#121 The Last Fights
As if he had understood his father, the little baby had a very serious frown on and was holding on the
little plushieâs tail fiercely. Despite the overall situation, Kairenâs heart warmed up a little at that sight.
That child was his son indeed⦠Brave and strong like his parents. He held him for a little while as if he
could learn by heart all of his sonâs features. Kairen had never been interested in children, but Kassian
was different. 5
He was a part of Cassandra and a part of him. Kairen could remember how his mother had been
impatient to finally see her son, hold him. They only had one week together, and Kairen had a week
away from his newborn. Fate was truly too horrible. He hugged the baby gently. He had never been
trained to carry a baby, but somehow, all the right movements came to him naturally, as if it was his
instincts guiding him. Kassian didnât seem upset to be carried in the strong, sturdy arm. The baby was
actually focused on the plushie. He was holding onto it, but it was more like the toy was put on top of
him. With his little mouth forming an O, Kassian looked like he was gauging the plushie. His expression
was a bit amusing.
Kairen couldnât help recognizing some of Cassandraâs features in Kassian. His little nose, and the
shape of his eyes. His iris had hints of green in them, too, but his skin was just a shade lighter than his
father, not nearly as white as his mother.
âOh by the gods!â
Lady Kareen had just arrived behind him and was staring at the baby with eyes filled with emotion. For
once, the Imperial Concubineâs heart completely melted to the sight of the newborn in Kairenâs arms.
She seemed at a loss for words, and gently caressed the babyâs hands for a few seconds. In Kairenâs
arm, the baby squealed in excitement upon seeing a new face. She kept smiling gently at him, but
Kairenâs mind was elsewhere.
âMother, take him.â
He carefully gave Kassian to his mother, giving a little kiss on the babyâs head before doing so, and
took out his weapon. It was unfortunate things were so dire already, but they had very little time for their
moving reunion. Shareen was guarding the door for now, but Vrehanâs men knew where they were.
Kairen could hear them banging against the doors. It would be a matter of minutes before they broke it
and barged in, unless his sister lost patience and went to the other side first.
*Kyun!â
Kairen almost jumped at the little squeal and looked down. Against his leg, a little silver-scaled dragon
was rubbing itâs back, and looking at him with big green eyes. The War God smiled once again and
leaned down to take the little dragon. Kian immediately jumped on his shoulder, which was broad
enough for him to hang on comfortably.
âOh, by the great dragon, he is⦠perfect!â Exclaimed Lady Shareen on the verge of tears.
Though she wasnât wrong, the new grandmother was also a bit blinded by the babiesâ sight. With her
knowledge on Dragons, she could have seen Kian was clearly a bit different from all the other dragons
she had ever seen before. He had a longer and leaner body, and his wings were thinner and shorter,
too. It was most likely that unless they grew bigger sometime soon, he probably couldnât stand long
flights or heavy weights like Krai did.
Kairen didnât have time for this, however. Keeping the young dragon on his shoulder, he turned towards
the women from before. They were both scared of the War God, but at least, they did not run away.
They were already aware of his relationship to Cassandra and Kassian, but he was still an impressive
man to see in the flesh.
âWhere is Cassandra? He asked.
*L-Lady Cassandra went to the Imperial Palace,â explained one of the women, who was actually
Yasora. âShe wanted to find and heal the Emperor.â
âShe went alone, like that?â Protested Kareen.
âShe went with young Lady Missandra!â Added Yasora. âThey wanted to find one of the herbal gardens
or medicine there, as we didnât have time to procure any hereâ¦â
âSheâs not wrong,â sighed Kareen. âThat rat Vrehan must have had all the Capitalâs apothecaries
watched the second he knew Cassie was back⦠And then?â
âWe⦠we donât know, your Highness. The girls left hours ago, and we havenât heard any news sinceâ¦â
âHours ago?â Exclaimed Kareen, shocked.
She turned to Kairen, livid. Hours ago could be bad or good news, it was completely unknown. At least
they havenât found their bodies outside the Palaceâs walls⦠But since then, they could very well have
been caught, tortured or killed. There was still a chance the girls were very much alive, but stillâ¦
âLetâs go,â said Kairen, determined.
Kareen nodded and followed him, still carrying Kassian. There was no way the War God was going to
part with his son for a single more minute, and the Imperial Concubine could very well protect him out.
They left the room, and found Shareen and Anour in the garden, both watching the gate, which was still
holding against their assailants, though it was obviously having quite a bad day.
âOh, hereâs my nephew,â said Shareen with a smirk, staring at the baby. âWow, youâre lucky he took
after his mom. Even for a baby, heâs cute.â
âThat dragon is amazing,â added Anour, his eyes on little Kian. âHis tail is so long⦠Heâs even leaner
than Roun!â
Actually, all three dragons were quite intrigued right now. Kian jumped down from Kairenâs shoulder
and ran to Krai. Though the black dragon looked a bit surprised, he carefully walked closer, his big red
eyes wide open with curiosity.
To the side, Roun wasnât as patient. The green dragon growled, almost jumping on the baby dragon,
but Krai reacted immediately, growling louder as a warning. The green dragon retreated, his head low.
Between them, Kian looked like he hadnât even noticed the big green dragon. His eyes were focused
on Krai, and he kept running to him, all excited. The black dragon clearly didnât know how to react,
especially as the baby dragon easily disappeared under his big body. He kept trying to look down and
all sides, but the excited Krai kept running around him, jumping on his paws playfully, making cute
squeaks and chasing the big black tail.6
Finally, the big black dragon growled, and when Kian made another sprint close enough, he suddenly
caught the baby dragon under his paw. Kian, surprised, squealed a bit, but Krai tilted his head, and
carefully, grabbed him in his mouth. The baby dragon agitated its little paws, unhappy of this new
position, but Krai ignored him, walking up to Kairen. He looked like a cat with its pissed kitten, making
everyone smile.
âDonât you hurt him, Krai,â warned Kareen with a frown.
It was unlikely heâd harm the baby dragon voluntarily, but keeping him in his mouth without biting with
his sharp fangs must have been a bit complicated for Krai, especially as Kian was quite unruly.
However, the black dragon looked like he controlled the situation (and his son) perfectly.
They didnât have much time to keep observing their cute interactions, however. The bangs were getting
louder behind the door. Kairen cracked his neck, and his sister looked even more impatient. All the
servants had run back inside the mansion to hide. A little army was surely waiting for them outside, but
those people had Dragon Blood and two actual dragons with them! It was a lot of animation for the
Residence. After a while, Shareen sighed.
âItâs going to take all dayâ¦â
The Princess took a deep breath, stocking as much air as she could in her lungs, and, after a couple of
seconds, she exhaled a massive fireball towards the door, sending it and everyone behind flying away.
The Imperial Princess smirked.
âNow we will actually get to it.â
She ran into the crowd of soldiers still standing or trying to get back on their feet, a demonic smile on.
Kairen glanced back towards him, but Kassian was perfectly safe in his grandmotherâs arms. She had
even protected him from the smoke by raising her sleeve, and the baby only seemed to care about his
plushie.
The Imperial Prince ran to support his sister. Shareen didnât need much help, but the faster they got rid
of those soldiers, the fast theyâd get to the Imperial Palace and to Cassandra. There wasnât a single
second to lose.
Behind them, Anour and Krai began jumping to attack the soldiers, too. When Kian started growling at
them angrily too, Krai finally let go, and though he was too small to attack, the baby dragon jumped on
his head and back, sending growls left and right as if he was the one fighting.
The Imperial siblings fought their way to the Imperial Palace. It was a long, long fight to there as they
couldnât use the dragons on the trapped roofs. The residence was far for the Imperial Palace, and the
number of men sent by Vrehan was endless. More importantly, they soon realized the Imperial Army
was already there. The colors of the soldiers were codified, and Shareen and Kairen didnât even need
to talk to both realize who they were fighting. They just exchanged glances, and kept going.
Fighting the Imperial Army was not easy inside the Capital, not even with two dragons helping. It was
the same as the fight against the Eastern Republicâs Army: they had to be cautious of the locals, the
dragons couldnât use their fire. However, Kareen, Shareen, and two dragons were enough to fight their
way through the whole Imperial Army, no matter how slow the progress was. The soldiers were
obviously afraid of them but also trained to not retreat. Kairen and Shareen fought one man after
another, slaughtering without stopping.
It was a dance of death. Blood flew in the air, and the violence spread terrified all citizens that dared to
venture outside at that time. The siblings and the dragons only occupied a couple of streets, but those
streets were a horror scene. They had no mercy and no time to lose doing a clean job of this.
âYour Highness!â
Kairen turned to the left, taking his sword out of a manâs chest, and soon, realized they werenât alone.
Many soldiers in a different outfit were now standing or running in the same direction as they did,
opposing the Imperial Army. One of the General ran to Kairenâs side, bowing with a military salute.
âYour East Army!â Exclaimed Shareen, surprised. âAlready?â
âWe came as soon as we got Lady Kareenâs message, Your Highness! We couldnât sit still, especially
with your Highness and Lady Cassandra in danger!â
Indeed, they soon heard the sounds of two armies fighting resonating in all the nearby streets. The fight
was now taken much farther into the Capitalâs streets. Screams and sounds of weapons striking filled
the air. It was a war scene everywhere the eye would stop.
Kairen and Shareen exchanged a smile, despite their tiredness and the sweat and blood their armors
were soaked with. With the East Army there, they could finally cut through the small fry and get to the
Imperial Palace quickerâ¦
The fight resumed, even more violent. Hundreds of men fighting to get the Imperial Palace or prevent
them too kept fighting until sunset. The fight wasnât over, but the siblings had reached their goal, finally.
When the sun touched the ground, they finally presented themselves at the Palaceâs door. Both
Shareen and Kairen were a bit tired after all of that, but neither of them wanted to stop. They sent
people to get Phetra, their hostage, and cleared the area around them, making sure no one would try to
catch up. In the streets, the East Army was clearly winning, even establishing a clear perimeter around
the Palace. Moreover, unlike the East Army, none of them had been trained to first aid, and they had to
watch Kairenâs men help their people while they suffered.
What happened in the streets was no long Kairenâs issue. He was glaring at the doors, impatient to
finally get a hold of Vrehanâs neck. He glanced at his sister, who nodded. Just like before, Shareen took
a deep breath, and used her fire on the large doors. It wasnât as efficient, but after that, both siblings
only had to use brute strength on the doors for it to finally collapse. 3
Leaving the armies to fight each other outside, they walked in. Kareen was following, a few steps
behind, Evin and Anour with her as bodyguards, though she probably didnât need them.
âWhere to, mother?â Asked Kairen, unsure.
âI donât know⦠Letâs just head for that ratâs apartments first.â
They kept walking through the corridors, but everything felt quiet. Strangely⦠quiet. They had to leave
the dragons outside, as both Anour and Krai were too big to squeeze through the door, but it was still to
quiet in there, dragons or not. They didnât spot a single servant for a long while. The Imperial Palace
had changed a lot since their last time there, and none of them like this atmospher
âBrother.â
Kairen followed her glare. They were still on their way, but something strange was happening to the
side. Several Imperial Soldiers were guarding the Lake, their weapons in hand. The siblings exchanged
a glance. Men guarding the Lake? They decided to ignore it, and instead, rushed inside. Thatâs when a
long sound resonated. A long, long blow. Kareen froze.
âThe Emperorâ¦â She whispered.
All of them knew that sound. It was only used in the event of an Imperial Death. Their blood froze in
their veins, and without thinking, Shareen and Kairen started running towards the Emperorâs Hall.
When they barged in, they were welcomed with a hundred soldiers, pointing their weapons at them.
The Hall was filled with Imperial Soldiers, but at its very end, facing them, Vrehan was sitting on the
golden throne, his dragon sitting behind him. The red beast had both eyes completely destroyed, like
two big black holes. He was obviously blind.
However, the Dragon wasnât their main worry at the moment, neither were the soldiers.
Vrehan was holding Missandra by her hair, a knife clearly held against her throat.