The lower gully was choked with razor-vine and frozen runoff, but it kept the group entirely hidden from the watchtowers perched along the high wall.
They moved in absolute silence. Noah led the vanguard, his eyes cutting through the dark like a predatory bird's, picking out the blind spots between the sweep of the courtyard lanterns. Right behind him, Daniel and Mary walked abreast—their movements fluid, their shared pace unspoken and natural once more.
Behind them, Felix kept his heavy broadsword angled downward to prevent the metal rings of his scabbard from clinking against his grease-slicked pauldrons. Every few paces, his eyes flicked backward to where Lucy shadow-stepped from stone to stone. She was still wearing his heavy fur mantle, its dark edges pulled tight around her throat against the howling valley wind.
When they reached the iron drainage grate beneath the inner wall, Noah dropped to one knee and held up a flat hand.
"Patrol above," Noah whispered, his voice barely louder than the scrape of dry leaves. "Four heavily armored wardens. Standard broad-blade loadout. They're walking the battlement every three minutes."
Finn Foster leaned close, examining the thick iron bars of the grate. "This grate was installed fifty years ago. The hinges are rusted through on the left side, but forcing it open is going to sound like a dying bull."
"Not if we take out the patrol before they pass over it," Lucy said quietly, stepping up beside Felix. She looked at Felix, her dark eyes sharp in the moonlight. "Big guy. Think you can handle the left tower arch without making a mess?"
Felix grinned under his iron collar. "Just keep them off my back while I lift the beam."
"Daniel," Mary said, touching Daniel's wrist. "You and Lily take the main courtyard path once the gate is open. Noah and I will cover the high ledge. If Arthur is in the Great Hall, he'll have his personal guard stacked three deep at the marble steps."
Daniel met Mary's gaze, seeing the fierce, unwavering trust in her eyes. "Understood. Once we're through, we press straight for the throne. No detours."
Lucy didn't wait for further orders. With a whisper of leather against stone, she scaled the rough granite wall like a spider, her obsidian daggers already drawn. Felix was right behind her, using his massive physique to vault onto the lower ledge with surprising, practiced grace.
Up on the battlement, two wardens paused, their iron-soled boots coming to a halt directly above the grate.
Before either guard could raise a horn, Lucy dropped from the darkness above. She slammed the pommel of her obsidian blade into the first warden's helmet seam, dropping him instantly, while Felix caught the second guard by the throat in a vice-like grip, lifting him clean off his feet and choking out his cry before setting him down silently against the battlements.
Below, Noah used the butt of his heavy bow to pop the rusted latch on the drain grate.
"Path clear," Lucy called down in a harsh whisper from the ledge, tossing the captured ring of gate-keys straight down to Daniel.
Daniel caught the iron ring out of the air. He turned to Mary, offering a hand to pull her through the narrow drainage vault first, then stepped into the shadow of the inner courtyard.
The Academy stood before them—a colossal monolith of dark slate and towering spires, lit from within by the eerie, pale glow of the inner sanctum.
"We're in," Daniel murmured, his hand tightening around the hilt of his un-tethered blade. "Time to finish this."