Chapter 7

"Your majesties." They all greeted in unison, slightly bowing their heads. They were panting and looked extremely tired and terrified. They were covered in blood. Cuts were also visible on their arms but they don't look to be heavily injured.

The thought of them coming from an event or some sort of a cosplay crossed my mind but their cuts seemed to be actual injuries. Fresh blood is actually flowing right from their wounds.

"What has happened?" Octavia approached one of them.

The one on the left slightly lifted his head. His eyes not looking straight at Octavia but, focused on the ground. All three are showing great respect for them. "My lady, our village is under attack. T-T-They ... they killed most of our abled men."

They? Who's they? I studied them and they appeared to be on edge. I don't exactly know what to think of the situation. Back in my world, there would be cops and agents all over the place by this time. Come to think of it, they don't seem to have that kind of reinforcement in this world.

"They have started," Alex whispered.

He approached one of them and reached for his sword from behind. He also pulled the dagger that was tucked in from the same person's belt. Walking over to the other one, he also pulled his sword from its scabbard and threw it at Octavia. She caught it swiftly like the weight of the sword was nothing. Octavia pointed the sword outwards and examined its sharpness while running her finger to the length of it.

I caught them briefly looking at each other and giving a slight nod. What are they planning on doing? Rush towards the chaos? With that thought, I neared the third man as well and stretched my hand to take his sword. I scanned the weapon from its golden handle to its razor sharp edge. It shimmered under the sunlight. I admit that I am not very skilled with handling a sword but I have had training before. I wave it in the air, trying to get used to its weight. The sound of the sword whistling as it cut through the air is something I have not heard in a long time. I am more of a dagger and a hand gun person but, I guess I have to get used to blades since that is what seemed to be their primary weapon here.

I realized that everyone grew silent. I looked at each and everyone of them while they watched me in confusion. "What? I'm coming too." I said shrugging at them.

Octavia gaped at me, showing a wondering expression. "No, you are not." She muttered. Alexander walked from behind and stood beside her. He held the sword over his shoulder and the dagger on the other hand.

"Take her to the palace and keep her safe." Alex instructed the three men with authority. All of them straightened their posture and nodded simultaneously. They walked towards me and surrounded me like a predator would do to its prey.

"Wait! I can help." I insisted twirling the sword in my grasp. I can manage despite the lack of expertise in sword fighting. Octavia crossed the distance between us and rested her hand on my shoulder, "You must go with them, they will keep you safe." She gave them a nod then one of them extended his hand, showing the way, "This way, my lady."

I had no choice but to give up and go with them. I turned back but only saw Octavia running, Alexander was out of sight. How did that happen? I swear it had only been a couple of seconds since I turned my back from them.

"My lady, we must hurry." He said and they all started to pick up their speed.

I intentionally slowed down my pace until all three of them passed me. However, my brain feels like it has two minds of its own, fighting against each other whether or not I would go after Octavia and Alexander. I don't exactly have the time to contemplate before doing something I would regret. I hissed and cursed under my breath.

I silently turned course before they even notice that I was not behind them. I ran as fast as I could, still holding the sword firmly, to the direction of where they went. The smoke that's actively still rising is black which means the fire is still burning.

I thought that it is a very bad idea going after them, but curiosity won me over. I wanted to see what is happening. If I am going to stay here for a while, it would be nice to start knowing everything about this realm, this early, and this instant.

I was running out of air so I stopped and held on to the trunk of a tree. I stared at the sword in my hand and thought that the weight is holding me back. It is much more heavier than the ones I used to train with. It must have been made with real metal. While swinging it in my grasp, I was able to hear it clearly, the screams - an agonizingly desperate call for help. I followed the sound with my eyes and saw the thick black smoke in the air, this time it is dangerously close. I didn't waste any more second so I ran towards it.

I reached the end of the forest and came to a clearing. I could only sigh at the sight of chaos in front of me. Women and children were running for their lives. There were countless of lifeless body lying on the ground. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This is a cold blooded massacre!

Some of their men stayed to fight off but they were definitely outnumbered. Those men on their horses must be the enemies. The odd thing is they fought with incredible strength and speed. It was as if they have special abilities like those superheroes have.

I came out from my trance when I spotted a child crying, trying to wake what seemed like her dead father. What grabbed my attention is the man coming up from behind her, his sword in the air and aiming to hit her. My feet moved instantly. I swayed the sword in my hand and used it to stop his sword before hitting the little girl. The man looked at me, shock written on his face. He pulled his sword back and wield it, ready to strike me. It was as if I could read his next move so before he accomplishes it, I hit him on his jaw in an upward motion with the tip of the sword's handle. His head flew back, spitting blood in the process getting some of it on my left cheek. I quickly wiped it with the back of my hand, only to find out that I smeared it more.

"Help me! Please!" The child cried out, tugging the hem of my long sleeves. I averted my gaze from the knocked out man to the little girl. Streams of tears were flowing from her eyes. Her grey shirt soaked in his father's blood. My eyes softened by the sight of her.

I immediately bend down and placed my fingers on her father's neck, checking for a pulse, a sign of life. Nothing. I examined his body and found that he died from a stab to the chest. "I beg of you, please wake my father." She cried, holding my arm.

"I'm sorry." It was all that I could say.

She slumped down and started wailing. I pulled her into my arms and wrapped my hands around her. She is way too young to witness the death of her dad, I don't know how she could possibly move on from this.

I noticed that they are winning and that there are only a number of these good men left standing. I let go of the little girl and looked her straight in the eye. "Alright, here's what you're going to do, I want you to ran to the woods and hide. Don't look back." I told her, pointing towards the forest. She just looked at me confusedly and eventually nodded in agreement.

"Greta!" A woman yelled, making the girl turn her head. Her face lightened and immediately stood to her feet, running towards the woman while calling her 'mother'. I waited until they were out of sight before standing and making my way to one of the soldiers.

"Hey dickhead!" I called to him. He looked around him, trying to find me. "Yeah, you!" I said. He looked at me devilishly before coming to attack me.

In a split second, he is standing in front of me his sword in the air. He did not even give me a chance to blink before coming at me. How the hell did he do that?

I managed to react fast enough and raised my sword intercepting his. As soon as his sword smashed into mine, making a clanking sound, he disappeared from my sight. The surprise got me causing me to widen my eyes.

There it is again.

Not a second later, I felt a presence from behind. My instinct told me to bend my back and duck. I was right. I saw a shadow of a sword going over my head and if I had not done so, I would be decapitated by now.

My heart rate raised, the adrenaline flowing through my blood vessels. This soldier have the advantage of speed or whatever superpowers he possesses so I have to be smart.

I avoided all his charges and decided to play defense. Damn. I can't find a chance to attack him so all I did was to take one step back trying not to get my skin cut in the process. He is way too fast for my liking but I can deal with it. All he did was to come at me with his powerful and speedy swings.

As soon as I got tired fighting all of his attacks, I waited for his last strike and ducked down, evading his sword. Now he is slightly facing the other way. I took that chance and jumped high enough to hit him at his nape. He lost consciousness and suddenly fell on his face. I winced at how he fell. He'll wake up to find out his nose is broken.

I fixed my posture, trying to catch my breath. If I had a little hard time putting him down, what more of the others?

I took my time to take a deep breath and rest a little before going on. While doing so, I searched with my eyes to find where Octavia and Alexander are. That got my focus and attention so I was not able to react fast enough upon someone targeting me. By the time I noticed him coming at me, the dagger he just threw grazed me by my right shoulder. He was so fast that after throwing his dagger, he ran and is about to dig his sword at me like he knew that dagger will just graze and not kill me.

I managed to take a step back to give me space and parried his force reflexively by holding my sword firmly to match the impact. We moved back and forth with neither of us giving up. I could definitely use this situation to practice my skills. It's time to go on full force and get it done as quickly as possible.

He came at me again but this time with speed. This time he aimed on slicing across my stomach instead of stabbing me through. I jumped backwards but the distance was not enough to avoid the blade so I arched my back instead. His pace gave him the advantage. I was not able to recover fast enough from the jump I just did so he took that chance and pointed his bloody sword at my face.

I stood very still because I felt that even the slightest move would now cause me my life. There was a brief pause in that position before he pulled his sword back, swinging it in the air in an act to cut my head off. Again, what is it with swords and beheading. This is twice now!

I parried again but this time, the side of the blade is so close to my face. I held and pushed my sword up as much as I can to get it off my face. I was making progress on pushing back when a sword suddenly thrusts straight through the middle of his chest. He gasped and let go of his sword. I stared at him with wide eyes.

His face twisted in pain. Then the sword abruptly pulled back causing the soldier to fall to the ground and revealing Alexander from behind him. It was him! I looked at him with pure shock. His breath heavy, blood on his hands and is dripping on the sword he is holding. His clothes are painted with splashes of blood.

H-He just kill someone!

"Have you got a death wish or something? What in hell are you doing here?!" He asked in gritted teeth. I could feel the frustration radiate from him. Despite that, I did not mind his semi backlash, instead I watched the guy choke on his own blood.

"I had it! You did not have to kill him." I said, my eyes fixed at the bleeding but now dead man on the ground. His eyes were open and it stared right at me like I was the one who drove the sword through him. My hand trembled as I watched his blood flow from his chest and for the ground to soak it down.

"It is you or him." he remarked with a scoff. My eyes made its way to him, giving him the 'unbelievable' look. I was going to open my mouth and argue but Octavia cut me off.

"Callie! Are you alright?" Octavia ran towards us and checked my body, turning me around to examine for cuts and injuries. Shock crossed her face the moment she saw my bleeding arm. I didn't answer her because I am still looking at her brother with my deadly look.

"Oh gosh! A-Are alright?" she asked again. I finally averted my gaze and looked at her. I nodded in response.

She suddenly pulled me into a hug. It is quite a shock since it is the first time and yet we barely knew each other. Nonetheless, it was warm. I could really feel her concern, it is genuine and pure.

"What are you doing here? Didn't we tell you to go?" she questioned anxiously while lightly pushing me back. She took the hem of her shirt and ripped a few inches off it. She wrapped the ripped garment on top of my wounded arm and tightly knotted it behind to stop it from bleeding.

Upon doing so, we heard the sound of several trotting horses nearby that got our attention. Men in their leather/metal armours came and started fighting.

"The troops are here, we should get going." Alexander uttered and started walking away.

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