Chapter 22:
I woke up to a servant gently nudging me awake, sat up, and yawned. He had a tray with him, and after I readjusted to sit up, he set it on my lap. I just stared. Breakfast in bed?
"Estol thought you'd like to have a bit of time to yourself still." He informed me, placing a drink onto the tray as well. I sighed, eating as he just stood there like a perfect idiot and smiled.
"You should take Nova some food too, the girl's skinny as hell." I mumbled. He nodded, rushing off as I continued eating in silence. When I finished, I moved the tray to the bedside table, leaving it there and going through the closet. I shifted through the different outfits my mother had, trying to find myself something I could wear. My eyes fell upon the clothing I'd been wearing when I got here. I took them, went to my bathroom, and got dressed. I took a brush and brushed out my hair, and after that splashed some water onto my face, waking myself up further. What to do… My eyes shifted to the headphones and locket. Stupid peasant. I left the bathroom and was about to go out onto my balcony, when a rather loud and obnoxious banging rang out on my door.
"OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR YOU FUCKING JACKASS OR I'LL BREAK IT DOWN!" Nova. I smiled, going to the door and opening it. She crossed her arms with a rather pissed off look on her face.
"Yes, Nova?" I calmly asked.
"What the hell is with the servant in my room trying to give me breakfast in bed?" She questioned, tapping her foot.
"I thought you'd like breakfast in bed, that's all." I answered, humming softly and tilting my head, closing my eyes. Suddenly, I had something pushed and smeared against my face. When it finally left and I could open my eyes, Nova was standing there with a rather satisfied look on her face, a plate in her hands as she dragged a finger down my nose, bringing it to her lips.
"Frosting looks good on you." She stated, walking off and back to her room. I huffed, closing the door and going to the bathroom. I gawked at what she'd done.
"YOU GOT IT IN MY FUCKING HAIR NOVA! MY HAIR!" I yelled, banging on the wall as I heard faint laughter from her room. God damn it. I wiped most of it off with a towel, but some of it I had to use magic to get out of my hair. After that I brushed my hair out again; then sighed. I went to my balcony, leaning on the railing as I just stared out at the castle below, the city below. My mother's gone. She's gone and I'll never see her again… And all I have of her is what I can remember from my development, and that's not nearly enough. Fuck my life. I left the balcony, leaving my room and knocking on Nova's door. She opened the door, looking me up and down, eventually sighing.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering-" I cut myself off. That smell. I went into her room, earning a groan from her, but just stood there. I then looked at her. "Who the hell was in here?" I demanded. She blinked.
"Besides the servant? How the hell should I know?"
"What were you doing last night?" I questioned, stepping threatening closer to her.
"Writing, it's kind of my thing." She informed me.
"And?"
"And sleeping." She sarcastically stated. I growled, leaving. The scents went into the different rooms. I went to the room next to Nova's, throwing the door open.
~Mitch~
We just sat there, staring at him. Fuck. He looked around slowly, glaring, then came in and started to snoop around. We were sitting on the bed, so we pulled our legs up to our chests and just hugged each other, hopping he wouldn't notice. Adam, don't you fucking fail us now. Enderlox searched the closet, then searched the bathroom, then looked under the bed and every other possible hiding spot in the room. After a bit, Nova appeared in the doorway, blinking as she saw Enderlox looking around while we were huddled on the bed. She got the message.
"There's obviously no one here. What the hell are you doing anyway?" She questioned, her arms crossed. He glared at her.
"Looking for whatever has the strange scent." He retorted. Jerome gave me a look, me returning it.
"Everything has a strange scent to you." Nova determined, as if to assured us it wasn't just us that smelt weird.
"This is different, and for your information I wouldn't be talking about shit you don't know." Enderlox snapped, walking out of the room and opening the door across from us, Ian's door. Nova's eye twitched, but she turned and followed him, soon starting an argument. The argument continued to get rather heated until there was a loud, skin hitting flesh sound that rang out, and everything went silent. Another door opened. "YOU! YOU FUCKING PEASANT!" We got off the bed, peeking out of our room, Ian doing the same thing, Nova on the ground holding her bright red left cheek. Adam was soon thrown from his room, the one across from Nova's, Enderlox holding him to the ground with a foot to his head, enraged. "Nova, go get the guards." Enderlox ordered.
"Ok…" She whispered, getting up and leaving.
"Now how the hell did you get here?" Enderlox growled; pushing his foot down on Adam's head harder as Adam kept his eyes closed tightly, clawing at the ground.
"I came to tell you something…" He managed to say, his voice cracking.
"I ASKED YOU A FUCKING QUESTION AND YOU'D BETTER ANSWER ME!" Enderlox screamed.
"I activated a portal." Adam whispered as Nova returned, guards rushing past us and straight to Adam. Enderlox got off of him, the guards holding him up, and tightly at that.
"Who else is here with you?" Enderlox demanded.
"No one." Adam whispered.
"DON'T YOU FUCKING LIE TO MY FACE; I KNOW SOMEONE ELSE IS HERE!" Enderlox bellowed, slapping him hard.
"There's no one else here!" Adam cried out. Enderlox just stared at him.
"There are 3 others, and I'm not going to ask again. In fact, hang on." Enderlox went into his room, soon returning with Ty's locket, holding it in Adam's face, the locket open. "It's these 3, isn't it?" Adam shook his head no. "I don't believe you. Find them, they're here and they aren't getting out, lock down the entire perimeter. This is an order to kill." Enderlox declared, staring Adam straight in the eye. "Oh, and kill him as well." Enderlox ordered, turning around.
"DON'T KILL HIM!" Nova shouted. Enderlox looked to her.
"And why shouldn't I? I'm king, I can tell my men whatever I want them to do and they'll do it!" He hissed.
"Because he's done nothing wrong!" Nova exclaimed.
"He broke into my castle, made his way up here somehow, and you don't expect me to kill him? HE KIDNAPPED ME NOVA, HE'S LUCKY TO BE ALIVE STILL!" Enderlox yelled.
"My father kidnapped you- I tried to save you!" Adam corrected. Enderlox thought about that, staring at Adam. In fact, Nova was staring at Adam too.
"Your royalty?" Enderlox finally determined, narrowing his eyes. Adam nodded. Enderlox sighed, crossing his arms and shrugging. "More reason to kill you."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Nova screamed. "IF YOU KILL AN OVERWORLD-"
"Underworld." Adam corrected.
"SHUT UP, I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOUR SORRY ASS!" Nova declared. "IF YOU KILL A MEMBER OF THE UNDERWORLD ROYALTY, IT'S AN ACT OF WAR ENDERLOX! WAR IS WHAT GOT YOUR MOTHER KILLED!" Nova insisted. Enderlox stared at her a long time, eventually closing his eyes, his arms crossed as he growled softly, turning his back to us all.
"Put him in the dungeon, we'll deal with him later." Enderlox muttered. The guards began dragging Adam off.
"WAIT, I HAD SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!" Adam screamed, struggling.
"Make it quick, because I'm fucking done with you if you hadn't noticed." Enderlox snapped. The guards stopped right before the drop down.
"Your mother said she loves you." Adam calmly stated. Enderlox got tense, his shoulders rising up as his upper body seemed to scrunch up completely.
"Get him out of my site. My order still stands on securing the castle, as well as the find and kill hunt." Enderlox determined; opening and slamming his doors shut. Adam was dragged off. Nova watched them go, leaned over the drop, until she eventually stood up straight again.
"We going, get ready." She whispered. All 3 of us looked at each other, and then rushed around as we got ourselves dressed. Nova took us one at a time and flew us down. Once all 3 of us were down, Nova guided us through the castle; Adam's spells still active, meaning no one but Nova could see us. Soon, we got to the throne room, no guards and no people. She rushed over to the throne, which was on top of a portal. The portal was caged off with bars. "That's your exit, now get over here." She continued; using magic to make the cage bars lucid.
"We can't leave Adam." Ian argued.
"Do you want to die?" Nova gently asked. Ian huffed, hesitated, but went over, slipping through the bars. We copied.
Opening my eyes, I saw Jerome getting helped up by Ian, getting up and dusting myself off as we looked around. We were home.
~Adam~
The cell was very dust and hard to breath in. It was dark, damp, and strangely eerie. My hands were chained behind my back with a pole between them, so I couldn't move anywhere. I was just stuck. Barely any light came in through the small window at the top of the cell. It was barred up too, and I bet it was about half the size of my head. I want Ty back.
~Nova~
I was following Enderlox as he walked. We went into a room, the general and his first and second in commander there, as well as Estol.
"Enderlox, I thought you'd be in your room." Estol determined, blinking.
"How's the search?" Enderlox demanded, sitting in a seat as I sat next to him.
"We haven't found anyone else, sir." The general determined. Oh course you haven't, they escaped.
"Damn it." Enderlox muttered.
"So the person you found, is he really royalty?" The general questioned, sitting down along with the others, his seat across from mine.
"I don't know, he says he's royalty from Hell, but I don't see any reason to believe him." Enderlox shrugged.
"I can go and ask a few questions, see if he's lying or not. That is my talent after all, seeing through lies." The general's second in command explained. Enderlox nodded, running a hand through his hair.
"If he's lying, kill him."
"What is with you and killing today?!" I demanded, shocked he's still on the topic. He glared at me.
"So how are you handling the news about your mother?" Estol softly questioned.
"Alright I guess… Who killed her?" Enderlox demanded as the second in command left.
"The same people who kidnapped you." Estol informed him. Enderlox seemed to get such a dark aura around him; we all got up and took a few steps away, even Estol. Enderlox was visibly gritting his teeth, hair covering his eyes, but they were glowing so brightly that you could still see them regardless.
"Those… Those kings… Killed my mother?" He slowly asked; the hatred in his voice very clear.
"Yes sir, they killed her." Estol repeated. Enderlox stood abruptly, causing us all to jump. He was holding fists to his side, his arms shaking badly from the force he was using to channel his emotions. He looked the general straight in the eye, dark energy seeping from his eyes as he did. Estol, the general's first in command, and I just stared shocked. Not even Ender got this mad.
"We're going to war." Enderlox announced.
"May I ask why?" The general questioned.
"THOSE FUCKING ROYAL BASTARDS KILLED MY MOTHER, A QUEEN! IT'S AN ACT TO WAGE WAR, SO WHY DON'T WE ACCEPT AND FUCKING MURDER THEIR SORRY ASSES IN COLD BLOOD!" Enderlox yelled, grabbing the general by the collar of his shirt and lifting him off the ground, above himself partially. "Or will you defy me?" Enderlox growled.
"I would never defy you." Enderlox dropped him. "I've wanted to kill the bastards since I found out a long time ago, don't worry." The general assured, standing again.
"We can't go to war, not again!" I argued. Enderlox looked at me, enraged.
"Are you defying me?" He snapped.
"Yeah, I am! We can't go to war, you just got into power and if you die, who will take the throne?! The royal bloodline from your lineage is the only bloodline left with pure dragon blood, if you die, we'll never have another born ruler again!" I explained as he approached me. He suddenly grabbed me by my neck, shoving me against the wall and holding me eye level to him, off the ground. I clawed at his hand, his grip way tighter than Estol's ever was. He's seriously trying to kill me, isn't he?
"Defying me was the biggest mistake you've ever made. You're lucky I don't kill you right here, right now." He threatened as his grip tightening on my neck, the others just watching, too shocked to do anything. He smiled a sick, twisted smile, the dark energy still seeping from his eyes as I felt blood pool up in my mouth, running down my chin as I stared at him. "But I'll be doing plenty of that later. So instead of killing the only family I have left, I'll just throw you in the dungeon to rot and die with the royal scum." He dropped me after that. I coughed up blood, gasping for air, not able to breathe properly considering I was coughing up blood as I was trying to breathe at the same time. Enderlox looked to the first in command. "You heard me!" He snapped. The guy blinked, helping me up and starting to lead me off as I continued to gasp for air. What the fucking hell is his problem…?
~Adam~
I just stared the girl straight in the eye, glaring. She was glaring right back.
"I'll ask one more time. Who are you?" She demanded.
"My name is Sky. I go by Adam. My full name is Skybrine. I am the first and only direct descendant of Herobrine, the King of Hell." I repeated for a third time. She huffed.
"Alright, well you aren't lying. You're royalty. That's good; if you'd been lying I have an order to kill you." She shrugged. I just kept glaring. She smirked.
"Do you think you're tough, smartass?" She questioned.
"I'm smarter than you." I retorted with a smirk. She whipped me hard across my chest, making me hiss in pain as blood began to seep from it.
"Don't talk back to me." She threatened, leaving the cell as the wound healed itself up rather quickly. She seemed surprised when the door opened, loud coughing mixed with gasping ringing out, but sounding a bit settled by now. I soon saw Nova, a man leading her in here and putting her into my cell. She had blood running from her chin, or she used to at least, and blood on part of her shirt. She managed to calm down after a few minutes, the man and woman just standing there watching us. When Nova calmed down, she looked at me, paler than usual, giving me a weak smile.
"Hey Adam." She croaked.
"What happened?" I breathed.
"Enderlox tried to kill me because I defied him." She bluntly determined. "We're going to war." She added, leaning against the wall.
"Ooh, we get to finally knock some heads off?!" The girl asked very cheerfully. The dude gave her a look. She sighed. "I was only kidding." She added, not sounding at all like she was kidding. They started walking off; the dude explaining what happened as they left.
"Your friends escape, I made them leave." Nova determined after the door slammed shut again. "They don't know they're gone yet though."
"Thank you. Do you need any help?"
"No, I'm fine." She assured. "But trust me, Enderlox is mad. He's going to stop at nothing until he kills your father and Uncle. The bad part about the matter is that if he dies we'll never have another ruler ever again."
"Can't you rule?" I questioned. She softly laughed, shaking her head no.
"I'm not a pureblooded dragon. In fact, until Enderlox has a child, he's the only pureblooded dragon alive. Only a pureblooded dragon can rule, and his bloodline is the last of them." She informed me. I slowly nodded, frowning.
"What do we do?"
"We wait." She declared.
~Notch~
"Please Hero, calm down-"
"THEY HAVE MY SON!" Hero screamed again. Ian, Jerome, and Mitch just stood there, waiting.
"I know-"
"WE HAVE TO FIGHT THEM! WE NEED TO SAVE SKY!" Hero interrupted.
"Hero, please be reasonable."
"NO! THEY HAVE MY ONLY SON! MY ONE AND ONLY SON!" His voice cracked. "HE CAN'T DIE ON ME! HE CAN'T DIE YET!"
"I know Hero. But fighting them isn't going to save Sky. He's alive and safe and I'm sure they aren't going to make any stupid moves anyway." I determined, pulling him into a hug.
"And if they kill him?" Hero asked, tears flowing down his face.
"It's an act of war against us. Either they start the fight or we do. But if they aren't planning on fighting us, then why waste time when we could work out a deal to free Sky? Maybe they'll take money in exchange for him, or… something else they may want." I decided, holding Hero tightly.
"I just want Sky back…" Hero whispered.
"I know…" I assured.
"Excuse me." I looked over to them, listening. "But, what do we do if they attack us first?" Jerome continued.
"We fight." I assured, giving a slight nod. "I'll inform the general to start getting defenses ready, Hero, can you go around to each of the other towns and cities and inform them of the possible threat we have? I'll send you with a note to show you're an ally, they won't attack you." Hero nodded, wiping at his eyes.
"Alright."
"And what about Waterworks? There are only 3 guards there and you're looking at them. Plus other villages don't really even have guards at all." Mitch retorted.
"For all the smaller towns like Waterworks, we'll get everyone here where they're safer. We can board them at the safety homes or they can fight alongside the defense for the city if they choose." I concluded. "Ian, I'm leaving you and Mitch in charge of making sure each smaller village gets their people over here."
"How will we do that?" Ian demanded.
"I can grant you temporary powers so you can teleport like an Enderman, only more accurate."
"Sweet!" Mitch declared, smiling.
"What about me?" Jerome questioned, frowning.
"I had a special task in mind for you Jerome, something only you can do." I piped.
"Really?" He perked up nearly instantly.
"I'll grant you the same powers, but your task will be to find any of the remaining baccas and get them over here. Most of them are scattered about, but I know you can find them. Can I trust you?"
"Of course!" He laughed.
"Good, I'll send you all on your way then." I held out my hand, blasting them all with magic. When it died away, I nodded, them nodding in return and disappearing. I let go of Hero, grabbing a piece of paper, a quill, and some ink, writing out his note and sending him on his way. I took a deep breath, calming myself. I know their coming. I teleported into the general's council room, startling everyone and in turn interrupting their meeting. The general stood.
"Notch, how may I help you?"
"Get every defense in this city set up that you can. Have some men go around and find out if anyone would be willing to lend a hand in the defense line. If you have any volunteers, armor them up, give them a weapon of choice, and send them on their way to their position. I have people gathering up the smaller villages to send them here as well, get them into the boarding homes and if you have any volunteers from their numbers, get them ready for the defense as well. I have someone gathering the baccas and sending them here as well, treat them the same as every other villager, and as I imagine they'll all want to fight, so get them ready too. They can be boarded at the castle. My brother is already well informed of what's going on and is informing the guards of the other major cities and towns to be ready; he is our ally in this. His son has been captured by the enemy and is being held hostage, so expect him to be fighting alongside your men as well. Anyone who can walk in your army is helping; unless they are ill- do I make myself clear?" I informed him. He nodded, everyone else in the room standing as well. "Good."
"May I ask who we're preparing against?" He questioned.
"We're going against The End." I announced. He just blinked.
"Excuse me- the what?" I sighed.
"We're fighting dragon people that can transform into dragons." I cleared up. He went pale, quickly nodding. I went back to the castle, informing my guards of the situation and telling them all to go and get the defenses for the castle ready. I gathered all of the workers, informing them of what was going on and insisting they can go home to their families until the war is over. They all left without question. I teleported to the front wall, watching with the other guards. It's been nearly a half an hour since Jerome left, and baccas are fast as hell when they want to be. Any minute now.
As expected, baccas started to show up at a steady rate, the guards opening the gates and keeping them open for the time being. The guards waiting by the front directed them to where they'd be staying, and then asked if they'd like to fight in the defense. So far all of the replies consisted of the words hell and yeah. From there, they were directed to the armory, where they were given armor, and most of them chose axes as their weapons of choice. Some took a sword or a bow here and there, but still. Ian and Mitch soon teleported to be next to me, blinking as they saw the numerous baccas appearing from the forest line.
"We've informed all the smaller villages to come over here. The farmers have decided to gather up all the spare food they have to bring with them to help feed everyone, and anyone who sells food is also going to arrive with the food they have in their stock at the moment. Everyone will be here in a few days or so." Ian informed me. I nodded.
"Good, now do you boys want to be in the defense?" I questioned. They nodded, disappearing again. Where did they go, I have to take away their powers… I returned my attention to the continuous intake of baccas. I didn't even realize we had this many left, I thought they were dying out. About 5 minutes of just standing here, Mitch and Ian returned, armored up with their personal weapons. I smiled. "We would've given you armor and weapons boys."
"We feel more comfortable in our own gear, same with Jerome. Besides, we have some diamond stuff, so." Mitch determined, shrugging.
"I can take away your powers now, right? You don't need anything else from home?"
"We're good." Ian laughed. I blasted them with magic again, in term taking away their powers.
"There, now why don't you go… mingle with some people, or something?" I determined, returning my attention to the baccas.
"Hey, there are Jerome's parents!" Mitch confirmed, pointing to them as they rushed from the forest line towards the gate, rushing towards the stairs to go and say hello. Ian followed him. Hero soon appeared, surprised at all the commotion.
"Holy shit." He muttered. "How long was I gone?" He questioned, leaning over the edge to look at the forming crowd of baccas that were talking amongst themselves.
"Not long, I gave Jerome the power of teleportation so he could go get the baccas, remember? Baccas are fast and powerful creatures, they can run fast when they feel the need is right for it." I explained, placing a hand around his shoulders. He smiled at me.
"Right, I forgot." He chuckled. "So what should I do now, I finished with my task."
"How about you take the current group of baccas and get them boarded at the castle, I'm sure you can handle that, right?" I teased, nudging his side. He sighed.
"Alright, but after that I think I'll get some of my warriors out here for the fight as well. After all, they love fighting, it's like their life goal; they can be the offense." And he disappeared. I took a deep breath. This is going to be a bloody battle...