I was hiding behind a tree but Sounge and Druk were separate from me. They were hidden behind bushes very close to the Palace. The only way I could hear them was if they screamed but that option wasn't available in this situation. It would only be wise to gesture them to be careful unlike me who was hiding behind the thinnest tree out of all.
A guard spotted something moving and called out, "Who's there?!" His cry seemed didn't seem to be heard by the other guards who were at a distance. I let the man reach right next to me but before he could alert the others of my presence, I slashed his neck off with his own sword. Throwing his body behind the bush near, I scouted the area. No guards seemed to be patrolling around. I decided to progress towards Druk and Sounge and then plan the next step. Druk was watching my every step and became nervous and signaled me every time a guard was near. I murdered at least twenty guards before I reached them.
I too joined them and crouched behind the bunch of bushes. "How are we supposed to enter the Palace? First of all, where is the entrance?! This place is so huge I don't know if we are any close to the entrance!" Druk made the loudest whispers possible to express his frustration. I told him to shut his mouth so that we could think clearly. Sounge made a small noise and stretched his head towards a part of the region. We followed his gaze towards a bridge which leads to the entrance of the left tower. Something told me that this was where my friends were held captive. It was probably the Zantai power. "We need to go there." I suggested. Druk wasn't still convinced.
"But how do we reach the bridge without getting caught?" He remarked. I didn't have an answer for that. After a few minutes of scouting, I chose the best possible time when none of the guards were present and we progressed forward. We were now right below the bridge. Now I knew why the bridge was built. There was water till our knees and it was hard walking forward. The water was clean with fishes living as well. I signaled Druk to follow me and we started progressing forward, taking the same route as the bridge, walking right below it. None of the guards had time to look into the water and we had a good journey to the shore.
Once on the other side, we went into stealth mode and tried hiding behind whatever we found near us. We soon progressed forward towards the enormous entrance. The gates were themselves thirty feet tall. I was the closest and signaled the Sounge to stay back with Druk. I looked in front and found five guards standing near the gates. Two were on either side of the gates and three were right in the center inside. I decided that the best way to fight these monsters is not through physical combat. I unlocked my Zantai power and began controlling one of the guards' minds. Of course, being Xorain they too possessed the power of Zantai. But all my practice throughout this journey had made me stronger than them.
Controlling one of the creatures was easy. The guard started acting a little weird and the others were taken aback. I decided to control another one of them and managed to do so. Luckily, I had enough energy to not pass out after doing so. The Zantai power is really stressful for the body and I was already feeling pain. My legs were giving way and I was almost on my knees. Druk and Sounge behind me were praying for me. After having two guards acting weird, the other three were sure that something was up. I noticed that they started using their Zantai power to know what was up. There wasn't much time left before I was caught so I acted immediately.
In order to loosen their concentration, I made the two guards pounce on the others and fight with their spears. Controlling two guards during a fight was one of the hardest tasks I had done so far. But I managed to kill two of them. Before the third one could flee, Druk came out of his hiding spot and pounced on the monster. Then I used all my strength and made the two possessed guards pass out as well.
They weren't the only ones who passed out. I became unconscious the very next moment. Opening my eyes, I found myself lying on the ground. Druk was right above me, looking if I had woken up. I slowly sat up and saw Sounge right beside me. Druk whispered, "We are inside the tower, Blaze! Get up." After a little while of rest, I scanned my surroundings. We were hiding behind a group of barrels kept in a corner. Through a small gap, Druk was scouting the area which he claimed to be filled with guards. All were using a spear except one. That one seemed to be of a higher rank as he wore an armor which was slightly different. He was wielding a sword, sharp enough to cut all of us to pieces.
"We're in a fix! One movement from our side and they will catch us." Druk warned. More than the guards, I was interested in the barrels behind which we were hidden. I slightly opened the lid of one of them, making sure no one noticed. Inside I found gunpowder for war. Great! That was exactly what we needed. They were well prepared in terms of ammunitions as well. Curious, Druk came up on his knees – making sure his head was not visible to the guards – and looked at the gunpowder. He grabbed a handful, verifying whether it really was gunpowder. It was.
Just at that moment, one of the guards came to lift a barrel to transport them somewhere. He looked at us with wide eyes and for a moment, forgot what he needed to do. Then he shouted and everyone was alert of our presence. He was about to strike with his spear when Druk threw the powder he held on the guard's face. The monster collapsed and we ran away from the others. But they had spotted us already and were chasing us. I found one of them leaving the hall to warn the guards outside of the intruders. I grabbed Magnum and threw it with such force, the helmet of the guard went flying and his neck started bleeding. He fell to his death. Summoning the battle-axe back to my hand, I decided that combat was the only option now.
I announced, "Sounge, make sure no one exits. Druk, its battle time!"