When the Sagen carrier arrived to Corra, Iya and others had their plan in place. Iya, Kalvanius, and the generals knew what they had to do. As the carrier doors opened and the Corran air pushed through the carrier’s entrance. This would be the first time Iya, Kal and Surra and others their age would ever set foot off Sagen soil.

The sun was shining bright that day on Corra. The carrier landed outside the hanger of the palace gates. It was windy and dust flew around everywhere when the doors completely opened. The Tradesman that ran the carrier began instructing his crew to start removing the Corran’s shipment. As the crewman worked to start unloading the carrier, the maids followed behind, walking down the ramp with their belongings.

Shortly after, along came Kal and Marcus. Luckily for them, there were a set of Corran uniforms that needed to be delivered back their military. Marcus had to wear long sleeves to cover up his tattoos and war scars. The Corran people didn’t know General Marcus as they did General Amos. Artemis and Amos would walk side by side into the Corran palace to speak with King Kahn himself. Marcus would stay behind and complete the tasks to why they were there.

Marcus stood about five foot eight and was pure muscle. His dark brown chocolate skin and shoulder length locks, he was well known on the battlefield to be one of the best. The one thing that could give him away was his tattoos. Every battle or successful conquest the Sagens had, he gets a new tattoo honoring the experience. Marcus had to put his braids into a bun to be in full disguise.

Corran soldiers didn’t wear their hair long and especially didn’t have beautiful locks like the Sagens. Locks with gold jewelry pieces clipped on was a Sagen signature. Marcus knew if he didn’t hide all the way, the Corran soldiers inside would surely know that he wasn’t one of them. It was easier for Kal because half of his head was already shaven. His locks were on top already in a ponytail.

As Marcus and Kal walked down the ramp after the maids, Iya and Surra stayed close behind them. Once they reached the end of the ramp, Marcus turned around and spoke to his young comrades. “Listen, we have to wait for Amos’ signal ok. I know how to get us into the palace where the kitchen is, but to know where King Kahn has Artemis, we’ll have to figure that part out. Don’t stray from the plan and stay together.” Marcus and Kal escorted the ladies through the main entrance gates. The entrance into the city like kingdom, was small and narrow. It was a defensive measure that helped them control who came in and out.

The Captain of the Corran soldiers was on duty today and stood nearby checking people in. As Marcus and Kal approached the gates they nodded to the Captain and kept moving on inside. Iya and Surra didn’t say anything as they trailed close behind. All four of them were about a good ten feet in before the Corran Captain shouted out to Marcus, “Hey soldier!”

Marcus turned around slowly replying, “Yes, sir! Is there something wrong?”

The Corran Captain wasn’t sure but he felt like something was different about them. When Marcus and Kal walked by the captain, he couldn’t help but stare at all four of them. What really stood out was Marcus wearing a long sleeved shirt and it was hot as hell outside that day. The Captain yelled back to Marcus, “Aren’t you hot in all those clothes?” He was curious what he had to say.

Marcus started walking slowly backwards catching up to the others then yelled back, “I burn easily sir!” Marcus turned around and picked up his pace, speed walking to Iya. “That was close, we have to hurry up. The palace was this way.”

Marcus, Kal, Iya and Surra picked up the pace walking through the main streets of the city. It was crammed packed with people shoulder to shoulder who were buying up items. Everyone looked to be in rush and was scrambling around taking and buying anything they can get their hands on. It was a huge mess and was hard to navigate through the crowds. There were Corran soldiers patrolling the crowded streets scanning the areas for thieves. Iya and Marcus saw the soldiers coming by and decided to turn down an alley to avoid speaking to the soldiers. The shortcut ended up working out perfectly for the Sagen spies. It led to one of the back entrances to the kitchen. When they walked inside the Corran palace, they weren’t too far from where they wanted to be.

As soon as the Sagens turned to corner the kitchen was right there. They could hear lots of people scrambling around trying to put their feast together. Marcus peeked around the open door to see what was going on. Iya and Surra noticed right next to them was a tray full of prepared food. The three level cart was packed with all types of delicious foods and drinks. Iya and Surra couldn’t help but take a few pieces of food for themselves.

Marcus turned around shocked at what they were doing. He ran over to them and asked while whispering, “Commander, what are you doing?!”

Iya and Surra looked up at Marcus and Iya replied with her mouth full, “What? It looked good and I was starving. Besides I know how we’re going to find Artemis. They’re preparing for a feast right? Well, we’ll help deliver the food to the party.”

Marcus and the others nodded their heads in agreement. Kal and Surra took a few more pieces of finger food off the tray before Iya and Surra picked up two different trays that were full of food. They walked down a hallway holding the trays high on their shoulders. Marcus and Kal walked in front, slowly because they were unsure on which way to go. The hallways in the palace were narrow and small. Everything seemed to be made out of wood as well. The light fixtures that hung on the wall looked like it could easily set the whole place on fire.

When the four of them reached the end of the hall, a Corran soldier turned the corner the same time Marcus and Kal did, making them bump into each other. The soldier got mad and told Marcus to watch out. He turned around and said, “Where are you guys headed anyway? Those maids should be delivering the food through the other entrance.” He looked at Marcus from head to toe and gave him a funny look, “The entrance to the Main Hall is that way down the hall and I’m sorry I have to ask… why are you dressed like its cold outside? It’s one of the hottest days of the year here on Corra and you’re wearing long sleeves.” The soldier looked further down Marcus’ arms and hands and saw the tattoos that were past his wrists. Marcus didn’t say a word, as the soldier slowly put the pieces together that they were not from Corra.

In a blink of an eye, Marcus punched the soldier in the face knocking him out. Kal quickly caught the soldier’s body and dragged him to the nearest open room. Marcus and Kal quickly ran back to where Iya and Surra were waiting. “Now we’re really going to have to hurry… they’re going to be on to us once they find that body. This way…” Marcus whispered as he sped walked passed the girls.

They walked in the direction the Corran soldier told them to go. At the end of the last hall was the entrance to where King Kahn and hopefully Artemis was. When they were all inside, Iya and Surra looked around for a place to sit down the large trays of food they were carrying. To the left, were other kitchen maids wearing the same light blue dresses Iya and Surra were wearing. Iya signaled Surra to follow her and they both approached the long table sitting the trays down on one end. One of the maids saw Iya put the tray of food down and quickly went over to snap at her for putting the tray down in the wrong place. “We’re not ready for you guys yet… and that doesn’t go there.” The maid looked at Iya like she wanted to discipline her. Iya paid her no mind as her focus went straight to who was on the podium. She could barely see who was on there until she got a good view.

There was a large crowd of people already in the large hall. They were all dressed in fancy expensive clothing. Iya started walking through the crowd to get a better view when she saw Artemis. He was tied to a chair with his head bent down all the way. His chin was touching his chest and he was dripping with blood from being beaten so badly. King Kahn had his back turned looking outside the rectangular windows on the wall. Iya had never seen what King Kahn looked like before but she knew it was him from his specially design armor he was wearing. His armor looked something like samurai armor, it was a bronze color with a metallic green tint. There were engravings written all over it which made the armor stand out even more.

As soon as Iya and others had a clear path to the king and Artemis, there was a big rumble from the ground. The ground began to shake causing everything in the Main Hall to shake and crumble. The quake scared Iya for she had never felt anything like that before. The ground moving on its own? She thought to herself. Pieces of the ceiling started falling to the floor, causing the people in the room to start to scream. The shaking was so fierce that everyone had to hold on to the wall so they wouldn’t fall. Once the shaking stopped the people began to feel relieved that it was over.

Amos and everyone outside the palace felt the shaking too. That didn’t stop Amos from going on with his plan. Amos split the army in two leaving one half of his soldiers on the carrier and the other half with him. His plan wasn’t a full attack, but to make a big enough distraction to let Iya and others sneak through. Amos stood there looking outside the carrier waiting for his troops to line up. Corra’s big tall walls and guarded gated entrances made it easy for the Corran soldiers to see that the Sagens lining up outside their walls. Amos stood still waiting for someone to notice him. He knew once someone did they would notified the king. That should buy Iya and others some time to find Artemis.

Moments later, a Corran soldier burst through the doors. He was running so fast that he almost bumped into Iya. “My king! My king!” The soldier approached the king’s podium huffing and puffing from being out of breath. King Kahn turned around slowly to see what the soldier had to say. “The Sagens are here sir! They are at our gates lining up along the wall sir. What do you want us to do?” It was the signal Iya and others were waiting for from Amos.

“Let them in… it’s about time.” King Kahn replied back to the soldier. King Kahn walked slowly over to Artemis and lifted his head by his braids. Pulling Artemis’ head back made him start yelling in agony. King Kahn leaned down and whispered in Artemis’ ear, “By the time your army comes, they’re won’t be anything left of you to rescue. I wonder… is your new Commander of age yet? Will she be joining us? Once everyone is in the palace it’s all going to be blown to pieces. I. Can’t. Wait.”

Artemis started coughing and spitting out blood on the floor after King Kahn pushed his head forward. Artemis was breathing hard but managed to get out a few words before coughing again, “Kahn please… I told you this wasn’t our fault… We didn’t know about the attack or your daughter being kidnapped.” Artemis coughed again, “Gerok isn’t the answer… he’s messing with your head Kahn, please…”

“Silence!” King Kahn yelled. “You’re lying! You only came to Corra to collect the trade exports bill and to use our resources like you always do. I don’t want to hear anything else from you, old friend. Corra is collapsing anyway from the stabilizers being stolen. Without the stabilizers the palace and some of the surrounding city will collapse down to the underground caves and water caverns. Well you know already, my stupid ancestors thought it would be a good idea to build a kingdom and a city on top of a water cave. The power source the barbarians took from us would have powered the stabilizers till the end of time.”

The ground started rumbling again, slow this time like it wanted to start back up again. The people who were still in hall pretended like nothing was happening on the king’s podium. When the rumbling started they started stirring around and freaking out again. King Kahn had kind of forgot about his people being the hall with him. He didn’t even know why exactly they were throwing a feast. The only thing King Kahn was focused on was Artemis and getting his revenge. When the people started stirring again he looked up and screamed at them, “Everyone get OUT!” He took a small remote out of his pocket and held it up so everyone could see it. “I will kill everyone in here if you all don’t leave!” The king’s announcement really made everyone start freaking out.

The rumbling started up again and instead of giving the people time to leave, King Kahn pressed the first button. He set off a small explosion underground and it doubled the power of the rumbling. The Main Hall started rumbling so much that large chunks of the ceiling started falling. The large pillars that held up the hall started crumbling down as well. Iya, Surra, Kal and Marcus all held on to the walls as the Corran people started rushing towards the only exit out.

Kal was the first to lift off and start making his way towards King Kahn. The rumbling didn’t bother him anymore as much as it did to see his father in pain. Pieces of the ceiling were falling right beside Artemis and it made Kal even more scared that his father could get crushed. As people flooded the entrance only four people were walking in the opposite direction. When King Kahn walked behind Artemis facing the entrance watching people run away, he noticed them walking towards him. The king quickly walked over to his fire pit and pulled out a blade that was sitting in the coals. When he pulled out the blade by the handle the sharp metal end was glowing bright orange and red. The king blew on the blade slowly, playing with the fire that was still burning from it. “I wouldn’t take another step if I were you…” The king walked over to Artemis and held the steaming blade up to his face. He looked at all four and only recognized one. When Iya and the others got closer to the podium, they all stopped at once when they saw King Kahn hold the burning blade up to Artemis.

Marcus put his hand up to King Kahn signaling him to hold on, “Wait Kahn! It’s all over your highness. Please just put the blade down and this will all be over. I promise we will show mercy…”

The Corran King quickly snapped back at Marcus saying, “It’s King Kahn to you and it was all over the moment you step foot in this palace.”

When Iya and the king made eye contact, King Kahn couldn’t help but stare. He looked at her like he recognized her through someone else. Iya also staring right back got the chance to see the infamous King Kahn up close and personal. She had never seen anyone like him before. King Kahn’s hair was long, jet black but straight. The length of his mustache went passed his face, he had no beard but a goatee that was really long. King Kahn’s goatee was braided and had beads hanging at the end of it. It reached all the way to his chest. But that wasn’t what stood out to Iya the most. King Kahn’s eyes were the same color as the burning blade he had in his hand. When the king grabbed Artemis, threatening him, the king’s eyes stayed that color. An orange color burning red. Iya had never seen anyone’s eyes that color before.

King Kahn looked directly at Iya and said, “Well don’t you look like the spitting image of Queen Shakiya? As in the youngest child of King Jaron, the new Commander of Sage has just waltz right in my doorstep.” He started laughing aloud to himself, “Oh Gerok will be please once he finds out I’ve taken out the new Sagen Commander. Welcome to Corra.”

The king then took the burning blade and pressed the flat part over Artemis right eye and the middle of his forehead causing him to scream bloody murder. Kal and Iya started screaming, NO! Kal quickly ran up the podium beating Marcus to the punch. Kal charged at King Kahn with a sword in his hand. Kahn quickly counter Kal’s attack, punching him to the ground. Marcus was right behind him, pushing the king aside hitting the wall. Kal quickly got up to his feet and rushed over to Artemis cutting the ropes to set him free. Surra who was waiting for the opportunity to jump in and help Marcus, heard a group of soldiers coming down the hallway to come and get the king. They did not know that the extra rumbling was being caused by their king and that he was fighting four Sagens.

Surra tried to close the double wooden doors before the Corran soldiers came through but was unsuccessful. Five Corran soldiers came rushing through the Main Hall doors right into an attack. Surra quickly started attacking the soldiers as they came in. Completely ambushed, Surra took out two of them with no effort. King Kahn got the upper hand over Marcus and kicked him off the podium. When Marcus turned over on the ground to get back up, he saw Surra getting over powered by the three soldiers that were left. He got up as fast as he could to help her out. Not seeing King Kahn behind him, he jumped down from the podium and started attacking Iya.

This is what Iya was waiting for. She was waiting for a real fight and King Kahn seemed to be a good fighter. The king swung his blade that he used on Artemis twice before throwing it as Iya out of frustration. She ducked and dodged every move the king made. When Kahn took out his sword Iya had already had a Corran sword to defend herself. Kahn walked over slowly to Iya, taunting her by laughing to his self, “Don’t be afraid my little Sagen Commander… I’ll make your death quick and painless.” Kahn gave Iya a full attack and they were truly going at it.

The ground started rumbling again and this time it threw Iya off by surprise. While the rumbling was happening she was losing her footing and the ability to stand still to see Kahn’s attacks. Kahn however, didn’t seem too bothered by the quakes and kept his composure. This was really bad for Iya for Kahn was getting the upper hand. He pushed Iya up against the wall pressing her blade against her own neck. Iya struggled very hard to push back on Kahn’s sword before her blade pierced her neck. Iya was giving it all her strength, her teeth clinched hard and her arms shaking from the force, she couldn’t hold on too much longer.

Just then, Kahn let go of his grip and sprung back screaming in pain. The king had an arrow sticking out of his back, right under the shoulder armor. When Kahn moved aside, Iya saw Kal holding up a bow. He gave her the signal to finish him off. The king fell to the floor and the remote fell out of a pocket he had on his belt. He turned and grabbed the remote and started pushing the remaining buttons setting off the rest of the bombs. The rumbling exploded violently and uncontrollably. Iya quickly ran over to King Kahn and kicked the remote away from his hands. Marcus and Surra finished off the remaining soldiers and ran over to help Kal carry Artemis down from the podium. Kal tore some cloth from one of the table linen and wrapped it over Artemis’ burnt face.

Iya was about to run over and help out when King Kahn jumped back up to his feet and attacked Iya again. This time he almost struck Iya from behind, throwing a strike that barely missed her. When Iya felt the wind of the blade pass by her from behind, she spun around quickly swinging the last fatal blow. Iya’s counter attack cut the king’s head straight off his shoulders causing his body to collapse to his knees then to the floor. Iya watched the king’s body fall to the ground. To her, Kahn’s body fell in slow motion as she watched every detail unfold before her eyes. The amount of blood that squirt back at her and the expression on his face when she cut off his head. The whole experience for Iya was surreal for at that moment she knew what it truly felt like taking someone’s life.

Even as the whole palace crumble around her, Iya stood still looking at King Kahn’s headless body. There was no sound, nothing around them at that moment. She saw a necklace that fell from his neck after the blow. She picked it up and put the necklace into her pocket. Killing him wasn’t the plan, she thought, but she did what she had to. At that moment, Iya snapped out of whatever trance she was in as she watched Kal and Marcus carrying Artemis. Marcus got in front of Artemis and put him over his shoulder. It would be easier for them to get out of the palace carrying Artemis versus waiting for him to walk.

There was a lot of screaming and chaos outside the palace walls. Everyone was running around panicking and trying to get out of the city gates. No one knew the extent of the quake this time because pieces of the ground started caving in. Amos even recalled the army back into the carrier. He tried several times to reach out to Marcus on his com but with no luck. There communications must still be jammed. This made Amos start to panic just a little because this whole sneaking in plan was his idea. Now he has no idea how Marcus and the others are doing or if they need rescuing themselves. Amos made the call to pull the carrier ship out from the city so it didn’t collapse underground. He gave explicit instructions to stay hovering over the gates and not to get too far away from the entrance. Amos knew in his gut Marcus and others would return safely with Artemis.

Marcus carrying Artemis over his shoulder, Surra opened the doored she closed wide so Marcus can run through with no issues. As Kal and Iya were the last to leave, when they both turned the corner a huge piece of the ceiling fell separating them from Marcus and Surra. The ceiling completely blocked Kal and Iya from leaving out of the main entrance of the palace. They were stuck or so they thought.

Marcus started screaming at them, “Iya! Kal! There are emergency escape routes beneath us. I don’t know how else you’re going to get out!” The noise of everything crumbling around them made it too hard for them to hear each other. Iya walked over in the direction of a large red sign. There was a map below it and that seemed to be what Marcus was talking about. Iya knew this was not her ending. She signaled to Marcus that they found a way out.

“Get Artemis out of here! We’ll travel through what’s left of the caverns below. The escape route should lead us out to the beach!” Iya tried screaming to Marcus but he couldn’t hear her. Plus everything was really starting to come down quickly. Iya ran through the crumble one last time. “The BEACH! Meet us at the Beach!” Marcus heard Iya and nodded in response. “GO! Get out of here!”

Marcus and Surra still hesitated in leaving their Captain and their Commander, Surra especially. She was looking behind her as she started running behind Marcus and Artemis.