North Kingdom's Fate

North Kingdom

Blanche placed the white cloth back on the mirror. Walking back to the courtroom, she bumped into the second Holy Knight.

"If we could find a High-Saint ranked half-blood, we can make her come back in an instant."

The Empress looked at the knight. She noticed the sweat on his forehead and his unsteady eyes. If she were a soldier, she might also be nervous facing a war where one soldier equals to six from the opponent. If they had more Holy Knights, there could be a chance for them to win somehow. But only seven were left, and the one they look up to is nowhere yet to be found.

"I know where to find one. But we are still uncertain whether she is willing to fight for us or not. It's for her to decide." She looked straight at the opening doors. All of the soldiers that she passes by bow down to her even more lowly since she was just near the height of their shoulders.

"We need her." Tapping on the huge round table, the elders did not wait for the empress to greet them nor did they greet her back. "When is she coming back? The last war with the demons was enough to secure her position here but you let her go."

Blanche walked straight to the lonely chair on top of the stairs. Nobody smiled. No one had the guts to smile. "You are all worried as well, this Empress knows. With your permission, I could ask for the help of a prisoner to get her-"

"Prisoner? Your Majesty! If you're thinking of borrowing the techniques of those…those lowlives, remember that we almost lost thousands of women due to their ambitions!"

"I beg Your Majesty to think this thoroughly. It might not end well if we will strike a bargain again this time around." Elder Arod pleaded.

Only the six Holy Knights seated at the sides kept quiet. How are they going to contact her? Will the Holy One take their side?

Bang! A servant was sent flying through the door. The biggest Holy Knight quickly leaped on the table and caught the small servant girl.

"Two! Is she alright? Who did this? Where are the guards?!" A slim knight wearing eyeglasses yelled the question to the door guards. They shook both their hands and heads saying there was no one in the hallway.

Two, the bulky Holy Knight holding the servant girl, looked at Three. "She's breathing fine, but she is unconscious." He tried to look at the nape of her neck. There was a thick red line on her skin. "Someone knocked her out from behind."

Three adjusted his glasses. He is twenty-seven years old and the youngest among them in the ranks of Holy Knights. He also served as the Holy One's companion in making plans for the army and war tactics.

As they all hurried to help the maidservant, the room went dark. Huge shadows passed by the sky blocking the sun. Everyone in the North Kingdom stopped what they are doing. Some held their breaths. Some showed awe. And still, some felt a chill crawl on their spine. Some 'things' arrived in the North Kingdom that day. The day of the 'New Dawn' for the North Kingdom arrived.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fairkeep Forest

"It was that Grand Witch's fault for slaying all those demons including my father. I still had plans, but she just had to deliberately destroy it." The upper half of his face had skin peeled off. Both of his eyeballs were exposed and there were nerves sticking out from his temples. His right arm and right leg were also devoid of any skin, evidence that he went through a rough battle.

Two people lay on the forest floor, heavily breathing and nude. The woman has huge curves all over and a slender waist, emerald green eyes, and milky skin. She was the ultimate doll. But the way she was being treated doesn't seem like she was being cherished as a doll. Her ivory black hair spread loosely on the grass as she weakly turned over to the side trying to grab onto anything to pull herself out of the man's grasp.

"F**k off," she hissed through her teeth. There was fog covering her eyes and dried trails of tears stained her cheeks. She kicked with all her might, forgetting the ache that surged up between her legs. Blots of blood below show what the man just did to her. And the bruises all over her body prove that she struggled hard under him.

"I already did…with you." There was a disgusted smirk on his face. Grabbing her leg, the purple-haired man pulled her up as if she were weightless in his hold. He did not falter in his steps as she screamed wildly and writhe. Soon, her cleanly polished fingernails were full of dirt and blood as she clawed through the ground creating a trace of scratch marks on the ground.

He threw her body to the brook. Hearing her gasps and shouts, he followed her to the brook and pulled her hair, her back facing him. He smiled when he heard another cry of help escaped her lips. "You shouldn't have tried to poison me, stupid witch. Now, both of us have our life forces sealed."

When she heard his words, terror appeared on her eyes as she remembered how she poured a bag of poison on Darion after the explosion. She tried to scratch his hands with her fingernails. "You are the mainland's curse, not her! Get off of me!" Tori screeched. When a fingernail got stuck on his skin, she pulled it back to her with full force.

"Ahhh!" She looked at her hand. Fresh blood dripped on the brook. The fingernail was not there anymore. She looked at her back, Darion wore a mocking smile. She did not feel like looking at a kingdom's emperor. And even though she is a child of darkness, she can see something even darker within his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

South Kingdom Imperial Palace

All eyes around the meeting room were directed at her. She could feel a headache coming. When they were all called for an emergency meeting that day, the first thing that they asked was for someone to lead the kingdom. Since the empress had been imprisoned by the emperor most of the time, she does not know how to run the kingdom and more importantly how to stop the war with the North.

"Time is running out. General Rua is on his way to the North Kingdom with twenty Holy Knights, an army of a hundred thousand half-bloods, and five hundred thousand soldiers. You have to help us stop this since you are the only link we can find to the North Kingdom." Elder Evin straightened his sleeves.

Every face she looked at inside the room have the same hopeful expression. Yllana then glanced at the side. Lucien was there. He just tilted his head to the side.

"We have to find something faster than horses. The army are just a few days away before reaching the borders of the north. Do you have anything that can outrun a horse?" she asked.

One of the elders raised a hand. "Maybe…the floating isles have something we can borrow for the meantime?"

Creak.

The door slowly opened without anyone noticing except Lucien. He peered at the brown bun of hair peeking inside. He wasn't familiar with that hair. It doesn't even look like it belongs to the South Kingdom. When the face of that 'bun' appeared, Yllana also noticed it.

"Fourteen?"

"Yllana," tears and wails welcomed Yllana as she called on the young woman. She was still clad in patched leaves as usual, but she also has her face smudged with blood. When realization struck Larika, she moved forward.

"Where are your other soldiers?"

Fourteen shook her head. She was biting her lip trying hard not to make another sound. Her shaking shoulders tell them that she had been through a lot.

"Elder Iba? The Floating Isles?"

Again, she shook her head while looking down at the floor. "One told me to save them," she looked outside the window. When all of them looked outside, a group of a hundred or so people dressed in different shades of green leaves was huddled in the middle of the palace grounds wiping the blood off their faces. Midel and Larika recognized the faces of those isle people.

Something inside Larika boiled up. She clenched her fists. She remembered the beauty of the floating isles for the first time when they went there. Even that place did not escape the wrath of the emperor. He must be stopped. He knows no mercy. No exceptions.

"How about your pets?"

Midel held his chin while wrinkling his forehead. Lucien and Larika cast a look at him and smiled. When Fourteen answered that she managed to save three of them, they all smiled.

Yllana walked to the window and pointed at the direction of the North Kingdom. "Gather them on that gate. We'll be leaving soon."