Chapter 30: The smoldering coals of Valeria

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"What are you waiting for?!" Aidan's hands gripped his sword tighter as he looked at me. For a moment I could see only him, his golden hair waving around his face after he had thrown off his crown, the silver plates of his armor reflecting the raging crowd that was coming towards him. His sword was already glowing with sparks of electricity but it wouldn't be enough. He pushed his captain towards me and pointed at the gate behind us, away from the mob that was about to overrun us.

"Get them out of here!" Aidan commanded, his voice barely overpowering the chaos as he turned back towards the crowd.

Before I could even process what was happening I felt the guard's hands pushing me towards the gates with the jedi rushing in front of me. Where before they were kneeling down before them, they were now leading the kingsguard away from the crowd with their lightsabers lighting our path. When we passed the gigantic gates of the palace I turned around, pushing the guard back.

"No, protect him!" I pointed at Aidan as I stopped the others too. I could barely see the few strands of golden hair over their shoulders, but the sound of thunder coming near somewhat eased the worry.

"They will be coming after them, princess." The guard' eyes narrowed at the jedi who looked at him defiantly.

"I've defeated entire droid armies, I think I can protect myself from a few citizens." Anakin shrugged with a smug smile on his face. He was immediately hit in the stomach by Obi-Wan, who glared at him disapprovingly.

"Look I will get them out of here, you make sure your king doesn't die." I decided. The captain seemed to hesitate but then nodded, turning around and calling his colleagues with him. For a moment I sighed in relief until a giant ball of fire came our way.

"Captain!" I tried to reach for his arm to try and pull him away but managed to only graze the metal of his wrist plate before we were send back flying with sparks exploding all around us. My body collided with the ground roughly as debris of the now broken gate fell down on us in broken, flaming chunks. Groaning loudly and lifting my head I spotted the captain a few feet away, his eyes wide open as blood flowed down his face.

"Captain?" Mumbling softly, I tried to push myself up as my ears were still ringing after the explosion. The captain was trapped underneath a burning piece of the gate, lying motionless on the ground. Soft hands grasped me from behind, lifting me up under my shoulders and firmly planting me on my feet. When I made a slight motion to walk towards the captain those same hands grasped for my jaw, directing my face towards his.

"Now is not the time for that, princess." Obi-Wan's face was covered with ashes and dirt, his tunic smouldering at the edges. It made his eyes even more vibrant which were now filled with sympathy.

"They have trebuchets now?!" We both glanced towards Anakin as he looked at the sky, seeing numerous fireballs flying towards the palace. Looking in the same direction we saw some of the rebels already passing the now broken gate with swords in their hands and murderous looks on their faces.

"We need to run." After seeing the rage and hate in their eyes the decision was easily made. I grasped Obi-Wan's wrist and as we passed him pulled Anakin with us.

"Where are we going?!" Obi-Wan yelled as I pulled them up the stairs to the walls that surrounded the castle. We were being followed by more than 20 rebels who were shooting flaming arrows in our general direction. Anakin managed to deflect most of them with his lightsaber and some exploded right next to our feet.

"We need to get you guys a gryphon, or you won't be getting out of here." I yelled.

"Are you sure the air is safer?" Obi-Wan pointed at the numerous Valarjar that were already roaming the skies as our feet were carrying us closer to the stables.

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