The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 97

#97 The Escape
Cassandra was rendered speechless.
Her baby dragon was in her arms! Now! When had he even hatched? Was it because of the slaps earlier? Or because her baby had felt her fear? She kept staring at the adorable creature in her arms, growling softly and rubbing its head against her chest innocently. In front of them, Vrehan was holding his head, covered in blood, looking at the newborn dragon with a horrified expression. (2)
“No, no! Capture her! Now!”
“Cassandra, go!” Yelled Kareen.
The Imperial Concubine’s voice was what Cassandra needed to wake up from her inner turmoil of emotions. There were so many things going on, but for now, she stuck to the one thing she had to focus on, escaping Vrehan’s grasp no matter what. She turned around and started running, despite her heavy belly. The baby dragon jumped off her arms to follow her, jumping around, almost looking excited. Cassandra heard Vrehan yell orders somewhere behind her, but she didn’t listen. All she needed was a way to leave the Diamond Palace and hide. She had to find Missandra and escape, escape at all costs. Her heart was bleeding for the poor Dahlia, but she couldn’t stop to mourn her friend now. She entrusted Lady Kareen in taking care of her…
Moreover, she had other problems now. She could hear the soldiers running after, and Vrehan’s voice still following her. The birth of the baby dragon had apparently made the second Prince absolutely furious. No wonder. He was on the verge of killing Kairen’s pregnant concubine, but now, she was about to escape and have this baby! That sole thought motivated Cassandra more than anything. The baby dragon’s birth wasn’t a coincidence, her baby was going to come out soon, and she would do anything to protect her child.
However, she was still heavily pregnant, and unable to run fast enough to escape anyone. She needed a way out, quickly. She was already deep inside the palace, where could she escape now? Cassandra found the solution after recognizing one of the corridors. It was a bit of a crazy idea, but it was the only way out she knew there, and the only one neither Vrehan or his soldiers would be crazy enough to follow her in.
Just as she recognized the door she was looking for, one of the soldiers finally grabbed her. Not for long, though. The baby dragon furiously jumped on the man, attacking him ferociously. Cassandra heard the man’s screams, but she couldn’t look, as she was busy opening the doors. The large room finally appeared in front of her, with her way out.
She had returned to the infinity pool room. The wide pool in front of her, Cassandra walked in quickly. She heard the man hurrying behind her when the water was already up to her waist.
“Baby! Come!”
The baby dragon immediately dived in the water, not looking afraid at all, and disappeared under the surface somewhere around her. Cassandra didn’t have time to check where he had gone too. The men were starting to follow her into the pool, with their swords, and Vrehan yelling at the entrance of the room.
“Catch her! If you let that crazy bitch die here or escape, I’ll kill you!”
Cassandra glared at him, and kept walking and swimming inside the water. Once in her element, she had a big advantage in speed over the soldiers chasing her: none of those men were good swimmers, and with their heavy armors, each step was a struggle. For Cassandra, however, she was faster than on the ground.
“Don’t you dare!” Yelled Vrehan.
Oh, yes, she would dare to. Cassandra was almost at the wall’s end, at the great opening towards the waterfall, when she heard a loud growl. She retreated just in time, and the red dragon’s head appeared. Thankfully, she had seen how far Krai was able to reach inside and had evaluated right. The red dragon was smaller than the black one, but he encountered the same problem: he could only fit his head in. That saved Cassandra’s life. .
However, with Vrehan behind her, and his dragon guarding the exit and the waterfall, she was trapped inside the water, with the soldiers closing in on her. Cassandra hesitated. Should she dive in? Krai couldn’t find her in the water, but if that Dragon decided to attack blindly, her chances to go unnoticed were not that high. She had to make a decision, quickly. She knew she couldn’t go back anyway. She had to try…
“Don’t you dare! You…”
Cassandra dived before hearing Vrehan’s curse. Like her people, she had the peculiar ability to see underwater and keep her eyes open without trouble. Hence, as soon as she dived in, she saw how deep she could go, and where the large claws of the red dragon were resting. However, as she had predicted, he started moving as soon as she disappeared. She could see his fangs and claws attacking blindly, making waves underwater. Cassandra tried to stay away for a while, but she couldn’t stay underwater for too long, and her pursuers were still coming.
To her surprise, the baby dragon suddenly appeared next to her. He tilted his head, and she realized, just like her, he had no problem seeing or swimming underwater! Was it because of her? Did he get some of her characteristics? Was that possible? Cassandra didn’t have much time to wonder, though. While the baby dragon was comfortably swimming around, the bigger, older version was furiously looking for them. Cassandra took her little dagger out. They had to secure their way out, one way or another. If she could get the right timing… Next to her, the silver baby dragon suddenly stopped swimming around, too, fixated on the red dragon’s movements, agitating its butt like a cat about to jump. 3
That’s when Cassandra decided to attack. Judging its position from his paws, she waited for the next attack, and, just when he maw appeared in the water next to her, she jumped with her blade to attack. She got him right in the eye, and on the other side, baby dragon jumped too.
Both Vrehan and his dragon screeched in pain. She saw the red dragon panic, moving recklessly, and, suddenly, one of its claws brutally scratched her arm. Cassandra didn’t have time to scream her pain. Taking a deep breath, she dived right back in, and, this time, swam to the edge. She felt the border and jumped over.
This was the craziest thing she had ever done in her entire life.
She felt the water rushing all around her, and for a second, she thought she was jumping to her death. She could literally smash herself on the soil or hit the surface brutally. However, as she arrived towards the end of her fall, she felt something pulling her dress, and her fall was slowed down. She couldn’t see, but she heard the baby dragon’s flapping wings, and they both dived into the river underneath a second later. Her fall hadn’t been nearly as brutal as she had imagined, but it took her a second to find her way up.
She broke the surface, and caught a new, deep breath of fresh air, swimming away from the waterfall.
Cassandra hadn’t jumped into the unknown. She had visited the Diamond City enough to know that the waterfall ended into a river, and that river was large and big enough. Struggling a bit, she kept swimming, using the strength of the current to spare her strengths a little. She had to get out of the water quickly, though. She could hear the dragon still screeching in pain, far above her head. He may have gone blind, but he still had his nose to find her.
After she felt like the river had taken her far enough, and she was out of strength, Cassandra swam to get out of the river. She was exhausted when she finally got on all four on the riverside. She heard the baby dragon jumping to her side, and sure enough, he walked up to her, rubbing his little head against her arm. That sensation made her smile. He was so tiny, just a newborn, but he had just saved her life multiple times… She caressed his head. He was smaller than she had imagined, just the size of a big cat, plus his long tail. He was a bit leaner than Krai, and his wings were longer compared to his body size, too. Just as she was taking a minute to caress him, and catch her breath, she felt a sharp pain, between her ribs.
“Oh, God…’ she whimpered.
She knew it would come soon, now that the baby dragon had hatched, but she didn’t expect it that soon! Cassandra took a deep breath and got up. She still wasn’t safe. She was on the outskirts of the Diamond City, but Vrehan would send for a search party soon enough, and she couldn’t stay around. Moreover, she had to find Missandra. She had no idea where the secret passage had taken her younger sister! Cassandra tried to think of
where Missandra would go. Surely, she wouldn’t leave without her, but where could she wait for her?
The two sisters had gone to the Diamond City several times in those last weeks, they both knew this City well. Where could they meet up? As she started walking towards the City, out of strength, the rain started falling heavily. Cassandra was grateful. This would make her harder to find… However, she still had no idea where to go. Missandra had a few favorite shops inside the Diamond City, but there was no way Cassandra was going to find her in time if she had to search through all of them!
Cassandra kept walking until she reached the first houses, and hid against the walls, hoping the roofs could keep her safe from the rain. The baby dragon was following her closely, rubbing his back against her ankles so she could feel him being here from time to time.
However, Cassandra was out of strength. She was absolutely exhausted, devastated by Dahlia’s death, and desperate to find Missandra. Yet, just when she thought she was going to pass out, she heard a door opening nearby.
“By the Great Dragon! It’s really her!”
“What are you waiting for, go help her!”
A man ran to Cassandra’s side, and, before she could even react, she was taken inside a house. The baby dragon followed her from afar, growling at the humans but not sure if he should attack or not. He watched Cassandra being taken inside a large room and sat on a bed by the man who had taken her inside.
Cassandra was having a hard time understanding what was going on. She was on the verge of collapsing.
“My… sister… I need to find my sister,” she whispered.
“Don’t worry, your Highness, we will look for her! Son, go spread the word!”
Cassandra heard a door open and close, and a young woman gently helped her lie down. She felt a wet towel on her forehead, and someone helped her take her dress off. She had no strength to resist while two women helped her change into some other clothes.
“Mother, she has a fever…”
“My baby…” said Cassandra.
“Don’t worry, your Highness,” said one of the young women. “We will take good care of you, and we will find Lady Missandra, too. You’re safe with us. Please just rest, you are safe here.”.
Cassandra nodded. She really was too weak to protest. So many things had happened, she just wanted to lie down. She couldn’t feel any other contraction, which worried her. She had felt some in the past few days, but never as strong as this one. She knew it was a sign.
“My baby… I felt…”
“Did your water break? Mother! I think she’s in labor…”
Cassandra felt someone sit at the end of the bed and examine her. The baby dragon jumped next to her, between her shoulder and her face, and growled a bit, as a warning.
“She still has time, she doesn’t seem to have too many contractions for now… You should rest, your Highness. Try to sleep a little while we look for Lady Missandra. You’ll wake up when the labor starts for real.”
*Don’t worry, your Highness,” repeated the woman next to her, gently caressing her wet hair.
“We will take care of you,” said the other, covering her with a blanket.
Just like that, Cassandra couldn’t resist anymore and fell asleep.