A Kingdom of Bloodshed

*¬*Chapter Thirty*¬*

Chaos. Destruction. The crown shows us what our future looks like. Blood is plastered all over the grass, the roads. It's on the walls and streets. People are screaming, babies cry. There's half rotten corpses, some looked burned; others are slowly bleeding to death. The buildings in this kingdom have been torn to shreds. Glass shattered, walls blown wide open. I don't even know which Kingdom this belonged to.

It rushes us through the mess, through the pain and suffering. We see dead bodies and more destruction. I can hear the faint booming of magic and bombs going off. The sounds of beasts roaring and shrieking.

It's hard to accept it. To understand what is just around the corner.

Shall I continue? The crown whispers to me. Yes I whisper back. We are forwarded to a new kingdom, one I recognize. It's my home. My old one.

The castle has been split in half, the grounds have been raked over with long claws that tore up the dirt and destroyed my mother's flower bushes. The streets are plugged with holes and debris.

There's so much silence, so much pain here I can feel it. My people are dying, they have suffered greatly. Their blood runs in pools down the cobblestone streets, the bird song has ended. There's no joy left here, only anguish.

It brings tears to my eyes but I force myself to keep watching, to play more until we've seen the chaos of all four kingdoms and the terrible end we all meet.

I watch as Anna gets beheaded by a winged beast, as Anil gets speared by a soldier wearing red.

I watch as Flare and Star die together in each other's arms their magic exploding through the battlefield trying to protect those they love. That power is brighter than the sun.

I watch as Kaz rips through Augustus's soldiers with his claws and teeth, as he aims for the center. His sight set on his sibling. I see it all. Curseclaw and Xavier, so much power. So much pain and darkness and chaos. I see it all and cannot stop it.

I don't want to keep watching. I don't want to know if Kaz dies or even myself. But the crown won't let me stop. It pushes me forward still.

The next few images are the worst of them all. I have to watch as Augustus claims all his power as he aims a single finger at Kaz. Then in a battle roar both males lunge at each other their magic colliding in a giant boom. But it's not enough, Kaz cannot win. I feel my body begin to shake as Augustus throws bolt after bolt at his brother until Kazimir is on the ground gasping for air, blood pooling from his mouth.

No. I don't want to see this I gasp.

You must beautiful Queen. So I do. I watch as Augustus picks up a sword, imbues it with his evil magic and spears Kaz through the chest, over and over and over again.

I think I'm screaming.

Finally, I see myself. Standing far off from the battle watching it all. Watching and screaming until my magic rips from me and spreads over the battlefield. Aiming for Augustus and his evil heart. It rips the air and bends time to its will. There's no end to the amount of hurt I see spilling from me. It keeps going and going and going until it reaches him. Wrapping around Augustus and his Blood demon, squeezing their lungs and ripping the air from around them.

I watch as my body weakens because I'm killing myself. Sacrificing my powers, my life for others. It's not until every last drop of my power has left my body that Augustus falls to the ground dead.

That Curseclaw gets sent back to hell and Xavier is sent to the afterlife again. Only after I've died does the chaos stop, does the bleeding stop.

I don't want to keep going. The crown drags us all back to the present, each of us letting go with a gasp and a wail.