APPLE WITCH (girlxgirlxgirl)

43. My footsteps leave a trail of red

🍎

⚠️ death, murder, blood, violence, dangerous weapons ⚠️

"Oh have a little self respect"

Astra kicks the vampire to the ground, his sword flying out of his hand. He is frozen in shock for a while, as she stands far above him with her own sword pointed at his head. Astra rolls her eyes and the man begins to scramble away from the edge of her weapon, eyes staring at it as if it's poisonous. She takes a step forwards, the tip of her sword nearly touching his nose. He no longer dares to back away. Her eyes look just as tired as her voice sounds, but there is an edge of hope somewhere in her tone.

"Support the new emperor or die"

He begins to nod at a rapid rate, eyes terrified, heart beating out of his chest. Astra begins to wonder if the warriors of their empire really are this easily scared. And then she remembers how she too used to be like this, once upon a time. Before the emperor sent her to the front of the three tailed war, before she saw real battle. And it kind of makes sense, that this young vampire in front of her is just as scared as she was in his age. It's a good thing too, it makes their job so much easier.

"I-I support him! I support him!"

Astra immediately draws back her sword, letting the vampire shakily and slowly get up from the ground. He keeps his head lowered to not seem like a threat, and Astra sighs at the pitiful sight of him. A colder wind blows past them, signalling the beginning of fall. It has been so long since they started this mission, so many months, it's amazing that they are finally reaching its end. Astra has to be honest, at some times it felt like they were all going to die. In fact, she was ready to die for this. Their chances weren't that high and they knew that from the beginning, Saint had made sure to tell her and Seiran about it to make sure that they weren't going to regret it. But now she stands here, on a street near the palace gate, and something about it feels so familiar to the last time she returned home from a long and deadly trip.

The last time she was sent away, thought she was going to die, and somehow returned in one whole piece.

"Take your sword and fight on my side, I'll help you if you're losing"

Astra is looking to infiltrate the eastern gate of the palace so she could use a few more soldiers on her side. They don't have many, but they also don't need much. It took them a week or so to get to the capital city of their kingdom, and on the way nobody dared to protest or fight them. They sent messengers to all four corners of the kingdom, including the capital, asking the governors of the different provinces to reply with support or by stating that they are against them. All of them, all twenty three governors and their provinces have sent back letters of support. It's not like they have much of a choice, since Saint is the legal heir and the emperor is dead. But Astra would like to think that the promises of allowing the werewolves more autonomy, the witches all the freedoms they once lost and the vampires a more sensible ruler really helped too. All provinces seemed extremely supportive of the new emperor, all but one. The capital, of course. And if you don't have the capital then you don't have the country. So naturally Saint decided that they would infiltrate the capital and the palace, defeat anybody who stands in their way and replace the former emperor's advisors to finally achieve what they were originally meant to do.

And they have gotten quite far too. There are not many of them so splitting up seemed like the fastest and easiest way to do it. That way the palace defences would be separated into smaller groups, making it easier for some soldiers to switch to their side, and easier for others to be killed by their swords. All of them have split up, with the ultimate goal of killing as many enemies and getting as close to the palace as possible. Astra is now only one block away from the high gates of her home, and she has left a trail of blood behind her. Not all soldiers on the former emperor's advisors side were smart enough to show support to the new emperor when held at the edge of her sword. Not all of them were as smart as this young vampire. He, who looks at her hesitantly and yet with surprise, almost as if she had grown two heads. Astra rolls her eyes again.