A Dance Of Crowns & Thrones | Book I

Chapter 142 | When The Spinning Plates Tumble

Matthew and Toni had intercepted a conflict without ever knowing what they were walking into when they transported themselves to the fringes of a quaint coastal town in Isadora. The once-charming town now lay mostly in ruins, a silent testament to the brutality of the ongoing war.

It turned out to be the ideal setting for Matthew to release his frustrations, and Toni had intercepted him as he stormed out of the office. Richie had also stood on the other side of the office, both acting as witnesses to the intense argument between the couple.

Toni had agreed to go with Matthew to let out the maelstrom of thoughts in his head, while Richie kept a watchful eye on Eko to ensure she refrained from executing any potentially destructive plans in Matthew's absence.

Upon landing amidst the shoreline of the obliterated city, they were unexpectedly knocked to the sand without warning.

Toni swiftly regained his footing, expressing his frustration at the brutal youma attack and the intense pain that surged through his body. He anticipated a multitude of bruises by the time the ordeal concluded. The relentless and unexpected onslaught of tiger-cross dogs wreaking havoc over the sand dunes caught him off guard.

Amidst a rush of air, accompanied by thumps, cracks, and crashes echoing in the vicinity, Toni abandoned any attempts to keep his language in check. "Motherfucker!" he swore, his tongue brushing against a tiny cut on the inside of his lip. In the chaotic moment, there was no time for elaborate strategies. It was one of those evenings when a swift and brutal course of action was required.

"It's like she just wants to leap into all of this shit, and then she'll just get herself killed. Is that what she thinks is acceptable or something?" Matthew barked.

"Mate," Toni offered, beheading one of the creatures before them, "this is something you both need to work out. I don't have the ans-"

"-and then showing the rest of the worlds that we're warriors?" Matthew roared, shoving his sword into another creature that came at them.

Toni beheaded a behemoth, allowing the crushing of its body to topple to the ground before him, as he slowly turned to his best friend, who had been still staring at him, hoping for some divine answer to his anger.

"Okay," Toni exhaled, "I agree that was a moronic thing to suggest. Richie doesn't help with antagonizing her, but he, Mya, and Jesse feel the same."

"They all want to get themselves killed," he rolled his head to Toni, who nodded smirking, thinking the exact same thing. "Then Toni, then! Their idiotic leader will then most likely get them all killed and then us! She has never been smart with controlling her fucken impulsive emotional decisions!"

"So, speak to your future fiancé about her poor life decisions," Toni retorted, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Matthew deadpanned at Toni, "At the rate she's going, she won't survive until New Year for me to even propose. Seriously, speak to that idiot about her poor life decisions?" he mocked back, highly annoyed, as though he hadn't already tried that tactic.

"Why do you think I am speaking to you!" he waved his sword about, "attracted to the idiot, suicidal female population here. Clearly!"

"Then what do you want to do? She's obviously not going to let up with this idea."

"I need to drill it out of her." Matthew was determined on that, but his response was met with a widened grin from Toni before he burst into hysterical laughter.

"What?" Matthew snapped at his best friend.

"You're going to drill that out of Eko. Mate, the one thing I know about you both is your arrogance and stubbornness,"