So excited about her finding, Naptunie wanted to tell Darsan or Tessandra, but she realized she was still way too far! She glanced around; she could hop on the next building and perhaps get down on the next street, but that was dangerous. Still, she glanced down at the men gathered beneath her. Naptunie took a deep breath, deciding in a split moment. Better to try her luck on the next roof than down there!
“Up there!”
She froze right after the first step. Too late. The men had spotted her. While Darsan was too far away for them to fight, poor isolated Nana was the perfect target. She grimaced.
“Oh no...”
“Get her!”
The men began to climb, faster than her, and Nana retreated as fast as she could with an irrepressible panicked scream. She only had seconds before they got to her! If they killed her before she could put her plan to work, she’d regret it forever! In her hurry, she tripped and fell down on her hands and knees, making her cry out in pain again.
“Grab that little b–”
“DON’T. TOUCH. MY. NANA!”
Naptunie heard the loudest noise, and looked down just in time to see a body flying in the opposite direction. She had no idea how Darsan had possibly come back so fast, but the young Prince was there and absolutely furious. He seemed to have almost doubled in size, and was reducing those men to pieces with impossible violence. It was all over in seconds, but the bloodbath made Nana grimace and look away.
“Are you alright?! Nana! Are you hurt? I’m so sorry!”
“I-I’m coming down!”
“I got you!”
Nana took a deep breath and slid down the roof, landing very softly in Darsan’s arms. He greeted her with his big smile back on his face.
“Got you!” he said, visibly satisfied. “Are you alright? Did they hurt you?”
“N-no, I’m good...”
“Don’t worry, I’m not letting them touch a hair on you!” he exclaimed.
“A-alright...”
“You’re totally safe with me!”
“I see, but–”
“Don’t worry, no one can beat me! I mean, perhaps my dad and my bro, but–”
“Darsan!” she exclaimed. “...Can you put me down now? ...Please?”
“Oh.”
Darsan finally let her down with an embarrassed smile. Nana tried to replicate his smile, but there was fresh blood on his cheek, and she couldn’t get over that, her eyes naturally going there. She took a deep breath and glanced to the side. The men he had been fighting earlier were obviously waiting for him to come back, but in no hurry to resume the fight... or, more accurately, the massacre. Nana sighed and quickly grabbed the bottom of her skirt, ripping off a piece of fabric. Then, while Darsan was still surprised by that, she suddenly began wiping his cheek with a determined expression.
“Listen,” she said. “We need to make the smoke from the fire stronger. Not more fires, just the smoke. Those men aren’t immune to the smoke like you, so if it gets worse than this, they will naturally be at a loss, like the civilians. We can trap them here, in the plaza, with you and Prince Kassian to fight them, but we need to prevent them from spreading to the other streets. ...You understand?”
“More kicking asses, smoke, blocking the nearby streets. Got it! ...But if you don’t want me to cause more fire, what do you want me to do then?”
“Just keep fighting! The nearby streets are already blocked with the fires, collapsed buildings, or smoke, but if I can find a way to get across and control the fires on the other side, we can make sure no more Yekara flee to the streets, and you and Prince Kassian and Tessandra only need to finish them off here!”
“That would be good?” Darsan asked.
“That would be a decent plan, I think.”
“Alright. So... you just need to get to Tessandra, right?”
“Yes?” asked Neptunie, a bit confused.
“Got it. Come on!”
Before Naptunie could protest, Darsan suddenly helped her get back to the roof. She wondered if he only meant to help her get across or have her stay safe, but to her surprise, he climbed up with her, standing next to her once they found themselves on top of the roof.
“Where’s Tessa?”
“O-over there,” said Naptunie, pointing in her direction.
“Oh, easy!”
“Easy?”
“Okay, cross your arms. Chin down.”
Naptunie obeyed by mere reflex, but before she could say a word, she suddenly felt Darsan grab her, her feet lifted off the ground, and the very next second, her body was thrown toward the sky.
Her terrified scream echoed above the battlefield, which moved quickly under her. She saw hundreds of eyes looking up at her, all with the same dumbfounded expression. She vaguely heard another voice shouting and, way too quickly, she found herself descending way too fast in Tessandra’s direction. Nana screamed again. The young woman lifted her eyes, opened them wide in shock, and dropped her weapons just in time to open her arms and receive her. The shock was violent, but somehow, Tessandra managed to catch her and they only stumbled a couple of steps back.
“Holy dragon shit, Nana! What the actual fuck?!”
