The Exiled King's Guard

“CLANG” I managed to put my sword against the oncoming strike just in time, one second and it would have gone clean through my shoulder. I started backing up, keeping a steady pressure back towards my attacker, letting him think he had me. Just as he leaned heavily on his sword, putting all his weight behind it, hoping to kill me with my own sword, I quickly ducked, causing the man to stumble forward on his own weight, and swung around kicking him on his back, with my sword following and the man was dead within seconds, the shock of the quick movement still etched on his face. Not wasting any more precious time on this now dead soldier, I looked around for my next kill. But immediately my blood went cold. The field which was blooming with spring flowers not too long ago was covered in blood and bodies, both friend and foe. I saw General Oaken not far away, bloodied but on his feet. I started making my way towards him, slicing through a few more soldiers, only sustaining surface wounds in return. “Chief! This is not looking good!” I exclaimed, knocking out a couple of soldiers that were trying to sneak up on the boss. “Ashley!! Oh thank the Gods you are alive!” general Oaken said, relief in his voice, barely able to look with his own three attackers keeping him busy. Together, we finished all 3 off in minutes and the Chief started run-walking towards the castle. I followed him, trying to keep pace with his six-foot frame. “ What's happening Chief? Are we retreating??” I tried to get him to look at me, but Oaken refused to meet my eyes, his face grim but eyes determined. “It’s time,” he said. “Milton will meet you at the west gate.” “No,” I couldn’t believe it, “why, Chief! We can still contain them. We have better warriors!” I said weakly, not believing my own words fully. Oaken just looked towards the palace in response, causing me to look as well. That’s when I saw it. My heart stopped at the sight. Atop the castle, was no longer the midnight blue flag and with silver coat of arms, instead an unfamiliar lilac on dark grey could be seen. This only meant one thing, the Warwick castle had fallen. The king was either dead or captured. I felt a rush of emotion as I saw images flashing in front of my eyes, running around the palace gardens, on the training grounds beating fellow trainees to pulp, sneaking into barracks kitch… Focus Ashley! There is stuff to do. The mourning had to wait. Steeling myself for the next few hours, I asked “Was the prince moved?” Oaken shook his head, “I don’t know, when I left them to enter the fight, he was arguing about staying and protecting the King and Queen. I hope that i***t saw some sense.” My eyes widened in surprise. The general never broke protocol. I guess emotions were running high everywhere. Suddenly, I was yanked by my arm. “Ashley! Remember your training!” Oaken hissed. “The king is down, do you think you can enter the palace grounds without checking first?” Confused, I looked around and saw we were hiding behind what remained of our palace gates. I realized that in my daze, I was about to walk head first into enemy territory. I looked away feeling extremely ashamed. Oaken peered around for a bit, signing to someone on the other side, and then came back to where I was hiding. He looked into my eyes and the words he spoke next will stay burned in my memory forever. “The prince is headed to the west gate, meet him there. Head west to Emerteria, seek Asylum. King Reston will help you. Queen Melanie’s sister is King Reston’s wife and mother of the crown prince. Remember Ashley, your mission is the future king’s safety and success. You are to be his guard and confidant, till he ascends the throne at Warwick. Protect him with your life.” I looked up to him, determined to uphold the mission. “I pledge my life, General.” “Now run! Find your king, I need to look for mine” he started to move away. “Wait!” I said, to my surprise. I gulped and looked at General Oaken. Stepping forward, I gave him a tight hug. “wait for me Dad, I will be back”, I said into his chest, hoping he could hear my plea for him to be safe. Immediately, I felt his arms around me, giving me the feeling of safety, even if for a moment. He patted my head, making me look at him, his eyes soft and full of tears now. “I will, shellybug. Make me proud.” With that, he disappeared into the castle. Swallowing away my tears, I turned to make my way to the west gate. It was fairly easy to hide, nobody paid attention to a dirt-covered woman, once my sword was hidden beneath my jacket, battle armor long discarded. The fight was dying, more and more of our men choosing their lives and surrendering. Since there was no white flag up, we had not officially surrendered, which meant either the king was still resisting, or they were looking for the prince, probably both. As I made my way to the hiding spot, my heart started beating faster. It rarely happened nowadays but I knew Zach would be angry. Angry Zach still made me nervous, he reminded me so much of his father with his blazing green eyes. I was almost there when I heard a commotion, a stronger one reaching over the din of everything else. Even as I was turning to look, I knew he was here. Then I saw him, being chased by a bunch of soldiers, his loyal men by his side, fighting, covering his retreat. Knowing we had seconds to act, I quickly took in the scene, there were 8 soldiers, all on foot, chasing Zach defended by 3 of his men. Just outside the west gate, I saw a big boulder, a crazy plan forming in my head. I ran towards the hiding spot, praying Zach could pull this off. He was the best horseman in the kingdom, and my plan relied on it heavily. “Milton, bring Thunder, we don’t have time!” I exclaimed as I neared where I could see Milton holding on to two horses. Milton immediately pushed Thunder towards me. I reached forward and then quickly turned, grabbing his reins and jumped on him. Milton looked at me confused, “ Don’t you need sunshine?” I felt a pang, leaving my horse behind, but I knew we didn’t have options. I started cantering towards the gate building up speed. “Zach, boulder!!” I shouted and he looked at me, his eyes lighting up as he understood what I was saying. He ran with inhuman speed towards it, reaching it at the same time as me, grabbed my outstretched arm and hauled himself on to the horse behind me, leveraging himself against the boulder. Thunder groaned at the impact, but maintained his pace, which I immediately picked up, galloping away at full speed.