He gently held her hand against his cheek, and moved his head slightly to kiss her palm.

“I d-don’t think we have a lot of time for that,” Cessilia blushed.

“Later,” he whispered. “After all this is over, I want to spend all the time I have with you.”

“It’s a p-promise, then.”

“It is.”

She smiled, feeling a bit shy. It felt almost outrageous that the two of them could still be so loving toward each other in such a situation. Yet, her heart felt as if it was overflowing with love for him. Ashen had changed and, if possible, he had become even more handsome in her eyes. She really wanted to hug him, but they didn’t have the time for that. Instead, she put a quick kiss on his lips, leaving him with a smile on.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

“For what?”

“For being so patient with this stubborn lover of yours.”

Cessilia blushed and chuckled, and they finally parted, although still holding hands, tighter than before. As they were just about to leave the spot they were in, a loud dragon growl was heard in the distance. They ran to the closest window, immediately spotting the large red fire Naptunie had just set as a warning. At least, she was fine. Meanwhile, their eyes quickly found the large Black Dragon next, exactly on the bridge they had positioned it at, being assaulted by a myriad of strange ants. The humans had found ways to breach the gate, and began crawling onto the bridge, trying to get past the large dragon. They would probably take a while before managing to get past Krai, but that still wasn’t anywhere near good news for them. It meant the Yekara allies had already won over that side of the Outer Capital...

“...Let’s get going,” groaned Ashen. “The sooner we finish things here, the sooner we can go and get rid of the ones outside. ...Will your father’s dragon be alright?”

“Of c-course,” nodded Cessilia. “It’s my father’s d-dragon, after all. Darsan p-probably told him not to use his fire, b-but there is no way Krai will lose t-to a group of humans.”

Ashen nodded. He knew the power of the dragons enough himself.

They turned away from the window, and began running up the stairs again. They were now more eager than ever to end this, especially as they could hear the ruckus echoing throughout the castle, coming from both above and below. Had more of their allies entered the castle as well? Or were those the Yekara reinforcements coming to take down the King? Hard to tell, as all the sounds were distorted and echoed irregularly, but it only made them speed up.

The fights encountered on the way were easy, but they were slowly wearing them down for sure, which somehow seemed to be their goal. All the soldiers they ran into were primarily aiming to end Ashen’s life, targeting his injury and trying to injure him no matter what, which made Cessilia suspect they were afraid of him getting upstairs the most. The real, legitimate King being alive was a huge thorn in the Yekara Leader’s plan, and his adopted brother’s. They needed to get rid of him, to end the fights outside and prove the King was dead. There probably weren’t enough men in the whole castle to stop their duo, though. After many fights faced together, against one to a dozen people at once, Cessilia and Ashen had already found the best ways to work together, now forming a perfect pair of fighters. Even in tight areas, or against several scattered enemies, they were undefeatable. Following her brother’s suggestion, Cessilia wasn’t restraining herself anymore and, when she truly hesitated again, Ashen was there to give the finishing blow. His presence was making her more determined, especially as they were protecting each other. She was keeping his injury in mind, and trying to cover any blind spot of his in each fight. It was also a huge advantage that they had both been trained by the War God himself; like Tessandra and her siblings, their fighting style was suitable to complete each other efficiently.

“We’re almost there,” he announced after another set of stairs. “The next one is the throne room...”

Cessilia hadn’t had enough days to accustom herself to the complex castle structure, but she did recognize the corridors they had been in for a few minutes now. Her blood rushed even faster in her veins, her stomach burning at the thought of the upcoming, final fight. They hadn’t caught sight of Jisel yet, but she didn’t doubt that the woman was there. From time to time, they could hear Jinn climbing around the castle, the Red Dragon’s claws making a terrible ruckus against the castle’s weaker stones. Cessilia just couldn’t call out her brother’s dragon for help yet. First, she didn’t know how Kian and Kassian’s fights were going at the moment, and secondly, she still wasn’t sure about Jisel’s real intentions of coming back to the castle. Something definitely felt off about her dragon’s presence, and Cessilia wanted to make the situation clear before killing her...

Ashen pushed the door, and without much surprise, they found the room filled with more Yekara soldiers or hired mercenaries and, at the very back, Lord Yebekh, standing next to the throne with Ashen’s adopted brother on it. A strange silence followed their arrival. Cessilia roughly counted about twenty fighters in the room, but her eyes were more attracted to the duo hiding at the back. Lord Yebekh had a vicious smile on, his arm leaning against the throne. ...Had he been injured too? He looked like he was leaning strangely, but then again, he was wearing a long cape hiding most of his body. Next to him, Ashen’s adopted brother, on the other hand, was in a terrible state, just as she had imagined. It was unbelievable that they had just propped him up there, on the throne, when his condition was that bad. He was missing an arm and leg, and the half of his body she had seen crushed was now covered in bandages soaked with blood. His eyes were open, but his lips were purple, and his eyes looked strange, as if he couldn’t focus them properly. Even from across the room, Cessilia could guess he had a fever. Strangely, though, something that looked like a wooden and metallic leg was laid against the throne, as if it was ready to be used... A prosthetic? What were they expecting to do with that? That, and the strange bottle he was holding in his only hand, were confusing Cessilia, making her even more nervous.

“There he is!” exclaimed Lord Yebekh with an amused expression. “The White King defies death, yet again. ...And he returns with the War God’s daughter by his side, of course.”

His eyes went to Cessilia but, far from the theatrical impression he was trying to put on, he couldn’t help but glare at her. Cessilia withheld his hateful gaze, not impressed in the slightest. She was more intrigued about what in the world that mad man had done to Ashen’s adopted brother...

“You’re surprisingly tenacious, Your Highness,” he continued. “I’ve heard that you survived thanks to the War God’s daughter, but I didn’t think that on top of being saved by a woman, you’d have to hide behind her all this time!”

Ashen scoffed.

“That’s all you have for me, Yebekh? Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not ashamed to admit she’s much stronger than I am. Sadly, at the moment, you’re my problem and you’ve brought this bastard here to threaten my Kingdom, so I’ll be the one to deal with you.”

“Oh, I’m afraid not,” chuckled Yebekh. “See, I’ve kept all my very best warriors here to stop you. And even if you do manage to survive this, your adopted brother will finish you, so everyone knows who the real heir to this Kingdom is.”

Ashen glanced around. Indeed, the fighters present in this room looked nothing like the amateurs they had been dealing with since earlier. These were trained, experienced fighters and warriors, each with their own weapons. Next to him, Cessilia was also glaring at the group facing them. Just like him, she acknowledged these were no ordinary fighters and would put up much more of a fight than the ones they had to deal with until now...

“...What do you think?” he asked her in a mutter.

“Nothing you c-can’t handle. ...But I’ll save you some t-time, for everyone’s sake.”

“Fine. But my adopted brother is mine to fight. You leave him to me.”

“Yes, I know.”

Ashen smiled and, to Yebekh’s surprise, stepped to the side, leaving Cessilia plenty of space by his side, both of them raising their weapons, ready to go at it again.

At the other end of the room, Yebekh’s expression fell. He had probably hoped for Ashen to tell Cessilia to stay out of this, since his male pride was doubted out loud, but it didn’t work. The King had grown enough already, and had no issue with acknowledging his female partner’s undeniable strength.

“Ah! Fine! You two shall die together, then!”

His words resonated like a call to attack, and the men facing them jumped at the same time.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 26

The space wasn’t as confined as before, but it certainly wasn’t ideal to fight twenty people at once, either. Everything was happening at an incredible speed, and from the very first second, both Ashen and Cessilia quickly realized Yebekh hadn’t exaggerated his men’s strength; they were nothing like the ones they had fought earlier. The amount of pure strength used in that battle was unbelievable, and each clash of swords was incredibly brutal. Soon, the two lovers were forced to stand back to back to protect each other, and had to move quickly to keep up with the attacks coming from all sides.

Their enemies were also experienced enough to not let the space become an issue; they scattered around their opponents, sometimes leaving others to attack first, before attacking themselves. Ashen and Cessilia didn’t have a moment of rest, and were even struggling to keep up at times. Cessilia feared for Ashen’s life more than once. He only received minor injuries, but the strain put on his body was bound to become an issue sooner or later. Even she had to use all of her strength to keep those people at bay, and several times, she grunted loudly. The first body didn’t hit the ground until several minutes later, their opponents incredibly tenacious. Moreover, even if the previous fights had been easy, Ashen and Cessilia had already fought dozens of fights against several people before coming here, while those fighters had obviously been waiting here all along. The tiredness was starting to show in their movements, and they had to gather all their strength to keep up. She even stopped listening to the dragon growls that had been informing her of what was going on outside. She could only focus on what was going on here, if she wanted to survive this.

“Cessi!”

Suddenly, a second of distraction and a wrong angle put her in danger. She saw the blade, slicing past her skin, and felt Ashen’s large hand pulling her in the opposite direction. Cessilia gasped, shocked herself, and violently landed against the opposite wall. Her reflexes taking over, she got back on her feet, but Ashen was already in front, protecting her while they had been pushed against the wall.

“Sorry,” she muttered, mad at herself.

“Don’t,” he grunted. “...Are you alright?”

Cessilia nodded. She only briefly glanced at her injured arm, deep indeed, but the silver scales were already taking over. She resumed the fight, before it hit her. ...Silver?

She kept fighting, trying hard not to make the same mistake twice and risk putting Ashen in danger, but tried to glance at her arm again. The scales weren’t silver, but a dark gray. Had she dreamt it again? It was the second time. Before, when she had injured her palm, she had thought for a second that the little scales in her hand had been of a shiny tone, before realizing it was as ash-dark as before. What was wrong with her? She tried to push those dark thoughts away and resumed the fight, even angrier because of her mistake. Ashen had had to withhold their opponents in her stead for a few seconds, but those could have been fatal to him. In fact, he was already covered in sweat and grunting. Luckily, their armor was doing an amazing job of protecting them every time the enemy managed to hit them; the shiny scales seemed to deflect each blade, the shock barely felt on the skin underneath. Cessilia was surprised at how light they were compared to their defensive power. The weapons weren’t getting dull either, and followed each of their movements with incredible precision. Cessilia had never been too fond of swords, but the ones she was holding now might just be the ones to change that. There was clearly a difference in the craft of the Dragon Empire’s blacksmiths.

The armor and their weapons might be what kept them going for so long. There was a huge difference between fighters who held perfect weapons and armor for their needs, of an incredibly good craft, and those who held standard ones. It was as if Ashen and Cessilia were fighting with legend-level weaponry, while the Yekara soldiers only held high-value ones. Their enemies’ weapons were starting to fail them, giving them a slight advantage. Two men lost their lives shortly after their armor was broken open by Ashen’s heavy blade, and Cessilia swung around at record speed to get two more men’s weak points, slicing their napes without an ounce of hesitation. She and Ashen were in a perfectly synchronized dance of death, and instead of getting more and more tired, they were getting gradually more dangerous. Cessilia’s eyes had transformed into a dark-green reptilian stare, scaring her enemies before coldly killing them. She truly was the War God’s daughter, moving around so swiftly while sowing death around her. Ashen’s movements were just as beautiful, but much more of a brutal force, like a dragon relentlessly attacking with all fangs out, ripping flesh apart and violently breaking bones.

Slowly but surely, they were reducing the numbers of their opponents. Each time a Yekara warrior fell, the remaining ones felt as if the strength of their enemies doubled. Even for experienced fighters, there was a fine line between amazement and fear. They knew the duo they were fighting weren’t ordinary fighters, but they couldn’t help but be bewildered by the woman’s incredibly precise moves and the King’s colossal strength. Even Lord Yebekh was left to watch in awe, mouth open at the two warriors, until he realized it was his men on the ground.

“What are you doing? Kill them! You incapable bastards! You call yourselves our best fighters?! You better kill them, or you’ll die!”

The weakness of that threat had no effect on his men, who had already been fighting for their lives for the past several minutes. Now that they had been reduced to less than half their original number, they had no time to rest at all. Far from looking overwhelmed and outnumbered, Cessilia and Ashen looked like they were making a point of keeping their opponents from catching any break at all.

Suddenly, another loud growl resonated, but much closer this time, sounding like it was coming from all around them. Even worse, the tower they were in brutally shook, as if an earthquake was coming from above. The fight stopped, all fighters looking up with a common reaction. Cessilia’s heart went cold. That was Jinn. He had climbed onto that area of the castle. She and Ashen were luckily in the middle of the room, away from the windows, but that wouldn’t help them much if that dragon decided to destroy the entire tower...

“That foolish dragon!” shouted Lord Yebekh, glaring at the ceiling. “Get off the tower, you useless bastard of a reptile!”

Cessilia glared at the man. How could he shout at the dragon like that?! No dragon she knew would have let a human insult them like that without biting their head off in retaliation if they understood and nobody stopped them. Yet, Yebekh kept vociferating at Jinn as if it was just a bad runt.