Sipros watched as his friend fell to the ground covered in blood. The bloodied wing held by the garluts lifted her above its head, and it opened its mouth to drink the blood that dripped from it. Sipros tried once again to get out from under the pillar. Letting out a fierce growl and pushing with all his strength, he freed himself from the massive pillar, ran towards the garluts with his jaw wide open, and his fangs sank into its neck from behind.
The surprised garluts tried to break free, its body writhing in a desperate attempt to escape the fierce grip. With each movement, Sipros adjusted his bite, ensuring he maintained control. The roar of the garluts mixed with Sipros's growl. Despite the garluts's tough skin, Sipros's fangs pierced above the collarbone, managing to penetrate it. Black blood spurted from the monster, and its struggle ceased. Sipros opened his jaw and spat the putrid body aside. He ran towards Sayura, who was weak.
"I can still fight… don't worry," said Sayura with a tired voice as she stood up. "You have to go, he went after them."
"I'm sorry to leave you," he said, placing his forehead against hers.
He felt his mana decrease, but still, she would not fall so easily. He licked the wound left by the garluts on her back, and his saliva helped to close the wound and prevent her from bleeding out. Likewise, she licked his injured eye and the bleeding stopped.
"Stay safe," said Sipros firmly.
He turned on his four paws and galloped up the stairs, fury emanating from his fur. He was not going to allow Vyrkon to harm anyone else.
***
Corman let out a roar as the blade of his sword pierced the throat of the remaining Garluts. He lowered his sword while catching his breath. He had to hurry and stop Vyrkon.
He hoped that Sipros would manage to stop him, but he knew his brother too well to think he wouldn't find a way to get rid of Sipros and reach the queen. He straightened up and with a deafening whistle, called his bird, Erkonomo.
The enormous bird reached him seconds later, extending its huge colorful wings as it descended. Corman stepped onto the edge of the wall and jumped. The bird caught him halfway, and he extended his arms to grab the straps of the saddle. Once seated on it, they flew straight to the palace to stop his brother.
***
Vyrkon ascended the spiral staircase of the palace, not stopping to check the rooms on either side of the hallway. He knew exactly where the baby would be. Isayri had made a second premonition to locate the baby. He strode down the hallway, and at the entrance of the room he was heading to, eight soldiers guarded the door. In the blink of an eye, Vyrkon finished them off with ease.
Hearing the screams from the other side of the door, Ukreel ran towards the bed and took Amiona, wrapping her in her arms. Uriaka grabbed her curnol(7) stone and drew a protective seal around them. The protective shield deployed once she finished tracing the oval lines of the seal.
Vyrkon kicked down the door and entered the room.
"Don't come any closer!" Ukreel ordered firmly. He walked towards them with a smile and replied:
"Or what? I doubt you two can do anything to defend yourselves."
"Don't underestimate us," Uriaka spoke this time. He laughed, mocking them, took another step forward, and they both shuddered again. Vyrkon's presence was unpleasant and frightening. He walked towards them with a firm stride, ready to attack.
He raised his sword and struck, but a protective mantle stopped his attack. Uriaka's protective mantles were very resilient, but Vyrkon's determination was also strong. The mantle began to crack like an eggshell with each thrust. Uriaka covered Ukreel and Amiona with her body, clinging to them to protect them. She knew the mantle wouldn't last long.
And so it happened. The mantle shattered into many crystal-like fragments, and when there was nothing left to protect them, the sword cut through Uriaka's body from behind. She let out a loud scream, but her cry faded quickly.
"You must be strong," she whispered breathlessly to Ukreel, and her body vanished into tiny sparkles.
"Uriaka!" Ukreel screamed in pain. Vyrkon watched the scene with satisfaction, raising his sword towards them. Ukreel had no power or weapon to defend herself or protect against Vyrkon's attacks. All she could do was hold Amiona tightly, but Vyrkon's sword never touched her. The sword clashed against another protective mantle made of pure mana, just a few inches from Ukreel's face.
The impact flung Vyrkon to the other side of the room, slamming him against the wall.
"Arg!" he exclaimed as he stood up. "I didn't expect that… seems like you're a baby full of surprises." He swung his sword once more, ran towards them again, and continued: "But it won't work a second time." When he attacked them again, the mana mantle appeared once more, but this time it wouldn't work again. Vyrkon remained firm in his attacks.
He attacked repeatedly just as he did to break Uriaka's protective mantle. Amiona's mana was not strong enough to maintain the mantle, so it broke, and the sword wounded Ukreel in her right shoulder.
She screamed in pain, falling to the ground and covering her daughter with her body.
"I'll make sure you and Satir are reunited very soon, and then your daughter will join you," he said, and Ukreel scrambled away from him.
"Don't you dare touch my daughter with your filthy hands!" she exclaimed in rage, and Amiona cried non-stop. Vyrkon raised his sword, and before delivering the final blow, Corman entered through the balcony, launching himself fully and interposing himself between Vyrkon and her with his activated shield, stopping his brother's sword.
***
Cork and Ternon entered the palace as quickly as they arrived, but there were still enemies inside. They faced them the moment they encountered them, and Sayura and the few remaining soldiers fought alongside Ternon and Cork against them. The fight didn't last long with the help they provided. After the battle, Ternon made his way through the wounded, and saw the bloodied white figure of Sayura. The tigress was missing one of her wings, and her condition didn't look good.
"Can you continue?" Ternon asked.
"Yes, there's no time to lose. Vyrkon went after the queen and my lady," she said, and without another word, they ran towards the stairs.
The battle that had stopped resumed once again. Corman wasn't going to let Vyrkon escape again. The metallic sound of both swords clashing echoed in the room, while Ukreel crawled to find refuge from the fight.
Something unexpected happened: Corman's sword broke in two from a powerful strike by Vyrkon's sword. His shield was the only thing protecting him from his brother's sword attacks, and when the final strong blow was delivered, Corman's shield shattered in two. He heard his bones crack as they broke, and he let out a harsh growl of pain.
"Now, I'll finish you off as I should have done many years ago," Vyrkon bellowed, raising his sword to deliver the final blow.
But Sipros arrived just in time and lunged at Vyrkon, catching his hand in his jaws. He shook him from side to side and flung him forcefully across the room. Moments later, Sayura, Cork, and Ternon entered the room and rushed to Queen Ukreel.
"We need to heal that wound," Cork said. He thought of asking Sayura to lick the wound, as her saliva had the power to heal injuries, but he stopped when he saw the severity of it. The queen's wound was shedding tiny sparkles. Sayura also noticed this, so she said nothing.
"Sayura, help me get them out of here," Cork said, taking the queen in his arms and mounting her on the tigress's back.
"You all go, I'll stay with them. We'll catch up later," Ternon said.
"I can't fly, so we'll jump. Hold on tight," Sayura commented. She ran towards the balcony and jumped. Landing on her four paws on the grass soaked by the heavy rain wasn't easy.
Her paws slipped on the grass, but she made a massive effort to prevent rolling and further injuring her ribs. Panting from the effort, she stood up and continued running in the rain.
"We'll use one of the secret passages in the royal tomb that lead to the misty forest."
"Alright."
The thick mist of the forest that never disappeared would hide them long enough until they managed to leave the city.
"Are you okay?" Ternon asked, helping Corman to his feet.
He responded with a nod while gripping his fractured arm tightly. As soon as Vyrkon regained consciousness, he stood up again. He looked around, realizing his target had escaped.
He cursed loudly and quickly grabbed his sword, but before he could attack, Ternon threw a heavy bookshelf at him using the Tencorpus spell. The hit slammed him against the wall, trapping him underneath it.
Vyrkon made a great effort to lift the furniture, his muscles straining as he raised it.
"It's time to go," Ternon said to his companions. Sipros nodded and looked at Corman to get on his back. Reluctantly, Corman had to accept that even though he wanted to kill his brother, in his condition he would never defeat him.
So, he climbed onto his companion's back along with Ternon. Before flying out the balcony, he looked at his brother helplessly, knowing once again their fight wouldn't have an end.
***
"I am sure that Cork will guide Sayura through the secret passages of the royal tomb," Sipros said while landing on the damp grass and heading toward the passages at a gallop.
"We shouldn't have left Vyrkon alive," Corman commented, closing his eyes tightly.
"I felt Isayri's presence nearby. If we had stayed, we would have faced her and surely Derkno as well," Ternon said. "I can face Isayri, but none of us can take on Derkno. Our priority is to get the queen and the princess to safety."
"… Once again, he defeated me," bitterness echoed in his voice. "Damn it!"
"Today, we all lost the battle, Corman. You're not the only one who feels helpless in the face of defeat," Sipros said with sorrow.
Corman clenched his teeth tightly. Sipros was right; they had lost much in this war. The wind had whispered of the death of their king; there was no greater loss than that. And now, they had to worry about keeping the queen and the princess safe that was their priority at the moment.
They arrived at a tomb that, at first glance, looked like a small mansion. As they approached the door, they saw it was ajar. Sayura's footprints led to the altar of the first king, Amion. Corman and Ternon dismounted from Sipros's back.
Corman groaned at the pain caused by his fractured arm. Ternon approached to help set his broken bones. The sorcerer took Corman's arm and, without giving him time to prepare, set the bones with a yank. His companion let out a rough growl of pain and waited for it to subside before tying the leather belt he wore over his arm as if it were a bandage.
Ternon walked to the right-hand corner of the wall, where the emblem of a bird with outstretched wings was imprinted. He pushed the emblem, and a mechanism activated, the floor below the altar silently slid, revealing stairs descending into the depths of the earth.
The three of them descended the stairs. The torches on both sides of the walls lit up, and as they advanced, the passage door closed. They reached the bottom, and more torches lit up in front of them. The passage was long and narrow; they walked as quickly as possible. At the end, three more paths appeared, but there were no tracks to indicate which path their companions had taken. Still, Sipros knew the right one, so they took the path to the left.
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7. The curnol stone is white, with a red light drop shining in its center.