At the top of a small hill, less than a quarter of a mile outside the city and walls of Jiankang, a small army gathered. Teams split into their respective groups, each with a translator fluent in the necessary languages.
The first team arrived at the wall and focused on a section where the outer wall had crumbled, exposing the inner wall. The inner wall had also fallen somewhat, and a night shift of treekin slaves was beginning to work. 10 lazy Zon guards watched them start work in various states of disinterest. 10 assassins scaled the outer wall and killed the guards silently. Caelan, who was on this team, dropped off the inner wall and quietly handed out pills. He explained that an assault to free all the captives was underway, and they needed the treekin's help. The treekin all nodded happily, and the assassins donned enough of the guards' gear to pass as them. A stonekin man on the outside of the wall took a big hammer with a skin pulled over it and studied both the inner and outer walls. He picked up a stone from an exterior wall and struck it with a solid blow. A V of stone fell outwards and formed a stair-like approach. He then climbed up and did the same to the inner wall. A second set of stairs appeared, and 3 teams hidden nearby ran up as he motioned for them. The teams climbed the stairs, some burdened by casks strapped to their backs. The group of captive treekin, now with their chains cut, but still looking captive, marched towards the castle. A group of 10 king's archers followed them but stayed out of sight. Bronn and his underbelly team headed into the city, studying a map as they went. They found a small building at the start of a lane, broke a side window quietly, and hid inside. The hardest part of that team's mission was still ahead; for now, they waited. 5 flag signal men climbed up too; one stood on top of the wall and waved two green flags. It was dark, so the flags had been enhanced with small sparkles that flashed a little with the flag's color. The other 4 flagmen melted into the night and took up various positions inside the town.
On the hill, the double green flags were noted, and the second wave approached the wall. They carried 4 heavy barrels with them and came up to the wall near the castle entrance. 10 stonekin and 10 assassins made up this team. One of the flagmen signaled this group was ready, shortly after one of the assassins spotted a guard on the castle making his rounds and dispatched him with two thrown blades. He fell with a thump, and the whole group ducked warily. The flagman pointed to where the wall went around the castle, and two assassins scaled the wall and quickly killed another guard who was approaching on his rounds. One of the assassins donned the guard's uniform and started walking the dead guards' beat.
At the castle gate, the treekin captive team approached. One of the assassins spoke gruffly to the two guards there in perfect Zonian, "We had some trouble with these slaves, one of you help us escort them down to the prison room to repair chains and punish them." One of the guards peeled off, opened the doors, and the group went inside. Outside the doors, an arrow found the remaining guard, and an archer ducked out of the shadow and dragged the body off. He was back a moment later, wearing the gear of the dead guard, and he had a cask with an X on it. He placed it on the ground behind him.
Arya's team made their way toward the port. Four large ships were waiting for them to take over. But first, the signal had to come for them to begin their assault. About three-quarters of the way there, they ducked into a large alleyway and hid. They were going to have a pretty long wait, so they settled in.
As the captive team turned left and started down the stairs to the prison, one of the assassins took out the real guard who was with them. He dragged the guard with them all the way down into the large room that held thousands of captives. Several guards were milling around, kicking slaves, or sleeping. The prison warden saw them come down and said, "What's this?" The disguised assassin said, "One of these slaves killed him; come look." The warden and five of the ten guards came over. The warden looked at the dead man and then at the disguised assassin and said, "Who are...." But he never finished his words as Caelan's sword took his head, and the 10 assassins killed the 10 guards in a few seconds. One Zonian prisoner thought to better his state and thought to yell out for more guards, but he died with two blades in his throat.
The assassins gathered their blades back, the keys from the wardens' belts were passed out, and one by one, the gates to the cages were opened. Caelan cautioned them all to be quiet and told them to take pills to give them energy for the runs ahead. He told them a little of the plan ahead; they were to get outside the gates and form two groups. One was locals who would go through the wall breach, and the second was the treekin heading elsewhere. The locals would be escorted back to Thrain by the armed troops. Caelan told them to gather any weapons here and collect them on the way. Those who could still defend the others were to arm themselves to aid in this mass escape.
One Thrainian asked quietly, "How will we know when the wall is breached?" Caelan explained that when they were outside, there was a small alcove near the doors. They were to huddle there in their two groups and cover their ears. He said with a smile, "You will know when the wall is breached."