A/N - Thank you to everyone who waited paitently for the next chapter and here it is!
Chapter 23
"They're trying to save her!" he screamed before kicking the crate. Leopold took in one last breath as the crate was kicked out from underneath her legs. She felt immediate pain in her neck as oxygen was cut off from her lungs. Struggling, she gasped for air while the rope wound tighter and tighter around her neck.
The far door banged open and six men entered fighting each other. Three of them were Leopold's cousins and the other three were guards. "Leopold!" Ace yelled after thrusting his sword through the guards upper arm and running towards her. He got halfway there before he was stopped. Tahmores jumped down from the platform and stood facing Ace whilst behind him the scarred man stood next to the struggling Leopold who was quickly dieing. Ace panicked for a second. His eyes grew wide with fear as he tried to decided how to get around that large man. That second was all Tahmores needed before he pulled back his hand and slammed it into Ace's stomach. Being without any protection or weapons, Ace's legs buckled underneath him and he fell to the ground clutching his stomach already exhausted from his previous fights. Coughing he shook his head before standing again and facing Tahmores ready for a fight.
"Your dead little one!" Tahmores smiled before laughing and advancing on Ace. Ace quickly remembered the hand-to-hand combat he had learned as a boy and put Tahmores at an excruciating pace as the two started beating each other to death.
Xavier finally finished killing his guard and ran towards the platform. Sebastien pulled his sword out of his dieing guards throat and started running after Xavier when four more guards ran into the courtyard with their swords held high. "Save her!" Sebastien yelled towards Xavier who had stopped and turned to meet the oncoming swarm. Sebastien raised his sword and met the first guard with a clash of metal. Xavier nodded and turned back to his cousin who was turning black and purple as she hung, her feet almost touching the platform floor.
"I don't think so pretty boy!" the scarred man yelled stepping in front of Xavier as he ran up the steps to the platform. The man pulled back his fist and collided with Xavier's nose. Xavier dropped his sword and fell back in pain as the man followed him down the steps laughing. "Your cousin is going to die. There's nothing you can do about it!" Xavier lifted his hands away from his nose and glared at the man with all the hatred he could muster. He ran towards him yelling but the man gave him a few hard punches in the gut. He stumbled back and held his stomach with his free hand and his nose with his other. The man followed smiling before punching Xavier in his collarbone and sending him onto his knees. Xavier groaned and fell onto his back before crawling away from the man and watching his movements. The man grinned while advancing on Xavier and stopped him by stepping on his ankle. Xavier yelled before clenching his teeth as the man dug his foot into Xavier's ankle breaking it. "This is too perfect!" the man grinned while drawing his sword and pointing it at Xavier's chest. He laughed while raising his sword and bringing it down into Xavier's chest.
The man suddenly stopped as the tip of his sword touched Xavier's chest. His eyes grew wide and filled with tears as he started coughing up blood. Xavier breathed heavily as he watched the man drop his sword while staring wide-eyed at the sword sticking out of the man's chest. The man looked down and touched the small tip that barely reached the other side of his body. He pulled his hands away to reveal them covered in blood. Turning his head he stared, shocked to see Aaron standing behind him holding the hilt of the sword. Aaron grinned and winked before baring his teeth and pulling his sword out of the man's chest and backing away. The man fell to his knees clutching his chest as blood spilled from his mouth and nose. Xavier winced and crawled out from underneath the man's legs before slowly standing and wiping the crusted blood from his own nose.
"What took you so long?" Xavier questioned
"I got lost." Aaron replied with a small grin before hearing a small gasp behind him. He turned and saw Leopold's body go limp as she hung from the loop. "No," he whispered running towards her with Xavier limping behind him. Xavier grabbed his sword as he jumped onto the platform and with a large swing sliced the thick rope. Her body fell into Aaron's arms who gently lowered her to the ground.
Sebastien finished slicing the last guards throat before turning and watching them cut her down. She was dead, he was sure of it. She had been up there for far too long. There was no way they could save her now. He heard a cry behind him and turned to see Ace fall to the ground with Tahmores standing over him. "Ah shit Ace!" he muttered running towards his cousin and calling out his name. Tahmores turned and blinked at Sebastien for a second which was all Sebastien needed before kicking Ace his fallen sword. Ace's hand grabbed the hilt. He raised his body onto his arms and kicked Tahmores in his crotch and then his stomach. As the man grunted with pain Ace leaped to his feet and drove his sword into the man's chest. The man stared at him in utter horror as a stream of blood ran down his chin. He gurgled up more blood as he lowered his body onto the ground, closed his eyes and died.
Ace grunted and looked up at his cousin. Dust rose from the courtyard around the two men as they turned to see Xavier leaning against one of the platform poles staring at Aaron, who sat on the ground cradling her body. Their attention was diverted for a moment towards the door where Philip finally arrived carting Eron behind him. The two men stumbled into the courtyard staring at the scene around them in horror.
"Mithros" Eron muttered in surprise as he started towards the platform. The three cousins turned and watched. They nodded to each other and broke into a jog as tears started sliding down their faces. When they reached the platform they saw Eron bend down to his brother. Aaron turned his head and acknowledged him.
"She's dead," was all he muttered as tears slid down his face. He cradled her body against his chest before realizing the rope was still around her neck. He yanked it off of her in disgust and threw it off the platform. The four cousins watched it fall beside Xavier whose ankle gave way moments before and he had slumped to sit on the platform. Nobody spoke. Eron fought with his brother as he tried to remove Aaron's arms from around her body. There was no use to crush her anymore. Aaron protested and used all his strength to keep his brother off as tears slid down his face and onto hers. They were equally matched in strength but Aaron had been fed recently and was the stronger brother at the moment. Eron didn't protest but moved to close her eyelids. Philip couldn't stand watching the scene in front of him. He breathed heavily while crying and turned away as Ace and Sebastien leaned on each other for support.
Nobody spoke as the five watched her and cried. She was dead. There was nothing to be done about it. What would they tell everyone else? Think of all those who would grieve. There would be no chance of happiness now. Leopold had always been the one to bring that to everyone else. She was always the one who tried making everyone happy and didn't really worry what was happening to herself. Sometimes she cared to much and sometimes she didn't care at all. But she was only human.
"She's not dead!" Eron cried out stopping the cousins in their tracks. Everyone turned and stared at him.
"What did you say?" Ace asked his voice cracking from his grief.
"She's not dead." Eron whispered again looking Leopold over in disbelief himself. "Aaron let go of her!" he yelled at his brother using what strength was left to pry his brother's arms away from the girl.
"She's dead get off me!" Aaron yelled.
"No she's not!" Eron replied. "Will one of you help me!" he cried towards the three that stood watching in half belief. Ace took a step forward and leaned his hands on the platform floor before hoisting himself onto it. He crawled on his knees towards the two brothers before gently removing the struggling Aaron from his dead cousin. Ace comforted the boy who protested greatly and tried multiple times to push him away but his strength was nothing compared to Ace's who, even when he was broken and bruised, could hold the boy. Eron lay Leopold's body in his arms and lifted her head onto his shoulder as he gently placed his left hand on her chest. A small weak green glow surrounded his hand. It hovered on her for a second before leaving. "Damn." he muttered before closing his eyes and concentrating again. This time the glow stayed for about a minute before extinguishing again. Eron swore and lifted his head to look at his brother.
"Brother I need your help to save her."
"I don't have the power." Aaron replied weakly before rubbing dust out of his eyes.
"But you have strength. That's all I need." Eron replied pleading with his brother. Aaron nodded and walked over to Eron where he kneeled beside him and placed a ruff hand on his shoulder. Eron felt the weight of his hand and bowed his head over Leopold again before concentrating on taking Aaron's strength and pushing it into Leopold through his power. The green glow burst out of Eron's hand, surrounding it in a blinding flash. The four cousins shielded their eyes as the glare became too much to stand. It ended as quickly as it had begun. The boys shook their heads and closed their eyes many times before they refocused to see Aaron and Leopold holding each other.
Chapter 23
"They're trying to save her!" he screamed before kicking the crate. Leopold took in one last breath as the crate was kicked out from underneath her legs. She felt immediate pain in her neck as oxygen was cut off from her lungs. Struggling, she gasped for air while the rope wound tighter and tighter around her neck.
The far door banged open and six men entered fighting each other. Three of them were Leopold's cousins and the other three were guards. "Leopold!" Ace yelled after thrusting his sword through the guards upper arm and running towards her. He got halfway there before he was stopped. Tahmores jumped down from the platform and stood facing Ace whilst behind him the scarred man stood next to the struggling Leopold who was quickly dieing. Ace panicked for a second. His eyes grew wide with fear as he tried to decided how to get around that large man. That second was all Tahmores needed before he pulled back his hand and slammed it into Ace's stomach. Being without any protection or weapons, Ace's legs buckled underneath him and he fell to the ground clutching his stomach already exhausted from his previous fights. Coughing he shook his head before standing again and facing Tahmores ready for a fight.
"Your dead little one!" Tahmores smiled before laughing and advancing on Ace. Ace quickly remembered the hand-to-hand combat he had learned as a boy and put Tahmores at an excruciating pace as the two started beating each other to death.
Xavier finally finished killing his guard and ran towards the platform. Sebastien pulled his sword out of his dieing guards throat and started running after Xavier when four more guards ran into the courtyard with their swords held high. "Save her!" Sebastien yelled towards Xavier who had stopped and turned to meet the oncoming swarm. Sebastien raised his sword and met the first guard with a clash of metal. Xavier nodded and turned back to his cousin who was turning black and purple as she hung, her feet almost touching the platform floor.
"I don't think so pretty boy!" the scarred man yelled stepping in front of Xavier as he ran up the steps to the platform. The man pulled back his fist and collided with Xavier's nose. Xavier dropped his sword and fell back in pain as the man followed him down the steps laughing. "Your cousin is going to die. There's nothing you can do about it!" Xavier lifted his hands away from his nose and glared at the man with all the hatred he could muster. He ran towards him yelling but the man gave him a few hard punches in the gut. He stumbled back and held his stomach with his free hand and his nose with his other. The man followed smiling before punching Xavier in his collarbone and sending him onto his knees. Xavier groaned and fell onto his back before crawling away from the man and watching his movements. The man grinned while advancing on Xavier and stopped him by stepping on his ankle. Xavier yelled before clenching his teeth as the man dug his foot into Xavier's ankle breaking it. "This is too perfect!" the man grinned while drawing his sword and pointing it at Xavier's chest. He laughed while raising his sword and bringing it down into Xavier's chest.
The man suddenly stopped as the tip of his sword touched Xavier's chest. His eyes grew wide and filled with tears as he started coughing up blood. Xavier breathed heavily as he watched the man drop his sword while staring wide-eyed at the sword sticking out of the man's chest. The man looked down and touched the small tip that barely reached the other side of his body. He pulled his hands away to reveal them covered in blood. Turning his head he stared, shocked to see Aaron standing behind him holding the hilt of the sword. Aaron grinned and winked before baring his teeth and pulling his sword out of the man's chest and backing away. The man fell to his knees clutching his chest as blood spilled from his mouth and nose. Xavier winced and crawled out from underneath the man's legs before slowly standing and wiping the crusted blood from his own nose.
"What took you so long?" Xavier questioned
"I got lost." Aaron replied with a small grin before hearing a small gasp behind him. He turned and saw Leopold's body go limp as she hung from the loop. "No," he whispered running towards her with Xavier limping behind him. Xavier grabbed his sword as he jumped onto the platform and with a large swing sliced the thick rope. Her body fell into Aaron's arms who gently lowered her to the ground.
Sebastien finished slicing the last guards throat before turning and watching them cut her down. She was dead, he was sure of it. She had been up there for far too long. There was no way they could save her now. He heard a cry behind him and turned to see Ace fall to the ground with Tahmores standing over him. "Ah shit Ace!" he muttered running towards his cousin and calling out his name. Tahmores turned and blinked at Sebastien for a second which was all Sebastien needed before kicking Ace his fallen sword. Ace's hand grabbed the hilt. He raised his body onto his arms and kicked Tahmores in his crotch and then his stomach. As the man grunted with pain Ace leaped to his feet and drove his sword into the man's chest. The man stared at him in utter horror as a stream of blood ran down his chin. He gurgled up more blood as he lowered his body onto the ground, closed his eyes and died.
Ace grunted and looked up at his cousin. Dust rose from the courtyard around the two men as they turned to see Xavier leaning against one of the platform poles staring at Aaron, who sat on the ground cradling her body. Their attention was diverted for a moment towards the door where Philip finally arrived carting Eron behind him. The two men stumbled into the courtyard staring at the scene around them in horror.
"Mithros" Eron muttered in surprise as he started towards the platform. The three cousins turned and watched. They nodded to each other and broke into a jog as tears started sliding down their faces. When they reached the platform they saw Eron bend down to his brother. Aaron turned his head and acknowledged him.
"She's dead," was all he muttered as tears slid down his face. He cradled her body against his chest before realizing the rope was still around her neck. He yanked it off of her in disgust and threw it off the platform. The four cousins watched it fall beside Xavier whose ankle gave way moments before and he had slumped to sit on the platform. Nobody spoke. Eron fought with his brother as he tried to remove Aaron's arms from around her body. There was no use to crush her anymore. Aaron protested and used all his strength to keep his brother off as tears slid down his face and onto hers. They were equally matched in strength but Aaron had been fed recently and was the stronger brother at the moment. Eron didn't protest but moved to close her eyelids. Philip couldn't stand watching the scene in front of him. He breathed heavily while crying and turned away as Ace and Sebastien leaned on each other for support.
Nobody spoke as the five watched her and cried. She was dead. There was nothing to be done about it. What would they tell everyone else? Think of all those who would grieve. There would be no chance of happiness now. Leopold had always been the one to bring that to everyone else. She was always the one who tried making everyone happy and didn't really worry what was happening to herself. Sometimes she cared to much and sometimes she didn't care at all. But she was only human.
"She's not dead!" Eron cried out stopping the cousins in their tracks. Everyone turned and stared at him.
"What did you say?" Ace asked his voice cracking from his grief.
"She's not dead." Eron whispered again looking Leopold over in disbelief himself. "Aaron let go of her!" he yelled at his brother using what strength was left to pry his brother's arms away from the girl.
"She's dead get off me!" Aaron yelled.
"No she's not!" Eron replied. "Will one of you help me!" he cried towards the three that stood watching in half belief. Ace took a step forward and leaned his hands on the platform floor before hoisting himself onto it. He crawled on his knees towards the two brothers before gently removing the struggling Aaron from his dead cousin. Ace comforted the boy who protested greatly and tried multiple times to push him away but his strength was nothing compared to Ace's who, even when he was broken and bruised, could hold the boy. Eron lay Leopold's body in his arms and lifted her head onto his shoulder as he gently placed his left hand on her chest. A small weak green glow surrounded his hand. It hovered on her for a second before leaving. "Damn." he muttered before closing his eyes and concentrating again. This time the glow stayed for about a minute before extinguishing again. Eron swore and lifted his head to look at his brother.
"Brother I need your help to save her."
"I don't have the power." Aaron replied weakly before rubbing dust out of his eyes.
"But you have strength. That's all I need." Eron replied pleading with his brother. Aaron nodded and walked over to Eron where he kneeled beside him and placed a ruff hand on his shoulder. Eron felt the weight of his hand and bowed his head over Leopold again before concentrating on taking Aaron's strength and pushing it into Leopold through his power. The green glow burst out of Eron's hand, surrounding it in a blinding flash. The four cousins shielded their eyes as the glare became too much to stand. It ended as quickly as it had begun. The boys shook their heads and closed their eyes many times before they refocused to see Aaron and Leopold holding each other.