A Game To Break

"I messed up, I thought I had left more than enough guards with Tearia."

If what the messenger was saying was true then Xilo was in for a lot more trouble then he imagined. "No one could have taken them except for Landel's men." He had thought he was prepared for everything and now that was being spit back in his face. Two moves that he didn't expect from Landel in the slightest and Lexia was missing. "Did Lexia know about this and go off on her without telling me?" Since there were no bodies of Tearia she would assume they were alive and go to Landel directly. "Walking directly into a trap." She probably knew that and he did as well.

"Even though it's a trap, I can't just leave her and the others to Landel. If Lexia is already there....we should have a decent chance at fighting back against Landel with everyone. It might have been faster than I was expecting but oh well. If Landel wants to play these kinds of games then I'll make my move."

Xilo's priority would be everyone's safety over victory. Twirling his hand in the air he brought everyone with him as he went to go tell the others. Once they had heard all the details a group of over two thousand strong went down the open streets of the Capital City right for the Castle. People peeked out of their windows that were still here with fear in their eyes. The sounds of their many footsteps were breaking the silence of the dead City. Xilo spread out his senses as he made sure no one was watching them. "A couple weird presences." Taking note of a few that were in hiding watching him, Xilo knew they were on the right track.

"I can feel Lexia close, everyone let's go. We have no time to spare anymore."

The sounds of shouting echoed behind him as Xilo saw the gate coming into few. A few figures stood around it with zero intent to block anyone's way. Inside stood a small group with a woman in front of them all and a man standing up on a platform. Standing over them he didn't make a move as he pointed to a cage behind him. Following his fingers Xilo, Flinched as he saw all of his friends trapped inside of the cage. "They're here." Running right past the gate, Xilo let his men handle the guards there. Once Xilo entered Landel looked his way and smiled, happy that everyone was finally here.

"Welcome to you as well, Xilo. It's been a little bit since we last met, I hope you can forgive this unfortunate meeting."

"Landel, release our friends this instant."

Wagging his finger back and forth Landel ignored Xilo as he turned back to Lexia. She was the real star of the show and the one he was after. Xilo was just an extra dessert that he had in mind. Standing face to face with Landel, Lexia felt that urge inside of her growing stronger. She wanted to lash out and slice Landel's head off without a second thought. "What's he up to?" She was waiting for something to happen ever since she walked through the gate. Some kind of trap to weaken her or keep her here. Instead he had just sat still and let her formulate a plan after he had spoken to her. "Something weird is going on." She just didn't know what it was yet.

"What do you want then Landel, you've got us both here now and a bunch of hostages so let's hear it."

"....."

"Perhaps you want to stay silent and keep us here until Cestrin's King shows up and forces us to fight together or something else?"

That was the only thing Lexia could think of, even if it sounded like a silly plan

Peering at Xilo and Lexia, Landel was happy that both of his prey had walked so willingly into his trap. The air around him changed as he jumped down from the platform he was standing on. Point to their friends Landel began to speak with them. He wanted to see just how much he could break and tear apart their flimsy alliance. Not because they were a threat to him but because it would be fun to see how far they could turn against each other. Maybe if things went his way they would fight each other without him ever having to make a move.

"That would be perfect."

Clasping his hands together he continued his speech.

"As you can see, I've taken the liberty to bring all of your friends to our get together. I hope you don't mind too much for inviting them without telling you. I thought you would enjoy the surprise. Most of all I want to see just how far you're willing to go for them."

"What are you getting at?"

Venom had replaced Xilo's saliva as he stood still.

"I've prepared a game I want you two to participate in. If you don't agree, I'll simply just kill them all here and now or you could agree and fight for their freedom. It's pretty simply, no?"

"Bastard."

Lexia didn't say anything while Xilo talked, she wasn't nearly as upset as him, almost like she didn't care at all. All she wanted to do was kill Landel, yet Xilo's presence kept her grounded a bit. Xilo tried to contain himself, since he knew if he attacked recklessly then that was the end of Tearia and everyone else.

"What kind of sick game do you want us to play then Landel?"

They were in no position to bargain, only listen.

"Eh it's just a fun game where we see just how loyal you two are to each other. If you two agree to stay on each other's side then I'll give you your friends back no questions and if not, they die. The other option is I'll give my life to Lexia willingly if she betrays you. My life for your friends, I'd think it's a fair exchange, what about you Xilo?"

Landel's smile grew more creepy as he got towards the end of explanation