Chapter Four

I thrust my staff backward and throw Miss Kali off balance, giving me just enough time to stand up and throw my staff out of the window, praying Ludwig will catch it. Even if he weren't to catch it, it should still be in working condition might it hit the ground around the castle.

"Ooo! Shiny! Gimme!"

Three exclamations of glee from the window tell me Ludwig has both spotted and grabbed the staff. He then makes an odd sound before shouting more words.

"Hey, this is my shiny! Not yours, so get lost!"

I hear the cry of a male, not Ludwig, but someone I do not know from outside the window.

Before I can process any more of what I hear, I jump out of range of Miss Kali's thrust towards my neck with her dagger, ending up laying on my bed, right next to Ki. Thankful to just so happen to land next to the second possession I wanted to take from my bedroom, I grab him but am pinned to my bed as Miss Kali jumps on top of me, her dagger's blade touching my neck.

"You and your friend will not leave the castle alive. I will kill you while the five assassins I sent to climb the rope he provided for your escape deal with him. Goodbye, my-"

"Five assassins? Do you mean the five people I just simultaneously killed while holing my beloved new shiny? If those are the assassins the king hired, he must be going mad. I could even do a better job than the five of them combined with my hands tied behind my back and my eyes closed!" I see Ludwig's head pop into view, as well as the staff he holds in his left hand.

I can feel my energy begin to decrease as my body begins to give away. The only force keeping Miss Kali from slitting my throat is my right hand, which is locked around her left wrist that belongs to the hand that holds the dagger.

"Miss Kali... Why? Why are you...the one who...kills me?" I whisper, hoping she can hear me and will answer, buying me just enough time to survive her blade.

"I have gained enough of your trust to be able to betray you without you giving it a second thought. I would kill you while you slept, knocked out by the sedative I slipped into the chocolate cake you didn't eat. I would have my way if the stupid spy didn't show up and ruin all my- Argh!"

Miss Kali is practically torn off of my body but is somehow able to land standing up on the floor, a familiar figure blocking her from trying to harm me again.

"Go, Theo! I'll make sure to kill this bastard who dares insult chocolate cake! Here, take this, too. Nice shiny!" Ludwig tosses me the staff, which I am able to just barely catch with my left hand, as Ki is in my right.

I roll out of bed and run over to the window, then move Ki to my left hand to have a free hand to help maneuver me out of the window and down the rope. I push the top of the staff out of the window, before ducking and bringing my right foot upward and out in front of me. I turn to my left, bringing the items in my left hand out into the cool air outside the castle, and grab onto the lower edge of my window with my right hand.

I then bring my left foot up and over the window, able to secure my right foot on a stone slab that sticks out just below my window. I grab onto the rope with my right hand and am able to see Ludwig dodge Miss Kali's swift attacks with unspoken grace and a smile on his face the entire time, the glint of a switchblade in his left hand, which he strikes Miss Kali with whenever he finds a chance to.

I feel a warmth in my right hand and see Ki, the golden dragon plush, become a long strand of solid gold, with noticeable scales, whiskers, and two glistening red eyes before curling itself around the engraved spiral line I noted earlier in the staff.

With a bit more of my right hand free, I clutch the rope with both of my hands before allowing my feet to dangle over the edge of the stone slab they were on and begin my slow descent down the rope.

I hear the grunts and yells of the two fighting figures above me, and feel the rope shake and move at random intervals, making me clutch it ever so harder before gauging it safe to continue climbing.

I am able to look over my right shoulder and see the faint outline of what I assume to be trees come into view, indicating I am, at the very least, halfway down the castle's walls. I hear Ludwig's voice from above, prompting me to freeze and think about what he just said.

"I'm going to sever the rope and then jump, Theo! I swear I'll catch you should I hit the ground before you do!"

I do not have the voice, mentality, or time to argue. I instead cling to the rope for dear life as I feel it sway once Ludwig begins to cut through the only thing keeping me from falling to my death.

I hear a nasty scream and an inaudible word being said before I see a figure literally throw themselves out of the window and plummet past me just as I begin to fall, with a sound I never thought I would hear being spoken whilst one is falling to their possible death.

"Wheeeee!"

I close my eyes and brace myself for death, but instead fall into arms and feel the wind hit my exposed face as the person who caught me begins running away from the castle.

"Lud...wig?" I am able to say, hoping he has caught me instead of some other assassin or random stranger.

"Yep, it's me! Goodness, you're as light as a feather Theo! I think the staff you hold weighs more than you do!" I am surprised Ludwig is still able to joke despite the blood dripping from his face onto mine.

Wait, what? Blood!? Was Ludwig hurt? Was he going to die?

"Bl-blood!"

"Ah, don't trouble yourself with my blood, Theo! The nasty insulter of chocolate cake gave your savior a few wounds, but nothing to hinder my ability to escape-"

A howl and the rumble of the ground stop Ludwig mid-sentence. He pauses and turns around, allowing me to see a fast-approaching figure come into view.

It is a five-headed creature, with heads resembling that of dogs, and a large body of a horse.

"Hey, look at that! Good doggy, good doggy, please don't-"

Ludwig jumps backward and turns away, taking off running again as soon as the face of the dog closest to us lunges, its hot breath hitting my face like a smelly, personal, unwanted heat wave.

"Bad dog! Bad dog! No chocolate for you!" Ludwig shouts back to the creature over his shoulder as he dashes through a hole in the castle's wall, probably where the five assassins sent to kill him came onto the castle grounds from.

I can feel the ground tremble, just like my entire body as the creature gains on us. I can tell Ludwig is running as fast as he can, and can not continue much longer. He begins to breathlessly hope for the impossible with what words he can produce.

"Wouldn't it be- great if someone- like an Aegian spearman- could come from- right in front of us- and kill the creature- chasing us?"

A black and red blur comes across my vision. I panic and flail, causing Ludwig to drop me, though he lands not too far from me as soon as I hit the ground.

I turn my head to my left and catch a glimpse of a bright red liquid gush from one of the creature's severed heads as a black spear effortlessly pierces the creature's exposed body, entangling it in a glistening crimson spiral before dealing a devastating killing blow, right through the creature's heart.

I catch my breath and catch movement from the corner of my right eye. I frantically reach for my staff, but a comforting voice puts my movements at ease.

"Hey, it's alright, Theo. It's just me, Ludwig. It appears my prayers were answered by that scary-looking knight clad in black over there. Thank you, scary person!" Ludwig calms me before yelling in the direction of the person who saved us, who I can see approaching us.

Two red eyes peer at me through the figure's black helmet before the person removes the helmet, which vanishes in thin air, as does his armor as he mutters a word I cannot hear.

His skin is so pale, it is as white as freshly falling snow. He reminds me of a classic Verinen. Is he, perhaps, a Verinen knight? I had never seen one, nor heard of Aegia's army ever possessing such a person.

But what gives his identity away is his pointed ears and glowing red eyes. I sit up with help from Ludwig and stare at the rather young man who saved us. I recognize him from the descriptions I had seen in books detailing Aegia's recent past, mostly from tournaments where he garnered endless praise and glory. I quietly utter his name.

"Edgar Konstantinos. The greatest spearman on the continent of Iserin since his father, Braylon Konstantinos."