The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 125

#125 The Throne Room
Strangely, an awful noise was heard as the door finally moved. The sound of something incredibly massive and heavy resonated in the fault, and Cassandra had to protect her ears. Yet, Glahad growled even more furiously, pulling the handle even more. The Golden Dragon was determined, and the door was still resisting, but it was almost done. Cassandra could finally see that opening. At her feet, Kian chirped excitedly and ran to jump on the golden dragon’s back. The little dragon escalated the body at least ten times bigger than his, peaking at what was going on behind that door.
He suddenly made another one of his high-pitched sounds, and in a split second, Cassandra saw him jump and fly away in the interstice.
“Kian!” She called, but he had disappeared.
Where had he gone to! Cassandra didn’t like losing her son’s dragon now, she was scared something would happen to him. She knew that door had to open up to somewhere behind the Emperor’s giant golden throne. However, soon enough, she heard another furious growling, and this time, it wasn’t coming from Glahad. She froze, but those growls were coming from wherever Kian had gone to, and even scarier, she could tell those weren’t Krai’s.
She was terrified to go there, but even more terrified that something would have happened to the baby dragon. Running to the other side of Glahad, she went to face the interstice, and almost immediately, stepped back, terrorized by what she had seen behind it. Red scales.
The thought had crossed her mind while seeing where they were headed. She had heard the horn and seen Glahad’s misery. She could only think of one scenario to explain all that, but she had been pushing those dark thoughts to the back of her mind until now. She just didn’t want to think about such a horrible outcome, and yet…
The growls of both dragons went louder and louder, and terrifying. The more Glahad was pushing the door, struggling to open it, the more Vrehan’s dragon was trying to prevent him from going out. Despite the difference of strength between the two, Glahad was somehow weaker than usual. Cassandra bit her lower lip. The Emperor’s state definitely had an effect on his Dragon…
She couldn’t stay here though, not when she had lost sight of Kian. The interstice was now wide enough for her to slip through, actually, two men could have fit in, but not a full-grown dragon. Cassandra tried to position herself around the dragon, watching both creatures’ actions. This was extremely risky. Kian had quickly flown his way out, but she would have to make a run and pray. It would take only a second for the Red Dragon to notice her and kill her. Hopefully, she could escape him, and even perhaps make him distracted enough that Glahad could finish opening that door and extract himself.
Moreover, she was concerned about all the ruckus she could hear on the other side. Cassandra wasn’t familiar with battlefield, but the horrible sounds and screams she could hear coming from behind the wall of red scales looked very much like a war was going on out there. What was happening in the Throne’s room, who was fighting who? Her heartbeat was accelerating fast. If Kian had flown so confidently, he ought to know who was behind that door. And there weren’t many people the baby dragon would go to fly to…
Raising her green eyes on the red Dragon, Cassandra took a deep breath and prepared herself to make a run for it. Glahad was still struggling and growling furiously, and hopefully, the ruckus would hide her escape even more. The Red Dragon probably hadn’t even noticed her. She remembered she and Kian had worked together to make him blind, permanently perhaps. She took a deep breath, and started running.
This short distance felt like miles away.
Cassandra had no idea what she would find behind, but she couldn’t stay back and wait to be caught in a fight between two adult dragons. She just ran in a straight line, her eyes riveted on the little space where she could see an actual wall behind Vrehan’s Dragon. Her heartbeat went even crazier when she ran past the door. Just a bit more! She kept running, even stumbled on something, a rock or a claw, and got back up to keep running again.
Finally, Cassandra jumped over a red paw, and fell on all fours, next to the Emperor’s throne. Her eyes tried to
grasp a hold of the situation as quickly as possible. Dozens of men were fighting in the Hall, but many of them were down on the ground already. The whole room had its soil covered in blood… It truly was a battlefield, all contained in one room. She looked up, trying to find who the assailants were when she finally saw him. Kairen.
She lost her breath for a second.
He was standing there, a few meters away from her. As if he had felt her stare on him, his black eyes rose up to look for hers too. For a couple of precious seconds, they found each other. She was shocked, her heart couldn’t even contain this much emotion at once. Tears appeared in her eyes. He really was there. Her War God, her Prince. Kairen was there, standing proudly, his body covered in scales and blood, but alive. She smiled, almost nervously, in such relief her mind couldn’t formulate a thought strong enough. Kairen, Kairen, Kairen. She could barely believe it, but it was his obsidian eyes riveted on her.
“Kai-…”
She tried to call him when a wave of pain tore her scalp. Cassandra felt pulled back, as a large hand was holding on by her hair. She suddenly felt the cold metal of a blade held on her throat, and she gasped in horror. She had almost forgotten every Dragon ought to have his master close. She tried to fight herself, but a sharp pain on her neck prevented her from trying any further.
“Look, look, Kairen… Your precious little witch came right into my arms…”
Cassandra’s heart went from relief to horror in a split second. After she had tried so hard to fight him, she had ended up in Vrehan’s hands! She wanted to scream in despair. She couldn’t believe it, all of this for nothing! She could hear the two dragons still struggling behind her, Glahad fighting his way out, but this seemed like a detail compared to the fight between the brothers.
Kairen’s face had gone white as soon as Vrehan touched Cassandra. She heard the second Prince laugh horribly, catching the attention of not only Kairen but his sister, too. Shareen let go of the dead body she was holding and glared at Vrehan.
“You rat face…”
“Oh-oh, be careful Shareen, I killed one of them, I’ll happily make it last longer for the other one.”
Cassandra’s blood went cold. Killed who? Who had he killed? She felt like she was missing an important piece of information, and her eyes searched through the room.
She saw it. She hadn’t even seen it when she was so close. Missandra, laying in a pool of blood right at their feet. Cassandra immediately screamed in horror. No, no, not her younger sister, not Missandra. Not Mie. She couldn’t even stand that horrible vision. Her sister was lying, not moving, her body circled and covered in red. She couldn’t even see her face, as she was lying on her stomach, her face in the blood and covered by her hair. Cassandra couldn’t stop crying. She couldn’t even check if Missandra was really dead! She couldn’t even see if her sister wasn’t alive. She couldn’t stand it, she kept shaking her head and struggling against Vrehan.
“Enough!”
On her right, another figure appeared. Cassandra glared as she had never glared at anyone before. Lephys, with his neck perfectly fine. The fifth brother chuckled, amused by her glare, and walked over. He pushed Missandra with his feet, looking bored.
In horror, Cassandra saw her younger sister’s body roll down the stairs. She gasped and cried, fighting Vrehan to try and go see her. Across the room, Shareen was just as horrified.
“Lephys, you son of a…”
“Shut the fuck up, Shareen”, protested the fifth brother. “You are not in charge anymore, and if you don’t want that bitch of a witch dead yet, shut the fuck up for once.”
The Princess glared at him, but for once, she truly had no choice. Vrehan was holding Cassandra, a blade clearly held against her throat, and they knew he wouldn’t have the slightest remorse killing her.
Kairen was facing his worst nightmare. He was too far to do anything without risking Cassandra killed. From far away, they heard the furious growls of Krai adding to those of the two dragons already present. Kian, who had flown to Kairen prior, looked worried too, retreating behind Kairen’s legs but still growling a bit.
This situation was a nightmare. Cassandra knew Kairen could kill his brother if she wasn’t there. It may even explain why her sister had been… like this already. She gasped, and struggied again, furious.
“You won’t be emperor,” she hissed, her eyes full of tears and her voice hoarse.
“Oh, I already am, little bitch. The council agreed to make me the Emperor just an hour ago.”
“You are no Emperor,” she protested, “and you won’t become one. You’ll be dead. This Empire needs no Emperor. like you, no one would allow that. Not the Council, not the former Emperor, not your siblings, no one. The Gods themselves will punish you. You have no right but those of a cheater, a coward!”
“Shut up, damn witch!” Yelled Vrehan.
Out of anger, he rose his blade, and cut a long line on Cassandra’s back, making the young woman scream in pain. She had her tears in her eyes, but compared to everything she had undergone before, this was nothing. She couldn’t allow this.
She had come here to make sure Vrehan wouldn’t be the Emperor. She knew this would mean her son’s death, Kairen’s death, and if she was the obstacle to their safety, Cassandra didn’t care.
“I am the strongest Emperor! Kairen is nothing but an idiot!”
“You’re about to die, you asshole…” Hissed Shareen.1
“You can’t be Emperor when your Dragon is wicker,” added Cassandra. “Everyone will know the Emperor had the weakest Dragon out of his brothers. You can’t fight Krai, and you can’t fight Kairen! You even locked up the Emperor’s Dragon because you couldn’t see that!”
Behind them, a horrible ruckus suddenly rose as Glahad suddenly broke free from the Vault. The door exploded behind them, and everyone near the throne lost their ground. Cassandra pushed Vrehan and, instead of trying a run she could never make, she jumped to get down the stairs. Her body violently hit the stairs one after another, but finally, she found herself above Missandra just in time to protect her.
The exploded door sent rocks raining on them, and she tried to protect her head. She felt suddenly vivid pains assaulting her body, but she tried to withstand it.
It only lasted a few seconds, after which she found herself covered in dust and, more importantly, caught between the fight of two dragons. Glahad, finally free, attacked the red dragon furiously despite the little space. She turned her head around, trying to spot Kairen in this mess. The first one she saw was Lephys, screaming something she couldn’t understand. His eyes were riveted on the two dragons fighting.
Cassandra knew she had to make use of every second she had. She touched Missandra, and, much to her relief, her sister seemed alive. Barely, but the younger sister was still breathing weakly. Cassandra tried to stand up next, but a sharp pain kept her seat. She turned her eyes and realized her left leg was stuck under a large piece of rock. She couldn’t even move it! How come she hadn’t even felt the pain earlier? She tried to stop her tears and looked around for help through the cloud of dust.
“Kairen!” She yelled. “Shareen!”
She called, again and again, even coughing when she breathed in too much dust. Cassandra was absolutely desperate. With the stones of the door exploding all ways and the dragons fighting, this room had gone from a war zone to complete chaos. She saw imperial guards running all directions, and she couldn’t stop Shareen or Kairen. She couldn’t move Missandra, but she searched her sister, checking all of her injuries and pockets.
“You damn witch!”
Cassandra reacted as soon as she heard the voice coming from behind her. Had he not yelled, he may have avoided this, but the young woman rose her dagger in a split second to protect herself.
Vrehan screamed, covering his face and the blood that was flowing. Cassandra was satisfied she had injured him, but she was still stuck there, in front of that murderer.