The War for Elyria

prologue

The hybrid was shoved forward, and she tripped on the first step. The guards holding her laughed.

"Shove me again and I'll rip out your guts," she hissed.

"Sure," the guard on her right chuckled.

"Remember, I'm a deadly assassin who has a bad temper." The guard paled, glad she couldn't see the effect she had on him.

They continued up the stairs, the prisoner feeling her way because of the bag over her head, and the fact that her hands were tied behind her back. When they got to the landing, they went down a dark hallway, the path lit by torches every few meters.

Soon, they arrived at a doorway that led outside into the courtyard. One of the guards took out a key and unlocked the door, while the other whipped the bag off the prisoner's head. Then, they walked out into the sunlight.

Isla blinked a few times, the blinding light disorienting after the many hours in the dungeons. The courtyard had been transformed from a quiet garden area to a loud and very crowded amphitheater. Someone had put benches and bleachers on the edges of the enclosure. All of the royal families were sitting near the exits, so if any type of dispute arose, they would be quickly ushered to safety.

There were seven kingdoms in the country of Elyria. The demon kingdom, the angel kingdom, the vampire kingdom, the werewolf kingdom, the elven kingdom, the fairy kingdom, and the witch and wizard kingdom.

All of the royal families had attended this joyous event. They were talking amongst themselves, not even glancing at her as she passed. The guards led her up the rickety wooden steps to the noose hanging from the beam. Hanging wasn't that bad of a death, and it certainly wasn't dramatic enough. Isla wanted to have a very dramatic death.

The executioner signaled to the seneschal. The seneschal yelled for attention, quieting the many conversatings circulating the area. He cleared his throat before taking out a long scroll.

Who reads scrolls nowadays? Isla thought.

"Isla Tetany, assassin, thief, and con-woman, has been accused of murder, thievery, and single-handedly corrupting our government," he read. As he started listing off the different things that she was responsible for, Isla nodded along, mentally checking off all the crimes that she had done. Then he started describing them in detail, which caused Isla to stand bored, looking up at the sky.

When he had finally finished his monologue the executioner stuck her head through the noose, and strolled back to where his lever was. Looking rather eager, his hand started inching towards the lever, waiting for the order from the demon King. After all, they were in his castle.

The King waved a hand absentmindedly and the executioner grabbed the lever and yanked it towards him.

At the same moment, Isla jumped, bringing her hands out in front of her, swing in them up to grab the rope around her neck. The floor fell away beneath her, and she was able to get her head out of the noose.

The executioner, whose face showed all the shock of the entire company, was too slow to grab his axe. Isla leapt off the raised platform, already running when her feet hit the ground. She ran straight for the stables, dodging the guards who ran at her.

One slashed his sword towards her mid-section. She jumped back to avoid the blow, running straight into the demon behind her. Isla slammed her right elbow into his nose, left hand already seeking out his sword. When her fingers touched the hilt, she grasped the sword and pulled it free from its sheath, fighting off the guards that came too close. Many ended up with broken arms or legs, or a deep sword wound.

Reaching the stable, Isla led the first horse she saw out, not bothering to put on a saddle. She had ridden horses bareback before; mainly in bad situations like this one. Climbing onto the horse's back, she turned towards the oncoming guards and crowd. Saluting them, she nudged her horse forward, quickly rising off into the forest.

The Kongs and Queens, the princes and princesses watched as their enemy escaped. Again.