Princess of Swords 2 (Sword of Darkness)

Chapter 19

The world erupted around them. 

Screams.

Blurs of colours, as people pushed and shoved their way through the crowds.

Death.

So many bodies lay broken and scattered, mounding over one another.

Rose froze. It was too much. Too much. She could not move. Her muscles locked into place as she watched death wreck havoc over the city. Dancing around the death, wallowing in their pain and anguish. 

She felt her mind fog and her limbs felt heavy. Hard hands gripped her shoulders and firmly thrust her forward. 

"We have to move!" 

Rose's eyes glazed for a moment as everything spun and blurred into one. 

"Rose!!"

Her eyes focused and Lok's distressed face came into view. Her kneeled directly in front of her as he spoke again but his words seemed so far away. All Rose could think about was her family. They were here, somewhere in the city. And now, possibly dead. She had never gotten a chance to apologise, to look her mother and father in the eyes one last time. 

She had almost forgotten about them. But being here. Now. 

Rose got to her feet quickly her shoulders still held firmly by Lok. She looked up at him and shook her head "I have to find my family" she shouted over the noise. 

"Where!?" Lok demanded as Rose looked at the on slaughter around her. 

A panicked scream caught Rose's attention. She swung round to her right to find a women being dragged mercilessly along the ground by a soldier dress in black. Not royal soldiers, not soldiers of the North. No. They wore black. Rose drew both swords and ran at the man while he threw the woman into a wall. Her scream cut short when her neck cracked and her head fell at an unnatural angle. The man didn't even have a chance, as Rose rammed her sword into his back before pulling away and pushing him into the ground. She felt bile rise in her throat as she looked at the woman, and the many other women and children scattered around her. 

Rose lifted her eyes away from the fallen and to the skies. The sky was black. Not from a impending storm but from bodies; black fluttering figures which were falling in among the scrambling crowds. Misshapen Creatures, their faces and bodies distorted and horribly corrupted. 

How? 

Rose knew she needed to find out more, but not now. 

"Follow me" Rose shouted to Lok as she started running through the crowds, her heart hammering in her chest. She dreaded what she might find when she would get home. Home. She needed to get them to safety. Then she could find Henry. 

* 

The darkness seemed to go on forever. A cold, hard darkness echoed by the rhythmic dripping of water. 

Henry rolled his shoulders and groaned as consciousness returned to him. He wish it hadn't. Loss, pain and regret threatened to tear his heart apart as he remembered all he had lost only hours ago. Lilika, Tobik and Lorik were all being held somewhere, possibly dead. And his mother. Henry choked back tears as he remembered her frail body falling to the ground, her beautiful face draining of colour. Her eyes never left his face and would haunt him forever. 

He had to get out of here. 

Henry began twisting and pulling at the ropes he could feel bound around his wrists and ankles. Another groan interrupted his efforts. Henry stopped what he was doing and peered into the darkness, glimpsing a object lying on the ground.