Prince Zaeius and Keir successfully defeated all the soldiers in the cave. And now, they were on their way out, climbing on the two ropes which Méah and Princess Jiyanah used to escape earlier. Talking about the two of them, they're now nowhere to be found. Prince Zaeius and Keir though they're probably somewhere far now, which gave them a relief. Prince Zaeius was the last to climb up. Even there were two ropes, the opening was enough only for one person to pass through. After he finally got out, they heard another noise again. With footsteps echoing below, inside the cave prison, the two friends decided to leave as soon as possible after cutting the ropes. "Over there!" The last thing they heard before they rushed out of the place. Keir was running ahead of Prince Zaeius as he was the first to climb up the rope. Passing through the backyards of brick and wooden houses into the busy marketplace towards the forest near the border wall
The gleeful melodies from the birds seeped through the silence of the fresh, and relaxing atmosphere. Leaves rustled in the wind as the branches swayed calmly on its rhythm. The cool breeze touched with the green aroma of the nature lingered in the air. It was midday and the sun was scorching hot in the middle of the vast, cloudless sky. But the heat was trapped above the thick forest. Thus, maintaining the coolness and refreshing feels underneath. Amid this, Keir woke up hearing the nature's whisper. The first thing that greeted his eyes was an old, wooden ceiling which gave him a slight sense of familiarity as though he have seen it before. The cobwebs spreading on the corners above and the piled up dust captured his mind. To confirm his suspicions, he lowered his gaze and it stopped on the window on his left. This finally hit him. He's been here before. And he exactly knew what place was this–the small cabin in the Forbidden Forest. However, he was confused why he's here. The
After running for a long time and passing through mountains, forests and rivers, Princess Jiyanah and Méah finally arrived near the border of Eastias. Méah helped Princess Jiyanah all the way. Even though Princess Jiyanah wanted to talk to Méah, she didn't have the strength to do so since what she wanted to talk about was something that could possibly break her heart even more. But now that they're on a safe place, resting under an old oak tree for a while, Princess Jiyanah decided to clear the confusion that has been triggering her throughout the whole journey. "May I know your name?" Princess Jiyanah started, staring at the same direction where Méah was facing at. Méah didn't look at her. A part of her was relieved one of them decided to break the wall of silence between them. She thought maybe Princess Jiyanah just didn't want to talk because she's exhausted from her injury and mainly because they're strangers in the first place. Though they had talked back in the prison a few ti
"What's wrong?" Princess Jiyanah came back for her when she noticed she's not moving on her spot anymore. Méah was startled. She didn't know what or how to tell her. Her eyes were shifting from the soldiers ahead carrying sharp weapons to Princess Jiyanah's confused face. She gulped at the sparkling edges and lengths of the swords under the shining midday sun upon the movements of the soldiers carrying them. Since there were a lot of people lining up to get themselves checked and their belongings before entering the gate, the two of them didn't catch the soldiers attention. They must be evacuating to Eastias because of the impending war. It was a lucky that Eastias still offered them a place to stay amid the chaos. "Ah, you're finally here. I think I need to go back now. I'm sorry if I forgot to tell you that I was just accompanying you to get home since you're injured. But it doesn't mean that I will be going with you inside
As the Eastian soldiers were amused at Méah, their faces changed into a sudden shock upon witnessing her fell to the ground with blodd dripping out of her mouth. Their mouth hanged open. However, when they looked behind her, they became even more shocked. The general of Eastias and the right hand man of King Ambrose just arrived with more soldiers following behind him. He was holding a bow. Everyone already knew who did it to Méah. "General Jud!" The Eastians called him as they payed respect to him, though they were still aiming their swords at the enemies and some of them were watching over Prince Anouk. Prince Anouk and his men have no choice but to surrender as they were now outnumbered. "Bring them to the prison!" General Jud ordered the soldiers. His chin held high, proud of the fact that he was the one who captured to of the most loathed personalities in the world. "But that murderer, throw her at the dungeon!" "Yes, general!" They all obeyed in chorus, quickly disarmin
The mid-day sun shone brightly in the clear, blue sky, scorching hot as ever. White, small, fluffy clouds gathered atop the barren mountains ahead. Between the gap of the valley's bare surface, the whole world seemed to dance in a wave as the burning temperature gave off a fierce and fiery blast. Ferlah and Kalen's figure crawled underneath this unseen, cruel heat tracing the path in the middle of the surrounding mountains. Their mouth has run dry but their sweat unceasingly poke out of their skin's pores. It was only half an hour since they entered the place but it seemed forever already. They haven't even reached half of the length of the path through here and their legs began to give out. Injured and exhausted, it only made the journey even harder for them. But there's no time for them to take a rest. They have to keep moving forward. With no words spoken, it was like they're both invisible creatures amidst the barren land. Only their struggling breaths and footsteps could be he
"Stop! Don't shoot her!" Someone shouted from behind the flock of soldiers. The soldiers automatically lowered their weapons on Ferlah except on Kalen's and made way for the person. Kalen's face was scrunched in fright and disbelief. His eyes were being watchful on the weapons pointed at him and the soldiers. "Hey! Wait! Why are you still aiming at me? I am with her! This is so unfair!" Kalen complained bitterly but there was a hint of horror on his expression. Unfortunately, no one even listened and he just continued tasting the bitterness of being ignored despite how frightened and worried he was. "Ferlah," the person called Ferlah once he arrived in front of her. "Did you find anything?" It was Ado. At this crucial times, even thought he haven't gone into a proper training about military affairs, King Astius had entrusted him a troop. But King Astius didn't look at this. Instead, he was pointing out Ado's potentials and ability to lead since Ado had shown him great improvement
Ado's strength left him. It was like the whole world just dropped on his shoulders. He was frozen on his feet he watched every Eastians slained in front of him. Their screams filled his head as though it was trying to destroy his hearing sense, coiling throughout every single nerve endings inside. Petrified and drowned with self-blame, Ado couldn't move a muscle a muscle anymore. He couldn't accept that within just a blink of an eye, his troop ended up like this. While he was in this state, he suddenly felt a strong force pushing him sideways. As a result, he painfully dropped on the barren ground, making the mixture of dust and sand spewed on impact, surrounding him. He also heard a loud thud beside him but he didn't care to look at it as the tingling pain drilled onto the bones of his ankle. Before he could recover from the fall, he was tossed again following a purple glowing light that was coming towards them. This time, felt a strong arm pinning him
The golden rays of the sun broke out through the thick, dark clouds that were slowly dissipating away. The sun sat above the golden capped mountains in the west, about a few minutes before it would rest from a long day of work. The bright light vanished and the small crystal ball fell on Keir's chest. Then it slowly disappeared as soon as it touched his skin. Kalen was greeted by the silence of the world. The thick fog was cleared and the sky was full of hope. But for him, it wasn't the same sky anymore. It was the sky of new life and new beginnings. He looked around and everyone was lying on the ground. There was no trace of Purple Smoke. But he recognised Méah's figure lying ahead of him for half a mile away by her clothes and armour. However, as much as he wanted to check on them, he would have to chose his brother first who was lying right next to him. But judging on Keir's injuries, Kalen decided not to touch him. The arro
"Useless!" Purple Smoke screamed in both fury and disappointment. She hated it when someone fails her and had a long history on it. To her anger, struck Méah with her palm on the chest. Méah flew a few yards away from where she stood. But she didn't complain. For Purple Smoke was her master and the only one who has the authority to do anything to her. She rolled on the ground for a couple times and spat out black blood. She was on knees but her face was still blank and didn't show any hint of pain. Purple Smoke faced Keir and the princess's body. Her vision quickly darkened. "Love. This is what love bring to people. What a pity. They're even willing to die because of it." She grinned. While she was feeling the moment of victory, she heard a swooshing blade coming from behind her. She quickly avoided it and saw Kalen. "Oh, another silly boy. But I like you already. You're braver than your brother." "I w
After they ran away and the battlefield was almost emptied, Purple Smoke was furious when she saw Méah kneeling on the ground, frozen like a statue. She couldn't believe a simple trick could affect Méah. "Come, my dear." Purple Smoke walked in front of Méah. She bent down and held Méah's chin up. Black and purple veins appeared on her neck down to her arms. Then all of it crawled into Méah's chin down to her neck, spreading towards her back. Her injuries were healed and the arrows were burnt into ashes. Méah stood up straight. "Avenge yourself. Kill them all. Kill." Purple Smoke whispered to her ears. "But first, I want you to do something." Then, Méah suddenly disappeared in Purple Smoke's eyes. She was now off to do what she's told to do. Purple Smoke burst into a boisterous laughter. But she eventually stopped when a loud blow of horn was caught in her ears. Among all the four kingdoms, only one would use horn
The three of them were in utter astonishment when they saw the enemies were swarming again. They had no idea where they came from but now they seemed stronger than those that they fought with earlier. King Astius shoulders dropped. At the other end, he saw the Deep Caves and everyone struggling to defend it. The enemies were about to break in. "What the hell! They're like locusts!" Keir cursed under his breath. Suddenly, they heard screams coming from behind them, the main gate from the city of Noartias. As they turned around, they saw the remaining of their soldiers, the war veterans and majority of Eastian soldiers who were assigned to defend the city. They were rushing to the battlefield, ready to give their life for the sake of the world. And then, they joined them to launch an attack on the battleground. Weapons clashed hard against each other. Some tasted flesh, blood and bones. Blood were splattered everywhere, leaving a crimsom
"Oh no! They're here! They're breaking in!" Queen Jainah cowered into the corner of the room in the royal underground where they were hiding. Princess Jiyanah sat down with her, arms snaked on one arm of her mother. King Ambrose wasn't there with them because he was out in the battlefield. Unlike Noartias, Eastias don't have any shelter like the Deep Caves but they have a vast underground shelter that they called as the Underground Shelter, enough to cater the whole kingdom's population. It has one entrance which can only be found in the secret chamber of the royal hall. The five exits extend in five directions away from the kingdom's borders. Four of it share the same distance while the other one was the longest which almost reaches the border's pf Noartias. King Zarduz was the first kingdom to surrender to Purple Smoke. Being named as the weakest, poor kingdom, King Zarduz chased the opportunity to get power, enough to purge a strong kingdom l
Ferlah brought King Astius to the Deep Caves. After that, she left back to the battlefield outside. More enemies were coming. They don't seem to decrease at all. The more of them die, the more of them come. Prince Zaeius and the mysterious woman in red were trying hard to defend the door of the shelter. General Kapono was defending the walls together with the rest of the soldiers since the enemies were trying to climb up through tall ladders. Seeing all of these, King Astius didn't think twice to carry out his responsibility. He climbed to where the archers were stationed on the walls. "Aim for the enemies! Kill them! Leave none of them alive!" He shouted. Upon seeing his presence, the soldiers' morale was boosted. Their spirits soared high and their hearts filled with hope. From afar, Ferlah could be seen battling alone. She couldn't risk to transform herself so that she won't get exhausted when it was time to go
When King Astius and the rest of the troops arrived at Noartias, they were flabbergasted by the army of the enemies flocking inside. Only a few of the war veterans were left standing, fighting bravely despite being outnumbered. King Astius was suddenly eaten by guilt. He blamed himself for not seeing the trap ahead of them which made him led the whole Noartian army into deception. The moment they stepped a foot inside the kingdom, the bloody clash began. The enemies looked like a swarm of locusts, attacking them in every possible way. There were clamours of death and courage as well as the shatters and clatters of weapons. Blood were spilled everywhere and the parched ground quenched its thirst through it. While King Astius was slaughtering the enemies, he suddenly remembered the prince. Fear struck him hard. He wished his son was safe in the royal underground as it was difficult to find. But judging from the prince's behaviour, he probably
"Méah!" With eyes closed, Prince Zaeius screamed in terror and sat up from his sleep without even knowing. He just had a horrible nightmare about Méah dying, covered in blood and vanishing into thin air. However, even though it was just a nightmare, he began to pray to himself that it would only remain as a nightmare. As his breathing slowly calmed down, the throbbing pain came raging from all over his body, starting to penetrate deeper into his senses. He let out a painful hiss with a twisted expression as he went weak and limp, slumping himself back into the soft mattress of his bed. An agonizing groan followed that made him shut his eyes in a tight manner. With this, it all came back to him. But despite after being rescued and seeing the woman he loved in that situation, the flashes of tortures that he had gone through in the hands of Purple smoke held a consistent spot in his memory. That no matter how hard he tried to set
The awaited dawn finally came. It was summer but the breeze, though it blew calm and gentle, felt like a touch of a blizzard's chill. Passing through the steep trails of well-tilled earth, forests, rivers and marshes, a couple of hundred thousand men set off from Noartias to the battlefield under the command of King Astius. This was the last number that he could bring with him. And not all of them were soldiers. Some were mere folks, men and women but brave and courageous, who voluntarily swore to protect their kingdom, their homes and their families. Every abled person in no particular age requirement were allowed to go to battle with them as long as they can walk at such distance and can ride on horses and fight with willingness. However, as he couldn't leave the kingdom and the people alone unguarded, he left this task to the war veterans of less than thirty thousand. Half of them guarded the kingdom with Kalen among them and Bek was told to stay with o