[EVA'S POV]
As I stand there, at the entrance of the giant palace of Exyclott, I feel like it's all a dream. It feels surreal to me and I just stand frozen at the spot, awestruck. I've never seen anything this horrid in my life. There's a lot of noise, but I can hear my thumping heart the most. I gasp as an Exyclottan soldier gets impaled with a sword and falls to the ground. Swords and knives and other dangerous weapons I never thought existed were slashing across the bodies of human beings, making them fall to their death.
All around me, people are getting killed. The Elvarian people moved with the speed of lightning, making them difficult to target and kill, so they had the upperhand. While the Exyclottans had power over gravity, the Elvarians had the power over speed. And everything was overwhelming, it was like watching Infinity War.
My heart drops to my stomach and I feel bile rising up my throat as a human being's freaking head lands right in front of me! I think I'm having a panic attack.
Just then, I feel my body pushed to the ground with a thud, and a soldier gets killed right in front of me, his body collapses right in front of mine.
"Are you okay, My Lady?" Moros perturbed face comes into view, he was squatting right in front of me holding a sword freshly dipped in blood. Does that mean I was about to get attacked while I was in a frenzy? I was two seconds away from dying. This just makes my heart thump.
"I'm....I'm alright." I stutter, trying to get a grip.
"Let's get out of here. I'll protect you." he says and carries me in his arms in one swift movement. I feel both our bodies rise into the air as he begins to levitate away from the chaos. As we move in the air, we're greeted by arrows being shot from the top of the building. Moros tries his best to dodge each of them.
"Moros...where's Ace? He needs to be safe." I say worriedly.
"He can protect himself, My Lady," he says, dodging a flying arrow swiftly. "Don't worry about him. Right now, I need to get you somewhere safe."
He stops in front of my bedroom and lowers himself to the ground before dropping me. He ushers me into the room where my eight handmaidens are huddled closely together.
"Stay here with Athena, My Lady. Don't open the door to anyone. Keep it locked. Please be safe, My Lady." Moros instructs me. I nod stiffly and he leaves. Athena rushes to lock the door and block it with a giant piece of wood. My heart is beating wildly, I've never been this scared in my life. As Athena starts to treat my bruised skin, which I got when Moros pushed me to save my life, all I can focus on is my anxiety. I hope Ace was okay. He was all I cared about.
And of course, Moros too. He saved my life. Damaris saved my life too. That poor physician can't get killed too. And these kind and serviceable handmaidens can't die too. I think I could see my life flash before my eyes.
No that is too soon, I have to stay positive. Oh I wish I had my powers right now. I'd not be too worried then. I could protect Ace, who I think I was beginning to....
*bang bang bang*
I stand up with a start at the banging of the door. Athena signals me not to make a sound. Moros's voices echoes in my mind: Don't open the door to anyone. Now I was dead scared. I hope that giant piece of wood was helpful. I hear falling chunks of metal on the other side of the door, along with agonizing and chaotic noises. My eyes are glued to the door, hoping that it doesn't break open with all that banging.
"My Lady! My Lady! Open the door, it's me!" squeals a voice on the other side. Otis! Oh God, that poor child! I rush to open him, but Athena grabs my hand.
"No, My Lady, it's dangerous!" she says.
I yank my arm free. "For God's sake, that's an eleven year old child. He could get killed!" I shriek.
"My Lady..."
Before she could continue, I rush towards the door and remove the giant piece of wood, before unlocking the door and opening it a bit to let the child in.
"Oh Otis! Are you alright?" I ask, looking all over his face for any sort of injury.
"Zydus is coming this way. He and the king were fighting, the king was trying to protect me. But Zydus has injured him and is coming to your chambers. I am here to protect you!" he declares, pulling out a sword bigger than his body. But he seemed to handle it pretty well. Not that it did anything to assure me, no kid should be allowed anywhere near that!
Just then, a loud growl fills the air and Otis pushes me protectively behind his smaller body. I must be looking like a pathetic adult now. I am so useless now that a kid had to protect me. What if he gets hurt?! Athena rushes to bolt the door and we all move away from it.
"I think he's close." Athena whispers. "He knows you're here. He's coming for you, My Lady."
We remain silent for a dramatic number of minutes for the bomb to drop as we hear footsteps approaching. There comes another round of banging. I hear Hudson yell for me to open the door, his scary tone makes me recoil. But he stops yelling and lets out a spontaneous groan. I think someone was fighting him. There was the slashing of swords that kept burning my ears. I was hyperventilating, knowing there was someone out there trying to protect me by fighting Hudson.
The next thing I hear is a prolonged wail which makes me panic even more. Someone has been defeated. The door breaks open, wood splatters everywhere. My heart jumps. I'm face to face with Ace who comes rushing to my aid. He plants a firm kiss on my lips before pulling away. His lips are a bit bruised, his hair is a mess, his face has cuts and scars on it and oh my God! He's freaking limping! His knee area is bleeding.
"Ace you're...."
"I'm fine. Come on, let's go." he cuts in. He's getting ready to carry me when his body thrust backwards into the solid wall by means of a strong force. I yell, clutching at my chest as he groans in agony. Hudson walks in with an evil smirk, his eyes moving from Ace to me.
"Hello, little dove." he says. "Nice to see you again."
"Hudson..." I pant. "Please don't do any of this. It's not worth it. He's your own flesh and blood!"
"You started this! If you didn't decide to help my brother, his life wouldn't be at risk."
"Oh please, Hudson. Don't you get it? Exyclott doesn't belong to you."
He scoffs at me. "You don't know anything, little dove. But you're coming with me. You'll be my wife and you will have my children! We will rule together, Eva. Don't you want that? If you choose to stay with my brother, the story shall always end the same way. He can never defeat me."
I look over at Ace's struggling body. Tears come into my eyes.
"I'm not coming with you!" I yell.
Hudson chuckles. "I thought you'd say that. So I got you an entourage." he smirks as five men come to stand behind him. I recognize one of them to be Ekon Khan. "They keep you with them while I deal with that pathetic fool. I'll see you after I kill him and we'll spend some quality time together after his funeral."
I stare at him in disgust as the men make their way towards me. Not until....
"Stay away! Anyone who makes another move will lose his head!" Otis yells bravely, maintaining his stance protectively in front of me. The men exchange horrified looks. Oh no, Sweet Jesus!
"Will you get rid of that infant or do I have to do that for you?" Hudson barks. They draw their swords. Oh no, Otis is gonna die. This is not good. I have to get some sense into this child's head.
But before I can do anything, Otis rises into the air lunges into one of the men with a fist he falls down with a thud. His sword moves deftly and swiftly in the air as he fights three other hefty men on his own. I just stand there, my jaw dropping at the sight. Well, I think Ace had a point.
However, after injuring two men and tossing them around the room with telekinetic abilities, Otis seems to have a hard time fighting Ekon. The way Ekon attacks him with his sword is so relentless. How can you want to kill an innocent child?
I loud gasp escapes my mouth when Ekon swiftly plunges Otis into the floor and places his sword right on his throat.
"Well, Ekon?" Hudson says. "What are you waiting for? Kill that infant."
Ekon glances at Hudson for a minute. And in his eyes I see...guilt? Well, before he can make a decision, a large fist is shoved into his stupid face and he gets off Otis. I look up in the air to see his assailant. Ace.
He is fuming, even with one bad leg. I pull Otis out of the way. Ace attacks Hudson relentlessly with the large piece of wood that was used to block the door, which breaks in Hudson's face. I watch as his sword cuts across Hudson's skin, leaving a deep scar on his. Hudson groans and staggers back. Ace pushes him to the ground and roars as he delivers multiple punches to his face. Too many, that I guess his face might end up disfigured.
However, just when I thought everything was going on well, Hudson sticks one free hand out and stabs Ace's injured leg with a dagger. A groan erupts from Ace's body as he falls off his brother. I sigh in dissapointment, as my heart sinks further, if that's possible.
Hudson stands over Ace and raises his sword up high, aiming for his heart.
"NO!!!" I hear myself yell, using the last bit of energy left in me. There's dead pan silence. A very painful and torturous silence. The whole world seems to stop around me as Hudson's sword drives into Ace's chest. The king of Exyclott was gone. He stops struggling. His eyes are slowly closing. He's going to die and I couldn't do anything about it. Hudson slowly walks over to me.
My face is on the ground, my tears are wetting the carpeting. My heart is beating rapidly. It feels like I've lost everything.
"Eva..."
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" I mutter, too weak to yell. I lift my head to look at him, then at Ace's unconscious body. Then at Otis injured limbs, then at the frightened and horrified maidens. Then at Ekon Khan, who was struggling on the ground from Ace's punch. The dead people outside my room.
Then my eyes fall back on Hudson. The bastard. The cause of everything. The one on a mission to ruin my life and the good people of Exyclott.
"Do you hear the silence, Eva? It's all over now. I won, just like I promised. You have no option than to be my bride." He says. "Just think about it. You'll be a hero. Your children will grow to protect Exyclott. Sansora will thrive from you."
"If this is why you want me, then you're only wasting your time. Because I've lost all..." I'm interrupted when Hudson's body suddenly jerks forward and gags blood from his mouth which stains my gown. To my surprise, he falls down to the ground and even to my utmost surprise I see Ace standing on weak legs, holding a blood stained sword. But his knee is still bleeding and he looks really weak.
He goes to squat near Hudson's body, which looks barely conscious. "Long live Exyclott." he declares, before Hudson takes his last breath.
Ace lifts his head to look at me and he smiles. I smile back at him, tears rolling from my eyes. His smile begins to fade as he clutches at the spot where Hudson had driven his sword. He collapses to the floor next to Hudson and I rush to hover over him.
"Ace!" I call, trying to pat him back to consciousness. "Ace, please stay with me. Please don't leave."
A faint smile appears on his face as he lifts one hand to caress my teary cheek. "I promised my mother that I was going to protect the people of Sansora." he says, his voice choking. "But when I met you, I decided that I wanted to do it with my life."
"Ace, don't die. Please." I plead, choking on my tears.
"Even if I die, I give you your freedom. That's what matters."
"Ace, you're the king. Your life is more important. You can't die."
He chuckles softly and stares into my eyes with his gorgeous green ones for what feels like the last time. "I love you, Cardale." he says, before his hand drops from my cheek and his eyes close.
I've never felt this empty.
❇
So here we go! This chapter is the longest I've ever written! But I won't be fully proud until I'm convinced that this was well written.
Forgive me if the fighting scene was not the best. However, this chapter has all of my efforts. So I hope it is okay.
Also thanks for 144 reads! We're almost at 200. Like wow! It's not a lot, but yeah. Thanks to all those who comment too. To the silent readers, well, thanks for reading anyway.
Um...so vote and comment to let me know your thoughts. 💙💚💛💜
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Tinambayi by Wiyaala 👌
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