Labyrinth: Into the Malignant Book 2

Down with the King

My sword plunged into the man's back right as his sword pierced my grandmother. "No!" My shattered scream was so loud that the room became silent for a moment. The moment of silence ended quickly with the onslaught of attackers against me. I thrust my sword in the fighters, slicing into their flesh and screaming at them with ferocity. It was a messy fight, but my emotions were anything but clean. I fought until the last fighter fell.

Right as the last man fell, so did my sword and I rushed to my grandmothers side. I could hear my mother telling my Intangible to keep the kids in the room before she came over to my grandmothers other side. I picked up her hand as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Hey, I'm going to be okay" My grandmothers voice was weak and she held on for a couple moments. "Where's my son? Where's my family?" She asked knowing she was anything but okay. I choked on my sob as my mother picked my grandmother up and placed her on the bed. She hurried to her medical kit and began to sew my grandmother up. My mother barked commands to me to which I followed deafly.

"Honey she's going to be okay for a little while. I need to make her comfortable" My grandmother began to speak to my mother and tears formed in both their eyes.

"I need... I need to go find dad" I whispered as I staggered out of the room. My Intangible tried to follow me, but I put my hand up and told him to protect my family.

I ran down the hall, sobbing as I went. I rushed down the stairs, past the fighting, and out into the courtyard. Guards threw their swords up in order to keep the fighters away from me. Many different armies were at war, but I kept running for one familiar person. People fell to the ground in agony and other slashed through their enemies without a second thought.

It wasn't until the force of a wing knocked me down that I understood exactly where I was. I looked up at the blue sky as I gasped for air. When I looked up at the sky everything was fine. There was no war, there was no pain, and there was no feeling in the sky. I felt another tear roll down my cheek as a hand wrapped around my neck.

My air was cut off and a face appeared above my own. "Has one of your own fallen little girl? Well let's go find your father so we can tell him the news. I do believe now that the little fighter is gone from the house I can send in my best fighters to finish this job" I was lifted into the air by my neck. I struggled enough in his arms for him to put me down and drag me into the fight by my hair. I saw a group of fighters race into the castle in search of the rest of my family.

I was taken to the middle of the fighting where fighters began to bind my hands. Fighters jeered at me and poked at me. I fought against them as they took me to the top of a still standing building. "Little princess... aw look at that! She's been crying. She's so weak" One of the fighters slapped my back multiple times before tapping my nose. I jerked away, but the king's grip on my hair kept me mostly still to endure the verbal torture.

The king stood behind me as he looked around at the ruin around him. "Jareth, King of the High Kingdom! Come out old friend, your daughter is awaiting your presence!" I trembled in his hold as my father stood on top of another building. The two kings were staring at each other with equal hate. Edoneon and Leneon were at the sides of my father.

"King of the Malignant let my daughter go. I'm willing to work something out with you. Stop this violence" The entire battle seemed to stop as the leaders conversed.

"Why would I stop something you started? I'm here to end this! Once I get rid of your family, my family will be avenged. You killed my wife, you stole my son, and you made me torture my own second born son! The only thing necessary in this moment is to repay you with the pain you gave me!"

"I did none of those things! It was not my blade that took your wife, it was not my words that made your first born stray from your word, and it was not my command to torture your second born son. Stop this madness!" I knew the King of the Malignant was not going to step down.

All of a sudden, I was shoved down onto my stomach. A foot pressed into my back as a sword tip touched my neck. I could hear the army of the High Kingdom go up in a rage from the threat over my head. I looked over at my father. He was looking at me with Edoneon staring at his father.

"You see this girl? She is going to be one of the members who will pay for the past" The king of the Malignant pressed the sword into my skin and I let out a squeak of a scream. The pressure was taken away from my neck as the king lifted the sword up. He intended to do a beheading.

I looked to the street. My eyes met every single eye of the guard or creature that fought for the High Kingdom. My line of vision caught familiar faces and one opportunist. The guard's eyes searched mine as he stood close to the house. He lifted his sword towards the King of the Malignant. I blinked at him before looking up to my father. I looked into his eyes. I tried to tell him I was sorry, but shame made me look away.

"Today your kingdom falls!" The sword rushed down towards me. Many things happened at once. Screams rushed out of many different mouths. Fighting erupted as if one of the guards could make it to me in time. The one guard I had spotted earlier threw his sword, but it wasn't at the king.

I rolled over to my side as the sword rushed at me and let it rip through my binds. The sword of the king landed inches from my head. I twisted my hand to snatch the sword. Using the momentum from the throw, I turned around to fight the king, but he stood perfectly still. The entire battlefield was once again quiet as an arrow stuck through the heart of the king. He looked down at me in shock before lifting his sword again to kill me, but dropped his sword onto the ground and fell to his knees. He looked into my eyes before looking up at someone on the roof with my father. With one last second to spare, he whispered a name. With the single name, he collapsed onto the ground. The King of the Malignant was dead.

Down falls the king! What's next? Well that is going to be out soon! What is going to happen to Elliana's grandmother? Is her family in the room even alive after the fighters were sent to destroy them?

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-JCross