Part 2: Waking Up.
Move it people, we need to get there by dawn! Move! Move! Hurry! Grab your equipment and move! We'll eat on our way, there's no time left! Go!
Almost everyone was awake, just a few men were still on their beds, they woke up very quickly and got ready at the same speed. Everyone was eager for the battle to come, Lucius, said thanks to his bruttian friend and quickly departed, it was 2 hours before sunrise, and they had only 5 miles to go and were anxious because the agent that is supposed to get the doors opened by their arrival had not send any notice to it, and it would leave the element of surprise without relevance since they could send reinforcements and the capture would be far more bloody.
Back at Taras, the spy and the boy were already awake, they were eating and thinking of the best plan for the gates to be locked opened in time, and the boy to rejoin his army with his horse. By the time they finished their meal they already had it figured out. The spy was going to kill the stable's guard from a rooftop which made him extremely difficult to be noticed in the dark, Then the boy would proceed to grab his old horse, and run towards the entrance, where he would trick the guards into believing he was a scout on patrol duty he would then wait for the doors to be opened and kill the guards, while the spy locked the doors opened and the boy met up with the army.
So they carried it out, the spy took position in the roof of the house and shot the guard on the head, the boy ran quickly up to the horse and the spy jumped from roof to roof until he found the perfect spot for a shot to the guards in case something came wrong. The boy went to the gate and told the guards: Let me out, I am on scouting duty.
The guards still suspicious about his appearance, asked him: And who gave you that order, might I ask oh noble father of your father's grandsons.
The other guard asked him in remark of his entry statement: Wait, weren't you on leave? That's what you said to us when you got in.
The boy replied making up the answer in short time, but wanting to sound convincing: The person that gives you! Orders. The mighty Pyrrhos! And you should better let me out, or else you would be defying his orders.
The guards not convinced, didn't let him pass and were more suspicious, they tried to detain him, so the boy quickly ran away with his horse, and the spy opened fire, the guard got the arrow in the leg, but kept going, he shot him another time, got him in the heart, he fell on the ground, now the second guard was shouting for help and pursuing the boy but the spy quickly shut him up by an arrow to his head, but his job was done, one of the garrison's soldiers heard his screams and went out to look, the boy was running to the door and the spy getting down the ceiling.
The soldier shouted to wake up the garrison, the woken up soldier ran to get his equipment, his armor, shield and spear, the cavalrymen were waking up, not knowing what was happening went outside and saw the hoplite getting ready and shouting, and the boy was at the door trying to open it, while the spy running towards the door with a big mace on his hand, when they saw this, they ran towards the equipment, the boy couldn't get the doors opened, and without it, the spy couldn't lock them open, all the garrison's soldiers were woken up and getting ready, the roman infiltrates managed to get one door opened, and now the spy was clubbing it's hinges out of place so that it wouldn't be able to be closed again.
The boy managed to get open the second door about ten seconds later while a cavalrymen was charging towards him, but the spy clubbed his horse's head since he didn't notice the spy running towards him since it was still too dark, the spy ran again to the door, the boy got onto the horse to get out, the sunlight was starting to shine upon Taras, it was almost time, the spy, in a hurry to get out too, did the best he could to smash it locked, he got it halfway, but there was no more time, two cavalrymen were about to charge into them, he got atop of the horse but the spy managed to get another hit and locked it, and they exited the city, the cavalry that was following them, unaware of the imminent danger, stopped following them, as they thought it might lead into a trap.
The romans were in search for their army, it was still too dark to notice anything, the cavalrymen got down and tried to close the doors, when they realized they couldn't, they ordered a couple of hoplites that were close to the doors, to mount guard, the sun was rising atop the horizon, some of the civilians looked out their doors to see what was happening, when the hoplites realized the imminent danger, the roman army was already in formation and marching towards them...
Stay tuned for Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, Romanorum Victum: A Romani AAR; Part 3: Cruentos (Blooded).
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