The two dashed through the door opposite to the one they had first come through. Around them, most soldiers, just as before, sat around dressing wounds and screaming out in pain. None of them paid any mind to two enemies running through the halls. That, or they hadn’t the strength to look up and discern whether or not they were enemies.

  The two took a right just as they had before, and saw the staircase going up ahead of them. Standing at the bottom was a group of soldiers. It seemed they still thought Corrin and Tutsoi were upstairs. They both slowed to a walk, catching their breaths.

  As they did so, Corrin looked around him. The Vrebathian soldiers around him seemed to somehow have crawled or limped away from the battlefield. He thought of their families and of their children. A soldier pulled off her helmet to Corrin’s left and tossed it to the side. Another came to her aid; the left side of her head had been burned completely. Tears flowed down her right eye.

  The Resonances that the Anees had used had decimated the Vrebathian Army. Those coming to aid were mostly that of the archers, who were, for the most part, uninjured. Tutsoi himself was also stealing glances at the wounded soldiers around them when a soldier grabbed Tutsoi’s pants, tugging at them.

  “Help me… please…! I have to see my son again…”

  Tutsoi stopped, despite Corrin having urged him not to. Tutsoi kneeled down and looked at the soldier with sincere eyes.

  “And you will. I promise. We will stop all of this.”

  The man looked young, young enough to be a new father. Blood poured out of his mouth and nose. His grip loosened and he fell to the ground, unmoving. Tutsoi closed the man's eyes with his fingers and stood up.

  Tutsoi looked down at the now dead man.

  “They did horrible things to us, Corrin. But it was not their choice either. They are only pawns to a greater power. Their deaths were not necessary. We saw nothing but the monsters that had hurt us when we fought against them.”

  Corrin looked at the dead man. He knew that somewhere in Vrebathia there was a child that had just lost a father. Corrin clenched his fist.

  “Ending lives is easier when we don’t know anything about them. But the moment we learn that he had a son, or that all these people had families that loved them… suddenly we rethink our actions. Soldiers are trained to look past that and kill no matter who is in front of them…”

  Tutsoi said nothing, instead he and Corrin both turned and continued walking down the hall. The group of soldiers near the staircase, upon closer inspection, looked weary. Some looked around at the dying soldiers begging for help and seemed to wonder if they would be next.

  That was when one of the soldiers noticed Corrin’s blonde and black hair, and blue and red eyes. The half black hair of Corrin and full black hair of Tutsoi seemed to make it so most soldiers had mistaken them for Erthari aside from their scars on their cheeks. Though, this soldier was confident in his assumption.

  “There! There are the escaped Anees!”

  The group of soldiers turned, and one man pushed through them to the front; the commander. Around all of them, the soldiers laying on the ground began screaming and running, crawling, or limping. Clearly, it was those from the battlefield who had experienced Resonances first hand. Some, however, laid still, their wounds far too deep.

  The commander stood looking at Corrin and Tutsoi.

  “You killed my comrades, incited rebellion in the prisoners, and attempted to steal the shards that rightfully belong to… Vrebathia!”

  The anger filled in Corrin. He took a step forward, wincing slightly at the pain in his left leg.

  “So torturing and murdering is morally fine, but freedom isn’t?”

  The commander looked around at the dead soldiers in the halls. His expression was stern, but it softened slightly.

  “Many of these soldiers died by Anees hands today. There are hardly any of my men left standing in the castle.”

  He closed his eyes in pain.

  “I trained many of these soldiers up from nothing. I am the only unwounded commander aside from Axel in this castle.”

  Corrin and Tutsoi glanced at each other at the mention of Axel. The commander continued.

  “You fools don’t understand the true weight of your actions. Vrebathia isn’t unified enough to take a hit like this to its morale. This castle was only just liberated from the remnants of the Shem. Most of this ‘Vrebathian Empire’ is just like how this castle was. Vrebathia may be getting stronger, but it is still weak. The moment they learn that Ekki Castle was overrun by a prisoner rebellion, the Shem will be back.”

  Corrin flinched at the words, and especially at the name of the castle. He began to remember, The Queen of the Shem, his grandmother, though he hated to admit it, was named Ekki. Which meant that this castle was named after her. To hear also that Vrebathia was weak was not as much of a surprise to Corrin. He wasn’t entirely convinced an Empire had gained strength through unification so easily.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The commander dropped his katana to the ground.

  “I was only ever meant to train more Vrebathians into soldiers. I always believed that we should never have discriminated against the Shem, Corrin. I especially remember seeing you in Oaksjean. Do you remember? The day you became a knight for the Vrebathian Army. A ceremony was held in which many of us attended. I saw you. I fought for the Vrebathian Rebellion the same way you did. I continued training Vrebathian soldiers, and when I learned of your victory at the Capital, I could hardly believe it. But it was Axel who became corrupted, ruined by the death of his only son.”

  He fell down to his knees, wrought with disappointment.

  “He was the one that proposed many laws against the Shem. We had suddenly become what we sought out to destroy. We called ourselves the peacemakers, yet we did to the Shem what they did to us without emotion. Corrin Hisstion, I believe that you know what you are doing. As the only surviving member of the true Hidden Vanguard, I bow down in respect for what you’ve done. Forgive me for my threats to you before.”

  The soldiers behind him stood in awe. Most bowed down, some did not. Of that few. One man, the same one that called them out before, suddenly rushed forward. He threw up his sword and bent forth his shield.

  “I won’t bow down to some filthy Anees scum!”

  He rushed at Tutsoi, pulling back his sword. He threw it down with all his might. Around him, small golden flecks appeared as his rage boiled forth into manipulating Ani. Corrin suddenly pushed his sword in between the attacker and Tutsoi’s face. Gold exploded outward and into his sword. The man threw his blade down, but it shattered instantly upon contact with Corrin’s blade.

  In an instant, Corrin slashed multiple times and pushed the man down. He stepped on his chest and flicked off his helmet with his sword. He pointed his katana directly at the man's face. The man looked at Corrin with fear in his eyes. Corrin backed up.

  He had moved suddenly without having even tried to. In the back of his mind, he wondered if it was Rotix who had controlled his movements, but he quickly pushed it away. He knew Rotix only lived within the shard, and so long as Corrin didn’t use it to its fullest, he would be safe from her control.

  Corrin looked at the others, to which those that refused to bow instantly did so at that moment. Corrin walked up to the commander.

  “Stand up…”

  The commander looked at him and shook his head.

  “I cannot, I’m giving you my respect.”

  Corrin shook his head.

  “You can respect me by helping those that are injured. Please.”

  The commander nodded and ushered the others away. The man on the ground sat up. He looked at Corrin.

  “Why didn’t you kill me? Or them? We’re your enemy.”

  Corrin walked over to him and shook his head.

  “No, you’re not our enemy. You were just an obstacle. I don’t want to kill more of you than what is necessary to free the Anees.”

  Corrin turned and ran up the stairs with Tutsoi. They ran up the stairs for a few moments, and Tutsoi spoke out to Kerea.

  “It's us! Break your metal gate! We need to get through!”

  “Who’s us?”

  Kerea’s voice flew down the stairs, and they both sighed.

  “Corrin and Tutsoi!”

  “Oh- Right!”

  As they walked up they saw liquid metal pouring down the stairs. They avoid the searing metal as they get to the top, where the gate had been melted away. Tutsoi lifted the silver keys up and walked over to the chest.

  Kerea walked over as well. Corrin followed suit just behind him. Tutsoi turned through the keys, to which there were many. He fumbled and tried a few unsuccessfully until he reached the last of them.

  He put it in and turned it. The chest creaked open as golden light flowed through the room. Inside the chest were two glowing shards. Corrin quickly grabbed one. It was slim with pointed ends. He knew this was the Shard of Time. The string that wrapped around it slithered through his fingers. He quickly put it on. Tutsoi did the same with his own.

  Just then, Corrin’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered the family he had spoken to when he first escaped the room he was trapped in when he had awoken. They mentioned that there were multiple people locked in those rooms. Had they gotten out?

  He knew at that moment what had to be done.