Page 286 of The War God’s Favorite

Shareen had found some opening in the wall, more like a breach where more rocks had fallen from. They climbed a couple of rocks to finally get themselves into the open air and breathe better. Kairen let Cassandra down, though he wasn’t letting go, his arm around her waist, ready to shield her at any given moment. In Shareen’s arms, Missandra was still inanimate and looked like death. All of this was too much.

“Kairen!”

Cassandra heard Shareen’s scream, but was thrown onto the ground before she understood what had happened. Blood splattered her face, and when she raised her eyes, Kairen was on top of her, making the grimace of someone who’s suffering horribly. She heard a dragon’s growl, and the Prince suddenly pushed her further away from him.

“Kairen!” she screamed.

The Prince was suddenly pulled back inside, under the two women’s horrified eyes. Shareen hesitated a second before putting Missandra down. Kairen had no weapon left, and the gigantic Red Dragon had just dragged him back inside the hellish room like a mere puppet. Her brother was going to die.

Before they even exchanged a word, Cassandra handed Shareen her dagger, and she ran back inside. Cassandra had another objective, and no time to complete it. Getting back on her feet, silently praying for Kairen to be alright, she started dragging Missandra further away. They had to get far enough for her younger sister to be safe.

They had somehow gotten back into the Lake’s garden. That part of the Throne room’s wall had gotten them right there, which was an unexpected chance for them.

“Cassandra! Missandra!”

Cassandra turned her head and saw Anour running towards them. His eyes were wide open in horror upon the sight of Missandra, and he fell on his knees before them.

“What... what happened?” he muttered.

Cassandra had no time for his questions.

“Get her out of here!” she yelled while trying to run away on her limping leg.

She didn’t have time to verify if Anour was going to follow her instructions. Kairen was back inside, his sister too, and both of them were almost unarmed, if not for the small dagger that was no match to face a furious dragon! Plus, she had no idea how bad that injury he had suffered before being dragged back inside was. Cassandra had seen too much blood today, she couldn’t allow any more.

She wasn’t a fighter, but she could find a way to get them some support. She glanced up, at the chains still blocking the way into this garden for dragons from the outside. She could hear Krai’s furious growls from the outside, but the Black Dragon had no way in. Cassandra had to get rid of those damn chains.

“Krai! Krai!” she called, yelling all of her lungs out.

She didn’t know how the Black Dragon could always find her, but she just knew it would. She heard the growls and kept running. What was happening on the other side? She was unable to run fast enough with her injured leg, but her steps were getting her to the Lake, as fast as she could endure. More growling came from inside the Throne Room’s opening, but she couldn’t look back. Cassandra was silently crying, unable to hold it, and breathing erratically. She was tired, in horrible pain, and terrified, but she had to keep going. She needed to do anything she could to help them.

Suddenly, a silver creature flashed in front of her, agitating its little wings.

“Kian!”

The Baby Dragon had somehow managed to escape the mess of the Throne Room to fly to her, though its silver scales had much dust on them. Kian flipped his wings and landed next to Cassandra, emitting some little, worried, high-pitched sounds, while looking at her and the throne room. She nodded.

“I know. I know.”

She didn’t have the strength to say more. The young woman slowly made her way to the lake, fighting the tiredness of her own body. She felt as though she was about to collapse. Finally, she made it to the Lake and fell forward. Down on her knees, she fought against the dizziness and took a deep breath. Kian walked up to her side, tilting its head. Cassandra nodded.

“How about you...help me call your Dad?”

She had no idea if the Baby Dragon had understood her, but it suddenly flipped its wings and took off. Kian was very small compared to any adult dragon, and tiny enough to squeeze through the metallic net above them. Cassandra heard the familiar growling and chirping, probably trying to grab Krai’s attention. She had no idea what was going on for the Black Dragon, but she really needed it to come down and help its Master, now. However, the dragon couldn’t do that unless it could get past Vrehan’s traps first. Cassandra laid down next to the lake, extending her arm into the water. It felt strangely good, the freshwater running on her arm, washing the dirt and the blood away. She closed her eyes for a second, yet still fighting not to give in to the darkness. She had to hold on, a bit longer. The fight was not over.

Above her, she suddenly heard the furious but familiar growl of the Black Dragon. Cassandra opened her eyes back up just as the large shadow flew over her. Krai furiously attacked the fence, but just then, she saw some gigantic metallic arrows flying that way. Probably Vrehan’s traps. Krai had to fly away again, dodging them as they kept firing. The Black Dragon growled furiously and started spitting fire too. Cassandra frowned and shielded herself. Though Krai was meters and meters above her, she could feel the scorching heat of the fire where she was. This was terrifying. No wonder no dragon ever did that within the Imperial Palace. They would have decimated the whole building and everyone around in seconds.

However, right after that, Cassandra froze, her eyes stuck looking to the other end of the Lake. Another dragon had just appeared, growling at her and coming towards her, slowly. It was smaller than Krai, but this one was under the net, unrestrained, and menacing. Just from the size and purple color, she knew which one it was.

“You damn bitch,” hissed Lephys’ voice from behind her. “This time, I’m going to finish you off!”

Cassandra had seen enough horrors for one day, and yet it seemed like this whole nightmare was far from over. Just when an adult, Purple Dragon was slowly walking her way, she heard its Master’s voice coming from right behind her. Cassandra rolled in the grass, just in time to avoid the sword that stabbed the soil next to her cheek. She glared at Lephys. She hated that man perhaps even more than Vrehan, if that was possible. His face was deformed by anger, and he had blood running from his temple to his chin. Cassandra had no idea if he had been injured in the explosion of the wall by one of the dragons, or because of the siblings, but she thought he deserved more suffering than that. The sight of that monster pushing her sister’s defenseless body down the stairs was something she wasn’t going to forget.

“You damn bitch. No more Kairen or dragons to protect you,” he hissed. “I’m going to get rid of you once and for all.”

Strangely, Cassandra answered his words with a chuckle.

Maybe she was too tired of all of this, but she laughed nervously at his words. Cassandra knew she might be about to die, but after everything she had already gone through in the last few hours, it was at the very back of her mind. She had just seen her lover being dragged back inside the Throne Room by a furious dragon, she had no idea if her baby was safe, and this Empire was about to be overthrown by a mad man. She had just witnessed too much for one day. Having Lephys appear now was like a nightmare’s new twist.

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