Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Chapter 85

Chapter 85

KAI’s POV

The first light of dawn met me outside. It shone directly upon my face, glistening against my skin as its colour shifted to gold. My lashes scattered the beams as I lowered my gaze and bestowed my attention upon the tent from which Clawface emerged.

He was heading towards me.

"What’s the news?"

Beyond where I stood, upon a boulder feasted upon by moss, leaving the poor rock slippery, stood the House of Steele. Beyond the swamp and the rocks surrounding us.

"Count Aaron is around. Our outreach to Count Frederick proved to fail," Clawface reported, and I nodded. "However, your war draft is ready for your review."

"I’ll soon be there," I said, and Clawface immediately left me be.

With my hands folded, they rested behind my back. I knew a naturalist who’d relish this natural beauty. The allure this scenery harboured.

Except we did not leave each other on good terms.

My heart hardened as I turned towards the tent. My men had taken over the area, the clearing transformed into a campsite. Inside the tent, I darted my eyes towards the audience gathered within.

Count Aaron stood once he sighted me.

"Firstly, Your Highness, I apologise for the time I worked hand-in-hand with Count Barry and his nephew. I never knew this was who they truly were." The man bowed deeply, showing his utmost respect. "My admiration for your brave observation and execution sends much accolade your way, sire."

I simply hummed.

"I appreciate your appraisal, Count Aaron. I know you served my father well during his time. I can only hope you do the same for me."

"Certainly. With his long vacation having distanced him, there’s not much else to distract me. I stand with you, Alpha Kai."

The man made his loyalty clear, and that I very much appreciated.

My sight shifted to the table where a schematic map sat, spread out with paperweights holding down its edges.

I hadn’t been to the House of Steele before. Something about the place, during the times I’d passed by it, had always sent chills down my spine. It looked like a place that had witnessed so much terror it could tell stories of its own.

"So, where are the hidden alleyways?"

Count Aaron stepped forward and pointed to two places already marked with red ink.

"This one leads through the swamp to a back gate that isn’t known to anyone but friends."

"And you were friends?"

"Each House knows secrets about the others that they never speak of. We never know who might stab us in the back at any time," the man said.

It almost made me want to ask how he felt doing this. Whether he thought he was betraying the House of Steele by leaking their secrets, even if it was for a good cause.

"Continue," I prompted, and Count Aaron nodded.

"The other spot is a burrowed pit. The swamp drives through a tunnel into the palace and comes out from the other end. They used it to hide their archers in times of war."

And who would have expected that?

No wonder the House of Steele had survived and triumphed through so many wars. It was very much why it remained standing firm.

"I’d much prefer the swamp. We enter through there, and we have the men surrender."

I completed the draft, and the men nodded.

I’d only turned to face the rising sun when an explosion trembled through the earth. The opening of the tent billowed from the force, spreading apart to grant me only a glimpse of the flames erupting from the blast.

Then, another.

"What’s that?" Count Aaron asked, his eyes wary.

"An ambush," I stated the obvious as I crouched.

I made a gesture with my fingers, and in the following second, Clawface, two knights, and I rushed out of the tent. The once smooth clearing had turned coarse, the earth torn apart aggressively and dust coating the air we breathed.

I coughed my lungs out as I took in my surroundings.

Before my sight sharpened, my ears had already picked up the incoming footsteps.

"It’s an ambush!" My lungs growled the warning as I ran towards the opening from where the men were pouring in.

Men of the House of Steele.

My first victim met my arm, the strike crushing into his face and sending him to the ground. My boot was the next impact, driving his face into the earth, his jaw crunching mercilessly.

I moved to the next, my motions swift as I deflected his attack, my hands swaying to distract him from recovering. Then, my nails elongated into claws and slit his throat.

He hadn’t even fallen before I hurled his body into the next man.

Until Clawface nudged me from behind.

"It’s a distraction. We need to move," he said as he cleansed his face of flesh carved from his victim, flicking it away.

I nodded once before pointing at a few men.

Ten of us hurried towards the swamp where a canoe awaited us. The men quickly began paddling, our movements carrying us closer to our destination.

The swamp was a mixture of green and white. It was the habitat of algae and lilies.

In the distance, my eyes caught a familiar face.

Leo.

There was a man behind him, protecting him. They hid beneath a cape, the hood covering their head, but I’d recognise Leo in any outfit.

"Hurry."

I tapped against the wooden frame of the canoe as we slowly approached the end of the swamp, where countless rocks that had failed to become a mountain lay scattered. Many clustered the area, making the ground harsh to walk upon.

Yet I’d jumped from the canoe as soon as we were near.

"Leo!"

My growl carried through the air, halting him.

The man beside him urged him to ignore me, but Leo remained rooted to the spot.

"I know you wish to kill me," I continued. "Let’s finish this here and now."

The man with Leo had already readied their own canoe, quickly returning for him, yet Leo remained fixated upon the earth, his eyes unwavering as he glared at me.

Death was a stamped signature carried within his gaze.

I sped forward, dashing through the air inhumanly. My frame sliced through the resistance, pushing onward, and just as I was close to capturing Leo, time seemed to freeze.

The air folded before me.

The sight was unnerving, as though an invisible force had gathered immense pressure before my face, and just as it released, my eyes flared and I spun around.

An explosion.

The impact sent me flying towards the swamp. Caught by the leg by Clawface, I was swept aside, landing harshly against the rocks.

I flipped my hair back as I stood.

"The explosives were magic."

It was why they had been so efficient and so greatly colossal.

When the dust dispersed, I caught sight of Leo and the hooded man already in the canoe, escaping.

I wanted to chase after them, but Nathan came into view.

"Alpha Kai." His lips twitched to the side.

"Nathan..." A guttural response escaped my throat.

"I’ve very much looked forward to a rematch." He cracked his neck, then his knuckles.

"Shall we begin?"

There was no breathing space.

A mere release of his folding palm sent more explosions towards Clawface and the men, destabilising them as more soldiers of the House of Steele approached.

"Yes, we shall," I stated.

Nathan was entirely focused on me, his lips curling into a smirk. His hands released frost, shaping itself into a dagger in each palm, and he flipped them before running towards me.

I charged towards him as well.