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[indent][indent][indent]Sword Master Keola wrenched his spear free from the now crumbled Folk before him. As he raised his red painted weapon up the massive Zauri took a moment to look over the scene around him. The Imperial Square was littered with the corpses of both the Imperial Guard and the attackers, blood pooled the ancient stones as entrails and cuts of flesh bridged the spaces between fallen bodies. Amid the gruesome scene the fighting continued, swords clanging together as spears and axes crashed against armor and round shields. The Imperial Guard held their ground even as exhaustion was surely setting in, the armed attackers likewise unrelenting and pouring all their grit into their assault. Keola knew not who these hundreds were who had so suddenly attacked from the midst of the festival, just that they were well-armed and sufficiently trained to have fell so many of Bianwei’s guard. [i]This is no commoner uprising or marauder raid, this is something more.[/i] Keola thought.

Arrows flitted about overhead, some coming down into the square aimed at stray guards while others whistled towards the awnings and walkways of the Ruby Palace where Imperial archers kept low and shot back at the enemy archers atop the nearby buildings. 

Keola turned his slitted eyes towards the great stairs that ascended up towards the palace. As the last of the reinforcing guards came scurrying down into the square Keola could just catch a look of the wounded Emperor nearing the great doors, with him was Jia Chong and the straggling members of the Imperial Council. Keola had ordered them to take shelter within the palace and sent the best of his men with them for protection. The Sword Master imagined it best that he joined them as soon as possible, but first he felt the need to kill a few more of the armed rogues before him to give the guard some reprieve. With a tight chest and a determined spirit the Zauri general sent one last silent prayer to his god Runiq and then rushed forth into the continuing fighting.

A Honfokun, bare-chested and wielding a sleek long sword, rushed at Keola undeterred by the difference in their size. As the smaller Honfo swung his blade the Zauri took a wide step to the side at the last moment and with a short thrust stabbed his great spear into the exposed side of the swordsman, pulling it free just as swiftly and moving to his neck mark. With a hard stride forward Keola then plunged his spear into the midsection of a Folk in his path with such force it lifted the man up off his feet and slammed him down onto the stone ground. Keola again pulled his spear free and waded into the sea of blood and bodies, striking down yet another Folk foolish enough to rush at him. The Imperial Guard, emboldened by the presence of the great Sword Master, began to fight harder overcoming their exhaustion - striking furiously with their swords while others battered down their foes with their shields. 

As Keola killed another attacker he took a quick look up to the palace once more. The great doors were closing, ensuring that His Majesty and the Imperial Council were now inside and safe. Confident that the palace was defensible enough Keola wiped a streak of blood from his face before turning his spear on the enemy once more. While part of him still felt he should be by the Emperor’s side now another part loathed to abandon his men in the heat of battle, and his help was proving a great boon for the guard. Once the enemy were weakened or better yet scattered Keola would return to the palace himself.

[b]- -[/b]

[url=https://i.imgur.com/KnGywKY.jpg]Ubagai Wakuno[/url] looked down at the fighting in the Imperial Square, things were not going well. Despite the initial element of surprise and the Imperial Guard losses the tide was beginning to turn. The guard had on the whole maintained their footing and the addition of the Emperor's’ accursed Zauri protector was spelling the death of many of Wakuno’s brothers, worse yet the coward of an emperor had fled into the palace having survived the pierce of the arrow. 

Wakuno cast his gaze about the city. Fires were consuming any buildings they could reach and explosions could still be heard throughout the streets, accidental and deliberate alike. The last of Wakuno’s brothers were rushing forth into the square, leaping down from rooftops - save for the archers - and bursting forth from alleyways. Only a handful of their number remained on the outskirts battling for control of the walls. Most of the people of Bianwei who were not dead had either retreated into their homes or were madly making for the city gate to try and escape into the countryside, like rats and mice scampering from a smoldering house. A great ring of orange and yellow fire had encircled the square, it’s blinding light casting an ominous glow on the fighting and the towering palace. 

[i]There is little time to spare, the Emperor must die - I must reach him now.[/i]

Wakuno looked to the front of the Ruby Palace, there were no guards out front but the doors were without doubt barred shut and the archers above made any ascent up the palace stairs a promise of death. There was no time to try and find a way to sneak inside, there was only a direct attack. As a scowl peeled at his masked face Wakuno noticed an overturned cart of fireworks nearby, rockets meant to soar high above and explode across the sky. A thin trace of a smile pulled at the corner of the masked man’s mouth as he waved to a pair of his brothers on a nearby rooftop, pointing for them to join him below. This would take care of both the doors and the archers at the same time leaving the front of the palace open and the Emperor at the mercy of Wakuno and those who would join him in charging into the palace.

[b]- -[/b]

With a sharp swing Tsio Bu sliced the head from the kneeling guardsman before him, then kicking away the body. With a twirl of his sword the raven-haired man looked around for his next opponent. His simple robe and pale skin were spattered with blood and his straw hat from before was long abandoned to the entropy of the fighting. Tsio Bu clenched his teeth as he noted the dwindling numbers of his brothers. While the Imperial Guard had suffered many losses themselves they still had the advantage, not to mention the number of commoners of Bianwei who seemed to have taken to the fight themselves in an attempt to aid the guard in their defense. And then there was Keola, legendary Sword Master of Yongcun, cutting a bloody swathe in the night. Tsio Bu had yet to encounter the towering Zauri face to face but he had seen him nonetheless and looked forward to crossing blades with him.

As he hunted for his next foe a sudden sharp whistling caught Tsio Bu’s attention - as well as many others’. From across the square four rockets came shrieking overhead, many Folk and Honfokun leaping to the ground amid the blood and bodies for cover. Tsio Bu watched frozen as the rockets roared over the top of the palace stairs and hit the great doors with a single bright, deafening explosion that rattled his eyes in his skull. Tsio Bu gritted his teeth and clapped his free hand against one ringing ear as he pressed his shoulder against the other. Pops and cracks of black powder filled the air as did the smell of it as the ebony smoke began to slowly dissipate. 

For a moment as he looked up Tsio Bu was stunned as he and many others watched the great doors snap loose from their hinges and come crashing forward at the entrance to the palace. Splinters leaped upward as the wood pounded against the stone and the hinges now hung limply against the frame of the palace entrance. The archers on the balconies and awnings above had all scrambled to get away from the incoming rockets, some having slipped and fallen to their deaths below. The front of the palace was now open and undefended.

A single shout of triumph rang out nearby which quickly turned to a roar. Many of Wakuno’s brothers immediately began rushing towards the stairs, Imperial Guards on their heels, while others lashed out at the nearest guardsmen thus reigniting the fight anew. With a single blink and a shake of his head Tsio Bu shook off the mixed feeling of numbness and disbelief, getting a firm grip on his sword and moving forward. This was it, thre time was now - Emperor Xiao Shang would die.[/indent][/indent][/indent]