The Fall of Dewan

Chapter 7 The Fall

Gerold and Cecila found horses as quickly as they could. This proved to be difficult as they first needed to find two horses, then kill their Almorian riders and their injuries proved to be more serious than perviously expected. Gerold grew dizzier and more unsteady with every step and Cecila could no longer put any weight on her left leg. Once on horseback they took off in the direction of the Etherian castle, where their children currently were. They rode as quickly as possible, fearing the worse for their children.

Artemis was far ahead of them, having nearly a quarter a days head start. He reached the Etherian castle by the next sunrise, with a few hundred Almorian soldiers in tow. These soliders would have caused little trouble if Cassius had not insisted on sending nearly all the castle guards north to the border days prior. There was a meer hundred gaurds left to guard the castles entrance, and the Almorian's quickly dispensed of them. Word had only just reached the castle of the defeat on the border, leaving the Dewanians with hardly anytime to prepare for the seige.

The castle had few left inside of it other than a select few high born families, but even this was just women and children as most men had went to fight. Cassius ordered all the women and children to flee the castle when the siege began, knowing they would be unable to protect all of them. He and Leif gathered whatever soliders they could in the throne room and prepared for what they already knew would be a lethal showdown. Genevieve ran through the back door with her bow in hand, looking ready to fight. Both brothers immediately shot it down.

Cassius and Leif insisted Genevieve go hide in the cupboard in the servants quarters, one that they had all deemed the best hiding spot during childhood games of hide and seek. "No matter what you hear, don't come out. One of us will come get you when this is all over. You must promise me you will stay hidden", Cassius told Genevieve as he held her in a tight hug.

"I want to stand with you both. I will not hide from that invading hosebag. This is our home, I want to help protect it", she responded teary eyed. The interesting word choice made both brothers smile slightly.

Leif stepped up to give her a hug, giving a small smile and said, "Genevieve we all know you are brave. You are probably the bravest of us all. But let's be honest you being in that throne room will do us no good, you can hardly swing a sword. Granted you've gotten far better with that bow and arrow, better than any of us would have ever expected, Mother and Father would be proud. But we need you hiding so that we know you are safe. We don't know where mother and father are, frankly we don't know if they are alive. If we are all in that room and it goes bad, that 'invading hosebag' could wipe out our whole bloodline, our whole family. You need to hide so that we know our kingdom still has a chance if we fall".

This was far from what Genevieve wanted to hear. She had no interest in being the sole survivor of her family. If they were to die, she wished to die with them. But the desperation in her brothers' eyes left little room for negotiation. They were no longer children, Cassius eighteen, Leif seventeen and Genevieve sixteen. All had grown to look like near adults in the past three years, likely the effects of stress. Cassius and Leif had both put on some muscle, and all three had spent a great deal of time studying their weapons of choice (the boys swords, and Genevieve bow). They all knew the reality of the situation they were in. She would hide for them, so that their sole focus could be on killing Artemis and not on protecting her. As she heard swords begin to clash in the hall, she gave her brothers one last hug, looked them both in the eye and whispered, "Kill him" before dashing out of the back exit of the throne room towards the servants quarters.

Moments laters, the front door of the throne room bursted open. Artemis stood with a spiteful smirk on his face, covered in what was surely Dewanian soldiers' blood. "Ah, I've been looking for you two. Where are you hiding that little sister of yours? Go get her and we can make this a real party" he spat at the brothers.

Cassius responded, with as much bravery as he could muster, "Leave now and perhaps we will let you live". Knowing all too well that Artemis and his men far outnumbered those that they now had cornered in the throne room.

Artemis let out a chuckle, "Well, if you insist, I suppose we can start the party without little Genevieve. Perhaps she and I will have our own party once you two are taken care of".

Leif, overcome with rage and a sense of protection over his sister, charged towards Artemis with a yell. Cassius and the fifteen or so men that they had managed to gather followed close behind. While Leif battled Artemis, Cassius and the men attempted to kill the fifty or so Almorian men that had found their way to the throne room. Cassius, a skilled fighter, would have in many other circumstances likely been able to take out quite a few. However his mind, and eyes, were on his brother. He was doing all he could to make his way to where Artemis and Leif were currently dueling.

Artemis had about a slight height advantage on Leif, and a significant strength advantage. Even so, Leif was managing to put up a fight. Leif was quick on his feet, able to avoid many of Artemis's strikes. He would strike back hard after avoiding a hit, attempting to get Artemis off balance. Artemis was also a skilled fighter though. Even after he would swing his sword and miss, he seemed to already have his next move planned and at the ready. No matter what Leif did, he could not slow Artemis's attacks. Until one lucky hit. Artemis had swung hard from the left and Leif had only just been able to duck in time. From below Lief struck up with his sword, landing a painfully hard hit on Artmeis's right arm, causing a large gash and likely breaking a bone. Artemis let out a small yell, falling to the ground and dropped his sword in pain. Lief lunged forward, sword in the air, thinking he had found his chance to strike Artemis down. Blinded by adrenaline Leif did not see the dagger that Artemis had just pulled out with his left hand. As Leif swung his sword down, Artemis stabbed his dagger up.

Artemis's arms were longer than Leif's, so he found his target first. He stabbed Leif in the throat. Leif dropped his sword and stumbled backwards to the ground, holding his neck, gurgling on blood.

Cassius having only just then broken through the crowd of soldiers let out a yell and sprinted towards Leif. But by the time he reached him life had already drained from Leif's eyes. Cassius fought back tears as he looked at Artemis.

Artemis once again gave Cassius a smirk, "Your turn".

The two of them sprung into battle. Cassius was strong and a better swordsman than Leif was. While Artemis was still a better fighter, having years of experience, Cassius was fueled by so much rage and hatred that if he could land even a single hit it would likely be lethal. They fought each other, both striking and blocking, for what felt like an hour. Almorian soliders had managed to finish off the remainder of the Dewanians left in the room, but when one made a move toward Cassius Artemis immediately called him off, yelling "No! He's mine!"

Both were covered in sweat, now circled by nearly thirty Almorian men. Cassius knew that even if he managed to somehow kill Artemis, there was little chance he was making it out of this room. Still he fought. He thought of Lief, and his parents who he still didn't know if they were alive or dead, and Genevieve hiding down the hall in the closet unaware of what had just happened to her beloved brother.

Cassius was growing more tired by the moment and Artemis could sense it. It seemed the weaker Cassius got, the stronger Artemis became. Cassius swung with all of his might- aiming for Artemis's heart, but Artemis was able to shove him away. He pushed Cassius with such a force that he began to stumble, he fell to the ground, quickly turning to get up. But just as Cassius stood, Artemis swung his sword. There was a loud thump, and Cassius body hit the ground, his head no longer attached.