Chapter 36: The Battle

Yona turned her head towards the sound of footsteps coming towards her private rooms. Shin-ah pulled his sword from its sheath on his back. "Fire soldiers." he said As Jae-ha jumped into the rafters of the building. Looking behind him, Shin-ah looked at Yona. "Leave out the back."

Yona knew better than to question Shin-ah, his eyes could see everything. Turning Yona grasped Yun's hand. "Stay behind me." she told him as they ran into her private bed chamber. Pushing a bookcase to the side, it revealed a secret passage. "This leads to the gardens outside." she told him as they passed through the tunnel. The bookcase suddenly closed behind them causing Yun to turn in time to see Ik-su pushing the door closed.

"Ik-su!" he yelled causing Yona to look behind her, the light vanishing as she saw Yun's silhouette on the steps. "Protect her!" he yelled down to the young man.

Protect her? Yun wondered as he touched his chest and clenched his teeth together. I'm not a fighter! he thought as he closed his eyes to hide his fear from being seen.

"Yun." Yona said his name softly as she touched his shoulder. "We'll be okay. Trust in everybody who are working hard to keep us safe."

"Us?" he asked, his voice echoing in the stairway leading under her private apartments.

"Of course." she said. "You're my friend now Yun." She then reached down and took his hand, leading him through the dark tunnels. "I know it's dark and you can't see where you are going, but try to put your trust in me and I promise I'll try to get us to safety."

It should be me saying that. he thought as he followed her. I should be brave enough to lead her to safety, but instead, she's the one that's got a hold of my hand and is comforting me with words filled with promises. He felt ashamed to be needing to lean on her for comfort. As the Princess pushed the metal gate away from the exit, Yun found himself wincing as lightning struck overhead. It's still raining. he mused as he looked around the dark gardens. "Which way?" he asked.

"Father's rooms are towards the koi ponds." she stated as she took out her fan once more and pressed something that caused dagger-like blades to poke up out of the fan.

Yun felt his eyes widen as he spotted the blades coming out of the fan. She really isn't unarmed. he thought as she released his hands. Were we holding hands this whole time? As he pondered about this he felt heat seep into his cheeks.

"Yun." Yona called his name causing him to look from his hand to her face which lit up as lightning stuck overhead once again. "Let's go."

Gathering up his courage he gave a nod. "Right." he stated as he began to follow her towards her father's rooms.

Inside of King Il's bed chambers Zeno made a mad dash towards King Il's fallen form, the older man sitting up as Zeno helped him to sit up. "Are you okay, your majesty?" he inquired as he looked at the blood on his form.

"A blood bag." the King stated as he pulled the bag out of his haori. "Su-won's idea." he told the other as a brief smile crossed his lips before he frowned. "Is Yona safe?" he asked quietly, unsure if they were alone just yet.

"She is with brothers Seiryuu and Ryokuryuu." Zeno assured him. "Plus the lad and priest are there as well."

Il gave a quick sigh of relief. "Good." he said with a quick nod. As the two stood up, Zeno quickly checked out of the bed chamber towards the entrance of the room and found blood was splattered on the doorframe, floor and ceiling. "Somebody has fought here."

Zeno's eyes scanned the King's courtyard before coming to the injured figure of Kye-sook who stood in front of Lord Su-won and General Son Hak, whose blade was dripping with blood. The two friends had their backs to each other as they both faced Kye-sook who held a single dagger in his hand. His left arm hung limply as blood seeped from the wound Hak's blade had caused. "Mister and young Lord are fighting Kye-sook." he muttered quietly as he looked towards the King who suddenly pulled a bow and quiver full of arrows from the wall. Zeno raised an eyebrow. The King may have had an aversion towards weapons, but that didn't mean he knew they had their merits.

"My aim may not be what it use to be when I was young," Il told the blond haired young man. "but I believe I can still hit the target as long as I can see it."

Zeno gave a nod. "I'll light the courtyard." Zeno promised him.

"How?" Il inquired. "It is raining."

Zeno grinned. "I am certain his majesty knows Zeno is older than he seems." he told the King gaining a slight nod from the man. "I have learned a few tricks during my time alive and one of them is how to use oil as a kindling."

It took Il all but a moment to understand what the plan was. "You are going to burn one of the buildings." he stated in realization. Zeno only grinned as he nodded before running off. That's crazy. Il thought as he hid himself in the shadows of the doorway. From his vantage point he could barely see Kye-sook, but he had faith in his nephew and the wind general Son Hak. However, should they fail to kill him soon, I will be forced to do so myself.

Kija wasn't surprised when more fire tribe soldiers had shown up when his people had revealed themselves. He swung his arm around, hitting the ground and causing the men to fall into a deep pit. He didn't want to kill anybody, but only a fool would think that people wouldn't get killed tonight. Arrows flew from the archers on the wall, raining down upon soldiers who had the bare minimum of armor on their bodies.

Kan Soo-jin rushed forward towards Kija, lifting his sword he swung in a downward strike. Glad met blade as General Lee Guen-tae appeared quite out of thin air to cover Kija's back. Soo-jin starred at the man in surprise. "Surprised old man!?" Guen-tae asked excitedly. "I didn't drink your laced sake that you gave me!" He told him this as he kicked the man away from him at the same time pushing the blades against each other.

Stumbling backwards, Soo-jin cursed under his breath. "Fool, this isn't your fight." he groused as he barely dodged the blade that took a swipe at his head.

"No?" Guen-tae asked as a grin crossed his features. "But it is!" He went to stab the traitor through his stomach, but had to make quick work with his feet as the older general sliced at him in a downward strike, before bringing the blade up to slice him at a diagonal strike. "I am the general of the earth tribe who serves the King of Kouka and defends him in his time of need." he growled as he pushed forward his blade crossing Soo-jin's. Taking his free hand he curled it into a fist and brought it into contact with the old man's face.

Soo-jin saw stars for a moment as he stumbled backwards once again. "Then, I suppose, I'll have to kill you boy." he growled out as he spat out a wad of blood from the broken tooth that he now had.

"Ha!" Guen-tae laughed. "If you can get a lucky hit." He was challenging the older man and knew the fire general couldn't help but be goaded into this fight.

Nearby Kija found himself surrounded by a dozen young soldiers. "Do not do this." he told them. "It will not end well for you." He promised them, but none pulled away from the fight. "Very well." He felt his arm extend once again, growing in both size and length, he swung it at them. Six men were flung one way as six others were flung another way, their weapons falling out of their hands as they fell from the sky and hit the surrounding buildings.

Back in Yona's private rooms the doors were suddenly kicked in as six men forced their way into the room. Shin-ah rushed forward toward the first two who had come into the room. As three rushed passed him, they were quickly stopped by a hail of daggers from the crafter beams above them. Another held a lantern in hand before throwing it up at Jae-ha, hoping to blind the green haired man. Jae-ha kicked the lantern to the side, causing it to break against the wall.

Ik-su saw the flames climbing up the wall, grasping a nearby basin filled with water, he quickly tossed it at the flames, extinguishing them instantly. However the last man suddenly spotted him and rushed towards the priest with his sword in hand. Ik-su backed away from the soldier and just as the man was about to gut him, Ik-su tripped on his own robes, and fell backwards. The soldier growled in frustration before stabbing his sword downwards to strike the priest on to freeze as a blade was now sticking out of his own belly. Blood had splattered Ik-su on the face before the blade went upwards, slicing the man from his stomach to his shoulder. Blood showered down upon the priest as the man's body fell to the side.

It wasn't so much the blood that bother Ik-su but the fact that the man's eyes now stared at him were now frozen in absolute horror. Turning to the side, Ik-su emptied his stomachs contents.

"Are you injured?" the soft and gentle voice of the Seiryuu known as Shin-ah inquired.

The gentle blue haired man's voice seemed to echo in the priest's head. "N-No." he stuttered shakily. Standing with help from Jae-ha, Ik-su wiped his mouth. "Sorry for the mess." he apologized.

Jae-ha chuckled. "At this point it doesn't matter." he said as he pointed towards the bloodied bodies both warriors hand left behind. He touched his chin. "Though," he began as he looked at Shin-ah. "did you have to decapitate them?"

Shin-ah shrugged his shoulders. "It was faster than stabbing them." he told his fellow warrior.

Jae-ha blinked in surprise at his answer before taking a step away from him. "You can be a tad scary, you know that?"

Shin-ah gave a rare smirk at that. "So I'm told." he answered as he walked towards the doors. "Kija is about to be overwhelmed." he told Jae-ha. "I'll go find Yona."

"Right." Jae-ha gave a nod as he bounded out of the room through the ruined doors.

Shin-ah looked down at Ik-su and helped him filly stand up. "Yun is with Yona. They're safe for now." he told him, knowing the priest would be worried about the younger boy. Leaving Yona's chambers he set a quick pace to get to her.

"You can be very courageous when he is forced to be." Ik-su told him as he followed the warrior through the empty halls.

Shin-ha held his arm out to stop the priest. Taking his sword he ended the lives of two fire tribesmen who had tried to engage him, but failed. Ik-su followed him, though he had to step over the fallen bodies. Moving quickly, though silently, the two mean quickly exited the building. Turning towards the gardens that were connected to the King's gardens, they made their way towards Yona and Yun.

Yun sneezed as they passed under several of the flowering trees. He didn't know what it was about flowering trees, but they always made him sneeze. He hated it. As they came to the back of the King's apartments, Yona climbed up onto the wrap around porch. Kneeling she helped Yun climb up onto them. Standing, the two quietly made their way around to the front where they saw the battle playing out in front of them.

Hak swung his staff weapon at Kye-sook's head, only for the counselor to jump back away from the weapon. Su-won came in from behind Hak towards Kye-sook's side. Sword met dagger, the blades clashing before Hak brought his blade down. Kye-sook kicked Su-won away from him and dodged the staff weapon as it came down upon him. His movements were unsteady because of his injury, but he was able to evade the two blades.

Panting, Kye-sook realized that he'd been outsmarted by the young Lord Su-won. How this had happened, he wasn't sure. He had been so certain that the lies they had told him had taken root and that he'd kill the King and take out anybody in his way of becoming king himself. He grinned. At least he did kill Il. he thought to himself.

Suddenly the building behind him exploded. Fire erupted behind the counselor who lost his footing and fell to his knees. Suddenly an arrow shot out of the darkness that was King Il's chambers. It hit its mark in the center of Kye-sook's chest.

Kye-sook grasped at it in shock before looking up in time to see a very alive King Il walk out of the building. He fell face first, dead, into the mud.

Yona stared at her father with a bit of shock and pride mixed together when suddenly she heard a gasp. Turning she saw Yun being held by an injured soldier. His arm was around Yun's neck, choking the smaller boy. "If you don't want your friend to die, get over here girl." His voice was barely auditable over the sound of the fire that was burning. Yona took a step forward.

"Yona, no!" Yun cried out, his voice slightly muffled. I'm putting her in danger. Yun swung his leg backwards, kicking the man in the leg. As soon as the arm loosened Yun bit into the arm holding him. The fire soldier cried out, slammed his fist into the back of Yun's neck causing the younger boy to loosen his teeth from the man's arm.

Yona suddenly saw red as her anger reached a new limit. Yun was her friend, a friend she herself had freely made without anyone's help or assistance. He had been next to her this entire time, giving her the courage to keep moving when all she wanted to do was run and hide. Now, he had been injured because he had been protecting her. No one hurt her friends if she could help it!

Moving forward, quicker than she was known to move, she released the blades from her fan once again and slammed them under the soldiers armor under his ribs and pulled them back as she stepped away from him. The man gave a gasping wheezing sound as his lung was caught by the three blades. Opening the fan as the man fell to his knees, Yona slash the man across his neck, slicing his esophagus, the man nerves and veins that were there. Blood sprayed onto her chest and face as the man fell forward dead.

Yun stared at Yona with wide eyes. He had never expected such a reaction from her because he had been injured. Just then both Ik-su and Shin-ah came up behind Yun who was staring in shock at the bloodied Princess before him. Shin-ah stepped around the dead man's body and grasped Yona by her arms. "Are you hurt?" he asked her, though it sounded more like an urgent demand.

Yona looked up at her beloved Seiryuu and betrothed. Her eyes were still burning with her inner fire. "Finish this Shin-ah."

Golden eyes widened. She had never commanded him to do anything in all the years they had known each other. She knew his fear of using his eyes, knew of the warnings that he'd been given to never use them; but that single command erased all of his fears in that moment. "I will." he promised before leaving her standing on her father's porch with the fires still burning nearby.

Turning her head, Yona spotted Zeno coming out of the burning building, his clothes having been burned off of his body. His entire naked form covered in bright yellow scales. "Hak!" she yelled out into the courtyard. The raven haired male having been looking over Kye-sook to ensure he was dead suddenly looked up towards her. Yona pointed towards Zeno. "Help Zeno!" she yelled.

Su-won suddenly looked towards the usually happy-go-lucky blond saw the naked form of the young man and quickly took off his haori jacket and rushed over to him with Hak. Both men quickly making sure the blond was unharmed, though they were quite shocked to see the beautiful golden scales that now adorned his body.

King Il walked over to his daughter, seeing blood upon her face was quite concerning to him. "Father," she began as she looked towards him. "things must begin to change or else occurrences like this will become an everyday affair."

King Il gave a deeply saddened sigh of defeat. "I know." he said in agreement.

When Shin-ah arrived to the second courtyard where Kija was fighting the fire tribe soldiers, he saw that Jae-ha was fighting next to their brother. Their backs pressed against each other's as they protected one another from attacks from behind them. Off to the side General Guen-tae was having a hard time defeating Kan Soo-jin who was not let up in his attacks. The warriors from the Hakuryuu village were being injured by the fire tribe soldiers, having not been use to the rougher style of fighting.

Taking a deep breath, he prayed silently with his closed he thought out to the Kami. Don't let me kill our allies. Releasing the calming breath, an image of Yona suddenly coming to his mind. A little red haired girl who had accepted him for everything he was. Tears filled his eyes at the image, the first image he had of her when they had just met. For her, He'd do anything.

Opening his eyes death rush out towards their enemies.

Kija and Jae-ha watched in shock as the soldiers around them began falling like flies. Grasping at their throats like they were being choked. They watched in horror as strong able bodied men fell to their knees with horror on their faces as the air in their lungs rushed out and death began claiming them one by one.

Guen-tae was about to give Soo-jin a death strike when the older man cried out in fear and grasped his chest. He began clawing at it like there was something under his skin. Screams came out of his mouth as his very heart was squeezed by the power of the Seiryuu. He suddenly gave a wheezing cough as blood came up out of his throat. Falling to the ground the fire General gave one last gurgling sound as he wheezed, trying to breathe only to find no air returning to his body.

Above them, Seiryuu Shin-ah fell to his knees as the paralysis came upon him. All their enemies were dead and the fight was over. The last thing he saw were the worried looks upon his brothers faces as they rushed to his side.

M-Angel: Woo-hoo! I finished this chapter tonight! I'm so proud of myself. So how was the battlescene?