Chapter 7

Damus ran down the dark alley followed by his five friends and five other fellow mutineers. He stopped at the corner that led onto the street and held up his hand to stop them as well. He peaked out from the alley and noticed two town guards walking away from them.

Damus quietly drew his curved sword. When he did Sutarr drew his saber and stepped up beside him and peaked out as well. With a nod, both of them ran out as quietly as they could and charged at the guards. With Pyesis and Abtarr following slowly behind. As fast as lightning Damus and Sutarr cut down the guards and then quickly moved into the shadows along the road. Pyesis and Abtarr quickened their pace and grabbed the falling guards and their weapons before they could touch the ground and cause noise and followed the other two into the shadows. They hid the guards in the shadows, and the group ran down the street.

Their aim was the large palace at the center of town. It has been a decade since the start of the war against the beasts. It didn’t last long, and most beasts are now extinct. Now Xelos’ is far too powerful and his empire is rotting. A group of fellow soldiers joined Damus and Sutarr in their coup d’état.

Damus, Sutarr, Pyesis, Abtarr, and four others ran along the streets. Meanwhile, the two fastest of their group, Qobus, and Gydes, ran along the rooftops to scout ahead and eliminate any other guards in the way.

When they hit the long stairways, they regrouped together. Once they arrived at the top of the stairs, they pushed open the large metal doors and saw their target sitting on his throne as if he expected them.

“Xelos! Your reign of tyranny comes to an end.” Damus shouted.

“Damus? I didn’t expect one of the leaders of my armies to be leading this little group. Though it makes little difference.” Xelos stood up from his throne and drew his Jian from its scabbard. The thin, elegant sword contrasted his large rough body. “And how do you expect to overthrow me?”

“As we planned it, everyone!” Sutarr yelled to their group.

Qobus and Gydes ran forward with their weapons drawn. Qobus used his large and thick knife to quickly stab at Xelos, who easily took it directly without it piercing his skin. Gydes swung wide at Xelos, but his gladius’ power was absorbed by Xelos’ arm. A bulky Fobril followed soon after and swung his massive broad ax in a downward strike. Xelos brought his sword up and deflected it with ease.

As they had expected Xelos’ defenses were as impregnable as always. So, they resorted to their second plan.

The rest of the group surrounded the fighting men and rose their hands. They shouted in unison “Xelos your powers are buried in a blood pool of treachery. We deem you unworthy of this power, and thus the mighty gift you have been given will now belong to us!” Their hands glowed, and beams of light came from Xelos. The beams reached their hands, and he began to shout in agony.

“What are you doing to me?” Xelos shouted.

“We are taking your powers Xelos, and with it, we will kill you,” Damus said.

Qobus, Gydes, and Fobril quickly fell back and raised their hands as well, so that they may also absorb his power. Xelos, however, had begun to withstand the pain and rose up to face the group of traitors before him.

He charged forward and in a blink of an eye Qobus and Gydes were gone. Fobril stood there and blocked the attack with ease. There was a sudden pain in Xelos’ back, and he turned to see Qobus and Gydes with their weapons covered in blood. Xelos flew into a rage and created a ball of fire in his hand and launched it at the two. He made another and threw it at Fobril. He made another much larger one and threw it at the half-circle of people who were stealing his power.

Every one of them missed. Xelos became angrier and charged at Qobus with a speed that surpassed his. He swung his Jian, but Qobus managed to block it, but what he couldn’t block was the power that was behind the attack. It sent him flying towards a wall, and he crashed in it with such a mighty force that he cracked it.

Xelos began to do the same thing to each of his opponents systematically. Each one of them managed to block it and were sent flying into a wall. The only people that stood before Xelos were Damus, Sutarr, and Gydes.

Gydes raised his hand at Xelos, and there was a flash of light, and a bolt of lightning shot out, slicing a cut into Xelos shoulder and hitting the wall behind him. Damus and Sutarr both raised their hands together and out came a ball of fire. They threw it at Xelos who deflected those with ease.

Realizing that his opponents were learning to use their powers, he decided that he had enough of them. He blasted forward with a speed that surpassed even before. In a flash, he was floating in the air before Gydes. He swung his sword in a circle and hit Gydes. Gydes couldn’t block it in time and was hit in the chest sending blood splattering onto the ground.

He didn’t even cry out in pain as he flopped to the ground; he had died so instantly. Xelos bent over and grabbed Gydes’ gladius and said “Come countless thunders! All things must perish in the blink of an eye! Embody this blade with your pure power.” The spell infused lightning magic into the sword. He began to slowly walk towards the last two fools who dared to oppose him. Realizing that they were outmatched and noticed their group were starting to recover from Xelos’ attacks, Damus and Sutarr jumped back to them.

“This isn’t working; we are still too weak to fight him. Go on to plan B.” Damus shouted.

Just then four robed figures fell from the ceiling.

“Wait a minute, that’s the Order of Valor. I thought they were out hunting down more beasts.” Qobus cried out.

“That doesn’t change the plan. Keep going.”

They all rose their hands again and said “Immovable earth and beautiful ice, we call upon you to freeze the time in front of us in stone! Let it be done so that our foes may never feel the warmth of life again!”