There was destruction at every turn, the full moon illuminating the painful chaos. Naiadans cried out in pain, the droplets of rain burning holes into their flesh.
My brother and Reef pulled me up, as blood covered my arm. "Mavis, snap out of it! We need to follow Ria!"
Wisteria's friend cowered beside me, his dark blue eyes glinting with an unknown emotion. "I swore to keep my mouth shut because of Ria." He looked between my brother and I. "We must hurry on, no time to lose. Don't run in a straight line or you'll get burned. I won't stop for anyone else." With that, he dashed forward, along the teetering ice.
My vision was in blurs, the pain of the strange injury becoming unbearable. The screams of the innocent children burned into my very consciousness as I barely throttled on. I could barely make out the way ahead as I thought to myself. 'Is this but one example of what the lands have suffered all these years without me? Where is their leader? Why is no soldier in sight, protecting the clan?'
I stumbled, falling to my feet as another droplet made contact with my shoulder. I cried out in pain as yet another landed on my back. "What the fuck?"
I could barely make out my brother ahead, rushing towards me, blood trailing down his cheek. "Come!" He hoisted me onto his shoulder, as he ran on.
How pathetic.
~~~
"We are under attack, Hilden! Why will you not give the order to the soldiers to protect?" Wisteria argued with her unblinking mother.
The Daiyans, who were the Hilden's advisors and trusted assistants, stood beside her on both sides.
"Maybe you should leave, princess?" Gilmore smirked, placing a hand on Calmari's throne. "Surely if you were to get an answer, you would have. The Hilden has much more pressing issues than…commoners."
Ignoring the Daiyan's words, she pressed on, inching closer to the throne. "Mother, do you not hear me!?"
Slowly, the Hilden turned to her daughter, looking at her for the first time since she entered the room. "You are a disgrace to this land. Sleeping in homes of commoners, have you no shame?"
"I do not care what I am, Mother! I only ask that you save the people…our people!"
The doors to the throne room burst open. Revealing Mason with his wounded sister atop his shoulder.
"Nawi!" The princess ran to the lot as Mason lowered his sister to the floor.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Hilden's words carried bitterness in them.
"I will get rid of them, Hilden." Gilmore stepped off the pedestal, the pounding of his shoes on the ice, bouncing off the walls as he made his way to them.
Maraja stirred, her face twisting in pain from the many holes in her body. "Take another step, and I'll finish what I started earlier." Gilmore halted as the Nawi shakily stood, bleeding out of more than one impairment.
The Daiyan clenched his fists, a sick smile spreading itself along the lips of the chosen one. "So this is why the lands have suffered so, all these years. The people are under attack and here you are, their precious leader. Safe within the impenetrable walls and roofs of your castle."
Calmari stood, her ice-laden eyes fixed on the Nawi. "I am Hilden. The lives of those commoners mean nothing compared to mine. The job to protect them lies in your hands, yet here you are wounded and tainting my floors with your vile blood."
A chuckle escaped Maraja's lips, as she stumbled back slightly. "I thought you said this was your land? So how about YOU protect it?" She turned slightly, pointing to the doors of the room. "Those people you call commoners, you think if they all died, you'd still have a land? Of course not, but you wouldn't understand that would you? You wouldn't understand their pain, the pain they're going through at this moment. Their skin burning, their houses falling apart. You wouldn't know any of it."
She look up at the thick ceiling, another dazed smile playing along her lips as a twinkling gold bled into her eyes. "So how would you like to know it?" The Nawi raised her hands, fingers curling slightly as she chuckled to herself.
"Mavis, what're you doing?" A look of confusion made its way to her brother's features as he watched his sister in concern.
The sound of thick ice cracking traveled through the room, as the poised ceiling above began to come undone. The chandelier was first, dropping to the ground with a loud crash, its jewels jingling as they flew dangerously across the room.
Ria rushed forward, her hands bursting forth as a shield of ice formed at her will, protecting herself and the Nawi, along with her brother from the stray pieces of ice.
However, Gilmore not being so lucky was sent flying, landing with a sickening crunch against the Princess's shield. The second Daiyan stepped up, covering herself and the queen with a similar shield.
With a powerful roar, the Nawi threw her hands out forcefully and the ceiling tore in half, the throne room growing bare as the two halves slid off the building. The sound of ice scraping together and shattering filled the room as Maraja's eyes landed on the protected Hilden.
She shook her head from side to side, with a playful smile on her lips. "Is that how you play, dear Hilden? Hiding behind the pathetic shield of someone else? You can't even conjure yours up? I think not." She raised a shaky hand, and the shield melted, leaving the Daiyan scratching at her neck. "You should play fair." With an angry hiss, Maraja threw the Daiyan out of the now-open ceiling.
"There is no danger in this realm! Only the ignorance of its fucking leaders!" A dark look crossed Maraja's eyes, as the raindrops began pouring into the room, faster than they were earlier, burning holes into the ice beneath.
"Enough!" The Hilden snapped at Maraja as she raised a frost-covered hand. "You will regret setting foot in my lands." Spears of ice materialized at Calmari's outstretched hand, and with a subtle push, they whizzed forward at Maraja.
"I don't think I can block that!" Ria told the Nawi, her already present shield melting away.
"Then get out of the way." Maraja hopped over the remains of the princess's shield, running straight at the incoming spears. As she ran, she pushed a hand from left to right, the spears of ice followed her motion, flying to the right as they collided into the walls of the room. "Is that all you've got, Hilden?"
Calmari raised both hands and two giant slabs of ice formed on either side of the Nawi. A foggy breath escaped the Hilden's lips as she brought her hands together, the chunks of ice following suit.
The Nawi raised both hands at the blocks, a smirk tugging at her lips as they shattered, falling heavily but safely around her.
The room grew silent, with the occasional sounds of sizzling ice from the droplets of rain above. A fog surrounded Calmari as her face contorted in rage, her feet glued to the melting pedestal and throne beneath her.
As the rain seemed to subside, the Hilden's gaze remained fixed on the Nawi, her hands in fists as she battled wordlessly with herself.
The sun began to rise, as did the palpable pressure in the room as the two continued to watch each other for even the slightest of movements. The smell of blood, ice, and carcass wafted in from all directions, making Maraja tilt her head to the side, her eyes forever fixed on Calmari. "Do you smell that? The blood. The blood of your people…on your hands."
Out of the blue, a thick layer of ice began to surround the Nawi's head, an angry glow surrounding the eyes of the Hilden. Maraja's eyes widened briefly as the ice surrounded her head.
The Nawi blinked, the gold in her eyes intensifying as the ice grew multiple cracks, shattering into microscopic pieces around her. In a second, her figure blurred as she shot forward at an inhuman speed.
"You are useless to this land." Calmari began to cough, her legs wobbling as she staggered. Blood licked her lips as she coughed more and more.
"Mother!" Ria rushed forward, her brows creasing in worry. The Nawi's brother followed closely behind, his eyes fixed on the person he wondered was still his sister.
"Nawi, I believe that is enough!" The princess spoke.
"Is it?" Maraja's hands came up, the Hilden's body following suit, her legs scrapping the muddled floors desperately as she coughed on.
"Maraja stop!" Ria screamed at the unblinking Nawi.
"Mavis?" She turned to her brother, a bewildered look painting her face.
"Mason?" She looked back to the struggling Hilden, then to a teary-eyed Wisteria. "What's happening?"