Ashbringer

Chapter 6 - The Blood of Gods

When they'd made it to the clinic, Evereaux was fitted with a plaster cast for her broken leg and dislocated ankle and given something to wear, but she was solemn and disparaged. "That poor innkeeper...I wish she had just run."

"The innkeeper...? Fuck, was Kira in there?!" Yoshi asked in a sudden panic.

Just then, a medical bed was wheeled past in the hallway. "What happened?" A nurse asked.

"An entire inn was set ablaze! Everyone was locked inside!" A doctor yelled back.

"My god," Yoshi said, getting up and stumbling into the hall. He hadn't even been of mind to notice. All those lives. "That bastard!"

"Your bastard father is going to be a problem when he comes around."

"...I have a mess to deal with."

"I can handle myself from here, don't worry."

"Be safe, my friend," He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "For all of us."

She smiled and bumped his side. "You can count on that."

Yoshi quickly left, flying towards the castle as quickly as his wings could carry him. He burst through the chamber doors and snapped at the first guard who approached him. "Where is my mother?!"

The guard flinched but raised their weapon. "By order of the King, no one is to bother the Queen. Not even you, my Prince."

"Get out of my way," Yoshi snapped, threatening them as he drew his sword. "Her life is in danger and I will go through you to protect her!"

Another guard stepped forward carrying a scythe. "Stand down, prince. Or I'll carve you up like a turkey." Yoshi charged, not a second of hesitation as he flew at the second one, causing him to jump in surprise as Yoshi's sword came up. "Fuck- hold on!" He yelped, blocking a well-placed strike to his neck that would have taken his head off.

"I said MOVE!" Yoshi yowled.

"I can't disobey the King!" The guard pleaded. "Please Prince, I don't want to fight you!"

"Then get out of my way!" Yoshi yelled as their foreheads smashed together. The guard stumbled back with a cry, holding his bleeding face, and Yoshi bolted past down the hall.

"Stop him!" Someone else screamed.

"YOSHIYAHU!" King Tirzahvos landed in the midway corridor ahead of him, forcing Yoshi to slide to a stop.

"I've had ENOUGH!" Yoshi snapped. "The nest person in my way dies!" The guards running up behind him all slid to a stop, conflict plastering their faces. Yoshi stood with his sword drawn in a hallway flanked by bloodthirsty and traitorous guards, facing down the King himself, his eyes flashing blue-green, his pupils like a dancing fire. A dragon in rare form. A dog, in an impossible one. "You had my brother kidnapped, you've had countless people killed, done lord knows what to my mother. LEAVE my home, return my brother, and I will spare you. Otherwise...I'll end your life here."

Tirzahvos bared his teeth, lips peeled back over sabers. "I am the King of this pitiful land, boy." He bellowed. "You are committing treason."

"I won't mince words anymore," Yoshi said, his voice lowering even further, sending an icy chill through the flock of guards.

A middle-aged bipedal dragon carrying a spear stepped forward, taking a stand with the Prince. "The 'king' has never been good to us. The Prince has always treated us fairly and with kindness, while the king has sent young newcomers on suicide missions for his own entertainment, and has killed guards for looking at him 'improperly'."