The Immortal King

15: Guess Who

Everything happened so fast. One minute Sebastien and I were chuckling over my sudden thirst for blood and the next I was protecting a young kingdom child from an unknown warrior wearing a wolf engraved mask. 

My breathing grew labored as the warrior exerted more weight on his foot against my chest. As this occurred, I could hear the young child add more cries to the bunch that were happening around me. 

It was chaos.

Prior to this, the outside scenery was gorgeous. I didn’t even get into the decor of bronze fairy lights surrounding the big field for the celebration, the games laid out for the small children, the buffet table which had vines running between the crystal dishes that held food I didn’t even get to taste. There was also a snack table with crowned cake pops made from pure supernatural sugar.

All of it, gone. Within seconds.

Whoever invaded came from the far right of the ceremony and the first thing they did was torch anything they could. The original noises Sebastien and I heard were the commotion that came from the fairy lights blowing up in reaction to the flames. 

Coughs attempted to leave my chest as more smoke invaded my nostrils.

I didn’t know where Sebastien was. We had separated while everything was happening. He instructed me to go with the guards, but as they attempted to bring me inside, they were attacked. In the midst of that, I could see young children, including the one I was protecting, being taken toward the direction the invaders came which seemed to be an entrance completely blocked by a blazing wall of fire. 

The deeper the foot caved into my chest, the more constricted I felt. Feeling overwhelmed by all the noises around me, I almost allowed for the individual to overtake me. With a swift motion, I used both hands to grab their ankle and quickly turned my body to the left causing it to snap immediately. This was a move my father taught me growing up.

The individual howled in pain as they hunched over to tend their broken limb. With their sudden vulnerability, I took the opportunity to send a blow to to their side. 

And then another.

And then another.

And then another.

My father always taught me that the best way to take out someone who overpowered you was through their ribs and any other sensitive body points that could immobilize them.

When the fighter looked weak enough, someone else must have noticed because suddenly I was pushed harshly to the ground causing the air I had just received to knock, once again, right out of me.

A series of coughs erupted from my throat and ashes from the fire fell against my skin. My eyes flickered as I weakly got up to collect my strength and take on the next person. This time, they were smaller and held a feminine stature.

A groan left my lips as I hooked my arm around their neck using it as support to swing my body from one side of them to the other. With this motion, I was able to get them in a chokehold. The individual struggled beneath me while the other was still attempting to lift themselves off the ground to assist.

I planted my feet like my father taught me and used my right knee to push in their lower back, which was very difficult to do in this garment if I may add, and quickly lifted my bicep to break their neck. The body went still under my hold before it fell to the ground. While the two were down, I grabbed the child and failed to see through the blinding smoke as we made our getaway.

I couldn’t find the entrance back into the palace.

As I mindlessly walked, I began to think about how the manually constructed fire I witnessed earlier was not big enough to create this much commotion, especially when there were barely any trees around us to conduct such a walls of fire. By the looks of things, this was a witch’s  doing.

We were being attacked by witches?

Coughs erupted from the little boy who’s cold hand fearfully clenched my warm one as we walked aimlessly in panic. 

My heart sunk as I ripped off a piece of the bottom of my gown and wrapped it around his pale nose to stop the smoke from intruding. I then did the same for myself and continued to lead us to nowhere. 

“Can anyone hear me?!”, My voice came out distorted and seemed to be drowned out by the noises around me. Though I could hear screams, that was about all I could hear. There was no way to decipher voices, only the sounds of people fighting for their lives.

As the two of us continued, once again, I was abruptly shoved onto the ground. This time, the individual who attacked me had bloody claws boring from their hands. They were also both taller and visibly stronger than me. 

Oh great.

The young boy, once again, was out in a position to watch me fight. I swiftly got up to a fist swinging in my direction.

I quickly moved my head avoiding their attack and grabbed the individual’s extended arm. I then turned my body and used all my weight to bring the individual forward and to the ground.

Their groans of pain could be heard through the mask, adding more empty noise to my background.

“Why are you doing this?”, I asked as I straddled the individual and attempted to utilize my legs to trap one of their arms. Again, my voice was drowned out by the hostile environment. 

It was no use. 

As if they suspected this move to come, the individual wrapped their arm around my waist and flipped us so that now our positions were reversed. Now the clawed hand held my throat and the other tried to pin down my flailing arms.

If I were thinking straight, I’d think the individual was being gentle with me. In this position, they could have easily broken my neck. 

They had the strength to.

When I proved to be in the weaker position, with yet another person’s weight against my chest, I sought to bring out another move from my father’s teachings. 

Avoiding their efforts to pin my arms down. I quickly grabbed the individuals clawed hands and bent my elbows. I then swiftly twisted my body to plant their hand onto the ground which allowed me the opportunity to send a blow to their face.

Again, as if expecting this move, the individual snatched my thrown fist.

“Liz. Stop”, My eyes widened and my breath hitched at the sound of my name. Like mine, the voice came out distorted and seemed to disappear in the atmosphere. It was hard to decipher who it was or even what they said to the point where I assumed I misheard. 

I attempted to throw another blow with my free hand, but failed once again.

“Liz”, I began to flail my body under the individual’s grasp in an attempt to remove them from me. Due to the restrictions that already came with my dress and a body on my chest, it was close to impossible to get them off of me.

I had no moves left. I lifted my head to see the young boy quaking in fear with tears streaming down his face. 

Who, that knows me, would ever take part in something like this? 

My eyes drifted back to the individual who examined me from above. As if knowing what I was thinking, they pinned both my arms to beneath their knees at my sides and removed their mask.

My eyes widened in horror.

No.