The Special Ops Force found themselves inside a darkened cavern as soon as they ported through. Cobalt gave a signal for them to follow and he led them through the cave to the back where a sealed doorway had been carved into the stone.
"Mashangjiehsuo!"
There was a click and the door swung open. They followed the red-haired Ashryan into a stone-cut hallway that was dimly lit by bronze human hands sticking out of the walls holding glowing spheres of dolmia.
On the stone floor was a dirty faded brown rug that ran the length of the hallway. It smelled of old funk but at least it deadened their footfalls.
He led them down the left side of the corridor until it dead-ended. There was no other passage left or right.
"Mashangjokai"
Cobalt threw his hand out and the dead-end dissolved turning into a T intersection. Again he took the left turn and they kept moving at a fast clip. The hallway looked much cleaner, as if it was regularly cared for.
The dirty faded brown rug from the external hallway turned out to be of the same type that also ran through the inner corridor. It was a deep rich chocolate color. The walls were painted panels of pale beige.
At regular intervals, there were doorways with recessed mahogany doors that led elsewhere into the castle. Cobalt Osiris ignored all the doors and kept moving through the corridor.
This time there were several sets of stairs which they raced up.
Cobalt Osiris flung his hands out, doing a quick auratic scan on the move. Erick saw the speed at which he did the scan and grinned with appreciation. He had never seen one done so quickly and efficiently before. This man was a prince among princes.
"Ten guards coming down the stairs," he barely had time to mutter before the first one jumped down from the top step. He had the advantage of height plus momentum. There was very little maneuvering room for the Special Ops group down the steps.
Jana kicked her body upwards and vaulted overhead in a quick leap. Her lithe strong body twisted in mid-air, kicking the first guard in the head as she landed. He fell to the floor, convulsing. His head had been cracked apart by the sheer force of her boot.
Springing up once again, her strong shapely legs scissored the second guard's neck.
CRACK!
With a quick twist of her limbs, she broke his neck.
She quickly jumped from front of the line to the last man standing at the very back. He never saw her claws coming for his jugular.
There was a very wet sound of someone choking in their own blood. And then a thud.
Behind her, Erick had a blue charge in his hand. At the same time, Cobalt was rolling a pinkish orange charge around between his fingers.
At the moment that Jana cleared the first two guards, they each struck the next two coming down.
"AAAAAHHH!!!" The guards cried as their brains fried to a crisp. The princes gave each other high fives for using different magikal methodology to obtain identical brain-fry results.
The remaining six jumped onto the dwarves' heads. They found the three dwarves had claws of steel which gutted them in no time flat.
Theo, who was guarding the rear, didn't even get a chance to get his claws dirty.
The Special Ops Group raced up the steps. The yelling and screaming of the house guards had brought in more guards.
A dozen more guards piled up at the top of the stairs. With a thundering roar the royal guards rushed down the stairs.
Jana somersaulted over their heads and began fighting the guards in the middle of the stairs.
This time, Theo finally got a chance to do something.
He sprang up above the melee, bouncing back and forth along the walls until he reached the top of the steps.
With one swoop, he cleared out several standing near the top with his powerful legs. They plunged to the bottom of the steps, groaning and rolling around.
With one claw, he batted the guard into the wall next to him. The man's head burst like a smashed watermelon and he sank down into the carpet.
Theo kicked a roundhouse, clearing out half a dozen more guards. They rolled and bounced down the steps, dragging even more of their own royal guards down to the bottom of the stairs.
The two Ashryans and three dwarves avoided them easily as they clattered down the steps.
Erick Rashak reached up and threw a blue electric sphere down the steps after them. All the men who had tumbled down the steps were instantly electrocuted.
Not to be outdone, Cobalt Osiris added extra radiation with his pinkish-red sphere causing their flesh to meld into each other.
In only a few minutes, there was nothing left of the guards but a gooey mish-mash of flesh, hair, and clothing.
The nauseating smell of burned flesh, singed hair, and charred clothing gusted upward into their faces.
Jana gagged and vaulted upwards onto the next set of stairs. She needed to put some space between herself and that gooey mess of melted flesh and bones.
The next landing led them out to a large open space with only three walls. The fourth side was open to the vista below.
There was a grand balcony that jutted outward showcasing large urns of huge red roses that cascaded over the balustrade in a profusion of perfumed opulence.
Beyond the lavish show of roses, Topaz spread out in all its glittering affluence. In the center of that grandiose was the large gleaming white pyramid in all its shining glory.
Standing amidst the scented floral panorama looking out at all that majesty was a tall redhead man of indeterminate age.
His hair was barely long enough to graze his shoulder but nevertheless, he still looked kingly in his white robes trimmed with gold and topaz gems.
He had his back to the group but when he heard their footsteps approaching, he turned his head and fixed his startling blue eyes at Cobalt Osiris.
"You finally caught up with me, cousin." He smiled. Turning to face them, he spread out his arms as if in welcome.
"It didn't take long for you to dispose of my royal guards."
"Is that all you have to throw against invaders in your own palace?" Cobalt spat.
Horatio Zaravan shrugged. "Everyone else has abandoned me. There's no one left in the castle."
His eyes became saddened. "Those men may not seem like much to you, but they are warriors doing the best they can with steel blades and their own bravery and sense of duty to the King of Topaz. How can they possible go up against high level wizards such as you and the Crown Prince of Jade."
Erick jerked a thumb at Jana and Theo. "I hate to burst your bubble of pity but most of them died under the hands of that cat woman, and the rest got trampled on by the wolf man."
"Regardless. I have lost. This kingdom is finally yours for the taking, Cobalt."
"I never wanted to take the throne. You of all people should know that." Cobalt Osiris shook his head.
"You were the rightful Crown Prince, Cobalt. I was the one who ousted you from that position by planting false treasonous evidence against you."
"You don't think my Father knew? By the time he could gather enough evidence to clear me, the entire court and kingdom had turned their support to you."
Horatio Zaravan sighed with regret. "You've done very well under very dire circumstances. I have been waiting all these years for you to retaliate, but you never showed up to wrestle the throne back from me."
"Horatio, I'm quite happy with what I have. I live well, have a wonderful family, and a House that I am proud of. I'm not drunk on power as you are."
Cobalt rubbed a wearied hand over his head. "As long as you were doing a decent job running the kingdom, I was satisfied to leave you the throne. But why, Horatio?"
He shook with anger. "Why would you hand over half your fighting force and one of your strongest Generals over to the Mage Elites? House Monteceto and House Jaynami were our only defenses against those who would seek to do us harm."
Horatio Zaravan ground his teeth. "I had nothing to do with that." He pointed a shaking finger at Erick Rashak. "This tragedy, I place directly at your feet!"
"Me? I wasn't even here. What do I have to do with this mess?" Erick Rashak sniffed.
Horatio Zaravan's face turned savage. "Your father sent a decree forcing me to send my daughter to your kingdom as a captive bride for YOU. I sent you a beautiful princess and what do I get in return, an evil prince who ran about town setting up the Mage Elites and wreaking havoc throughout my kingdom."
He paused and took a deep breath. "If that wasn't enough, you rejected her and broke her heart and pride. She returned to Topaz after having released a blizzard demon that killed thousands and thousands of people."
He waved his arm wildly. "What do you think that did to her? My daughter went insane!"
"What are you trying to tell me Horatio?" Cobalt Osiris prompted.
Horatio Zaravan's voice dropped to a whisper. "It was Celeste who made the deal with Alastaire. She wanted Zander Tamein at all cost. She was the one who handed over half the fighting force to Alastaire just to capture a man who did not even want her."
"By the time I found out what she had done, it was too late." He looked away.
"Where is Zander?" Cobolt's eyes glinted dangerously.
"Is he the only reason why you are here?"
"Why else would I crawl back to this place? I was born here. It was my childhood home but look at it now. I don't even recognize it any more." Cobalt Osiris looked around at the opulence in disgust.
"Nevertheless, I am returning the kingdom of Topaz back to you, Cobalt. I'm sure you can figure out how to turn things around. I no longer have the heart to remain King of the Southern Realm."
Horatio Zaravan turned back to Erick Rashak. "Your cousin is two floors above us, inside Celeste's suite of rooms."
He spread his hands out in an apologetic manner. "For what it's worth, I did not know he was in the palace until a few days ago. I am truly sorry for everything."
And before anyone could say or do anything more, Horatio Zaravan had cast himself over the balustrade.
For a moment, no one said anything. Horatio Zaravan was a very strong First Class wizard who could levitate. There was no way he could die from simply falling over the side of the balcony.
THUD!!!
They all rushed over to the side of the balcony. Horatio Zaravan was lying face down on the paved garden grounds, his blood splattered everywhere.
The King of Topaz was dead.