Elaine! Elaine!! Elaine!!!
My legs felt heavy as I rushed over, my heart was racing and time seemed to have dilated. Will I make it in time? I wasn't so sure anymore, each step I took seemed hopeless and futile. I put every fibre of my being into every single stride I took, I couldn't lose her, not like this, not ever!!.
I wasn't fast enough to reach her, just when I thought I'd gotten close enough to reach her I was a split second too late and the ceilings crashed down and I saw her figure vanish amidst a landslide of rubble and debris.
Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
My heart sank, everywhere went quiet and dim. She can't be gone, she couldn't possibly be gone, it must be a dream because this reality didn't seem to be right.
"Brightburn!!" , I heard a voice call out my name, sharp and direct, that must be father but I wasn't exactly in the right state of mind to discern who exactly it was that was beckoning to me. "Son!!!" Another voice resounding through the hallway, that's definitely mother's voice. I was relieved that they sounded okay but my heart was too heavy for my face to show relief. "Your grace", I jolted up as soon as I heard that soft voice call out to me. In a state of utter disbelief I looked up and towards the direction of the voice, "Elaine?!" I weakly said and there she was, disoriented but unscathed. "How?!" Confused but then I saw father's hand, an faint afterglow of an ethereal light. Father must have saved her in the split moment before the ceiling dropped in her.
I was elated and a little lightheaded as my heart was on the verge of collapsing just a moment ago and now a joy-high unlike anything I've felt before but I couldn't afford myself that moment of vulnerability as the attack didn't seem to be one off. The guards seemed to be in a skirmish with some mercenaries but the closer I looked the more I could identify a few lower city civilians, "How'd they get in without anyone noticing? And how exactly did they get in with their number? This is too planned to be a coincidence" I thought to myself as the absurdity of the scene dawned on me. Someone quite influencial must have orchestrated this attack as it couldn't have been a coincidence that they were able to breach the city gates without as much as a sound of alarm from the gate knights and conveniently on the night the king and queen were out of the palace. As my thoughts kept screening the scenarios it finally clicked, whoever was responsible for this was also responsible for the mob that gathered at the gate previously and they obviously couldn't be working alone as this was way too efficient to be a one man plan.
The civilians that were fighting in the skirmishes were easily disposed of by the guards but the mercenaries proved to be difficult. They must have learnt their lesson after the massacre seeing as they seemed to be of higher skills than the previous ones. While I was glad that Elaine was safe, I had a duty to defend the city more so since the attack happened at my place of residence. After we ensured mother and Elaine were unscathed, I and father joined the struggle. It was a rare occasion to see father partake in the battle but he showed quickly why he was widely regarded as a hero of the Great war. He made quick work of the mercenaries that turned their attention to him, his footwork and swordsmanship were efficient, no wasted movement each strike imbued with pure killing intent so sharp and precise that it was difficult not to be in awe of this man's proficiency. A mercenary who looked like he shouldn't be able to move as fast as he was dead towards father from behind but before I could warn him, he twisted around and delivered a diagonal slash. There was no blood splurt, the man's body just cleaved apart cleanly. Before the severed body dropped to the floor, father had moved on to the next unfortunate soul to meet his blade. Anyone who didn't know father would think he was dismantling their forces without a show of emotion but I knew very well he was pissed off, the fact that the attack happened in his space seemed to have amplified the rage he was feeling a feeling I could relate to.
I couldn't afford to be too distracted by father's show of precision as I was surrounded by ten men few of whom looked like civilians. All ten attacked at the same time but since their skill levels were widely uneven it was more efficient to deal with the civilian men first so as not to be distracted when engaged with the mercenaries, but I couldn't bring myself to harm the civilians so I soon found myself at disadvantage because I wasn't fighting with the intent to kill but rather to incapacitate. That indecision cost me dearly as in my attempt to dodge their attacks and hlesitance to retaliate, one of the civilian men attacked Flora, one of the maids I was fond of as she was one of the few people I could actually relax around. She had been around since I could discern faces and hers was one that I could always make out and read, whether she was stressed or angry or planning a little hint of mischief and I was too slow to save her and could only watch as the man's blade plunged into her heart and the life drained out of her eyes as her soul visibly left her body. I watched her drop and all I could see was the pain and fear that was permanently engrained in her face, unable to leave, unable to change. That's when it dawned on me that there were no civilians amongst the attackers, all of them were vile, all of them were cruel and all of them will pay!!. The rage that engulfed me must have been visible as the men hesitated to attack but I could care less about their hesitance, all that was on my mind was vengeance and it must be paid in full and in blood. I grabbed the hand of one of the attackers and kicked him so hard in his guts his hand detacched from his shoulder, in the next moment I plunged the dagger he was holding into the temple of another while leg sweeping him out of my view, two down,eight to go. They seemed to have regained their composure but it was a little too late as I was on to the next person, he seemed more skilled than the two I had previously dispatched but that didn't matter. As he swung his sword, I parried his attacked and in a moment of opening I punched him in the throat which threw his balance off as he gasped for air and without wasting a breath I thrusted my sword into the back of his throat and slashed sideways, severing the muscle that held his left jaw with his head . Before he could make a sound I severed the right side too and watched and his head dropped to the floor leaving only his lower teeth attached to his body. My bloodlust wasn't anywhere close to being pacified, the rest of the assailants attacked in unison and I retaliated with savage brutality. I beheaded one before he could raise his sword and threw his body on another while dashing towards him, he attempted a feeble attempt to dodge the body but I appeared at his side and delivered a bone crushing knee to his ribs, he collapsed on the ground gurgling and suffocating on his own blood. I stabbed downwards and the others watched as my sword made contact with his eyes socket and then his brain and finally the back of his skull with a sound that could only be described as bone gnashing on bone. I moved on to the next person, I attempted a leg sweep but he jumped to avoid it leaving his body practically defenseless, in one quick motion I severed his legs. He landed on his face and shrieked in agony but without sparing him a look I stomped on his skull crushing it instantly. In the next moment I was behind another, twisted his neck so hard his head was facing the other way as his body dropped. I disposed of the next two leaving only one left, the bastard who murdered Flora, his death wasn't going to come easy and painless. I dropped my sword and I walked slowly towards him, his was going to be slow and painful and by my hands, I was going to feel and savour every single moment of this. As he rushed towards me, with fear in his eyes, his attacks frantic and disorganised I could only look down in disgust. "This filth" I thought as I held his hand and crushed it, he tried to attack with his other hand which I caught immediately and snapped with his bone poking out at his elbow. He tried to screamed in agony and horrow but I held his mouth with my hand, kicked his legs till his knees caved in backwards. He begged for his life with tears streaming down his face but I felt no compassion for this man only disgust,anger and malice. "What makes you think your life is worth more than Flora's? That you can kill her but should be spared? You vile vermin , powerless and weak. You were so drunk on the power you felt after you struck her down that you grew arrogant. Did you really think you'd step into my domain with malicious intent and live to see another day?. Your death isn't going to be fast neither will it be painless, you'll beg me for death and I will not heed, you'll beg me for release from your pain but your pleas will be insignificant like your very being" His eyes opened wide in horror as I spoke those words to him, the realisation of the weight of his actions seemed to have dawned on him, that he would regret the moment he struck down the maid. However enraged I was i knew he was too valuable of an asset to kill, I was going to get information from him and I'd personally see to his cooperation willing or otherwise.
I looked around at the scene in front of me, the skirmishes seemed to have died down. The hall was littered with corpses as blood rivers ran and there she was, Flora, cold and scared and in pain but unable to feel anymore. I lost it, the man I was supposed to take prisoner turned into an outlet of my rage. I only realised what I was doing when I heard Elaine call out to me, I looked over in her direction but I couldn't see her. My vision was painted red, "Did I go blind?".no no I didn't because if I did I wouldn't be able to see colours, the only explanation was that my vision was obstructed by blood but whose blood. It definitely wasn't mine, that only meant it must have been the prisoner's. I wipe my face and looked down only to see his mangled face, all beaten up and bloodied, I looked at my hands and they were drenched in blood. I looked back at the prisoner, his faced destroyed but his chest still slightly rising, that meant he was still alive. "Good" I thought to myself as I dropped him, I looked over to Elaine and I could see the complicated mix of emotions on her face, relief, pain, sadness, fear and a little
bit of understanding.
I fell to my knees in exhaustion and everywhere slowly went dark. Last thing I saw was Elaine running towards me.