Katiya cursed as she stood at the top of the walls that surrounded Arinna. Below her, just outside the city limits, the battle between the Kashga and Price Kail's forces waged, the clashing of swords against shields sending shivers down her spine. As a general of Mishkernia, fighting was in her blood. The sounds of the conflict only made her anxious. She could feel her hands begin to twitch, urging her to finish the Kashga herself.

But she had a bigger problem to deal with.

Although reluctant, Katiya had gone to search for Yuuri when Prince Kail had left to control his forces. However, the girl was nowhere to be seen. Katiya had searched every inch of the prince's residence, but there still was no sign of her. She had even asked every servant she had passed if they knew the whereabouts of the one named Ishtar, but with no luck. She had almost given up when a young maid had approached her with news that Ishtar had left to oversee the struggle with the Hatti sisters. At that, Katiya had hurried here, in hopes of spotting the group of girls from the walls.

Suddenly, a scream rose above the noise of the battle, one which Katiya knew well. Looking down, she saw Yuuri running across one of the ledges that ran along the wall, frantic to get away from her pursuer. Zuwa, smiling as he chased the child, waved his sword above his head as he followed her. Katiya scanned the area before dropping on top of Zuwa.

The sisters were nowhere in sight.

Zuwa screamed as he fell to the ground, Katiya's heels digging into his back. Before he could reach behind him to grab her, Katiya pushed off his back, picking up her legs as she flipped over, just out of his reach. Without looking back, she ran to Yuuri, looking her over to make sure she wasn't injured.

"Inanna!" Yuuri gasped as she hugged Katiya. "Zuwa—"

Angered at the interference of his hunt, Zuwa yelled raising his sword towards the sky. He glanced at Katiya, his creepy smile returning. He raised a finger to Katiya, then pointed at his mouth. She tensed as she read his lips, which only mouthed words.

Do not interfere.

The sound of footsteps began grow louder. Katiya couldn't decipher how many soldiers until they had flooded onto the ledge. She had no doubt she could take all of them. However, if she planned on protecting Yuuri at the same time, it was impossible. Too many swords to keep track of. "Yuuri! Run to the stable! Grab a horse and run!" Not giving the girl a chance to question her, Katiya pushed her away and charged at the herd of men. She had no weapon on her, so she would just borrow one for now. The leading soldier hesitated, shocked at her action, which gave her the first opportunity.

Katiya punched his hand that grasped his sword, which fell to the ground, as she thrust her knee into his gut. The man dropped, only to open up fighting space for three more soldiers. As she bent to pick up the fallen weapon, she raised one of her legs, which she used to kick all three in the face. The rest of soldiers backed away, encircling her, realizing close combat would only get them killed. Regaining her composure, she gripped the sword tightly in one hand and charged at the wall of men. Two had swung their own weapons in response, which Katiya dodged, jumping off the ground and swinging her blade, cutting deep into their chests.

As they fell, another charged, screaming bloody murder as he raised his weapon above his head. Thrusting her sword, she pierced his throat. A soldier, seeing that her weapon could not be used to block any further attacks, took the opportunity to thrust his blade into her back. Sensing his movements, Katiya let go of her sword and leapt off the ground, flipping backwards as the soldier ran beneath her. His sword only pierced one of his comrades, who had also thought to attack her. Picking up another sword, she stabbed the man in the back and pushed off him with her foot to free her blade, not wanting a repeat of last time.

She looked up at the three men that remained, who only stared at their comrades that now littered the ground. When they finally looked to meet her gaze, they whimpered. "Boo." The men screamed and ran back towards the fight with Hittites, wanting to face Prince Kail's forces rather than her. Katiya sighed before frantically surveying the ledge.

Zuwa was gone. And most likely after Yuuri. "I'll kill you now, little girl!" Zuwa yelled. Katiya turned to see the giant running towards the stables, and Yuuri standing next to a horse. "Don't worry. I'll attach you to the boy's skin!"

Damn! Katiya ran in their direction, but she knew she would never make it before Zuwa had killed Yuuri. Tightly gripping her sword, Katiya jumped into the air, turning sideways to gain momentum before she threw her sword, which landed in Zuwa's shoulder. He fell to one knee, hand clasped on the bloody blade, as she also fell on her side, knocking the wind out of her. She had built up so much speed for the throw that she couldn't land properly. "Get moving, Yuuri!" she wheezed, trying to yell at the girl.

It was enough. Yuuri gripped the horse's mane as she pulled herself up onto its back. "I'm sorry, horse! Please, just get us out of here!" The horse reared on its hind legs before taking off, jumping over the stable fences. Yuuri began to scream, not used to riding on horses. She looked up, only to see that the beast was heading towards the end of the ledge, with thousands of Kashga soldiers below it. "What are you doing! That's—"

Unable to stop him, Yuuri could only grip the horse's neck as he jumped off the ledge and landed into middle of enemy troops. Katiya, finally able to breathe again, dusted herself off as she rose from the ground and ran to the ledge where Yuuri and the horse had leapt from. She exhaled a sigh of relief at the sight of the horse running through the troops, causing them to scream with fear of an ambush. Without their leader Zuwa to control them, they began to panic, confused on whether they should defend the front or the back. Taking this chance, the Hittites began to overpower the Kashga, forcing them away from Arinna. Katiya began to laugh. Yuuri had actually changed the outcome of the battle! That small child!

Gasping, Katiya turned back towards the stables. Zuwa had disappeared again, leaving only a puddle of blood where he had fallen. She would not have her freedom yet, it would seem.

Though the Hittites now had the upper hand, the battle was far from over. Now that the morale of Prince Kail's forces had increased, the noise of the clashing metal seemed to grow stronger. Katiya's hands began to twitch again. Her fight with the small group of Kashga only seemed to make her blood boil more, not calm her down. Deciding to listen to her body instead of reason, she leapt of the ledge and ran in the direction Yuuri had headed.

She had reached the border of the Hittite and Kashga forces when she noticed Yuuri, who was now riding the horse in her direction. Why was she going back into Kashga forces? All of her confusion subsided when she saw Yuuri reach down to grab the arm of a girl, who had also been trapped in the sea of soldiers, and pull her up onto the horse. As they turned to leave, Katiya froze. The girl was one of the Hatti twins! Was she trying to get Yuuri killed! The two had only reached another ledge by Arinna's walls when the twin got off the horse and sent Yuuri away. Katiya would have gone to question her, however she had no evidence. The girl really could have been in danger.

Katiya decided not to pursue the thought any longer and chased after Yuuri. She had just reached the border again when Katiya had noticed an arrow flying in Yuuri's direction. Before she could tell Yuuri to duck, Prince Kail's voice bellowed out. "Yuuri, look out!"

"Prince—" Yuuri started to call out when Prince Kail lunged at her, knocking her off the horse.

"What were you thinking!" he yelled, anger on his face. No doubt Katiya would hear about this tonight. "You could be killed out here!"

"I was running away!" Yuuri defended herself. "It wasn't like I wanted to come here willingly!"

Katiya was about to run over when a Kashga soldier appeared behind her, sword high above his head. "Die, Hittite swine!" Crap! She had no weapons on her and none were anywhere near her for her to grab. She closed her eyes, waiting for the blade to fall.

There was a yelp and the sound of a…punch? Katiya slowly opened her eyes. All she was the soldier lying face down in the dirt yards away from her and someone's back in front of her. But she knew this clothing. It was familiar, the silk pants, boots, and embroidered vest that was much too small for its wearer.

"Did you miss me, Inanna?" the man said as he turned to face her.

"Dorius!" Katiya cried, leaping onto him, hugging his neck. "Oh, Dorius!"

"I'll take that as a yes," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her to hold her up.

"Wait a minute, did you just say Inanna?" Dorius froze, his smile becoming slowly turning into his famous 'forgive me' grin. Katiya screamed, grabbing his hair and tugging on the silver streaks on his head. "You jerk! You've been watching this whole time!"

"Calm down—" Before he could finish, Katiya focused all her strength into her fist and punched him in the face. Reeling back for a second shot, Dorius grabbed her arm, still holding her up with his other arm. "Don't punch me without any warning!"

"You could have gotten me out of here sooner!" As they continued their struggle, Kashga soldiers began to surround them, swords and shields raised. Both Mishkernians froze, finally realizing that they had company.

"I think we should continue this after cleaning up this mess, don't you think?" Dorius cooed. Without a word, Dorius threw Katiya at the men, giving her more destructive force. Using both feet, Katiya kicked the front soldier, tossing him backwards, taking out another ten or so men. As she fought that side, Dorius charged at the other end, arms outstretched on either side. His size made the men hesitate, allowing him to grab them all and throw them in every direction. The Kashga only screamed, yelling out that they were monsters before running back to their main forces. As Katiya walked back to Dorius, he only began to laugh. "That was too—"

Katiya began to sprint. Behind Dorius was a small group of arrows, all aimed at him. The soldiers had most likely went back for a better way to kill them and had decided arrows would do the trick. And it would. Unfortunately, dodging arrows was a skill Dorius had refused to practice, always saying brute strength worked best.

"Dorius!" She clamped her arms around his neck and swung around to his back, just as the arrows pierced her back. Katiya tried to count how many arrows had made their mark, but the intense pain wouldn't let her. She felt Dorius freeze beneath her before he swung her back around.

"Katiya! Keep it together!" Turning her over, he set her down on her stomach, careful not to hit any of the arrows protruding from her back. "Damn it, Katiya!"

As Dorius began to slowly pull out the arrows, Katiya heard footsteps approaching. "Is Inanna..alright?" Yuuri's voice? Katiya could feel herself starting to drift now, the voices fading in and out around her.

"Is she alright? Inanna!" Prince Kail questioned Dorius, who had just pulled out the last arrow and now cradled her in his arms. "Kikkuli! Take Yuuri back to Arinna and fetch a doctor! Inanna is heavily injured!"

"Don't," Katiya gasped, looking up to Dorius. "You know…we can't."

"You are worrying about that now?" Dorius growled angrily. If Katiya was examined by a doctor, then Prince Kail and the others would realize she was Mishkernian. It would be instant death for both her and Dorius if they found out. They both knew this.

Dorius just stared down at her, and she knew what he was thinking. As the next elder, Dorius was one of the few Mishkernians that still had special powers. Dorius' ability was being able to heal, though he could only fix flesh wounds. If he healed her now, they would kill them on the spot. At least, if he left now, only she would be punished.

"Dorius…leave."

"Idiot. You know I won't listen to that," he chuckled. "I'm just as stubborn as you when it comes to ignoring crappy orders." They both laughed, knowing that neither was going to budge on the issue. However, the strain was too much. Katiya cried out before fading out, her eyes slowly closing on Dorius.

The last thing Katiya heard was both Dorius and Prince Kail screaming at her.