Return of The Forsaken Heir

CHPT 5

"You have five seconds to crawl out right now!" Gareth's voice echoed outside the cave. When no one came out, Gareth's face twisted into an ugly sneer. "Burn them out! Fire the flame arrows into the hole right now!"

A loud whistle tore through the darkness as dozens of burning arrows shot into the cave entrance. Fire splashed across the dry bushes and stone walls, filling the small space with choking smoke.

Thomas coughed violently, holding Lily close as sparks landed on their torn clothes. Leo did not hesitate for a single second. He lunged across the dirt, grabbing an abandoned iron shield left behind by old miners.

Leo lifted the iron high, planting his feet firmly in front of his family like a stone wall. Flaming arrows slammed violently against the shield, Hot embers splashed across Leo’s arms and shoulders, burning his skin until it blistered, but he never let out a single groan.

"Clara, help me clear the smoke!" Leo yelled over the roaring flames. Clara gritted her teeth, trying to summon her internal purple qi to blow the fire away. But the moment she gathered her energy, a terrible pain tore through her damaged chest, and she spat a blood onto the rocks.

"My inner channels are broken..." Clara gasped weakly, falling to her knees with tears of frustration in her eyes. "I cannot use my power, Leo!" Leo threw the hot shield to the ground, knowing they would all suffocate if they stayed another minute in the smoke.

"We have to move deeper into the mountain right now," Leo said, his voice firm and steady despite the pain of his burns. He tore a strip of cloth from his shirt, carefully tying Lily to his back so she would not slip. Then he took Thomas's trembling hand, leading him toward a narrow, pitch-black tunnel at the back of the cave.

"Brother, it is so dark!" Lily sobbed against his neck, coughing from the lingering smoke. "Do not be afraid, Lily," Leo whispered softly into the dark. "Hold onto my neck, and do not let go."

They ran through the tunnel as the sound of burning wood faded behind them. But before they could find an exit, a low, demonic growl echoed from the shadows ahead. Four massive Night-Stalker hounds stepped out from the darkness, their eyes glowing like hot coals.

The terrifying beasts showed their long fangs, their claws scraping against the stone floor. They had entered through a side crack in the mountain, and their hungry gaze locked straight onto blind Thomas. The largest hound let out an ear-splitting bark, leaping through the air with its jaws wide open to rip Thomas's throat out.

Thomas stumbled back in fear, his blind eyes wide with terror as he felt the hot breath of the monster. "Father, stay behind me!" Leo shouted. He did not summon his sealed dragon power, and he did not draw a weapon.

Leo relied entirely on the raw bone-strength he had forged during ten years of breaking heavy iron chains. He stepped forward with speed, pulling his right fist back like a loaded bow. As the giant hound flew toward his father, Leo drove his bare knuckles straight into the beast's hard skull.

A sound of shattering bone echoed through the tunnel. Leo’s bare-knuckle punch crushed the monster's skull, sending it crashing into the stone wall before it dropped dead.

The other three demon hounds stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes filling with wild terror. They looked at the boy standing over their dead leader, let out terrified whimpers, and turned around to flee into the darkness with their tails tucked between their legs.

"The path is clear, let us go!" Leo urged, pulling Thomas along as Clara followed closely behind. A cool breeze brushed against their sweaty faces as they finally burst out from the end of the long tunnel.

They were standing on the edge of a sheer cliff, high above a bottomless chasm. The only way across was an old, fragile rope bridge that swayed in the wind. Deep fog rolled beneath the wooden planks, hiding the deadly rocks thousands of feet below.

"We have to cross the bridge quickly," Leo said, checking the ropes with his hand. But before Thomas could take a single step onto the wood, bright torches suddenly flared up on the opposite cliff ledge. Fifty spearmen stepped into the light, blocking the other side of the gorge with weapons.

Gareth walked to the edge of the opposite cliff, holding a glowing flame sword with a mocking grin on his face. "Did you really think you were smarter than my scouts?" Gareth laughed, his cruel voice echoing over the deep canyon. "There is nowhere left for you to run!"

Gareth pointed his blade straight at Leo's chest, his eyes flashing with greedy triumph. "Toss your mother's Jade Crown across the gorge right now!" Gareth ordered loudly. "Do it on your knees, and maybe I will kill your crippled sister right now!"

Hearing those cruel words, Thomas stepped forward onto the creaking planks of the rope bridge. Tears poured down the old man's scarred, blind face as he held his shaking hands out toward Gareth. "Take me instead!" Thomas cried out, his voice breaking with unbearable sorrow.

"Gareth, I am their father!" Thomas wept into the wind. "You can do anything you like with me, but please spare my children! They have done nothing to you! Let them live.

"Your worthless life is not worth a single copper coin, old fool!" Gareth barked back with cruel laughter. Leo’s chest burned with agony as he grabbed his father’s arm, pulling him back from the edge. "Do not beg that monster, Father!" Leo said, his voice shaking with protective rage. "We will never give them our pride!"

Clara stepped forward, her teeth gritted as she pulled her last three silver needles from her purple sleeve. "Save your breath, Leo! Cross the bridge now!" Clara yelled. With a swift flick of her wrists, she hurled the silver needles with all her remaining strength.

The needles pierced through the throats of the three front-line spearmen, dropping them instantly. "Move!" Leo shouted, using the sudden chaos to push his father and Clara forward across the swaying ropes. The wooden planks creaked and groaned beneath their feet as they sprinted across the dizzying drop.

"You dare kill my guards in front of me?!" Gareth screamed in pure fury, swinging his burning flame sword down with all his might. The blazing blade cut clean through the thick hemp ropes holding the bridge. The ancient suspension bridge snapped with a deafening crack, collapsing into the misty void below.

As the wooden planks fell away beneath his feet, Leo used every ounce of strength in his legs to jump toward the cliff. He untied the cloth around his shoulders, hurling Lily safely onto the grass where Thomas caught her in his trembling arms. "Brother!" Lily screamed in terror.

Leo reached out with both hands, but his boots missed the solid ground. His bleeding fingers barely caught the wet lip of the cliff. He hung by his fingertips over the bottomless chasm, his legs dangling in empty air above the endless fog.

"Leo!" Thomas wept in pure agony, clawing blindly at the edge of the cliff as Clara held him back from falling. Gareth walked over to the edge, looking down at Leo's bleeding knuckles with a  sadistic smile. "It looks like your luck finally ran out, beggar," Gareth whispered coldly.

Gareth raised his boot high, aiming straight for Leo’s straining fingers. "Fall into the abyss and feed the worms, you piece of trash!" Gareth sneered, preparing to stomp Leo's hands off the stone. But before his boot could come down, the sound of cold steel tearing through flesh rang out.

A sword burst straight through Gareth’s armored shoulder from behind, spraying blood across the wet rocks. Gareth let out a shriek of agony, he fell to his knees in the mud. "Who... who stabbed me?!" Gareth cried out in horror.

Victoria stepped out from the shadows of the trees, her pure white silk dress fluttering softly in the freezing rain. Her face was colder and her hand remained firmly gripped on the hilt of the sword embedded in Gareth's shoulder. "You foolish, brainless dog," Victoria whispered with utter disgust.

"Lady Victoria... why did you strike me?!" Gareth groaned in pain, clutching his bleeding shoulder as his soldiers backed away in shock. "Grand Patriarch Gideon needs him alive," Victoria replied. "His pure royal blood is the only key to activate the Nine-Dragon Core beneath the city."

She looked down at Gareth with icy contempt, twisting the blade in his flesh. "If you let him drop to his death, the blood ritual will fail, and the Grand Patriarch will rip your skin alive." While they argued above, the heavy rain loosened the wet dirt along the cliff edge.

The ancient stone beneath Leo's bleeding fingers began to crack and crumble into loose gravel. "Brother! Hold on!" Lily’s desperate scream cut through the storm, but there was nothing left to hold. The edge gave way completely, and Leo lost his grip, plunging backward into the dark, misty abyss.