Every muscle screamed in protest with each shaky step I took towards my fallen comrades. My vision blurred at the edges, the world threatening to fade to black. But there was no time for rest. They needed me.
Kasumi, Zack, Izumi, Tomohiro, Wan, and Renji – their unconscious forms sprawled on the cold, hard ground. Ignoring the searing pain in my back, a remnant of Lei Hu's scorpion first attack, I knelt beside them. One by one, I bundled them into a carriage I discovered tucked away within the hideout, a stroke of incredible luck.
"𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏," I rasped, my voice hoarse. "𝑾𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆."
The sound of approaching voices pricked my ears. Soldiers, drawn by the dissipating mist. No time for goodbyes. Pulling my mask tighter, I grabbed the carriage handle, the wood digging into my raw palms. Exhaustion threatened to drag me under, but a surge of adrenaline propelled me forward. Drawing from the last dregs of my strength, I pulled the carriage out of the swirling mist, the soldiers none the wiser. They found only the bound bandits, their reign of terror finally over.
Emerging from the mist, the fresh air brought a sharp bite to my lungs, triggering a hacking cough that sent a spray of crimson blood arcing through the air. A trail of blood marked the path we traveled, a testament to the hidden injury gnawing at me. But I couldn't stop. Not yet.
𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆:
The tension crackled within the palace walls. Kael, my teacher, had vanished into the mist, "𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 " he said with a desperate need to reach us.
Captain Amelia was confused at the expression on kael face and asked Kaito, the leader of the superiors, " 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅?", "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎" he responded, "𝒐𝒌, 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒌𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕" she added, " 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕" Kaito continued, "𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕" captain Amelia said impatiently, "𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒐'𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒚𝒆𝒕" Kaito said, "𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕!!!" Captain Amelia yelled.
The Empress and the Emperor, their faces etched with worry, exchanged words about steward keal's loyalty, a shadow of a past tragedy hanging over them.
"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒆 16, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒌𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚" the Empress speaks to the Emperor, "𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕" the emperor said in concern, "𝑯𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒌, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎" the Empress comforted the emperor as he nodded.
𝑴𝒚 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚:
The world tilted alarmingly as I pulled the carriage, my vision swimming. The pain in my side intensified, a constant reminder of the battle we had just endured. But the worry etched on my comrades' faces, even in unconsciousness, fueled me onward. "𝑾𝒆...𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈...𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆"
𝑲𝒂𝒆𝒍'𝒔 𝑨𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍:
As I staggered through a nearby village, my legs finally giving way. Being out here remained me of a past i won't forget and clung to me like a tight knot.
As i turned towards the green vase fields, a familiar figure emerged from the afternoon mist. Relief washed over me in a tidal wave.
End of keal POV
"𝑲𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒊,...𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝑰'𝒎 𝑰 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖" I croaked, managing a weak smile before darkness claimed me.
He caught me as I fell, cradling me gently before rushing to the carriage. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw my team inside, slumbering but alive. With a flourish, he unfurled his fan, the lotus flower petals swirling around him, at he's command.
𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆:
The guards returned with the captured bandits, the stolen goods recovered. A sense of relief mingled with the worry for our team. Just then, a shimmering light filled the room, and Kael appeared, his arrival marked by ethereal, sparkling stars.
His usually closed eyes snapped open, revealing a startling sky blue as he surveyed the scene.
"𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝑲𝒂𝒆𝒍?" the Empress asked, her voice laced with apprehension.
"𝒀𝒆𝒔," he replied, raising a hand. Instantly, my team materialized around him, our bodies suspended in the air, enveloped in swirling flower petals.
Relief flooded me, even from the depths of unconsciousness. They were safe. We had completed the mission, emerged victorious from the shadows, and now, we were finally home. The Phantoms, forever united.
Captain Amelia held her hand against her mouth "𝒁𝒂𝒄𝒌...𝑻𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒐....𝑲𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒊....𝑰𝒛𝒖𝒎𝒊....𝑾𝒂𝒏...𝑹𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒊.... 𝑻𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒐" she said holding our floating bodies "𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒌 " she said as tears filled her eyes seeing the tragic injuries of the boys.
YOU ARE READING
Rise Of Royal Phantoms And Qixi Festival
FantasyThis story unfolds a tale of a young boy who trainees much as he can to become the best vision of himself no limitations
