The Water Warrior(Book 1)(Completed)

Chapter 24: The Beginning Of The End

     The Lamada castle loomed above the wooden wagons as it crossed the drawbridge. Two guards were stationed at the large iron gate, the only real entrance to the Lamada kingdom. One of the two guards approached the driver, "Can I help you?" He asked. "Yes, I have a shipment of weapons from Reuben," replied the coachman. "That shipment wasn't due until tomorrow," replied the guard gruffly. "I'm quite certain that King Sinergy would not object to getting his precious cargo early," replied the Reuben driver.

     Still angry at the driver, the guard let the wagons pass, but not before each one was inspected. The angry guard opened the back of the cart and the coachman and his companion sitting in the seat next to him tensed at the reins. Would he see them? Crates filled the back of the wagon, seeing nothing out of the ordinary the guard gave the signal to the other guard at the gate. The guard nodded then gave a signal to the gatehouse and the gate slowly began to rise.

     The angry guard checked the rest of the wagons before waving them all through. The driver gave a sigh of relief, they were in.

     The sounds of the horses' hooves and the carts' squeaks echoed off the kingdom's walls. People milled around minding their own business, not even caring about the carts. The inside of the Lamada kingdom looked like the bad part of town that you would try to avoid. The Lamadians were dressed in the very minimal amount of clothing which was all they had. Children looked in the bakery window drooling over food their parents could not afford. A sad sight to all who passed through the village.

     The wagons approached the right side of the castle where the horse stables were located. Here the two men knew they could not be seen by the guards at the entrance, so they continued to execute the plan.

     The driver hopped out of the wagon and so did his companion. They approached the set of guards that were positioned by the stables and knocked them unconscious without breaking a sweat. Unusual as it looks, the coachman nodded his head at the horses and strangely enough, they nodded their heads back. The coachman's companion headed over to the horses and unlatched them from the wagon, once the horses were released, they galloped over to where the collapsed guards were and took transformed themselves until they looked exactly like them.

     The Guardians took the real guards and hid them in a horse stall. The driver of the wagon and his companion transformed into very familiar faces. The companion of the driver turned into an older man with graying hair, known to others as Darkmoon and the driver was none other than Firestar. Before the bodies were hidden, Darkmoon and Firestar stripped them of their leather armor and put them on, although they did not fit perfectly, neither of the two were going to complain.

     As soon as they were inside the castle, Firestar gave the signal alerting the other Guardians in disguise and Cadars hidden in the carts that it was safe to come out and that is just what the Guardians did. The Guardians changed their appearance into a mixture of Lamadians and Sinergy's guards each going in a separate direction. Since the Cadars could not transform like the Guardians, they were forced to wait in the carts until further notice.

     The two friends took one final look at the outside world before entering the belly of the beast, the Lamada castle. They entered the main entrance without any of the guards even turning their heads, which was good for their sakes; they really could not afford to be caught right away. Once they entered the massive castle they looked for a way to get to the balcony that overlooked the throne room. It took a few minutes for the duo to find the stairs that lead to the second floor.

     Darkmoon and Firestar crept up the stairs and onto the second floor, which had a balcony that had the perfect vantage point. Firestar positioned himself on the left side of the balcony and Darkmoon on the right, each one had a good view of the entire room.

     As if on cue, four Lamadian guards entered the throne room through the south door pushing a large glass box with water in it. Next Aqua staggered into the room with two guards on each side of her. She was bound by chains at her hands and feet which made an awful sound as it scraped the cobblestone floor. Blood seeped out of so many wounds that Firestar lost track counting. She looked so miserable and beaten as she accepted her fate that was soon to come.

     Firestar continued to watch as Sinergy entered the room next followed closely by another two armed guards. Sinergy walked toward Aqua almost whispering in her ear, "I guess your friends don't care about you as much as you thought." Aqua did not respond to his comment, even if she did what good would it do? Another guard entered the room, but this one was different than the others, he was carrying a weird set of handcuffs which he handed to Sinergy. "I had these cuffs specifically made for you," said Sinergy placing the restraints on Aqua's wrists. "They have been uniquely designed to counteract your powers, so no more relying on your powers to save you," snarled Sinergy.

     As a response to his comment, she swiftly lifted her leg, or at least as much as the chains would allow, and landed a solid blow to his stomach. Sinergy bent over in pain as she said, "I don't need them." When the guards saw this, they aimed their bows at Aqua. "Throw her in the tank," said Sinergy with a snarl. "How ironic, the water princess dies from drowning."

     As the guards pushed Aqua towards the large glass tank filled with water, Firestar aimed his crossbow at the nearest guard grabbing Aqua. Just as he was about to squeeze the trigger, a voice behind him said, "Drop your weapon." Firestar turned around to see one of the Lamadian guards had crept up on him while he was watching the scene below. The guard pointed his own crossbow at him and demanded once again for Firestar to drop his weapon. Seeing no other option, Firestar fired an arrow at the guard that buried itself in a crease where no thick leather was covering.

     Before the guard had a chance to pull the trigger, Firestar had transformed himself into a house cat, and the arrow flew through the open air. Next Firestar transformed into his wolf form and bit through the guard's leather with his powerful teeth.

     Down below, Sinergy saw all that was occurring as Aqua was placed into the tank, the lid closing over her head. He knew she had only a few precious minutes left before she would drown, then the only heir to his throne would be gone and he would stay king. That was if her meddling friends could stay away that long.

     Firestar rushed to Darkmoon's side just as he finished off his guard with the slash of his sword. More guards came up the stairway as the duo fought side by side, they realized that they had only a few minutes to save Aqua and they were not going to waste a single second of it.