Rhydian started to walk in the direction Kalani was, but his attention was diverted by barely seeing Arralee's rope dart coming from the side. He skillfully dodged the deadly, twisted-barbed weapon just in time. As the heavy iron dart slammed into the earth with a thud, he pivoted to face Arralee, his eyes burning with intent. In an instant, they clashed like forces of nature meeting in a cataclysmic storm.
Arralee's weapon twirled with an almost ethereal grace, but she met her match in Rhydian. Each of their strikes and parries carried deadly intent. Rhydian, the master of the earth, used his powers to launch rocks and sand towards Arralee, each projectile a force to be reckoned with. But Arralee was no less formidable. She moved with a fluidity that defied the chaos around her, her weapon striking with uncanny accuracy. Despite her skill and determination, the odds seemed to tip in Rhydian's favor. Rhydian's relentless aggression and mastery over the elemental earth magic ultimately prevailed.
With a final, devastating blow, Rhydian disarmed Arralee, sending her to the ground, her rope dart just out of reach. She struggled to rise but found herself pinned beneath Rhydian's foot. His dominance was evident, and he regarded her with cold determination.
Rhydian eyes turned to Zefiro, who was still trapped in the sand, helpless and vulnerable. Rhydian sat on Arralee and placed his hands on the ground, ushering the sand around Zefiro to bring him to where he sat. Rhydian spoke to Zefiro, saying, "I will give you one last choice, boy. Take this dagger and kill this woman, and I will forgive all your previous mistakes." Zefiro grabbed the dagger and raised the dagger to end Arralee's life, but he hesitated, his young heart torn between loyalty to his father and the life of Arralee.
In the end, something within him rebelled against the darkness, and he made a fateful choice. With a swift motion, he turned the dagger towards Rhydian, attempting to stab his father. But Rhydian's experience and reflexes proved to be swifter. He seized the dagger and made a single, cruel slash across Zefiro's chest.
Zefiro fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding wound, his eyes wide with shock. Rhydian stood up and watched as Zefiro was bleeding out and said to himself, "I don't have time to waste behind a failure."
As Rhydian turned back towards Arralee to end her life, a voice that still held a hint of strength amidst the chaos reached his ears. Kalani, though wounded and on her knees, pleaded with a desperation that transcended her physical pain.
"Stop, Rhydian! Please, I'll give you the staff. Spare Arralee. She has a child. Spare her, and the staff is yours."
For a moment, the battlefield seemed to hold its breath. Rhydian looked at Kalani, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of triumph and vindictive satisfaction. He had achieved what he desired; he had broken the moon people's leader. The power of the staff was tantalizingly close.
He lowered the dagger he held and glanced down at Arralee, who lay defenseless beneath him, panting and disarmed. His power over life and death at this moment was absolute. But Rhydian was not just a tyrant; he was a man with desires and ambitions. A sinister smile crept onto his face, revealing the twisted depths of his character. In his mind, he calculated the cost of his victory.
"The staff first, Kali. Hand it to me," he demanded, fully aware that his moment of triumph was at hand and that he intended to exploit it fully.
The moon people watched in despair, their hope clinging to Kalani's sacrifice. The future of their clan and the power of the staff now rest in her trembling hands.
With a voice laced with desperation, she uttered, "I need your word first that you will spare her". Her words, though strained, carried a weight of maternal love and a leader's determination. Rhydian, the embodiment of arrogance and deceit, met her plea with a sinister calmness. "Yes, I assure you, no further harm will come to her or the child in her womb."
Kalani extended her trembling hand, and a gentle yet commanding swirl of water began to envelop her. The water, responding to her innate control, danced in a spectral ballet around her. Gradually, from within the aqueous display, a staff with a crescent-shaped head emerged. Kalani then handed the staff over, and he thanked her. Rhydian smiled and then said, "I am a man of my word, Kali; she will live too badly for you, and the rest of your people won't be around to see it."
With the moon staff in hand, he used it as an instrument of death, plunging it into Kalani's chest. The moon people, their spirits crushed, could only look on in helpless horror as their beloved leader fell.
Rhydian then turned to his remaining star warriors, his voice filled with emptiness. "Kill everyone on this island, except for this one", he declared, pointing to Arralee. The moon warriors, realizing the futility of resistance, dropped to their knees, their faces etched with a mixture of grief and dread.
One of the moon warriors, the very one who had struck down Kalani, sought to align herself with Rhydian, pleading for acceptance. But Rhydian's heart was as cold as the void of space, and he reminded her that he had no use for traitors. He swiftly ended her, severing her head from her body, a brutal reminder of his ruthless nature.
With the remaining moon warriors kneeling in submission, Rhydian proceeded to survey the village. The moon people faced annihilation, their once-peaceful island had been transformed into a nightmarish battleground. Homes were in ruins, bodies were lying lifeless, and the cries of the villagers filled the air—a haunting chorus of suffering.
Rhydian's victory was complete, but the cost was immeasurable. The scene was one of desolation.
Rhydian stood before the lifeless body of Aerendir, the beloved protector of the moon people, whom Rhydian's treacherous attack had left unburied. His contemptuous words dripped with disdain as he spat upon the fallen elder.
"Look at you now, you stupid old man," Rhydian jeered. "I can't even do anything about the clan you've been protecting for so long."
As Rhydian roamed further, the faint cries of a baby reached his ears. He followed the sound, leading him to a small, secluded hut. Inside, he discovered Seraphina, Aerendir's wife, cradling a child named Aeryn. His face twisted into a sinister grin, relishing the cruel irony of the situation.
"Well, look who it is. If it wasn't the dear wife of the beloved Aerendir, Rhydian's taunt was cut short, leaving him in a state of shock as he witnessed something he hadn't anticipated. The baby Seraphina held displayed signs of inheriting Aerendir's extraordinary powers, a chilling reminder of the late elder's legacy.
Rhydian unsheathed his sword in an attempt to kill Seraphina. However, before he could enact his ruthless intentions, Aeryn, the young child of Orion and his late wife, courageously intervened. Rhydian's blade slashed across the boy's face, causing him to scream on the floor while holding his face.
Rhydian coldly regarded Aeryn and said, "Oh, how I wish my son was willing to sacrifice himself like that for me." With cruel resolve, he swung his weapon again, this time slashing through Seraphina's scalp. Both she and the child fell to the ground, a testament to Rhydian's merciless brutality.
Rhydian lifted the baby in his arms and said "I will do better with you, so you won't be a failure". Aeryn, despite the searing anger in his eyes, was helpless and terrified. Rhydian decided to spare him, saying, "I was only going to spare one of you, but I'm feeling generous now that I have gotten a very special gift, so I will let you go. Run along now." Aeryn,hesitant at first, fled into the forest, blood streaming from his injured face.
Rhydian then left the hut and was informed by a soldier that their mission had been accomplished; the moon people were subjugated.
Amid the destruction, Orion, who had been injured but survived, rose to his feet. He saw his daughter in Rhydian's arms and approached Rhydian with determined but limping steps, his eyes filled with defiance.
"She is not yours to take," Orion proclaimed.
Rhydian remained resolute in his intent. "No, but I will raise her as my own, seeing that she is now an orphan," he declared. His retort met with an unexpected punch from Orion, which left a gaping hole in his chest.
With his gruesome act complete, Rhydian ordered his soldiers to return to their ships, having wrought havoc upon the moon people and forever altering the course of their destiny.
This would be the tragic day that the Moon tribe was wiped from the earth.