As Koronos moves his army through the Helfire Mountains he gathers more and more Kazarian warriors to his cause. This is why he needed Kilokovo, without him at his side he would never be about to rally so many to his cause. It’s a host of about one thousand, roughly half human and the other half is Kazarian, it’s army like none other, and they quickly move through the various narrow valleys and passes. These pathways are unknown to outsiders, this is not because it is some great secret but because outsiders rarely tread there, and when they do, they are usually never seen or heard from again; they are either killed by the environment, a predator or a Kazarian.
Traveling so quickly, the host reaches the foot of the mountains within mere days, this places them within a day from the great city of Octavia, this is where the emperor and the seat of the empire resides. Thus far they have moved so fast and stealthy that the enemy has no idea where they are. Five legions of Octavian soldiers march northward, many leagues away, believing they will confront an enemy host soon. In addition, the legions are slowed down because their supply chain is constantly being raided and interrupted.
Koronos has no interest, nor does he have the time or the manpower to do a prolonged siege of the capital city, no, instead he has another plan. The city will be alerted that a host of one thousand is approaching, they will seal off the city, no doubt. So, he takes his personal bodyguards on a mission to infiltrate and open the city gates when the army reaches it, after all, his bodyguards are the best of the best. Unfortunately, such a mission is not for giant panteras, so he asks Shelove to stay behind.
For security purposes, the city closes the gates at night and requires a security check and inspection to enter. In the cover of night, Koronos and his elite tactical team scale the outer wall easily enough, dispatch the patrols on top the wall silently. His army is coming behind them, but he has a few hours before they arrive, and the city raises an alarm. They move through the city silently across the rooftops, jumping across the narrow alleyway gaps until they reach his destination, the imperial palace. It crossed his mind to try to fight his way to the emperor’s apartments, but it is highly secure, with a large number of guards and locked gates between him and Octavius, he couldn’t make it there without being riddled with arrows from behind iron gates.
However, the princess’s chambers are not so heavily guarded, in addition, after his long stay in the palace, he has learned of ways to move through it undetected and how to get into the princess’s chambers. She may have shown him how, for late-night secret romantic meetings.
He enters the princess’s chambers, there she is, lounging on her luxurious bed of pillows, silks and fineries. His bodyguards grab her handmaidens and cover their mouths with their hands to silence them from screaming and to prevent them from calling the guards. Cassi rises up on her knees, calling upon her telekinetic powers. Her various items, silks and things begin to slowly swirl about her, she is poised to fight with a bejeweled, elaborately decorated dagger in her hand. That is, until she sees Koronos, then a mix of surprise and a smile comes over her beautiful, lovely face.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“By the gods, after you were sentenced, I thought I may never see you again.” she says to him while giving him a warm embrace. “It would seem that Father Fate has a different destiny for you, and as good as it is to see you again… what are you doing here?”
“I’ve brought an army; they will be here in a few hours. I'm taking the city and I’m going to kill your father because I have no choice, he will never stop hunting me and my people. If I succeed, this will leave a power vacuum in the empire, and you will be the new empress. I have no interest in ruling the Octavian Empire, I only ask that you leave my lands alone and leave the people of Kazar in peace.”
Cassi weighs his words carefully before responding, “Are you even sure you can kill him? He is very powerful, and it didn’t go very well for you last time.”
“I do not know, but I must try, and I have the Sword of The First now, that may be enough to turn the tide in my favor. We shall see.”
She looks at the sword on his back, “mmm yes, I’ve heard of this sword and the deeds you have accomplished, it’s impressive and makes my father very jealous of you.”
“Do you agree to these terms, Cassi?”
She thinks it over for a moment, never losing eye contact, beautiful eyes that see right through you, “he can’t be defeated, he’s never been defeated. I think my father will kill you.”
Roughly two hours later, bells start ringing throughout the city. Shortly thereafter, city-guards begin to assemble on the city wall, straining their eyes to see the army that approaches in the darkness, but their own torches ruin their night vision. The only light is from the moon, called Sleeping Dragon. It’s called this because of the flame-like light they can see on the shadow side. It is said there are cities there and people used to cross over through ancient, majikal portals, but no one knows for sure because it was many thousands of years ago, when majik was more plentiful in the world.
Unbeknownst to the guards, one of the side gates has a small tactical team that waits, hiding in the shadows. Koronos and his team step out of the shadows and move fast and swift, killing the guards in the gatehouse in mere seconds. The city of Octavia has about one hundred thousand citizens with five hundred guards, one hundred of which guard the imperial palace, but the guards are spread out over four gates. This is plenty of men to hold off an army of ten thousand from behind walls and gates, at least long enough for the legions to arrive, under normal circumstances.
Guards on top of the wall get their arrows notched and ready in their powerful recurve bows, confident that they can hold off the invaders, because no one has breached the defense of the city for over one thousand years. To their collective surprise, they are horrified when they hear the gate below them begin to open and the enemy horde rush inside and proceed to kill them. It’s a slaughter for the ones that don’t surrender. However, many surrender at the mere sight of the mighty Kilokovo, a Kazarian that towers over everyone; after seeing him pick up soldiers and toss them like a child might throw an unwanted toy.
Somehow, in all the carnage, Koronos finds and grabs Captain Korvax and they break off a company of men to head straight for the imperial palace while Kilokovo secures the rest of the city. Shelove enters the gate to quickly catch up to Koronos and goes with him, terrifying the city guards even more than they already were.