"LET'S GO!" The King's court armory was raided for as many weapons as they could take. I stuck with my shotguns. They've never let me down. 6 gates lead out of the King's court and into the 1st tier, which is where the crimson were.
"Deploy all battalions. 2 for each gate, including mine. Alert the snipers. We need them now."
"The snipers are unresponsive."
"Shit."
"Fuck it. Let's go." With 8 dangerously trained men and women in each battalion, we could take those goddamn Crimson down easily.
I ran out with my men closely behind me as I made across the bridgeway between King's Court and 1st tier and through the 1st gate.
The rusty smell of blood and fresh cut grass hit me so hard I almost took a step back. The once green grass was now covered in blood. Whose, I couldn't tell.
We'll think about that later. I said to myself.
Everyone was silent. So silent, I had to check if they were still there, and they were, of course. I pulled out my gun and checked the clip again just to be sure. And that was when I saw them. The Crimson. With their blood-speckled jackets and their characteristic red rose pinned at the top right of their chest. They killed one of us or at least injured them.
I made hand signs to the men behind me to disperse and surround before pulling out my second gun. I couldn't let them know we were here just yet. Not until I was sure of how many we were dealing with. I screwed my silencer unto my gun and let the hot blood flow through my veins.
I drew in a long, steady breath, holding it for a moment before letting it out.
The first two men had their backs to me, making it so much easier to take them out.
"Thup. Thup" two bullets straight into the backs of their heads.
"Riven, how many men over there?" I said through my intercom.
"There's 4. Or at least there were 4." I just knew he had a smile on his face after saying that.
"What about everyone else?"
"Worry about yourself, General. We'll be fine. But if you care so much, they're all doing what they've been trained to do. Killing." He said the last line with a grunt, which told me that he just took another Crimson out.
"God, he's so hot."
"Yeah, I know".
"Oh my god. I didn't just say that out loud". I said putting two bullets into a scrawny guy's knees before shooting him in between his eyes.
How did he even get here? I wondered, almost feeling bad. Almost.
"Yes, you did. Not complaining though."
"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes as a large woman charged towards me.
"I hate killing women," I muttered before running right towards her and sliding between her legs at the last second. I pulled out both daggers from my ankles and slit her achilles tendon causing her to fall to the ground before sticking both daggers into her eye sockets bursting the beautiful yellow orbs I managed to get a glimpse of before I became blinded by bloodlust.
"You don't really have a choice, do you?" Rivensnarked.
"Yeah, I don't. And don't get me wrong, I don't care. I just always feel better when I kill men." I said as I took a sharp turn and threw a dagger between the eyes of someone who thought he was creeping up on me. Laughable.
"I'm sure you do." I could literally picture him throwing his light brown short curls around as he shook his head in almost disbelief.
"Ha ha ha. I didn't mean it like that."
"Yeah, I know exactly what you meant."
"Oh God, Riven. Relax. I'll contact you again once this area is clear."
"Alright, Sera."
"Don't call me that."
A beat.
No response.
I guess he's back to work. I should focus.
I reloaded my gun, pulling my intercom out of my ears, and I took a few steps ahead of the open field and into the grassy maze. The 1st tier is massive and possibly the biggest tier of House Varkaryn. With a 12,000-square-foot maze situated right before King's court. It was meant to distract our enemies and buy us time to properly "receive" our guests with a warm, bloody welcome.
Only men in the King's court knew their way around, and a few other trusted members of the house. Anyone else would immediately get lost. But what they wouldn't know is that a few missteps here could cost you your life. This place is covered in deadly traps. Poison darts, active micro land mines, there's even a machine gun section, courtesy of Liliana. Gosh, I love her.
That's why I couldn't imagine how any crimson could get this far. It has never happened in the history of our house. If they got in, someone had to have let them in. Someone stationed right within our walls. In the King's court.
Shit.
I'd personally have their heads.
My body reacted faster than my head, swivelling to the right. I heard something. Someone. The sound of damp, bloody grass gave a low, muffled squitch, as if it too was holding its breath.
"Step out of the shadows, Coward Crimson!" my heart pounding in my ears. This person is different from all the others I just took out. The fact that I just now noticed his presence is enough to throw me off, but he'll need to do more to impress me.
"I'm a lot of things, but I'm no coward, and I'm definitely no Crimson." His thick, dark voice rumbling in the shadows as he stepped into view. His frame, much larger than mine, taller, bulkier, and inevitably stronger. My size has never put me at a disadvantage. I've been trained to take down men of any size, so it doesn't faze me.
"Not a crimson, yeah? What's with the get-up, then? You're scared to show us who you are, huh?"
"Don't try to rile me up, Princess. You're not going to get the response you want." He stepped closer, his face finally coming into view. Not that I could see much. But what I did see…. His eyes. Cold. Dead.
Princess? What is wrong with this guy? It doesn't matter. He'll be dead soon.
He took a few steps closer, and that was when I realised. He knew where all the traps were. Every step was calculated. He knew things some of my men would never know till the day they died.
Fucking hell. This was going to be a lot harder than I hoped.
"Enough with the chit chat. Are you gonna kill me or what?"
"Maybe later. I need you alive for now," he said with what seemed like a genuine smile on his face.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" I snapped, launching a dagger straight at him.
A sharp thud stunted me for a moment. To my wildest surprise, I looked up and… I missed it. I MISSED. I haven't missed a headshot since I was 15, and I just missed? No. I didn't miss it. He dodged. This just got a lot more exciting.
I pulled out my gun, and before I could take a shot, he was in front of me, knocking it out of my hand. I ducked immediately, avoiding a blow to the head which would have knocked me flat on my face. Throwing a leg out under me, I did a quick sweep, trying to bring him to the ground. He took a step back but didn't completely evade the move. He stumbled a few steps, and before he could regain his footing, I planted a foot on his stomach, anchoring myself on my hands. He grunted and took hold of the foot that just knocked the breath out of his lungs, twisting hard. I lifted myself off of the ground, twisting in the same direction and finally dropping on my ass.
Rolling his shoulders, he let out a growl of frustration. He probably thought I would be an easy catch. I stood up, wrapping my fingers around the handle of my other gun, pulling the trigger before he had the chance to knock it out of my hand like he did the last one. The bullet lodged itself in his arm, only earning me a little grunt from him.
Impressive.
"You'll pay for that," and this time I was sure. He smiled. He was enjoying this.
"I doubt it."
I cocked my gun, ready to take another shot and this time it would be a killing shot. My favourite. He pushed something on his shoulder and whispered a few commands right before launching at me with a newly discovered viciousness.
In a couple of steps, he was right in front of me, somehow managing to step out of the way of all my bullets and closing the space between us. I took two quick steps back, bracing myself for the impact of the punches he was throwing. I lifted my fists and planted my feet firmly on the ground. The dew-covered grass was not helping. He threw the first two punches directly at my head, and I blocked them with my arm, but I didn't see the punch to the gut coming. I let out a sharp grunt, wincing at the pain as he struck.
I ducked, reaching for the second dagger at my ankles. Holding the blade to my arm, I was ready to attack. I threw my arm out, and he grabbed it, twisting it behind me till I let go of my dagger. Then, he pulled me till I was so close to his body that I could feel his heat warming me. With my arm still in his grasp, I grit my teeth. I couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that I was in pain. I threw my head back with so much force I felt something snap in my neck, but I still didn't hit him. He dodged it again. I was angry. I was frustrated. He took my other arm and twisted it, putting my hands in handcuffs. Then he let me go. I was defenseless, or so he thought. I stepped back, strands of my black hair sticking to the sweat and rain on my face.
I moved my handcuffed arms over my head and in front of me, a trick I learnt when I was little. I charged at him with all the anger left in me, pushing myself off my feet and planting both legs on his chest violently in a dropkick. We fell simultaneously, my chest swelling with the satisfaction of seeing the shock on his face. It was short-lived, though, because I started to feel dizzy, and it wasn't because of this fight. My vision blurred, my breaths became shorter and shorter, my head felt heavy or light, I couldn't tell.
"W-what did you do?" I said, my speech slurring against my will. My stomach dropped as I lifted a bloody hand to my neck, suddenly feeling the sharp pain there, droplets of blood coating my fingertips.
"I don't have time for this princess," he muttered, slowly getting up from the ground with an emptied syringe between his fingers.
I fell to my knees, my chest rising and falling in sharp, piercing bursts. I tried to calm myself down, but my body wouldn't listen.
"Don't worry. You'll live. It'll hurt, but you'll live," he said. No smile this time.
I felt a warm, thick liquid oozing out of my nose as my head throbbed explosively. I groaned in pain, grasping onto anything I could hold onto. My groans turned to screams as the pain intensified. It felt like I was being torn apart from the inside. Suddenly, everything stopped, and I couldn't feel anything anymore. It was a relief to some extent, but I was much more scared now. Maybe this was my fate after all the lives I've taken. Death was finally knocking on my door in the most gruesome way I could have ever imagined. My breaths became slower, my ears ringing, my body numb to the pain.
What was this feeling? This tightness in my throat. My mouth was dry, hands slick with sweat. The last time I felt this was… Fuck. I was scared. I didn't recognise it at first. This stifling and humbling feeling. FEAR. Fear for myself, for Liliana, for my friends, my family. Riven.
Riven. The smile he'd give me every time I won a match. His soft, luscious curls wrapped around my fingers during all those cold mornings. I never imagined that I could lose this, that I could lose him. Now, it was becoming all too real.
Please, don't die. Don't leave me here. I thought to myself, a tear slipping from the outer corner of my eyes.
My stomach twisted under me. "Help…"
"No one's coming, Princess," he said, his eyes shut, arms folded across his chest, and his head bowed in what I assumed was shame or pity. I couldn't tell.
This is it. This is how I die. Riven, help.
He said something to someone just before I lost consciousness.
"You did well. Tell the men to retreat, now. We have what we came for. We have The Serevyn."
Darkness.