Chapter 27 - A Daring Battle

                                    

                                          
The battle was a mess, everyone was fighting everywhere. Witches throwing spells all around the castle, though the biggest fight was occurring at the castle entrance. The scouts pulled back the bridge, but it did not help them at all, since most of our forces had their own Palismen and were able to fly around the defenseless guards. 
"Eda, take Raine and head to the castle, Try to find the Emperor, me and Darius will help here outside." Lilith said to me.
"Sure thing, let's go, Rainstorm."
"We are going with you." Gus said, holding Willow's hand, "You need some help."
"No way." I firmly declined.
"Come on Eda, we've proven our worth countless times. Besides, if you need a diversion we can help." Willow said.
I looked at Raine and he nodded to me, "Fine." I said, "Just, watch out, if things get messy, get out of there. Anyway, we can't waste more time, let's go."
Lilith provided us with a few witches for cover. Thanks to them we reached the castle pass without much trouble, now it was only a matter of getting inside. We summoned our Palismen and went airborne. Even though the coven guards were not able to fly, they had catapults on the castle walls, making the flight quite a tricky task. We managed to land on the wall, but we were immediately swarmed by guards. Before I could do anything Willow dispatched most of them with plants. The only remnants fled, seeing what happened to their comrades. Not the best display of loyalty, though I can't complain. 
Unfortunately, infiltrating the castle proved to be even harder than getting to it. Every single corridor was booby-trapped. At least the traps weren't particularly dangerous, they mostly slowed us down. I think they weren't designed for a direct attack on the castle. The biggest issue we ran into was a patrolling abomatron. It took us quite some time to neutralize it and we ended up covered in abomination goo.
As I was pulling the last pieces of the goo, we were met by a coven scouts group. When they noticed us, they froze and started to analyze the threat. I think they recognized Raine as a coven head because, after a quick exchange, they turned around and marched away, pretending that they didn't see us. Well, at least we avoided another unnecessary fight. 
We continued our journey to the throne room, meeting traps on every corner. I was so fed up with being flooded by abomination goo. If I had to fight another abomatrons, I think I would have lost it. Fortunately, our mission at the Blight Manor seemed to have worked. 
We finally reached our destination, only to find it empty. The only thing left there was the Titan's heart beating slowly. That meant that our hunt for the Emperor wasn't over and that we would have to go through more traps, which certainly did not make me happy. 
After quite a trip we reached the main hall and found the Emperor there. He was coordinating the battle, with the help of the coven captains. We stepped into the monster's nest and when we realized the scope of the situation, it was too late. We've been spotted. 
The Emperor turned around, pulling out his staff and greeting us, "Owl Lady and the traitor, welcome, are you here to discuss your terms of surrender?" he asked. 
"In your dreams, Belos." I said. Our best shot was engaging in the discussion until we could find a way out. 
"You are delusional, by setting your foot here you signed your petrification sentence. Now, surrender, before things get messy." The Emperor said coldly, lighting up his staff.
"Fine, but let the kids go." I said, looking at Willow and Gus. They clearly wanted to protest but before they could say anything I shook my head, cutting short the discussion.