The Zodiac Empire

Chapter 26 - One Down

"Alile! What are you doing?!" Casele shouted.

"Stay back! He's mine!" Alile glowered at them.

"What do you mean he's yours? I've already claimed his head!" Alsen shouted back.

Silver thrust his sword, aimed at Alile's neck, but the Aeromancer backflipped behind him and delivered a kick to his head. Silver didn't even flinch.

"If this idiot thinks she can take him herself, leave her be!" Zento said.

"You're right," Casele nodded, glaring her disgust at Alile, "Alsen, come on. Let's find the king and Cosena."

"STAND DOWN!" a voice shouted before they could go anywhere. Next thing they knew, they were surrounded by dozens of guards, all of them pointing their guns at the four wizards.

"Shit..." Zento muttered, steadily backing up, positioning himself in front of Casele.

"Take the magenta-haired one alive," Silver instructed, "This one," he pointed to Alile, "Is all mine."

"And what of the other two?" one of the guards asked.

"Don't hurt the red head, if possible. I could care less what you do with the other one."

With Silver's back turned to Alile once again, she twirled her wand, creating a rope of wind that yanked the guns out of each guard's hands. Silver swung his elbow, but Alile launched herself to the top of the stone wall with a blast of wind. Silver hopped onto his steed and flew after her.

Meanwhile, with the guards momentarily disarmed, Zento, Casele, and Alsen wasted no time going on the attack. Zento smashed his fists into their jaws while Alsen and Casele washed them away with blasts of pressurized water. As Zento knocked the last one out, Alsen looked up and noticed that Silver and Alile were no longer in sight. Rather, she saw a stone fortress soar over the wall, flying miles past them.

"...I think that may have been your siblings," Zento said, looking up in astonishment. A few seconds later, the whole ground vibrated as if there had been an earthquake.

Alsen wasted no time, dashing off in an instant. She ignored the blaring sirens that assaulted her eardrums and ignored Zento and Casele calling after her. Her body moved faster than she knew she was capable of, as if her legs had a mind of their own.

"She's going to get caught like this!" Casele exclaimed.

"Alile isn't the only idiot here," Zento said as they struggled to catch up with Alsen.

Alsen flinched and shielded her eyes. It felt as if she had just looked directly at the sun. She slightly peeled her her fingers away from her eyes, just enough to see that intense beams of light were being shone on her from every direction. She could feel multiple people enclosing in on her.

Zento slammed his fist against the ground, making the earth shake so violently that everyone else was knocked off their feet. The guards dropped the flashlight-like weapons they held, allowing Alsen to see again.

"Dawltifer!" Casele chanted, transforming her wand into an aquatic halberd. She swung it in a wide arc, slicing through the skin of numerous guards at once, while Alsen blasted explosive bubbles at them and Zento threw punches that shot a barrage of rocks out of his knuckles at the guards. Within seconds, the three of them stood over a pile of battered, bruised, and bloody unconscious soldiers.

A muffled voice came from the guards' radios. Alsen snatched one and listened.

"The king will be dead shortly," spoke a female voice.

"That voice..." Casele whispered.

"Yeah, that's her alright," Zento kicked one of the unconscious bodies.

More sirens could be heard blaring, rapidly getting closer.

"Silver, what is your status?" the female voice asked.

"I've got my hands full here, but my men will get the job done," Silver responded.

Alsen dropped the radio and stomped on it. "NAITO!!!" she screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks. She dashed off again, her legs moving so fast that she didn't even feel them hitting the ground.

Casele tried to go after Alsen, but Zento grabbed her arm. "Zento?"

"This is all the damn Raizus faults..." he whispered, glaring at the ground.

"What are you saying? Zento, come on, we have to protect her and find the king."

"They said they'll kill you."

"Zento, we're soldiers. It's our job to risk our lives on the battlefield."

"So, you want to die here? For them? After everything the masked bastard has done to us?!" Zento's voice grew louder.

The blaring sirens got even closer.

"Now is not the time for this! If we don't catch up to lady Alsen now, they are going to get her! She doesn't stand a chance by herself!" Casele exclaimed.

"Mary doesn't want them to hurt me," Zento added, "If you stick with me, they won't hurt you either."

"You're speaking like a traitor right now."

Another voice spoke from one of the radios. "The princess has been subdued and captured alive."

Casele dropped to her knees. "No...Alsen..."

Zento wrapped his arm around her torso and picked her up. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. The two of them sunk underground.