Warriors Until The End

Chapter 2 ~ Fight!

The guards point their spears at me and my dragon when I reach the royal castle, which is enormous and absolutely impressive. Green flags on every tower, high walls of grey stones, and a huge gate whose doors are decorated with the royal sign. Next to the gate, there are two stone statues of lions with their mouths wide open. I have seen it before, but it's still amazing.

I jump from Deathclaw's back to the ground, and thank him for bringing me here.
"Who are you? Identify yourself!" one of the gates' guards commands.
"I'm Xix Nox. A friend of prince Yri Nireas. I've come to bring sad news to the king and the queen about their son," I say, trying be confident, to hide the shiver in my voice. My eyes are probably red from all the crying I did earlier. I hope the guard doesn't notice it.
"Fine," he says, "But I will come with you, half-elf. After all, no one trusts beings like you."
I nod, and follow him through the gate. Elves are known as creatures of the darkness. Beings that steal, murder, and use their magic to curse people. Everyone fears them after the War of Destruction. I'm nothing like that at all. But how do I explain that?

The castle is even more impressive from the inside than it is on the outside. Green carpets on the floor, and on the walls are paintings of all the kings and queens who have ruled this kingdom. Everything looks so expensive, and I wonder where they get the money to buy all this stuff.

"The throne hall is behind this door," the guard tells me, and he opens the door. The throne hall is even more amazing than the rest of the castle. Green carpets with golden decorations are hanging on every wall, and the thrones are made of jade. The chandeliers on the ceiling look heavy because of the countless diamonds hanging on it. All of it looks so majestic. How rich the royal family must be...

The king and queen stare at me when I bow for them. I see fear in their eyes. 
"Well, what is it that you want?" the king says. I feel anger again, but I'm too afraid to do something. There are too many soldiers here. If I do anything wrong, I will probably be hanging by my neck.
"Nothing, your majesty. I've only come to bring sad news." 
I can at least tell them about their son's death. That's probably what Yri wants me to do now.
The king seems to be thinking, doubting if he will trust me.

"Wait a second, you're that half-elf Yri told us about, aren't you? I wonder why he wants to be friends with a creature like you," the queen says suddenly. She talks like I'm a disgusting rat.
"That's right, your majesty. I'm a good friend of the prince," I answer, ignroring the insult.
"What's the news? Tell us," the king commands.
"Your son... Yri... he... he died." 
"What!?" the queen says shocked, and stands up from her throne. "How?"
"We were standing on a cliff, talking about stuff, and then... he fell down, into the abyss. I tried to grab his hand, but I wasn't fast enough. I'm really sorry!"

While fighting against the tears, I wait quietly for their reaction. The queen stares at me, furious. The king stands up from his throne and looks down on me.
"Is this true?" He asks. His face tells me that he won't allow lies.
"Y-yes, your majesty. I'm so very sorry that I couldn't save him! I was..."
"Guards! Grab him! Take him to the dungeon!" he suddenly roars. 
"W-what? Why? W-what have I done?" I stumble.
"I can already think about how he fell down. You did this, right? Elves are murderers, criminals. All humans know that very well after the War of Destruction. What makes you different? You were never his friend. Now tell me, what were you planning on doing after killing him? Trying to take over the kingdom?"

"N-No, your majesty! I really was his friend! I'm not... I'm not a... a..." I shut my mouth. I actually am a criminal. I killed my best friend. I pushed him into the abyss. But it wasn't on purpose, so doesn't that make any difference?
No. It doesn't. It's true. I truly am... a murderer.
I deserve to die, just like my friend did because of me.
"By tomorrow, in the morning, this murderer will be executed!"

Wait, what?
These words... It's like something inside me awakened because of them: the will to fight.
I don't want to die like this! I don't want to die at all! What was I thinking!?
A dozens of soldiers surround me. But I'm not planning on letting myself be executed!
The first soldier tries to grab my arm, but I grab his arm instead and break his wrist. The next one comes at me, but I kick his face. With his nose bleeding, he falls unconscious on the ground. A third one tries to take me down with an axe. Unfortunately for him, I'm too fast. I break his arm in no time and take the axe.
"What are you doing? Just take him down!" the king's voice sounds through the whole hall.

I won't surrender!

With this axe, my chances of escaping from this castle are even greater.
Nine other soldiers appear. They all have different weapons: axes, swords, spears, and so on. It won't make any difference for me, though.
"Surrender!" one of them commands.
"Never!" I shout at him.
"Now! Attack at once!" I hear from behind. Three soldiers run towards me, and try to take me down. I block the first ones' sword with my axe, kick him in this stomach, and slice his throat open. The other two react immediately. But even though there are two of them, they are no match for me. And neither are all the others. It's like there's a pattern in their movements. Defend, attack, attack, defend, attack, defend, defend, attack.... Somehow I know what they're going to do before they've even done it.

After I've killed the last one of the nine soldiers, a new group comes at me.

While fighting six of them, I manage to grab a second axe by killing its owner.
I feel like I'm a killing monster. Normally, I never would've been able to kill someone because I would've been too scared. But now... standing here with their blood on my hands and face... it doesn't even bother me.
Another soldier goes down, and another one. Their pain, their blood... I don't care at all.

There, an opening! Between those two soldiers! I ran to the exit of the hall as fast as I can after taking care of them. Another guard tries to hit me with a sword, but I dodge it. My axe slices through his chest like he's made of butter.
I throw the doors open, and run to the next hall. It's a good thing I've paid attention when I entered the castle. Now it's easier to find the exit. More soldiers appear, but I defeat them with ease.

Two more halls to go! I run as fast as I can. My life depends on it! I will not let myself be killed here, and neither will I be executed tomorrow!
Four soldiers come to me at once. The first axe cuts the arm of number one, number two dies when the other axe slices through his throat. I turn around and kick number three unconscious, while my fist hits the last soldier in his face.

I will survive!
No matter what, I won't give up!
Nothing can stop me now!

"Xix!" a familiar voice suddenly sounds behind me. "What in the world are you doing?"

Yri!?

Cliff-hanger! xD
mwuhahahaaaa