Page 285 of The War God’s Favorite

Vrehan screamed, covering his face and the blood that was flowing. Cassandra was satisfied she had injured him, but she was still stuck there, in front of the murderer.

Cassandra couldn’t see the extent of the injury she had just caused. All she could see was Vrehan, staggering back while holding his face and screaming. His hands were literally covered in blood. Sharpened by Kairen, Phetra’s dagger had become a murderous weapon used against her own brother.

Cassandra didn’t have much time to contemplate what she had done, though. She kept trying to push the rock from her leg, desperate to move and get out of there. Her throat was painful, she kept coughing and crying, as the dust was making the scene an absolute nightmare. She could hear the furious growls of dragons battling somewhere above her. With Glahad free, the two dragons had just taken the fight into the Throne Room, causing more damage every time they threw each other against the walls. Even the roof was starting to creak dangerously above their heads. Cassandra had briefly seen it had been sealed when she had walked in, but how much longer would that hold? Was that Vrehan’s precaution against another dragon’s attack?

“Cassandra!”

She heard Shareen scream her name, but she felt horribly far away in this cloud of dust. Cassandra tried to answer back, coughing horribly. She glanced back, and Vrehan was wiping the blood off his face. He was going to get back to her any moment now, and Cassandra was still trapped. With Missandra lying half-dead underneath her, she was desperate to free herself. That rock on her leg was massive, and nowhere near anything she could lift with her current strength. Cassandra coughed, trying to clear her throat again.

“Kairen!” she called.

“He won’t save you! I’m going to kill you, and watch him weep in front of your dead body!” yelled Vrehan, from somewhere behind her.

Cassandra glared at him, holding the dagger as her last line of defense. Weak or not, she was not going to let that monster approach her without defending herself. She was ready to fight him off using everything she could and all she had. Vrehan staggered, and as he lowered his hand from his face, she could see the horrible line running across his face. One of his eyes was blocked by the blood. Just like his dragon, Cassandra had also blinded one of his eyes with that same dagger.

Vrehan still had one though, and was coming right at her. She shivered. She couldn’t die here, not when Kairen was this close! She kept calling his name and screaming, but all she could hear as an answer were the clamors of men all around fighting, and even louder was the dragons wrestling. Another ruckus imploded from another side of the room, and a wall exploded, throwing more dust and rocks into the mix. This was a complete war scene.

“Cassandra!”

Finally! Cassandra turned her head, and in the middle of the fog, Kairen’s familiar silhouette appeared. She could have cried in relief from this sight, if she wasn’t already too teary from all the dust. He ran to her, and as soon as he spotted his brother standing behind Cassandra, he threw out his fist. She heard the violent crack of a jaw break above her head, and Vrehan’s guttural sound. The Second Brother screamed in pain, and turned around, running away and disappearing into the cloud of dust. If Cassandra hadn’t been at his feet, Kairen would have gone to finish him off.

However, the War God didn’t hesitate a second and crouched down, grabbing the humongous rock that was sitting on her leg. Frowning, he took a couple of seconds to focus and gather his strength before finally lifting it. Cassandra moved quickly to retrieve her leg, despite the pain. Her ankle was twisted or broken, horribly painful. Right after that, she meant to say something, but Kairen’s lips found hers.

This was the oddest time and place for a kiss, but they couldn’t stop. In those few long seconds, they just needed it. A wild, passionate, intense kiss to sum up how much they had been dying to see each other again. Cassandra felt her whole body warm up again as if it had been in slumber since they parted, and her heart had stopped. She put a hand on his cheek. She would have hugged his whole body, kissed all of his skin, and caressed his hair for hours if she could. Finally, finally. Her War God was here, her one and only man. Kairen’s large hand on her neck was all she needed. This warm, intense touch that told her she was finally safe, even in this wretched place.

However, those seconds were short-lived. As another part of the wall exploded somewhere behind them, they had to part their lips as Kairen moved to shield the two sisters. Cassandra was deafened by a dragon’s screech for a few seconds. She couldn’t see anything beyond a few steps.

“Glahad,” she said, her eyes meeting Kairen.

“He’s losing. Vrehan’s firstborn’s dragon arrived.”

Cassandra’s face lost its blood. Glahad couldn’t fight two dragons by himself! She struggled to get back on her feet, Kairen helping her, but her mind was still preoccupied.

“Krai?”

“Still outside. Fighting Lephys’ dragon.”

The situation was horrible. With dragons fighting all over the Palace, it was a complete mess all around. Cassandra crouched down to grab her younger sister, but Kairen was faster. Grabbing Missandra, he put her on his shoulder under Cassandra’s panicked eyes. Was her younger sister going to survive this? She was barely alive.

“Kairen!”

They both turned around to follow Shareen’s voice. Just like them, Shareen was fighting her way more into the dusty mist than battling any soldier now. She had made a few more victims on her way in, but it took them a few more seconds to reunite, as they needed to stop and crouch down regularly to avoid the debris falling and dragon claws.

“Mie! Is she alive?” asked the Princess.

“Barely. We have to get out of here.”

Shareen nodded, but her eyes were above, on the two dragons fighting. Her eyes suddenly opened wide in horror, and something red and dark suddenly splattered all around them. It smelled horrible, and was warm, giving Cassandra no doubt about what this thing was. Fresh dragon blood. She panicked and turned around, trying to catch a glimpse of the fight, but all she could spot were shadows of two dragons fighting furiously.

“Glahad...”

“Yeah, the old one is not going to last much longer,” sighed Shareen, shaking her head. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Without saying a word, the siblings exchanged Missandra’s body, Shareen carrying the young girl effortlessly while Kairen grabbed Cassandra to carry her. She didn’t oppose him. With her injured ankle, she would have been the one to slow him down, and the Imperial Prince and Princess could get out much faster than her.

As they struggled to get out of the room, Cassandra tried to look around for Vrehan or Lephys. She was scared one of them was going to come out at any moment and attack them from behind. Moreover, she was worried about Glahad. The Imperial dragon wouldn’t have gotten into this fight if it wasn’t for her, and it was dying. It was it’s blood she had on her dress right now, on top of hers.

“Here!”

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