67 Stalling

The head guard saw his men die before him and felt great pain.

The prince who was calm because of his protection was now becoming increasingly nervous.

The princess fell to the ground as her legs weakened, being exposed to death for the first time she who had given up on life long ago had become fearful of death again.

When illness was claiming her life she had to accept what little time she had left but now in this situation where she would be killed before her natural time of death she began to feel how unfair the world truly was.

Her death surrounded by her family as she took her last breaths had been replaced with dying in a place far away from her loved ones.

She did not want to die.

'Not yet.' The princess thought as she hit her legs to stop the fear from controlling her, if she gave up now she may never see her grandmothers face again.

The guard took his sword and stabbed the assassin who had just finished killing one of his men.

Another arrow flew in the direction of the prince this time.

The sword was removed from the assassins chest and immediately deflected the arrow in the last moment.

The guard looked upon the head assassin studying him. 'So he finally has a chance to get to the prince, but he is being too cautious.'

When the final guard was the only one left alive the assassin could have taken a risk to kill the head guard but instead chose to fire upon the prince.

The arrow would not kill the prince but slow him down and the arrow had been within the guards range to stop.

Another arrow flew towards the prince.

The guards sword stopped the arrow again.

He looked upon the assassin again.

'He is too calm.' He thought.

Another arrow headed towards the prince.

The guard stopped it again.

The guard looked at the assassin who showed no signs of anxiety. 'He is stopping me from approaching him by firing upon the prince, he knows I can stop the prince from being harmed...'

'If that is so, then he cannot kill anyone else but is holding us in place.' The guard became aware of the situation. "Prince hurry and take the princess away right away!"

The prince looked upon the situation and understood his meaning. "What can we do?"

The head guard thought for a moment blocking another arrow. "The only option is for you to leave with the princess and run to the end of the path. Run and hide away from anyone suspicious and do not trust anyone!"

"But..." The prince did not know what to say to this.

It was true in this area there were no allies around him, even a kind old man who would usually help someone in trouble had a price where they would betray someone.

In the poorer parts of the Moonlight country some are going hungry, struggling to support their families and can be easily influenced by those in power.

All it takes is a few coins to buy his location or even have many people try to take his life for the bounty placed on his head in secret.

The guard backed away further down the path giving him and the princess the opportunity to escape.

The assassin began to use his arrows a little more recklessly to try to stop their escape, he was now running low on supplies and would have to fight face to face if he ran out.

His final objective was to kill the prince, it did not specify how to do it.

Now all the assassins around him were dead, meaning he was at a disadvantage.

All he could do is stall for time so that those who came could assist in killing the prince, he knows all too well that the master always has a backup plan in case of failure.

The biggest problem was that the head guard was in the way.

He was old, experienced and a took notice of the smallest details which made him a difficult person to deal with.

The assassin began to feel nervous upon seeing the prince and princess draw closer towards the end of the path.

He could also hear the sound of footsteps nearing his position, backup would arrive very soon.

Another arrow flew towards the head guard which was again deflected.

The guard widened his eyes upon the scene in front of him, the assassin used his last arrow and took out a sword.

The next moment three more men came behind the assassin, they took out their swords and began to try close the distance between them.

"Go!" The guard pushed the prince who now held the princess in his arms out of the path into the deserted road.

The prince held the princess and continued to run through unfamiliar roads and dark alleys, evading the sight of others and trying to find a place to hide.

The princess fainted because of her weak body and the traumatic experience.

The head guard chose to stay behind to block the narrow path to give the prince a chance to escape.