29 Dance on a sword's edge

Few of the guards loyal to Dan followed Dan in jumping onto a mound of corpses and followed him into castle one.

They have always known Dan is a fine swordsman.

He fought many battles with them, they know of his strength, speed and stamina.

Compared to any of them, he is a better warrior by leaps and bounds.

Even so, they never thought that his standard was impossible for them to reach.

Yet, now, the way he cut through the snorc elites as if he was reaping harvest, made their hearts tremble and their knees to buckle.

The scariest being in the world is a good guy who has gone bad, their blacksmith used to say, as he described his battle of Rykor Drakon and Beor Hawthorn.

This must be what a truly frightening swordsman is like, they thought as they saw the after images of Dan's sword.

They can't see the sword at all before the enemies are ripped into pieces.

It is said sorcerer's steel has the ability to carry and create sword aura, as long as some of it is present.

It's like an invisible black ice pierced through the enemies.

The sword is only five feet long, but when it swung, it injured the men even as far as twenty feet away from the sword.

"Sword Aura of a sword master ! I thought it's only stories told by old men! " one of the men breathed in.

"What sword aura ? " the men beside him asked, as he blocked the incoming strike from a Snorc.

They only killed the few scraggler snorcs as they kept Dan save, and the area around him free enough for movement.

"When a sword moves fast and perfectly enough, air it replaces will move air in exactly the same shape to a greater distance. This wind replacement could still hurt people , even if it's not as much as the original steel sword ! Edward Winterchild was the last known sword master who could use sword aura! I could not believe I saw it as I live." The guard gushed.

"Old Bob is telling tall tales again! " the men around him grumbled as they cut down the snorcs, but they all believed it in their hearts.

" Move to protect the prince." A witnerland soldier shouted, and with that, more people followed after Dan.

Soon, they moved up the stairs, and the snorcs divided into two groups. Bigger group remained to fight the guards, while the smaller group moved up the stairs to kill Sasha.

Dan saw their intent at once.

However, Dan did not follow them on the route towards the royal tower. Instead, he went into the commander's room.

While it is true there are no entrances to royal towers other than a single balustrade, it is not like one could not be made if one's mind is put to the task.

Dan opened the window in the commander's room, and swung the hook through the window.

It came down empty.

There are only two windows at this height.

One is the guard captain's, the other is in the royal tower.

Dan tried again.

Again …

And again …

On the seventh try, the hook is caught.

He tested the rope, then kicked the window loose.

Thankfully, he was wearing climbing boots, so he could climb the wall, even though Sasha made it all needlessly glossy.

Every second felt like eternity as he climbed up through the rope, dangling five hundred feet in the air.

If he falls, there won't even be a body to recover.

Dan made each step carefully, and gently, unlike his head filled with impatience, and heart boiling in anger.

How dare they treat his sister like a freak ?

How dare they come here to kill the only woman who could give them a chance at life ?

For the first time, he understood why it is hard to be a hero, and easy to be a villain.

People are ungrateful, no matter how much you wish for their own good.

Here the bastards are, when she has offered clear conditions to give their own food to let the ungrateful bastards live.

He no longer thought Sasha's approach was hard hearted.

Dan reached the window in the royal tower, just as his thoughts concluded.

He kicked the window in.

The steel frame fell on the floor along with flat glass, breaking with a loud clang.

He ran out.

There were corpses of two men on the left, and the sound of fighting on the right.

The battle raged on the right.

Valerie is fighting to hold off three men.

It is not her strong point, fighting in close quarters or fighting with strength.

One of the men stuck out his dagger at Valerie. The guard beside her pulled her back.

The dagger moved forward and pushed into the side of the man, even as his sword came up to cut the snorc's shoulder.

Both the guard and snorc went down as the injured guard rammed into the smorc warrior.

Five men and a strong snorc team arrived to kill Sasha.

Two were dead, one was taken down by the guard right now.

The smaller man engaged Valerie, while the larger man headed for Sasha.

There is no place for Sasha to escape.

Dan moved like the wind.

Sasha has pushed herself to the limits. Even as the mace was about to come down on her head, she focused her all on building an ice bridge from the side of the wall to the pavilion she is in.

She noticed the warrior coming for her all too late to shift her focus.

The desperation sent her magic control a notch up.

The bridge connected as the Snorc warrior raised his mace up.

Sasha spent her all in strengthening the ice bride. The ice power exploded from her.

Then a rain of rubies fell away from her, in all directions.

Sasha looked up in shock.

A sword has burst through the snorc warrior's heart, and the exploding blood is about to freeze like a red flower around the sword.

The blood that fell on her froze into little rubies, and rolled away in all directions.

The sword shifted direction, and flicked off the corpse of the gigantic snorc warrior like a fly on the wall.

Sasha watched in utter shock, as the warrior fell away from her, as her savior was revealed.

Dan stood there with his face contorted in sheer anger, both his eyes glowing like embers on a dark night.

Sasha did not mind the surroundings and flung herself at Dan.

She really thought her head would be smashed in tonight.

The guards walked in from the otherside of the yard to the castle through the pavilion.

They did not pay attention to Sasha or Dan, and rushed down the stairs to join the battle in the dining hall.

However, at this point, the outcome of the battle is decided.

Most of the Snorc army is decimated, and the guards outnumber them by many.

The remaining forces are subdued easily.

After what felt like eternity, Sasha unhooked her arms from around Dan.

"Rest in your room, Sasha. I will join you soon." Dan said, as he went down to join the battle once more.

Sasha felt extremely sleepy. She has overdrawn her magic, her mind, and all of her being. She could feel tiredness settling in her very bones.

Even so, she dragged herself to Valerie, who was holding her guts in with her own hand, and helped her up.

She settled Valerie in her room, and sewed all her wounds shut with a heated blade.

"Those would be some nice looking scars." Valerie said, looking at the perfect stitches Sasha made.

Sasha did not even have energy to give a repartee.

She put a rush on the ground, while she gave the bed to valerie.

As soon as she washed her hands and wiped them down, she settled on the rush with a pillow and fell asleep just like that.

▬ ● ◘ ● ▬

The battle was in full swing when Dan rushed downstairs.

The tail of the snorc army has caught up, and made its way into the castle one, making the numbers match somewhat.

The moment Dan joined the battle, the battle took a turn for the better.

His anger is not appeased, and for the first time, Dan let himself go in the battle.

The result was mind blowing, for both sides.

For the first time, the guards felt the awe of having a capable commander who reaps enemies like wheat.

Their morale, which was about to hit rock bottom, is boosted all of a sudden.

Snorcs, who were utterly confident in their victory, felt how reckless their action has been.

They threw down their weapons, and shouted their surrender.

Dan Frost, they knew of, was honorable to the last drop of blood in his blue blooded body.

He will never kill a man who has laid down their weapons.

It probably would be true.

If they hadn't aimed for his sister's life, with fanaticism at that.

Dan smiled very kindly at the bone creeper bending down in front of him servilely.

The Snorcs relaxed.

The next minute, the bone creeper's head flew through the air.

" Kill them all ! Leave not a single one alive." Dan's commands rang in the sudden silence in the hall.