A Royal's Tale [COMPLETED]

Chapter 39 - "Kill him then return to me!"

Wilder

Buy time, Wilder needed to buy time until-

A scream pierced the air. A clash of metal came from further in the palace. A roar of fighting men echoed through the halls. Zavier and Quinn with their soldiers were here!

The reassurance was all Wilder needed. He broke from the soldier's grasp, drew out his sword as the Lorian soldiers around him did the same. Wilder bounded to the throne, leapt, and swung his blade at the King's neck.

Titus widened his eyes in surprise and a flicker of fear before steel met steel, Slade blocking Wilder's.

Behind him, the throne room erupted into chaos. Kristoff shouted and the Lorain soldiers attacked King Titus's guards. Yells and battle cries exploded as Lorian steel met North Isles blades.

"Deal with him," Titus said to Slade while coldly looking at Wilder.

Slade kicked out at Wilder, hitting him in the stomach. Wilder crashed to the floor and rolled to the side, barely missing Slade's downward stroke. Rising to his feet, Wilder spared a single glance to Lydia, who held her sword at the ready as soldiers created a barrier around her and Kristoff.

Slade charged Wilder and he brought his sword up. With hard, ferocious strokes, Slade battled Wilder. Wilder gave more and more ground, his focus solely on Slade and his relentless attacks. Victory gleamed in Slade's eyes as he backed Wilder into a corner.

But in an instant, Wilder rushed forward. Slade parried Wilder's fierce blow but gasped sharply as Wilder buried his dagger into Slade's ribs.

"You don't deserve to stand where my father stood," Wilder hissed at him, then ripped the blade out.

Slade choked on his breath and crumpled to the floor, clutching his stomach. Wilder raced back to the heart of the battle, searching for Lydia. The scene was a blur of Lorian's courageously fighting despite being outnumbered by North Isles soldiers.

A guard cut into Wilder's path, his sword slicing towards Wilder. Wilder deflected the attack and punched the soldier in the face. His blow was backed by the hilt of the dagger still in his hand. The guard fell back and Wilder pierced the guard's chest with his blade.

Before the man even fell, Wilder looked for Lydia. He found her fighting off a guard. But as he ran towards her, he saw the trajectory of the guard's swing and the angle of Lydia's sword and knew this wasn't a fight she was going to win.

Wilder felt his heart jerk inside his chest as the guard swept Lydia's sword from her grasp. She staggered back and more North Isles guards swarmed around her. They seized her arms and Titus shouted for them to bring her. As Lydia was dragged from the throne room, a flood of new guards appeared from an archway.

"Men to me!" Titus shouted.

The contingent of new guards rushed to their King's side, forming a blockade between Wilder and Lydia. Wilder didn't hesitate, barreling after them. The first guard fell with Wilder's dagger in his throat. The next died from a slash across his chest. Wilder bent low and yanked his dagger out of the guard's throat threw it again, impaling a guard in the heart.

Protect Lydia. Protect Lydia.

He saw as Lydia struggled against the men holding her. She kicked one guard in the knee, making him falter. She wrenched her arm from his grip and yanked against the other guard's hold. But a new guard quickly caught her. Trapping her again.

Two guards plowed towards Wilder. He dropped to his knee, ducking under one's blade while cutting into the leg of the other with his sword. Spinning on the tile, he thrust his sword into the first guard's stomach. He leapt to his feet and sprinted to the archway Titus and his men with Lydia had vanished through.