Chapter 39
CHAPTER 39
brANDON
T he smell of smoke is the first thing I notice. Burned wood fills my nostrils, lighting my senses from the inside out. My skin crawls, sensing what is to come before I realize it. The screams come quickly after. The room suddenly quiets as if every person in the space turns their heads to catch what and where the noise is coming from. Soon, it hits us all, and chaos erupts.
We’re under attack.
As Guard General, Roman directs all the soldiers to posts around the castle. His number one priority is getting people away from the danger. They urge people to exit the castle walls toward the garden and the Royal Force facilities.
A line of guards and Jesse stick with me as we do the opposite and walk directly toward the threat. That’s when the first blast happens. An ear-tearing glass-shattering bang blows back every unexpecting soul. With much difficulty, we stay standing.
The blast comes from a hall that leads to the offices.
“We need to get to Grandfather’s office,” I say to Jesse .
The surrounding guards all listen in and nod their heads in unison.
“Take the staff passage there. I’ll take the hall,” Jesse says as he splits the guards that will follow me and the one who will go with him.
“We don’t have to split.” I try to argue against taking the safe passage. People are in danger. Neutralizing the threat needs to be a priority.
“King Brandon Oscuro.” His words land heavily on my chest. “You must take the staff passage. I’ll try to help as many people as possible on my way there, but you must make it to that room as soon as possible and secure the book.”
The Red Book.
“We’ll meet there.” I try to convey reassurance with my words.
“We will,” he assures me before he heads down the hall with a group of men on his back.
The staff passage is far more packed than I could have anticipated. Staff from all over the castle take refuge inside the walls. Injured men and women cry out in agony as we pass them. Bubbly, burning flesh air fills the passage.
I’ve never felt more shame in my life to watch their suffering yet be unable to stop it. I’ve failed them. One day as their king and I’ve already allowed tragedy inside my castle walls.
We pass what feels like hundreds of people as we make our way across. A guard opens the passageway, carefully watching for any potential attack. The smell of smoke intensifies until I can taste it. Black charcoal walls I don’t recognize cover the vastness of the hall. I step into the space carefully and watch with disbelief as the bodies of the same guards who left with my brother just minutes before now scatter to the ground, their bodies scorched to black soot .
A low cry from inside my grandfather’s office gets my attention. The door stands open, and we approach it carefully.
Jesse, my brother, stands above the unmoving body of my grandfather. Sobs erupt from his chest in a tone reserved for soul-tearing wounds. My breaths become shallow and heavy. I touch my chest over my lungs, looking for a physical wound. I feel everything all at once.
My grandfather is dead. He’s gone.
I move to walk inside the room when Jesse looks up at me. I’m about to cross the threshold to him when my foot makes contact with a man’s body. It takes me a second to realize the unburned body belongs to none other but one of the Duelo children. One of the two brothers.
“I killed him,” Jesse says between sobs. “He conjured a dragon of fire. It consumed everything in its path. I couldn’t reason with him, Brandon.”
My eyes move about the room, scrutinizing the scene. The space is empty but for my brother and grandfather. I halt at the stand. Only a few hours before, it held the Red Book. Now, it stands empty.
I kneel next to my brother. “What happened?”
“Traitors. All of them. I watched as Duelo Senior took the Red Book. I couldn’t stop him. They outnumbered me. He got away while I gutted his son. The coward.”
I look over at my grandfather’s still form. His flesh remains unburned, and a small pitting part of me is glad he did not suffer the agony the souls outside these walls did.
The cracking of fire rings low in the room. It gets our attention as we listen in horror. There’s more. The noise isn’t loud, which can only indicate that the attack is happening in another tower.
Jesse wipes his face with his shirt and looks at me with agony. “I won’t be able to do it, Brandon. If she’s one of them. I don’t think I’m strong enough to give her the same fate as her brother. Please,” he pleads with me.
His plea reminds me one more time of all that is on my shoulders. It’s up to me. I stand and close my eyes. I envision the situation and all the needs to be done. A plan forms in my mind, and I see a path like a checklist of action items.
“Guards!” I yell with the fury running through my veins. A group of soldiers ready to march on my command stand at attention. “Capture all Duelo members and staff you find. Don’t let a single traitorous rat escape. Kill them if you must, but they do not leave the grounds alive.”