Raid On Duin Carth by Nepenthe ( 2012 )

[esercito sconfitto]

Raid On Duin Carth






Raid On Duin Carth Pt1.

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Greetings all.. sorry I haven't been in evidence much lately.. real life and all that tiresome business. Now, down to business...


Lady Eleanor Hawken looked around at her group of chosen for the night’s raid. All of them were young women, loyalists to the crown, who had been in hiding ever since the hated Morlyssa had taken the crown. The king had been publically executed, along with the crown prince, and the rightful queen, Caylinna had been kept a prisoner in the fortress of Duin Carth, along with her daughter, the crown princess Asylinne. Six months had passed since that time, and word had reached Eleanor that both of the royal hostages were to be handed over to the traditional barbarian enemies of her people, as part of the forging of a new political alliance. The loyalist rebels would have to act fast. If they could rescue the queen and the princess, it would be a great symbolic victory, and a rallying cry to the nobles of the realm, who suffered the new reign only due to a mixture of fear, and lack of a solid leadership to bind them together as an effective force.
“I have some good news for us all, at least.” She told her assembled band. “The usurping ***** is visiting the noble houses in the far North of the realm, putting the fear of who-knows what into them. This means that the fortress is not as heavily guarded as it would otherwise be. But we still have to deal with her Hellions.” This brought a murmur of grim assent and anticipation from her group. The Hellions were a newly established guard, comprising of young noblewomen who had been coaxed, bribed with favours, or somehow swayed into the new Queens’ service, doing her bidding with a mixture of arrogance and callous disregard for the rights of the people. All present felt that a reckoning was more than due for this pack of damned little vixens.
“Our spies within the fortress have provided us handsomely with information, as to the guards, and the location of the captives. You have all been able to study the map of Duin Carth, and I hope you all know the parts you must play tonight, down to the last detail.” Another murmur of assent rippled through the band of loyalists, and Eleanor nodded with satisfaction. “Good. Stay strong and alert and we will have our true queen back among us by the dawning of the sun.”
With a series of grim smiles, the young women, some fifteen in all, clasped each others’ hands in a sign of loyalty and comradeship, before finally pulling up the hoods of the dark cloaks that they all wore. They had dressed lightly for the first part of the raid. Silence and quickness were required. And before long, they would be needing a change of clothing in order to infiltrate the fortress.
They filed in silence out of their hideout, after a last minute check of their weapons, and breaking into small groups, they made their way into the darkened streets of the town that lay below the brooding fortress, heading for the local inn, The Drake’s Head.


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Eleanor ensured that she was in the first little group to reach the inn, a large, sprawling building that stood near the outskirts of the town. It had once been a hub of life for the local populace, but now it was mainly patronised by Morlyssa’s troops. The sounds of loud and raucous merriment could be heard as the group approached. Clearly, the off-duty Hellions were making good use of their free time.
Eleanor pushed the door open, with a little nod to her lieutenant, Bryanne. The young woman smiled and nodded in return, casting a glimpse behind her to ensure that the other members of the loyalists were not too far behind. As Eleanor entered, a wave of heat and light swept over her. In the low-ceilinged main room of the inn, around twenty five of the Hellions sat or stood, drinking, talking, singing, and shouting at the harassed serving staff for more food and wine, still wearing their darkly impressive red and black uniforms. Eleanor was unable to hide the look of resentment and contempt for a moment, before forcing herself to look calm as she lowered her hood, and met the gaze of Grynn, the landlord of the inn, who stood behind the bar. He had been expecting them, and his part of the plan was already under way. He clapped his hands together loudly, and shouted out over the din. “Boys and girls! A round of drinks for these fine young ladies! On the house!” There was a loud cheer from the assembled drinkers, many of whom had already drunk more than was strictly good for them. One or two eyed the new arrivals with curiosity, but kept to themselves. The Hellions were well aware of their unpopularity, and few if any went out of their way to mix with the world outside of their ranks. They grasped at the goblets that were brought around by the serving staff, and quickly drank the free wine. Grynn smiled benevolently around at his patrons, and then gave Eleanor a little wink as his gaze swept over her group. She crossed to the bar, picking her way through the revellers, with Bryanne at her heels, the rest of her group moving forward, just as more of her raiding party entered. She leaned forward to converse with the landlord, safely able to talk to him without being overheard through the noise and chatter.
“Good eve, master Grynn. Were you able to provide for your guests?” The tall, lean man gave her a slightly crooked grin and nodded. “Good Mother Hedra was more than willing to help, when I told her what was afoot. Give it a minute or two, and you’ll see for yourself, m’lady...” He proffered a goblet of wine to Eleanor, who took it with a murmured thanks, and turned to survey the room. Another group of her loyalists had just arrived, and the inn was becoming quite crowded. However, the noise was beginning to subside. The drinkers were losing their loud enthusiasm. There was a sudden pause, as one of the Hellions dropped her goblet, and slowly, almost comically, collapsed to the floor. “Can’t hold her damn drink....” muttered one of her companions in a slurred voice. But it soon appeared that the woman was not alone. Slowly, without any alarm or fuss, one by one the drinkers fell silent, slumping back in their seats, or collapsing to the floor, deeply asleep.



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There was a moment’s pause, and then, with a sigh of satisfaction, Eleanor raised her goblet. “Here’s to Good Mother Hedra. A finer herbalist I’ve yet to meet. Grynn, bolt the door if you please, and let’s get to work.”
As the landlord locked the doors to the inn, Eleanor and her band helped the serving staff in clearing the tables and chairs to the sides of the room, dragging the unconscious Hellions into the centre of the floor, where they lay in a large, sleeping mass. As soon as the room was clear, the loyalists began to strip the helpless young women of their uniforms, some of them taking the opportunity to dish out a few slaps, punches and kicks to their avowed enemies. “Shall we kill them?” asked Bryanne, holding one young woman up by her long blonde hair. Eleanor shook her head. “Not tonight. The ***** queen will be angered enough if we succeed. If we kill her precious little pets into the bargain, the local people will be made to pay the price. They’d wipe this town clean of life for the killing of a single one of these preening little mares, let alone for a score of them.”
Soon enough, the sleeping women were stripped down to their bare skin, their uniforms piled to one side, and their undergarments ripped into strips to serve as blindfolds and gags. Grynn and his staff politely turned their backs out of respect, as Eleanor and her band began to undress themselves, before donning the uniforms of the Hellions. The uniforms were well made, and felt far better than the clothes they had just discarded; A black tunic, and tight-fitting hose, followed by a chainmail tunic , and armoured arm and leg greaves of dark metal, followed by a tabard bearing the snarling wolf’s head emblem of the Hellions. Finally, a black jerkin, fitted with plates of black leather, cured to rigid toughness for added protection, and grey boots. Weapon belts were buckled into place, and the change in clothing was complete.
Grynn reached under the bar, and hefted out two large, heavy sacks. “Should be enough rope in here for all of them...” He grinned. “I don’t think I’ve seen so many naked little kittens since my army days...” Eleanor smiled at him and nodded. “I should imagine you have seen a good few in your time, Grynn. Where will you keep them?” The man jerked a thumb behind him, before smoothing back his greying hair. “Plenty of room in the cellars for them. They’ll be nicely uncomfortable down there for a while. You will have them collected, as agreed?” Eleanor nodded. “Yes. I have allies who will come for them before the night is over. As they are all nobles, we can raise funds for our cause by ransoming them back to their families.” She helped him haul the sacks over the bar, and her raiders gathered around, collecting rope and strips of material. One by one, the drugged women were tightly bound, hand and foot, gagged with strips of knotted cloth, and blindfolded. Grynn raised the serving hatch of the bar, and then he and his staff aided the band of young women in dragging or carrying their captives down into the cellar, away from prying eyes.


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When they had finished, one of the raiders, Kelys, pointed at the uniforms that had not been used. “What shall we do with these?” Eleanor patted the girl on the shoulder. “We’ll take these with us. They will come in very useful for getting her majesty and the princess out of the fortress, assuming they can stomach to wear them...”
Finally, the serving staff brought the cloaks and helmets that the Hellions had removed to be more comfortable upon entering the inn. The spare uniforms were bundled into the sacks. Eleanor surveyed her group. In the darkness, they would more than easily pass for the women they had replaced. “Hellions – Fall in!” She commanded with a smirk. Her band fell into order, grinning at her mocking command. She turned to Grynn. “Our thanks to you, master Grynn. You have done us a great service tonight.” Grynn shook his head and smiled. “Anything to shove a big, uncomfortable stick up the ***** queen’s tight arse!” He saluted the young women, and unbolted the door, his staff already beginning to put the inn back into order. Eleanor and her band marched into the night. Everything was proceeding to plan...


End of Part One. Part Two to follow soon! Any comments and criticism would be gratefully accepted!



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The night was cold and damp, and the group of women marched in silence. Their initial euphoria at gaining the uniforms so easily had worn off, and now there was simply a tense nervousness at the danger that lay before them. Another Hellion patrol had passed them in the darkness soon after they had left the village, and to Eleanor’s relief, there had been no comments or alarm, so their disguises were as good as they could possibly be. All too soon, the loyalist raiders found themselves standing at the front gate of the grim, brooding fortress of Duin Carth. A young sentry gave the women a cursory inspection, and then waved them through. The women saluted as they passed into the courtyard, which was dimly lit by flaming torches and oil lamps.
Bryanne sidled closer to Eleanor, and whispered to her. “So far so good. What next?” Eleanor nodded in the direction of a door that was set into the wall of the main citadel of the fortress, off to one side from the main doors. “That door leads directly down to the cells where the prisoners are kept. We break into two groups. One group will stay up here, and take care of the Hellion sentries. The other group will head down to the cells, and get the prisoners out. We will meet back here, and march back out.” Bryanne nodded with a grim little smile. “Oh, we’ll take care of the sentries alright...” She fingered the hilt of her sword, and Eleanor shot her a warning look. “Try to avoid too much rough stuff. Remember, these little brats are all from noble houses, and we don’t know how willingly they joined. We’ll need the nobles on our side in the end, so killing their little princesses could have dire consequences.” Bryanne looked a little disappointed, and Eleanor gave her a nudge in the ribs. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t feel free to teach them a lesson they will never forget, though...” That remark brought a smile to the young woman’s face once more.
Eleanor gathered together a small group of six of her followers, and led them over to the door to the cells. Bryanne, left in charge of the rest, nodded to three of her group, and started to move over to the gateway, where two sentries stood, one of them the young woman who had waved them in. Bryanne’s group joined them in the doorway, blowing on their hands, and pulling their cloaks around them.
“It’s a cold night... got anything to drink?” She asked with a knowing smile. One of the women, a green-eyed blonde, turned toward her, and tipped her head back in the direction of the small room that served as a guardhouse for the sentries. “In there...we have some good strong wine to keep the chill at bay!” The other, a dark eyed, dusky-skinned brunette, smiled encouragingly. “Help yourselves, there’s plenty to go around. Are you here to relieve us?” Bryanne nodded. “We’ll take over here...go and get warm. We’ll call you if we need you.” The two Hellions nodded, and walked into the guardhouse. The group at the gate waited for a minute or two, long enough for the two sentries to unbuckle their weapons, and then darted in after them. There was a brief scuffle, with a muffled yelp as a hand was clamped firmly over a mouth, and then silence. A minute later, two of Bryanne’s group moved into position at the gate, and the others formed up in the courtyard, as if standing guard.

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Inside the guardhouse, Bryanne, and her remaining companion looked down in satisfaction. The two luckless sentries sat slumped forward, bound back to back, with their ankles tied in front of them. They had been stripped to their shifts and tight black hose, and had been gagged and blindfolded with strips cut from their tunics. Bryanne opened a large cupboard, used for storing cloaks and equipment, and then the two of them dragged the unconscious sentries inside, covered them with their cloaks, and shut the door again. “Nicely done...” Muttered Bryanne, smoothing her raven black hair, before donning her helmet once again. The two women moved back outside to resume their ‘guard duty’ with the others.
Meanwhile, Eleanor had knocked at the door to the dungeons, and a hatch had opened. A Hellion peered out at her. “Guard relief...Open this damned door! We’re freezing out here!” The hatch closed, and the door opened with a harsh grating sound. Eleanor led her group inside. The guard who had let them in, a striking young woman with almost silvery hair looked them over. “I didn’t think that the guard was to be relieved until the morning...”
She got no further than that, before one of Eleanor’s comrades, stepped forward, and delivered a swift and well aimed punch to the girl’s midriff. The startled guard leaned forward, winded, and unable to cry out, and Eleanor delivered a well-timed blow to the base of her neck. The Hellion crumpled forward, but was caught by two of the other loyalists before she could make any noise by collapsing. “Well done,” Eleanor grinned. “Get her into the guard station. Strip her, and tie her up. Make sure she is well gagged too...We don’t want her crying out.” Two of her companions dragged the senseless girl into the guard station, and set to work, stripping the girl naked. They used her belt to bind her legs just above the knees, and tore a strip from her tunic to tie her ankles. Her hose were used to tightly bind her arms behind her, and a strip torn from her tabard was stuffed tightly into her mouth, sealed in with more material. She was then shoved unceremoniously under the small cot bed that served the guard who manned to door. One of the women picked up a crossbow that hung from a rack in the corner of the room, and loaded it. “This will come in useful...” She whispered as she rejoined the others at the top of the stairs. Eleanor nodded, and gestured forward, and the group made their way down the stairs, and into the damp darkness of the dungeons, lit only by flickering torches on the walls.



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Eleanor led the way down into the dungeon, and they found themselves in a large room, with cell doors lining the walls. A table sat in the middle, around which sat five Hellions, who were playing cards. As the women entered, they looked up, and rose from their seats. “What do you lot want?” asked their leader, a stocky, strongly built woman, a few years older than the others, and evidently chosen for her lack of human empathy. Her dark eyes scowled at the group as she moved round to face Eleanor. “We are here to relieve you. They want fresh guards every two hours, in case someone tries to rescue the prisoners...” Eleanor explained, shrugging her cloak back.
“Who gave those orders?” snapped the guard officer. “I’m in command of the prison guards, and no-one told me anything about it. Give me the password.” Eleanor paused for a moment. She hadn’t been informed that any passwords were used, and she cursed at the lack of this information. The guard officer stepped forward, and her hand went to her sword hilt “The password, damn it!” Before Eleanor could form a reply, the woman began to draw her sword. But she wasn’t fast enough. There was a flash at Eleanor’s side, and a sword blade stabbed forward, piercing the woman through her chest, appropriately enough right through the red eye of the wolf’s head emblem on her tabard. The woman stared stupidly for a second, and then her legs buckled as she slumped to the floor. The other guards looked shocked, unused to the prospect of combat. Before they could react at all, they found themselves surrounded, and roughly disarmed.
Eleanor bit her lip. She hadn’t wanted any killing, but she had to accept that this was a necessity. She leaned forward, and checked the woman for a pulse, but it was quickly apparent that she was dead. At least it had been quick, the young noblewoman thought to herself. She quickly took the ring of cell door keys from the dead officer’s belt, and moved to the doors.
Most of the cells were empty. Morlyssa’s own brand of justice left few live prisoners. But in the third cell, was a woman, chained to the wall, wearing a ragged remnant of a once fine gown, and Eleanor’s heart pounded as she recognised the rightful queen of the realm, and realised that the proud and beautiful woman had been badly mistreated in her short time as a prisoner. She walked quickly to the prisoner, and carefully unlocked her shackles with the keys. Then, she stepped back, bowed her head, and knelt before her queen. “Your Majesty, we are here to set you free...”
Queen Caylinna looked down at the young woman before her. “Lady Hawken... What are you doing in that uniform?” She asked faintly, reaching down to lay a hand on Eleanor’s shoulder. “A young lady of the court such as yourself should be in finer clothes than that...” She smiled sadly, lifting Eleanor by her arm. “We took these uniforms to gain access to Duin Carth, in order to rescue you and the princess Asilynne.” Murmured Eleanor respectfully. “We have more of us standing guard in the courtyard. I know that you must have suffered greatly in here, but we have to get you out of here before dawn.”
The queen nodded. “I understand. There is much to be done. With the King dead...” She faltered a little, and the assembled women bowed their heads at the sign of grief, some of them then shooting angry looks at the small group of captured guards, huddled together in the corner in silence. As the queen walked out of the cell, aided by Eleanor, one of her comrades stepped forward, and jabbed a finger at the disarmed Hellions. “I say we begin some vengeance right here and now...” There was a general mutter of agreement, and the captured Hellions shrank back, their former arrogance having been completely wiped away by this turn of events. The queen stepped toward the angry young loyalist, and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. “No... That will not help us. These girls are too stupid to realise that the only reason they are here in service to that usurping traitor, is to keep their families in line. They are pawns and hostages, without even realising it...” She shook her head at the frightened and bewildered Hellions. “You will not be killed tonight. But know this...every one of you will be held to account for any wrongdoing you commit in that tyrant’s name...so be warned. If you have a shred of intelligence and decency, you will flee this place, and renounce your oaths of loyalty to Morlyssa.”
As the queen rebuked the captured guards, Eleanor continued opening the cells, until she finally found the princess. The young woman was in a better condition than the queen, but was pale, dishevelled, and weak. As Eleanor helped her from her cell, she tottered to her mother, and threw her arms around her, sobbing with a mixture of sorrow and relief. Eleanor looked around at her group, and frowned. “Damn... We forgot the spare uniforms. We left them with the others in the courtyard!” Gayelle, the young loyalist who had struck down the guard officer, nodded to the remaining captives. “Luckily we have a few more spares down here...” She glared at the Hellions. “Right, start undressing, all of you. Two of you are generously going to donate your uniforms to your rightful queen. And then you are all going to spend some time in your own filthy dungeon, so you can have a damn good think about where your loyalties really lay!”


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At sword and crossbow point, the captives began undressing, stripping down to their undergarments, looking scared and miserable. Eleanor and one of the other loyalists took two of the uniforms, and took the queen and princess into a cell to help them get changed. “I swore that I’d sooner die than where this uniform,” Muttered Asilynne, as the princess dressed, “But in desperate times...”
As the two liberated royals dressed themselves, the captured Hellions were bullied into the empty cells by the loyalist band, and found themselves shackled to the walls, before being gagged with parts of their own uniforms, buying some more time for the escape. With the queen and princess now suitably attired in Hellion uniforms, the cell doors were locked, and Eleanor led the way back up the stairs. As they passed the guard station, they could hear the muffled whimpering of the girl they had left bound and gagged, who had regained consciousness, and who was now helplessly trying to squirm her way out of her bonds. Eleanor pulled the door to the guard station closed, and locked it, making sure that the Hellion guard wouldn’t be able to raise the alarm for some time.
As they walked out into the chill night air, the loyalists who had been left in the courtyard snapped to attention, and fell in around the group as an escort. They found Bryanne and her three comrades in the guardhouse, where they had been amusing themselves by further binding their two hapless captives, until the two young women were utterly helpless, wriggling and mewling in their temporary prison. Bryanne smiled broadly as she saw the queen, and bowed to her. “Your majesty. We are ready to leave. We can start a few fires before we go....With any luck, we can burn this accursed place to the ground before the ***** Queen returns...” The queen shook her head, and smiled grimly. “My thanks for the offer, young lady. But if we prevail, I will be needing this place. A fitting prison for the traitors who willingly betrayed their rightful king, wouldn’t you say?” Bryanne nodded and saluted, falling into place on the group as they marched through the open gate. With luck, the alarm would not be raised for many hours, giving them time to put some distance between themselves and Duin Carth. They had horses ready and waiting for them with allies who would meet them on the edge of the forest. The queen and the princess would have to flee the realm for the time being, until enough support was gained to support their return. Morlyssa would leave no stone unturned in searching for the escaped captives, and much danger lay ahead for them all. But the first steps had been taken, and as they marched away from the hated fortress of Duin Carth, there was much talk about the future, and the fact that the ***** Queen would be made to pay most dearly for her treachery...

The End (for now)

I may well be returning to this setting for future stories. It seems to have a whole lot of possibilities for both heroines and villainesses to lose their uniforms!
Hope you enjoyed reading!


Last edited by Nepenthe, 6/9/2012, 1:33 am