Kuura brought down the blade to strike at Zaros's neck. The sword was but a hair from the unprotected skin when another blade slipped in to guard the Emperor.
"What the-?" demanded Kuura, and he looked to see the young Ruari beside him protecting his master.
"You didn't clear out all his security," Ruari replied, his face contorted in a glare of rage. "How dare you raise your blade against our Emperor!"
"Ruari!" breathed Zaros.
"Bah!" Kuura spat. "I do not see him as my Emperor. He is a usurper and a murderer, nothing more. He is an Empty Lord; the true King of this Realm is Raldeir!"
"That evil Mahjarrat had no place in this world. You monsters can have Freneskae, leave Gielinor to the humans."
"You humans deserve no such right. And woe to the Mahjarrat that turn to your cause against their own kind. I hope another Mahjarrat Lord rises and eats their bones."
Ruari lifted his blade and swung, forcing Kuura to dive backwards away from Zaros. As he moved away, however, two more humans jumped out of hiding places in the small garden shrubs and struck at Kuura. One blade ripped through Kuura'* neck, the other through his abdominal cavity. The Mahjarrat went limp, and his body collapsed onto the grass.
The two humans sheathed their swords. "We got here just in time, Lord Zaros," they replied.
"Good work, Viggora, Mesta," Ruari said with a smile. Then, he helped Zaros to his feet. "Are you alright?"
Zaros took a moment, as if processing all the events that had happened in such rapid succession. "I'll manage."
Ruari sighed in relief. "That's good. We thought for a moment that we would be to late."
"What happened?"
"When word spread through the Palace of the attack, we went to the spot that Kuura told us to go to in the event of an emergency, where he said he would bring you," Mesta replied. "When he didn't arrive, we came looking, and we found you about to be beheaded."
"Thank you all. I would be dead if you hadn't come," Zaros responded.
02-Nov-2008 03:24:06
:(:o