Before Zora could react, Jurauk had already rammed a fist into a guard's helmeted head and taken his sword, holding it up protectively. "Stay back!" he ordered, shifting so that he was in front of her. Zora peered around his shoulder, drinking in the whole scene. A swarm of men clothed in black flooded the hallway, enclosing Gregori's small entourage.
"To the King!" one armored figure shouted, right before he was gutted by a silent assassin. Metal clanged on metal, and the sounds reverberated throughout the room.
"Quickly!" snapped Pyter. He stood safely behind the wall of black-clothed men, watching as more royal guards fell to their blades. "Kill him before the others notice something is amiss."
Zora's hopes soared. Would this day be the end of Gregori's tyrannical reign? Unconsciously, her fist tightened on the back of Jurauk's shirt. He was in a fighting stance, ready to fend off any enemies, but the men in black only had eyes for their target.
"Drop your sword, Gregori, and accept your death!" Pyter declared, pointing his own weapon towards his brother. All around him, members of the Royal Guard were dropping like stones, red smiles on their throats.
Zora expected Gregori to surrender. He was severely outnumbered. Instead, he threw back his head and laughed maniacally.
"My foolish elder brother!" he crowed. "How this pains me, to see my own blood raise a bland against me."
"You are not worthy to be my blood," said Pyter as the assassins parted to let him through. "You are a frigid, soulless being who sent his own sister to be eaten by the Nefari!"
"Ha! Are you still blind? I only got rid of her so I could wait for this day to come. You wouldn't dare attack me with your little sister still here, right? But now that she's gone, there's nothing holding you back." He gave a low laugh. "Wouldn't this be a story? The previous crown prince attempting to usurp the throne of its rightful ruler?"
Zora had to manually restrain the raging Nefari before her. Even she felt faint. "Wait!"
"Bastard, if it hadn't been me you encountered, you would've been ripped to shreds!" Jurauk was livid.
"Shhh," Zora said, pulling him away from the scene. "Pyter has Gregori cornered. There's nowhere out for him." Inside, a storm raged. So all this time, she'd been a liability for Pyter. He was afraid to make a move...because of her? Had he been worried Gregori would use her as leverage against him?
She turned her attention back to her brothers. Pyter stood right in front of Gregori now, and with a shout, he swung his sword towards him.
When Gregori smiled, cold dread washed over Zora.
Thunk! An assassin staggered forward, an arrow in his back, before his knees gave out. There was whistling as dozens of arrows were fired downward. Pyter looked up, thunderstruck, as an arrow hit the floor by his foot. He raised his sword and began slicing away as more volleys rained down upon him.
The shots came from the second-floor balcony, where Zora spotted dozens of archers with their bows drawn, aiming at Pyter and his men. Reinforcements – no doubt Gregori's- surged into the hall from hidden doorways, wielding maces and axes.
Pyter's assassins were dying one by one. A man in black blocked an arrow with his blade, only to have his head swiped off by a swinging axe. Another sliced a dagger across a guard's chest before his own was run through. Zora's stomach threatened to empty its contents. She couldn't tear her eyes away from all the blood. Fresh and red, it reeked of iron.
Pyter was skilled in the art of fighting. With a yell, he tore into the throng of men, slashing and hacking away. They closed in on him mercilessly. For one terrifying moment, Pyter disappeared under the thrashing limbs. Then shouts of pain, and he emerged from the crowd, having sliced a large arc into his enemies. Almost immediately, he clashed blades with another attacker.
This man was larger than the others, with bulging arms and oiled braids in his brown beard. Pyter grunted, his knees trembling from the strength of his opponent's sword pressing down on his.
Zora saw movement. Gregori had snuck through the fighting and now had his blade poised above Pyter's unguarded back. Sunlight from the stained glass windows cast a multicolored glow on the reflective floor. Gregori's face was mad with glee.
Zora's mind went blank. She didn't think. One moment she was safely behind Jurauk. The next, she'd grabbed Jurauk's stolen sword, thrown herself behind Pyter, and brought her weapon horizontally to meet Gregori's. Instantly, her knees buckled and she fell, but her sword was still above her head.
"What in blazes –" That was all Gregori could say before a blur of red and black slammed into his side, sending him flying into the wall. Jurauk rose. The veins in his temple and neck bulged from rage, and the muscles in his back were bunched together, ready for battle.
Zora yanked Pyter out of the way as the burly man sliced downward; Had Pyter still been there, he would have been severed in half.
"Zora?" Her brother gaped. "How –"
"No time to explain!" she said. "I will kill Gregori." He nodded and asked no more questions before flying back into the fray.
Zora rushed over to where Gregori lay in a crumpled heap by the wall. The force of Jurauk's blow had been so great, his body had made a dent in the stones, and debris was scattered around him. Jurauk kicked a limp arm.
"Did you get him?" asked Zora breathlessly. Jurauk nodded.
"I didn't hold back." He whirled to face her. "How could you do something so stupid!" An enemy tried to land a hit on him, but Jurauk's fist shot out and knocked him into his comrades, his victim's skull crunching beneath the force.
"You could have been killed!" Jurauk was shouting now. "What if you had moved your sword an inch? You wouldn't have blocked Gregori's sword, and you'd be skewered."
"I saved my brother's life! And I'm not hurt!" Zora shot back.
Jurauk groaned in frustration, breathing heavily. "Don't do that. Ever. Again. Understand? I didn't help lug you halfway across the kingdom just so you'd die because of a stupid sense of heroism."
Zora was about to reply when something kicked her ankles, sending her flying off her feet. She screamed as she contacted Jurauk, and they both crashed to the ground. Her head hit the floor, and bright light flashed. The world spun, and she could barely lift her head.
In the distance, she vaguely recognized Jurauk shouting at her to get up. But he sounded as if he were underwater instead of right next to her. "What?" she mumbled, clutching her skull.
Gregori rose from the rubble. A nasty cut had opened on his forehead, and a streak of blood flowed down his face. It dribbled into his mouth, staining his teeth red.
"Sestra! Who would've thought I would see you again?" he said. His left arm hung limply at his side; it was most likely dislocated. She watched in disbelief as he popped it back into place without a wince. His cold gaze slid over to Jurauk as he helped Zora to her feet.
"Zora, it's going to take more than that to kill a Nefari, hm?"
dun-dun-dun! yay, first chapter of 2019! it took me a while to think of stuff for this chapter, because (you guys are unaware of this actually) there are a ton of plot-holes in this story, and i'm suuuuper picky about trying to make this perfect (even though i know it's not). but anyway, stay tuned for what happens next!
guys, we're legit less than 12k reads away from 100k, and we're not far from 7k votes! can we do it? i love you guys so much, and your comments make me smile stupidly haha
Discussion Questions: What do you think of Gregori's last line? How will this fight for the throne play out?