Earlier that day, during sunrise was when the Prefect's home was being ravaged by the rebels, and eventually, taken over by the veterans.
It was a long morning, and most of the rebels were put down by the veterans, with only a few of them managing to get away.Gregory was there when the soldiers had impaled the man he looked up to with a spear, and he was lost for words when he saw Harold get down to his knees. Against his code, against his path, against his calm judgement, he ran off.It was as if his legs had begun moving before his brain could tell them not to, as he found himself sprinting off to the far distance without looking back. And after just a few seconds of sprinting, he couldn't help doing what he always did whenever he was tensed up about anything.He began to laugh.His laugh was so loud that the soldiers who were chasing did not know what to make of him, and before they could catch him he had already ran off. His laugh mThe kick from behind was so powerful that Gregory fell face down to the ground, with his forehead clashing with the hard floor. Gregory raised his head up, feeling like he knew whose voice it was. And to his anger, it was the last person he wanted to see. The one whom Harold had formally declared an enemy of the rebellion, a traitor to the cause, and the mole in favour of the Empire. It was Emil standing behind him, dressed in black. Gregory looked at him with great disdain as blood poured flowed from his now-bleeding forehead down his face. “You traitor!”, Gregory said as he pulled out his short sword and lunged at him, wanting to plunge his sword into the traitor's gut. But Emil, being the more experienced fighter, easily moved out of the way and grabbed Gregory's arm before kicking off one of this legs. This caused Gregory to fall to the ground, and Emil got above him, resting his knee above the the young boy's back while twisting his arm from behind. Emil
By taking directions, Cyrus, Felix and Richard took the formal path leading to the Barracks. The trio walked forward, putting aside all fear and strengthening their resolve as they ignored all the warning signs that indicated for normal civilians to keep off. This was a zone where civilians who weren't on official business were warned to back off. And what made this worse for Cyrus and the others was that they weren't even civilians to begin with. They were strangers from another town, and on top of that, they were trespassing. The path was now getting dark, and the only thing illuminating it were the flaming torches they encountered as they approached the gates. But they couldn't see it since even the torches, which were put at regular intervals down the walkway, weren't bright enough to illuminate what was ahead. “Who goes there?”, came a voice from before them. “State your business!” “We are here to see the p
Richard picked up Felix's weapons as he helped his friend get back on his feet. They walked behind Cyrus, who was walking behind the tall soldier. Behind Richard and the struggling Felix were several solders walking behind them. Richard could tell that a fraction of them were somewhat disappointed that they couldn't beat them up as they wanted. Or maybe he was wrong. “Depending on how this turns out, you will either understand why this is, or hate me for the few hours you have left to live”, the soldier said to Cyrus. “Either way, the name is Walsh. Captain Walsh.” “Good to know”, Cyrus said. They walked past the gates of the Barracks and went deep inside. There Cyrus and the other two could see soldiers going about their daily lives in the dormitories. Compared to the average dormitories back at Griffindale, most of the soldiers were old. Cyrus could easily make out the grey hairs on some of them as they sharpe
While the Prefect was still speaking, there came a knock on the door. And the prefect allowed the person to come in when he identified himself as Walsh. The captain stepped inside and bowed towards the prefect, and to the other's surprise, bowed before Richard and Cyrus. “I apologise for what I did to your friend”, he said. “It was uncalled for.” Neither of them said anything until they realised the captain wasn't going to raise his head up until they did so. “It's alright”, Cyrus said. “A lot had happened recently and you were just doing your job. I can't blame you.” Then Walsh got back on his feet to face the prefect. “To prevent something like this from happening again, by your orders, I have sent out my men to purge out everything that is left of the rebellion, and just this night, they have uncovered a few of them.” “Then why are you telling me about them?”, asked Kendrick. “Punish them as the policies demand
Richard was confused about what to say. “I don't know this town all that well”, he replied. “Where do you think we should go?” “Are you scared of heights?”, she asked. “No”, he replied. “Where is that coming from?” “Let's go to the rooftop”, she said. Kendrick widened his eyes. “You really are afraid of heights, aren't you?”, she asked. “No, that is not the case”, Richard said. “It just sounds so odd. Hope do you think it's a good idea?” “Are you worried the soldiers patrolling the streets would consider two persons sitting openly on a rooftop as fleeing rebels?”, she asked. “Well, yes”, he said. “It might not be safe.” She smiled. “Alright then, how about the upper balcony?”, she asked. “There would be enough lights to show that we are harmless and aren't trying to hide from anybody. Besides it's just a man and a woman having fun time at a brothel.
Serena and her new friend, Richard sat at the balcony next to her room. The view outside was fantastic, and it was just now that he was starting to take in the beauty of Fayhold, which seemed hidden during the day. The night lights were spectacular, although the people on the streets looked uncomfortable with the soldiers walking around, investigating as they looked for the rebels. “Have they come here?”, asked Richard. “Yes”, she replied. “Yes they have. Not long before you three left.” “Wait, why was there only two of you?”, she asked. “If I remember correctly, there are supposed to be three of you.” “Good grief”, Richard said. “So it's now you realise that?” “Where did he go?”, she asked. “Let's just say something came up, and he had to stay behind while we came back”, Richard said. Then she looked down, taking note of how an unusual number of soldiers were talking the
Serena fell silent, and Richard swore within himself, feeling like he had just said something weird. “It's entirely up to you though”, he said. “I didn't mean to put it that way. It's your choice.” What came next was sudden laughter from Serena which made him even more sure that he had said something embarrassing and inappropriate. “Alright then”, she said. Richard widened his eyes. “You are serious?”, he asked. “Yes”, she said. “It'd be exciting having a person like you around when I leave for the first time.” “Mind telling me why you haven't stepped out?”, asked Richard. “It's just so odd to me.” “Let's just say that I gave obligations here”, she said while turning to look away. “Obligations that do not permit my absence for extended periods.” “I see”, Richard said while staring out to the skies. “Too bad. I wanted to go out with you tomorrow...” “Richard?”, sh
It was dawn, and things in the town were slowly returning to normalcy.Cyrus and Felix had gotten out of bed, with the Prince excited to meet Natalie, even though she had not formally summoned him yet.Each of them was sure of what Richard was up to when he left but chose not to talk about it. But would each bring it up when they felt necessary? As we were getting ready for the day, they heard a knock on the door. Cyrus and Felix looked at each other, knowing that it couldn't be Richard.Felix walked over to the door and opened it, surprised to see the younger lady who looked a lot like the woman Richard was infatuated with. She looked tired like she had been up all night and craved several hours of long-needed sleep. “Are you Cyrus Theodore?”, asked the young lady. “No”, Felix said as he stepped aside, revealing Cyrus walking towards them. “I'm Cyrus”, the other man said. The young lady nodded wh
Three years later... Back at Frostfall, Faora sensed a disturbance coming from the cave at the other side of the village. She came out of her house, looking around with a worried frown on her face, expecting to see obvious threats like she and her husband did the night that Dorcas and the other two dragon Slayers attacked. But there was nothing noteworthy going on outdoors. The weather was wonderful, and the mood was serene. That's why, just past midnight, everyone was still sound sleeping despite the strange feeling in her gut. The only strange thing was that she wasn't alone. At the far end if the village, right where the entrance was, beyond the barricade, she could see Nebula's blue eyes staring back at her. Though they couldn't communicate telepathically at that moment, Faora instinctively knew that they were sensing the same thing. There was trouble, and were sure of it. But Nebula wasn't getting the same sense of fear that Asherah was giving off. It was like Faora was
When Wayne returned with Natalie, Aurora, and Serena, the palace seemed elated. Richard was happy that Serena had come to be with him, and Cyrus's family had been reunited. Now that everyone of interest was present, it was time for the formal coronation to mark the young Cyrus as sovereign King, and his wife as ruling Queen. They divided the kingdom into new provinces, a few of which Natalie would rule over, leaving the majority for her husband. After signing several scrolls and getting married for the second time in line with Griffindale's royal tradition, the day of coronation finally came. It was a day like no other, but since Cyrus didn't want to lavish the Kingdom's wealth at a time when the city was still being rebuilt, he made it modest, only prioritizing hygiene, food, and wine. Decorations and other accessories were ruled out of the budget, still, it was a day to remember. That day, King Cyrus was formally coronated as King and was no longer acting as one. He reinstated
It wasn't too long afterward when the Warlord and his soldiers returned to the Midlands. By head count alone, they had not lost a single soldier. 3,000 went to battle, and 3,000 returned. There was nothing credible to report, as it was difficult to believe that 3,000 men went to war against a great and powerful city and none of them died. Worse yet, what credited them with such a flawless victory was the fact that they were assisted by two dragons that did most of the heavy lifting for them. Sure, there was an occult following of fable enthusiasts who believed in dragons like they were their bread and water, but reporting it in a battle account felt off. He was conflicted on whether or not he should account for that part of the battle. Still, it would be impossible to explain how no one died in such a war. Soon, he gave up on making up a story and decided to report on what truly happened, though he was afraid that the impulsive young Emperor would thin
About a week had passed when Wayne rode off on his dragon to bring Natalie to Griffindale. He too had decided to settle in the new land, and since he was going back briefly to get Cyrus's wife, he would use this opportunity to tell his family about his plans to relocate. Despite the ruins half of the city was in, he liked it at Griffindale. He felt at home there, as it was refreshing living somewhere where it wasn't snowing all the time. His dragon, Kyron, also seemed to love the climate at Griffindale, perhaps due to his natural affinities as a reptile. Wayne got in his dragon that morning and took off to Frostfall, it took several hours to get there despite how fast the Dragon flew, and he arrived by evening. Everyone was glad to see him, all asking questions that excited them. Children asked what it was like to live in a place where there was no ice and snow, others asked what other fruits in the area tasted like, and how easy it was to access them. Wayne tried to
It was almost noon when everyone had gotten out of their slumber, ready to take on the rest of the day. The Emperor's soldiers who at first tried to remain sober and disciplined at the start of the feast the previous night ended up being the most wasted. The generals and commanders assembled all their men, and they were all ready to leave. However, the 25 veteran soldiers were to stay behind to help Cyrus maintain order until the city could reestablish its military, as most of its fighting force had been eliminated during the war. The time for war and victory celebrations was over. Now was the time to rebuild. Cyrus and the Warlord, Jin Tsung bid each other farewell as they each went their separate ways, with the great Legionnaire taking his soldiers with him, along with all his captains and commanders. Frederick and the young men from the village were about to bid the acting King farewell also, but Cyrus was not going to allow it. He insisted that they stay behind with him to take
While Cyrus was still speaking, Kamala sent a message back to him. “I am with your mother”, she said. “Should I bring her to you?” “She's dying” Cyrus sent back. “Get her something to eat. Take her to Wayne. He must be outside the city. Let him see to it that she has everything she needs. I don't want to see her looking like that again.” “Understood” Kamala sent back. While he was still sending, he looked at his stepmother. And after communicating with Kamala, he picked up his sword and walked toward Regina. The Queen braced herself, lifting her son towards Cyrus, who raised a brow, wondering what this was all about. “I know this is too selfish of me to ask, but before you kill me, promise to take care of my son”, Regina said. “He has done nothing wrong. You can raise him without telling him anything about me, you can even tell him made-up things to make him grow up to hate me. Just give him a chance to live. I beg you.” Cyrus sighed, taking the son in his hand, but not for th
“My mother” Cyrus cried out towards her. “Where is she?” Then all of a sudden, the Queen's look of desperation turned to quick sadism. “What is so funny about what I asked?”, asked Cyrus. “I am not the same naive young man you sent on exile. I have killed a lot more people than you think to get to get here. So don't think I can't just run my sword through this child if I want to.” Then to make things worse, the Queen began to laugh. The laughter was so hysterical that she almost choked on her saliva, coughing profusely after a few cracks. She held on to her chest as she gave the last cough, struggling to regain her composure while looking back up at him. “WHERE IS MY MOTHER?!” Cyrus yelled out as loud as he could. “When my nightmares of you doing exactly this became worse, I knew you would soon come back for me. So I thought of the best collateral through which I could make you do as I want, which would be by putting your mother in misery, putting her close enough to the point o
She looked around, but it seemed all the Knights around her were dead. She was ready to meet her fate, but she didn't want any harm to come to her child. At a time when she was expected to cover up her shame with pride and charisma, she was not ashamed to show that she wanted to protect her child. The look on Cyrus's face didn't suggest he wanted to spare any of them. After all, if he truly came back to get the throne and her head, there would be no point in leaving any of them alive. Why would he let the son of the woman he killed remain alive only to enact revenge decades later? There was nothing to gain in keeping any of them alive, so she prepared her mind for the worst. Clutching onto the child in her arms, she prayed hard that their killer would make things quick and painless, especially for her child. But as she heard the footsteps approaching, her heart sank with fear. This was it. All her nightmares were coming true this very minute. Cyrus would take her head, just as h
While the fierce battle took place behind him, Cletus kept his sight on the higher provinces, particularly the Queen's residence, where his comrades were guarding Regina, the sovereign ruler. The next move the dragon made confirmed his suspicions that an attack on the Queen was imminent, as the beast landed on the pinnacle of the highest point of the castle, where the rider jumped off and went in through one of the large windows. “Cyrus”, Cletus said as he gestured for the horse to run even faster as it sprinted towards the palace. “I have to protect the Queen, no matter what.” ********* Cyrus got down from his dragon, swinging himself by the ropes connected to the dragon's saddle to break through the tainted glass of the nearest large window. As he got inside, he was assaulted by multiple guards who were alerted by the noise. He brought forth his self-defense skills and managed to take down the guards, hacking and