EREN

Eren laid on his bed—anxiously waiting for the time when he would leave for the watchtower to meet up with Ursa and the rest—when the first thunderclap bellowed up in the sky. The lightening tearing through the rainclouds and notifying the land of the coming storm.

That was the first out of many other sharp, loud cracks which often persisted and tuned into a low rumble up in the sky. The lightening ever so bright and furious, to Eren it felt like the forces of the skies were mad at everyone under it's protection.

After the gradually aggravating weather conditions that presaged a storm, then came the rain. Heartless and wanton, it beat the land and everything under it. The cold outside was almost unbearable as there were terrible gusts of wind disturbing the flow of the rain, sending it everywhere and anywhere, including Eren's window, battering it so loudly.

His room was still so warm and cozy, Eren just wanted to wrap himself up under his silk sheets but he had a future to chase.

It was then the first boulder came, so loud and destructive, the crumbling buildings of the Blazing Keep sent vibrations from the Great hall down to the chamber rooms in the Keep.

Eren dashed to all the windows in his chamber-room, but he couldn't see what or who caused the explosive noise. Then came the second and the third, it kept coming until Eren couldn't keep count anymore. He saw Flame Breathers being rallied in groups and sent to different places around the castle.

His door was then flung open, revealing a castle guard in full gear like he was going for battle.

"You need to come with me, Young Tal Dane," he enunciated expeditiously.

Bolting away from his window, he hurried to stand in front of the guard.

"Why? What's going on?"

"The castle is under attack, Your Fieriness, you must come with me now," the guard opened the door even further, gesturing for him to follow.

Eren was swamped with fear, his face was drained of blood and so were his hands which now felt numb. His heart ceased to beat for a moment as he thought of so many possibilities.

"Do we know who's attacking us?" Eren was frozen on his feet, he couldn't move any muscle that wasn't on his face, so his questions came flying.

"I can't disclose that to you now Young Tal Dane, but you need to come with me down to the castle bunker. Your father and sister are both there."

"Answer me now! I order you!" He could feel the veins in his temples throbbing under the skin as his temper neared it's tipping point.

"I shouldn't Young—"

"You'll answer me now or you'll pay for it," Eren hissed, his legs moving him closer to the guard who stood transfixed and in doubt.

It was then Eren realised he wasn't wearing his mask, because the guard looked down at his face and raised an eyebrow. Taking one more threatening step towards the guard, Eren knew the guard wasn't intimidated by him but he hoped that his title as Young Tal Dane would coerce him to answer.

"It's the danger the Mage has been wary about, turns out it's the long lost Sphinx and a Dakyrian army of warriors from the other Stoichi Tribes."

Eren swayed backwards, almost tripping over his own cold feet. Faldrey told him they had over four days to prepare and he was just going to meet with Ursa tonight. How was The Sphinx already here.

"We have to go now, Young Tal Dane."

Eren had a lot going through his mind, he had to find a way to get to Faldrey and Aphrodite so they could find Ursa together and figure out what they had to. But that was almost impossible with the guard standing right in front of him.

Just then another boulder hit the Keep. It hit so close to the chamber rooms this time. He figured he couldn't keep standing around or he'll be crushed by the relentless boulders.

"Alright, let's go," Eren sped past the guard who quickly followed behind him.

He had to find a way to lose the Flame Breather. They had only walked a few metres away from his room when Eren stopped in his tracks.

"I'm sorry, I need to get something," Eren ran back to his room and hoped the guard wasn't trailing behind him.

Getting into his room, he hid behind the door and waited patiently. There was no sign of the guard but when Eren peeked through the slight space between the hinges and the door, he saw his angry face stomping back to door.

"Young Tal Dane I told you we've to hur—"

The second the guard came into the room, Eren emerged from behind the door. Dashing towards the guard from behind with a wild glow in his eyes, he locked him in a tight chokehold.

The guard reached out, completely taken by surprise and gasping for air, his spear dropped from his hands.

Pulling at Eren's hands with brute force to free himself, but Eren only tightened his hold around the guard's neck. Eyes squeezed shut, he prayed to Zaal go give him enough strength to put the guard to sleep. He hoped that all of his training would finally pay off.

The guard continued pulling and struggling, before he started swaying backwards, pushing Eren with him. They continued wrestling, Eren eyes were still squeezed shut. He didn't want to be distracted by anything at all.

Fortunately he'd locked the guard so perfectly he couldn't even manage a scream, the only noise coming from the room was the sound of things clattering, falling to the floor, and the soft gag sounds coming from the guard.

The guard finally found a wall, with all the strength he had left he made one quick thrust backwards, hitting Eren to the wall. Eren felt a pang of pain shoot from shoulder blades all the way up to the back of his skull, he felt like he was going to have a concussion. But that only made him tighten his hold around the Flame Breather's thick neck.

He kept thrusting backwards, continuously knocking Eren to the wall but the strength of his grip never depleted. His thrusts then became slow and sluggish, until he eventually fell to his knees. Eren still held him—even tighter now he'd stopped struggling. He felt the coldness of his own blood trail down from the back of his head and down the passage of his spine.

The guard eventually stopped struggling, his hands draped limp to his side and his eyes rolled back into their sockets, shutting close. Eren let go of him and he fell to the floor with a thud, unconscious.

He pressed the back of his head, hissing at the pain he felt. Bringing the hand to his face it was completely red with his blood. He wanted to fall to the floor, everything seemed so faint and hazy but he fought the dizziness.

Squatting down to check the guard's pulse, he found out he was still alive. The pulse was slow but it was steady, the guard was just out cold and that meant he had to run.

(Play the song.)

The first few steps he made to the door were limps but he endured the pain and got it under control. Silently closely the door to his chamber room, he sped down the hallway, going through the back stairs he always followed every night he met up with Faldrey.

He paused and stood still when he found out a few Flame Breathers were at the bottom of the stair case. One Flame Breather who seemed to be the head of the group was shouting orders at them.

"You two go assist the guards at the arrow slits, the rest of you follow me to the murder holes!" He ordered and expected everyone to spring into action, but one guard had a question.

"What about the Barbican?"

"Forget the damn Barbican! They've made it past the draw bridge and the Barbican and all the guards there are already dead! The walls and ramparts are coming down next, we need to secure all the castle entrances and the gate, so we're focusing on the murder holes and the arrow slits! Now go!" He repeated his order only a bit more sharply this time.

With that they all dispatched. Eren couldn't believe his ears, they were already at the castle gate and they'd surrounded the entire castle, bringing the walls down. He could hear their battle chants and screams—which blended with the sound of rain—from where he stood.

When he was sure the coast was clear he ran down the rest of the steps, making it to the bottom. The pain rippling across from the back of his head blurred his vision, but he fought through it. Rubbing at his eyes he kept running, until he was at the end of the hallway which led right out.

He took a deep breath and entered the rain.

Eren ran against the unforgiving needle-like droplets of rain which lashed his face. He had almost left the grounds of the Blazing Keep when he bumped into a stiff wall that was the wet, bare chest of a male Dakyre.

Almost losing his footing, Eren swayed backwards, holding out his hands in front of him in defence.

"Stay back! I will burn you!" He blinked repeatedly to get the rain out of his eyes and get rid of the black dots brought about by the pain at the back of his head.

"I hope you don't," the deep, male voice said with a chuckle.

"Ursa?" Eren took back his hands and wiped his eyes with them. "What's going on?"

"I'm assuming Faldrey told you everything already?"

"Yes he did," Eren opened his eyes fully now and saw the tall, shirtless Dakyre in front of him. "I didn't know you hid this kind of build under all that robe," he chuckled lightly, feeling a sense of safety.

"I was better than your father in both Stoichi and physical training back in the day," he answered with a proud smirk forming on his face.

Eren's eyes then fell on Ursa's blood stained body, which was gradually being washed off by the rain.

"It was necessary. I promised Faldrey I was going to bring you to the watchtower at the rear wall," he answered Eren's unspoken question. "I see you've had your own share of fighting, except you were on the receiving end," Ursa threw his hands over Eren's shoulder and helped him walk.

"It was a struggle, I just made him pass out. He didn't die," Eren hissed in pain as he spoke.

"Well, that's a good thing, you don't want this hopeless realm turning you into a killer. Now listen to me, we're both going to run without stopping. We'll go through the fields like you always do to the watchtower, hopefully Faldrey will be there with Aphrodite and together we'll leave this wretched castle," Ursa withdrew his hands from Eren's shoulders, standing in front of him as he spoke.

"How are we going to leave the castle through the watchtower?"

"There's an oubliette in the base room of the tower, it has a tunnel which leads right out of the castle and towards the Lava Sea. There shouldn't be any guards there so once we get there the hard part of the night is over."

"How come I'm just hearing about this tunnel?" Eren furrowed his eyebrows confusion. "Even before Faldrey, the watchtower was my secret spot and not for once did I find this tunnel."

"Even your father doesn't know about the tunnel," Ursa chuckled, "so don't beat yourself up young Eren."

"And what if now he knows about the tunnel?" Eren always thoroughly thought everything through. He always loved to ask himself the worst questions and task himself with finding answers before he delves into a situation.

"Then that would be a very big problem. Let's just hope he doesn't. They should be in the castle bunker, where the both of us are supposed to be. It won't take long before they send another guard to come for you, we've to go now."

They both ran through the rain, Eren trailing quite some distance behind the invincible shirtless Dakyre in front of him. Ursa swiftly eliminated any Flame Breather who came in their way. The fields were nearly isolated because it wasn't a hotspot and the watchtower at the rear wall was abandoned, so that was to their favour.

Successfully getting to the watchtower, they both sped up the spiral staircase, heading to the top. Faldrey wasn't there yet and neither was Aphrodite.

Eren felt sick to his stomach due to all the running in the rain and the smell of his own blood. After few minutes of nausea, he retched before emptying his guts out. The only thing in him now were emotions.

"They're not here yet, they're supposed to be here by now!" Eren screamed in total horror after vomiting.

"Calm down, they will come. I know they will," Ursa spoke with a sad glint in his eyes.

The boy had been through so much in just twenty three years of his life.

But he knew that as long as the realm remained this way, Dakyres were cursed to suffer the same fate, over and over.

Eren tried to feel and search for Faldrey with the telepathic connection they had, but he couldn't feel anything apart from the excruciating pain at the back of his head.

They will come. They will come. They will come.

He kept chorusing in his head.