Gabe threw his arm in the path of Isabel and Naomi, stopping them all as they came to the end of another corridor in the palace, making their way down to the dungeons. Sword drawn, he peered around the corner.
"Clear" He whispered in a commanding tone and the trio took off quietly down the hall. When they reached the end, Gabe threw his arm out and stopped the girls once again, in a protective manner..
"Let me guess..." Naomi started, growing impatient "It's clear? They've all been clear Gabe! Can't we just go! There are no more guards in the palace! They're all out fighting in the city"
"No Naomi! We can't 'just go'!" Gabe argued with her.
"Sure we can!" Naomi told him smugly "Watch this!" and with that, she twirled past Gabe and danced around the corner "Whooooa... you'll never guess what guys!" She mocked before shouting with irritation, "IT'S CLEAR!"
Gabe too stepped around the corner. He wore a stern look as he straightened himself up, lowered his sword, crossed his arms and tapped his toe, impatiently waiting for Naomi to admit that she had been reckless. He was not amused. "And what if you had turned the corner and Shuriki herself was waiting there for you?" He asked.
"Oh yeah right... Shuriki's kingdom is under attack and her very existence is being threatened, I'm sure what she's really thinking right about now is 'hey, seems like a nice time to take a stroll around the palace!'" Naomi answered with sarcasm.
"It doesn't matter what Shuriki is or isn't doing right now the point is that you don't know!" Gabe retorted, growing angry now.
"Guys! Stop it! This is NO time to argue!" Isabel pleaded.
"Isa's right" Naomi admitted, they were getting distracted. "I'm sorry"
"Me too" Gabe agreed, calming down. "The entrance to the dungeons is just around that corner down there anyways."
The three friends walked until they came to an intersecting hall way and again Gabe put out his arm in front of Isa and Naomi. Naomi said nothing but simply rolled her eyes at him.
"Can we please just do this my way right now?" Gabe whispered. "We're almost there, I don't want to take any chances now. I promised Elena that I would take care of Isabel and that I wouldn't let anything happen to her and "
"What?!" Isa interrupted. "Elena still doesn't trust me?!"
"No!" Gabe protested "It's not like that Isa. It's just that I.. we thought that we had lost you once. We just don't want anything to happen to you again"
"Well I can take care of myself! Thank you very much!" Isa declared as she defiantly walked past Gabe to make her own move into the next hallway.
"INTRUDER!" Shouted someone from around the corner.
Gabe saw a look of terror come over Isa's face as she stood frozen. He instinctively leapt towards the princess, throwing himself in front of her, grabbing her as he did and pulling her down to the opposite side of the corridor entrance.
"AHHHH!" Gabe yelled out in pain as he grabbed the side of his head and watched at least three arrows fly by where he and Isabel had just been. He looked at Naomi who was still on the other side and motioned for her to stay there.
Isa's look of horror remained on her face as she lie on the ground in Gabe's arms.
"You're bleeding!" She squealed, noticing an arrow had grazed Gabe's ear but Gabe paid no attention. He rose to his feet and readied his sword as the sound of charging foot steps grew louder.
"Just stay back Isa, you're not armed at all" He told her and before he knew it there was a palace guard rounding the corner and wielding a sword in his direction. Gabe blocked it and as their swords clashed, he met the soldiers angry eyes. They were filled with determination but it was no match for Gabe's. Gabe forced the man's weapon high and before it could be swung back around, Gabe quickly thrust his own sword into his opponents abdomen. The guard dropped his sword and Gabe swiftly kicked it in Naomi's direction just as two other guards were making their attack. Naomi bent down and picked up the fallen soldier's sword and immediately found herself on defense. She was doing alright blocking but couldn't muster a counter attack. Gabe crossed swords with his opponent and noticed Naomi in trouble. She was strong but she wasn't too skilled with a sword. He needed to get to her fast. He kicked the guard he was fighting away from him and sliced his sword into the man's side, sending him down to his knees. Gabe then charged Naomi's attacker, stabbing him from behind and allowing Naomi to finish him off. Suddenly a sharp pain seared through the back of Gabe's right shoulder as a blade pierced his skin. He winced before letting out a loud howl. Naomi saw that Gabe's second opponent hadn't fully gone down. He was still fighting from his knees despite bleeding profusely from his side. She stepped up and swiftly kicked the kneeling soldier in the chin. The blow whipped his head back and knocked him out. Naomi grabbed his sword before he could do anymore damage.
Everything became eerily quiet with the exception of Gabe's groans. Isa finally came forward and ran to the side of her fallen friend. She knelt down and just stared in shock at the blood dripping down his back. Gabe's breath became shallow and he felt weak. He allowed himself to fully drop down to the floor, letting his head rest face down on the tiled floor and closing his eyes.
"Naomi help me!" Isa cried "He's losing a lot of blood!"
"You need to put pressure on it!" Naomi explained as she removed her vest and held it over Gabe's wound. "Hang on Gabe! You need to stay with us" She said desperately.
"Gabe I'm so sorry!" Isa said as she sobbed next to him. "This is all my fault! I'm so sorry. I should have just listened to you. You were right. Elena was right. I did need you. I still need you. Please stay with us Gabe!"
"uhhhhhg" Gabe groaned weakly. "I'm still here Isa" He whispered, trying to force his eyes opened. He looked up at Isabel and smiled, remembering his promise to Elena. "I'm not going anywhere" he said and summoned up as much strength as he could to move his arm and grab Isa's hand. Never having felt so much pain in all his life, his face twisted into a grimace. Still, he squeezed the young girl's hand tightly, allowing her to calm her cries. Their eyes met and Isa saw the truth in them. He wasn't about to leave her.
"Ummm do you want to die?! Cause if you keep moving, you're going to bleed out! So stop it!" Naomi scolded.
Gabe let out a quick chuckle at Naomi's blunt words but the short laugh was too much for him and he winced again, squeezing his eyes shut tight before letting out a deep exhale through gritted teeth.
"See?" Naomi told him.
"We can't stay here in the middle of the hallway. It's not safe." Gabe told them.
"Shhh... I hear someone coming" Isa said in a panic. "What do we do?!"
"Quick! Hand me my sword!" Gabe ordered and Naomi shook her head 'no' and scrunched up her face at his absurd request.
"Don't be ridiculous!" She told him as she stood up, sword in her own hand and faced the direction of the sounds of lightly pattering steps. Isa stood by her side and picked up a sword as well, nervous that she might have to use it after coming so far in her healing process. Her friends had risked their lives for her though and like Elena had said, there would come a time where she would have to risk hers for the people she loved too.
The girls waited, battle ready, in anticipation of who or what was coming around the corner. They were both surprised when they saw two beady eyes nervously peak around the corner and then quickly retreat only to reveal themselves as belonging to Armando.
"PRINCESS ISABEL! NAOMI!" Shouted the Chief of the Castle as he bounded towards them, arms wide open. His joyous expression quickly faded however when he saw the bloody mess that surrounded them as well as Gabe down and injured.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"We need to get to the dungeons" Naomi explained. "We need to get everyone that doesn't belong in there to safety."
"Can you help us?" Isa asked.
"Of course" Armando replied eagerly.
They wrapped up Gabe's shoulder wound and made him a sling for his arm to limit his movements. Armando helped him to his feet and Naomi was there waiting to offer him support. Gabe wrapped his good arm around her shoulders and leaned in as Naomi held his waist to steady him. He was still a little woozy from losing a lot blood so they moved slowly, but as efficiently as they could towards the dungeons.
"Those three guards are usually the only ones down here, so we should be ok" Armando explained as they walked down the stairs, finally arriving at their destination. "I don't have a key though" Armando confessed.
"No problem" Gabe told him as he took out the key Mateo had given him. "This one will get the job done"
"Great!" Armando replied. "I'll let you get to it then. Your mother is in that first cell over there"
"What?!" Gabe gasped, stunned and completely unaware that his mother had been there. "My mother is here?!"
"Oh... I thought you knew..." Armando said, sorry that he hadn't been more gentle in breaking the news. Gabe just shook his head that he hadn't known. "She's been here since the first day of the invasion"
"no..." he said softly, his heart breaking at the thought of his poor sweet Mama being locked up for nearly a year. "Armando, will you go let her out? Quickly? Please? I can't move too fast and even a second longer of her being there is too long"
"Of course!" Armando agreed. He took the key from Gabe and ran down towards her cell.
"Gracias Senor! Gracias!" Blanca said again and again as she stepped out of the darkness and into the dim lighting.
Gabe took his arm from around Naomi's shoulder and stood using his own strength. He slowly and mostly hunched over from his wounds, made his way towards his mother. She gasped at the sight of him and Armando had to literally catch her as she lost her breath and her footing. Tears welled up in Gabe's eyes as he looked upon the woman who had raised him.
"Mama...?" He said gently and Blanca immediately went to her son. He dropped down to his knees, partly because he couldn't take the pain anymore, partly to equal Blanca's height but mostly he was just letting go of all of his emotions. Blanca wrapped both arms around Gabe and he buried his face in her chest and just cried the way any child would when looking to their mother for comfort. She rocked him in her arms before framing his face with her hands and staring into boyish eyes.
"Let me look at that handsome face Mijo" She said with a smile, wiping away his tears.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this Mama... it's all my fault" Gabe told her, pleading for forgiveness.
"You stop that right now Gabriel!" Blanca reprimanded. "You are a hero! You are MY hero! You've always been a hero to me but today... you've been a hero to all these people in here and to all of Avalor"
Pride radiated in her eyes and though Gabe knew that there were far more brave heroes on that day than he had been, he couldn't argue with her.
"Thank you Mama" He told her and hugged her tightly once more.
"OK" Gabe finally said, gathering himself together and rising to his feet. "We need to get everyone out of here!"
Together, Naomi, Isa, Gabe and Armando freed the wrongly imprisoned citizens of Avalor. They lead them out to a nearby secret passage and found Skylar, Luna and Migs waiting for them all.
"Phew! We were starting to get worried!" Skylar greeted them. "Who's up first?!"
Gabe escorted his mother over to the jaquins and helped her climb on the best that he could.
"Go with Skylar, he's going to take you and the others somewhere safe. I'll come for you once the city is secured. I promise. I love you Mama!" Gabe told her and gave her one last kiss on the cheek before sending her on her way.
"Alright! let's go find Elena and Mateo!" Naomi announced once all the prisoners were out and safe.