Chapter 379

Siv was on his back on the ground, struggling with the large faerie atop him. Lucien caught a glimpse of their fight as he ducked the blade of another Courtier. This one had clearly taken his training seriously as he had some pretty flashy moves and Lucien was forced back again and again just to avoid being sliced. He heard Siv's grunt and another glance told Lucien that his new friend was losing.

"SIV!" Kaii called, followed by a frustrated growl and a glance in his direction told Lucien that the blonde faerie was trying to get away from the Courtier he was grappling with in order to help Siv. "Siv, hold it…"

"… can't…" the sound that came out of Siv then held a little panic and Lucien sent a rush of flames at the Courtier still trying to slice off one of his appendages. As his enemy dropped his blade with a pained shriek, Lucien slipped around him and took stock of the scene in the hallway.

Kaii was pinned against a wall, his sword up before himself as he tried to keep the Courtier in front of him from pressing his own blade into his chest. There was no way that Kaii was getting out of that in a hurry while Siv was still on his back, gripping the hands and blade of the faerie over him as the tip of the dagger inched slowly toward his ribcage.

"Siv!" Kaii called again, kneeing the faerie he was fighting in the groin and shoving him away. The Courtier came right back up with an enraged snarl and Kaii was again engaged in a quick succession of blows, ducking and weaving where necessary to keep his head.

Siv let out a panicked cry and Lucien hurried forward. He could feel the panic in both Siv, thinking he was about to die, and he could hear the desperation in Kaii's voice as he'd struggled to get to his friend. Lucien understood that anguish, and he wasn't about to watch as either of them were hurt. He lifted his sword as he strode toward Siv and the faerie over him and with one powerful stroke, Lucien separated that faerie's head from the rest of his body.

Covered in splatters of blood, Siv made a gagging noise as he pushed himself up on his elbows. "Gross…" he said, looking up at Lucien, "But thanks…"

"No problem." Lucien smiled at him and then turned and moved for Kaii. Before he got close enough to do anything of use Kaii swung his own blade wide and the faerie facing him crumpled. "Taken care of it yourself…"

"You know it." Kaii flashed him a smile, but then he was moving past Lucien toward Siv and Lucien watched as the blonde helped his friend off the floor, seemingly dusting him off as they looked at one another. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Siv nodded, brushing his hands on his pants, wiping them clean, "No harm done." Honey coloured eyes shifted to meet Lucien's gaze, "Thanks again."

Lucien gave him an acknowledging nod before he let his eyes move over what they had done. "We need to get this mess out of the hallway so it's not found."

Gripping the handle of a nearby door, Kaii opened it and gestured through the door. "Put them in here."

"That'll work." Siv agreed, grabbing the arm of the closest body and dragging it toward the door. Lucien followed suit, hoping that their quick clean up job would prevent anyone finding out that they were in this part of the Palace. If they could remain undetected for as long as possible they stood a better chance of succeeding.

Lucien grit his teeth as he dragged the charred remains of another toward the door. They had heard nothing from Helion or the other group since they had separated earlier, and he supposed that could possibly be a good thing. If nothing had been heard from them then they had remained undetected. Surely if they had been captured or killed, the noise of it would have reached them. There would have been some indication.

The small room off the hallway was apparently some kind of sitting room. It wasn't as large or grand as one of Helion's private rooms, and he supposed it must have belonged to some of the Courtiers or perhaps used for guests. The bodies were put to the left, out of sight if one just happened to glance into the room, and then they closed the door behind themselves as they returned to the hallway. Lucien adjusted his sword at his hip, eyes scanning the hallway for any signs they had been there, his gaze catching on the splatters of blood. He doubted they would find a mop, and so he figured they would just have to move along before someone came upon them.

"Ready?" Kaii asked and both Lucien and Siv nodded their agreement. Siv bent to retrieve his fallen blade, sheathing it quickly and squaring his shoulders before receiving a friendly clap on the shoulder from Kaii.

They moved again up the hallway, nearly having covered two thirds of the East section of the palace. It was past midday and Lucien was pleased to realised that he would be able to keep his promise and return to Elain by the time it grew dark.

"How do you think the others have gone?" Kaii asked and Siv gave a shrug.

"Probably the same as we have." Lucien replied, "Hope so, at least."

"Yeah," Kaii agreed, "Could have been worse."

"Almost was." Kaii said, "You were almost skewered."

"True…"

Lucien stopped listening to the banter between the two guards when a rush of adrenaline reached him down the bond. He stopped walking, grabbing at the bond and trying to read it more carefully. He looked for any clue as to what might have triggered that response in Elain, but there was nothing, and the only logical conclusion he could come up with was that they had been found in the library.