His father's prized sword, Falcon, laying sheathed in it's leather case beside his bed. He sat on his bed, his mind swimming through a pond of thought. But just then, his ears catch something that he thought was unusual. It sounded like fighting. His eyes quickly widened and he swiftly reached for his sword. His right hand grabbed his sword as his legs began to race out of this room.
He hastefully rushes out of his room, his footsteps faster than a hurricane. He bursts the door into his room wide open as quick as he could, bolting out towards the room where all of the fierce fighting was taking place. His heart pounded at a million miles, his mind consumed by thoughts. He approached the scene of the battling, the entrance room.
He ran as fast as he could to the scene of chaos. Strange hooded people wearing black hooded cloaks each reaching down to their ankles fought against the people he knew very much. Malik lunged his sword towards one of the hooded people who was staggered. His silver blade impaled the hooded man through the stomach, going right through his liver.
The blood from the strange hooded man poured down onto the floor, it painted it red. The hooded man held a tight grimace on his face as he growled in pain. Malik pulled his blade out from the hooded man with quickness. The man fell down onto the floor, writhing in tremendous agony. Bodies of three other hooded people laid dead upon the floor.
A hooded man attacked Elena who fought with her reserved Steel Longsword. The hooded man plunged his steel dagger straight towards Elena's throat who easily avoided the attack. As she dodged the attack, she swung her blade at the right side of the attacker's abdomen. Her arm dug deep into the man's flesh, blood flipped and flopped all across the room.
She pulled her blade back out in front of her as she stood just behind the injured man. Her legs were bent and spread apart. She then stood up straight and directed her blade towards the wounded hood. "Surrender," she suggested. "And I'll spare you."
The hooded man was hunched over, his left hand was tightly latched onto his newly found wound. His face covered by a grimace, he panted heavily with anger. He then swiftly lunged his dagger towards Elena with speed that was so quick that Elena barely had any time to react. She paused, her breath taken from her.
The sharp face of the dagger stared with gleaming eyes upon her pale skinned flesh. She froze with concern but it stopped just shy of her throat. The evil eyed man who commanded the action had a dead look on his face as if his very soul was ripped out from his chest. Suddenly the black hooded man exploded into flames which engulfed his entire body.
The smell of cooking flesh burned it's self into the air. The dagger that made Elena stare death in the face fell to the floor as the man's body collapsed with it. Elena's lung filled with air, she had experienced a great relief. She let out the air in her lungs and turned her head to her left. She looked at the stern face of Uriel who was looking back at her.
She let out a light smile. "Thanks," she calmly thanked.
Uriel let a gentle smirk of his own. He shook his head. "Don't mention it," he replied. The bodies of the five hooded people laid dead upon the floor but there was another body that had lost it's soul. The two turned their attention to their master, Malik. He sheathed his blade back within it's case and began to walk towards the center of the room.
A lifeless body of a fallen ally caped the floor, it was of the old man Ralph. His eyes were partly open and his body resembled a cross. A slice across his throat, from ear to ear, covered his body with blood as well as the rug around him. Malik began walking towards Ralph, his footstep as faint as the old man's breathing.
Raphael finally came into the room after the longest race of his life, he came to realize just what had happened. His eyes were widened just as he saw the chaos that must have taken place. "W-what...?" he mumbled softly.
Malik kneeled down beside the body of Ralph. "You were a fierce ally to the cause and a loyal man until this very day," said Malik. Uriel and Elena both closed their eyes and bowed their heads. Malik placed his right hand upon the old man's face, his right index finger was planted upon his right eyelid while his middle finger was put down upon his left. "But now, you are free - free from all of the violence and hatred that has devoured this world. Go now and relish in it. I shall see you soon, old friend." Just as he finishes, he scrolls his right hand down to close Ralph's eyes.
Malik stood up to his feet, standing tall and straight. His face still looked down upon the face of his fallen friend. Uriel opened his eyes back up and twisted his attention upon the nearest body of one of the attackers. He walked towards one that was four feet from where he stood. The lifeless woman had been shot by an arrow that had pierced her chest, exactly where her heart was.
Uriel kneeled down beside the black hood, his stern as rock face glared heavily upon the lifeless woman's face. His turquoise irises flipped to the center of her chest, a rusty golden pendant that was stained by blood hung around her neck. Elena noticed that Uriel was investigating something, she began walking over to him. "What is it, Uriel?" she asked.
Uriel tightly clenched his right hand around the pendant and began pulling it. The fragile golden chain broke off with ease, Uriel held the pendant in the palm of his hand. He opened his hand up and saw the details of it. There was a symbol in the center of it, it looked like a circle with the single circular dot in the center of it.
Elena stood just beside the young child, bending down beside him. "What did you find?" she asked, curious.
Uriel showed his sister the very pendant, his face looking at her. "Recognize the symbol?" he questioned.
She shook her head. "No," she answered.
His eyes then recoil back to the rusty golden pendant. "This belongs to a member of the Desert Assassins," he stated. "The fact that you've never seen it is because there have been no known survivors of an attack by Desert Assassins so very few have actually seen it."
Raphael crossed his arms. "So..." he mumbled, he walked over to the body that Uriel and Elena kneeled beside. "The Desert Assassins are after us?"
"Balor must have sent them to kill us," spoke Uriel as he stood to his feet. "This could be a trap."
Raphael shuffled his head from his master to Elena and Uriel. "But what if he thinks we've been dealt with?" Raphael questioned. "Wouldn't that be good?"
Elena shook her head, standing back up straight. "No," she disagreed. "Balor probably thinks that we haven't been dealt with. Most likely, this is his way of inviting us."
Malik shook his head in agreement. "Indeed," he corresponded, he turned his face towards the three.
Elena closed her eyes. She once again gasped a great breath into her lungs and released it back into the atmosphere. "We can't afford to have him become king," Elena stated. "If we do, we will betray the trust and hope of all those under Balor's thumb."
Malik moved his eyes to focus upon each of his comrades. "What do you all say?" the master questioned. "Shall we head to the Imperial Palace knowing full well that Balor is expecting us?"
Raphael turned his eyes to his master. "Personally," he thought. "I think he's always expected us. So, I think this assassin attack was just a scare tactic."
"The one thing I don't want us to do," angrily responded the child. "Is sit here and hide like cowards. Expecting us or not, Balor can't have it his way."
Malik turned his eyes towards the black haired young lady, Elena. She looked back at her master, her face was a mask of ready. She shook her head up and down just as Malik gazed upon her. Malik shook his head back at her. "All right," he acknowledged. "We will head to the Imperial Palace. We'll meet Clara and Fionnlagh there."
The four began walking with speed out of the building, leaving behind the bloody scene of chaos. They burst open the wooden door into the building and reveal the radiant blue sky outside. They are out in the center of a long, gray stone-brink pathway that leads straight to the Imperial Palace. They turned themselves to their left, pointing north.
Their bodies began to walk quickly towards the kingdom, ready and assured. A thousand thoughts ran through their heads, approaching with caution. They passed buildings that laid vacant of life. They passed streets without a drop of blood to course through them. The sun had faintly shined upon them as if the gods were watching the very event as it began to unfold.
The air felt thick but it was charged with tension. The feeling of intensity and great haste lead their charge, their weapons at their ready. They were prepared to die if it came to it. They were at the crystal-like gates into the city that were left open and left without any sign of protection. A cold apprehension slowly took hold of them like the vise grip of a snake.
They stood in front of the gates, looking up at the face of the palace. They felt the stead drumroll of their hearts as the feeling of battle came to them. After a minute of their pause, their faces turned to the great doors into the palace and they continued their charge with even greater haste. Raphael felt nervous for his first time going into a battle, especially a battle of this caliber.
Malik was the front of the pack as the group were in the very same diamond formation that they were yesterday. He pulls his hands in front of him, the doors into the palace burst open once they've come in contact with his pale skinned hands. On the other side of the door was a ocean of people split into two.
They were on the left and right sides of the room, leave a stripe of red carpet about sixteen feet wide before the group. It was a long stretch of red that lasted twenty-four feet. On the opposite side of their the resistance was Balor, sitting on the throne made of the same crystal-like material as his armour.
His left elbow was on the left arm of his chair. His left hand was clenched into a fist and it pressed against his left cheek. His legs were crossed, his right leg was folded on top of his left one. His right arm rested on his lap as his eyes stared down the group that came in. On top of his head was the very same majorelle blue crystal crown that his father before him wore.
General Gallows stood right beside Balor, he was to the prince's left. A group of ten Loyal Knights stood in a line formation to the left and right of the throne. They all held up spears with a blade shaped majorelle blue flag of the lion tied around them. They held longswords made of silver in their other hand.
The endless sea of glowing eyes stared death upon the resistance. Balor's face worn a mask of seriousness as he stared down the group. "Aren't we a little late?" the prince spoke.
Raphael gazes upon the prince, latching his left hand upon the handle of his blade, Falcon. "Prince Balor," he furiously calls, pulling out his father's blade from it's sheath. "You have to stop this! You have no right to treat humans the way you do."
Balor raised his eyebrows as his glowing sapphire irises turn to the young man that spoke at him. "Ah, Raphael...still alive and kicking, I see," he stated, almost sounding impressed. "I had hoped that you would have at least learned something from what happens when you mess with the Royal Family. You see, I have every right to treat you second-rate weaklings the way I do...especially now."
Raphael had a dumbfounded look on his face. He realized exactly what Balor was saying. "So," he spoke with shock. "You're now..."
Balor closed his eyes and an evil smile grew up on his face. "That's right, Raphael," Balor answered, opening his eyes. He stood up to his feet and had a diabolical look on his face. He raised his arms partly into the arm, just higher than the height of his mid-abdomen. "I am now King Balor Pallas Barn."
The shaft of an arrow beckoned for Elena's grasp. Her hand reaches behind her and into the house of her arrows, her quiver. Her fingers tightly stick themselves to an arrow made of steel with a tip of diamond. She pulled her bow in front of her and readied her arrow to take a shot, pulling it back on the high quality string.
Malik's right hand clenched tightly onto the handle of his sword, Silver's End. He then pulled it out of it's leather sheath. "Enough!" the master roared with tension. "Balor Barn, you may be king but you won't live long enough to make your first order! We shall stop you!"
Balor crossed his arms. He seemed intrigued. "Really?" the king asked. "A small group of pathetic nether beings such as yours couldn't possibly hope to win against a large group of superior beings."
Elena was hidden behind Malik so Balor couldn't acknowledge that she was there. And the crowd was too busy hating them to notice. The arrow was pulled back as far as it could. Malik readied himself, standing straight and firm on his feet. A serious and solid look embraced Malik's face. "Anybody can surpass anybody if he tries," believed Malik.
Balor seemed utterly amused by what Malik had just said. Even the knights, Gallows, and the entire crowd joined Balor. They all began to laugh. "Ahahahaha," every god hysterically laughed. Malik didn't seem fazed by the chuckle of the gods who laughed at his words. The gods continued to laugh without relent, they were distracted for the moment.
Elena quickly leaned her body to her right so she could get a shot on Balor. She precisely pointed her arrow at the king, aiming for his head. She hesitated slightly as she has the shot in her sight. But then she released her steel arrow into the stream of air. The arrow sped into the air with quickness like a bird zooming through the sky.
The arrow found it's target, aiming for death upon the young king. The diamond glittered in the light just above it's head. As Balor continued to laugh at Malik's comment, a great sense of danger consumed his mind. He realized that something from the air was coming for him. His laughter ceased, the arrow was glaring at him in the face as it approached it.
His right hand was readied to catch the flying death. His hand managed to catch the arrow's shaft. It was mere inches from the center of the bridge of his nose. He knew if he had let that arrow hit him, he would surely be lost. Elena realized that Balor had caught the arrow, a frustration gripped her tightly. She grit her teeth tightly as well as the rest of the group.
Malik seemed unhappy that his plan failed. His face became even more serious. The laughter in the room ceased as they all saw the arrow in their king's hand. Their faces were breathtaken, they were all lost for words. Balor's face was twisted with ire by this attempt to end his life. The hand that gripped the arrow began to quake.
The shaft of the arrow snapped like a twig in his hand, the click of it's death cry popped into the air. He angrily swings the remains to his right, letting them out of his hand. His face became quite serious, his smile no longer there. "Quite a shame that your little plan didn't work," Balor thought, he walked towards the group. "Now, who was the one who shot that arrow?"
Malik's feet took one step forward. "Enough of your games, Balor," riposted Malik. "Draw your blade and ready yourself."
"Oh, no no," responded Balor who came closer and closer to Malik. "I would just like to know who shot that miserable little arrow so I may congratulate them by putting my blade to their throat."
Uriel holds his left arm out in front of him, swinging it to his left. A sudden eruption of fire blasts from the floor just in front of Balor. He paused, realizing the curtain of flames in front of him. "You're not going to do anything," stated the boy as his eyes glared at Balor.
The familiar amused smirk grew back on the newly found king's face. He shook his head as he began to pull out his sword, Arbandor. He began to walk through the hellfire that blocked his way. "I don't think you fools understand," he believed, walking passed the fire like it didn't even faze him. "I am YOUR king now and thus what I say is absolute. Now, give me the archer!"
Elena's ear picked up what the king had just said. In her mind, she utterly disagreed with what he had said. Her pale blue eyes flip over to Balor. She reveals her face to the king. "We have no king," she stated, walking closer to him. "The last king we had has been lost to us. And that was a long time ago."
Balor turned to the young woman that had just spoke. And his heart stopped and his jaw hung low. Her eyes pierced right into his soul as she stared at him. He seemed almost frightened, his terrified face reflected off of her irises. Balor took several steps backwards. Malik saw the opportunity to strike while the iron was hot. He lunged his sword straight in front of him, aiming for Balor's abdomen.
The young king realized the danger that threatened him and so he quickly snapped himself out of that fear that shook him to his core. He leaped backwards, dodging the attack that was launched by Malik. The knights that stood by his throne saw the second attempt to take their king's life. They all began racing towards the scene.
Balor raised his sword towards Malik. "This will be the day that the pathetic resistance falls," he declared. "Go now! Crush the heretics!" Raphael, Uriel, and Elena ready themselves. The young archer puts away her bow and trades it for her Steel Longsword. Balor then swings his sword towards Malik who quickly sways to his left to dodge.
Malik then strikes his blade to his left. Balor then hops backwards about five feet, waiting for Malik. The knights rush passed their king to attack the three behind Malik. Uriel thrusts his flaming left hand in front of him. One of the knights in front of him explodes into a ball of flames, he screams out in pain as the smell of burning flesh inhales the air.
The crowd watched the fighting so casually as if they had been used to watching fights that would decide the future. One of the knights charge towards Uriel, coming too close to the boy. The knight began to swing his sword at him. Elena quickly jumps in front of Uriel and thrusts her blade into the mid-abdomen of the knight. The knight yelps in pain as his blood skips into the air and drops onto the ground. She launches her left foot towards the chest of the knight.
