“What do you mean you and Artemis underestimated them?” Patrisha shouted at her brother Jaron. She had to scream over the noise of the lively festival. Kal, Jayce, Surra, and Aiko all huddled close to Artemis as they waited for Jaron to answer. “You knew about all of this? About Cashius and some of the Council?” Patrisha didn’t let up. She and the others demanded answers. Jaron looked up at Artemis and stared at him like he wanted his approval. The Third born leader looked at the eldest prince and softly nodded his head. The group looked between the two men trying to piece together what was the big secret? What could be bigger than their own Star Lord being a traitor, their enemy?
Jaron took a deep breath and began, “We thought the underground Saijerian supporters would never survive without Proctor. I was at Proctor’s house the day he died. I watched him die…”
Patrisha and the others gasped as they heard the ending. She gave Jaron a confused expression and placed her hand on his shoulder. “What? What are you trying to say, you killed Proctor?”
“No! At least I didn’t mean to…” The group listened as close as they could as Jaron told his story. He had to tell the short version for the sake of time. “A few weeks before Proctor passed, he had been on the prow again about how great and grand Sage could be if we were the ones leading things. He wanted us to become an Empire. The old man had been barking about this for years. He constantly ridiculed and belittled my family name especially my father saying it was all our fault. He kept repeating that my father was the reason Sage was still primitive… Proctor had been spitting out so much poison that the Council was starting to take sides and split in two. I had to step up and do something so I went to his house to talk peace. Of course, when I got there, he started back up with the negativity towards my family.” Jaron rubbed his face as he rehashed his last moments with his colleague.
“It wasn’t your fault Jaron. I’ve told you this a million times.” Artemis said softly making the group look his way then back to Jaron.
Patrisha huffed at Artemis for interrupting before egging on her brother to finish, “Go on…”
“Things got heated and we started shouting in one another’s faces. We shoveled each other around a few times before he got in a good swing to my jar. I punched him back in the middle of his chest making him back off but something happened. He started grabbing his chest and shaking like he was gasping for air. He grabbed his chest so hard that he dug his nails into his skin. It all happened within a few minutes. I stood there and watched as Proctor clasped and slowly died on his dining room floor. I didn’t know what to do so I asked Artemis for help. That’s when he told me everything and became my eyes and ears within the Council.”
Patrisha stood in front of her eldest brother and gently placed her hands on his shoulders. He looked down at his feet before looking at his sister. Patrisha started off soft trying to be sympathetic but it didn’t work, “Artemis is right Jaron, Proctor’s death was not your fault. It sounded like his heart gave out but that isn’t the problem.” Patrisha started punching Jaron in the arm and chest. “Why didn’t you tell Da this was happening?! We didn’t you tell me or Jayce?!”
Jaron and Jayce both grabbed their pregnant sister by the arms trying to get her to stop. “Because Patrisha it wasn’t for him to handle! It was for me to handle… I’m the First-born prince dammit and the Council is who I control. I didn’t know the extent of how many had sided with him until now. If I told Da, he would have made matters worse.”
Jayce stepped in to intervene. He noticed the festival was coming to an end and had a few performances left. They still haven’t found Amos to warn him. “Guys I hate to interrupt a good argument but we’re running out of time. Regardless if Jaron told Da or not this is happening. First, we need to get Patrisha in a safe place. I suggest we split up into two groups, one to find Amos and the other to find Iya.” Jayce looked directly at Kal and said, “You’re the commander for now until we get my sister back. How did you want to do this?”
Everyone turned their attention to Kal who was waiting for this moment. He was the most eager to get the fight started. The most eager to save Iya. He quickly rubbed his hands together and said, “Ok… Da and Jaron will find Amos and me, Jayce and Aiko will get Iya. Surra, you protect and stay with Patrisha. Once she is safe and sound join the rest of us. We’re going to need you in this fight.”
Surra nodded and replied, “Of course I will keep her safe.” She turned and looked the princess as she slowly sat down. Patrisha sat on the bench and leaned back with her legs spread wide, letting her belly hang. She started rubbing her stomach while taking breaths. “Your best bet will be in your quarters. That will be the safest place for you right now, it’s getting you there without being seen is the problem.” The group had their assignment and began head out. Before everyone split ways Surra grabbed Jayce by the collar and kissed him passionately. “Don’t you die on me, you promise?” She whispered to her love. He nodded gently and kissed Surra once more before taking off in the opposite direction.
None of them were dressed for a fight. They were all in their formal attire expect for Kal, Jayce and Aiko. Although they weren’t equipped to take down the siege alone, they were prepared to do whatever it took to save Sage. To save their home from being the very thing they fought their enemies against for centuries. Artemis stopped at the beginning of the market street line and tried to comb through the crowd. He looked around towards the bar and saw many people there but not Amos. “Where is he? Usually before the festival ends Amos always gets the last call drinks.” Artemis and Jaron both bobbed their heads up above the crowd to get a better look.
After a few scans Jaron finally saw Amos walking back towards his quarters. “There he is! He’s headed down the street pass the market.” Artemis and Jaron dashed through the Councilmen quarters which was the other side of the palace. The members of the Sagen Council lived closed by for convenience, they had to attend their daily meetings. Jaron noticed they were passing by one of his loyal and most trusted friend’s home. “Artemis wait… I have to warn Cedric about what’s happening. He can help us get the other loyal Councilmen to safety. I’ll be quick.”
Artemis didn’t agree with the pit stop but had to no choice but to follow Jaron into Councilmen Cedric’s house. Jaron turned the corner quickly and dashed up the stairs. When he reached Cedric’s home Jaron noticed right away something wasn’t right. The door to the lavish home was cracked open and it looked like there was a struggle. Jaron looked around for the Councilmen and his family but didn’t see anyone. Artemis went towards the back of the quarters and made the horrific discovery. He yelled for Jaron, “Back here!”
Jaron ran as fast as could to the back master bedroom. He stopped at the doorway shocked and immediately heartbroken. His best friend and his family were slaughtered like animals. Blood covered the walls of Cedric’s wife and two children as they laid on top of one another. Jaron ran over to the lifeless bodies and turned his friend over to his back. He hugged Cedric’s body tight and wept with sadness. Jaron was covered in his blood when Artemis pulled the prince back up to his feet, nudging him to come on. Jaron covered their bodies with sheets from the bed, he couldn’t bare to see them like that anymore. “Artemis… the children. Cedric was my best friend, my brother... I was his children’s godfather.” Jaron was having a hard time keeping himself together and Artemis didn’t have time to help him through his grievance. The First-born prince wasn’t a fighter, he was a politician. He fought with his words and beliefs not his hands.
Artemis grabbed Jaron by the shoulders and made him look return the eye contact. “Listen to me Jaron… if we don’t hurry and tell Amos to assemble the army, there’s going to many more deaths. He’s our best hope until Kal can get Iya back.” Jaron nodded slowly and kept up his pace. They dashed down the streets until they finally caught up the very drunk Amos. “Aw shit… he’s wasted.”
Jaron called Amos’s name which made the drunken general almost lose his footing when he turned around. This was unlike Amos to get hammered on any level. He was usually to the sensible one who remained sober and alert during the whole festival while others had their fun. Then at the end he was indulge. Both Jaron and Artemis had to grab Amos’s by the arms to help sit him down. Jaron screamed at Amos while Artemis slapped him around a bit to get his attention. “Amos! Amos! Out of all the Warrior’s Solstice to be hammered you choose this one!” Jaron looked up at Artemis and asked, “What in the hell are we going to do?”
Amos looked up at Jaron and started laughing, “Did you guys know I was going to be exiled? Yep, I broke Sagen law and had a baby with the queen of Lotus. I can’t tell you all how much I love her and the boy. My commander gave me pass after Marcus was murder… No one was suppose to know.” Artemis and Jaron looked at one another confused for they have never seen Amos this emotional before. Now they understood why Amos didn’t indulge in too much alcohol too often.
Artemis quickly looked around and noticed one of the deserts stands served shaved ice cones. He ran over to the stand and grabbed a large scoop of shaved ice out from the cooler. He quickly returned to Amos and tossed the frozen shaved pieces of ice directly in his face. The cold shocked Amos enough to wake him up out of his impairment. Amos jumped up and started shaking off his clothes. He looked up at Artemis pissed and confused. “What in the flying hell Artemis? What was that for?”
“Now that we have your attention…” Artemis tried to explained what was going on about Cashius and secret siege as quickly as his brain would allow. At first Amos was still little dazed and had a hard time keeping up. He kept scratching his head trying to piece together the story.
Amos looked up at Artemis and Jaron. His head still wobbled a little as he processed what was going. “Cashius? Didn’t we just see Iya chose Cashius at the ceremony and now you’re telling me he’s the bad guy. I’m having a hard time comprehending all of this. He’s the one who has been behind all of this all along? I’m too drunk and too old for this shit…” Amos continued rambling while trying to understand what was happening, “It was already weird to see Iya choose our Star Lord. I always thought her and Kal had a thing but that’s beside the point. The whole mission… it was for nothing. Why the wild goose chase? To what end? This doesn’t make any sense and why isn’t Iya telling me all of this?”
Artemis and Jaron looked at each other before Jaron stepped in. “Look at me Amos. I’m covered in blood. It’s not my blood but the blood of my best friend and his family. The Barbarians are assassinating certain people before beginning their full attack. They killed Councilmen Cedric and we’re sure many more is to come. The reason Iya isn’t here is because Cashius has her. Kal and Jayce are getting her back. Surra is with Patrisha making sure she’s safe and that leaves you. We don’t have much time left…”
Amos shook his head a few times and rubbed his eyes before standing to his feet. “Cashius… Fuck. The bastards waited for tonight so we would be impaired and unarmed. We have to find a way to alert everyone at once. A flare won’t be enough, it may not work because of the fireworks. That means there’s only one other way… The Horns of Cornelius.”
Jaron jerked his head back confused it took him a minute, “The Horns of… Cornelius. Yes, that’s genius! The horns are the signal for danger and to seek shelter. That will definitely get everyone’s attention. The only issue is it’s covered with vines and other plants. When was the last time it was used? I thought we’d just stop the festival.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Artemis stepped in as Amos was still pulling himself together, “You might be too young to remember the last time. It was about thirty years old when we thought Sage was under attack.” The Horns of Cornelius are two very large, very long horns that are attached together at the far end of the front part of the palace. They’re gold plated but made out of Sagen steel and pack a really loud deep punch. The sound would reach for miles ensuring everyone around the whole kingdom city knew to seek shelter. The horns reach from the top of the palace all the way down to the ground. Princess Ezris had her architect Cornelius design and build the horns for a safety measure just in case. The horns face the entrance to the market and out to the kingdom. There are four more horns on each Sagen continent for protection. “So far, we’ve only had to blow the horns three times in our history since they were built. Tonight, will be the fourth… hopefully people will recognize the warning.”
Amos looked up at Artemis and replied, “I don’t think we have a choice besides once the army hears the horns we’re trained to respond. It’ll shock the hell out of them enough to sober up. The Council built a special room to cover the mouth piece so it wouldn’t get ruined. I hoping there’s nothing clogging the rest of the horns on the way down.” The old and semi sober general shook off his damp jacket leaving on only the vest. He pointed to the top of the palace on the far-right corner. “There is a small wooden shed that it barely noticeable unless you knew it was there.”
All of a sudden, a woman screamed from the other side behind the bush where they stood. She stopped as quickly as she started. The scream made the three men quickly turned around startled by how quick the scream ended. Out of the dark five Moonback Barbarians came walking through the brush into the street where Amos, Jaron and Artemis. The three Sagens made eye contact with the Barbarians, making the savages stop in their tracks. One more Barbarian came out of the brush and he was the biggest one.
The tall and well built Barbarian smirked at the Sagens and spoke softly to his men with a deep voice. “That’s the eldest prince… take him alive.” The leader Barbarian’s hair was in long cornrows the reached down his back with the sides shaven. His nose ring went through the middle of his nostrils and he towered over his other men. His teeth were sharp and pointy and he had half shaped moons tattoos around his around eyes. Each Barbarian slowly started forming a circle around the three Sagens.
One of the smaller savages look up at his leader and asked, “What about the general?” He snarled and grunted as he waited for the command.
“We kill him…” The answer was plain and simple as the Barbarian leader kept his eye fixated on Prince Jaron.
Amos was the closest to their attackers. He looked over his shoulder and screamed at Artemis and Jaron. “Go! You must alert everyone all at once! Go!” Artemis nodded and grabbed Jaron by the shoulder pushing him to get going.
Jaron pulled his arm away from Artemis yelling back at Amos, “But you’re not armed!” Without turning around the Sagen General picked up an empty wine bottle and smashed it against the ground. The sharp ridged bottle dripped sweet wine on the ground as Amos held it up towards the circling Barbarians.
“He’s got this Jaron, come on!” Artemis pulled him one more time before he finally came. The two dashed back into the kingdom towards the palace. While running Artemis quickly glanced over of his shoulder to see the enemy closing in on Amos. He prayed this wouldn’t be the last time he saw him alive…
Amos smirked at the challenged. He watched his enemy move slowly into position their plan was to surround him. He moved back slowly leaving an opening and space between them. He confidently raised his hand and taunted the two closest near him. The senseless savage creatures lounged at the Sagen General falling into his trap. Amos struck one with the bottle then stabbing the other in the eye breaking the bottle off in his head.
Two down, four more to go… They repositioned and move slowly around him waiting for their moment to strike. Amos jerked at one and lounged at the other tricking the one behind him. He broke the last piece of the wine bottle over the Barbarian’s head and grabbed him by the neck. He swung him around using the creature as a shield to counter the other’s attacks. They went down with little effort. Amos turned his attention to the last Barbarian when he let his lifeless shield drop at his feet. Easy. Simple. He thought…
The tall Barbarian let the Sagen General pick up a sword. They never broke eye contact until the leader began to laugh and clap as he watched Amos step over his dead men. “The infamous Amos lives up to his name. What an honor to be your presence I must say…” The Barbarian leader bowed in a playfully way. “My name is Jovi… I’m the leader of the Moonback Clan. We weren’t expecting you to be in the way as we looked for the remaining royal members of Sage. Now that we’re here face to face, I might as well get you out of the way.”
Amos huffed as he walked slowly towards his opponent, “We shall see…”
The battle between the two was vicious and bloody. Both Amos and Jovi aimed to rip each other’s throats out. Jovi was a skilled fighter and almost evenly matched to his opponent. They were the same size, same height but Jovi was a lot skinnier and younger. Amos knew after a few rounds of getting knocked down, Jovi let his men die. At any moment, he could have intervened and saved his men but he didn’t. The Moonback leader wanted Amos to think he had the upper hand. He was insane, he liked to play with his pray. He took Amos’s age as a weakness and focused more on being entertained than finishing his opponent.
Jovi bounced around like a child, clapping his hands and dancing as Amos once more stood to his feet. The old general wiped his mouth which was full of blood. He spit on the ground and got in his ready stance for what felt like the final time. Amos was losing… Jovi didn’t realize, Amos caught on to his fighting style. Every fighter had their own style and Jovi’s was easy to follow. He was dominant on his left side. He drew a lot of strength and power from the left and was incredibly accurate with his hits. Amos knew if he waited for the right window, Jovi’s right side would be whole open.
This was no longer a battle of who’s the strongest. It was a fight to the death, do or die and Amos wasn’t ready to die just yet. Both fighters got in the ready stance waiting for the other to make a move. Amos was quite and thoughtful while concentrating on his opening, while Jovi took nothing serious. He laughed at Amos as he enjoyed toying with him. This was his last opportunity, Amos needed to finish this.
Both lounged at one another with all they had. The first swings and blows were big and strong. Jovi gave it all he had this time even though he didn’t look gassed. All of his jabs were coming from the left, leaving Amos the opening he was waiting for. Without hesitation Amos countered Jovi’s last attack and drove his sword straight upward into the right side of his enemy’s chest. Jovi stood there in shock looking down at the sword sticking halfway through his body. The clan leader staggered on his feet before dropping hard on the ground dead. Amos never took any chances… He picked up a sword from the ground and stabbed the Barbarian leader in the back of his head. There was no more room for surprises…
Jaron and Artemis ran up the stairs to the palace as fast as they could. They turned the corner and dashed down the hall to the far-right side. At the end of the hall was a locked door, the entrance to the palace roof. Artemis tried opening it but the door didn’t budge. He stepped back a few of steps and ran to kick the door with as much force as he could. Repeatedly Artemis kicked the door until it busted wide open swinging back and forth. “Come on!” said Artemis as Jaron followed him up the dark stairwell to the roof where it was just as dark and hard to see.
Above them the moon shined bright and that was their only source of light they had. The shed Amos pointed out was on the other side. Artemis had to kick down the door to the shed too. Inside was the mouth piece to the horns and they were covered with spider webs. Together they tried to clean it off enough to get the sound out. Artemis took the first turn… he grabbed the long extended, twisted, black dirty mouth piece with both hands and blew as hard as he could but nothing happened. No sound, no nothing. He tried again and again will no luck in sight. Jaron looked around and saw nothing wrong with it, “There has to be a blockage somewhere. I’ll go back down and see.”
“No! If any Barbarians see you, they will take you captive. Stay here and keep trying. I’ll go down.” Artemis quickly dashed back down the stairs almost falling on his down from running so fast. Once he reached the bottom outside, he noticed a metal gate was covering the bottom. There were many vines and caked up weeds that blocked the opening. Artemis pulled the metal gate off and quickly threw it the side. He got on all fours and reached his hands inside as far up the horns as his arms would allow. He could feel the wind of Jaron trying to get threw but still nothing was coming out.
Artemis kept trying to pull out all of the debris that had collected but it still wasn’t enough. He stood up frustrated and kicked the side of the exit. Over and over, he let his frustration out by kicking the side wall until a metal rod fell out on to the ground. It made a loud metal clinging noise as it hit bounced stiffly. When Artemis looked down at the rod, he noticed it could bend. He picked it up and noticed more about the special rod, it also extended outward far. Without wasting anymore time, he knew what it was for… cleaning the debris from inside the horns. Artemis drove the rod as far as it could reach, twisting and yanking out anything that could be inside.
Finally, after a few minutes of pulling and twisting out anything that was stuck inside, a loud vibration came through. Artemis dug his head inside one of the horns and screamed to Jaron, hoping he would hear. “Again Jaron! Again!” Jaron took the biggest breath he could make a blew into the mouth piece once more.
The sound of horns let out a deep and loud noise that made anyone close by felt the vibrations. People saw Artemis digging at the gated stone exit and wondered what he was doing until they all heard the sound. The signal for danger, for trouble… With Artemis being so close he had to move aside and cover his ears very tight so the vibrations wouldn’t blow his eardrums out. As Jaron blew over and over again the sound become louder and louder. The hundreds of Sagens gathered in the courtyard all quickly covered their ears. The music stopped playing and anyone who was still dancing stopped. It got everyone’s attention right away when they heard the Horns of Cornelius, mission complete…
“What is that?” a teenage girl screamed to her friends as they covered their ears. Her friends shrugged theirs shoulders as they tried to move further into the crowd.
Miles and a few other soldiers who were courting the ladies turned around looking towards the palace. “It’s the Horns of Cornelius… we’re in danger!” He turned to the girls and screamed, “Go! Go home as quickly as you can!” They took off towards the palace leaving the girls to respond to the call. It was their duty to gather at the palace first.
Artemis noticed the horns were working. Everyone was startled and some were even confused by the loud deep noise as they covered their ears. Soldiers from all directions ran as quickly as could to where Artemis stood. As instructed Jaron blew the horn three good times before rushing over to the edge of the roof to look down. He noticed the music stopped and people were starting to panic. Artemis looked up at Jaron and made a rotating motion with his hands. He wanted him to keep going…
Many soldiers started to gather coming from all directions. Not everyone stays at the festival the whole night. Some soldiers go home to spend time with the loved ones or their Chosen. This was the night the soldier’s got to let their hair down. When the horns went off it could be heard for miles outside the kingdom, all the way to the outskirt line. They have to drop everything to quickly report to the commander for instructions. Amos came running from around the corner to be pleased that the horns had worked.
The first issue was the chaos that emerging, Sagens tripping over one another to get back to the homes. The second issue there were a lot more Barbarians that had infiltrated the courtyard then expected. They stood still looking around confused. The horn completely threw off their plans to search for certain Sagens first. The Barbarians quickly armed themselves looking around in disarray. Amos could spot the enemy fast because they obviously were out of place.
Anyone could tell who the soldiers were and who were the innocents because they ran in the opposite directions. As more soldiers showed up at the palace door steps Amos instructed the first group to make their way to the stashes of weapons from the royal guards. It was too far away to go the Military Quarters at this point. He waved down Jaron when the prince looked over the roof for the final time. He needed his men to clearly hear the instructions. Amos kept it short as he screamed, “Kill any Barbarian you see and protect our home!”
The plan to be on a hunt for certain Sagens plopped once everyone was alerted. The Barbarians began to chase people as they ran by. Grabbing women and men by the hair and throwing them to the ground and attacking them. The ones who were dressed in maid and butler uniforms tore the clothes off and rip them to shreds, overjoyed for the full ambush to begin.
General Amos was the standing Commander now. It was his duty to protect and save Sage from falling to the savage Barbarian clans. In the back of his mind as he joined the fight, he prayed Kal and the others can save Iya. He knew in his gut she was not out for the count just yet. For the moment, all of the responsible fell to one of the oldest Sagen soldiers still standing. There had never been an ambush on Sage like this in many years. After tonight, after this battle Amos wanted this to be the end of the Barbarian clans for good.
The fight over Sage has begun…