A/N: Dear readers, I hope you don't get confused with the geographical locations.
Sky Tribe is located in the middle of Kouka Kingdom, its capital is Kuuto, and in Kuuto lies Hiryuu Castle, where the king resides.
Yona's castle is situated in the northern border of the Kouka Kingdom. Their land is still part of the Sky Tribe.
In the West is the Earth Tribe, its capital Chishin. In the East is the Wind Tribe, its capital Fuuga. In the northeast is the Fire Tribe, its capital Saika, and in the southwest is the Water Tribe, its capital Suiko.
You can search the map of Kouka on Google if you're still confused. Happy reading!
YONA
Yona collapsed to her knees.
In her father's solar, she watched with trembling hands, through the small small slit on the door, how men, so many men, surrounded her father. They were all holding swords, swords glinting as they moved, sharp and deadly and reeked of blood and death.
And her body started shaking.
She had arrived to find the lights all gone outside the solar, with dead men lying on the floor, with the only lights inside the solar, and the door slightly opened, and she could hear her father's voice, that her instincts told her to peak, and not move, stay silent, watch, wait.
And a man all muscles walked forward, and pointed the sword at her father's neck, who was kneeling, her father kneeling on the ground, forced to kneel, with two men holding him down from behind.
Her body wouldn't stop shaking.
"Speak." She heard her father say. "Who sent you?" Voice full of courage, and courage in his eyes...
But before Father could utter another word, the blade went through his throat, coming out on the other side.
Crimson stained the ground, and Father dropped dead, eyes unseeing, eyes unyielding.
Her body stopped shaking.
At that moment, a very strong fire sparked and ignited inside of her, and took hold of her, and shouted at her to go at once and grab a sword lying on the ground and strike them all...
But another voice spoke to her, a ghost, her mother's or her nurse's or her father's, they told her to run.
And her body told her to run, and she ran and ran, and ran, through the dark hallways, with so many dead bodies lying around, and the darkness chasing after her...
With her instincts guiding her, urging her, she went to her parent's bedroom. Her stepmother would still be there, sleeping, with her little baby brother ... surely they wouldn't harm a little child? Or a woman?
But she was proved wrong when she arrived at her parent's bedroom. Sprawled on the floor was her stepmother, eyes wide opened, lying on a pool of blood. And her brother, her brother ... her brother was murdered as well, still on his crib, drowning in his own blood.
This time, Yona screamed. She screamed and screamed and screamed, a mix of grief and anger and fear, not knowing what to do, not knowing where to go.
And then she ran again, nowhere to go ... to her room ... would she be safe there? Or perhaps those men had reached her room as well, and they were only waiting for her - she was running and stumbling, and getting up, and running again, and then she fell.
The treacherous stairs, she fell, and the last thing she saw was her father, and her stepmother, and her brother lying in their own pool of blood.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Minsoo.
"My lady," Minsoo was crying, "I'm glad you're awake."
Yona blinked her eyes, looked at her surroundings. She was lying on a forest floor, her left ankle was throbbing, and then there were guards around them, six men, and horses, and the sun hasn't even risen up fully yet.
It was so cold, dead cold, no fire, in the middle of the forest...
And her tears came gushing out. "I'm not dreaming, am I? Tell me what happened, Minsoo. Where are we?"
Minsoo wiped his eyes from his own tears. There was blood all over his clothes, and his left hand was bleeding. "The castle has fallen. The moment I came out of your room, I knew something was wrong. I-I looked for the captain of the guards ... but I found them all dead, and the sentries were all dead. I ran back to your room, and on my way I found you unconscious by the stairs. I carried you and on our way out I ran into these soldiers and we escaped." He paused, then swallowed hard, averting his gaze. "I - Please forgive me, my lady ... I don't know the whereabouts of your father."
He knows, Yona thought bitterly. Minsoo knows Father was dead and he wouldn't tell me.
"He's dead. He's dead Minsoo, isn't he? I saw with my own eyes."
Minsoo trembled violently. Out of instinct he embraced her tightly, saying everything would be fine, everything will be fine.
When the first rays of light showed up and lit the whole forest, Minsoo said sadly, "I'm afraid we'll have to go now."
"Where?" Yona asked, staring helplessly at the canopy above them. "And why run?"
"They would come looking for you, my lady. There's a reason they didn't kill you. They wanted you hostage. We need to go, and try to make it the royal castle. You would be safe there. But outside here there's no guarantee."
What an irony, Yona thought bitterly. She was indeed supposed to go south that very same day, but who would've thought she would go that way?
"How far is the nearest village?" she asked again.
"I'm not certain," Minsoo said, standing up. "I've no idea where to go from here." He left her and vanished among the trees.
He's tired, and afraid, Yona realized. She brought her knees together and hugged them with both arms. Minsoo had bandaged her left ankle, but the pain wouldn't go away.
"Pardon me for speaking, my lady," one of the guards spoke as he approached her. He was lean and tall, and unwounded. She recognized him as one of the sentries, assigned to the main gate. "But the village were likely held by them now as well."
"Aye," agreed a second soldier, who's carrying a crossbow. "After the castle ... the village. We need to stay away from towns as much as we can."
Yona stared at all of them. Six soldiers, armored and ready for battle ... Would they be enough to keep her alive? And seven horses, would they be fast enough to run should the enemies find them?
"Who are they, really?" Yona asked blankly. "What do they want?"
"Men from Kai, we suppose," Minsoo answered as he came back. "But enough talking, we have to go now." He sounded different, is he really afraid as well? Or is he acting strong for her?
"From hereon, I suggest we travel south and west," announced the first soldier, who was one of the sentries in the main gate. "Our main goal is to reach Kuuto, and make it to the royal castle. But the enemies will most likely guard the roads leading to the royal castle, so we have to stick near the Earth Tribe territory."
"Why not head straight to Chishin, where Lord Geuntae will be able to help us?" asked the second soldier.
"Chishin is too far," replied the first soldier. "And we can't guarantee the lady's safety in there as well. We've no news about the Earth Tribe yet. We can't be riding blindly."
"What about Saika?" asked the third soldier, who was obviously the oldest among them all. "We're closer to the Fire Tribe territory, if we make it to Saika, Lord Soojin would aid us."
"I agree," added the fourth soldier, who was bald and wearing an eyepatch over his right eye. "The Imperial Capital is much farther, and we might meet peril along the way."
"No," the first soldier said firmly. "We've no news about the Fire Tribe as well. We can't risk it. It's the lady's life that's at risk here."
"Then we may take the route south and east," said the fourth soldier. "If we can't go to Saika, or to Chishin, or even to Fuuga, then we can head to Kuuto straight through the mountains. The mountains would be able to help us, it would make a hard path for them to track us."
"And it would be hard for us as well," argued the second soldier. "We're low on provisions, and besides, the mountains are treacherous."
And everyone fell silent. There was so much confusion ... where should they go?
"I think we should take the route to the mountains," Yona said, raising her head. "If we go south and west, it will only be the trees who will aid us. But if we go south and east, the mountains will help us too."
Yet she bowed her head after saying those words. She could be wrong, or right, what choice do they have?
"You all heard the lady," said the fourth soldier, shortly afterwards. "We travel south and east, till we make it to Kuuto."
And the soldiers mounted their horses.
Yona would be sharing a horse with a soldier who looked young, yet whose face was full of scars. Throughout the discussion, he never spoke, silent among them all, along with the sixth soldier, who was tending the horses.
He was armed with a sword and a bow, but Yona knew he would not use them at all. He was her last hope, in case all else fails. The young soldier was commanded to take flight, and fight only when all hopes fail.
At their right side was Minsoo, carrying provisions of food and whatever they managed to take with them. On the front rode the first soldier, who was acting the leader, and the rest were all around them, forming a wall of protection.
A wall of protection, what a sweet, bitter, false sense of security.