broke down. She finally found the open air and discovered that she was on the walkway of the enclosure. If she jumped, she would be killed. If she stayed, she would be pierced by an arrow.

A solution, she had to find a solution.

In the meantime, she fought off the guards on the sentry walk who were heading her way. She was almost at the end when the miracle happened.

The door opened.

Stephana jumped onto the roof of the stables that stretched along the wall. She finally jumped to the ground and ran to the door.

“Stephana!" a man to her right shouted.

She then saw Alopex Klein standing next to two dead bodies of two guards. She ran towards him and pulled herself up onto her horse with difficulty.

“Let's fly!" she shouted to relieve the pressure.

They took the same roads they had taken on the way to the city, except that they were now being chased by a group of horsemen.

They had just left the city when the first arrows grazed them.

Stephana clenched her jaw. She knew what she had to do.

She turned around. She stretched out her arm and hand. Immediately, flames shot out of her hand and toward her attackers.

Marshal Mei had immediately known who the weapon thief was. She also knew his power and the dangers she would have to endure to catch him.

She could not help but be surprised when she saw the flames before her.

"Water, we need water," she desperately thought.

A wall of water rose in front of her and protected her from the flames.

She stopped her horse and saw that all the guards who had accompanied her had been burned.

"Read this book about...

 ... the powers of the shamanic people," she murmured.

Marshal Mei finally understood why the Empress had given her the task of killing the child. Clearly, he had mastered the power perfectly.

Suddenly, Marshal Mei felt herself thrown backwards. A pain in her left shoulder told her that she had been hit by an arrow, probably from the second rider.

She heard the horses riding away and did not try to catch up with them.

In summer, dawn comes early. Early enough that she kept the nightly hoofprints on the dirt roads.

To be continued.