Goldenheart || s.q.

3

"Shiloh. Shiloh!"

Kenneth shook Shiloh from his drunken sleep, causing him to wake up and lurch right onto the ground.

"Wha-at?"

"Elyn isn't here."

Almost immediately, Shiloh sat upright, wiping drool off the side of his face. He kicked the many beer cans around him to make space, then stood up.

"Have you checked around? Did she go home?"

"Checked both, she's nowhere to be found. The only thing of hers is the mask."

Shiloh concentrated, thinking of all the places Elyn had taken interest in.

He bolted out of the shack with Kenneth following behind, then inspected the ground around. To no one's surprise, Shiloh found barely visible footsteps in the dirt... leading to the city he hated so much.

"Fuck. Fuck! I warned her, I fucking warned her not to go there and she did - Ken, grab my sword - I told her so many times and this is what she does! I knew it! I fucking-"

"Your longsword."

"Thank you."

Shiloh began to ramble on and on about warnings as he led Kenneth towards the city, the duo walking as fast as their legs could go.

Once they reached, the two men ducked in and out of alleys, searching high and low for Elyn. But there was not a single black haired girl in sight - mostly only males or blondes.

Shiloh glanced up at the castle's gates.

"Could she really be in there?"

-

An old man bound in chains and shackles creeped out of one of the many doors in the hall, accompanied closely by armed guards. He had on a blindfold, and wore a cloak soaked in what Elyn presumed to be his piss and blood.

"Witch? You call this... old man a witch?"

The king relaxed into his velvety throne, wagging his finger at the supposed witch.

The witch, having somehow sensed the king's movements, took a step forward. The armed guards took a step back.

Before Elyn could respond, the witch lifted his boney arm and jerked his thumb downwards. Elyn felt a strong force pull her bow away from her and crashing into the marble ground, breaking the intricate design on the floor. The king sat up, alarmed.

"Don't destroy anything else."

The witch then clenched his fist - in turn, Elyn could feel the air being squeezed out of her lungs. She gasped for breath, nearly turning blue, before the witch unclenched his fist and instead raised it higher.

Elyn could feel herself levitating, and she attempted to throw herself around by thrashing her arms and kicking her legs. It was no use. She had never fought let alone met a witch before - they were incredibly rare and dangerous to society.

The king was beaming with glee. "Beautiful, beautiful woman! Put her in there and you will meet Greshia again."

The witch's expression softened. "Greshia..."

The guards had rolled in a cage on wheels, nearly as big as the throne that the king sat on. The witch, with little empathy, flung Elyn into the cage, then used his other hand and slammed the cage door shut. Guards immediately flocked to take the witch away, while another group of guards hurried to lock up the cage.

"Oops - did I say you'd be able to meet Greshia? I'm sorry, but she's long dead."

The witch's expression hardened once again, his blindfold becoming sodden with tears as he was dragged back into the room he came from. The king then stood up and walked over to the imprisoned Elyn, who was dazed and sitting in an uncomfortable position.

"My, my, my. What an absolutely exquisite woman you are."

He leaned in close and attempted to lift her chin, to which Elyn reacted by kicking it away with her iron boot.

"Ow - for fuck's sake! You sure look like one hell of a sex slave but certainly act like a damned witch!"

Elyn glared at him through the bars.

"I'll fucking kill you. All of you."

"Sure."

The king laughed, walking away. His laughter did not last long as he crumpled onto the ground, dagger sticking out of his back.

Elyn turned around, watching the guards struggle to defend against Shiloh. Kenneth had burst a hole through the door and then threw the dagger, and was now rushing over to Elyn's cage.

"Elyn, I - how does this open?!"

"I have no idea."

Kenneth fumbled with the locking mechanism for a few seconds before giving up and breaking it with his dagger. He left the cage door slightly ajar, then ran back to help Shiloh.

Elyn climbed out of the cage, running over to where the king was twitching on the ground. She pulled out Kenneth's dagger, then flipped the king over onto his back with one foot.

They locked eyes, and Elyn gave him a toxic smile.

"Bye."

She felt her eyes burning as she stabbed Kenneth's dagger into the king's chest. She then proceeded to carve 'ST' into his forehead before cleaning the dagger on his shirt and then running to her bow.

Her eyes started burning again when she saw that her bow had some scratches on it, and she glanced over at Shiloh, screaming as he got stabbed in his arm. Elyn nocked her bow as quick as possible, leaping over the king and onto the top of the cage, then shot an arrow straight into a guard's ear. The guard fell to the ground and so did Shiloh.

Elyn threw Kenneth's dagger over to him, and he became much more efficient in killing off the guards.

Once all the guards had fallen, some with stab wounds and some with arrows sticking out of their heads, Elyn ran over to Shiloh, who was groaning in a corner, his face speckled with blood.

"I'm fine." He muttered, using his sword to pull himself up. Kenneth lifted him with ease, carrying Shiloh bridal style.

"Put me down, Ken."

"No."

Shiloh groaned again, and Elyn grabbed his longsword from him. "I'll carry this. Come on, we need to go."

They walked out of the hole in the wall. Elyn turned around to look back at the king once more, before running to catch up to Kenneth.