AC: I want to thank my Beta-reader for proof-reading this chapter and all the previous ones I forgot to mention.

Chapter 146: The Final Battle Part 8

Bahrakatan's four blue eyes watched the battlefield. He knew the end was coming soon as his tribe couldn't fight much longer. He watched a few of his enemies on the ground. The humans restrained a few of them with the best material they had, which might not be efficient when they regained consciousness.

The Coralsmith, despite being someone who would rather be on his own, felt weight on his heart. He knew his tribe was in the wrong. He knew the attack on the Cothica was a great sin. He knew it was all because he built the portal.

Still, he would make things right. Remi made him realize that his tribe still had a chance. They had a guide just like the other tribes.

He saw Gal'drad fall from the sky with Neth'uar. He quickly went and caught the creature before he touched the ground, "Gal'drad! Are you alright?"

The creature sighed as he gazed at the Kha'rall, "Yeah. I won… but I have to stay conscious. Got to protect the kids and the M'arrilians who can't fight." He sat down.

Bahrakatan sighed as he rolled his eyes for a few seconds. He made sure the other M'arrillian was alright. "Yes. Stay here. I'll handle the rest. I'll also handle the other tribes if they are a little bloodthirsty."

"Thanks."

"I will correct my mistakes soon. Then, I will face my judgment." the creature charged forward.

The green Chieftain nodded as he took cover and waited for the battle to end.

Chaor watched the carnage as the cover of the M'arrillians crumbled. He saw many of them escaping at the last second. The Kha'ralls were too slow and were stuck under the structure. He grinned as the battle was coming to an end. He used his best fire attack that wouldn't leave him vulnerable and torched a few of them. He could see the morale of the M'arrillians dropping by the second. He knew it was almost over.

They would break down and would surrender soon.

Smoke rose from the collapsing building and they couldn't see anything behind the large black smoke.

Chaor stopped the attack and waited for them to show up from the smoke.

The assault ended on the four fronts and the creatures waited. They were ready to continue the fight if the M'arrillians didn't surrender.

Once the smoke settled, the M'arrillians were demoralized. They were almost ready to drop on their knees. Their dreams and hopes of victory and avenging their fallen leader Aa'une, crumbled like the building they took cover in.

They looked tired and beaten up.

Theb-Saar watched them and couldn't help, but pity them. He knew his thoughts were insulting to the creatures. Their state couldn't stop him from thinking that, "Enough of this M'arrillians! It's time to surrender!"

George Major said, "If you surrender, you are under the authority of the humans in the matter!"

Bahrakatan quickly went forward, just in case his tribe might try something out of desperation, "The time has come to end this war! I know I am but a traitor to you, but you have reached your limits. You fought hard for what you believed in and…" he had no idea what to say.

Gal'drad painfully joined him, "And our tribe has nothing else. This is why you are here and fighting in this painful war. We cannot keep going on this way!"

None of the M'arrillians had the strength to talk back.

Bahrakatan quietly coughed as he put his hand on his side, "When this is over, you will know if Aa'une's belief is right or wrong. If you lose in the Cothica, you know what it meant."

He got no answer.

Gal'drad went on, "It doesn't matter what it means. For now, the battle is over," he put his hand on his chestplate, "I promise that I will do everything to protect your families who are here. They didn't fight. They were caught up in this war. They didn't do anything wrong," he glanced at the other leaders present who nodded at him.

George heard something in his headset and nodded, "And it is forbidden to attack any prisoners or hurt them. My superior told me that," he looked at the leader of the other tribes.

Chaor grumbled as he got a no a second time, but agreed with a nod.

Bahrakatan added one last thing, "Besides, those who think we are forsaken by the Cothica and think this is the only way to connect to this sacred land," he ignored a few humans grumbling that this is the Earth and not the Cothica. He noticed a few of the M'arrillians taken aback by that and whispered to each other. He guessed that some of them thought about that like him. He felt lucky he was the one who found Remi, "We aren't forsaken by the Cothica. We also have a guide here. I met a boy during the attack. Just like the other tribes, we have a guide," he let out a small smile. He raised his head, so the creatures could see a bit of his smile, "We are not forsaken."

Tom and Sarah hid inside of another abandoned house. They watched the battle between the two creatures. Wind and water attacks were sent in the air and towards the grounds.

Gathup jumped to the side when one came near him. He rolled on the ground and jumped again when another one came at him. He raised his head at the creature who flew in the air. "I have to take him down somehow," he charged forward. He prepared to strike with everything he could. He focused his wind power. He knew his chance to hit was low, but he would get his chance to catch the other creature. He jumped in the air to dodge an energy attack with success. He then used a tornado tackle at Milla'iin.

The yellow creature was hit by the tornado and fell on the ground as the pain was too much. He landed on his back. He didn't lose a second to fly away when the other creature came down at him. He decided to ignore the creature and find the two humans.

He avoided a few attacks from the Mipedian, but was too far away for the creature to hit him. He searched for any traces of the humans. The streets were too hard to find any footprints and those he found on the dirt and grass were too numerous to be distinguished from one another.

He grumbled and decided to use his instinct to find those two. A quick guess told him that they were in one of the houses near the place he fought. Too little time to run away. There were only three buildings where they could hide and they were small. He went to the firm one and tore down the door.

The two humans yelped, taken aback when he suddenly showed up.

"Looks like luck was by my side," he chuckled as he grabbed the boy with his tendril. He missed the girl who tried to jump at him. He decided to only keep the boy and flew away, (I won't really let you go free girl. You won't be able to hide for long anyway.)

Sarah cursed the creature, "Damn you!" She dropped on her knee.

Gathup came, "Are you okay?"

"He got Tom!" She replied as tears fell from her faces.

The orange creature nodded, "I know. He is surely returning to the battlefield. Maxxor! Milla'iin got Tom and he is coming back!" He nodded at the reply and let out a small smile.

"What is it?"

"The M'arrillians aren't in their best shape right now. Even if they got Tom, they might not be willing to keep fighting. They are down and it seems like they might be willing to surrender. Milla'iin might be the last one who might keep on fighting."

"He still got Tom. Maybe they will fight back!" she protested.

"We can only hope it won't be the case. I'll get you out of here. Don't worry," he let out a small confident smile, "We will save him. I might have failed, but they won't."

The girl nodded. She did notice that the smile was a bit fake. It was only to cheer her up. She didn't call him out on it, "I can't blame you. You were alone against him and could quickly fly away from you."

"Anyway, we should get you to safety."

Sarah nodded, "Yeah. I need to leave." She wanted to stay, but it would only cause more problems for her friends.

She followed him, a bit reluctantly.

Rath'tab painfully grunted as he fell on the ground and panted. He was hit a bit too many times and could barely keep himself together. He tried to retreat and to escape, but lost his opportunity. He took a deep breath and looked at the Mipedians who surrounded him.

He reached his limits. His mind told him he couldn't win. Still, he refused to fall down. It would be an insult to Aa'une to surrender against the other tribes.

They were an inferior tribe. The Mipedians couldn't defeat him. He stood up and floated in the air with the bit of strength he had left. He glared at them, "For Aa'une!"

He summoned his water attack and sent it at them by surprise.

Three of them were hit by the attack and fell on the ground.

The last one approached the other creature and used a flash kick on the chest. The attack broke the coral breastplate and the M'arrillian fell on the ground.

Rath'tab coughed a few times as he tried to stand up. He put his hand on his chest as his vision began to get blurry. He had trouble keeping his form. He slipped on his hand.

"Surrender Rath'tab. You cannot fight any longer," one of the Mipedians said. He couldn't see well their faces to pick them up apart.

"N-never," he prepared another attack against the creature, "Aa'une… Aa'une's dream-"

He was hit on the head. Rath'tab melted on the ground as life came out of him. The four Mipedians watched the corpse of the creature. They gazed at each other and went towards the direction the humans ran away.

Milla'iin immediately felt that Rath'tab perished when their mental connection was cut. He mentally grunted. It happened so many times already during this battle. He heard his tribe in pain and fear. He clenched his tendrils, but made sure not to be too rough on Tom. He had his hostage and could turn things again. He wouldn't drop his guard this time. He also made sure that headgear on the boy's head was destroyed.

Then, he felt the fighting spirits of his tribe drop. He heard their desperate thoughts. He heard their doubts and questions. He knew he had to hurry, as the battle might turn back for his tribe.

Once he reached it, it was worse than he thought. They were defeated and some of them were already restrained by the creatures and humans. He held Tom near his chest, as he tried to formulate a plan to save them. He had to turn things again to his favor.

"Milla'iin. You have to stop this. It's over. You lost," the teenager told him.

The M'arrillian glared at the boy, "It is not over! We will succeed in our mission to conquer Perim! It is our destiny!" he couldn't accept the doubt that crawled into his mind. The doubt that it was true.

Tom gulped, but managed to counter, "If you lose, then it isn't your destiny. Because you won't have another chance."

Milla'iin froze for a second, before he pulled the boy near his face, "It won't happen. Stop spewing your poisonous words into my mind Tom!"

He managed to keep his mouth shut to reply something about his declaration. He knew that his reaction wouldn't be that big if he didn't have doubt already, "Fine."

The Chieftain was relieved the human shut up. He couldn't endure more of his words into his mind. He calmed his heart as he watched the enemies below. He then declared into their mind, (Liberate everyone or I will execute Major Tom!)

Everyone turned their attention to Milla'iin. It took a few seconds for them to find him, but it was easier as he lightly descended and made himself known.

AC: This is the end of this story.

Next: Will.

Milla'iin began negotiation for Tom, however, the M'arrillains' will to fight seemed to cause trouble in the negotiation.