1: The Raid Pt. I

Part One Of The Raid

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Utter chaos emerged from the deafening screams of poor souls that cried pleas of help in vain. In a very cold night, the piercing cries disrupted the tranquil environment and replaced it with an enormous ruckus. Crimson blood painted the sturdy stone walls of the kingdom as it pooled the ground, turning grimly black because of its abundant amount. Severed heads and disemboweled bodies were scattered around the area while the fetid stench of death lingered in the air like a foul stink bomb.

“Stop them!” a soldier of Xora, who was busy fighting off an enemy, shouted at the others as a warning. An army of Xerons had been forcing themselves to enter the confinements of the palace. They had been pushing the giant wood gate, the barrier that separates the castle from them, to no avail.

“Move aside. I’ll deal with this,” a tall lad, who had just arrived in the scene, reprimanded the slave soldiers as he motioned them to clear out. The soldiers quickly complied. After all, he is one of the royal princes of Xero; they had no right to disobey.

The prince held out the palm of his hand and in an instant, a ball of fire formed. Its blazing flames were auburn with a hint of yellow in its core. But as he garnered energy from within, the fireball grew larger and the specs of yellow turned bright and consumed the orange hue. The lad then skillfully threw the sphere of scorching heat at the gate and it turned into ashes, not leaving any debris of wood but murky cinders. With no time to waste, the Xerons charged to attack.

Swords clashed while blades sparred. The magnificent courtyard of the palace became an ugly battlefield. The luscious green plants and its array of colorful blossoming buds were destroyed into bits while the serene pond that was once cerulean blue was now stained with thick blood.

The royal princes of Xero proceeded inside the castle, leaving the slave soldiers to their unknown fate. They had more important things to deal with more than that silly skirmish between the neutrals.

Palace guards did their best to stop them but the odds were not in their favor. The princes had their own powers: flight, pyrokinesis and aerokinesis. They were all too powerful and it doesn’t help that they were battling all at the same time, not sparing the guards who were at their weakest with only swords to defend themselves. In the end, the weak perished while the strong prevailed.

“You can stop killing them now. They are practically dead.” The Xeron princes were startled by an unfamiliar voice. The royal prince who can manipulate fire extinguished the flames that were burning the lifeless bodies and immediately searched for the source of the voice.

“Show yourself!” he boomed. There was a strange aura, emitting itself in the secluded room. The princes are now aware that another presence was with them, hiding in the shadows.

“Chanyeol, light this place up,” the firebender’s older brother commanded him to do so with a smug look on his face. The younger prince nodded in agreement. “It’s my pleasure.”

With the snap of his fingers, the premise was engulfed in bright yellow flames, surrounding the room with a blinding light. Once they had adjusted with the brightness, the trio was greeted by two gifted Xorans, not one.

“Baekhyun, we meet again. It’s been a while since I saw you in Xero, serving under my late father,” Chanyeol derided, flashing his former friend a cheeky grin.

The knight scowled, knowing very well what this imbecile was implying. “Stop bringing up the past.”

“Who said anything about the past?” the tall lad playfully delved Baekhyun, acting oblivious. “Oh wait, I remember now. You ---” Before the latter can finish his sentence, a beam of light surged forward, directly hitting him and throwing him across the room.

The firebender growled in ire and his brothers swore that his orbs lit on fire. “Kris, find the princess immediately with Sehun while I deal with this prick,” Chanyeol said as he got up from the ground, his gaze still boring on the lightbender.

“Sehun, are you going to come with me or not,” Kris hissed at his youngest brother who was staring intently at the other knight, Luhan, who has not yet made any move at them. He tore his gaze away from the knight and followed Kris who had opened the door leading to another hall.

They entered the premise and found themselves in the throne room. Suddenly, the wide open door shut closed behind the princes, leaving them both dumbfounded. “What the hell?” Kris bellowed as he tried to open it once again. However, the door won’t even budge a bit.

Things started to float out of nowhere and the two witnessed it with big eyes. In a swift movement, a table flew towards them. Thanks to their fast reflex, Kris managed to use his power, flight, to avoid the hit while Sehun threw himself to the other side, causing the object to aim at the sealed door, smashing it into pieces. Soon after, series of objects thrashed in sync as it all targeted the princes.

“Luhan, I know it’s you!” the eldest prince snarled as he dodged the nth time to avoid the furniture being thrown at him.

A chuckle came from above and the two princes looked up to see Luhan on one of the balconies. “I want to commend you for your right guess. However, I bet you already knew of my ability beforehand since you obviously knew my name; so it’s not much of a guess, is it?” The latter motioned his hands down and everything that was flying all over the place abruptly stopped.

Kris smirked at him and replied, “How will I not recognize the king’s right hand. But since the king is dead, what do you call your pretty little now?” The tall man earned a glower from the royal knight which made him grin in victory.

“How did you get here when you were at the other room?” Sehun quietly whispered to himself, deep in thought. Luhan however clearly heard him and laughed, “Have you ever heard of two doors in a room?”

Kris mentally facepalmed himself at his brother’s stupidity and glared at him while Sehun just nodded in realization. “Oh.”

As if on cue, the items surrounding th