"Many men think power comes from ones strength, how many men they can kill in the battlefield, or how many kings they can stab in the back." The rapsy, breathless voice says, leaning back on her chair.
"And you presume that to be wrong?" Xb asks, book in hand.
"I do. Power does not come from strength. The most powerful man in the realm has never killed a man in his life." Cleo replies, slowly standing and making her way to a slanted bookshelf.
"And who is this mysterious man? and how he came to acquire said power." Xb asks with a smirk on his face.
"Cub, the master of the kingdom's wealth, the richest man in every realm in every continent, without a doubt, and how he came to acquire this power. He had the right friends and the right brain." She says, pulling a book titled "History of the Great Wars" from the bookshelf, wiping the dust off the top and placing it on a table in front of her.
The smile wipes from Xb's face, having remembered Cub's reaction to the letter at his own execution, how he had always been lingering in the back of every moment in the kingdom, he was always whispering in the King's ear telling him what to do and what to say.
"These books don't mention men like him, and if they do, they do not mention their brains, only their titles as master of wealth, or master of whatever title they had been given, there's one thing about them all, they come from no royal family, no rich family or a family with a recognisable name at all." She says, flicking through the pages as Xb watches eagerly.
"So? What does thay have to do with anything?" He asks, walking closer to her to see the book.
"It means they have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, men like him would see everything in this kingdom burn if they could rule over the ashes." Cleo spits out directing her attention to him before noticing Scar skipping up the stairs towards her.
"Mother! Xb! there are people here." He says with a rusty axe in hand as Xb rushes to grab his sword.
"Who? Did you see who?" Xb asks, creeping down the spiral stairs as he looks out a slit in the wall, spotting an all too familiar black coat wrapped around a man on a horse.
"Stay here, Scar." He whispers before reaching the bottom and putting his sword away, standing in front of the door waiting for one of them to try enter.
He can hear them getting closer as he calms his breathing, hoping they will peacefully leave and he won't have to deal with his old partner.
The footsteps stop, and for a moment, the air is silent, the air is calm and nothing makes a sound, he can think, he can see everything, but after that moment is over everything is a hundred times louder than before, and the doors swings open in front of his eyes, and he looks into the eyes of his friend with fear.
The man freezes in front of him, a shock going through his body before he places a hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Xb?" He mutters out, looking into the frightened eyes of his former friend, a man exiled before him.
"Hypno." Xb says, starting to pull the sword out, but before he can, he spots the man behind Hypno. He could have sword he died in that moment because he was seeing a ghost, a dead man standing before him.
Hypno pulls his sword out while Xb is distracted, a sword Xb had made for him, arguably the best sword he had ever made, and it being used against him now, slamming his sword to the floor leaving him defenseless.
"Xisuma, is that you?" he says, stepping back against the wall with tears in his eyes, which flicker between the man he knows and the nan he knew.
"Xb, we won't hurt you. We're going back to dogwarts. Have you got any food to spare." Hypno says, sheathing his sword and holding out a hand to Xb.
The trembling man before him freezes for a moment before jumping forward and wrapping his arms around Hypno with no warning.
Hypno looks down at him with a slight smile on his face, patting his friend's back and letting him withdraw in his own time before he spots eyes looking down on him from the stairs.
"You!" He jumps back, pulling out his sword once again before Xb stands in between the two of them.
"Listen, no fighting, give them some food and let them leave, we don't want any trouble." Xb says, bending over to pick up the sword. Iskall had gifted him, placing it back in its sheath where it belongs.
"Anyone else here." Xisuma asks, walking up the stairs, but Scar blocks his way, shaking his head down at him with an angered look.
"Where have you been, Xisuma? we all thought you were dead?" Xb asks, pulling some meat out of a box in the room and handing it to Hypno, who thanks him.
"Rotting in a Stratos prison, it's not been fun." He replies boldly, walking to the door with Hypno, waving goodbye behind him and leaving.
"Goodbye Xb, and good luck out here, you too, Scar." Hypno says with a smirk on his face before walking about behind Xisuma.
A surprised look appears on Scar's face. Presumably, because he had no idea Hypno would recognise him, Hypno never forgets a face, even a peasant whom he met for a minute he could remember for years.
"So where do we go?" Tango says atop his horse, looking over to Etho, who is deciding where to go.
"Obviously to dogwarts, i think they'll let us back in for all the good work we've done." Etho says, laughing a little before riding north.
Grian slams his hands against the door, desperate to get a guards attention, so he can stab them and run like hes never run before. He has no idea how he would escape. He thought about making a dash for it out of the gates or finding a secret tunnel that could lead him out. Anywhere would be better than here. His hands were bruised and bloody, a knife situated in his back pocket for whoever was unlucky enough to give him attention.
But, it seems he is the unlucky one, as the shadow cast upon the door is that of a giant, a giant horned man looming over the door. He has to stab his captor, and it puts a smile on his face, his wings flapping at the idea.
The door slowly opens as Grian looks up, knife digging into his hand as his breathing picks up and an eerie smile plastered on him.
He can see the green skin of the monster who means to hurt him, and many others, two empty black eyes staring into his soul.
"What do you want, child?" Doc asks blankly, looking down at him unimpressed, noticing the unusual flapping of his wings before he feels something buried into his chest, looking down to find a knife which drops him to his knees as Grian slips past him.
Grian runs down the hallways, his vision blurring, and his only focus is what's ahead. There is no concern for behind him, which is nothing for now, but soon enough, it will probably be a hundred men.
Doc rips the knife out of his chest, standing up infuriated before starting to run down the hallways, shouting obscenities to whatever man will listen.
The hallways of the kingdom are long, and there are so many of them. He feels like he's been running for hours. A couple of men have started the chase, but when he reaches the point where the men should be guarding the door to the castle, he only finds two dead men lying on the floor with puddles of blood around them.
In the middle of these puddles, a coin glistens, a small golden coin shining into his eyes as he looks behind him to see men catching up, along with Mumbo with a bow in hand.
Mumbo is known for his archery, a perfect shot, never missed, not even once, every target he's aimed for has died despite how far away they are, a true talent he wishes he had, but no time to waste.
He pushes open the heavy doors slowly before running out onto the street, his wings shining in the air as he can see people's eyes on him.
He descends down the steps leading to the castle, running around any guard in his way and making his way down the weaving long streets of dogwarts, looking for a house he knows as Sam's.
He finally finds it, bursting in the door to see his friend jump up in fear.
"Sam!" He shouts, trying to run to his friend, who steps back away from him.
"Sam?" He looks at him now. He seems upset and afraid. He doesn't understand why since Grian is his friend as they have been for years.
"Why are you here." He asks in an angered tone, stepping back further from Grian, who tries to reach out to him.
"I need help. They're going to kill me, let me hide, please!" Grian shouts, noticing the tears in Sam's eyes.
"I can't help you, i dont want to end up like your mother. Im sorry." He says, opening the door to try to make Grian leave, refusing to look into his eyes.
"My mother. what did they do, Sam?" He asks, now afraid for what they did to her. He can only think of the worst, an execution just for being related to him.
"They killed her, busted into her house at night and killed her there and then, no warning, no reason, they just did it." Sam says tears beginning to flow out of his eyes as Grian stands motionless, having learnt of the death of his mother now along with his father, he has no one left, nothing left, not even his friend.
He nods his head, refusing to cry before slowly walking out of the house, walking up the street towards the main gate without a care.
"Kill him, take the shot!" Doc shouts into Mumbo's ear as a little blood flows out his chest, desperate for Mumbo to release the shot he is currently holding.
He shakes. He doesn't want to kill an innocent kid, but if he doesn't, he'll be the one getting killed, and he likes his life.
"Grian, are you insane, run!" Beef shouts, coming out onto the street and spinning him around to see the bow pointed at him, snapping him back into reality.
His vision widens as he shakes out of the grip of the man holding him and runs towards the main gate, his final chance to escape.
Beef picks up his axe and runs with him as the other citizens watch, a mix of approval and disgust on their faces as they see the situation.
"Take the shot!" Doc shouts louder in Mumbo's ear as he still struggles to release the shot.
Beef stands in front of Grian, facing a couple of guards who are approaching them, Grian looks behind him, noticing they are about to be cornered.
"Go!" Beef shouts, pointing to the stairs that lead to the top of the wall, and Grian listens, dashing to the stairs and climbing until his feet fall off.
Guards try to follow him, but Beef stops them, striking a couple of them down as he shouts support to Grian, knowing he can't take on all of them, he fights for as long as he can before Grian hears a scream.
He pauses on his run up, looking down to see a sword buried deep in Beef, the man falling to the ground looking up at him.
He holds back tears as he runs further up, not sure of what he'll do once he reaches the top, but the only way he can go is up now.
"Take the shot." Ren says, walking up to Mumbo to see what the commotion is.
Mumbo looks away and sighs before releasing his shot, knowing full well what he's done, and that he might be punished for it.
The arrow flies, the wind carrying it to its destination as half the kingdom focus their attention on this one arrow, including Grian who watches it fly towards him, thinking its his last moments before it curves down, landing a couple stairs below him.
The wooden stairs creek, before the ones underneath him fall, an entire stairwell falls because of one arrow, and the guards that were chasing him.
He manages to jump up and grab on to the ledge of the wall, pulling himself up to safety from anyone, from anything and resting for a moment in peace.
"What did you do?" Cub asks with a smirk on his face, looking over at Mumbo, who drops his bow and walks away.
"I missed." He says with an upset look on his face before he reaches a safe distance to smile, and Keralis only smiles at him, knowing it was on purpose.
"Kill his friend." Doc spits out to his men who depart from the castle and make their way down the street.
Grian knows he doesn't have much time, the other men will be climbing other stairwells, and soon they will reach him, and he has nothing to do.
He can hear them reaching the top, and in the final moments of his life, he decides it's finally time to open the letter his father had left him.
he rips it open, scanning it over before noticing the short message on it, so short it is only one word.
He looks at it, and it reads 'fly'. it was that moment he knew what he had to do, he knew how to survive, the men make their way to him as he stood on the edge of the wall.
Looking down at the drop of hundreds of feet, he's always been scared of heights, and this was the tallest height in the realm.
He closes his eyes and tries to picture his father. He tries to remember his mother, Scar, Xb, Sam, and Beef. Anyone who has helped him over his life, anyone who has any hope for him, the only people who care for him.
He breathes what could be his final breath before stepping off of the wall, the men meeting each other at where he had dropped, looking down as he falls.
Everything felt calm, like he knew everything, like nothing could hurt him, like the air is where he belongs, but as he gets closer to the ground, the fear kicks in, maybe this is where he dies. He decides he doesn't want to see himself hit the ground so his eyes close.
It feels like hours later, and he still hasn't died, so he slowly opens his eyes to find himself scarily close to the ground, but he is falling no more, he is floating, floating peacefully above the ground and lowering himself slowly until he reaches the ground and stands safely, surprisingly.
Sam cries sitting against a wall as his door is kicked in once again, men with swords and spears flooding into his home as their eyes dart around before landing on him.
"Here." One of them says before they all walk towards him, a bloodlust in their eyes and no hesitation in their movements.
"Wait, please don't, i didn't help him, please, please!" Sam shouts, crawling back against the wall pleading for his life before a spear is lodged in his neck, ending his life in an instant as blood pours out covering him, The man uses his body to clean the blood on the spear before leaving like nothing ever happened.
End of chapter 9: 2681 words
The shortest one yet but the most brutal and action-packed one, I'd say, i enjoyed writing it, but that probably means it's bad :3.
Hope you enjoyed