Tessandra bit her lower lip, looking him up and down. He was held with his wrists tied above his head, and his feet barely touching the floor. She chuckled and glanced down, her eyes stopping on his exposed abs, her fingers softly touching them and making him shiver.
“...Hm, maybe,” she said, “but I do not like seeing you all injured, handsome.”
“It’s not like I gave them permission to,” he sighed.
“I know,” said Tessandra, caressing his cheek. “...Only I get to kick your ass.”
She finally cut down the rope holding him with a smug smile but, to her surprise, Sabael suddenly pulled her into a passionate kiss. In the crowd, Cessilia, who had lifted her eyes, catching a break and to see how the situation was on the platform, happened to witness that moment, and chuckled, surprised by Sabael’s boldness. She hoped Naptunie was somewhere she could also witness this...
Back on the platform, Tessandra was so shocked she had almost dropped her swords, only holding her arms apart so she wouldn’t mistakenly stab her lover. When Sabael ended their kiss, she stood there, a bit speechless.
“...What was that?” she blushed uncontrollably, trying to stay cool still.
“I really missed you,” he sighed.
Tessandra cleared her throat, trying to hide her embarrassment, and suddenly remembered to lower her arms.
“I may have missed you too... You’re not too embarrassed to be rescued by a lady?”
“Not really. That will be a cool story to tell our kids later.”
He smiled and grabbed a sword abandoned on the platform, quickly stretching his shoulders that were most likely sore before beginning to fight off the soldiers that were climbing up to stop them. Meanwhile, Tessandra was left behind, still processing what he had just said.
“Kids?!” she exclaimed. “Our kids, you said?!”
She rejoined the fight excitedly by his side, the two of them pretty much unstoppable. They completely dominated the platform, despite the Yekara’s attempts to reconquer it.
On the ground, a few steps away, Cessilia had also made great progress, Ashen replacing Tessandra by her side in the pit. She caught sight of her cousin joyfully fighting beside her lover. They had managed to rescue everyone there, but that was only the first part of the plan.
Just as she thought so, another flash blinded everyone, a red one this time. The fighting had begun on the other side, in the area where Kassian and Lady Bastat were supposed to stand together. How many Yekara were they possibly facing? It was impossible to know. Now that they were in the open, Cessilia was actually able to turn her head and spot Naptunie, standing on a roof with a gigantic fire by her side. She wasn’t alone, it seemed, with three smaller silhouettes by her side. Two of the triplets and another ally? She looked safe and sound for now, but now, her position was known to everyone. Next to Cessilia, several Yekara shouted to grab her, their fingers pointing toward the roof where the bright red fire was slowly dying. Cessilia chopped off one of the arms close to her, the limb falling at her feet with the finger still extended. While her victim cried, she glanced in Naptunie’s direction again. Luckily, her friend was already gone, evidently aware of the danger.
“We need to get to the castle!” suddenly declared Ashen by her side.
Cessilia nodded, glancing beyond the platform; they were still many streets away from the castle, but it wasn’t undoable. In fact, if most of the fight happened here, it won’t be long until they can reconquer the castle.
Moreover, the landscape was changing around them. From just a few protesters, the streets were now getting crowded with angry citizens, each wanting to give a piece of their mind to the Yekara people. Some were only shouting, but many had found whatever weapons they could, and were fearlessly threatening to use pans and pitchforks against the soldiers. Still, they couldn’t do much fighting against trained and experienced warriors. Cessilia was worried the mob would get hurt if things got out of hand. Not only that, but despite their efforts, the number of enemies just kept rising as they continued to get more support coming. It was as if soldiers in red poured out of everywhere; soon, she understood why. Some of those people wore the attire of Yekaras, but they were clearly mercenaries until not too long ago. They didn’t show the discipline to follow orders, and were trying to intimidate the crowd with violence. They didn’t work well in groups either, thus they were quickly isolated by the angry crowd, provoking little fights left and right in the streets.
It looked like the Central Plaza was the epicenter of a situation that was gradually getting worse in the streets. Anger was rising, and the citizens, fueled by the return of their King, were visibly at a breaking point in their patience toward the despicable actions of the Yekara. Cessilia could hear their complaints about their houses being searched and, for a lot of them, robbed by their aggressors. Those people were no fighters, but that morning, they were getting confidence from the global movement of protests occuring everywhere. In fact, angry shouting and protests could be heard coming from all directions, people loudly expressing their anger and shoving the soldiers in red if they were brave enough to. Cessilia was as impressed as she was scared; people were gathering in protest without them even having to do anything, the word of mouth already waking up every house, all families ready to fight back. If the Yekara had taken the streets overnight, their dominion was now being pushed back, people urging them to get out of their streets, insulting them and ganging up against them when the strength was lacking.
Although, this surely wouldn’t be enough. The main leaders weren’t there, but Cessilia could see their troops already preparing. She doubted they had put their main forces in the streets when they were expecting them to come and fight back. Ashen was right; they had to head to the castle to end this as soon as possible.
Luckily, Sabael and Tessandra were gathering a lot of attention on the platform, and the soldiers were now splitting up to fight the two couples, making it easier for Cessilia and Ashen to take the way around to the castle while Tessandra and Sabael kept them busy there.
“Tessa, you have t-to guide the people in the s-streets!” Cessilia shouted.
“Just go!” retorted her cousin, grunting. “I’ll let you know if the situation gets shitty here!”
She then grabbed Sabael’s hand, urging him to jump off the platform, before she suddenly turned around and exhaled a fireball, not the biggest one, but enough to aggressively set the wooden deck on fire, and the men still on it.
Cessilia nodded, and with Ashen, began running toward the castle. Aglithia was appearing next to her from time to time, jumping out of what seemed like nowhere to mercilessly murder a soldier, before disappearing again. Her technique was impressive, but it didn’t allow for grouped attacks. The Cheshi were supporting them the best they could, but then, Cessilia realized, there was a lot more going on. More fighters appeared, all dressed in black, swiftly jumping on the Cheshi, assassinating the fighters just as quickly as the Cheshi murdered the Yekara. She suddenly got into close contact with one of the masked assassins, too quick for Cessilia to push them back, when Ashen jumped in front, blocking the attack with his large sword. He brutally kicked the aggressor in the chest, and pinned him down to the ground, ripping their mask off. Like the Cheshi, they had distinctive traits, strange black stripes tattooed on their faces.
“Those damn Kunu,” growled Ashen.
“We will have our revenge!” shouted the man under his sword, spitting a mouthful of blood on his last words.
“...You wish.”
He twisted his sword, finishing his opponent, and looked around, spotting the flying fighters with a sullen expression.
“We don’t have time to lose with them,” he hissed.
“Let us deal with them!” said Aglithia, suddenly appearing by their side. “The Kunu have been our rivals for a while, we should be the ones to deal with them. Just go, Your Majesties!”
Cessilia and Ashen nodded and ran ahead, only getting rid of those who stood in their way or tried to attack from above. The Central Plaza had turned into a full-on battlefield, with the large fire pit started by Tessandra in the middle. Not many would be able to follow them into the castle, indicating a hard fight ahead. Still, neither of them slowed down until they reached the first doors to the entrance of it.
Suddenly, a loud growl was heard, and they lifted their heads. Its body circled up around the castle’s main tower, claws digging into its stonewalls, Jinn the Red Dragon was glaring at them.
“...You should have finished them off,” hissed Ashen, glaring at the dragon.
Cessilia thought otherwise, but she was still shocked at the dragon’s angry attitude; Jinn was clearly threatening them. It might have been the first foreign dragon she met, but Cessilia was still experienced enough to understand the meaning of a dragon’s growl. This was clearly an angry, menacing one. It wasn’t close enough to actually attack unless it came down, but the Red Dragon was visibly bent on guarding this place. If Jinn was there, did that mean Jisel was in the castle as well? Cessilia didn’t like that woman, but she didn’t want to hold on to her resentment toward her either. The Yekara and Ashen’s adopted brother were their target, and they had already ditched her, so what was that woman possibly doing in there? Why had she returned? Cessilia had once felt pity toward Jisel’s circumstances; it was that of many women before her. Still, if she wanted to survive this, Jisel should have left with her dragon when she had the chance to. Cessilia and her brothers had spared her once; they weren’t so nice as to do it twice.
There was no one guarding the first gate, but Cessilia and Ashen ran into trouble as soon as the castle door was in sight. A dozen new Yekara soldiers were lined up there guarding the entrance, clearly waiting for them, spears and swords ready.
“Will you b-be alright?”
“I’m just getting started.”
Cessilia smiled faintly. Ashen looked completely fine indeed and, from seeing the way he fought with superb moves, no one would have known he had been severely wounded just the night before. Side by side, a handful of Cheshi fighters behind them, they fearlessly cut through the lines of Yekara and traitorous Royal Guards trying to stop them. Despite the numbers, the difference in strength was massive. Ashen’s sword could cut three men’s waists in a single swing, violently cutting down anyone who stood in his way. A few steps away from him, Cessilia was less messy, but perhaps even more efficient. Her movements were incredibly quick, precise, and deadly. Bodies fell beneath her with minimal amounts of blood shed, most of the time with only a vital point sliced open, or fatal injuries that left them seconds to live. In just minutes, the two of them cleared their way through the gate with impressive ease, the Cheshi behind them having provided minimal support. They finally stopped moving, all their opponents dead or almost, and exchanged a glance, out of breath.
