It was the mourning bell.
It rang ten times to let the people know that someone from the royal family has drifted to the afterlife. Prince Zaeius quickly groped Méah's shoulders to get her off him. Then he rushed out of the room, leaving Méah alone. Aroh who was waiting for him outside the royal guest house's balcony followed him, perplexed. In fact, Prince Zaeius didn't notice Aroh was tagging along with him after he left the royal hall. "No...this can't be happening. This isn't real!" He mumbled to himself as he mounted on his horse. "Your highness, wait for me! Where are you going?" Aroh called him from behind but he seemed like he didn't hear anything. While Prince Zaeius was on his way to the palace on his horse, he felt like all of his blood stopped flowing into his veins. The sun's scorching hot but he felt so cold–his hands, his face and his lips trembled as his heart was bTwo days had passed by and Keir and Prince Zaeius never met again. Keir felt so bad for not being with his friend's side after the queen's death. And Keir never showed up to the funeral either. He felt so guilty after their argument. He knew Prince Zaeius was still mad at him. Although he knew it was his fault, he still can't believe Prince Zaeius chose Méah over him. Of course, he's not that dumb to not notice the prince's feelings towards Méah. Now Keir's on his way out of Noartias. After what he did, he don't deserve to stay in one place where the prince is. It's better that he'd just leave and never come back. With a pack of his important things and some clothes on his back and a satchel across his chest, he fall in line with the people who are getting inspected before going out of the kingdom's gate. "Thank you, sir," Keir said and took back his things from the guarding soldiers after the inspection. Finall
As soon as the red light swallowed Méah, she felt like she's being strangled with an unseen force; her head felt like it's going to explode. She struggled with all her might but it was useless. When she wasn't able to take more air, her heartbeat slowed down as her mouth gaped open and her eyes steadied in one direction with every limb of her becoming numb until she couldn't feel her body anymore. Just then she felt something throbbing inside her chest which made her open her eyes deliberately. But she couldn't remember anything or what actually happened. Her watery eyes were greeted by a blurred view of a pure blinding light. And then a sudden pulse exploded from that throbbing thing in her chest, making her gasp for air as though she had just got out of the water after drowning for a long time. She's chasing her breath as fast as she could trying to fill the lost ones. She could feel the strength returning in every part of her body. As her breath slowly calmed down,
After the people were wiped out, Prince Zaeius was about to take a peek behind the huge pillar of the city's gate when Keir quickly grabbed him in his arm. He almost fell backwards for it, making his shoes screeched as he tried to balance himself on the dry ground. When the smoke took everyone, Keir managed to grab Prince Zaeius to hide behind the huge pillar. Because right now, if they weren't lucky to escape, they would've been one of these hundred corpses lying in front of the city gate. Prince Zaeius gave Keir a 'what-are-you-doing-look' with his brows furrowed. "Stay still or she'll find us," Keir whispered angrily and looked away. "Not too soon. You can take a look later if she's gone away." Prince Zaeius didn't want to argue with Keir for the moment so he didn't speak anything anymore at all. Besides, his mind right now is a complete mess. He have so much to say to Keir. He's been keeping
The thick mist quickly swallowed Méah. She had expected she would have a rough landing but she was wrong. Instead, she landed on something not so soft yet not so hard. Méah could tell it wasn't the ground for sure as her body made a dull thud the moment she fell from it. But as much as she wanted to find out what is it, she couldn't see anything but the thick mist. As Méah was breathing rapidly as she was about to pull herself up midway, she suddenly heard the same noise again. She absolutely froze right after she heard it, especially when it was coming towards her direction. Fear punched her hard in the chest that she fell back again. She couldn't describe the fear that she felt after she saw the giant serpent. Her knees and hands were shaking uncontrollably as cold sweat started forming on her forehead and above her mouth. Méah's mind abruptly stopped working that she couldn't move a muscle but her sense of hearing was actively monit
Méah woke up from the forest's melody–the birds singing happily and the soft, calm and soothing rustle of the leaves from the towering trees outside the cave. The first thing that she saw the moment she opened her eyes were the dark walls of the cave which the wild vines crawled and hanged its stems on. The smell of earth and the morning breeze seeped through her airways seeped silently. When Méah turned to the cave's entrance, her hand automatically covered her eyes due to sensitivity to the light bursting into the cave. Unintentionally, her vision was brought to the opposite wall of the cave, which man's figure was lying. Méah suddenly remembered what happened last night and sent a swift bolt of chills down her spine. With a few flashes of the giant serpent's ferocious image on her mind, her eyes finally focused on the man. The man's position wa
"Bullshit! Get that away from me!" Keir cautiously took a long step back, slamming his back on the cave's wall behind him with his eyes doubled in size. "Do you know how poisonous that snake is?!" Méah was petrified. Not because she's afraid of snakes but because she didn't know it's a lethal one. But she remained holding it still, thinking that if she'd let it go now, it might come back at them the very second it's freed. She spotted a stone near Keir's feet and stepped to pick it up. "What are you doing?" Keir couldn't move a muscle. He's trying to figure out if ever Méah would let the snake bite him. "No! Don't ever fucking do that!" But Méah didn't utter a word, adding more fright on Keir's pulsating chest. She was just looking at the struggling snake which she held tight by the head as h
However, when Méah was about to let go of the branch she's holding, she heard Keir again. Not only his voice but there was also something that made a cracking sound after he screamed in pain. It was like a huge branch of a tree was broken. With this, Méah's nerve ending was awakened. She didn't know how Keir had a huge impact to her that even if she's on the brink of death, he's capable of waking her up. Maybe even after she died, if she would hear him, she might likely to crawl out of her grave. Was it because Méah has sworn to protect him and make up for what she had done to him? Although she couldn't name the strange feeling but it gave her strength and courage to fight. There's just this strong urge which she cling hard into, where she felt like she can't die without paying her sins. Maybe the heavens k
Keir thought this is bad. And the only thing he knew which caused it was Méah. She's nothing but a walking disaster causing troubles wherever she goes and whoever she's near to. This have to stop! "J-just...stay away from me and leave me alone," Keir said weakly as he's starting to feel his eyelids getting heavy. He knew how ungrateful he is but he couldn't find the exact words about what he should say to her in response. If this was in a different situation, he would've yelled at her like he always did, especially her dumbness on asking if he's alright when in fact he's obviously not! Keir had never seen such stupidity in disguise of consistency. With wounds all over her body, bathed in blood and looked like she would be easily blown away with just a a single flick. Her eyes were still lookingHe knew she's suffe
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