Shouts. Curses. Banging. My sleep is disturbed. I wake up groggy eyed, not sure what is happening. I know I can not have been asleep for long. Is it morning, or afternoon? Not sure. More shouts. What is it? Going to the window the shouting becomes clearer. Words are beginning to shape. "Open the door Monsieur, in the name of Le' Empereur." Musketeers! Damn their persistence. How did they find us. I carefully look out my window. Two whole squads. They must want us pretty badly.

Betrayal. Clarisse. That Montaigne wench. Legion hath no fury...I should have known. Reinforcements arrive. Now there are three squads and they have a battering ram. That innkeeper must really like us to risk imprisonment...or worse. Think escape! How am I to get out of this. Door. Must barricade. Push the bed and chair up against the door. Now I am trapped, but that will at least buy me some time.

Crash. Looking out the window confirms that the musketeers have broken through. Astonishing. They are all so eager to catch us that they left no sentries. I quickly improvise a rope from my bed sheets and lower it out the window. That should throw them off. Climbing out on the sill, I go up, rather than down. On the roof I find I am not alone. William, Reynaldo, and even Vallierre. No Laurent. I ask about him and am told that he is procuring horses for us. Faithful old man.

Knowing that we can not long stay on the roof, I look across the street. It would be a long jump, but since the next building is one story less, feasible. Getting a running start, I leap across. I am soon followed by the others. Everyone makes it, including Vallierre, just barely. We continue to hop from rooftop to rooftop. Vallierre misses one. Looking over the edge I find he is okay. Too bad. He starts running down the street.

Shouts and a shot ring out. Looking back. Musketeer sharpshooters. Two on the roof of the Inn. They continue to shoot, but the range is long so I doubt they will hit us. William and Reynaldo wasted no time and are already on the next roof. I make the jump. Mistake, I underestimated the distance and cry out.

Slam. I hit the side of the building and hit it hard. Somehow, I managed to hang onto the edge. Reynaldo comes back and starts to pull me up. Crack, arrgh. Just as I get over the edge I see Reynaldo fall. Incredible, the Musketeer hit him from this range. William is out of sight. After helping him up, Reynaldo and I decide it would be safer on the streets.

After cutting through some alleys we come into a large square. On one side is a church, and just emerging from the other, cavalry. Damn these musketeers. They are like flies swarming on a dung heap. I dart across, hoping I can make the church and claim sanctuary. Reynaldo, I notice does not follow.

Charge. I hear the pounding of hooves on stone. They are closing. But I make it. Slamming the doors, big solid oak, that should slow them. I immediately call for sanctuary. The local priest, a Castillian, comes out. Apologizing. Damn Montaigne. Their heathen emperor does not honor the sanctity of the church. Banging and shouts. The musketeers are attempting to break through. The priest pushes me towards his private chambers. He will try to hold them. May Theus have mercy on him. He does not realize what he just got himself into.

Climbing out the priests' window, I find myself in an alleyway. Stairs going down to a basement. I can hide below street level. Reaching the bottom I crouch into the shadows to wait. Hopefully the musketeers will not see me. Pounding. Someone is running down the street. A blur. A big, very big form drops down next to me. William. This is a surprise. He joins me in the shadows. We hear talking. The musketeers are confused as to where to look for us. They are closing in on our position. Then we notice a vent. Small, but we should be able to squeeze through and hide in the sewers. Again the sewers. Damn Allende's fate witch.

Just as we make it into the sewers, one of the musketeers shouts that he's found us. The chase is on. This time, having a good head start, it does not take us long to lose any pursuit. After what seemed an eternity, we found another accessible vent leading to the streets above. Escaping the sewers, we find ourselves under some wagon. William disappears into the crowd, while I opt to climb into the supports beneath the wagon. Free and hidden transportation.

Some time later, not exactly sure, the wagon comes to a stop. There is shouting and appears to be a large crowd. I climb out from underneath the wagon to see that Reynaldo was the driver. Elsewhere I see William, and Vallierre making their way through the crowd, attempting to reach the city gates before they close.

Motion. Astonishment. I don't believe what I'm seeing. William lets out a loud cry. The crowd parts before him as he rushes the gate. If I did not see it, I would not believe it. There must be 50 riflemen on the wall. At the gate itself, there are some mounted musketeers and at least two squads of city watch. As if infected by his insanity, Vallierre, and then Reynaldo follow suit.

Reynaldo, driving the wagon, which was loaded with apples, takes one into his hand and throws it. He hits a rifleman on the wall that appeared to be taking aim at William. A scream and thud as the man falls. At this point, William has taken a horse from some hapless soldier and is now charging full speed at the gate. Shots are being fired. Innocents fall left and right as the Montaigne soldiers fire into the crowd, indiscriminately killing their own people. William's horse stumbles, hit by several shots. William returns fire before leaping onto yet another horse. This occupied by an officer. A short struggle and the officer falls. William is out. Next goes Vallierre. He too managed to acquire a horse, and slipped through the gate in the confusion caused by the poor command of the gate. Last is Reynaldo. The horses leading the wagon are shot out from under him. He himself is hit. Reynaldo goes down. Amazing. He manages to get up, grab the horse of another musketeer, the victim of friendly fire, and escapes, just as the gate closes, locking me in.

Trapped. I panic, attack the nearest musketeer, hoping to knock him out, take his tabard, and sneak out to the city. My assault fails miserably. The musketeer is much bigger than I am. Much, much bigger. He grabs me, flashing an ear to ear smile. Dread. I will be hanged. Suddenly his smile fades, as a look of shock slowly plays itself onto his face. A scream, some woman nearby. Shouts of murder begin to arise from the crowd. I follow the musketeers gaze to see a sword protruding from his chest. He then drops, lifeless.

Remy, the man who seconded me with the duel against Reynaldo. He grabs my arm to lead me away from the closing musketeers. I am in a daze. Lost and confused. We finally end up in a safe house. "Safe house", how can I be safe while still trapped in a city where every musketeer and soldier is looking for me.

Today, I realize that I am traveling in the company of crazed men.

"William." He is a lion. No, more than a lion. He is an untamed beast. Driven by some inner passion. I do believe he has a death wish. This makes him even more dangerous.

"Reynaldo." I don't know anything more to say about him. Stupid. Yes, stupid. To follow William so devoutly. I think he would blindly follow Legion himself through the gates of the Abyss.

"Vallierre." I knew he was unintelligent. But I thought he at least had common sense. Apparently I was wrong.