Or Forever Hold Your Peace - l.s.

Chapter 23

Louis and Harry crawled through the tunnel. When they got out the other end, it was already past dusk.

"Louis, please be careful." Harry said to Louis.

"I will." Louis responded.

"I'm sorry I landed us in jail."

"I am aware."

It was eight at night. Harry disappeared and was replaced by Sam. "Dude Prince!" Sam exclaimed upon seeing Louis. "Why are we hiding behind a tree? Why are you shushing me? Why do you look so scared?"

"Sam, be quiet!" Louis snapped.

Sam lowered his volume. "Dude, what's going on?"

Louis asked, "Sam, are you hungry?"

"Dude, are we going to get a bite?" Sam asked.

.

Soldiers came charging at Sam. They had their swords raised up and ready for attack. As they approached the demon, Sam scooped them up in his mouth, squishing them like grapes in between his teeth.

"Dude, thish ish aweshome!" Sam exclaimed, with his mouth full.

"Only the ones wearing red, okay?" Louis reminded. Ariak's troops wore blue uniforms.

Louis zipped through the crowd, looking for his father. He swung his sword, slashing at the people in his path. King Niall and King Stephen were in a sword battle, isolated to one side. Their blades clanged against each other's as they both swiftly attacked and defended.

"Give up. Niall, you've already lost." Stephen prompted.

"No!" Niall grunted, thrusting his weapon at Stephen. "And it's 'King Niall' to you."

"Not for long." Stephen taunted..

"Get away from him!" Louis shouted at Stephen. He slipped his own sword in between the two kings'.

A loud roar reverberated through the air, catching the attention of the three royals. Sam tossed a soldier into the air. There was a loud shriek before Sam caught the soldier it his mouth and ate him.

"Is that Harry?" Niall asked Louis.

"Don't worry. He's on our side." Louis said.

Stephen looked distraught. "How did you-?" He stammered.

"He's more tame than we all chose to believe." Louis stated. Seeing that Stephen was distracted in the conversation, Louis shoved his sword forward at Stephen. Stephen swiftly stepped aside, dodging the blade.

Stephen's army shrunk in size rapidly as time passed. Niall, Stephen and Louis battled each other for hours into the night. Niall was beginning to tire. Stephen was outnumbered, one to two, but he managed to hold his ground.

"I will not be defeated!" Stephen squalled at he recklessly flung his blade. His swings were abrupt and cursory. He realised that he was losing the battle. With the unexpected extra force defending Ariak, Vaelle barely stood a chance.

Louis avoided Stephen's attacks and vice versa. "If you didn't want to be defeated, you shouldn't have started a war." Louis shouted.

"If you didn't want a war, you shouldn't have cheated on my daughter." Stephen shot back.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have had a daughter!" Louis did not taste his words before they were blurted out. His free hand flew to his mouth. Stephen gasped, offended. Louis did not mean to provoke Stephen further but he had struck a nerve. Stephen glared at Louis, infuriated more so than before. Stephen slashed his sword at Louis.

Louis saw the weapon being swung at him. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. It was too fast for Louis to block.

Niall rushed forward, in hopes of saving his son. It was pretty much hopeless but, at the very least, Niall had to try.

There was a shout. Skin was torn. Blood was shed.