"What are you waiting for?!" Aidan's hands gripped his sword tighter as he looked at me. For a moment I could see only him, his golden hair waving around his face after he had thrown off his crown, the silver plates of his armor reflecting the raging crowd that was coming towards him. His sword was already glowing with sparks of electricity but it wouldn't be enough. He pushed his captain towards me and pointed at the gate behind us, away from the mob that was about to overrun us.
"Get them out of here!" Aidan commanded, his voice barely overpowering the chaos as he turned back towards the crowd.
Before I could even process what was happening I felt the guard's hands pushing me towards the gates with the jedi rushing in front of me. Where before they were kneeling down before them, they were now leading the kingsguard away from the crowd with their lightsabers lighting our path. When we passed the gigantic gates of the palace I turned around, pushing the guard back.
"No, protect him!" I pointed at Aidan as I stopped the others too. I could barely see the few strands of golden hair over their shoulders, but the sound of thunder coming near somewhat eased the worry.
"They will be coming after them, princess." The guard' eyes narrowed at the jedi who looked at him defiantly.
"I've defeated entire droid armies, I think I can protect myself from a few citizens." Anakin shrugged with a smug smile on his face. He was immediately hit in the stomach by Obi-Wan, who glared at him disapprovingly.
"Look I will get them out of here, you make sure your king doesn't die." I decided. The captain seemed to hesitate but then nodded, turning around and calling his colleagues with him. For a moment I sighed in relief until a giant ball of fire came our way.
"Captain!" I tried to reach for his arm to try and pull him away but managed to only graze the metal of his wrist plate before we were send back flying with sparks exploding all around us. My body collided with the ground roughly as debris of the now broken gate fell down on us in broken, flaming chunks. Groaning loudly and lifting my head I spotted the captain a few feet away, his eyes wide open as blood flowed down his face.
"Captain?" Mumbling softly, I tried to push myself up as my ears were still ringing after the explosion. The captain was trapped underneath a burning piece of the gate, lying motionless on the ground. Soft hands grasped me from behind, lifting me up under my shoulders and firmly planting me on my feet. When I made a slight motion to walk towards the captain those same hands grasped for my jaw, directing my face towards his.
"Now is not the time for that, princess." Obi-Wan's face was covered with ashes and dirt, his tunic smouldering at the edges. It made his eyes even more vibrant which were now filled with sympathy.
"They have trebuchets now?!" We both glanced towards Anakin as he looked at the sky, seeing numerous fireballs flying towards the palace. Looking in the same direction we saw some of the rebels already passing the now broken gate with swords in their hands and murderous looks on their faces.
"We need to run." After seeing the rage and hate in their eyes the decision was easily made. I grasped Obi-Wan's wrist and as we passed him pulled Anakin with us.
"Where are we going?!" Obi-Wan yelled as I pulled them up the stairs to the walls that surrounded the castle. We were being followed by more than 20 rebels who were shooting flaming arrows in our general direction. Anakin managed to deflect most of them with his lightsaber and some exploded right next to our feet.
"We need to get you guys a gryphon, or you won't be getting out of here." I yelled.
"Are you sure the air is safer?" Obi-Wan pointed at the numerous Valarjar that were already roaming the skies as our feet were carrying us closer to the stables.
"Well the ground isn't looking much better!" Anakin said when we could see the courtyard from above. Most buildings surrounding the main square were already burning, the red flags of fireheart draped over the trebuchets that they had taken out of their hiding places. The occasional thunder strike went down to the ground, clearing a space around the king as he fought for his life. The crowd seemed never ending though and the situation was looking dire.
"Anakin, take that gryphon!" Driving my attention away from my brother, I spotted one flying away from the stables. They must have lit those on fire too. Everything was burning and the smoke was filling our lungs, making it so much harder to breathe.
Anakin easily jumped into the air, landing on the gryphon and directing it so that he was flying adjacently to the wall, his hand reaching out for his former master. "Master." He smiled smugly as he watched Obi-Wan running, his breath coming out in short raspy puffs and his hair covered in ashes. The older jedi's hand reached out for his friend, but just when he could grasp it another projectile hit the wall we were running on.
Both Obi-Wan and I were sent down to the ground. We held our eyes closed, but nothing else happened. Instead, the path for the rebels to reach us was now blocked by debris. "That wasn't so bad." Obi-Wan softly chuckled as we looked at each other, only to see the surface splitting between us a few seconds later.
"Oh dear." Obi-Wan commented dryly just before the entire wall started to collapse with us on it. Before we knew what was happening we were gliding along the edges of the wall as it was falling down a ravine. We slid down the steep surface as everything was tumbling down around us, fire sparks and water droplets flying through the air as we watched the surface of the river coming closer.
"Obi!" With my hair flowing behind me I grasped his wrist after seeing that we were going to fall down into the waterfall. "We need to jump!"
"Oh, I don't like this!" He screamed but jumped just in time to land on another wall. This one was covered with green and was right next to the edge of the waterfall Eagle's fall was built upon. "I'm getting too old for this." Our eyes locked as we were laying on the ground.
"Are you okay?" Reaching for his face and wiping of some dirt with my thumb I softly chuckled as his cheeks seemed to turn red. The wrinkles around his eyes appeared as he laughed softly, running his hand through his hair as he tried not to look embarrassed.
"Never better, princess." I watched as Obi-Wan slowly stood up, dusting off his clothes as he looked up at the sky. "Now where is that troublemaker?"
"I don't know, but I do know there's another crowd heading straight for us." I said after seeing them round the corner, dodging an arrow and quickly grasping Obi-Wan's hand again. I pulled him towards the other direction as he yelled in surprise. My eyes narrowed when they spotted the other end of the wall, only it wasn't there anymore. This whole side of the palace had been blown to pieces and sent down the waterfall, now lying in rubbles on the bottom of the lake more than 100 feet below us.
"Princess, you know we're running towards a cliff?!" Obi-Wan declared while glancing back and seeing the people chasing us getting closer each second.
"Just jump!" I yelled when another arrow flew right by our faces.
"Are you crazy?!" Obi-Wan answered, looking back to weigh his changes between jumping down a waterfall or facing an entire raging crowd.
"Trust me!" As we were nearing the edge more arrows were flying towards us together with daggers but by using the force Obi-Wan had managed to redirect them another way. The smoke from the waterfall was getting thicker as the noise of the water crashing down violently became louder. I could feel the hesitation coming from him, his steps slowing down slightly as we were nearing the edge.
"I hope you know what you're doing!" Obi-Wan yelled just before jumping. He screamed loudly as he fell down, his arms folding before his face to protect it from the incoming impact. I jumped right after him, unfolding my wings and reaching for his tunic.
"Lyanna!!!" He yelled in fear when the surface of the water seemed to get closer each second.
"Hold on." I said as I grasped him under his arms, pulling him up with me as I stretched out my wings to slow us down as much as possible. The air flew all around us as we decelerated and Obi-Wan continued to yell my name, for he saw the cliffs below us nearing at an alarming rate. Somehow I managed to keep us from crashing down onto those rocks, my wings shaking with the effort. Obi-Wans feet crazed the water before I managed to lift us back up in the air.
"That was too close." Obi-Wan softly chuckled as he bungled by his arm, looking up at me.
"You're heavier than you look." My breath was fastened and I knew I couldn't keep this up much longer.
"Master, I didn't know you could fly!" Anakin suddenly flew right next to us, his dark hair flowing behind him as he smiled. "Or whatever passes for what you just did. Maybe I'll just call it helplessly falling down while screaming desperately."
"Anakin, position yourself underneath us so I can drop him." I commanded as Obi-Wan huffed in protest. When I let go, it seemed as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulder. Quite literally. Watching as Obi-Wan positioned himself behind Anakin, I managed to take control over my flying again, now gliding easily over the river as we flew away from the palace.
"So, what is the plan now, princess?" Anakin looked at me after a long moment of silence. "Should we help your brother?"
"No." My brows furrowed, knowing I would love nothing more than to help him. I wasn't even sure if he was still alive after seeing all the commotion. Yet I knew that the best way to help him now was to find a way to kill Arthas. I could feel their troubled gazes on the side of my face when my hand reached for the pendant but payed it no attention. "We head North."
~
3rd person
"Wow easy!" Anakin grasped the reins tightly when the gryphon descended quickly. It screeched loudly as it landed, ruffling his feathers and shaking his head when the two jedi finally got off his back. Lyanna landed gracefully right next to them, immediately spotting 3 people walking towards them from the house.
"Rex! You look awful." Anakin smiled as his friend came near. They had arrived at their destination: Stefan's estate at the north of Eagle's Fall. It was located in a valley, totally separated from any kind of civilisation. With his position came a large stretch of land, which he occasionally used to organise boot camps for his army or for his little vacations when he had enough of leading. Yet now it was being used as a refuge for the clones.
"I'm afraid I must say the same thing about you, commander." Rex softly chuckled and patted Anakin on the shoulder, making him grin widely. The captain then nudged his head towards the one that had brought them there. "If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have made it out alive."
"Your majesty." Stefan bowed in respect when he saw Lyanna with the two jedi and then looked up sadly. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more." He saw her cross her arms before her chest, her eyes locked on the ground in front of her feet as she sighed deeply.
"You've done more than enough, captain." Lyanna smiled as she looked up but it didn't reach her eyes. They continued to stare out in front of her, trying to seem strong but Obi-Wan knew different. He could sense the distress that was growing in her heart, his eyes stuck to the side of her face as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I trust the wounded troopers made it out too?"
"Yes, my husband has been taking care of them." Stefan stepped aside a little so they could see him walking up to them. He had dark brown hair that was neatly combed back yet somehow attractively messy and warm brown eyes that seemed to melt everyone he looked at instantly. Even though he looked gentle, there was a fierceness in his eyes. "Sometimes it scares me how well he can handle these situations."
"Well, my husband is a commander. I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice." Stefan's husband, a man named Finn smiled as he bowed too when he saw his princess. He nodded his head at the two jedi, smiling softly. "Your men are in good health. They can stay here for as long as is needed, I don't think the king will be coming here to check if we're hiding anyone."
"Thank you." Obi-Wan said whole heartedly. He made a small bow of gratitude as Anakin did the same.
"Sadly, I can't stay." Stefan walked forward and took Lyanna's hand. "I have to go back to make sure your brother, my king, is protected at all costs."
"You should." Lyanna nodded and tried to smile a little but even that was hard to fathom. Stefan noticed the effort she took, and knew she was only trying to reassure him.
"I will take care of him, your majesty." Stefan softly put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. Finally, she managed to meet his eyes.
"You always do."
Stefan turned back towards his husband, taking his hand and placing it on the left side of his chest where his heart would be. "I'll be back soon." he whispered.
"I know you will." Finn did the same, and when they leaned their foreheads together Obi-Wan sensed a surge of the force between them. He felt it connect the two, felt it unify them in some way as a soft light came from under their fingers. He watched completely mesmerized while Anakin awkwardly shuffled on his feet.
"Extraordinary." Obi-Wan mumbled in amazement. "Princess, may I ask- " He frowned when the spot she was previously vacating was empty. Obi-Wan turned around, searching for his Valerian friend till he found her figure a few feet away, walking towards one of the watchtowers alone. He sighed deeply, his hand rising up to his beard to stroke it in a thoughtful manner.
"You should go to her." Anakin nudged him slightly.
"There's much anger inside of her, Anakin, I have been sensing it since the battle at Borovia." Obi-Wan frowned in worry, his eyes following her figure till she was almost out of sight.
"Given the circumstances I don't blame her." Finn walked up to the two after Stefan had left. The jedi could see the remnants of a few tears on his cheeks, but besides that he had managed to hide his sadness quite well. "But he is right, master jedi. You should talk to her. I can sense how she feels about you, she may need the company now more than ever. I will take your friend to watch over your troopers while you're gone."
Anakin smirked slightly when he spoke of her affections, giving his friend a knowing glance who only slightly tensed at the words.
"I will talk to her." he glared at his former apprentice. Obi-Wan sighed deeply and then followed in the footsteps of the princess.
Anakin chuckled at the effort his master made to hide what was really happening. "Well, don't talk too hard! I reckon we leave early tomorrow; you may need to get some sleep."
Anakin laughed as he saw his master tense up immediately, giving a murderous glare before walking off. "Anakin, don't push it."
Anakin smiled smugly as he looked at an amused Finn. "He loves me."
Okay maybe I lied. Fluff is coming next chapter, not this one.
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