Thanks everybody for reading this fic and thanks to those who wrote me such a nice feedback. This is the last chapter from this part of the story. Tell me what you think, if I should continue with the story on earth or not. I wish everybody a merry christmas and a happy new year.
Chapter 30 The last day of the royal family
The night was slowly drawing to a close and some beams from the suns were already peaking over the mountains of Antar. The land was engulfed from a silence, like it knew what was laying ahead of the people in this kingdom. No sound was heard from the many dwellings of the citizen, because they were either in the castle or brought themself to a safe place. A slight breeze was brewing around and the smell of a new day was laying in the air. But nobody in the castle noticed anything of that. They were all to busy with preparing themself for the battle. Many men, more than expected, had agreed to join the soldiers in their fight for their kingdom. They all stood jittery and scared in the former ballroom. Everybody was dressed in their armour or if they hadn´t so much look, something selfmade. The weapons laid all on the sidewall in the room, where the new King and his sister were standing and waited to give them to the people. Their eyes were directed at the front, where two more members of the royal family placed themself. Rath and Marianna were positioned on a provisional podium, both in their armour. They seemed to be calm and collected, like they would be going to a exercise and not an actual war. Yet they were as scared as everybody inwardly. Raths heart was beating furiously in his chest and his hands were sweating like crazy. He went through everything he learned from his father and what he trained yesterday in his head. He wasn´t allowed to make a mistake in this or too much people would die. He watched all the faces in front of him and saw the fear in their eyes. Everybody of this men had left friends and family behind and were ready to fight for them and for their honour. He watched them yesterday and he was impressed of their strength and their will to survive. Rath took suddenly the hand of Marianna without taking his eyes off of the front. She however turned her head in his direction and watched him. Did he feel how scared she was and was trying to calm her down? Or was it the other way around? Slowly she faced the people again. She didn´t know most of them or couldn´t remember ever seeing their faces before. And yet they were here to help her, or rather them. She was grateful for their support and hoped that everything was taking a good ending. She thought about yesterday and the plan she told Larek. He was great and was immediately ready to help her. She threw him out of the army and made him part of the scientist. He was better with his head anyway and she wanted someone there, whom she could trust. It was important that he acted as soon as he noticed that they wouldn´t make it or else they could forget the whole plan. Larek talked with all the people and found out that there was a planet with same living conditions as Antar. He even showed it to her and she was stunned that there were more people than on the whole planet here. They weren´t so advance like they, but enough to survive there. The planet was called earth and their occupants were named humans. Marianna was excited about all the information and could finally skip to her other assignment. Namely finding out what was hiding behind the door in the armoury. And when she laid her eyes on the weapon Mael had told her about, did she have the urge to sit down for a moment. It was huge and looked like a oversize silver crystal. It seemed not so dangerous like she thought, but after she spoke with a few people, which had created that thing, was she amazed about the power it had. Unfortunately they weren´t finished with it and they couldn´t use it in their battle yet. But they promised they would work on it as fast as they could. And if they had luck it would still be useful.
" Alright. It´s time. Everyone who thinks he can´t stand the pressure or isn´t sure about the consequences, can still go", Rath wanted to get it over with finally. The more he waited the more nervous he got.
Nobody made a move or said anything. They were all ready to do what they were here for.
" Fine. Then get the weapons and we´re meeting us outside for the disposition", Rath watched how everybody went to Vilandra and Zan. The both had much to do with giving out the weapons. When he was sure that they had everything in order he turned to Marianna, which was extremely quiet the whole time. " Are you alright?".
Marianna seemed to come out of a trance. Slowly she faced him. " Actually no. But nothing to worry about. I´m just a little nervous".
Rath could understand that. He was the same. As a matter of fact he was scared out of his wits, althrough he was trained for this situation his whole life. He wished his father would be here to guide him. Thank god that Nolak was there yesterday. He had been a great help and a great friend. " Yeah. Me too".
" Damn. What were we thinking? We´re no commanders, we´re still kids", Marianna was close to lose her mind. Her stomach did flip flops and her head was spinning. She couldn´t go out there and fight a battle.
Rath took off his ring, he got from his father, from his middle finger. Then he gripped Mariannas hand and slipped it over her ring finger. He used his powers to adjust it to her size. After that he looked in her eyes, which were slowly filling with tears. " I want you to know that I love you and you made my life a little bit brighter. I can´t imagine a life without you anymore".
Marianna tried to prevent to break out in tears. That was beautiful. But what did the ring mean? Was he just asking her to marry him? " Rath. What are you doing?".
" If we survive this, I want you to be my wife".
Marianna couldn´t contain her tears any longer and they fell freely from her eyes. She saw to the ring on her finger. It was nothing expensive or even remarkable, it was just a plain silver band, but it was the most beautiful gift she ever received and to her it was everything. " Yes".
" Really? That´s great", Rath embraced her tightly. Over her shoulder he could see Zan and Vilandra giving him the thumps up. He smiled at them. He was so glad that she accepted his proposal. It wasn´t just quiet as romantic as expected, but he didn´t plan exactly anything. It was more a on the spur of the moment thing.
Marianna couldn´t quite believe what just happened. One moment she was freaking out and the next she was so excited that she could hug everybody in sight. She was so happy and forgot for a moment why they were here actually. Once more she eyed the ring on her finger and a huge smile appeared on her face.
" Hey. What is taking so long? We´re all waiting. Get your asses in gear and move it", Nolak was standing at the door and watched them all with impatience. They had no time for chit chat. They were facing a war and he didn´t think that Khivar would wait, just because the commanders where in a romantic moment.
Rath and Marianna released each other kinda embarressed. Then they turned their heads in his direction. " Yeah. Yeah. We´re coming", Rath held the hand of his fiance and together they climbed down the podium.
Zan and Vilandra were waiting for them at the entrance. They also were dressed in a armour, althrough Marianna wasn´t so content with the whole Vilandra wants the fight concept. There was even a slight discussion, which of course Vilandra won. She said something like " If we´re going down, then everybody together". That was the end of it and now all four were standing in front of the biggest challenge they had to face in their lifes. But it was decided that they would stand together, no matter what.
" Are you both really sure you want to do that?", Marianna tried for the last time to give them a chance to back out and bring themself into a safer place. After that they couldn´t do that anymore.
" Of course. It´s not just your job to protect the kingdom. It´s ours, too", Vilandra was scared to death and she couldn´t eat something since yestereday. Her heartrate seemed to have doubled and her whole body shook like crazy. But she was ready to fight for her home and the only people she still had in her life.
" That´s what I wanted to say, too", Zan wasn´t as familiar with weapons like Rath, but he knew what he had to do with it and he knew how to handle it. What more was to know? Besides since the sadness was gone he developed a new feeling. Hate combined with rage. And this feeling wanted to be taken to good use.
Nolak rolled his eyes. All this sentimental stuff was robbing his last nerv. They didn´t have much time and they wasted it for such trivial things. " Great. Now after that´s out of the way, we can finally go".
Everybody faced each other and breathed deeply in before they made their way out the door. The closer they got to their destination the more they were scared. Every step was like a step into their deaths. When they finally arrived by the soldiers and the temporary soldiers, the moment of truth had began. Immediately Rath started to get into commander mode and told everybody where he wanted him to be. Nolak stayed with him and helped. Vilandra and Zan waited till they learned which place they were assigned to. Meanwhile Marianna went to Larek to put the first part of the plan into action.
" Are you ready?".
Larek didn´t look so ready actually. Quite the opposite. " Honestly. No. But let´s just get it over with".
Marianna took his hand and gave it a encouraging squeeze. Then she stepped closer to him and didn´t let go of his hand. Larek prepared himself for a moment before he blinked with his eyes. Within seconds they both were gone.
When they finally appeared again, they were standing at the shore. Both a little confused and Marianna a bit nauseous, because she wasn´t used to travel like that. She pressed her hand on her belly and hoped that her stomach would settle soon. Larek noticed that his companion didn´t feel to well and brought her further away from the water. When he discovered a big rock he steered them in the direction of it. After that he sat her on it and placed himself beside her. Softly he rubbed her back while she bent her head down.
" Do you feel like that everytime you shift through space?", Marianna was curious, because if that was the case, she would never do that again.
Larek had to smile when he remembered the first time he shifted. He was just a nine year old boy and everybody had discovered their powers, except for him. He was pretty down and Rath wanted to cheer him up. They played with a hioef (ball) throw and catch. At some point he was distracted, because Vilandra showed Ava how to bewitch a man. The next thing he knew, Rath hollered his name and he turned back, just in time to see the hioef flying directly to him. Scared he closed his eyes and then he felt like he would fly through a tunnel. When he opened his eyes again he was standing a few feets away from the place he original stood. Before he could enjoy his new powers, his stomach catched up with him and he puked his guts out. In front of Vilandra, Ava and a laughing Rath. " It´s just the first few times. After that your body grows accustomed to it. I felt worse than you the first time I shifted. It will pass".
Just as this sentence was finished Marianna lifted her head and breathed deeply in. The nauseou was gone, thankfully. " I think my stomach has finally found its rightful place again".
" Are you feeling better?", Larek didn´t stop his caressing and watched how her cheeks got her rosy colour back.
Marianna nodded her head. Althrough she was scared to shift again. " Yeah. At least for the moment".
Larek quit stroking her back and turned his head to the sea. The water was looking so calm this morning and the moon shining on it made it appear like a big, black hole that would suck everybody into nothing. How could something so harmless look so treatening in the dark? " Are you scared?".
Marianna faced him and then glanced in the same direction. If she was scared? Of course. She was absolutely terrfied actually. " More than ever before".
" Then why are you still here and not somewhere safe?".
" Because my father told me that you can´t run away from your responsibility and you have to fight for what you believe in. And I believe in this people, which were so kind to take me in and into their hearts. Plus I can´t let my family down. I made a promise to my mother and Mael. And I never broke a promise", Marianna knew it was worth to fight for a few things. Things like family, honour and love. Now she finally understood what her father tried to tell her all this years. He said, if you want to be a really good warrior, your heart has to be really in it and you must believe the reason for which you are fighting for.
Larek wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pressed her at his side. She was such a unbelievable person and she didn´t see it. He never envied Rath like in this moment. Maybe if they survived this, he would find someone like her someday. " I never meet someone so brave and so reckless like you. Nothing seems to faze you or makes you wanna hide until the danger is over. But I think you need this traits to get involved with Rath".
Marianna laughed about that. He wasn´t the wrong about that. Yet she didn´t think that she was so brave. She was just doing what was right. Nothing more. " I´m not so great like you think. I´m just a normal girl, which wants to protect her family".
" You´re much. But normal isn´t one of it. Or do you think Rath would have fallen in love with you if you were just an ordinary girl?", Larek didn´t think so. His friend didn´t believe in love until he meet her. That meant she had to be special to win his heart. No other girl had made it that far with him actually. Because he waited all his life for her.
Marianna saw on her finger and the ring. It was still unbelievable to think he wanted to marry her. " He asked me to be his wife if we survive today".
" No really?", Larek was stunned to hear that. His friend had finally find the guts to do the right thing. Halleluja.
Marianna lifted her hand and showed him the ring. " Really. It wasn´t romantic or the perfect moment. But I said yes", now that she said that out loud she finally realized what happend and what she accepted. " Oh godness. I must be braindead to marry him. What was I thinking?".
Larek couldn´t contain his laughter. It finally dawn on her what she got herself into. " You were thinking that you love him and you can´t live with him anymore and all this romantic crap".
" Now you sound like you´re talking about Zan and Ava. We´re not like that actually", althrough he wasn´t that far from the truth. Sometimes they acted really mushy, especially when they were alone. If he wanted Rath could be a sweety. Not that she would anybody tell about it.
" But you love him, right?".
Marianna looked at him like he said something crazy. Wasn´t it obvious that she loved Rath. Or did he think she accepted his proposal just for the heck of it? " Of course I love him. More than anything".
Larek kissed her on the temple and squeezed her shoulder. That was what he wanted to hear all along. Now she finally found the courage to state it openly. " I´m really happy for you and Rath".
" Thanks. It means so much...", Mayra stopped suddenly in mid-sentence, because she could hear something. Carefully she turned her gaze to the sea. The calmness of the water was disturbed. She took a closer look and detected a few little boats heading in their direction. " It´s time. We have to go back".
Larek twirled his head to the water and noticed it, too. His heart was pumping like crazy in his chest. Now the situation got serious. Tightly holding onto Marianna he blinked them away. Moments later they appeared directly in front of Rath, which jumped back startled.
" Holy Shit. Can´t you give me a damn sign that you´re coming. I almost pissed my pants".
Larek ignoried his friend and watched Marianna instead. She looked better than the first time they shifted. " Everyhing alright?".
" Yeah. Now get yourself into safety", she embraced him, hopefully not for the last time. " Be careful".
Larek released her and smiled. She didn´t have to worry about him. He wasn´t in immediate danger like her. " I can say the same about you. Don´t get yourself killed. Both of you".
Rath put his arm around Mariannas shoulder and smirked at his friend. " We´re careful. Now scat".
Larek had to laugh while he blinked himself into the science lab to the other eggheads. He still had a few things to prepare for Plan B. He hoped they didn´t need it and it was just for backup.
Marianna looked up at her partner besides her when they were alone. She could see that he was as worried as her. For the first time she noticed that he lost his mask, which he hid behind to cover his emotions. Now the fear was clearly written on his face and it made her feel a little better, because she wasn´t alone with her feelings. " Is everything set?".
" Yeah. Everbody is hiding at their assigned place and waiting for the signal".
Marianna glanced around her and detected that nobody was near them. They were standing alone in front of the castle. And now the seriousness of the situation hit her like a bullet. But before she could go in total panic mood she felt a hand softly on her shoulder and she calmed down immediately. She knew the touch even if he was just lightly. Her parents made their presence known.
Suddenly Rath´s whole body tensed and he pulled his laser sword out of his belt. " Their coming. Get your weapon".
Without hesitation took Marianna her own laser sword and went into her fighting stance. For someone so small like her she looked absolutely terrifying, with her darkening eyes that were sparkling full of hate. Althrough inwardly she was shaking with fear, nothing was to see on the outside. She hid her feelings as well as Rath. " I want to get rid of something before I lose the guts. I want you to know that I..".
" Don´t say it. You can say it to me when this is over. If you say it now, it sounds like we don´t make it", Rath didn´t want to hear it. Especially in this situation. Besides he felt it all along and knew how much she loved him.
Marianna didn´t let her sight waver from the front. " I just want you to know that I really do".
" I know", Rath saw movement coming near them. It was finally time to take action. He gripped his sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white from it. His pulse rate had trippled within seconds and the adrenalin was strong pumping though his body.
Marianna also noticed that they weren´t alone any longer. But contrary to her partner she dropped her arm with the sword to the ground. It wasn´t necessary yet. Khivar men would be too surprised about their presence that they wouldn´t attack immediately. Suddenly a sound of many yelling was drifting to their ears and the trampling of many feets. It was finally time for the show to begin. Rath let his gaze wander to Marianna. Without realizing what he was doing he grapped her shoulders, pulled her strongly at his body and kissed her like he never kissed her before. He wanted to taste her the last time in case he would never have to chance to do it again. He put every feeling in it and tried to memorize the flavour of her lips, the smell of her body and the warmth of her mouth. After a while he released her and starred in her baffled face. " Sorry. But I needed that".
" It´s alright. I liked it", Marianna tried to controll her heating body. Oh Boy, hopefully they made it through this battle. If every kiss would be like that she didn´t want it to be the last. Out of the corner of her eyes she regnorized the first soldiers from Khivar army heading in their direction. Immediately she turned around and took her fighting stance again.
Rath did the same and made himself ready to use his sword. He was more than ready to kill some bastards, because he had much energy to burn now. He observed the men running straight at them and noticed the moment they noticed that their attack wasn´t such a surprise like they thought. Confused they stopped in their tracks instantly and looked around. Moments later a guy was pushing his way through the mass of bodies. " What is going on? Why are you stopping?".
" Surprise!", Marianna clapped in her hands, alright it wasn´t a real clap because she had still her sword in her hand, but it was supposed to be a clap and put on her nicest smile. If she wouldn´t be so nervous she would have been jumping up down like a mindless little dolly her brother liked to lay down.
Nikolais jaw almost hit the ground and his eyes got so wide that they nearly covered his whole face. " What is this here? How did you know about this?".
Rath smirked cockily. " Do you think your the only one with information?".
" I think he believes that", added Marianna. Then she made a sad face at her half brother. " Did we destroy your surprise? Is little Nikolai sad now? Poor boy all this work for nothing", she pouted like a little child and enjoyed the rage on his face.
Nikolai was close to do something stupid. How dare her to mock him in front of his men? He was mad at himself for feeling pity with her and sparing her life, althrough he had much possibilities to kill her. He had been crazy to do that. " What do you wanna do? We´re so many and you´re just a twosome. How many damage can you really do?"
Rath looked around him, than to the men in front of him and at last to Marianna. " He doesn´t believe in us. So sad actually. Should we show him how many damage we can do?", he waited until he got a nod from her. That was all he needed before he put his thump and his forefinger into his mouth and whistled pretty loud.
Immediately almost all his soldiers came out of their hiding places and encircled the enemy. Everybody was holding his weapon ready in his hand and was just waiting to use them. The people with the crossbows were positioned further away and aimed their weapons at the heads of their opponents.
" Now you were saying?", Marianna couldn´t hold that comment back. It was looking pretty good for them now.
Nikolai scratched his chin and tried to refrain from smiling. Did she think it would be so easy? Or that Vilandra came onto this information alone with her lousy powers? She should know him better than that. With a faintly nod he gave his other soldiers the sign to appear from behind. " That I wouldn´t be so happy in your place. You´re not as smart as you think".
Before either Marianna nor Rath could understand what he was trying to imply, more soldiers from Khivars army came running from behind the castle and were instantly starting to fight. Within seconds the place was filled with screams and striking sparks of the swords. Arrows, laser bullets and bolts were breezing through the air and sometimes someone was hit and fell to the ground. Most of the time they didn´t stand up or if they weren´t so lucky got trampled from someone, because nobody cared if there was lying a person or not. They just continued with their fight and didn´t watch where they put their food on.
Vilandra was in the midst of the battle and tried to shot as many men as she could with her lasergun. It was hard to aim directly at someone when you didn´t have too much time and so many bodies available. She thought about what Marianna had told her if she should got nervous or was on the brink to lose her focus. Alright, breath, concentrate and think about all the pain they put you through. Slowly her anger was back in full force and she finished two men off with just one bullet. Elated through her success she finally got really comfortable with her weapon and shot one bullet after another.
Zan on the other hand was still hesitant with his laser sword. Althrough it wasn´t the first time he held a weapon in his hand. He was still reluctant to kill anyone, even if it was either his life or this of the enemy. He was so sure that his anger would lead him through this battle. But now everything was gone and the only thing he felt was this terrifying fear. Here and there he dodge a blow from his opponent and yet he wasn´t in the condition to fight back. Suddenly he saw a bright light near the outerwall. Through the mass of people he noticed a girl in a white dress. She seemed to float above the ground and her dress was moving like she was standing in the middle of a storm. Then he regnorized the smiling face staring back at him. His beloved Ava. She was just visible for a few seconds, but it was all Zan needed to remember the reason for what he was fighting for. With a new energy boost he waved his sword through the air and run straight into the crowd.
Meanwhile Rath was fully in his element. He turned in all direction and striked every man who dared to go against him with his sword. He didn´t care if they were living people, he just saw them as a threat to his remaining family. He beheaded two soldiers with one swift move and then he twirled around to put his sword through the middle of another. From time to time he fought off a blow in his direction and sometimes he barely avoided beeing hit by something sharp. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed a soldier trying to surprise him with his weapon. With an antarian curse he made a somersault backwards and landed directly behind the mentioned man. Without waiting for him to realize what just happend Rath waved his sword through his middle and divided the poor sap into two halfs. It was disgusting to see how his torso slipped from his lower part of his body with a smacking noise until it landed with a thud on the ground. Pleased with himself Rath watched for another victim and discovered someone starring in absolute hate at him. Oh yeah finally he could finish what he started without Marianna interrupting him this time. It was time for her exfiance to say goodbye forever. He pushed his way through the mass of fighting people and went straight to him. His sword tightly gripping in his hand and a mask of anger on his face. His opponent didn´t back down and meet him halfway. Without saying a word they both attacked each other simultanously. Sparks were flying when their swords collied.
" Finally we meet again", Rath pushed his weapon down on that from his opponent and tried to get the upper hand in this fight.
Lykus wasn´t scared of him. Not this time. Now there was no one who could disturb them. It was just the two of them. " Yeah. Where´s your bodyguard?".
" I don´t need a bodyguard, contrary to you weakling! I would have killed you on the spot that day", Rath was tired of this chit chat and threw his head forward until it collided with Lykus. Immediately the other guy stumbled backwards and almost crashed to the ground.
" That was the wrong thing to do", Lykus got a mean twinkle in his eyes and he threw his sword in the air. With a scream he attacked Rath again.
Marianna in the meantime had slight problems with her right arm. An arrow put himself through her armour and directly through her shoulder. Althrough the arrow was out of the wound it hurt like hell, at least when she move it, what entailed most of the time, because it was the arm with the sword in her hand. But she didn´t let a small scratch distract her and fought her way through the fighting bodies. She waved her sword in all direction and killed at least five men without looking by the way. She had found Nikolai in the middle and he was just standing there and watched her like he was just waiting for her. Alright, the final confrontation was there. Now they would see who was the best soldier on the planet. On her way to her halfbrother she regnorized Vilandra and Zan. For someone who had no experience in fighting, they were holding on for all it was worth. Suddenly she heard a howling noise near her and instantly ducked her head. Seconds later a sword was breezing over the top of it. A few seconds later and she would have lost her head and that literally. Still in her crouched position she twirled around and cut off his legs with one blow. Blood was splatting in all direction and her opponent screamed of pain while he fell to the ground. Marianna stepped closer to his fallen form and looked in his eyes. She wanted to be sure this time that she didn´t kill someone she liked again. She glanced closer at them and didn´t know the owner. She lifted her sword in the air with both hands and let it drop really quickly. Before the man knew what was happening, she chopped off his head from his throat and it rolled a few feets away. Marianna had to look away when she saw his vains shooting the blood out. After that she scanned the crowd for Nikolai. But she couldn´t detect him, no matter in which direction she turned. Suddenly a tap on her shoulder startled her and she twirled around. There she came face to face with her halfbrother.
" Were you looking for me?".
Marianna smiled at him. He was such a smart guy for someone with a brain of the size of a pea. " What gave me away?".
" You think you´re so brave and tough. I will teach you the opposite", Nikolai took a fighting stance and held up his sword with both hands.
Marianna did the same and because she couldn´t help herself she threw him a kiss. " Alright. Let´s bring it on".
While they both fought against each other, Vilandra was busy with keeping the men off of her. It got more and more by the second and she had problems holding on. Paniced she didn´t try to aim at someone specifically and just shot randomly around her. She didn´t care anymore if she hit a body or not, she just wanted to survive this. Suddenly her lasergun seemed to jam, because nothing happened anymore. It stopped shoting bullets. Desperate she shook it and even beat on it. But nothing worked. Quickly turning around she spotted a crossbow behind her lying on the ground, with the owner of it, some soldier from their army, beneath it. Without thinking she went to it and pry it out of the hands of the man. For someone dead he had still a strong grip on it. Roughly she pulled at the crossbow and tried to wrench it away. At the end of her patience she hit the poor man with her fist. All at once she heard Zan calling her name. Immediately she twirled around and saw a soldier running in her direction with a lasergun aimed at her. Before she could react or say something a bullet flew through the air. But before she could say her last prayer, a green shield built around her, where the bullet just bounced off and dropped on the floor there. A little shaken up Vilandra faced her brother and noticed that he was the one who saved her life. Suddenly her eyes widened and she pointed with her finger at Zan.
" Watch out!".
Unfortunately Zan wasn´t quick enough and before he could turn around a soldier had already stabbed him from behind. Vilandra watched how Zans eyes starred shocked back at her and blood oozing from his mouth. At first he crashed onto his knees and then he just fell on the ground with the rest of his body.
" Nnnnnnnooooooooooo!", Vilandra dropped down and started crying violently in her hands. Not her brother. He was all of her real family she got and now he died because he saved her. That wasn´t fair. If someone should have died and it should have been her. Just as the thought was finished her wish came true. An arrow bored himself into her neck and through her throat until the head of it appeared again. Instantly she struggled for breath and touched the spot with both of her hands. She could feel a warm sticky fluid dripping through her fingers. Slowly the air got less and less the more blood flew in her windpipe and shattered every chance of breathing. Paniced she tried to fight against the unavoidable. Seconds later everything was over and she stopped her battle.
Marianna, which was in the process to exhaust Nikolai with unceasinly blows of her sword, heard a loud scream. It sounded like Vilandra. Something must be going wrong. Instantly she used her powers and blasted her opponent away straight at a few of his men. Then she twirled in the direction of the noise and noticed Vilandra falling onto her knees. Without knowing what happened, Marianna started running to her. Halfway she saw the arrow flying through the air and directly at her friend. Scared she pushed her body to run faster and gave it all. But to her disappointment she was to slow and the arrow hit his target. When she arrived at Vilandras side everything was over. Tears gathered in her eyes of the sight of her dead friend. Carefully she bent down and closed her eyes with her hand. Suddenly she felt someone behind her. Quickly she turned around with her drawn sword.
" Hey! Careful! It´s just me", thankfully it was just Rath, which looked really bad. His armour had a few tears and his hands were bloody. His hair were plastered to his forehead and a few scratches graced his beautiful face.
" I was too late. I watched the arrow and I couldn´t do anything to prevent it from hitting her", Marianna arose from her position and looked around. She should have never allowed her to join them, she should have more persistant about her safety. She knew that they wouldn´t make it and now she had prove for that. Prove that she actually didn´t want.
Rath kept an eye on their surroundings. They were too much in the open and every moment someone could detect them. They didn´t have the advantage of the dark any longer. The day had begun and it was light outside. They couldn´t make mistakes now. It was sad that Vilandra was dead, but they were in a war and didn´t have time to mourn. They could do that when everything was over. During the scanning, he found the dead body of Zan. For a moment he felt a tear in his heart at the sight. Now it was official. His whole family was gone. Except for Marianna he had nobody at all. He faced her just in time to see a soldier storming at her with a laser sword ready in his hand. Immediately he reacted and grapped her. After that he turned them around and protected her body with his own.
" What´s going on?", Marianna was confused for a moment because Rath twirled her around like a doll. But then she regnorized the sword coming at them and how it bore through his armour and straight through his middle. She looked in his pained eyes the moment he was stabbed. The panic and the fear in it was heartwrenching. She watched the owner of the sword pulling it out of him with a smile on his face. Rath let a moan escape before he fell to the ground. Instantly Marianna waved her sword in the air and chopped his head off without any mercy. Then because she couldn´t help herself she spit on his carcass before she dropped to her knees besides Rath, which was lying on the ground with blood pooling around him.
" Don´t die. Please don´t die".
Rath knew that the death was knocking at his door any moment. Strangly he didn´t feel scared. Except for the coldness he actually felt nothing. " Don´t worry. This is not the end, it´s just the beginning of a great adventure".
" What are you talking about?", Marianna had ditched her sword and was frantically looking for a way to open the armour. She saved Corly with her powers, she could do it now again. She wouldn´t let him die. No, she would move heaven and hell to prevent that from happening.
Rath grasped her hands and made her look at him. He didn´t have enough time to waste. " Death is not the end, but the beginning of something new".
" If you start to talk in riddles now, I have to get nasty", Marianna wrenched her hands from his grip and continued looking for an opening. They put it on, then there must be way to pull it off. " Damn it! Why doesn´t this thing make what I want!".
Rath felt this calmness slowly seeping into his body. It was almost time. " Because it isn´t your job to save me. My time went up".
" I will not let you die! I can´t watch you die, so please don´t force me to do nothing", Marianna wouldn´t stand it to see how the light in his eyes died down. She didn´t want to witness how everything that made Rath who he was disappeared. A lump was forming in her throat just at this thought.
Rath took all of his remaining strength and lifted his arm. Tenderly her stroked her cheek with his hand. They would see each other again, he was sure of it. Nothing could break them apart. Not even death. " I´ll be always at your side. You will never be alone. I love you".
Marianna struggled against her tears, which were threatening to fall from her eyes. She had to give him up if she wanted or not. But it was hard, because he was all she had left now. She didn´t want to let him go. But she knew that she had to. " I love you, too. So much more than you think". Slowly she bent down and kissed her lover.
Rath enjoyed the last moment with her. He was grateful for all the times they spent together, no matter if bickering or making love or just glaring at each other. He wouldn´t trade his memory for everything on this planet. She made him feel things that he didn´t know existed. For the first time he had felt what it was like to love somebody unconditionally.
Marianna noticed that his hand was slowly sliding from her face and his lips stopped moving. In that moment her world came crashing down on her. She laid her head on his chest like she did with her father and cried while she held onto him. The pain in her heart seemed to crush her. Finally she understood what Zan felt when he lost Ava. It was like someone ripped her heart out of her chest with bare hands and trampled on it. Over and over again she mumbled how much she loved him, althrough she knew that he didn´t hear it anymore. She regretted that her fear kept her from saying it sooner to him.
" Oh. Is little Marianna all alone now? So sad. Really", Nikolai appeared in front of her and talked to her like she was a little child.
Marianna raised her head and looked at the reason for all her pain. Within seconds her sadness disappeared and she could feel powers building in her body. She observed her hands, which started to glow in a bright light. Suddenly the sky darkened dramatically and thunderbolts were striking. The balmy breeze was turning into a storm. The ground under their feets began to shook and here and there a gap in it would open up and swallow some of the soldiers. " That was the wrong move".
Nikolai wasn´t scared this time. She couldn´t keep that up long anyway. He even wasn´t suprised as her eyes turned black and were boring into him. " I like the light show. But don´t you have anything different. It get´s boring if you see it for the second time".
Marianna stood up and stretched her hands in the direction of the sky. Seconds later a thunderbolt was striking directly into her hands. For a few moments they crinkled with electricity before she shoot her arms at him and let some of it out. Laughing she saw Nikolai jumping to the side. Maybe she could play a game with him until she got bored and just killed him. But she didn´t came to that anymore. While she was so obsessed with destroying her halfbrother, Lykus had found a crossbow and aimed it at her head. Before she noticed anything, an arrow went right through her head and killed her instantly. Like a stone she fell on top of Rath and bled on him.
Nikolai turned to his soldiers, which were still in the process of fighting the few still alive men from King Salems army. " Everybody listen. The royals are dead. Our work is done. It´s time to go home and celebrate our victory".
At this shouting was heard all over the place. Happily they tossed their opponent aside and made their way back home. Everything was over and they had won. While they made their retreat they started to sing an antarian song.
Meanwhile Nolak, which was pretty hurt but still alive, went to his fosterlings. Wasted he sat himself in the middle between Rath with Marianna on top and Vilandra besides them and Zan. All this work for nothing. He was so sure that they would make it. They were so willing to fight and they seemed so optimistic. And now everything was lost. For the first time in his life Nolak began to cry. Until someone appeared suddenly in front of him. Quickly he wiped his tears from his face and looked up at the sad face of Larek.
" What are you doing here?".
Lareks eyes filled with tears at the sight of all his friends dead. But at least they didn´t die alone. " I´m here to put Plan B into action. If you´re up to it you can help me carry them down into the science lab".
" What Plan B?", Nolak was confused what he was talking about. Which Plan? And why didn´t he know of this Plan?
Larek bent down to Rath and Marianna. Even in death they were together. " Marianna made preparation in case they would fail. But we have to hurry or we can´t forget it".
" Can you stop talking in riddles! Tell me about this Plan B", Nolak had to patience at the moment. Here they were standing by all this dead bodies and Larek spouted all this rubbish. If he didn´t start explaining a few things, it would get ugly here.
" We don´t have time for that. I will tell you everything. But just trust me and help me carry them into the science lab before it´s too late", Larek wasn´t that strong actually, but Marianna wasn´t so heavy. With remorse he threw her over his shoulders and apologized about the bad treatment.
Nolak wasn´t smarter than before. But he trusted Larek to do the right thing. Without saying anything he put his hands under the body of Vilandra and lifted her. Then he made his way into the castle while Larek blinked himself away. After a while they repeated the process and dragged the others into the science lab. Behind closed doors they went to work and tried to give their friends a new chance to change something.
The End of part One