Chapter 24: Nearing the End
Hak's eyes scanned the garden, but found it to be empty of anyone. Perhaps that is a good thing. He thought as he watched Lord Soo-jin go to attack Prince Il. Many saw the young Prince as nothing more than a pacifist, but as the Fire Lord's sword swung to behead the younger man, Prince Il surprised the older general by defending himself with his own sword. Il may have been a pacifist, but he could defend himself when the time called for it.
Il pushed Soo-jin's sword away from himself causing the older general to take a few steps back to steady himself. Il, however, was not backing down and swung his sword down in a downward strike. Soo-jin blocked it, causing sparks fly between the two blades. Soo-jin suddenly pulled a second smaller sword from his hip. Hak was about to call out to the Prince to warn him when a hand covered his mouth. Looking towards Su-won, he saw that the slightly older boy point towards where Joo-doh had been hiding.
The young guardian soldier sprinted out of hiding as the second sword came to stab Il. Using his left sword, Joo-doh blocked the strike. Lord Soo-jin barely dodged the second sword from the dark haired youth. Striking downward with the smaller sword, Soo-jin struck Joo-doh. A deep cut bisected his left eye, though no damage seemed to have been done to the eye itself. Blood dripped from the new wound, however, Soo-jin didn't expect Il to attack at that moment. The Prince's sword cut Soo-jin's right hand causing him to drop the larger sword.
Seeing his chance, Mundok entered the fray with a borrowed spiked spear. As Soo-jin was distracted he did not see Mundok charge towards him until the spear went through his back. Blood splattered onto the ground and onto Prince Il's face as the tip of the spear came out of Soo-jin's stomach.
After a moment of silence the Fire Lord grasped the spiked end jutting out of his gut. "You are not worthy." he growled out as he looked at Il. "I have Hiryuu's blood coursing through me! You are nothing!"
"Today you have sullied the reputation of the Fire tribe." Il stated with deep sadness. "You may have Hiryuu's blood, but my daughter is his reincarnation. " This caused Soo-jin's eyes to widen at this claim. "Your tribe could have been apart of a grand New era when she came of age, but instead the Fire Tribe's future is now shrouded in uncertainty." Mundok took this as his signal to withdrawal the weapon from the fire general's gut. This caused the older man to bleed out within seconds as blood seeped out of his mouth and body onto the ground.
With the threat taken care of the two boys ran out of their hiding. "Gramps!" Hak cried out as at the same moment Su-won yelled out. "Uncle!"
The three men turned quickly to the sounds of the children. "It's His Majesty!" Hak began only for Su-won to continue.
"Father is trying to kill grandfather!" Su-won's voice sounded desperate as he came to a stop in front of the older men. "General Lee Geun-tae is fighting him in order to defend grandfather."
Munson looked at the Prince before turning his gaze towards Joo-doh. "You are to stay here and protect his highness." Joo-doh looked as if he wanted to protest. "Hak," The young boy looked up at his adoptive grandfather. "Where is the King?"
Noting the urgency in Mundok's voice, Hak answered quickly. "His study." Mundok gave a nod before rushing off passed his grandson and Su-won with the bloodied weapon he'd just used on the now deceased Soo-jin.
"What do we do now?" Su-won asked his friend.
"You boys have been brave this evening." Il told the two boys as he tore a piece of cloth from the hem of his kimono to cover Joo-doh's wound. "I need to get to the Keep. Kashi will be there and undoubtedly so will Yona." He lifted Soo-jin's short sword from the ground and handed it to Hak. "I know I am asking a lot from boys your age, but help Joo-doh get us to the Keep safely."
Hak looked at the sword in his hand. He may have been nothing but a mere boy, but he was also the grandson of the wind general and was a proud wind tribesman. Looking determined he grinned at the prince. "No problem, your highness."
Jae-ha dodged the oncoming arrows with a single jump. The teen landed on the wall where the archers were. The grown men were shocked at the height in which he had jumped. Using the shock to his advantage, Jae-ha charged the men. Kicking them in the guts or in their faces. He was careful not to kill any of them, as he didn't want Yona to end up crying over their needless deaths.
Below both Kija and Zeno were taking care of the advancing army when they noticed something, the army was no longer wearing just the armor of the Sky tribe, but now we're also wearing the colors of the Fire tribe as well. This could only mean that Lord Yu-hon had gained Lord Soo-jin's loyalty. Frowning as he rammed his fist through a shield, Zeno couldn't help but notice the irony. The one tribe Hiryuu had personally created was the one that was uprising against his own reincarnation.
Kija, on the other hand, didn't notice this; instead, he was worried that they would be unable to keep the advancing army from breaking through and harming their princess. Suddenly an arrow went flying from behind the two warriors. Zeno and Kija watched it hit its target, a man with a trident spear fell to his death as a man with a glaive stepped forward.
Taking a deep breath, Zeno breathed out a ragged breath. If he moved quick enough he might be able to break the blade of the glaive with his own arm. Deciding that it might be the only way to stop the large man, Zeno ran towards him. The man took the bait and swung the long blade at the smaller man, only for the blade to become embedded into Zeno's armored right arm. Grasping the blade with his left hand, Zeno conjured up strength he knew rested within himself and broke the metal with his hand. It shattered like glass.
Not believing his own eyes, the soldier attacked Zeno with a dagger only for that to shatter against the golden scales. Suddenly the man was kicked in the head by a green leg as Jae-ha came from above to assist Zeno in his fight.
Another arrow was fired from the Keep as Lady Kashi shot another soldier in the leg. Knowing that her quiver was almost empty, she feared they would soon be overcome by the enemy. Her heart clenched in fear that she would die and that her beloved and most wonderful daughter would be left terrified, only to suffer the same fate. She had to be strong in order to ensure Yona would not see fear on her face. In order to do that she had to stop as many soldiers as she could! As she loaded her last arrow, Lady Kashi found the weapon falling from hands as the remaining soldiers suddenly were being attacked from behind.
Hak and Su-won peered around a corner to look down a hallway that led towards the Keep. There were several dead palace guards laying on the ground. Fire tribe soldiers laughed over the dead bodies. It was disrespectful. "Hak." Su-won whispered. "What do we do? " Worry etched his voice as he as his friend this.
Hak looked behind himself at Prince Il who sat Joo-doh on the ground against the hallway wall. Weren't there rumors of hidden passageways throughout the palace. They had been used by the priests for centuries in order to come and go through the palace as they pleased. He just couldn't remember where these passageways were!
Heavy footsteps caught the wind tribe youth's attention. Someone was coming towards them! Fear crawled into the pit of his stomach causing him to feel a bit sick. He didn't know what to do! Inside, Hak trembled with his fear, but on the outside he looked determined and ready for a fight.
Mundok came to a halt as he came to the King's study, which was empty. Beyond that was a courtyard, in which he found An Joon-gi tending to Lee Guen-tae's wounds on his chest and arms. The younger general wincing in pain but otherwise staying quiet. "Where is the King?" Mundok asked, though he had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer.
Joon-gi looked at the wind tribesman, his usually calm mask was nowhere to be seen. Tear streaks had fallen down his face earlier at seeing his King die. "Yu-hon struck his father through the heart." he said, his voice wobbled slightly, even as he tried to remain together in front of the two men. "I shot a single arrow and killed the Kingslayer." His eyes turned towards where the duo laid dead. "My arrow struck him in the head."
"Killing him instantly." Mundok finished. "A better death than he deserved." Stepping forward towards them he looked down at Guen-tae before asking. "Where is Lady Kashi?"
The water general stood from helping the injured man. "I sent her to the Keep."
Mundok frowned. "Hate to sound like the new guy here, but did Yu-hon really think he could overthrow his father without killing the rest of us?" The injured Earth General inquired. Both of the other generals were now frowning at this, neither had really thought about it.
"Kan Soo-jin was helping him." Mundok answered. "But his commander is nowhere to be seen."
"Neither is Yu-hon's." Joon-gi stated with an astonished look. Both men came to the same conclusion at the same time. If neither commanders were where their superiors were then there was only one place they could be. Without a word both men took off with their weapons, leaving Guen-tae behind.
The younger general groaned in pain as he stood on his own. He was not about to miss this fight! Grasping his fallen weapon, and grimacing as he did so, he slowly followed behind the other two.
M-Angel: Sorry for taking so long with this update. It took me over a week to finish it. I have been super tied and I've been working everyday. I am exhausted.