Mix 5 - in the name of love [flame on the vine o']

Damn. Damn it.

I need to make a decision. Now. Continuing to stand here would be dangerous. Think. If I drop down to the left, I can make a quick enough getaway to keep myself relatively intact. But that means I'd have to start over again. I've come all this way; there's no way I'm going to back down now. It's taken relatively little energy to lay low and avoid capture, so I should have no problems fighting. But I didn't plan on ever getting caught. I didn't plan on fighting, so I didn't even consider how many of them I would be up against.

Damn it.

On the count of three, I'll do it. One. Two. Three. GYAH! Frickin... Didn't think it was such a long fall. I guess I was standing on the outer wall of a fortress built to withstand the Titans...

Sword.

Not. On. Belt. Did it drop when I fell? Let's see... nowhere nearby. Crap. That means I must have lost it at some point when I was jumping across rooftops... OH. THAT was how they found me, I bet. Seriously, I knew I'd be going through all the trouble to get here, so why did I not secure it better? Gah... Too late now. I just need to steal a weapon from one of them, if I can get one of them before they get me. Ha... Two on the left, one right. Oh, fun. They're all shiny, with their fancy armor and gilded arms. I guess that makes sense. It's the princess I'm after. Yeah, that's right, I'm gonna plow through you and all of your buddies, pick up the princess, and leave before you figure out what hit you. Jump. Elbow out, bend. Swing across. Aim a little bit higher...THUNK. Ah, that felt good. An elbow to the temple could always be trusted to knock out, if not kill. I don't think you'll be needing that sword anymore there, friend. Now for the other tw-- okay, six on the left. If they're coming in from the left, that's where I should be going, and that's where I was going before I got caught. No time to think, just fight...

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Let's see...no one left. Good. Tower is...there. Walk. Walking hurts. Step. Drag. Step. Keep going. Door. Lock. Sword. Lift arm. Open door.

Stairs.

Right. Towers have stairs. Stairs involve climbing. Man, why'd I have to go and get my left leg all cut up? This is gonna be a freaking pain. This is it, though. The final stretch. Just go up these damn stairs, get her, and leave. Just go up...

More guards.

You know, I'm really not in the mood for this kind of crap. Seriously, I don't even have my sword anymore, 'cause it's not like I was gonna drag it up here along with my bum left leg. Oh look, they're walking this way. Wow, the floor looks like a great place to take a snooze right now. Yeah, let's do that...

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He didn't kill a single one.

That was what she noticed from her window. That man, with his tattered, dirtied cloak, hood gathered at the point where his shoulders met his neck. It floated behind him like a shadow struggling to keep up with its caster. His blows were accurate, with delicate precision to ensure the guards would remain alive. She already knew why he did this; he had come in the name of love and he had no reason to kill.

He was hurt.

That was what she noticed from her window. That man, with his beaten, bloodied leg, clearly bringing him pain with each step. Yet his movements remained fluid; he could hide that leg away to keep it from further damage while maintaining the flow of the fight. He never stopped, not until the last one was down, but even then, he pressed on until he reached the door of the tower.

She called over her nurse and her personal guards, then sent them across the wall to the room where her daughter was held. She turned the other direction and went to go stop him herself.

.   .   .

He was furious. That man, whose sword was stolen from his guards, was taking out all of them. In his wake lay a still-stirring sea of subdued soldiers; he left them there as if to offer proof to someone that he could. He knew what that man was after, and he would never allow it. He was the king. That meant no one was suppo-- no, no one could oppose him, otherwise they would cease to exist. Then again, that ultimatum should have been the guards' duty to uphold, and now the guards were strewn across the grounds like leaves swept away in an autumn storm.

He was furious. That man had to be stopped; if it was not here, then it would be before the man left the state. He raised his almighty hand, giving the signal to light a flame on the vine o' the gods, the chain of beacons that would tell the world of that man's crime, that would lead to his sentence to eternal hell for his sins against the king, against the one chosen by the gods to have absolute power over man.

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He had all the power in the world over man, but he would not have it over woman - she would make sure of that.

She burst through the door of her husband's chambers with a look on her face that would have sent a demon crying back into the depths of hell. Her husband, though, was worse than that; he did not budge, but he did stop. He put on a stern expression that was no match for hers - she was fueled by all the years of suppression and oppression, all the years he held power over her. No matter how she might need to oppose him, she was not about to let this poor excuse for a husband marry off her daughter to some despicable "noble."

She redirected her fury towards her ploy - an intruder had come to take away her daughter?! Why, not if she could help it! Oh, you bet your life she'd sent her guards after that man a LONG time ago! There was no need to light the beacons, no need to disturb the country with news of that man's crimes - he would surely be gone before the sun rose.

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White.

This must be heaven. I have passed on, slain by the guards. I feel nothing - there is no pain to sting me, no weight to burden me. It smells sweet. Is this it? Is this the end? The salvation, the satisfaction I had sought throughout my life?

No.

She is not with me. This is not heaven. This can't be heaven. For she is not with me.

Why am I still alive, then? Weren't there guards at the top of the tower? I fell asleep, but then what? Where's my armor? Where are my wounds? Where am I?

White curtains. Something soft under me. Bed? Let's see. Oh...HOLY CRAP! WHY AM I IN THE PRINCESS'S BED?! WITH THE PRINCESS! Oh MAN, I'd better get out of here before she wakes up and sees me like this. AH, there's the pain - but since when did I have stitches to rip open? What's going on?

She laughed.

Was she awake this whole time? She's saying something...mother's nurse? Guards standing watch? Wait, does that mean Her Majesty is helping me kidnap you?

She laughed again, bobbing her head merrily. Yes, you idiot!

...WELL, Miss Princess, we must make haste! No, I won't put you down. Do you want your mother's efforts to go to waste?

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She lay on the ground, mangled and bloodied. Yet she smiled; she knew that those two were safe. Only she and her guards new about that place - they would be able to remain there forever, without worry of him ever getting in their way.

In the name of love. . .