Chapter 6: The Inevitable
The moon seemed to glow red tonight. The four friends stood by the wall just outside of Kratos' palace. They had staked out and gone over plans for a day. Luckily, Zhukov and the others left for Linkshire three hours ahead of schedule. They should have been there a few hours ago, far ahead of the army. To slow down potential problems, Epoch laid explosive rocks onto the road just a few minutes earlier. It's not enough to stop everything, but it should slow reinforcements down enough to give them time to get away. Now, they stood in front of the palace gate. Two guards walked up to the, "Sorry, gentlemen. The palace is off limits, we're in a state of emergency." Red slowly took off his and looked at them in the eyes. "Please let us through. I have things I need to discuss with my father." The guards drew their swords in alert. "It's the prince! Call for..." Before they were able to say anymore, they found kunai sticking out of their throats. Red sighed as he lowered his hand, "If only you had chosen to let us in. Your lives would not have been lost for naught." He removed his gloves and cloak. "Let us be done with this."
Shinzuu took the lead and examined the gate and its lock. Well, no way to do this unheard. He turned to Epoch as he drew his katana. Jack drew his dirk, knowing what Shinzuu was about to say. "Alright, not even having the key is going to keep this quiet. Thosee hinges are more rusted than Iridian's armour. Soooo... Epoch, if you please." Epoch picked up a pebble and flipped it at the lock. There was a little pop and the gates creaked open loudly. As expected, soldiers ran for them and archers on the walls turned their attention on the intruders. Red took flight, taking the archers' attention and dodging between their arrows. He flew high and fast, swooping down now and then to take out an archer or two with his knives, or knocking one off with his feet. On the ground, Jack, Shinzuu and Epoch kept close to each other. Epoch tossed stone bombs into clusters of enemies, while Jack and Shinzuu would cut down whomever got close. Slowly, they made their way towards the door, an endless wall of soldiers blocking their way.
In a panic, an archer on the wall ran to one of the guard towers. Red saw this and swooped for that guard. Other archers jumped in front to protect the man and he jumped right through the door. The archer flung open the chest and pulled out a bright red arrow. He fired it into the air and away from the castle. As the arrow reached its maximum height, it exploded and burst into flames that formed a giant phoenix. It's a distress signal. No sooner did the guard watch it flare up, did he discover a sharp pain in his back. He reached back, there's a throwing knife stuck there. The man fell forward and his limp body flipped down the side of the wall. Red cursed himself, I can't believe I let him get away with that. Things are going to heat up at this point. Already, explosions can be heard from the roads, apparently, they were more prepared than anticipated.
Red closed his wings and spiraled down from his vantage point to the door. He opened his wings at the last second, landed softly onto the front step, turned around and released a small shower of kunai, clearing the wall of soldiers blocking his friends. However, before he could react, the door behind Red burst open and soldiers in golden armour came out from the castle, their leader, already on the downswing, ready to kill Red. Shinzuu quickly rushed to the door just in time to push Red aside and blocked the strike. The attacker was strong, an iguana-Kin with piercing, silver eyes. Shinzuu kicked the man back and quickly helped Red up. Red drew a knife from his feathers and threw it at the man. The iguana caught it and drapped it, but stood still, a look of shock on his face. "Master Redmond, is that you?" He quickly stopped his men and knelt down. "Captain Kiral, what is the meaning of this?" Jack yelled back to them as he continued to fight off the ensuing crowd of soldiers. "This is very much not the time to talk! Isn't it obvious that he's here to stop and kill us!?" Shinzuu ran to Jack's aid.
Kiral stammered, "N-no! We would never betray our Master Redmond! Our service had been for and only for him!" Kiral got up and assisted Jack and Shinzuu with keeping the enemy soldiers back. His men followed suit. Kiral pushed Jack and Shinzuu into the building with Epoch and Red. The soldiers outside were taken aback with surprise, seeing the royal guard fighting against them. However, despite the help, the party was still being pushed back. Red took flight and swooped down, showering the soldiers below ithe knives and kunai. He thought to himself, "This is bad, we need to barricade that door, now." He came down with two of the long resting chairs and knocked over the incoming drove and then signaled for Captain Kiral to bar the door. Kiral and his men rushed the doors and pinned themselves to it, while other men tried to find heavy items to keep it shut. Kiral called out to Red, "Go, Your Majesty! Go with your friends! The emperor is in the WarRoom! We gladly lay down our lives for you! Go!"
Red reluctantly turned and landed next to his friends. "Let us make haste, then. Follow me."
* * * * *
At the outskirts of Linkshire, Zhukov, Zhael, Evey, Kitt and the Knights of Gaia stood beside Kagatou and Ling, watching the torches of the approaching army. Kitt smiled widely, readying his buster-class sword, "Oh yea! Finally, a chance to prove myself! This is gonna be great!" Kagatou laid a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down, young one. Get too exited, you use up your energy too quickly and you will be the first to die. This is a battlefield, not a game. Remember everyone! They are just pawns of Kratos, don't kill them, if you can avoid it. We want to minimize casualties." He moved to the front of the group and raised his sword in salute. Everyone followed his lead and raised their weapons in salute as well. The oncoming army drew their weapons and readied their bows. In a loud roar, the front line charged towards the group as the archers released a volley of arrows.
Alister stepped up and swung and twirled his whip-sword, knocking down the incoming arrows. The few arrows that made it through either landed harmlessly into the ground or was swatted away by whomever was under it. The first twenty soldiers reached them soon after, but were simply cut down in a flash by Kagatou and Ling's blades, and they lay in pain and incapacitated. The second wave saw this and halted until the third group caught up. Zhael and Evey stepped up with Zhukov. Zhael let out a loud roar and drove his warhammer into the ground and wound it up, a large piece of earth covering the spike on that side of his hammer. He charged in and slammed his shoulder into the first soldier, knocking them back a couple meters. In the same motion, Zhael used the momentum to swing the warhammer and knocked over another six, the sound of bones crunching on contact and soil flying everywhere. Evey ran up and jumped off of Zhaels shoulders and ran her sword through a charging soldier's shoulder.
Zhukov charged in and ran his claymore through another charging soldier's shield and side of their stomach. He swung his broadsword and caved in the chest plate of another, knocking them back. The soldiers began to close in even faster. Zhael laughed maniacally as he swung his warhammer left and right, knocking three to four men at a time into the air, the most forward having a gaping hole where he was struck. He backed up against Evey as more soldiers poured in. "So! Are you having fun yet!? Brings back memories!" Evey smirked, "Yes! You were a loose cannon back then, too! You do remember that we're supposed to MINIMIZE casualties, right!?" Zhael laughed, "I don't think that's an option anymore! Those two can do whatever they want, but I kill whomever tries to kill me!" He jumped forward and brought down his hammer, crushing three soldiers on impact. Evey smiled uneasily, "I'm afraid you might be right." as she thrust her blade into a soldier's face and kicked him off in time to catch another through the chest behind her as she bent backwards after the kick.
Zhukov broadsided two other soldiers with his claymore and stabbed another with his broadsword. "As much as I agree, this is not a cafe. Keep the idle chat down." Evey ran towards Zhukov and flipped over him, shoulder to shoulder and swung her sword to back a few soldiers up. In that same motion, she lowered her head and allowed the sword to keep going and took another step, running it through the middle soldier through the heart. The dying soldier gripped the blade and the others grabbed for her arm and the sword. Evey quickly released the sword and jumped back as they grabbed her sword. To the soldiers' surprise, all five of them fell to the ground, being pulled down by the sword. Zhukov, with a swing of his claymore, relieved them of their heads. He chuckled as Evey picked up her sword from the dead corpse.
"I guess not everyone knows that your sword weighs 250 kilos." Zhael crushed the last soldier in close proximity. "Hey, hey, hey. I thought this wasn't a cafe and that we should keep the idle chat down." Zhukov laughed aloud and stood up to face the army. He raised his claymore and pointed it at them. "Spare no quarter!" The army ran all in together. Bahamut, Alister, Barak and Kitt ran up beside their emperors and readied their swords. Kagatou and Ling watched the oncoming army. Ling sighed, "They are right, honey. It seems we will have to dirt our hands once more." Kagatou sighed and saw a bright fire phoenix in the distance over the castle. "Very well. For the sake of the village and seeing our son again."
* * * * *
Back at the castle, Shinzuu and the others ran up stairs and through corridors. Red pointed to a tower across a bridge walkway on the fifth floor. "There. That tower is only accessible through this walkway. The WarRoom is in the middle of the tower." As they made their way to the walkway, two dark figures stood in their way. One was dressed in royal robes and the other in a green tunic and trousers. The tall, royal figure stepped up and bowed. He was a human, very well built and emitted a strong aura. "Welcome to the Lodisian Royal Palace. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to pass. I am Baron von Vladimir XI, and this is my business partner, Jay Kaelin, leader of the Thieve's Guild." Jay walked into the light with a smirk. Shinzuu shook his head, "Wait. Big chicken newbie is the leader of the Thieve's Guild? You have got to be kidding me." Jay gave off an evil laugh, though didn't sound as evil because of high pitched voice. "That was just a cover. My acting must be pretty good to fool even the great Black Kat, or is it that he's not as the rumors say?"
"Enough of this!" Red took flight for attack, but, in a flash, Jay tackled him right through some double doors. Shinzuu turned, "Red!" Vladimir lept into the air, drew a short sword and a dagger from his robe, and came down on Shinzuu. Jack umped in, drawing his katar and dirk, and blocked the attack. Jack grunted at the force of Vladimir's strike. Epoch quickly threw two rocks at Vladimir to back up Jack. Vladimir quickly dodged by jumping back, the rocks exploding against the wall. Shinzuu turned back to charge, but Jack stopped him. "No, Epoch and I will take care of him. He's a blade-master, like me. You need to go for Kratos. Red can take care of himself. Just get going and finish the job. Vladimir laughed, "I doubt..." Before he could finish, Jack sharged him and he blocked. The ground below glowed red. Jack and Vladimir both jumped away as a small portion of the ground blew up. Shinzuu took advantage of the smoke and rushed through it at full speed, running down the walkway.
"No you don't!" Vladimir threw his dagger towards the running Shinzuu. Jack quickly threw his dirk and knocked the dagger away in midair. "Your fight is with us... master." Vladimir reached into his robe and drew a wakizashi to replace the dagger. "This might be interesting. So you think you've exceeded me, eh, Young Rabbit? You forget who you are speaking to. I MADE YOU!" Jack reached into his cloak and drew out a stiletto and Epoch held onto his rocks, getting ready to throw.
* * * * *
Before Shinzuu reached the tower, he stopped at a slowly approaching figure. It was Kratos. "So, you have come for me. However, you and your friends shall be dying here. Nothing can stop me from my domination!" He threw off his robe and drew his saber. His feathers glistened a bright gold in the moonlight. His saber gleamed green, it has a wind enchantment, but what kind, Shinzuu didn't know. Shinzuu bowed and threw off his cloak and readied his katana. "You're going to pay for what you did to Red, to my parents, my town and my Sheri."
Topic: The Kin Chronicles: The Black Kat (Read 15656 times)