CHAPTER 18: DRACO SAVES THE DAY [NYELLA’S POV]

"Hiaaa!"

Clop. Clop. Clop.

Princess Nyella rode very fast with her cloak flying behind her as she galloped straight into the arena. The battlefield was a mess of dust, blades clashing, and falling bodies, but she didn’t shake.

She pulled out her bow while whispering under her breath, "You foolish girl... running away when your people needed you most?"

She grabbed three arrows in one hand, drew the string, and let them fly.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Three men dropped.

She didn’t stop. More arrows flew, one after another, and none missed. Every arrow found a body.

With each gallop forward, she came closer to the heart of the battle. That was when she saw him...Ser Devic who had been surrounded.

He was fighting like a beast, every swing of his sword dropping men left and right. But it wasn’t enough. More assassins closed in on him. They knew he was a threat and one that needed to be dealt with. He was being overwhelmed.

Nyella gritted her teeth and drove her horse faster. She didn’t even hesitate.

She charged in from behind, drew her sword, and was cutting down the attackers like they were weeds in her path. Slash, one fell. Stab, another dropped. With her blade that was moving very fast, she carved a path and forced her way to Devic’s side.

Together, they stood back-to-back. The fight began to shift in their favor. One by one, the assassins fell until the tight ring around them was broken.

But it was far from over.

Behind a tree, the young Sandborn boy still had his hands tied. He was crouching, with his eyes full of fear, trying to stay hidden.

Then, an assassin crept up behind him.

Nyella saw it.

With a quick flick of her wrist, she pulled a short dagger from her belt and hurled it. Thwack!

The assassin dropped lifeless to the ground.

She didn’t even look to confirm.

"Run!" she shouted to the boy. "Now!"

The boy didn’t wait. He took off into the trees and disappeared from that madness.

Nyella turned back to the battlefield. Her sword was already soaked with blood, her arms aching, but she didn’t care. She kept fighting. She had no choice.

The assassins were almost finished...Almost.

Then,

From behind them, they heard some noise.

More assassins arrived. Twice as many. No, three times.

They poured into the battlefield and the fighting heightened. The Phoenix Guard, elite as they were, looked at each other with dread. They were outnumbered, and it wasn’t even close, it was quite discouraging.

But there was no retreat. It was either to fight or die.

Ser Devic was already bleeding from a deep cut across his side. He was slowing down, stumbling. Sira, Nyella’s closest guard, stayed close to her, fighting the enemies with determination, she refused to let any blade near her princess.

But the Phoenix Guard was struggling. The assassins were everywhere, they were fast, ruthless, and relentless. The tide was turning again... and not in their favor.

Nyella could barely catch her breath. But she lifted her sword and screamed,

"Stand your ground! Fight with everything you have!"

And they did. But for how long, they didn’t know.

Just when she thought the night couldn’t get worse, Princess Nyella found herself surrounded. The assassins were facing her in every direction. She gripped her sword tighter, kept on spinning around, and fighting them. She would swing, slash, and defend. Again and again. One attacker down. Two. Three. But they kept coming. She was outnumbered, and even with all her training, she knew she couldn’t hold them off much longer.

Then...thwack! An arrow flew past her and struck one of the assassins straight in the neck. Another arrow followed, then another. One by one, her enemies began falling, but not by her hand.

She didn’t have time to question it. She kept fighting, slashing through the last of the assassins around her until there were none left standing. While breathing heavily, she turned to look.

And there he was.

A boy, almost the same age as she is, stood at a distance with a bow in his hand. He looked like a simple villager, dressed in plain clothes. But his hair... it was silver. Bright and shiny silver hair, one that you barely see.

She didn’t recognize him. She had never seen him before in her life.

Before she could even process it, another assassin had spotted the boy and charged. The boy turned and ran through the trees, trying to stay ahead. He wasn’t a fighter, at least, not up close. He was quick with a bow, but in a swordfight, he was helpless.

The assassin was closing in fast.

Without thinking, Nyella darted forward. She sprinted after them, and just as the enemy raised his blade to strike the boy, she lunged and drove her sword through his back.

The boy gasped. Nyella helped him to his feet. "You okay?" she asked.

He nodded quickly. They didn’t even need to speak. They both knew the fight wasn’t over.

Back-to-back, they stood, he with his bow, she with her sword. Enemies closed in again. The boy shot his arrows, and Nyella was very fast and good with her sword. They moved like they’d fought together for years.

But then, one of the assassins dodged the boy’s arrow and rushed him with a sword. Nyella didn’t think twice. She used her own sword to defend this boy and killed the assassin. But that moment of sacrifice cost her.

While defending the boy, she left her side open. Another enemy struck. A blade sliced across her right arm.

Her sword fell and her hand was too weak to lift it again.

She stumbled back, holding her bleeding arm. The next assassin ran toward her, raised his blade to strike.

But just before it could land, the boy pulled her toward him, shielded her with his body. He placed himself right in front of the incoming sword with his back exposed.

Then, BOOM!

They heard a sound from the sky. Not anything they’d ever heard before. It was loud, deep, and terrifying.

They looked up and froze. Something was flying toward them from the sky. It was massive. It had wings and they were spread wide, as if they had seen a nightmare from the old legends.

The beast soared above them and let out a roar, one that’s deafening and can shake the trees. Flames burst from its mouth, and fire rained down on them. Screams erupted and everyone scattered. No party cared about the fight anymore; they were all running for their lives.

The boy grabbed Nyella’s uninjured arm. "We have to go!"

She didn’t argue. Her legs were weak, her vision blurry, but she ran. And with the boy leading her, they disappeared into the forest.