Page 7 of Sword of Rage
One of the Melenia soldiers took a step forward. “We only take orders from our king.”
Pride swelled within Harley. She wanted to jump up and down in agreement before telling the Russek soldier to stuff it. If only she had a weapon and knew how to fight.
The man on the open tower smiled. “I’m so glad you mentioned your king.”
A half-dozen Russek soldiers dragged King Coden, Queen Martie, Prince Oliver, Prince Oakley, Princess Oriana, and Hollis from inside the castle to the stone platform, visible for all below to see. The royal family had their hands tied behind their backs and their mouths gagged.
As Harley feared, her brother had been mistaken for Prince Owen. She wanted to scream that they’d made an error and to let her brother go. However, no words came out of her mouth. Instead, seeing her brother at the mercy of Russek soldiers paralyzed her with undiluted terror.
“We offered your weak king a treaty to work with us!” the Russek soldier bellowed. He pointed at the royal family now lined up beside him. “He refused the treaty. Now he pays the price.”
One of the soldiers grabbed the queen’s hair, dragging her forward. The queen screamed through her gag, kicking her legs. Horror filled Harley. She opened her mouth to yell at him to let her aunt go, but again, no words escaped her mouth. The soldier shoved the queen down until she was bent over the tower wall. Another soldier neared, an axe in hand.
Harley started running, waving her arms, trying to get the executioner’s attention. She had to stop him from killing her aunt. Strong arms wrapped around her torso, pinning her in place. She shouted, but a hand covered her mouth.
“Shut up or you’re next,” a fellow Melenian hissed in her ear.
The executioner lifted the axe. The crude weapon seemed to pause in the air above the queen’s neck, before slicing down, chopping the queen’s head off. Blood gushed from the body, flowing down the side of the castle like a banner. Another soldier grabbed her severed head, raising it for all to see the queen’s face distorted with shock.
The executioner shoved the body over the wall, and it plummeted two stories to the ground below, landing with a sickeningthud.
A ringing sounded in Harley’s head, and her entire body became numb. This had to be a nightmare. This could not be happening.
A Russek soldier brought Hollis forward. He didn’t even try to fight.
Harley’s legs gave out, but she remained standing since the man still held her upright. She could do nothing but watch as the soldier pushed Hollis down against the wall. “Fight,” she begged, the word muffled by the hand covering her mouth. “Fight!”
The executioner raised the axe again. Blackness hovered at the corners of her vision and she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch. The sickening sound of metal clanking against stone echoed. Then a moment later, thethunkof a body hitting the ground. Harley opened her eyes and vomited. The man holding her shoved her away. She stumbled to her knees, her body violently shaking with shock.
Her cousin, Oriana, was next. Even with the gag on, Oriana’s scream pierced the air. The Russek picked Oriana up, laying her on the wall so she was forced to see the executioner standing above her. Her body thrashed as the axe flew down. Gagging, Harley grabbed the dirt, trying to wake up from this nightmare.
The Russek barbarians cheered. She couldn’t watch as Oakley and then Oliver were similarly killed.
They saved the king for last. Perhaps so he’d be forced to watch his entire family be murdered. It seemed as if time slowed as the king was stripped of his clothing. He kicked the soldier next to him, refusing to go down without a fight. The soldier withdrew his sword, slicing the king’s leg, blood gushing out. Three soldiers pounced on the king, dragging him to the wall where they held his bucking body in place. Smiling, the executioner swung twice before the head was fully severed from the body. The front of the castle was blackened with blood.
“Your king is dead!” a Russek soldier exclaimed. “Melenia is no more!”
It felt as if something in Harley splintered into pieces. Mixed with undiluted horror was pure, violent rage at the injustice of what had happened. Her family dead. Her kingdom taken. Her heart broken.
Six Russek soldiers stepped forward, each jamming a spear into the tower wall normally reserved for banners. Then the executioner skewered a head to the top of each one. The Russeks whooped with frenzied excitement. Harley couldn’t even look at the faces of her loved ones—each permanently contorted in fury, anger, terror, pain. She felt all of it mirrored inside of her.
“Now we take the rest of the kingdom!” a Russek soldier cried out. “Put down your weapons and join us or die!”
Harley
Chaos erupted as arrows rained down and people shouted, running away from the castle. Russeks advanced toward the Melenia soldiers, swords clashing as the barbarians began slicing through them as if they were stocks of wheat. Blood flowed on the ground like water after a downpour.
Harley considered remaining there. It wouldn’t take long before a Russek rammed his sword into her. Then she, too, would be dead, unable to feel the pain from the losses of her loved ones. However, if she allowed herself to die, her brother would be utterly disappointed in her for giving up. More so, no one else would seek revenge for Hollis’s death.
Her brother’s death would not be in vain.
Determination brewing within, Harley scrambled to her feet, forcing herself to run for the nearby cornfield. Someone barreled into her, knocking her off balance and sending her flying to the ground. Rough hands grabbed her body, flipping her onto her back.
A Russek soldier pinned her arms down. He leered at her, his face covered with sweat and blood. “Didn’t know there were any women left,” he said. “We took care of all the ones inside. Now it’s your turn.” His knee shoved her legs apart.
Crude realization dawned on Harley. This man didn’t want to simply kill her—he intended to violate her first. She screamed, hoping one of her fellow Melenians would assist her.
People ran by, yelling and fighting, but no one stopped to help her.
