Chapter 41 — The War

An army of translucent spirits stood with a storm wind, and they were like the color of ice in the distance. Before them was an army of bloodstones, all in red gleaming armor made from red diamond, and in the lead were Vivian, Janice, Hannah, and Dena.

Vivian saw Chadwick standing twelve feet tall behind this ghost army with a host of others a few feet taller than him. They looked like men, but from here, she could see they had no eyes, no soul, no spirits. Surely, these were the Red Haux, and they made a perfect match for beings made from stones, she thought. Now, to make the first order. She just hoped Susan made it in time for mother was watching.

No, mother couldn’t make it to this party. The throne required that she stayed on it. Leaving was definitely the last resort. But there was Susan, so there was no need for that.

Flashes of lightning lit the dark clouds above both armies, and they simply waited for which army would make the first charge.

Vivian saw Chadwick raise his right hand, and the army of spirits came charging fast with the devastating storm. Vivian in turn responded.

“Archers!” Vivian roared. “Fire.”

Gleaming arrows of diamond were let loose, and like stars, they glittered in the darkness above. They rushed down on the enemies like rain, and ghosts fell to their end. More spirits charged forward, Vivian froze time.

It was easy for the bloodstone army picking out immobile targets, and the storm halted in time. Vivian noted Chadwick moved even in this phase, and she nodded. “He now has our speed.” And so did the Red Haux.

The bloodstones dispersed the phantoms with their arrows without any coming close, and so had they stopped the storm. Vivian unfroze time, and as the hands of the clock made to move, time froze again, but it wasn’t Vivian who had stopped it.

Chadwick walked forward with the host with him, and Vivian knew these would be the real challenge.

The fight was about to begin, and the great power of the blood sea was about to be tested. The darkness grew dense, but just then, the entire dark clouds turned red, and Susan appeared before the bloodstones.

Susan was in a white gown when she appeared, and even at her presence, the army before her didn’t stop, their speed increased.

Having been feeding the blood sea all this time, and wielding its full power, to her, she was alone. The bloodstones needed her to be certain of victory. But what if she fell here today? It would most certainly be the end of her race. Unless the Queen left her throne.

Speed here won’t matter. These beings could move like her. Or so she thought.

Twenty feet away, a sparkling red diamond graced Susan’s body, and so did two gleaming broad red swords. She ran forward with the speed of light, her sisters and friends followed behind, and so did the rest of the bloodstones.

Susan clashed with a Red Haux, the rest smashed into her army and she took on heavy losses. No matter, her mother could bring them back, but first, how to kill these beings?

Chadwick was nowhere to be found, and it was either he was so fast, Susan couldn’t see him, or he was deliberately avoiding her. Either way, this fifteen-foot monster before her had to go down, and she was beginning to get desperate.

Each swing and slash was met, creating fire sparks that hung in mid-air, waiting for time to unfreeze. No one was breathing. No, they didn’t need air to survive. Wits were enough.

There were no clashes or roars since time stopped, and biting the dust within that second that these beings refused to move were thousands of bloodstones. No Red Haux had fallen, and where was Chadwick? Well, she was obviously distracted with this monster before her, so how could she attain victory? Besides, Eleanor warned her. Eleanor said these beings weren’t to be trifled with, as they were so powerful. But so was she, and thankfully, Eleanor was a thief.

“Eleanor!” Susan called.

Time unfroze.

A force moved all the Red Haux back, lightning scattered around them, and tore through their skin. They tried to charge forward, but Susan willfully drove them back with a full rush of lightning from the sky.

Blood was trickling down Vivian’s and Janice’s eyes by now as their eyes were blood red, the bloodstones were tired, and Susan had only just begun to think.

She saw Chadwick trying to make it through the sea of lightning, but it only drove him back.

Susan turned to her sisters who stood together. “Take them back,” she said. “I can’t win worrying about them.” But it was her sisters she was concerned about. Not the bloodstones.

“We should help,” Vivian insisted. “We can help.”

Susan shook her head. “You can’t help. It’s me they want. Go. I’ll take care of them. I have a suitable environment. It would be fine.”

Vivian nodded, and that instance, lightning picked up both living and dead bloodstones, and they all left.

Susan seeing she was now alone with these lot released them from the temporal storm of lightning she had created.

“It’s me you want,” Susan said. “It’s me you’ll have.”

“Correction,” Chadwick, a dashing muscular man with white hair stepped forward, saying, “we came to end your kind.”

“I know.” Susan stared into those eyes of darkness with a cold look. “I know how you survived,” she said.

Chadwick looked a bit surprised.

“I won’t be repeating that process,” she added.

“I can’t die,” Chadwick said.

“So I used to think. I’ve met powers that could change your perspective of life. Clearly, you haven’t faced off with some of them. I’ll try to be one you’ll briefly live to remember.”

Chadwick looked up to the blood clouds, and back to Susan. “Now what? You’ve made the environment suitable to your taste. Last time, you killed me in one so favorable. You think this will help,” he said pointing to the clouds. “I’m with the Red Haux.”

“I know. They’ll die here too.” Susan’s eyes glowed red, blood trickled from the corners like tears. “Let’s begin.”