by Kran Sanon
She is supported by Emilia Carver who says that she will also help Janie to look after her. Solas still is against it; saying the journey can take a lot of time.
“You are ignoring the fact that this is going to be a long journey. It could take many months or possibly more than a year to complete. You cannot let Leliana stay away from her parents for that long. Please agree with me. I will take many men with me. I will return safely once I found out the truth” said Solas.
Isabela does not say anything, but Amos says that he also agrees with his brother.
“I think my brother is right. Leliana needs her mother more but you do not need to worry for I will also accompany my brother on this trip. I promise you that your husband will return exactly as he left” said a confident Amos.
Isabela is still doubtful about it but eventually agrees since everyone else is asking her to and she also does not want to leave her daughter for that long.
Some moments later after that, everyone is rushing to the entrance of the palace after hearing the emergency bell. It is the riders from the kingdom of Lasan. Many of them look severely injured. One of them eventually asks to speak to the king and is allowed to do so by Solas.
“It is the northern armies. They ambushed us and destroyed everything” said the rider.
Isabela asks him to calm down and tell them everything from the beginning. The man then takes a moment then tells them what happened.
“Some weeks ago, King Morrigan invaded with his army and destroyed the entire Cerid Kingdom. He then turned his attention to our small kingdom of Lasan and then eventually went for Azamor next. We somehow managed to escape with our lives so that we can inform you to prepare” said the man.
Solas and everyone are shocked after this revelation.
“How is that possible? Cerid is one of the biggest kingdoms in this realm. It cannot be destroyed that easily” said Bernard Carver.
“King Morrigan did not just come with his armies but also with the armies of all his allies. They were completely outnumbered, and so were we. There was that we could have done” the Lasan rider replied.
Isabela then asks about King Herman and his family, but the rider says that he did not make it.
“King Morrigan killed King Herman as well as his eldest son Stephen. His youngest son Markus together with Queen Juanes managed to escape and are also on their way here along with some other surviving people from Cerid and Lasan. I do not know anything about Azamor other than that they were also attacked. Selux and all your nearby southern allies are the only ones left. King Morrigan might be here in a few days. You need to prepare” informs the rider.
Amos says that they should have never trusted King Morrigan and now the only thing waiting for him is death. The Lasan says that there is something else they need to know.
“Their wolves cannot seem to be killed. Someone must have enchanted them. It was definitely sorcery as our swords could not do any harm to them. Nothing seemed to kill them” he said.
“Dragon fire will” replied an angry King Solas.
“King Morrigan betrayed his own words and our trust. He betrayed the treaty that he signed. I should have never trusted him. Now I will burn every single one of them to the ground” Solas continues to say again forgetting that he is King Solas here and not Cullen.
Isabela though tells him that is a terrible plan.
“Do not be foolish. All it takes is one spear to kill a dragon or even you. Why do you want to take on every challenge alone? This is not the time to panic nor to have our anger judge our actions. Selux has the best defence in these lands, and if King Morrigan has chosen war then he and his men will come to us. So let them. Besides, many of his allies are just innocent men following their manipulative leaders. We need to focus on King Morrigan. If we kill him, then they will surrender giving us a chance to show them the right path. So let us not waste any more time and rather prepare ourselves for battle” said a really wise Isabela.
Solas now again realises that he is not the Arkhen King here and should preferably not use his powers in battle or else everyone will find out his truth. He agrees with his wife and commands everyone to prepare for battle. He also asks them to inform the kings of Saerus, Kribeth, Wririn, Nido, and Kasha to prepare their forces for battle as well as to come and meet him so that they can discuss the battle plans.
A few days later, King Morrigan together with the rest of the northern armies has arrived on the southern soil. He knows the best way for him is to attack from the eastern side since the Selux River is connected to another river channel there. That is from where he will arrive with his ships and his Vrailan army. First though, he sends the Creagon army through the front land to divert focus away from him as well as to create a clear passage for the rest of the armies to enter. Creagon is the biggest kingdom in the north and their men are known for their robustness and size. They also have the support of hundreds of wolves, most of which are enchanted by Queen Fihon using magic. Magic has been banned from the realms for a long time now, but King Morrigan in desperation has taken advantage of his wife’s elf bloodline.
The battle eventually erupts across the front side of the river at the two small defence kingdoms of Selux, Nido, and Wririn. The Creagon army is joined with the Warenth army doing battle at Nido, but everyone notices something strange. There are only a few wolves with them. This wolves also look like the normal ones and not the enchanted ones that the Lasan rider was talking about. The combined armies of Borun, Kelpon, and Giora are at the same time doing battle at Wririn who themselves are joined by the Kribeth army. The Kasha army will defend the East River together with half of the Selux army. As for the Saerus army, they have still not reached the battlegrounds.
King Solas and Isabela will also be at the East River walls waiting for King Morrigan. Amos meanwhile, will lead the rest of the Selux army in defence of the front gate of the kingdom. The women who are not part of the armies together with the children are inside the palace’s safety chambers led by Janie Geoffrey and Emilia Carver.
Now at the front gate, Amos and his men realise something is coming through the forest ahead.
“Get your guards up!” shouts Amos.
They all notice that it is the enchanted wolves who are racing through the forest in between the two battle places and straight into the gates of the bridge. They are too strong for the men as they cannot seem to die just as the Lasan rider said. The archers on the walls try to help them, but arrows too are hardly having any effect on them. The wolves are now also joined by the Berith army and half of the Creagon army who now clearly have the upper hand. Amos and his men are now completely against it and cannot hold them off much longer. Solas eventually is realised that the bridge is breached and that Amos requires his help so he has to give up his East River guard so that he can help them.
“The front gate is breached. Amos is in trouble. They will not be able to hold much longer. I need to help them” he tells Isabela.
“Go! You do not need to worry about here. I got this. I will take care of it” replied Isabela.
Solas climbs on Noxa and takes off for the front gate. As he reaches the place, he realises that swords are not having much effect on the wolves, but he also cannot use dragon fire since most of his men are already part of the battle. Therefore, he flies over the walls and commands his archers to fire their arrows lit with fire. It majorly works like many of the wolves’ burn to death. Solas now joins his men on the ground as Noxa flies on the edges burning the enemies who still have not yet engaged the Selux army. One of the wolves jumps on Amos but he manages to strike his sword through its neck and rip it apart. He realises that it is not getting up again like they used to when they stroked at other parts of their bodies. He then tries to inform everyone else about it.
“Go for their necks. Separate their heads from their bodies. They will not get up again” he shouts at the top of his voice.
Solas and the men who hear him start following his idea while the others tell
those who cannot hear him as the message spreads fast. Now slowly, King Solas and his men start gaining the upper hand. King Morrigan is informed that the dragon is on the front gate. He tells himself that this could only mean that Solas is also on that side so he commands his men to begin the attack through the walls of the East River. The ships fire huge rocks which eventually break the walls giving the men a chance to enter the kingdom. King Morrigan and his wife lead the charge against Isabela and her army. Eventually Fihon and Isabela come to face as the Vrailan Queen says that she has been waiting for a long time for this moment.
“You always considered me as an inferior. Now you will know how superior my elf bloodline is and how inferior your humanity is” Fihon said to Isabela.
“Lady, I think you forget that you were banished from the elf kingdom. You are no longer an elf, but you are also not a human. What does that make you? A woman of two halves. Sitting on a wall and afraid to jump on either side” Isabela hilariously replies.
“Two halves is what I am going to do to your body. Then I will feed them to my dogs” replied an angry Fihon.
“Ha! That was almost funny” said Isabela before the both of them engaged in a sword battle.
Over at the front side of the kingdom, the Borun, Kelpon and Giora armies are now making their way to join the Berith army after their victory at Wririn. They have also brought dozens of elephants with them which gave them an upper hand at Wririn and now would give them an advantage here as well. Solas realising their presence eventually, commands his army to stop engaging them. He tells them that he has a better plan. He calls Noxa and takes flight towards the incoming armies. He begins burning the elephants and the north men. They have brought spearhead arrows but Solas is just too good for them as he easily dodges all of them. He then eventually burns every elephant and most of the armies down before they even reach the bridge. Now the Selux army completely has the upper hand. He flies over to Amos and tells him to take the lead.
“Take back the lead, brother. I have to go and assist your sister in law. Most of the men here are now surrendering so take care of it” Solas tells him.
“Go, brother. I got this” replied Amos.
Solas takes Noxa and flies towards the East River battleground to assist Isabela.
Now over at the East River, the Vrailan’s are dominating the Selux and Kasha armies. While Isabela is battling Fihon, King Morrigan makes his way towards the palace with some of his men. He knows where the safety chambers were because he has been there on numerous occasions for being a former ally of King Solas. He is trying to find princess Leliana. As he reaches the chambers, Emilia and Janie try to protect her but they are no warriors. They help her to escape from the chambers while they attack Morrigan and three of his men with sticks.
At the East River, Isabela is holding her own against Fihon, but she has got the backing of three other of her men. Isabela is still holding them all but knows that she cannot do it for much longer. Eventually, they notice a dragon roar which takes away the attention of Fihon and her men. Isabela takes advantage of this and quickly strikes down three of them. Fihon escapes but is now completely against it as Isabela dominates. Solas flies Noxa over to the ships which are still making their way to the walls. He burns all of them down before returning inside of the walls and doing the same to the Vrailan men. The northern armies may have come prepared, but they simply have no answer to dragon fire.
Inside the safety chambers, King Morrigan uses his sword to tease Janie and Emilia. He easily knocks off Emilia unconscious, but Janie keeps up a better fight. Eventually, though Morrigan has to use his sword as he strikes her down to her death.
“People should know who they are capable of beating. This was not bravery but foolishness” he tells her before she dies.
He then looks for Leliana before finding her hiding in the throne room.
“This is the place where your father makes a fool of his allies. I was also one of them for so long, but not now” Morrigan tells her.
“He always feared people like us. People who have the will to challenge him. When he found out that we are getting more powerful than him, he declared that every kingdom could rule themselves. Taking away our right to rule all men like he and his forefathers used to do. He has always disrespected me. Your father has caused me many problems. He always tried to play with my ego time and time again. You are the most precious thing in his life. That is why I have to kill you because your death will break him which will be worth way more than just killing him. I am sorry child, but you have to die” he continues to say.
At the East River, Fihon and her remaining army have also surrendered.
“Where is King Morrigan?” asks Solas.
Fihon does not say anything as Isabela also says that she could not see where he went. One of his men says that he saw him heading towards the palace. Just then Solas hears Leliana scream his name using his super hearing powers.
“Leliana” Solas says in a low and fearful voice.
Isabela says that she has to go right now but Solas tells her to deal here as he makes a run for the palace. Once he realises that he is beyond Isabela’s vision, he uses his super-speed to get there quickly.
As King Morrigan is about to take hold of Leliana, he hears an angry voice from behind.
“Morrigan!” shouts Solas in anger.
Morrigan turns around and gets stunned after seeing King Solas. He also notices that his men are lying dead on the ground.
“That is impossible. You were at the bridge. You cannot come here this quick” Morrigan murmurs in fear.
Solas tells Leliana to escape from, and she does it at once. He then turns his concentration towards King Morrigan.
“Is this the kind of kingdom that you want to build? Where you cowardly run away from battle and attack a child” said Solas.
“I only wanted to break you first and then kill you, but I guess I will have to do with just killing you” replied Morrigan.
He then takes out his sword and screams for battle.
“Come on! Let’s end this once and for all” screams Morrigan.
Solas smiles and then eventually asks him a question.
“Before you die, I want to ask you this for one last time. Tell me the truth about what part you played for the events of Wovia” asks Solas.
“You are still on that? I told you at the meeting that I had no part in that. I thought it was you, but now that you asked before your death, it seems you also were blind like me. It will not matter. I will deal with whoever was responsible when I am done killing you and your people” Morrigan replies with a smile.
Solas then asks him if it was not him then who else would kill Solas.
“How would I kn…….…..wait. What do you mean by who killed Solas?” asked a confused Morrigan.
Solas now shifts into his Arkhen predator form. The Arkhenians predator form is a little different than their dragon form. They remain human-like figures but with sharp dragon claws and predatory face.
Solas drops his sword in shock and fear and then asks who he is.
“I am the Arkhen King” responds Cullen in a loud predatory voice.
Morrigan picks his sword up again and tries to strike him, but Cullen blocks it with his left claws and then strikes it with his right ones cutting the sword into two pieces. He then uses his claws to hold his neck and then lifts him up.
“For the last time. What do you know of the Necros?” asks Cullen.
“Like I said. I do not know anything, and I hope you do not live long enough to find out” replied Morrigan.
Cullen drops him then beheads him with the stroke of his claws. Leliana sneaked and saw everything that transpired there.
“Daddy” she says in a very low voice.
Cullen realise what she has seen and quickly goes back to the form of King Solas. He then goes over to her and hugs her tightly.
“You are alright. Everything is alright now. Please know that I am not a monster. I am your father” he sa
ys.
“I know” replied Leliana.
“I called you. You came and saved me, but I did not know that you were like Noxa” she continues to say.
“Yes. I am like Noxa, and I will always protect you whenever you need me. I promise that I will always be there for you” said Solas.
He then takes off his family Arkhenian necklace and gives it to her.
“Your mother does not know about this. You have to promise me that you will not tell her as I will when the time is right. I need you to trust me” said Solas.
“I trust you father, and I promise that I will not tell anyone before you” replied Leliana.
He then holds Leliana’s hand with one arm and Morrigan’s head in the other as he heads towards the entrance of the palace. He can see that some parts of the battle still going on from the top. Noxa comes and sits beside him and then roars as loud as he can drawing many people’s attention. Solas now lifts the head of King Morrigan as a sign of victory. The allies of King Morrigan realise that the battle is lost so they all surrender themselves. Those who are far away also get the message eventually after which they also surrender. The entire Selux Kingdom roars to the sign of victory by beginning a chant.
“Solas, The King of all Men”
“Solas, The King of all Men”
“Solas, the King of all Men”
END OF CHAPTER 4.
CHAPTER 5
The Aftermath
It is almost night time and the entire Selux kingdom is filled with the joy of victory but also sadness for the lives that they lost in battle. The fallen have now been all cremated including those who stood with King Morrigan as now everyone is preparing for the victory feast to come at night. Before that happens though, Solas and the Selux Kingdom has to decide on how to deal with the surrendered northern armies. The leaders of each northern kingdoms are summoned at the Selux throne room where they are awaited by King Solas, Isabela and his allies.
