“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.”

Cessilia nodded, her fingers tightening up around Ashen’s.

“...I p-promise I will.”

Next to her, Naptunie had her eyes on her brother and uncle, looking about to cry.

“Sab... Uncle...”

“Nana, I’m entrusting you with the Princesses,” said Sabael, ignoring Tessandra’s furious eyes. “You stick to them and the King and help the best you can, alright? I know you’ll be the best to assist them. Make sure the Princesses and His Majesty are safe, it’s the most important thing right now.”

“Sabael!” shouted Tessandra, still furious. “You can’t do that! You guys barely have any chance of making it!”

Sabael chuckled, and turned to her with a smug expression.

“I already know that. And I may not be as good as you,” he said, “but you still shouldn’t underestimate me. I’m still a Royal Guard. Protecting the King is my duty, and I’ll die doing so if I must.”

He stepped closer to her, squeezing her hand. Tessandra tried to pull away, but from what Cessilia saw, she probably didn’t use her full strength as Sabael held on.

“...I love you,” he muttered, “but my duty to my King comes first, Tessandra. I’m sure you understand.”

Once again, Tessandra had nothing to retort, simply glaring at him with her furious, but conflicted, dark eyes. It was only a matter of a few precious seconds, and the fight around them would resume. There was no time to lose, but she still didn’t want to let go. No one knew when they would see each other again. There was no guarantee they would even see each other again, and they knew it all too well. The urgency of the situation, coupled with their respective dutiful personalities, made it even more painful. For once, Tessandra had her personal feelings battling her rational mind, and she hated it. She clenched her teeth, and suddenly kissed him. It was a quick but forceful kiss, with a salty taste as tears ran down her cheeks.

“...You’d better make it,” she muttered. “If you die, I’ll kill you.”

“Got it,” he chuckled.

After that, as if to get this over with, Tessandra angrily turned around and grabbed Naptunie’s hand, pulling her toward the lake. As the echo of Cessilia’s voice started dying on the other side, they knew it was time to leave before the fight resumed.

“You should hurry, Princess,” nodded Nana’s uncle, looking at his niece’s silhouette.

“Will you b-be alright?” muttered Cessilia.

“We will do our best. But you guys have a higher chance of making it out if you go through the lake,” said Sabael. “Don’t worry about us, Princess. There are more of our allies on the other side. I’m sure you and His Highness will be fine.”

He didn’t say anything about himself, and realistically, they all knew their chances were slim. Not void, but still, scarily slim. Cessilia nodded. Although it broke her heart to separate from Sabael, and everyone that had sided with them this way, she was aware everyone there knew exactly what they were doing. They were making this decision willingly, not for her or Tessa, but for Ashen and the future of their kingdom. That was something she had to respect and, if anything, she had to keep her side of this promise by saving their King. On the other side, the echo was over, and the Yekara forces were already getting ready to fight back, gathering their fighters and trying to save those who hadn’t been crushed to death. Cessilia’s voice had done considerable damage, though. She had greatly reduced their numbers, and perhaps, given the chance Sabael’s side needed to survive this...

“You go ahead,” nodded the Dorosef Leader, noticing her hesitation.

The first fights were resuming on the other side. The Yekara Clan leader, infuriated by Cessilia’s devastating attack, was yelling orders like a mad man for his men to regroup and fight back. There was no time to lose. The remaining fighters made a wall between their pursuers and them, but it wouldn’t last long before some of their enemies broke through the ranks. With a heavy heart, Cessilia grabbed her lover, using her incredible strength to carry him while being careful of his injury, and ran behind Tessandra and Nana toward the lake. She wished they could have taken everyone along with them, but realistically, it was just impossible. They couldn’t swim with more than one person with them, it would have been too risky, especially since they would go almost blind.

“You hang on to me tight,” Tessandra was saying to Naptunie. “No matter what, you have to hold your breath and hang on to me.”

“...Are you sure we’re going to make it?” muttered Nana, on the verge of tears. “If we drown, it’s such a horrible way to die...”

She glanced toward her brother’s side of things, but realistically, it wasn’t looking much better. Too many people had died. There were almost as many bodies on the ground as the ones standing, which was terrifying, especially for someone with no fighting skills like Nana. Tessandra grabbed Naptunie’s cheeks and turned her head back toward herself.

“Nana, trust me. We’re going to make it. All I ask of you is to hold on and hold your breath. I promise I’ll take care of everything else and get us to the other side.”

“But... But what if I’m wrong and the tunnel is blocked, or we get lost...”

“Nana, it’s g-going to be alright,” said Cessilia, arriving at their side. “We t-trust your knowledge, and you t-trust us, right? We will be alright.”

Naptunie nodded, her eyes going to the King by Cessilia’s side. Perhaps the sight of Ashen’s half-unconscious state helped make up her mind, because she nodded again, looking a bit more resolute.

Meanwhile, Tessandra quickly took off her shoes and turned to Cessilia.

“You should probably go ahead, just in case. You’re the better swimmer, and if you lose the King, I can always grab him after you.”

“I think so t-too.”