They say when Orzaghmen was born, he had no chance of survival, he was taken far from the orcs and elves and brought up alone in a small hovel in the woods. His birth was a mystery for a long time, no one bothered to find the truth nor him. But it was completely different in Edwin's birth, the news spread through towns like a myth and folklore, and the elves exploded in anger when they found out that their blood was embezzled, they wanted to end it before it could become normal. They killed his mother. His father, a high-born elf, sacrificed himself and promised his son wouldn't produce offspring.
Edwin grew up with the dwarves, as a craftsman and architect, his weaponry skill was to the sky, and he shone like a morning star in it. The elves didn't have a choice rather but to accept him. Even though he was forgiven, he was not welcomed as one of them, the men opposed it as a dishonourable sin. So Edwin built his own home, Condor. A real home that enlarged along with the knights, as an arsenal, a pride, and then a monument.
And later it was a crowded army camp filled with knights, marching around like stiff stallions, loud commands passing from one another; the tents were erected, weapon loads laid everywhere, loads and loads of weapons. It was completely exploited, both in and out with no compromise.
"How do I put this?" I was in the isolated corner near a mole statue, holding a thick two-layered metal ring. Unarmed and exposed.
"Pull it apart and get it close to the wall," Armdan explained.
I did the same, a metal frame like a mouth flipped between the rings and stuck with the wall like a lodestone. I pulled out a cylinder from the bag and dropped it into the mouth, it grabbed the cylinder like an alligator grabbing its prey. I would have taken it as another supply of power if I hadn't been told it was an explosive. It appeared exactly the same.
"Seven more," I said under the helmet as I walked into the knights again. I exchanged glances with lots of knights but didn't risk making steady eye contact. Armdan was right, I didn't see the Knight Commander yet, but he wasn't in control, he was passing all the instructions from Edwin's chamber.
It became handier when I planted the third and forth. I felt like an expert, I started to put the cylinder within the frame and toss it on the walls when no one was looking.
That was not enough for the risky part, the air between the knights slowly reduced as I went close to the control, knights stood above the bridges monitoring everything. I slipped the metal frames on the walls as I moved along with the knights. I made another lap through the storey and planted two more elements, one near Edwin's office and another under the thick pier.
I tried to plant the next one within the camps, but when I reached there, the knights were gathered, busy loading their weapons. Boxes of gunpowder lay between their legs, I dropped a cylinder on the floor and went back to the Control. The empty open frames stayed as it was left when I reached it, I slipped a cylinder in the mouth as I walked by.
Bright red lights flashed above the storey, followed by an immediate awakening. The alarms spun around the levels, I was almost convinced I would be dead.
The knights stood staring towards the ceiling when the announcement broke out, "need recruitments… lower base… a thousand… a thousand-" A more bolder and stable voice completed it, "units assemble. Lower basement." The knights hurried into action, some moved towards the camps for weapons, and some started to move down the stairs.
"They found you," I called out. "They found our hiding, do you hear?" The knights pushed past me on both sides, and I turned and ran with them.
"Do you hear?" A voice cried after a long buzz.
"Yes, I do."
"They found us."
"I know, I am coming."
"No," his sudden roar broke my pace. "Finish it, there are still chances, we can make it."
"But-" I looked at the last three cylinders hanging in the bag.
"Go back."
I had no idea what I would do or what I could do if I happened to reach them before the knights, so I turned back and walked against the rushing army. There were a few glances, I lowered my head and kept my pace until a thick metal hand jammed against my chest.