Her Dawning Empire: The Prophecy

Chapter 27

They were a little bit ahead of me now and I moved closer, but their eyes weren't on me. They were fixed on the others, knowing where the threat lay.

"Father!" Maya exclaimed, making to rush forward, but the soldier raised the sword closer to Negus's neck and raised a hand to point at Maya violently.

"Uh-uh! I wouldn't do that, fire princess!" He admonished tauntingly, a sleazy grin on his face and Maya's expression hardened, but she stayed still, nevertheless, making the grin on his face widen. He knew he had her.

He eyed them all, content they were all in his field of view and that he had the upper hand. I scowled at the look on his face before looking up at the buildings. I could see the villagers peeking out of the windows, clutching their children and covering their eyes and I turned back to the soldier.

There were more villagers just like Faridha and Khalid, all of which were equally as scared and helpless. They were feeling how I felt when I had covered Khalid's eyes to prevent him from seeing the inevitable- something that was not in my control.

Yet, here I was stood, unwatched and unguarded.

Having the element of surprise is really important.

I repeated Emut's words and looked on, lost in thought of what I could do as the sleazy soldier tightened his grip on the sword.

"That's like a good obedient bitch." He cooed and Demir moved forward at his words, his hand tightening on his glaive. But, Emut raised a hand to stop him to which Demir stopped, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

Emut raised his gaze to the soldiers, a stony look on his face.

"If you hurt him, I'm going to kill you." He uttered the promise, a hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his sword.

It was silent for a while before the sleazy soldier laughed, making the others join in. I used the sound to my advantage, hurrying in from behind, knowing their focus was not on me. I ducked behind the trees, leaning the doublesword against it and taking hold of two twigs, the plan inside my head so vividly clear. I needed to do it quickly.

If they're scared of fire, I'll give them fire.

I moved hurriedly, rubbing the two twigs together just as I had done many a time in scout's club as a youngster. Keeping my gaze on the chaos, I kept my hands working, feeling the ache in my wrists. I stilled when I saw Ayla being dragged in and thrown to the ground near the others. I could hear Abrax growl quietly but was too focused on the small flame that flickered against the twigs. Hurriedly, I touched the flame against a larger branch I had found on the floor before moving, watching as the soldier looked around, smiling.

"All 5 of you here to see the show. How splendid!" He mused and I creeped closer hurriedly, hoping no one could hear the pounding of my heart. I could faintly hear the sound of the soldier speaking, but my breathing was too loud. Holding the lit branch and doublesword in one and the severed head in the other, I sucked in a deep breath. I was scared; I had never thrown myself quite this far in danger, but I steeled myself when I thought of the cause, of Negus and of Faridha's warm smile- all of which held more importance than I.

With that, I raised myself on shaky legs and, before I could talk myself out of it, I barrelled forward, doublesword first. I felt the warmth as I made contact with a body and the squelching sound of flesh that I had become too scarily familiar with today.

Hearing the exclaims of uproar, my vision focused and I found myself lying on the sleazy soldier, my sword deep in his chest as he let out stuttered gasps, coughing up blood.

I withdrew myself from the disgusting sight, barreling to the side where Negus was lying down and hovered over him. The soldiers moved in then and I raised the flamed branch hand before creating a circle of fire around us, causing exclamations of anger to arise from the soldiers. They could still see me through the licks of rising flames and I raised the severed head, watching as their expressions turned from recognition to fear in seconds as I spoke.