"Captain, I believe..." I held up my hand, balled into a fist, silencing my second-in-command instantly. She backed off a few steps and waited with the rest.
I knew. I knew they were gone, and headed north if using any rationality whatsoever. Of course they were. They were being led by Li. Instinct and leadership flowed through the family's veins.
It was up to Cap-- No, General Tau Cai to retrieve the escaped prisoners. The moments slithered by, and after such a great while was gone, the Emperor entered his court with a sleepy scowl on his face. "Captain Tau, I surely hope you are aware of the hour and how critical of nature your disturbance must be."
I nodded to the Emperor, bowing in respect. My six guards did the same behind me. Like a uniformed chess piece, I stepped forward, holding out the sets of locks busted apart at their primal gears. "Honorable Emperor, your prisoners, the strangers, they have escaped under the cover of nightfall."
The emperor and his escorts glared on, expecting a happy ending, I assumed.
"The subterranean guards were overtaken by great force... That of which could not be explained."
"And the guards...?"
"They are dead, Emperor."
The entire operation was dirty. Especially killing my own guardsmen for the sake of advancement. "I seek now your permission to lead calvary into the night to find them and retrieve them."
The emperor nodded, obviously fooled by my hoax. "Permission granted. Dead or alive, return them to me."
I bowed once more, signaling for my guards to usher themselves out of the palace and to the stables.
_________________ Retrieve the Escapees _________________
The horses screamed in the dead of night, their legs kicking up black sand around us in a swift cloud. I led the guards South while I knew-- at least I prayed, that the strangers were headed North. I had no idea who they were or from where... But they had to've been sent by destiny, fate, or some invisible god to dethrone the emperor, and that meant that their paths would intertwine with mine.
Life would complete itself before I had a chance to assault.
I am a forest fire and an ocean, and I will burn you just as much as I will drown everything you have inside.
-Shinji Moon
I am the property of Rydia, please return me to her ship.
I ran as fast as I could, heading North. I hoped it was the right direction. Shi ran beside me. I could hear horses in the distance, the guards had been sent out to look for use.
"We need to find some better way to get around," I panted, glancing back at the others. The Wise woman was managing to keep up, surprisingly enough.
Jemsie:
I silently agreed with Quan. We needed horses or something.
"Good idea," I said and looked around for somewhere to hide. I saw a dull light up ahead and pointed it out. "Hey, what's that?"
Quan turned his head to look and frowned. "Farmhouse?" he hedged.
"Good enough," someone got out and we all headed towards it.
This was crazy. We're in Ancient China. Like, really in Ancient China. If I wasn't so sure that I wasn't dreaming, then I could swear it was a dream or something...
Well, either that or I was crazy. Not that it would help much.
"With friends like you, who needs a medical license?" - Paimon, Aether's Heart
“It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” - Grace Hopper.
The small band of children headed north, far into the mountains. They found horses and stole them, they found food and stole that too, until they reached the mountians and vanished into their mists. They had the princess, they needed a way home. She held the clue.
And so the planning of revenge begins...
The End.
Note: There might be a Sequel, but I'm not giving anything away.
"With friends like you, who needs a medical license?" - Paimon, Aether's Heart
“It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” - Grace Hopper.
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