The Fire King sprang into action, and a wave of flames charged toward the sword in Sebastian's hand. The Prince spun away from Titus, narrowly missing the ball of fire, and sent the sword spiraling toward the King. Unfortunately, the King dodged the assault with ease, and the flames around him grew in intensity.
Now King Toro was angry.
But the Prince didn't have time to worry about the King when the most glorious blast of white light erupted from Titus' hand. Sebastian dropped low to the ground and the blast went right over his head.
Prince Sebastian was in a terrible predicament. He watched both King Toro and Titus slowly approach and crouched low beside his father, ready to attack whichever man moved first.
It was time for me to stop standing around and watching. It almost seemed as if the final challenge had come, and we'd all learn who was truly captain. I had been trained for this, and I'd stand next to my trainer, even if it meant death. I quickly moved away from the crowd as energy began to swell at my spine. Pointing a hand at Titus, I directed my energy down my spine and into my middle chakra - the way Sebastian had always taught me.
I then screamed with the pain of releasing all of my strength, and watched as it charged at Titus at full speed. The ball of fire smacked into his chest, sending him flying backward.
Everything stopped as every eye fell on me. I glared at all of the Firelanders, especially the Fire King as I took a stand next to the Prince. Sebastian looked up at me and his eyes were wide as they traveled the length of my body to settle on my chilling gaze.
"Why did you get involved?" he asked. "You should've stayed back."
"It's me and you, remember?" I told him, looking up at our enemies to make sure they hadn't attacked.
"Who is she?" King Toro spoke to Titus through the burning flames. "Doesn't she realize how outnumbered her people are? With a simple command, my men can torch them to ashes, and the the Ice King will still be mine."
"Move, Anya," Titus stated through clenched teeth. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will. You don't understand what you are doing."
"I'm fighting for my Prince, who is protecting his father. What does his death prove to the Fire King? How will it bring back the many lives lost? Peace is the only way. Revenge means blood spilled on both sides!" I paused, hoping to make them understand with my pleading eyes. "By killing the King, you are only becoming like him. The true peace treaty can be decided right now if both Kings agree to let the past go and move forward in peace!"
"He must pay!" The Fire King roared, and his fierceness was frightening. He looked around at his men while pointing his torched hand at us. "Restrain them!"
At least ten Firelanders stepped out of the crowd, approaching us. The Prince rose from his crouched position next to his father and pushed me behind him. I quickly moved to his side.
I was no longer afraid.
The first blast of white fire came from me, freezing three men in their spot while the other seven began to attack. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Prince Sebastian maneuver around fireballs while physically fighting two Firelanders at once.
I should've kept my eyes in the remaining five. A fireball smacked into my leg, causing me to scream out in. I knelt down and held onto the burn just below my knee. When I noticed them approaching me, I backed away as I fell, throwing blast after blast in their direction. Unfortunately for me, they'd managed to weave through my attacks and continued to advance.
A loud commotion caused the approaching Firelanders to stop walking and turn around. The sound had come from the Queen as she had broken through her barricade of men and approached her fighting son.
Prince Sebastian was encircled by at least ten other Firelanders, and the look of determination on his face as he tried to break through was inspiring.
I stood through my pain as the enemies advanced me and I managed a large enough blast of white fire to freeze all five within seconds. My head then spun around to the Ice King - a King I hated and yet defended in the name of love.
Love.
Was I really in love with the Prince? My heart pounded just thinking about it, and the fluttering feeling inside was all the confirmation I needed. I was in love with Sebastian, and the thought of losing him was all I needed to realize my own feelings. No matter what happened, I had to make sure we both lived. We had to.
The Ice King screamed as Titus held the dagger-like sword at his throat, and as I glanced in their direction, I knew were too late...
Blood sprawled over the snow covered ground as the blade ripped through the King's throat. The cut was clean and deadly, and the King's body jerked as he fell to the floor. I looked into Titus' eyes as saw that victory had set in. He bent down and took the crown from the King's head.
"No!"
The shout came from the Queen, and I tore my eyes away from Titus to find that she had stopped fighting next to her son and stood there with devastation and defeat torturing her sagging face. Two enemies quickly seized her and roughly pulled her arms behind her back. She didn't seem to care as her eyes stayed focused on her dead husband. I could almost see a part of her spirit die and depart from her body. I had to look away, and took in the sight of the Prince.
Sebastian had managed to kill two more Firelanders and spun around to take in the sight of his father's lifeless body. His mouth dropped open, and the fight in his eyes turned into disbelief.
He took two steps toward his father and then stopped. His eyes then focused on the new King and he charged him.
Suddenly, my hands were yanked behind me, and I was pulled back to the sideline. I fought against the Firelander containing me, but his hands began to burn the skin around my arm, and all I could do was cry out in pain.
Prince Sebastian and Titus began to physically fight, and Sebastian seemed to have the advantage as he slammed a fist into Titus' face three times. Titus stumbled backward but quickly regained his composure. When Prince Sebastian threw another punch, Titus stepped to the side and kneed him in the gut.
Sebastian doubled over in pain, and another knee connected with the his head. The Prince felt to the ground as blood sprayed everywhere.
I threw my head back and it smashed into the Firelander's face. He let go of me and fell backward. I quickly ran toward Titus as he stood over the fallen Prince.
"Titus!" I screamed, and he met my eyes as I threw a ball of ice at his face. He easily leaned to the side, and the ice smacked into the wall. With a shake of his head, he through a blast of white fire at me.
It smacked into my chest and I landed right in front of Cora and Luca.
Luca quickly kneeled down and helped me to my feet. Once I stood, I nodded at him in gratitude and turned back around. The room was in chaos.
The Icelanders that had been observing had begun to fight in their dead King's honor, and even King Toro was occupied with fighting men off. There was now an even match, and Titus stood alone in the center of the room with Sebastian, who was still trying to recovered from the blow to his stomach. Titus leaned forward and grabbed Sebastian by the hair, pulling his head back. He then whispered something to the Prince and yanked his head back even further. An inch more would've snapped the Prince's neck.
I was furious and alarmed. I smacked Titus in the back of his head with a small ice ball, and hoping it would've been a deadly blast.
With a frown, I looked down at my shaking hands, realizing how exhausted I was. I'd used more of my gift than I'd ever used. I started to feel dizzy and stumbled backward. Thankfully, it was all the distraction I needed.
Titus let go of Sebastian, and when he turned toward me, his eyes were slits. "I told you to stay out of it!" he barked.
Titus then raised an arm in the air, an attack intended to seriously hurt me. The blast of white white fuels by the winter stone - stronger than anything I'd never seen before - surged through the air toward me, and I was too weak to move.
"Anya!" Cora screamed.
She had been the only other person watching Titus. She jumped in front of me, moving faster than the blast heading in my direction and made herself a shield before me.
Titus' blast smacked into her chest, and she fell against me, immediately unconscious. I fell to the ground with her, feeling panicked and I began to shake her. She wouldn't awaken.
"Cora..." I heard Titus say, but I tuned him out as I held her close. I knew white fire couldn't hurt her badly, but with the winter stone, it was possibly deadly. The fact that she'd stepped in front of the blast to save me was heart breaking. I owed her my own life.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Titus get attacked by an angry Icelander, which distracted him.
I also noticed Sebastian as he quickly rose to his feet and made his way to his father's dead body. I tore my gaze from Cora and watched with tears in my eyes as he broke down. We both held someone we loved, and I could only hope Cora would survive.
A hand touched my shoulder and I looked up to find Luca's eyes. "We need to get out of here. More Firelanders are coming, we will be outnumbered again in no time. It's too late. There is a new King and he will have us all killed."
I nodded and stood to my feet. "Take Cora, meet me at the back entrance, the one no one uses. We can sneak into the stables and take animals for our journey."
Luca kneeled low and scooped Cora into his arms and I ran toward the Prince. Grabbing at his shoulders, I pulled him away from his father.
"We must go, Prince Sebastian," I told him. "It's too late. We must go to save ourselves."
To my surprise, the Prince didn't resist and stood to his feet. I linked my hand with his and began to navigate us through the rough sea of fighting men.
I guided us into the passageway, and began leading down toward our escape. A thought then occurred to me. We forgot the Queen.
"Sebastian..." I said, stopping, but he shook his head and took the lead, pulling me forward.
"Come on," he said. "We don't have much time."
"Sebastian!" I cried, trying to stop, but he kept pulling me along. "The Queen! What about your mother?"
The Prince came to a halt and turned toward me with cold and distant eyes. I could tell he was hurting but he tried so hard to seem like he wasn't. "She is Queen. She will not leave her husband, even if we try to drag her with us. She will not leave this castle."
"We should try!"
"If we go back in there, we will die!" the Prince argued. "What good are we if we are dead? We will gain in numbers and come back for her. We will take back my kingdom. That is a promise!" Sebastian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. I could tell how conflicted he was and my heart hurt for him.
He was going to leave everything he knew behind in hopes that he'd prevail in the end. I really hoped he did. I needed him to. His kingdom needed him to.
The Prince grabbed my hand again. "Come on," he said, pulling me forward. I didn't have to tell him where to go, he already knew. It was the best escape route the castle had.
I allowed the Prince to guide me further away from his mother, trusting that he knew best. I sure did hope Eliza was smart enough to keep herself alive until we returned. I also hoped that Luca and Cora had made it to the back entrance. I wasn't prepared to leave almost everyone I loved behind.
One chapter left!