UNIFIED W

Chapter 28: The Maze Of Truth, part 7

"I sincerely apologize on behalf of my city and my people. This should never happen in the sight of the royal family, and I will personally investigate and bring you whoever is responsible."

Hawk approached Thomas and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"You know something, Thomas."

"What, my young prince ?"

"It's a shame to lose someone like you. Although you do not have the same powers as us or the rest of the useless clan leaders over here, you are just what the royal family needs."

"My young prince, how can I make this right?"

Hawk took his hands off Thomas' shoulders and headed to the window, where he gazed down at the panicked people and royal guards on the ground, attempting to fix the issue.

"I have an idea: for every soldier or guard I lose, you will lose one person from your city."

"What?"

"I mean, it's reasonable. The soldiers and guards down there are excellent men who are risking their lives to solve your city's problems."

"But that's....."

When Hawk turned back to face Thomas, he decided to use his weapon this time. Because of Hawk's wind powers, the weapon spun extremely fast before flying past Thomas' face and becoming stuck behind the wall.

"How dare you speak back to me? I could have your......"

"That is enough from you, Hawk."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Hawk as the king's voice resounded throughout the room.

"But father...."

"You will refer to me as your highness, young prince."

Hawk had a furious expression as he turned to face the clan leaders and gave them all a death stare.

"Yes, your highness."

As Hawk made his way back to his throne, a massive explosion occurred once more, and they could then hear the people yelling out in a very loud voice again.

Hawk sprinted back towards the window and watched as a few guards fell one by one in a matter of seconds.

"What is happening out there?"

Moments later, as the king and the clan leaders were in the room, one guard burst through the door.

"I have a very important message for the king,"

"Sir, we were able to identify the attacker or the attackers. THE PILLARS WERE ABLE TO INFILTRATE THE TEST AREA."

The situation in the room briefly sparked some panic.

"QUIET."

The voice of King Prime the Seventh grew progressively darker as he slammed his fist against his throne.

"You clan leaders need to take charge of the situation right away, or you'll all share the same fate when this is over."

"Yes, Sir."

"Fath..., or I should say, Your Highness, let me go after the one who entered the maze. I'll bring you his corpse, I swear to you."

The king realized that no matter what he said to his son, he could not stop him.

"All right, but bring my personal guard along for some extra help."

The guard who had been standing by the king's throne moved forward and knelt to Hawk.

Although the guard and the young prince are the same age, the guard is significantly taller and heavier. He wore glasses, had short, black hair, very dark eyes, and was very muscular.

His face was round, with no facial hair, and he had a big, sharp nose. He received a pair of dual-wielding Scythe-style weapons from the king, along with some specially made body armor.

"Greeting, young prince. I will accompany you on your mission."

Hawk glanced briefly at his father before turning to face the guard.

Taro is his name, and you should have the same faith in him that I do.

Taro spotted two people in the crowd who appeared too composed for the circumstances and did not move from their sets at all as Hawk and Taro prepared to leave the room and then enter the maze.

The two people who were sitting at the large circle that encircled the maze- which served as some sort of seating for those watching the final - suddenly got up, took off their disguises, and dashed inside the maze.

"If we want to catch up to the intruder, we must move quickly, young prince."

"Let's go."

Taro and Hawk both jumped out the window, landing on the ring surrounding the maze. And jumped once more to enter the maze.

Taro tried to think of a strategy for how he could pass along a message while Hawk was not looking as they both ran through the maze.

'This is not good. With him running alongside me, how can I deliver my message? '

'Void must be informed that Kai is alive, and he just entered the maze with us.'