“You... damn whore...” he grunted between his teeth.
Cessilia didn’t even seem to hear. She was winning this fight, and people around were even cheering for her. The King had fallen, but the Princess was pushing the enemy back, and the feeling of revenge was thrilling. Cessilia’s ardent fight was bringing back the fighting spirit of many, and some who had managed to keep up were now fighting back twice as hard. It didn’t seem like their defeat was so certain anymore, at the very least. Behind enemy lines, the Yekara Clan Leader had also stopped smiling. Cessilia standing strong against his champion was a major blow to his plan. He glanced at Jisel, and the woman prepared more needles, aiming at Cessilia this time. She threw them at full speed toward Cessilia, but just when it seemed the scenario was about to repeat itself, Tessandra appeared between them, and with one blow of her sword, knocked all the needles out her cousin’s way. She glared at Jisel, a smirk at the corner of her lips.
“You should learn to play fair, you snake bitch,” she hissed.
Jisel’s expression fell. While Cessilia was fully focused on her opponent, it was clear Tessandra would not let anything bother her cousin, even if she was fighting several people at a time herself. Sabael too was back on his feet and, despite his injuries, he was fully focused on protecting the Princess’ other side as well as Nana and the King. The fight was taking another direction, with the group opposing Rohin’s supporters refusing to give up. They were fighting bravely, still determined to protect the King and follow the Princess’ brave lead against the Yekara. Whatever their motive, those people were resolved to keep fighting. Sadly, though, it was already clear Cessilia’s side wouldn’t come out victorious. It was too late. Despite their attempts to stand their ground, they had been cornered on the wrong side of the lake, the exit behind their enemies, and too many had died already. There was no way out, and the opponents far outnumbered them.
“We have to get you and His Majesty out,” declared Nana’s uncle suddenly, very seriously. “We can’t let the Yekara win here. If His Majesty and the Princess make it, there will still be hope.”
“But how...” muttered Nana.
She had her hands full of blood and, despite being protected, she was near absolute panic. She kept glancing at Cessilia’s back. The Princess’ incredible fighting might have been fascinating and impressive to most, but Naptunie was one of the few who couldn’t help but genuinely worry for her. Cessilia’s arm was still injured by Jisel’s attacks, and even if she bested the Prince, there were many more people waiting on the sidelines to get to her. This fight couldn’t be won by one woman alone, even if she was the best fighter in the cave. Moreover, Naptunie had already guessed Cessilia wouldn’t fight anybody else. She was fighting Rohin because he was one person she didn’t care about killing, blinded by her rage, but what after that? There was no guarantee the Princess would want to keep fighting, and after what she’d seen, Naptunie could understand her wish.
She turned her head toward Tessa, who was fighting just as well as her cousin, now keeping two men at bay, more bodies already down around her. She was like a furious tornado, and no more fighters dared to approach her, choosing other opponents instead or carefully staying away to observe her movements, maybe looking for an opening that would never show up.
“Tessandra!” Naptunie called. “We need to get out of here...”
“...I know,” grunted Tessa between two clashes of swords.
Tessandra glanced at Cessilia, who was still fighting hard. Her cousin had probably heard that too, and from the way she was moving in the space, she was thinking the same. Despite her easily opposing Rohin, Cessilia was staying within an invisible space around their allies, meaning she wasn’t willing to go past a certain point. She was staying near the lake, most likely ready to evacuate that way. The issue was, only a couple of people would be able to go this way. Only the two of them would be able to swim their way out of there, and they couldn’t drag more than one person along. Sadly, there were dozens still around.
“Cessilia!”
As she called out to her, Cessilia suddenly turned around, spinning her whole body in a circle. Her swords made a wide movement around her, forcing Rohin to jump back before he got cut in two. He fell, landing on his side with a very pissed off expression. The distance between her and her opponent was now more than a few steps and, against all expectations, Cessilia didn’t choose to go and finish him. Instead, she retreated quickly toward the group.
“Everyone step back!” Tessandra shouted.
Her voice resonated like thunder in the cave, taking everyone by surprise and magically stopping all the fighting. All those on their side immediately obeyed, not because they knew what was going on, but because they felt compelled to by her imperious voice.
Meanwhile, Rohin was getting back on his feet, furious. That woman had bested him right when he thought he had finally won. He had thought victory was his with Ashen down and left to die, but this Princess had just ridiculed him, and incredibly easily too. Things weren’t meant to happen this way. The Yekara Clan had expected little to no resistance, and yet, those people were still standing by his rival’s side, even looking like they still cared about the injured King. It made no sense to him.
“I am the rightful King!” he shouted. “This bastard will die, and I’m going to take his place! Everything will be mine!”
“N-no.”
Cessilia turned around, facing him from a few steps away. She lowered her hands, her swords by her sides, standing tall ahead of him. She was like a large wall on her own, and everyone behind her was looking up to that one woman. Her green eyes had gone from a furious, fiery green to a color as cold as ice, like an emerald stone, staring at him like he was nothing. That look was the worst. She made him feel like an irrelevant insect.
Anger distorted Rohin’ s face, and he grabbed his sword again, running toward her.
“My liege, wait!”
Yebekh’s words were lost on him. The Prince was blinded by anger, and didn’t even see the danger of the situation. It was too late, much too late. Cessilia and Ashen’s people were now gathered behind her, in a small but dense group behind an invisible line. There was a clear gap between the two camps, and that’s what had alarmed Yebekh. Those women were preparing something, but he only understood,when Cessilia suddenly screamed.
It wasn’t just a scream; her voice had suddenly turned into some unbearable sound, a loud echo, deeper than any voice he’d heard and yet more high-pitched than any bird known. It was deafening, and many fighters on both sides tried to block their ears immediately. It was no use, though. The entire cave was shaken up by her voice, trembling beneath their feet, as if an earthquake was happening at the same time. Even outside, the weather seemed to have gotten much worse, throwing all the fighters into disarray.
A scary, creaking sound finally made him look up. The stalactites. They were all shaking violently, large fractures appearing on all of them. The first little pieces of rock began to fall before he could even shout to warn the others. Cessilia’s voice, much more powerful than before, was shaking the stalactites to their core, and the foundations of the cave itself. However, the danger was only for those ahead of her, right in front of the echo of her voice. When the first stalactite fell, right on Rohin, his scream got lost in the loud echo. However, all of his allies could see their so-called King stuck to the ground, his face distorted in pain and his body half under a large rock, blood splattered all over the gruesome scene. Immediately, chaos shook their ranks. The Yekara people began to scream and try to run in all directions as more of the enormous, deadly rock spikes fell from above. Yebekh was rendered mute, watching his men get crushed one after another by those gigantic rocks. Some were stabbed right where they were, others were brutally crushed on the floor. Many panicked because no place looked safe in the cave, and some even ran up the stairs they had been trying to block before, fighting their own allies to escape first. The only safe place was behind Cessilia, where all those who had fought for her and the King stood.
Her scream didn’t last long, but the echo persisted so long after that no one could tell when she had stopped.
Nana almost jumped when she saw the Princess by her side, her green eyes on the King’s injury.
“How is the K-King?” Cessilia asked nervously.
Naptunie shook her head, helpless. She was no healer, but she knew Cessilia could already see in one glance. The King was in a bad state, and only holding on by sheer willpower. Cessilia exchanged a glance with Tessandra, on the other side of his body.
“...You have to go,” nodded Tessandra. “Use the lake. I’ll lead the people here to the exits as soon as we kill more of those bastards.”
Cessilia glanced to the side. The stalactites kept falling and reducing the number of Yebekh’s men drastically, but it wouldn’t be enough. There was still a hell of a fight waiting for the survivors...
“Cessilia, go,” insisted Tessa before she could even refuse. “We already knew things might turn out like this.”
“You’re going too.”
Surprised, Tessandra turned to Sabael, who was standing there with a very serious expression. He was hurt and tired, but he had never looked so determined.
“No,” said Tessandra. “No, Sab. I’m staying with you.”
“You’re going,” he retorted. “Tessandra, I’m staying with my people, but Lady Cessilia will need you to get His Majesty out of here. And only you can accompany her. Take Nana with you.”
“Sabael, I can’t!”
He smiled, grabbing her hand as she was about to push him away, causing her words to become stuck in her throat.
“Go,” he insisted. “I promise we will be fine here. But we can’t guarantee there won’t be more enemies on the other side, and if the King and the Princess don’t make it out, everything will be lost. Please, trust me.”
Tessandra was still at a loss for words. She kept glancing around, looking for someone to help her out of this one, but strangely, everyone there seemed to agree with Sabael. They didn’t know what Tessa meant by using the lake, but they all had one conviction: the King and his Princess had to survive. Cessilia had already bought them a lot of time, but everyone remaining was ready to keep fighting. The Dorosef Tribe Leader nodded with conviction, and turned to Cessilia.
“Princess, please save His Majesty. I promise, no one else thinks like the Yekara Clan. If you can save our King, I swear everyone in this Kingdom will happily fight the usurper and the Yekara. Save him. That’s all we ask.”
