Chapter 51

RAGE

CASSIE

I was tired of running. Eric could see in my eyes that I was willing to fight. Once my assailant stepped into view, holding his riffle I thought it was only now that I had to get it from him and beat the shit out of him.

"Be calm," Eric whispered, holding me back. Something about his voice was soothing.

But, do we just let our attacker walk away? Do we just pretend it is alright and watch them walk all over us and disappear, only to live with the thought that a target is placed over our backs?

There were three of them, bloody Royal hunters. I could tell from their stance, from the emblem that was haphazardly hidden under their jackets. They must really be crazy, trying to upturn the treaty land with their presence. They weren't even trying to hide.

Eric was right in a way, we needed to spot the other two of them to avoid any sort of surprise attacks. Once I did, I didn’t wait for him to give me the go-ahead, I charged at my enemies.

Morphing mid-air, I landed with a bang that threw them off guard. I grabbed the first hunter and slammed him hard against the bark of the tree. A round of bullets rang but, Eric had it under control. He caught the second hunter, slamming him hard against the ground to keep him immobile.

The third hunter raised his rifle at me, pulled the hammer and was about to shoot when I felt something swiftly running by me. I could smell his presence - Matt Andrews.

Matt appeared, revealing himself from under the camouflage of the moon wolf. He grabbed the hunter in the middle and smashed him against a tree like a rag doll.

I rushed to Eric and morphed back into my human self. I pushed him away from the attacker, took his position as I sat astraddle the enemy, and rendered heavy punches on his face.

I didn’t realize I was mad with rage until then. I could remember my father's head being strung on a pole, I could remember Lou being tied up to a ventilating machine, I could remember the sad look in my mother’s eyes - remembered it all, and it drove me mad.

The attacker suddenly looked weak to me as I kept punching his face in. His nose broke, and blood spat out of his mouth, but I could not see it. All I could see was the face of the enemy that hurt the people I cared about. His skin sagged off as if he was not resisting anymore, like his muscles had given up. He began to whimper, trying to cling to his last line of life, the red glow in his eyes slowly extinguishing.

"That's enough. You are going to kill him." Matt try to pry me away from my victim, but I was so angry. The more he tried to restrict me, the angrier I got.

I pushed roughly against Matt. "Fuck!" I made to punch him, but Eric caught me before doing so.

I soon began to calm down, and as I looked at the victim in front of me, I saw I had bashed his face terribly and he writhed in pain.

Matt raised him with one hand. He was going to take the three of them away, to the guild where their punishment will be decided, but I have seen this happen too many times before - in the end, justice is not always served because, in the end, my grandmother is still the Queen Regent, and she had influence everywhere. These men are just scapegoats, tightlipped scapegoats who will die for the Royal line like dogs.

The system was rigged, and that was what my father had been fighting to correct until he was assassinated in cold blood in the most humiliating fashion. I was really upset, really annoyed, and really dumbfounded, and I knew the only way to break the Royal family apart, was to do it from within.

The system my grandmother built in River Valley was filled with corrupt practices. They feasted on the weak, collected very high taxes, and spend the money lavishly - sometimes, I wondered what great King Aldo the first had seen in such a conceited person, why he brought her into the castle in the first place. However, I had also loved her and admired her. I always thought the world did not understand her, so I felt sorry for her.

I felt sorry that she had to watch her children divide and become hungry for the throne, I felt sorry that, according to the history books, she was sold from home at a very young age into slavery where my grandfather found and married her.

Since she had no skills other than survival, I thought it only made sense she wanted to do anything to get ahead so she wouldn’t have to relive her past. However, what I didn’t see was the intensity of her greed grew, and I didn’t see that beneath the surface, she had planned it all along.

I also hated that despite all what he had done, I just wanted it to stop - I wanted her to stop and be able to live the rest of her years not ruining the lives of others for the growth of a selfish umpire.

I suppose, what I’m trying to say is, that I want to change the system from the inside, in the hope that one day, the good work of the resistance and the Royal family could be restored. I wanted the line of rulers to continue, even if it was with a new generation.

So, I knew, I must use this to my advantage.

What I knew was to go back to the site of the attack - the deep parts of the River Valley where the decay began. I needed to face my people head-on, but I could only do that when I have been able to harness the powers within me. I needed to be able to reach my full potential to face my enemies because, the enemy was strong, they have a fully grown army, and they will stop at nothing to destroy me, even if that meant they have to take Advania and the peace treaty down with them.

Matt must think I am naive, but he didn’t know my family as I know them - after all, I am a full blooded Royalty, and I lived all my life under the gaze of their scrutiny.

The structure of Advania was very different from the one we followed in River Valley. The kingdom is now completely lawless and run by strongmen, many of whom operate on a self-made constitution.

I had attended the Royal Academy to study the laws but had no real need to use the knowledge in the long run because of the injustice and the broken system. The crown had more important things to attend to, such as the growth of the Royal Family and the rebuilding of the kingdom.

I knew that Matt wouldn’t suspect anything if I took the law into my hands, but I had to make it clear that I would make things my way, and the system was very rigid in what I had to do in order to have authority. I had to see that justice was served.

I thought the system would soon crumble, but I was wrong, in the past months there had been many attacks on Castle Court, and the town was still plagued by rumors of war. This was the perfect time to strike.