Taking Revenge

Taking Revenge

    A wave of sorrow swept over him, as he surveyed the ruins of his capital. His kingdom had fallen, and though he still lived, his children were all dead. The dynasty begun by his great grandfather was no more. At least he had slain his foes, to the last man. But the last of his army, too, had fallen. And the coward queen had not come herself to fight; no, she had stayed in her castle, with her only child and heir. Her bloodline would continue.
    The old Psionis allowed himself to float slowly to the ground. I should have ordered the evacuation of my grandchildren after the walls were breached, he thought. It was arrogant of me to not.
    His horizontally slit eyes - the mark of his descendance from his grandfather - looked over to his eldest grandaugher. She was the only other survivor inside the palace, and had saved his life at the last moment. Of all his descendants, she was the strongest - but she was also infertile.
    "The kingdom is fallen, Hela. You may make your own path in the world," he said.
    "I will not abandon you, grandfather," she said. "Whether you intend to seek revenge, or to go into hiding." Her eyes, slit just as his were, stared at him as she stood proudly.
    "Revenge is not possible. Queen Riegala is defended by a cadre of the most powerful, and loyal, guards any ruler has ever assembled. She is also of power nearly as great as ours, as is her daughter. We have no chance against her," he said. "I will go to her, surrender the kingdom, and accept my death. There is no other path for me."
    Hela frowned. "Riegala can no longer bare children. We need only assassinate her daughter," she said.
    He sat on a nearby bench - untouched by the slaughter around it - and thought. "Perhaps there is a way," he said.

    Months later, they stood together on a balcony. As the fallen kingdom was absorbed by the victor, they had made their way to Riegala's capital. A false trail had been laid by a pair of trusted friends (members of the lesser nobility who had not reached the battle in time) to make it seem that he had fled south with his grandaughter.
    They had hired a room in the grandest inn in the city - a towering six-floor building, almost like a palace. Most important, however, was that the balcony upon which they stood would have the best view of the victory parade in the entire city; a parade both Riegala and her daughter would participate in. There were few survivors from the battle in the capital (only a few cowards who had fled), but much of Riegala's army had been working its way through the rest of the kingdom; and had continued to do so until a couple of weeks ago.
    The beginning of the parade was passing beneath them, as they looked down from the balcony. Soldiers from the war, returning home victorious. The crowd was cheering loudly, madly. Echoes had drawn closer and closer as the parade made its way from the city gate where the men had assembled, and was drawing near to the palace gates. The inn allowed them to see the gates, and the square outside, packed with people and an open column for the army to march through.
    They watched as the leaders of the army, at the front of the march, called a halt in front of the palace gates. The column of men stretched back, out of the square and sight. The palace gates opened, and Riegala's royal guard walked out, greeting the army and receiving official news of the conquest. The men spoke loudly, and amplified their voices - both the captain of the guard and the top general of the army were powerful Psionis - but they were still drowned out by the crowd.
    As the pair attempted to quieten the crowd, he made his way to the back of the inn, and the balcony on the other side, for 'a bit of air'. Once there, he and Hela started climbing carefully, making their way to the inner wall that protected the palace. The inn had been built up against the wall - something that he would have never allowed, but Riegala father had been a fool and the inn was too grand for her to destroy. They made their way up the wall, using tiny amounts of masked power to help. They also knew that the use of power by every Psionis present (to amplify their cheers) would further hide their activities.
    Once at the top of the wall, they made their way quietly along. All guards on duty were being nigh deafened by the roar of the cheers, and were staring at the parade. Once it became less obvious where they had come from, they dropped their caution. They made their way along, looking every bit like a pair of servants who had snuck up to take a peek. They could see Riegala and her daughter waiting in the courtyard, awaiting their queue.
    After they reached the gates, they stood upon them, and the cheering finally died down. With a tiny amount of their power, they gently dug away at the mortar sealing the stone wall together. Below, the general and the captain of the royal guard exchanged words, and then the captain went inside ceremoniously to fetch the queen. The cheering began once again, but when Riegala emerged from between the gates, her daughter at her side, it died down immediately.
    The pair were dressed spectacularly - golden dresses with white mixed in, royal crowns upon their heads. They looked as if they could barely move, which would unfortunately not hinder their powers. They stood before the general, who kneeled - prompting everyone, soldier and crowd alike, to also kneel (with the exception of those looking over things, who were too curious to do so and instead bowed their heads solemnly).
    He looked at Hela, and she looked back at him. With a slight nod, they activated the power their bloodline was feared for. They were both very strong kineticae - more offensively powerful than 'true' psionisae, but mostly only useful for brute, matter moving power instead of finesse and defence. But with their great strength - and possibly some additional Psionis ability they, and few others, possessed - they were able to use their powers in an unusual way.
    Rather than the brute rock throwing, or pushing, or other methods that most kineticae used, instead they focused their powers on themselves; imbuing their bodies with incredible endurance and strength. They toughened themselves to such an extent, they were able to pull themselves suddenly, escaping from opponents blows suddenly. They also possessed strong sensorae powers, allowing them to keep track of nearby opponents (and avoiding tragedies such as yanking themselves back onto a spear).
    As they woke their power, they also blasted away their formal clothing. Underneath they wore a carefully crafted mix of chain and plate, forming full and close fitting armour. The chests of both sets bore their family crest - a black horizontal slash in a circle of green, representing their eyes. At first, the heads of every Psionis with enough sensorae power to detect them (which was almost all of those that had any sensorae power at all) turned to stare at them, the Queen and her daughter included. Soon after, every other head followed.
    As they finished establishing their power, imbuing upon all parts of themselves, they heard Riegala send a telepathic shout to them, her general and her royal captain. Long have you fought over my daughter's hand, she sent, so let it be thus: the one of you who kills them will have her hand. He ignored the message, as did Hela, and the pair of them leapt high into the air.
    Beneath them, Riegala and her daughter established barriers with the full force of their psionisae powers, so strong that even the wind caused them to become visible. He and Hela yanked themselves towards the ground, coming down with incredible force...
    And slammed right next to the general and guard captain. The pair of them had lost precious seconds interpreting the Queen's message, and had expected the fallen King and his grandaughter to attempt to strike down the Queen immediately. Without shields up, their powers only readied offensively, the shockwaves - which tore up the cobblestone underneath, sending rocks flying everywhere - staggered them. In turn, this gave the King, and Hela, more than enough time to kill them with quick strikes to the chest, metal gauntleted hands sinking deep.
    Riegala's daughter let out a pained "No!" as the men fell, yet both the King and Hela were already running towards the pair as Riegala rearranged her shields. Her daughter's wavered, but a swift slap from her mother brought her to her senses and she also moved hers.
    "And what will you do now," said Riegala, "With my army behind you? You cannot hope to penetrate our barriers! You will die for slaying the greatest men of my kingdom!"
    As she said it, the device setup above - perfectly calibrated to launch the loosened wall segment upon where the pair stood - fired. The small entrapped kineticae charge - a useful, though expensive tool - immediately gained Riegala's attention. The wall segment was huge - half as tall as a man, and as broad as that - which was almost the limit of Riegala's power to deflect.
    The defeated King, and Hela, yanked themselves towards the pair, as Riegala placed her shields above her, praying that her daughters would hold -
    - and the pair of assassins fell down where their small yank had taken them, their powers suddenly fading from their body -
    - as they used their powers, in full, to drag the falling lump of wall down as hard as they could. It shattered Riegala's shield, and she screamed as it crushed her, and her daughter. Her daughter's shield dissipated, and a roar came from behind them. He rolled over, and felt hundreds upon hundreds of lesser psionisae and kineticae readying their powers to strike.
    He had used his powers to their utmost to slam the wall upon Riegala, and had almost completely exhausted himself instantly. He looked over at Hela, lying beside him. "We did it, grandfather," she said, just before the unified powers of hundreds tore apart their defenceless bodies.