Briggs wiped blood off the corner of his mouth as he punched one of the soldiers square in the face. The man stumbled backwards and passed out as blood spurted from his nose.

Briggs took his weapon and used both swords to attack a group that was targeting Vos.

"VIRAAZ INCOMING! FIRE!" Yelled one of the cannon unit captains, warning their allies to get out of the way.

They quickly jumped to the sides as a cannon ball came barreling through the air, striking one of the enemies cannons with a large explosion.

A group of Solan soldiers took the opportunity of distraction to pick up a large, wooden support beam from one of the crumbled buildings and rushed Marix, pinning him to one of the stone walls.

"AUGH!" The pressure was immense, making it hard for him to breathe. He had to use all of the muscles in his torso to push against the beam to give him room to take a breath.

He cut the one on the right with his sword, causing the soldier to drop his half of the log which freed up more of Marix’s movement.

Sweat beaded down Marix’s face. The sun was high in the sky now, pelting down on them with the hottest temperature so far of the season.

Smoke combined with blood and sweat in their eyes, mixed with the heat of the sun and the nearby fires was causing a miserable experience to be all that much more miserable.

Marix wiped his eyes with the back of his hand quickly before raising it to hit another soldier, but the Solan men were already prepared.

One of them came at him and smacked his arm with another piece of wood from the nearby debris field.

The sound of his bone crunching was unmistakable.

Marix let out a pained scream as he punched the man with his other hand.

Briggs kicked away the soldier he was battling with and swiveled on his heel to see Marix pinned against the building, his right arm dangling by his side.

"VOS!" Briggs yelled to get Vos’ attention who was nearby.

The two of them quickly ran up and slayed the soldiers who had Marix pinned.

Just as the beam dropped to the floor, an arrow hit Vos in the leg, causing him to stumble.

"FUCK!" He yelled as his hand flew to the source of his pain.

As the archer who hit him drew another arrow, the archer was hit in the heart by a Viraaz archer.

He dropped his bow and clutched his chest as he fell off one of the nearby roofs to the floor with a thud.

Marix panted and looked around at the chaos around them. His men were dying, their homes and businesses were being destroyed.

’How could this have happened?!’ He thought as he felt frustration and anger boiling up inside of him.

Just then, the sound of a galloping horse echoed in the air.

Appearing through the thick smoke, was Arlon sitting atop his white draft horse who was covered in gold armor. The sun hit the armor, making it glint and shine making Arlon seem like a savior who arrived to destroy the darkness in their world.

However, Marix recognized that this made him a complete easy target for the Solan army.

"What the hell is he doing?!"

Marix, Briggs and Vos ran up to try and stop him or usher him to safety, but before they could, Arlon screamed out, "THE KING IS DEAD!"

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Marix’s felt his heart sink as a lump wedged itself in his throat.

Other than the sound of flames waving in the air and the groans of the wounded, the world around them all fell completely silent.

Arlon repeated, his voice cracking a moment, "The King of Viraaz is dead!"

Marix’s sword fell to the ground, with an extra loud ’CLANG’ that he was sure could probably be heard continents away.

"While my father, the King, was eating his morning meal, an assassin snuck in and slayed him! So here forth, as the Crown Prince, I will take over as King of Viraaz!"

All of the Viraaz soldiers, including Marix, got down on one knee and placed a hand over their hearts as they said in unison, "Long live King Arlon!"

But, as Marix said the words, he couldn’t help but stare at the ground beneath him with wide eyes.

Something was wrong and he knew it.

There was no way an assassin could’ve gotten in there. The sound of the troops coming was unmistakable, they weren’t trying to be stealthy at all!

His mind raced as he put together the pieces, ’The royal guard would’ve heard them coming this morning. They would’ve taken father through the secret passage to safety. Arlon would’ve been slain too if there was an assassin. There’s no way!’

"Soldiers of Sola! I do not blame you!" Arlon placed his hand of his heart as the Solan soldiers stared at him, giving him their complete attention.

"I understand the steps of war. You only did what you felt you needed. Fear not! I hold no grudge or ill will towards you at all!"

As he spoke to the Solan soldiers, Marix turned to Briggs and whispered as quietly as he could, "We have to leave. Gather the troops. Arlon has switched sides."

Briggs turned to Marix and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Arlon’s next announcement.

"I ask you, soldiers of Sola, please halt your attack on Viraaz! Allow me to willingly go with you to Sola to discuss peace options! Neither of us want to see our comrades dead on these floors! Please, gather your allies and let us head to Sola!"

The Solan soldiers raised their weapons with a cheer, "FOR PEACE!!!" They screamed together before turning to gather their dead.

As the soldiers picked up their fallen friends, the Viraaz Royal Guard swarmed around Arlon.

Marix searched their faces, his nose snarling as he realized he didn’t recognize a single one of them.

’He replaced the entire guard?!’ He screamed internally as Arlon headed off with the Solan army. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Marix clenched his jaw as his hands balled into fists. Although, he quickly released them when he felt a shooting pain run up his right arm.

Briggs turned to Marix, "What are you planning to do?"

The look on his face was serious with a hidden pain deep within his eyes.

"Arlon is working with Sola. We’ll have to take the Viraaz army to Norain to seek aid. It’s a best shot. I’m confident he’s killed my father and probably the entire royal guard."

Briggs furrowed his eyebrows, "The royal guard was with him, Marix."

"Did you not look at them? That was not the royal guard. Not the ones that my father hired anyways."

Briggs shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his fingertips, "Well, Marix, we can’t leave. We’ll be seen as traitors. It’s treason! We can’t just abandon Viraaz in the middle of a war. Especially when we don’t even know if Arlon’s peace plans will work. They may come back and attack again."

"AND WHO IS THE TRAITOR HERE?! My father, the king, is dead! Killed by Arlon!" Marix screamed, red in the face.

"You have no proof of that. It’s just a hunch you have, there’s no proof! You can’t make these accusations against the crown!" Briggs yelled back.

"You are a Viraaz soldier! Our priority is the people! We cannot allow someone who is conspiring to lead us! He has conspired against the crown!" Marix jabbed Briggs in the chest with his index finger.

"I SERVE THE CROWN AND RIGHT NOW THE CROWN IS ARLON!" Briggs yelled, jabbing him back.

Marix punched him with his left arm, sending Briggs stumbling.

"YOU’RE A FOOL!" Marix screamed, his spit flying.

"A fool?! I’m not the one who chased a woman I hardly knew across kingdoms into enemy lines! I have a family to protect! You wouldn’t know anything about that, right? You were busy risking yours for her!"

Marix grabbed him by the collar, "Don’t you EVER speak about her like that again," before he threw him to the side like ragdoll.

Marix then turned to the rest of the army who were already beginning to administer first aid to their wounded.

"ATTENTION! ARLON HAS KILLED THE KING!"

The army stared at him with surprise.

"The royal guard has been replaced! Those of you who fight for the heart of Viraaz come with me! We are going to find aid to take back Viraaz! There is a conspiracy afoot!"

A little more than half of the army stood, some carrying those who were too wounded to come on their own, and began to follow Marix.

The rest stayed behind with Briggs, their heads hung as they felt themselves being torn between loyalty and the ’proper way’.

Marix found Tryde where he’d left him. A pool of blood had formed underneath him since Marix had put him there.

He removed the rubble and lifted Tryde with both arms, letting out a pained scream as a blinding pain seared through his arm.

It was then Marix realized that his arm was broken.

Vos limped over and grabbed Tryde, helping Marix to drag him as they each hooked an arm behind Tryde’s back.

"Don’t move that arm!" Vos hissed in warning as they left with their group.