Silence and dread permeated the air. A reddish black smoke rose from the air to the
darkened sky, and everyone's view was on it. Elena paused her strike on Slovic to look up at the
sky. Calhoun was already facing the encounter with a deep scowl on his face.
"What is going on here?" the shrill voice questioned. "Why am I seeing more people than
expected?"
The smoky cloud surrounding the voice's owner dissipated to reveal Firoza in a black
armour gown, her flowing black hair kept loose. She looked around the battlefield with an evil
smile, beaming at the soldiers.
"Not what I had been expecting." Slowly, she made her descent to the ground, several
feet from where Elena, Calhoun, and Slovic were. The latter, who was almost unconscious, but
was still smiling, called out in a frail voice.
"Niece, you are finally around. What took you so long?"
Firoza turned around to face him and smiled once she saw Calhoun.
"Calhoun!" she called out, her expression changing immediately from evil to innocence.
"I want to apologize to you about how we left things the last time. You see, you misunderstood
me." She slowly began making her way towards him.
"Stay back!" Calhoun commanded, stretching out his sword. "I'd advise you to do that. I
won't warn you a second time."
Firoza paused, her face scrunched up in confusion. "But why? I simply want to talk to
you."
"Say whatever you wish to say right where you stand," Calhoun said. Firoza huffed but
listened.
"You see, I didn't mean to hurt your parents. I wanted to get to know them better, but they
were out to destroy our relationship. I couldn't let that happen, so I simply taught them a lesson."
"Yeah, by feasting on them." Calhoun retorted sarcastically.
"See?" Firoza grinned widely. "You get me."
"How are you still alive, Firoza? I hacked you to death."
"Well you see, I can't be killed."
"That's impossible." Calhoun called out. "I am not that stupid."
"Well, okay, you're right." Firoza answered, laughing. "I can be killed, but only if you
are as strong as me. Which currently is impossible as I have taken care of our supreme being."
She smiled maliciously. "His powers belong to me now."
Elena gulped. If what Firoza said was true, the upcoming battle would be more brutal.
Firoza turned around, spreading her arms wide.
"I expected to see only the blood warriors. All the signs sent to you were so that only you
all could come here. Now how am I supposed to make my announcement."
Calhoun looked on unruffled while a small ball of dread slowly began to form in Elena's
belly.
"There is only one way to stop the ongoing wars." Firoza said, grinning widely.
"And that is?" Calhoun pressed when she didn't continue after a while.
"Marry me." She deadpanned. The silence in the field turned even eerier, with a bit of
awkwardness added.
"What's that?" Firoza queried. "What's this feeling I'm getting? It's a reasonable request."
"Well, you are bound to be disappointed, because I already have my queen. And even if I
didn't, I still wouldn't get married to you."
Firoza's face slowly turned to a scowl. "Who is she? Who is the lady you got married to?"
Elena slowly walked out boldly, staring intensely at Firoza. "It is I."
Since Firoza had arrived, she had ignored the sight of Elena; not taking her much into
consideration. Elena was the last person she expected to find on the battlefield. So, upon seeing
her enemy, the only female capable of winning Calhoun's heart, Firoza was furious.
"Elena?" Firoza said, a fake smile lining her lips. "How are you here?"
"I take it I am the last person you expected to see." Elena said.
"Of course! At a war no less."
"Well, I'll have you know that I am doing perfectly fine. You can look towards your
uncle for confirmation." She said, pointing towards Slovic. Firoza looked at her uncle's way,
taking in his haggard appearance. She looked directly at Calhoun, totally ignoring Elena.
"I'll accept this as payback for the way I treated your parents. Now we are even. Let's go
back to our discussion. I don't care if you are married. That can easily be fixed."
Pissed, Elena shouted. "Didn't you hear him the first time? He isn't interested in your
request."
"You should not speak when powerful people engage in a conversation. You are but a
weak girl with a sorry excuse for power." Elena was flung to where Slovic lay with a quick snap
of her fingers. The force was much more potent than the one Slovic had used on her earlier, so
the damage to her body was far more significant. She started coughing out blood caused by her
ruptured organs, finding it hard to breathe.
Enraged, Calhoun's sword lit up in blood flames, and with an angry shout, he charged
towards Firoza. He began to attack her from all angles while she merely dodged, deflecting his
attacks.
"You cannot touch me, Calhoun," she laughed loudly. "I do not wish to hurt you."
Furious, Calhoun put more force into his attack. What kind of husband would he be if he
couldn't defend his wife and kingdom? He had people that relied on him. That was the
responsibility that came with his power. He couldn't fail them now. He sliced and hacked at
Firoza, but she lazily dodged all his attacks. Calhoun aimed for her heart and struck with one
final blow, but it was like he had hit an iron armour. His sword didn't even pass through her
cloth.
"See?" Firoza said, beaming. "It's impossible. Calhoun hated to admit it. Few things
shocked him, and what had just taken place had to top them all. It was that same sword of his
that he used to hack at her months ago, causing her to faint in a bloodied mess. How his sword-
which was powerful to cut down supernatural beings-didn't work on her startled him. For the
first time in his life, Calhoun started feeling a slow burn of dread inside him.
"Do yourself and your people a favour and get married to me. You would not want to see
the death of so many of your people will you?"
Calhoun began thinking fast. The last thing he wanted was to marry Firoza, and he would
rather slit his throat than go through that. He would never betray his wife at the cost of his
people.
"I refuse your offer Firoza, and I would continue to do so even unto death." Firoza's face
slowly became blank, devoid of any emotion.
"Very well. You have made your choice. Uncle, with me." With another snap of her
fingers, Elena and Calhoun watched as Slovic slowly rose to his feet; all the injuries he had
gotten from his previous fight began to close up. He stood up straighter and bolder, like he wasn't
lying in the pool of his blood, death knocking at his door just a few minutes ago. Firoza then
slowly began to rise in the air. Spreading her arms wide, she boomed out in a prominent voice.
"I would show you my true power, and you would realize that it was a mistake to refuse
my offer." She lazily waved her hand, and about a third of the blood warriors flew to the air,
landing heavily on the ground. The action caused a massive cloud of smoke to go up in the air,
surrounding the warriors on the floor. Calhoun wasn't sure if all of his men would be able to
survive the impact.
Wazir watched all these from where he stood, not so far from the spectacle. Ever since he
saw Elena engaged in a battle with Slovic, his sole focus had been to get to her and aid her. Then
the strange woman appeared. Something about her caused his blood to ice and his skin to itch.
His danger alarm was off, ringing loudly in his head. She was the one meant to bring about the
world's end, the one his niece had to defeat.
Things were far much worse than he had imagined.
His niece was a strong fighter. Despite the war surrounding them, he had to acknowledge
that she had become far more potent with a sword than even he could comprehend. She would be
able to defeat him in a blink of an eye if she put her mind to it. But at that moment, she could
barely stand up from where she was flung away. He had to help her; he had to do something. His
brother-in-law was bold enough to refuse her offer, despite knowing that it would be good for
them all and far more straightforward for him. Wazir's determined look skimmed from him
proved that he would rather die than betray his wife.
If Wazir hadn't respected the blood king before, he respected him wholeheartedly now.
That was why he had to help. But he was frustrated because there was nothing he could
do. If even Calhoun, a whole blood king, found it hard to defeat the strange woman, how could
he?
He looked at his niece, who was still on the ground, trying to get up. He didn't know
when his feet started moving in her direction, but he was stopped by a blinding light that
overtook his vision.
"Son of sight, the time has come to play your part." A loud female voice called out.
Unlike the other times where he had always pushed and prodded to see the female, he remained
quiet, waiting to receive her instruction. This was no time for idle banter.
"Along with the power of the seer, you have been blessed with the power to protect.
Using the same method as you once used to defeat the Allikans, use the key ingredients to set up
a barrier against everyone. The final battle is about to begin."
Wazir had many questions, but he chose to remain firm, leaving them all in the hands of
fate.
"Thank you." He said, then was immediately released from her trance.
"Are you okay?" a deep voice called from behind him. Darukï looked concerned when he
saw Wazir's face as he turned to face him.
"I just had another vision. I would need your help."
Elena didn't know why her power which had been helping her before, was beginning to
fail her now. The battlefield had plunged into a total case of chaos, with the Allikans fighting
alongside their controlled colleagues and the Blood warriors with the kingdom of Neba.
Calhoun was engaged in a beastly fight with Firoza, and it looked like his sword was
coated with flames of blood. Firoza simply beamed, her mouth widening in ecstasy.
Elena had never felt so weak in her life. Why did she think it would have been easy for
her to win the war on earth? She overestimated herself by a lot.
She reached out around her side for her sword. Shen she found it, she held on firmly to its
hilt, then used its balance to lift her upright. She took a deep, steadying breath by each pace she
moved until she could stand firmly on her feet. She then used the power she shared with her
husband to replenish her energy. It was not much, but it was enough to make her not feel dizzy
as she stood on her two feet.
That was when she felt it. A tingling presence behind her back, slowly walking towards
her. She felt the hair at the back of her neck stand, especially once she heard the sound of a
sword drawn. Without waiting to be attacked, Elena quickly pulled on her sword, and with a
perfect flair of her arm, she stabbed her attacker. She heard the grunt, followed by the thud of the
body she had just killed.
She turned back to look at who her attacker had been, and immediately, a look of horror
passed her face as she looked into her father's dazed, glassy eyes.