'Move!' Kara's brother told her, pushing something sharp against the small of her back. 'We're going the other way, towards Port Haven-'

'We'll be on the wrong side!' the others protested.

One of the stablehands gave Camilla a black look. 'I'm done with your scheming! Go and get yourselves killed if you want.'

But Camilla was, if anything, relieved when they departed. 'I think I know what you have in mind,' she said approvingly. 'Your father's men won't expect anyone to remain behind. They'll be busy trying to get past the road blockages.' She smiled, though without humour. 'I even have the ideal place for us to hold up.'

He gave her a speculative look, then bowed fractionally. 'After you.'

Savalas and his men flattened themselves instinctively as a number of large explosions from either side of the port shook the ground and tintinabulated off the hillsides.

'They've dynamited the roads,' the captain said, a note of respect and misgiving in his voice. He had been hoping for a quick end to this campaign, utilizing the ship's guns to pound the hillsides above the defenders in an effort to dislodge and disorganise them. He knew instinctively that if they had the sense to block the roads, they would also have the sense to remain safely out of range. 'We're going to have to rush them; now, before dawn, when the ship's guns will be under water. Bolt-action rifles or not, they will turn this entire area into a kill zone.'

'Tell the men that they are to take no prisoners,' Savalas told him.

The captain gave him a look. Savalas was in a fey, unpredictable mood, and for a moment the captain tried to fathom what drove the man- in vain.

'As you wish.' He gave the order, and they began working their way towards the piles of rubble where the road cutting through the town had been. Each lay in a steep, choked cutting of rock with sheer sides; the hills to either side seemed steep and impassible, and soon loomed in the darkness before them. A flicker caught his attention then, and he and his men watched distractedly as a small flame moved high atop a hill, drawing back, going suddenly upwards, then arcing down towards them, a mere firefly in the dark. More began falling, and as the first struck the ground and exploded into flame, the hills suddenly became alive with the crack of rifle fire. Realising what was happening, the captain sprang to his feet. 'Get out of the light! Get out of the light! Move! Into the buildings, all of you! Find some cover!'




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