The Helper

Blood poured down on the entire South Kingdom. The roofs, the windows, and the streets dripped a red hue. The air smelled like murder just happened. But there were no bodies around nor were there any soldiers bleeding from wounds on the streets.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Did someone anger the heavens again?"

"I think the witches did something again. The emperor said that he was going to turn back the citizens to normal, maybe this was part of the plan?"

The imperial soldiers chatted on the streets and alleyways, taking shelter on the empty stores and houses. All of them hoped that the emperor does fulfill his promise about their loved ones. Their eyes kept glancing at the gates to the emperor's palace. There was something in the way the emperor spoke that made them trust him completely. And before they knew it, they had already agreed to the plan that will change the entire South Kingdom.

On one of the walls of the South Kingdom, a blinding white light erupted from a little girl's body. White specks of light masked her body as endless clear liquid trickled through the ground where she was kneeling. She was shuddering all over. Her cries and wails only contained one word, 'grandma'.

A woman in orange robes emerged on her side. She couldn't speak. She tried to reach out a hand to the little girl but it stopped midway. She wanted to say something, something to ease the little girl's pain, but she felt her throat choke on the words.

Kareem and Elisha stood on Mariek's side. Silent tears fell from their faces as the blood rain continued to fall. It took only a few minutes before the rain came to a stop, but it felt like forever to them. When Mariek finally stopped crying, her hair and eyes had turned white.

"Master, we are here." Elisha comforted. She looked over at Kareem. He was still sniffling and wiping the tears from his eyes. This is going to be hard. She heaved a deep sigh before trying to reach over to Mariek once more.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yllana's eyes brightened up again like there's a fire burning inside. Darion's smile widened. He licked his two fangs on the sides one after another. Something in his eyes lit up and he felt the urge to just grab her by her neck. It was something he never felt for anyone, something so sinister, something so dark inside him that woke up for the first time. 'Is this simply desire?' He grinned at Lucien. This man is standing between him and his 'desire'. He must find a way to get rid of this obstacle.

"You demon! Ahhhh!" Yllana screamed as she locked her eyes on Darion.

Leon's arm just fell off and the skin curdling screams of the boy did not stop. His face turned pale. He was having a hard time catching his breath. Yllana lunged forward wanting to try and snatch the helpless little boy on the enemy's grip.

Lucien ran to Vannie and placed the boy on the ground. He then went to Azimuth's group. He summoned the blood staff and planted it near the edge of the dome that Darion created. Placing both of his hands on the ground, he started to release his life force around the dome.

Outside the palace, five shadow serpents crawled on five different water fountains. There were black gems on the fountains positioned in the bottom. As the serpents reached the stones, humanlike figures bubbled up from the small stones. The trails of blood mixed with the water made the water-folks look hideous. They winced at the smell of blood and shook their watery bodies to get rid of the blood. Five water-folks suddenly popped out in the internal cities of the South Kingdom. Sneaking in the shadows and turning into puddles when noticed, the water-folks entered the palace grounds.

Their eyes widened as they witnessed thousands and thousands of people all sprayed with blood. They were citizens of the South Kingdom along with some of the soldiers. They were wiping the blood off and crying at the same time. But there were no dead bodies on sight.

"What happened here?" asked one of the water-folks.

"Look over there," whispered another.

In the middle of the crowd, there were a few people who, unlike the rest of the citizens, just stood motionless with their white eyes staring into nothingness. There were also some who had one normal eye and one white. They looked at one another before sneaking inside the imperial palace.

Darion sensed an unfamiliar presence drawing near them. He pushed the sword with his claws. Yes, claws. His hands have turned into black-colored sharp blades acting as claws when he closes them (weapon and shield at the same time). Yllana moved a few steps back and glared at him.

Their eyes twitched.

"Protect her!" Lucien glowered at them.

"She will kill us!" They yelled in unison while pointing their fingers at her.

Yllana was stood rooted inn her spot. When did she meet this tribe and when did she ever declare to kill them? Did she get knocked out too hard in the last war that she was developing forgetfulness?

"Useless," Lucien's dark eyes changed into red. Azimuth and his companions saw the change in their master's eyes. Fear crept into their bones. If they had not jumped into the emperor's trap, they wouldn't be inside the invisible dome. They would not be in this situation right now needing their master's help to free themselves.

"Master, you can just leave us here." Azimuth clenched his fist. They were the ones who were supposed to help Lucien. He felt bitter at his thoughts.

"Do you think she would like that?" Lucien replied with a smirk on his face. He slammed the black smoke to the barrier. Small cracks appeared. As he slammed in more and more, he gritted his teeth not noticing that his fangs start to grow longer.

The water-folks stood on the side and looked on the fight. Darion smiled at them. He could feel the fear on their eyes as they gaze on Yllana.

"Your cavalry is useless," teased Darion to Lucien.

Yllana could feel her life force slowly depleting. Blue was yelling inside her to help. But how would she gather life forces if he would let them do the heavy lifting? She silenced that woman inside her core as she took heavy breaths.

'Lend me your strength. That is enough.' She sent the message to Blue.

When Blue received the message, she raised her hands and closed her eyes. Blue streaks of light flowed out from her fingers and Yllana's body started to absorb it. A pair of electric blue eyes behind the trees studied Blue. But Blue did not pay any attention to it. She ignored it ever since it attacked Yllana.

"Ignorant and cowardly beasts like you do not even deserve the word beast. You better go back to that water tribe of yours. You do not deserve such a master." Blue snapped at the phoenix.

It didn't reply. It just stared at the pools inside Yllana's core. But it could also sense the water-folk outside.

Yllana sensed the pouches at the side of her waist. Her eyes were searching for something inside that room. When she detected that presence that she was waiting for, her eyes flickered. 'It's time.'

She flipped her sword and advanced once again. Darion hissed and met her sword with his claws. After they clashed again, Yllana swiped one of her hands to the pouch and forcefully jumped back and threw the pouch on Darion's face.

Boom!

Smoke covered the room. The explosion caught the other's attention and covered their eyes as the dust and force blew harshly.

Swoosh!

Amidst the smoke, a green-colored light dashed to the emperor. When the dust settled a bit, Yllana smiled at the alluring woman hugging the emperor, or whatever was left of him. Tori had a smile that did not reach her eyes. She was holding an empty pouch on one of her hands, and another on a death grip on the emperor's collar.

The flesh on his face almost fell out. Her face was peeled off and there was still flesh hanging on his jaw and cheek bones. Everyone could see his two fangs and his complete set of teeth. His eyes darted from Yllana to the witch in front of him. His upper body had large pieces of skin burnt everywhere and chunks of his flesh fell all over the place. But before his flesh could start regenerating, the witch already poured on the poison on him.

"Witch! You'll pay!" Darion roared as he pierced his claws on Tori's waist. "Lacus!"

With that one word, they both disappeared. Yllana fell on her knees. The glow on her eyes faded once more and she took deep breaths.

Darion's hold on Azimuth's group also broke down and they quickly dashed over the water-folks.

"You know what happens when you betray the master." Azimuth barked at them, his other companions were seething with anger too as they bared their fangs on the five useless water-folks.

Screams and splashes of water pervaded the air. Soon, there were no more traces of waterlike beings in the room.