In the Shadows of the Night

Chapter 14

Jessica, Kyle and Saxton led the people through the secrete passageways into the castle. Once they were inside they tiptoed through the hallways and corridors with the orders to fire at will. It wasn't long before Jessica heard gunshots and then heard her father screaming, "we're being attacked, find my princess, where's my commander?" He yelled hysterically. Kyle, Jessica and Saxton followed the sound of his voice and found him standing in his bedroom barking out orders. Kyle turned toward Jessica and said, "Stay here." Then he snuck up behind him and pointed the gun to the king's head. "Your commander's right here, sir."

The king lifted his hands in the air and slowly turned around, so the gun was now aimed at his forehead. "What's the meaning of this, where's my Summer?" He asked.

"I told you I would protect her at any cost and I am. I'm protecting her from you." Kyle said then started to pull the trigger when another man bolted in the door with his gun raised, pointed at Kyle. The man pulled the trigger not thinking about how close Kyle was to the king and the bullet went through the king and into Kyle's arm. The king dropped like a ton of bricks and Kyle grabbed his arm and went down beside the king. I came in with my gun raised and pulled the trigger, shooting the man that shot Kyle. I had never shot a gun before and seeing the man drop on the floor gutted me, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. I grabbed Kyle and drug him out of the room into the secrete passageway, hoping no one would follow us there.

The war had been won but the fight was far from over. I could hear guns blasting and screams as I slumped down in the dark, damp, secrete passageway, holding Kyle in my arms. I looked down at him, "I have to help those people. I can't just hide out in here like a chicken."

"Those people would die for you, merely because you are your mother's daughter. They wanted you to remain behind, so it would make them happy knowing that you are out of harm's way." Kyle said as he clutched his bleeding arm. He sat up against the wall and tore part of his shirt, just like he did the night I hurt my ankle at the camp ground, only this time he was using it to stop the bleeding, not to stabilize a twisted ankle.

It wasn't long after the king was killed that part of his army turned and started fighting with the people and not long after that the battle had seized.

When the gunshots stopped, and the screaming died down, I peeked out of the secrete passageway door. There were dead bodies all over the place; some were from my army and some from my fathers' army.

I helped Kyle up and we stepped out into the corridor. We stepped over dead bodies and stopped when we saw a body lying on the floor wearing a black robe. I prayed that I wouldn't find what I already knew I would find as I bent over and slowly removed the hood, exposing Saxton's face. He was lifeless, yet his eyes still stared at me. I cried out a guttural cry alerting everyone in the castle of my loss, "NO!" I fell upon my brother's body.

Several people crowded around me watching and waiting to see what I wanted them to do next. I looked up at them, after sobbing over my brother's death, "My brother needs a proper burial. Then I sat back on the heels of my feet and watched them carry his body away.

Kyle knelt beside me, "We all lost people we cared about, it's how we remember them that matters."

It took two days for us to clean up the castle and burry those who lost their lives fighting for either the king they promised to protect or the freedom they swore they'd die to get. I made sure each and every one of the people that died in that war had a proper burial and I didn't care how long it took for every one of them to be buried.

The king wasn't any different than any of the others. When he was buried I stood over his grave and said, "I hope you're happier in death than you were in life." Kyle stood at my side and watched as I threw a rose onto his casket as it lowered into the ground.

Saxton's funeral was a lot more somber. I cried and laid on my brother's casket, wishing I hadn't lost my brother, but I knew he was fighting for a good cause and I knew he would have given his life ten times over to see me happy.

I did as I had promised, I took the money my father was taking from the people and rebuilt their city. I called upon my friends and flew them to the island to help us rebuild it and I worked hand in hand with my people; sweating alongside them to rebuild everything my father had taken from them.

After their city was rebuilt they started fishing and farming the little island, soon the island was a perfect paradise, just as I dreamed it was when I first learned about it.