The Elemental Chain Saga: Dragon Flame

Chapter Twenty-Two: Sybil's Execution

Sybil watched as another warrior fell to Abel's white feathered arrow, a color mockingly pure and unfit for one as he. His shots were almost always deadly. He crouched almost invisible in the eaves of the rocks and shot out at any elemental warriors as they neared, his aim deadly, his precision horrifyingly accurate. His evasiveness, however, was cowardly, shooting down enemies in the hiding as he himself was safe.

The battle was coming to a close, despite his efforts to win it . The Andanobii were being finished off in the cave of Colorless Cavern. Abel was one of the last standing. The elemental warriors had surrounded the last remaining Andanobians and were slowly closing in. They launched fire and other elements at the remaining Andanobii.

A fireball streaked at Abel. He ducked below it and shot at the thrower of the projectile. Sybil heard a shout and she knew Abel had hit his mark. The ground rumbled and a stone pierced the ground and stabbed Abel in the left shoulder. Abel yelled out and dropped his bow. With another burst of the ground, two more stalagmites pierced Abel in the right shoulder and stomach.

Abel was held slightly above the ground by the piercing stones. His treacherous blood spilled out of his wounds. He fell back and hit the ground. Sybil didn't know weather to cry or rejoice at his rightful, yet brutal, death.

A cloaked figure swept at her. Sybil tried to wrench herself from her bindings, but like earlier, she couldn't go anywhere. The Andanobii grabbed her arm and cut the bindings with a swipe of his razor-sharp dagger. He yanked Sybil by her hair to her feet.

He put his knife to her throat as he whispered harshly into her hair "You'll be dead soon, follow me, princess."

Sybil shook with terror as she was led out to the edge of the ledge they occupied. She looked down at the crowd of the elemental warriors below. She looked to her left and right and saw how some of them had scrambled up the stairs of the rock shelf and had started to make there way up. Bodies of dead warriors littered the floor of the cavern.

The knife was pressed to her neck. She felt it dig into her soft skin, a thin trickle of blood already slipping down her neck, collecting with her sweat at her collarbone. The Andanobii who held her spoke down to the crowd "Seize this attack or the princess loses her precious head!"

The crowd below all looked up at Sybil. She could see the shock in their eyes. She guessed that some didn't even know of her capture. They slowly lowered their weapons and she saw as their aura dwindled around them.

"That's right, lower your weapons. I will walk her down and out of here once all of you drop your weapons and leave the cavern." Sybil could here the command in his voice. She wanted to yell down at them and tell them to keep fighting, to forget about her. As she went to open her mouth she felt the knife press harder against her, more of her royal blood lost.

She looked up at her captor. He shook his head at her "One word and your dead." Sybil felt her blood run cold. She wouldn't say anything, she couldn't, or she would die.

Sybil saw the warriors drop their weapons and slowly back out of the room. As they left she swore she saw one figure dart up the steps towards them. She looked away slowly. Please don't notice them, she thought worriedly. And please don't let me die.
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Mathias saw as his sister was led out to the ridge. An Andanobii had a knife pressed to her throat. His blood roiled with anger "No," he whispered. He dashed over to the stairs that led to the rock ridge as his sister's captor told the elemental warriors to lay down their weapons. Mathias turned to see them leave. I'll just have to do this myself, Mathias thought with resolve as he dashed up the steps. He unsheathed his dagger from the sheath at his waist.

He soon found himself at the top of the ridge. He slowly edged his way towards the Andanobii who dared to hold his sister at knifepoint. Mathias slowly crept behind a cluster of rocks. He watched as the man and his sister backed away from the edge and started down the opposite staircase.

Mathias sped after them. He stood at the top of the steps as Sybil was pushed down the staircase. Mathias swiftly followed them, nearing them with every step he descended.

As Mathias closed the last five steps between him and his target, his foot kicked into a stray rock. He cursed silently as it tumbled down the staircase. The Andanobii stopped suddenly. He whirled around in a blur.

Mathias stood stalk-still as the Andanobii looked at him with an evil sneer. As the Andanobii went to press the knife into Sybil's throat, she kicked out at his shin. He stumbled backwards with a yelp of pain. Sybil spun away from the man and dashed into her brother.

Sybil let out a laugh of relief as she reached her brother "Mathias! You came!" He smiled but looked down the stars at the Andanobii. The cloaked man raised his right arm and his ring shone in an evil light.

Mathias raised his knife. With an overhand throw, he sent the knife spinning at his target. The knife gleamed in the light of the ring as it struck the Andanobii in his chest. He wheeled back in pain. With a misstep, he lurched over the edge of the stairs.

Mathias clung to his sister as the Andanobii's body cracked into the stone floor.

Sybil brushed the top of her little brother's head and whispered softly to him as he sobbed into her dirtied shirt "It's all right, Matty. I'm safe now and nobody can hurt us." And with that thought, she felt as her emotions broke forth in a rush. Lloyd had been killed. She had been taken prisoner by her trusted guard. She had almost died.

She hugged Mathias tight as fresh tears spilled down her face, joining with her brother's own tears of relief.
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DragonDog1: I hope you enjoyed that chapter of the book. I know it's kind of short but I hope you feel the writing makes up for that. Please comment and vote because your opinions matter to me. Thank you!