A KINGDOM OF DEAD HEARTS [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 40: RUN!

Airin spent the next few hours just wandering close to the invisible wall. The children had grown quiet, some cried in silent sobs, some stared ahead blankly as fear defeated them, while some younger ones fell asleep on the grass. She would stop sometimes, and tried to calm her breathing even though that was a failure. Her breathing remained fast and shallow.

Xander was busy the entire time. Small groups of soldiers were assigned different tasks. Airin knew Xander would steal a glance at her, a quick check of how she was doing, what she was doing. She would glance back at him, a glance that sent the warrior in his usual sheepish state when he was with her.

Airin thought a lot of her students. She lost track of time and days in her universe. Does time pass the same way here in Halgard and there in my universe? That question ran in her mind and she did not know the answer. She had been here in Halgard for a couple weeks or so. She was not sure exactly. She tried to remember the date and day of the week when she was taken against her will to Halgard. She could only remember it was late autumn. Late October, or was it November sometime? The birthday of Tasha was ... late October. The same day that Xander and Lyanna came to her. The fateful day that led to this day, here, in Halgard. Then they stayed with her for a couple weeks or so ... which meant ...

A loud roar snapped her back to the reality here in Halgard. She looked up and she saw the winged snakes flew in the distant horizon, approaching the half-burned palace quickly. From the direction of the forest across from the grass clearing, she could hear drums and loud shouts.

On this side, soldiers got into position, the archers in one row lining the back, then the sword-wielding soldiers spread and covered the area around the palace and the invisible wall.

The children had all woken up and started crying when they heard all the commotion.

Airin took a deep breath, convincing herself that that would help calm her nerves down. She balled her fists, nodded her head hard many times, tried to breathe even though the air seemed so much colder, so much heavier to breathe in. Her heartbeat raced, thumped fast within her chest cavity.

The world around her—noises, dusts, fear—swirled fast like tornado, with her standing in the middle shaken by fear to the core of her being.

She saw Elisthia run outside, followed by staggering Rovan whom had by now regained his consciousness though he looked weak and pale. Lyanna held her father's hand, she was a brave little girl in the middle of such chaos.

"Xander! Take the Zeus sword out! We should try to combine its power with my sorcery to try to let the children escape from the grass clearing!" Elisthia shouted.

"Will your sorcery be strong enough, Elisthia? You do not want to make your injury worse!" Airin shouted her concern.

Elisthia nodded at her. "It is stronger now, I think I can!"

Xander heard what Elisthia had just said, glanced at Airin, before the roar of approaching winged snakes snapped him back to the moment and he took the enchanted sword out of its scabbard. White light shone from the sword, and Elisthia closed her eyes and muttered some spell. A yellow light burst out of her outstretched hands.

"Pierce the wall with your sword now!" she shouted. Xander ran to the invisible wall and stabbed the sword into it. The yellow light from Elisthia's hands engulfed the sword as it pierced the invisible wall. Elisthia shrieked, her body shook hard and got thrown on the ground. The wall disappeared because Xander's sword got in. The children screamed.

"Run! Everyone! Run now! To the forest behind the palace! Hide! Rovan, take them and stay with them!" Xander motioned frantically to the direction of the children. The children did not wait around, they dashed to the forest.

The snakes had approached the other end of the clearing by now. Flying to the children's direction. Their loud roar and hiss were deafening and shattering any shred of courage.

Soldiers started firing arrows to them.

Airin froze in her fear. She saw the children run, and Rovan was behind them, shepherding them, while Lyanna ran with Elisthia.

"Airin! Run!" Xander yelled at her, he ran and grabbed a young girl who did not run fast enough because she fell down and was too busy sobbing. "Take her!" he shoved the child to Airin, and Airin regained her composure and took the child into her arms.

"Run!"

"Be careful," that was all she could muster to say. Useless.

Xander opened his mouth to say something, but nothing was said. Instead he nodded, caressed Airin's cheek, then pushed Airin gently. "Go. Run as fast as you can. Please."

Airin touched the glittery, pink heart-shaped Well Done! sticker on the back of Xander's right hand. "I hope I will do this task well to deserve this well done sticker. For those children," said Xander.

Airin nodded wordlessly, and turned to run. The child in her arms had stopped crying. Her legs felt like jelly, thought strangely she could still run.

She ran, and she stopped. She could not let go of Xander. Xander had turned around to face his enemies, the winged snakes sent to eat the children. The sword of Zeus sparkled in his right hand.

"Please survive this ..." Airin whispered to herself, about Xander. She ran again as fast as she could. The young girl in her arms now ran by herself next to her, fell down once, and she helped her stand again.

Airin promised herself that she had to survive this.

<<<>>>

Xander stared at Airin and the child who ran by her side. The child fell, and Airin helped her stand and they ran again. He shut his eyes, grimaced in pain—the kind of pain that he could not pinpoint from where exactly the source was because every strand of his being felt it.

He turned to face the coming evil. The sword of Zeus sparkled in his grasp as he lifted it.

The winged snakes had almost arrived at his spot. Airin would never survive this, he lamented in his heart. Airin. His muse. The one who helped him heal, the one ...

I do not want to lose you, he roared in his heart.

Child, you will be broken to pieces. Our tears will shed for you. But we have chosen you, you who were born of darkness and chaos. We are with you. We are waiting for you. Raise us. From the depth of your fear, raise us.

The whisper that had lived in his mind since the day he was dipped in the water of elegarii. The winged horses.

From the depth of your fear, raise us.

And Xander chuckled. He shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and he understood. It was all clear in his mind now. It was never about power, or strength, or magic, or his other gifts. It was never about the throne.

It was about his heart, his shelter from the storms, his deepest wish, his hope. The depth of his fear of losing hope, of losing all, of losing Airin. Losing that was eternal. Losing that could not be reversed. That was the depth of his fear.

He extended his arms to the side, roared with the strength of all his fear, and his whole body shook.

The winged snakes ignored him, the arrows from the soldiers failed to dent their thick scales. They kept flying to the forest behind the palace, to hunt Rovan, Lyanna, Elisthia, the children, and Airin. Their loud hisses and roar weakened the courage that any human there tried to muster.

Xander stood still, bowing his head.

Nothing happened.