8 Chapter 7 - Domination

The sound of a deafening roar seemed to bounce within Archers skull as he tried to remove the stars from his eyes. He shakily stood up, coughing as he looked around to take in his surroundings. He began to stagger away from the now crumbled tower and towards the sounds he heard. The dust filled his throat and lungs, followed by the singe of hair that Archer could only assume came from himself. He dashed towards the lifted flowerbed within the courtyard and spotted Master Shuien fighting two wolfmen and a fanged looking demon. The demon was a dark creature that had black pits for eyes that were filled with only a golden glow in its center. It was bald and had a wrinkly, creased head that reflected the rest of it's hairless body. It was shorter in stature and slightly hunched and the edges of it's bones protruded from the surface of its skin. It appeared to have no lips covering it's purple gums and if there were any, they were unnoticeable, however; the blood dripping from it teeth and claws made it very apparent that this creature was not to be taken lightly.

Upon a brief observation, the master seemed to be losing ground in his fight. His fighting arm was bleeding and he had a slight limp. Blood covered Shuien's left eye that seemed to be coming from a large gash across his eyebrow, essentially blinding that side. Shuien was repeatedly wiping that side to try and clear his vision, to no avail. This attack had obviously come from the demon who had blood dripping from the end of the claws on his hand. The other two beasts seemed to have just shown up to the fight as neither one of them was breathing hard and the blood and dirt that covered them had mostly dried. A pang of fear shot through Archer's chest as he catapulted over the flowerbed in his way, ignoring the cold as some snow fell into the creases of his armor from the rose bushes. After finally managing to halt hit momentum after bumping his body against his masters. The experienced soldier jumped as he felt contact and a hand flashed out to grab at Archer. The prince managed to duck away just in time and as Archer readied his sword to defend himself, a look of relief smeared across Shuien's face when he realized that his pupil was beside him. Seeing the lapse in attention, the vampire jumped for Shuien, only to be met with the fist of Archers greaves connecting with it's face with as sickening crunch, chipping a tooth and rolling away before crashing into a nearby bench..

"They stand no chance now" Archer thought as his limbs felt like they had lightning coursing through them. He had never felt the rush he was experiencing now. He couldn't help but flex his muscles at this intoxicating feeling that was flooding his body. Every flex seemed to send a renewed shock across his body. "So this is battle," he thought to himself. His awareness was at an all time high as noticed every minute detail within the courtyard, he was fully immersed in the current situation. Holding his short sword in his right hand and lifting his buckler with his left, he pressured the monsters, hoisting his buckler up in front of him with his sword laid against it. The wolf standing directly in front of Archer recognized the immediate challenge and stood on his hind legs, towering over the prince by an arms length. Archer took off running and dropped to the ground, his goal was to use his momentum to carry him through the creatures legs. The sound of him armor scrapping the ground caused the wolf to attack. The beast swung downward as Archer came within striking distance but the prince knocked the blow aside with his buckler and as he made it to the other side, he slashed his sword at the first piece of flesh he could connect with, the left knee. The sword sliced through as though it was butter.

The wolf howled in pain and dropped back down to all four legs, now unable to support its weight on just the two. The demon saw Archer sliding across the ground and heard the howl of his comrade. Turning towards him, the demon thrust its right leg forward, straight for the princes chest. Not prepared for the incoming attack, the kick connected to his breastplate, launching Archer across the ground till he hit the rose bushes again. This distraction was all Master Shuien needed to turn the tide of this fight. As Archer stood up, he saw a blade plunge into the side of the neck of the already injured wolf, making it scream in pain. With a simple spin, the blade moved through the neck of the creature and immediately beheaded the second wolf standing next to it that was raising its hand above its head. Both of the bodies dropped to the ground as the heads rolled past Shuien.

The demon saw the odds were no longer in his favor and turned to run before he joined the same fate as his comrades. Archer attempted to chase him down, but the fragile looking creature was much faster than it appeared. He could only watch helplessly as the creature finagled its way into the castle, away from the battle that was at hand. Not having the time to think about it, Archer ran back to Shuiens side.

"What now master?" Said the eager pupil, staring wide eyed at the creatures that stood in front of him. After saying this, he realized that his breathing was hindered by something hard pressed against his chest. Looking down, the was a perfect footprint that had indented into to phoenix crest on his chest from where the demon had kicked him. Reaching underneath his breastplate, the prince pushed out what he could of the damage. Finally breathing normally again, Archer had a strange calm fall over him despite what is going on.

"First off, what the hell are you doing here?! Your father informed me that you were supposed to be in your room!" Surprised and angrily yelling at Archer but not wanting to drag this on too long due to the carnage that was currently underway.

Archer nodded his head in the direction of the tower where his room was located, "I initially did sneak out because wanted to help with the fight, but the tower was destroyed on the way down."

Shuiens eyes widened is disbelief, "I haven't seen anything out here yet with the power to tear down an entire tower." He wiped the blood from his eye again before placing his hand on his chin in thought, pondering what he had learned over his years for something that may have that kind of strength.

Archer interrupted his thinking, " It was a flying beast. It was red and had horns, that about all I can give you. When I was on my way down, the tower was destroyed and I blacked out for a few moments."

Without hesitation, Shuien grabbed Archer by his arm and began guided him towards the castle. "Your father is in his study, he needed some information to guide this battle. We will go to him and see if he is still there."

Archer began to protest, he wanted to fight with his people. To save them. Now he was given the opportunity, but he didn't dare protest out loud. As they marched down the hallway that lead to the study from the courtyard, everything seemed unusually quiet, almost like there wasn't chaos going on outside of these walls. As they got further down the hall, just outside of the study, they heard a moan from inside the study. It wasn't a normal noise so they duo burst into the room the see the king laying across his desk, mumbling and having a slight smile on his face. On top of him were two demons, one of them looked very similar to the demon that got away outside.

"NOOO!" Yelled the distraught prince, instantly realizing what was happening. He unsheathed his sword and went to swing, however; one of the demons hoped off of the king and picked King Smitten up, holding him like a body shield.

"You.... wouldn't kill.. your own kind.. would you?" the creature hissed. Its voice sounded raspy, almost like nails scrapping across cobblestone. There were also pauses in its speech as though it was trying to catch its breath from feeding. Archers father finally woke up from the trance since the demon venom was no longer funneling into his body. Seeing life reenter his fathers body gave the prince some hope. Archer saw Shuien out of the corner of his eye, the black trench coat blended well into the wall, making him almost unnoticeable. It appeared that the monsters had yet to notice him due to the princes outburst. Seeing his master inching his way down the wall, Archer knew what to do.

"FINE!" Archer yelled. Forcing tears into his eyes, he dropped his sword on the ground. He unfastened the latches from his buckler and it also clashed to the ground. He glanced up at the demon, glancing at his father long enough to notice the light in his eyes looked severely diminished. Fear grabbed his gut as he saw this. King Smitten had a chunk of his armor ripped off from his shoulder and there were two side by side bite marks. They looked like disgusting scars, almost like they had already closed up. The injury was obvious though due to the blood that smothered the area.

"Well well... smart kid... aren't you?" the demon sneered at the prince and then commanded, "kick your sword across the room."

Archer obliged and kicked his sword to the right and the demon watched it slide till it made contact with the wall. "Good.. boy."

Without an ounce of mercy, the beast tossed the kings body against the wall. His body made a hard crunch as it connected. Archer cringed and glanced at the body as he balled his fists. He felt a fire in his stomach that slowly began to spread its way to the rest of his body. "I'll kill you," he thought silently to himself.

"Why attack everyone?" Archer spoke finally. "I understand your kind ruled before. So I get it. Can there not be any type of arrangement to ensure harmony between all of us. There is no point in all this fighting." The words the prince spoke made him sick to his stomach, but he was thinking for the people more than himself.

"Ha..Hahaha...Hahahaha" the demon began hysterically laughing. Its partner began to do the same. Its black eyes disappeared behind its eyelids as its shoulders heaved up and down heavily, its ribs flexing out of it's body with every shrug. After a few seconds of this, the demon looked back to the prince.

"Why would we harmonize with those that are beneath use? Why would we harmonize with those who imprisoned us for so long? Why would we commit to peace when our food doesn't even have the power to defend itself. Peace is only brought about with strength. Your kind has no power now. YOU ARE WEAK COMPARED TO YOUR ANCESTORS!" the monster finally yelled, leaping from the table towards Archer with his claws outstretched.

The fire that Archer had felt spreading throughout him seemed to ignite all at once. It was an adrenaline surge like no other. Without a moments hesitation, Archer ducked down, he grabbed the demons arm with his left hand and the buckler at his feet with his right. With one fluid movement the prince forcefully pulled the demon hard onto the ground with a sickening "THUD." Continuing his motion, he brought the bottom point from his buckler to connect with the back of the demons skull. Within a matter of a couple seconds, the demon now laid at Archers feet with the shield buried it the stone, standing straight up with the the demons skull severed in half.

A groan came from the other side of the room as Archer looked up and saw his master finishing up his business with the second demon. He kicked the demon off the end of his sword before heading over to Archer. He walked up and stared into Archers eyes, his own eyes widening. He broke the eye contact and the duo walked over to the king, helping him into the chair. The king was heavy, he couldn't support his own weight due to the lose of blood. Archer and Shuien settled the king into his chair and carefully backed away, monitoring his face vigilantly as they did.

The fire in the kings eyes were dim, and he could barely move. This befuddled Archer as he glanced back at the wounds that were now completely sealed shut.

"Father, what can I do? You can fight. Remember we need you! So don't go anywhere." Tears began to well up in Archers eyes cause he knew these words were wishful thoughts and he grew frantic.

King Smitten looked at his son and began to grin, "Your mother was right."

"No.. your with me.. please stay with me." The prince was staring at his fathers eyes, but found no sorrow or anguish, only a look of content.

"Archer.. I love you." Smitten brushed is hand across Archers face, removing some of the dirt that had accumulated.

He continued "I always have and will, but I feel it is time for the torch to pass on. Take this with you.." he trailed off as he unsheathed his own sword.

"This sword belonged to the first king. It has been passed down to the first born of every generation.."

The prince attempted to shove the sword back to his father, but was interrupted. "NO! You will need this.. This sword is the key for you. I saw just now from you, that the power hidden within our bloodlines has returned.. You will need this weapon to be by your side.."

The prince stopped fighting. He accepted there was nothing he could do and embraced the sword in his hand before finally setting it down. With closed eyes as he embraced his father in a tight hug, tears flooding his eyes and not letting go until the prince felt the body of his father go limp as the life left him finally. The prince gently laid his fathers head down, kissed his forehead and stood up. He walked to the window that showed the battlefield below and let a cry that could have shook the heavens.