Chapter 182 Chapter 182: I am saying goodbye.

Chapter 182 Chapter 182: I am saying goodbye.
~ Kingdom of Grok~

The war council met in the throne room an hour later.

Every noble and general still in the capital stood around the table. Maps of Grok and the surrounding kingdoms were spread out before them.

Liam stood at the head of the table. His face was pale from pain but his voice came out strong.

"In three days, King Alaric of Belgravia will attack us with an army of five thousand corrupted Darklings and human soldiers," Liam said. "We have four thousand soldiers. We're outnumbered and our land has been poisoned."

The nobles looked at each other with fear.

"How do we fight corrupted Darklings?" one general asked. "Normal weapons barely hurt them."

"Fireworks," Duke Vincx said. He stood beside Liam. "And cedars. And divine power. The World Tree can purge corruption but he can't fight five thousand at once."

"We need more soldiers," another general said. They didn't question Liam or ask him how he found out about this.

"My wife has sent messages to Voss asking for help," Liam said. Raven at this point entered the hall.

"King Theodore knows about Darkling attacks. He might send troops."

"How long will that take?" Another general asked.

"At least a week," Raven answered. "Maybe more."

"We don't have a week," Liam said. "We have three days."

"Then we fortify the capital," the oldest general suggested. "Pull all our soldiers here. Prepare defenses. Make them fight for every inch of ground."

"That's our only option," Liam agreed. "Send riders to every border post. Every garrison. Every outpost. I want every soldier back here in two days."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The generals rushed out to send orders.

Liam looked at the remaining nobles. "Start evacuating civilians from the outer districts. Get them to the inner city where walls are stronger. Stockpile food and water. Prepare the hospitals for the wounded."

The nobles bowed and left.

Soon only Liam, Raven, Vincx, and Amadeus remained.

"Will it be enough?" Liam asked quietly.

"No," Amadeus said honestly. "But that's all we can do."

Three days passed in a blur of preparation.

Soldiers came back from the borders. Four thousand men gathered in the capital.

Civilians were moved to safer areas. Children and the elderly were hidden in underground shelters.

Weapons were sharpened. Fire arrows were made by the thousands.

Raven worked in the hospital. She taught other physicians how to treat Darkling corruption.

How to recognize the signs. How to save those who could be saved.

Amadeus walked through the dying fields. He poured his divine power into the soil. Trying to heal what Dorian had poisoned.

But there was too much damage. He could only do a little bit at a time.

Liam stood on the palace walls and watched his kingdom prepare for war.

On the third day, the enemy arrived.

They came at dawn.

A black mass on the horizon. Thousands of corrupted Darklings started marching toward the capital.

Their eyes glowed red in the dim light. Their weapons dripped with black blood.

Behind them were King Alaric's human soldiers. Three hundred men with the same red glow in their eyes.

And in the center, riding a black possessed horse, was Dorian.

"Archers ready!" the general called.

Thousands of arrows were notched. Waiting for command.

The Darkling army stopped just outside arrow range.

Dorian rode forward alone. He stopped in the middle of the field between the two armies.

"King Liam!" he called out. His voice carried across the field. "Come talk with your old friend! I know you didn't have enough time to prepare but I want to be kind for old times sake. Let's negotiate.”

"Don't go," Raven said. "It's a trap."

"Probably," Liam agreed. "But I need to hear what he has to say."

He walked out of the gate. Alone. His wound still hurt but he hid the pain.

He stopped ten feet from Dorian.

"Hello, old friend," Dorian smiled. "Miss me?"

"What do you want?" Liam asked coldly.

"I want you to surrender," Dorian said simply. "Give up now. Let us take the kingdom without a fight. I'll let most of your people live."

"Most?"

"Well, I'll need to kill you and that wife of yours. And definitely Amadeus. But the rest can live as slaves under King Alaric's rule."

"No," Liam said.

"No?" Dorian looked amused. "You're outnumbered. Your land is dying. Your people are weak and sick. You can't win."

"Maybe not," Liam said. "But we'll die fighting before we surrender to you."

Dorian's smile faded. "So be it. I'll enjoy watching you fall."

He turned his horse around and rode back to his army.

Liam walked back to his walls.

"What did he say?" Raven asked.

"He wants us to surrender."

"And you said?"

"No."

Raven nodded. "Good."

The battle began an hour later.

The Darkling army charged forward with a roar that shook the ground.

"Fire!" the general shouted.

Thousands of arrows flew through the air. Many hit their targets. Darklings fell screaming.

But more kept coming.

They reached the walls and started climbing.

Soldiers on the walls fought them back. Pushing them down. Stabbing them with spears with the tips of cedar.

But the Darklings were strong. They climbed faster than normal humans. They didn't feel pain.

Some made it over the walls.

Fighting started in the streets.

Soldiers fought Darklings hand-to-hand. Swords against claws. Shields against teeth.

Blood ran in the gutters. Both red human blood and black Darkling blood.

Amadeus appeared in the thick of the fighting. His divine power blazed like the sun.

Every Darkling he touched dissolved into ash.

For every one he killed, three more took their place.

The battle lasted all day.

By nightfall, the Darklings pulled back. They returned to their camp to rest.

Grok's soldiers collapsed where they stood. Exhausted. Wounded and terrified.

"How many did we lose?" Liam asked.

"Two hundred dead," the general reported. "Five hundred wounded."

"And the enemy?"

"Maybe a thousand Darklings killed. But they still have four thousand left."

Liam's heart sank.

They couldn't keep this up.

The battle continued the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that.

Days turned into weeks.

The Darklings attacked every dawn. Fighting until nightfall. Then, they retreat to rest.

Grok's army fought desperately. Defending every wall. Every street. Every building.

But slowly, steadily, they were being pushed back.

The outer walls fell after two weeks.

The Darklings poured into the outer districts. Killing anyone who couldn't escape.

Civilians who didn't run underground fled to the inner city. Crowding into every available space.

Food began to run low as well as water. Medicine ran out completely.

Raven worked day and night in the hospitals. Healing whoever she could. Watching too many die.

Amadeus fought on the front lines. His power is growing weaker every day. He had used too much divine energy when he wasn't fully recovered.

After three weeks, reinforcements arrived from Voss.

Five hundred fresh soldiers. Well-armed and ready to fight with provisions.

It helped. But it wasn't enough.

The Darklings still outnumbered them.

The second wall fell after a month of fighting.

Now the fighting was in the inner city itself. In the streets where civilians hid. Where children cowered in basements.

The number of death climbed higher every day.

Two thousand of Grok's soldiers were dead.

Another thousand were too wounded to fight.

They only had fifteen hundred soldiers left who could still hold a sword.

"We can't win," the general said one night. "We've been fighting for a month. We're losing."

"We keep fighting," Liam said. His wound had reopened twice. He could barely stand. But he refused to give up. "We fight until there's no one left to fight."

That night, Amadeus came to find Raven.

She was in the hospital. Covered in blood. Exhausted beyond measure.

"Master," Amadeus said quietly. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"There's a way to end this war," he said. "A way to destroy all the corrupted Darklings at once."

"How?"

"I can sacrifice my divine power," Amadeus said. "Release it all at once. It will destroy every corrupted being within miles. Including Dorian and Alaric."

Raven's eyes went wide. "No. That would kill you right?”

"Yes."

"No!" Raven stood up. "I won't let you. There has to be another way!"

"There isn't," Amadeus said gently. "We've been fighting for a month. We're losing. Every day more people die. I can end it. I can save everyone who's left."

"By dying?" Tears ran down Raven's face.

"By choosing," Amadeus said. "This is my choice, Master. Let me make it."

Annie appeared from another room. She had been rescued two weeks into the war. She looked thin and malnourished but alive.

"Don't do this," Annie begged. "Please."

"I'm sorry," Amadeus said. He looked at her with so much love. "But this is the only way to save everyone."

"I don't care about everyone!" Annie shouted. "I care about you!"

"I know," Amadeus touched her face gently. "And I love you for it. But I can't watch any more children die. If I can stop it, I have to try."

He looked back at Raven. "Do I have your permission, Master?"

Raven wanted to say no and forbid him. But she looked around the hospital. At the wounded and dying.

The children were crying for parents who would never come back.

She thought about the city burning outside. About how in a few more days, everyone would be dead anyway.

"Yes," she whispered. "You have my permission."

"Thank you, Master," Amadeus said. "For everything. For being kind when you didn't have to be. For healing people when no one else would. For giving me purpose again."

"Don't talk like you're saying goodbye," Raven sobbed.

"But I am saying goodbye," Amadeus smiled sadly. "Take care of Annie for me. And take care of yourself."

He turned to Annie. "I love you. I've loved you since the first day we met. Remember that. Always remember that I chose this. I chose to save you and everyone else."

Annie couldn't speak. She just cried and nodded.

Amadeus walked out of the clinic into the burning streets.