Old Friends, New Foes

"They are called thympiles. This is Khi. That red-bellied one is Arne. And the smallest is Mimo. They are ancient animals who were the original inhabitants of the floating isles. The isle people introduced them to us. We managed to train a few of them to protect them too." Fourteen brushed Khi's gigantic ears. It purred like a kitten under her scrubbing.

Midel walked to the side of the giant and saw the two large round eyes followed him on the side. They still had to prepare for the fight. Larika ordered for the remaining army to follow the Accursed One. When the soldiers saw the emperor's seal with her, they did not ask any further.

"Even though you are now stronger, you still need to rest." Lucien's cold back faced Yllana. She asked for all of them to grab weapons and anyone else who knows how to fight to go with them to the North Kingdom. The exchange of blows with the South's emperor just ended and now they will be back on the battlefield after a few minutes. She tied up her hair in a neat ponytail and looked at her eyes in the mirror. Yes, she was not dreaming. The red linings on the corner of her eyes are still there.

"I know."

"But what are you doing?" His tone was climbing a notch colder again.

Yllana crossed her arms. "I think this is the part where you'd explain why you have told your servants that I am their future mistress."

He suddenly turned around to face the girl with red eyes. The corners of her lips were slightly raised. But unlike the normal days, there were dark circles under her eyes. He squinted his eyes seeing her unyielding stance. 'Just like a real knight,' he thought.

"Why? Do you have somebody you like?" The room suddenly went cold. He took a step closer to her.

'Like'? Yllana thought of the word. She tilted her head to the side and raised a brow. Now that somebody asked, she had never thought of that word. She had women and children say they like 'him' when she used to be the Number One Holy Knight. They gave her flowers, bread, wine, and letters of encouragement. But that doesn't seem to apply to the situation right now. "Oh, I know," she grinned at him. She thought of 'why' the northerners liked her.

Lucien was stunned. He looked at her smile. It was the first time that he saw her grin like that, showing her little teeth. For a second, he held his breath and answered her a lopsided grin.

"I like you,"

Boom!

Something within him exploded. Was it expected? Yes. But was it expected this early? No. Lucien felt the corners of his lips went down and crept up again into a smile. A lump caught in his throat that he couldn't reply.

"People like it when I save them. You saved me many times already. So, I think I like you. And there's nothing I can hate about you." Then a thought passed through her mind.

"-blood,"

Lucien's face froze. He didn't hear her next words. His body just turned around and stepped away from her. He only managed to wake up from his trance when Midel and Larika came knocking on the door.

"Is everything alright?" Midel was still holding the door while looking at them. Larika was peeking behind him when she pointed at Yllana and whispered something.

Midel noticed a small light flickering beneath Yllana's chest. "What is that?" He raised a brow.

Lucien and Yllana followed his line of sight and saw a speck of light getting bigger and bigger until it almost covered her whole chest. Lucien turned around and after a split second he was rushing beside her.

He dashed as fast as he could and reached out his hand to her. He gritted his teeth. He reached the tip of her fingertips, but soon his eyes opened wide. He couldn't get any nearer.

"Lucien-" the light completely enveloped her body.

When he landed on the ground, Lucien stared at the spot where she disappeared. A red glint flashed across his eye and something clouded his face. No one could see his expression as they saw him walking back to the Thympiles.

"That was the North Kingdom's insignia on her chest. The Empress of the north called her back using a half-blood as passage." Midel explained to Larika while they were rushing to the Thympiles.

"A half-blood can summon a person? That is a nice power to possess." Larika commented beside Lucien.

"No, it's not. It uses sacrifices just like witches."

"What kind of sacrifices?"

"Souls."

~~~~~~~~~~

North Kingdom

Blood. The streets were splayed with a gruesome scene of a massacre. Arms and feet dismembered, guts poured out from open stomachs, heads sliced open showing bare brains – these are just some of the common sights that have now been scattered in the North Kingdom's outside territories.

Women and children ran and hide through the streets covered in both grime and dried blood. Soldiers scream at the streets for evacuation, for the people to flee to safety. Blanche looked at down on the streets. Her face looked older than a sixteen-year old's. She blinked hard as she called on her maidservant on the side. "Get her," she said.

Two was standing by the door when he heard the Empress's orders. "Is it really our last resort?"

"Look at the kingdom, if what they wanted was as simple as my life, they would have asked for us to surrender, but they attacked without prior notice. They want more than just one life. They want the death of the whole kingdom and I can not let that happen. Prepare the cellar and place her in the circle of St. Teron."

He quickly gave the orders. The other five Holy Knights gathered in a dark cellar with only one torch lit.

"She's a real bitch thinking that she is the prettiest woman in the kingdom," Two stretched his neck side to side. "Now, let's get started."

"Circle of Teron," Three started to form the circle. Two more knights joined to make the circle a bit larger. They removed all the things from the cellar. The battle sounds outside were getting louder and louder as the Southern soldiers get nearer by the hour.

"The defenses around the palace have been intensified. There were more knights at the gates and the doors have been barred triple-fold. Hurry! We need her!" An elder from ran to the door of the cellar to shout the progress of the war to the Holy Knights.

As their hearts beat faster, they look at the messy girl in the middle of the circle. There was mud and a few strewn leaves on her muddy hair. Her skirt was torn at the edges. A sleeve was missing. She looked like an ordinary beggar on the streets, except that her eyes were glaring with a red color. Just how many souls has she eaten to make her eyes look like she had bathed them in blood?

Two took a deep breath and stepped inside the circle with her. Her chains were enchanted, making her unable to use her own life force. Two took his sword and pointed it at her throat. A string of blue light flowed out of his palm and slid down to the sword. It entered the girl's neck and was absorbed inside her body. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, it was glowing a shade of bright blue. "Summon Yllana Saber," he commanded to the girl in front of him.

As she heard the name, a creepy smile snuck in her face. "Ianuae Magicae…Yllana Saber," Her voice was sweet. But something was underlying in the way she said the name. A spark fleeted in her eyes that Two caught. He caught a glimpsed of it. His grip on his sword tightened. The shouts outside the palace gates turned into roars and banging metals, the signal that the palace grounds have been breached already.

After a while, a golden light flickered beside the witch. It formed a figure of a woman with long hair tied in a ponytail. Two held his breath.

"Lucien," that voice that they heard for the first time as the voice of the one they admired the most in battles has finally sounded. Her clear and crisp tone echoed in the room. It was only the second time that they will be hearing it. The first one was when they joined hands in defeating the previous empress.

"Yllana!" The girl beside her shrieked as the figure cleared up and presented a girl with red eyes and red hair. She was taller than an average woman for her age. But there was a stern expression on her face that is not common for a woman of noble lineage. Last time, they saw her with blood on her hands. This time, as they gaze at her, they see again her sword had dried blood on it. Did something happen?

"Sudis," the girl held the ground…but nothing came out. Yllana looked at the girl with messy hair. She noticed that the girl was staring at her with a sharp gaze.

"So, you're the one who summoned me." The red lines on the corner of her eyes glimmered for a second. "Hello…Mira,"

"Her life force is sealed. We…" Two felt something stuck on his throat.

"We need you…" Empress Blanche arrived with tears about to drop from her eyes. There was blood on her skirt and a sword by her hand. "Lend us your strength, please…"

Here is an empress pleading for a knight to save her kingdom.

"Take me to the battlefield." Yllana's tired eyes sharpened as she heard Blanche's voice.