The Traitor of Inlustris

LXIII

Deafening shouts filled the crumbling hallways of the palace. People ran about in hopes of finding a safe space. With the crumbling walls and jagged floors, nowhere was secure.

Everything swayed, as if we were all atop of a body of water. Smoke gathered everywhere, obstructing all of our visions. The background noise were the coughs of most as they breathed in the dust.

I waved a hand willing all of the dust and grime to disappear before our eyes. People choked up as I ran around trying to find the soldiers that used to be standing in front of us.

Metal clashed together outside. I scooped the length of my dress up to my knees, kicked off my heels, and ran out. With a flick of my wrist, the heavy doors flew open. An arrow whizzed past my face. My heart thundered in my chest as it embedded itself into a flower pot.

"The Inlustris is ours!" The other side chanted.

Soldiers at the far end of the field, right where the town used to stand proudly, took their aim. A wave of arrows flew through the gray skies, but before they could impale me and others, I snapped my fingers and stopped them mid-air. They dropped to the ground like useless sticks children found to play with.

"The Inlustris is ours!" They continued.

"Your leader only wants its power," I growled. I stomped my foot, sending a shock wave through the ground. The enemy lost their balance, and my army took the opportunity.

Blood splattered across my face as multiple enemy soldiers were slaughtered. Their eyes widened in realization of their death, and stared at me in indignation and regret, but it was too late. The deed was done. Their eyes rolled back inside their skull as their soul left.

I prayed Gracious had mercy on their souls.

Soldiers fell back, impaled by swords or beheaded. My stomach twisted at the sight. I wished for it all to stop, but it wouldn't until they realized they were in the wrong. They were fighting for the wrong side, but I couldn't even blame them. They were only obeying their superiors. That was something to admire, but perhaps they should have realized their superiors were power-hungry bastards that only cared for themselves.

Their loyalties were wasted on terrible rulers.

If only they knew who they were serving, maybe they would have acted differently. But now wasn't the time to negotiate, it was time to act.

Explosions came from the west wing of the palace. I turned to see it up in flames. Pillars fell, causing more ground shaking. People cowered by the door, seemingly entranced by the carnage outside. My eyes met Herc's. He gave me a solemn nod. The unexpected approval rejuvenated me once more, and I stepped further outside.

I willed a ball of fire to materialize. The tickling sensation crept up my arm as I threw it across the field, successfully burning a line of soldiers. My army took that chance to fill up with more energy and slaughter mercilessly. Their high was enough to destroy a third of the enemy in a few minutes.

I continued throwing lines of fire. That only seemed to fuel my army. They fed off my element, my Naturae.

With that thought, I summoned a huge wall of fire, similar to the one I intended to burn Mahli with. My army strengthened and seemed to multiply as my flames reached higher to the sky. The fight in front of me glowed a pearlescent blue.

Finally, when I felt like I was about to combust, I launched it to the unsuspecting enemy, and watched them writhe on the floor until they turned to ashes. I cried for their lives, but knew I had to do it to protect my kingdom, as terrible as it was.

I wasn't going to let the dark swallow the light.

A line of explosions distracted me from staring out into the carnage and being bathed in blood. I turned to see one side of the palace crumble to the ground. I sobbed, and started rushing people to come outside.

Many were scared to be so close to the battle, but when they realized the palace was going to collapse, they huddled together and ran out. I created a shield to protect them from flying weapons. As expected, arrows tried to penetrate my shield. They yelped, screamed, and sobbed as I led them away from the danger-or as far away from it as possible. The truth was that danger surrounded us, and my shield was the only thing protecting them.

Philip stared at me from inside the shield. He looked as if he had seen a ghost, pale and in shock. I couldn't blame him. It wasn't every day the little girl you watched grow up and tended to was able to take the Inlustris, command an army that came out of nowhere, and bring quite a fight against all the other kingdoms.

Even I am shocked I made it this far.

"Queen Antonella!" Kora exclaimed from the crowd. I turned to see an arrow coming towards my head. I snapped my fingers and it fell on my feet, but that also stopped my concentration and my shield dropped. I gasped and built another one as a man was shot in the arm.

The ground started shaking, and I hurried everyone to keep moving. Loud booms were heard as the palace was blasted. I gazed through glossy eyes as my home crumbled to pieces before me.

The only upside was the fact that I had the Inlustris inside me, otherwise that would've been destroyed, or worse...taken. Now every memory I treasured, every item of sentimental value was burned. The home I grew up in...gone, like it was nothing.

Miles apart, the war still continued. My army went about hacking at the enemy like wild men. Soldiers fell left and right, and I wondered how many of them were tricked individuals from Terra Venuste, people that were uninvolved in this subject matter.

I needed to put a stop to it.

Doubt encircled my mind. Would I be able to stop this war? Would I be able to win? So far I've done acts that were deemed impossible. However, I wasn't sure a couple of unpredictable showcasings of magic abilities could stop King Rasmus from his greed.

Would this war ever end?

I moaned as my insides started burning up. The sensation burned all around, swirling in different areas.

The Inlustris.

Perhaps my human side wasn't enough to defeat them.

The burning started subsiding.

However, the joining of my human side with the Inlustris, a direct object from Gracious, was enough to defeat anything.

The burning left as if it was nothing.

I bit the bottom of my lip as I stared out into the battlefield. Tears flowed from my eyes at the sight of so many dead bodies. Turning back to what used to be the palace, I sobbed.

Everything was destroyed.

"Kora," I called. She hesitantly walked out of the shield, ducking behind me.

I waved a hand and handed her a bow. She took it in her hands, surprised, and pulled back the string as if she was about to shoot.

I made an arrow. It was silver and shimmered blue. I pressed the tip to my lips. "King Rasmus," I whispered onto it. It shimmered brightly, and I handed it to her. She gulped as she readied it in the bow.

"Shoot King Rasmus," I ordered.

I plucked the brume from Philip's hands, and dialed their line. The kings and princes appeared before me in their haste, shouting at each other as if they were in mid-argument.

"Take aim," I turned to Kora. She stared at the kings, and pointed high to the sky.

"What are you doing?" King Rasmus hissed.

I held the brume projector and watched as Kora took her stance. With a pull of the bow's string, she let the arrow fly.