Suddenly, the world seemed to become eerily silent as everyone looked around to seek for the source of that ominous voice that reeked of nothing but danger and authority. Even more than that, they were curious at who was it that could so easily shout out and threaten them with the life of their emperor itself.
Everyone froze in shock except for Evie who had felt the hideous tension in her body immediately disappear. How? How could it be that he was already back? And the more curious thing was that he did not appear from the walls or the gates… but from the castle?
Evie felt her heartbeat hastened but it was not due to fear and dread this time. She could not believe that she would be hearing his voice again anytime soon even though it did sound quite like death warmed over at that moment. She could not help but release a small chuckle then, owing it to both the strain and stress of the chase as well as the sudden relief that came at the right time.
Slowly, Evie turned around and the moment her eyes fell on Gavriel, she felt as though she had finally seen the saving light after being confined in the deepest of darkness for days. He looked dishevelled and his dark wavy hair was a tussled mess. However, even that could not hide the murderous fury that was coming off him in waves nor the burning intensity in his eyes, as he was more than prepared and happily ready to behead the stinky emperor that he currently held captive in his hands.
No one dared to move a muscle nor make an unnecessary sound right then. Perhaps, the vampires were still stunned to their cores and unable to believe what they were seeing. Or perhaps, it was because Gavriel looked like a beast with eyes screaming bloody murder and look that was ready to slaughter anyone who dared to make one wrong move. However, the clear and undisputed fact was that their emperor was now hanging off his hands like an unfortunate rat hanging off the mouth of the cat. So much for showing off the power and might of the great emperor Lorcan. Leon had a wicked smirk as his body finally relaxed a little.
All creatures at the scene including Evie and Leon had the same question. What had just happened? How did it be that the emperor was already held captive all of a sudden? And where did that Prince Gavriel appear from, seemingly out of nowhere.
"All soldiers drop to your knees and throw down your weapons!" Gavriel roared once again, he had never glanced at Evie, "Make sure they are far enough away from you… Or else I'll behead your beloved emperor right now!"
Most of the imperial army had already left with the crown prince and the human army led by the dragon guardian. However, there were still enough numbers in their ranks to guard the entire city. There were still too many of them to go against just Gavriel and his five men. This could be one of the major reasons why he chose to keep the emperor alive even though it was taking all he had to control himself from slaughtering him now that he was finally at his mercy like this.
When the soldiers remained frozen at their spots, Gavriel pressed his sword against Lorcan's throat until a line of blood appeared on his neck and began to trickle down. "You wouldn't want me to repeat myself another time!" Gavriel snarled threateningly, his dark aura that was screaming of bloodlust spread out so strongly that even the soldiers on the walls felt a violent shiver ran down their spine.
Gavriel felt the emperor's body shivered a little and when Gavriel's sword pressed down even harder, Lorcan burst out like a desperate man, shouting at his soldiers.
"Drop to your knees now!!!" he screamed in fear and as though they were jolted awake, they all fell on their knees. Gavriel's men immediately appeared and began to collect all their weapons.
In no time at all, the unarmed soldiers were gathered on the ground and rounded up into a circle. There were a few Dacrians who appeared as well and though they were not soldiers, they were more than capable to maneuver the arrows. With Zolan's signal, they went to the walls, replacing the imperial army who were once stationed there.
When everything was finally under control, Zolan forced the emperor to drink something from a small bottle and in a matter of seconds, the emperor went limp and fell over. The huge wound on his face did not heal, but instead, it became bluish black, making him look even more awful.
The soldiers on the ground had their eyes bulging out when Lorcan seemed to end up losing consciousness.
"Don't worry, he's not going to die. We still needed him alive." Zolan said upon seeing the soldier's reaction. "Samuel! Put him in the cell." He told Samuel and the huge man unceremoniously haul off the unconscious emperor right away and took him to be thrown into the cell.
"Now what should we do these soldiers?" Zolan then faced Gavriel who was still unable to erase the extremely deadly look on his face.
"Chain them all up. I don't think these men would easily turn their backs on Lorcan." Gavriel ordered grimly.
"Right. We will give them enough time to calm down and think for themselves before you talk some sense to them. Perhaps, we could make them serve you too, like Leon."
As his men and a group of Dacrians who came to their aid began to chain the imperial soldiers up, Gavriel moved from his spot and finally looked over at Evie.
When Evie saw him finally walking towards her, her feet subconsciously moved with the intention of meeting him halfway. However, before she could even take one step, Gavriel appeared right before her. His heavy sword was released from his hand and clattered to the ground with a loud clunk before he seized her in a bear hug. She was whirled around before being crushed against Gavriel's chest.