Chapter 20: Chapter 20

She tried to feel his emotions but couldn't. Probably because the cell was enchanted.

"It's nice to finally meet the long-lost Princess of Lunae in person." He bowed to her.

"I believe you have seen me on different occasions seeing that you tried to kill me twice," she said with as much composure as she could muster while talking about the attempts on her life.

He let out a dark chuckle. "I think you and I will get along just fine."

"It depends…" she stared into his black eyes, trying not to flinch at how soulless they were.

"On?"

She shrugged, an act that she regretted when the amusement vanished from his face. His features became serious.

"Only if you tell me what I want to hear," she rushed to say.

He smirked again. "Tell me, Princess, what do you want to hear?"

"Why did you try to kill me?" She went straight to the point, wanting to get away from him as quickly as possible.

"On orders of someone. I only follow orders," he said. His vagueness annoyed Kathy.

"Who do you work for?"

"I work with the Queen." He made emphasis on the word 'with' while giving her a pointed look. Finally a direct answer.

"Mother?" She asked, frowning then turned to Hala who shook her head repeatedly.

"Of course not, I work with the dark Queen," he replied. His voice held pride and respect for whoever the dark Queen was.

"Who is the Dark Queen and who are you to her?" She asked again.

"I am her second in command. The dark Queen is the ruler of the shadow kingdom who single-handedly defeated the shadow lord and took over his throne," he explained in a tone that contained nothing but pride.

"Shadow kingdom? Where is that located?" She turned to her parents to ensure they were listening to every detail and they were.

"It is located on no man's land. The shadow kingdom is a kingdom for the soulless," he said, walking around in his cell. No wonder his eyes looked empty, he was soulless.

Something didn't feel right to Kathy. He answered every question she asked without any complaints or demands. And If the dark Queen was as powerful as he made her seem, why would she let her second in command be caught so easily?

Except he let himself be captured.

The man came up to the gate. "I can see the wheels turning in your head, Princess. What are you thinking about so seriously?" He asked.

"Why would you allow yourself to be captured? I doubt the Queen would let her right-hand man be captured and not do anything to get him back," she pointed out, tilting her head slightly.

He clapped his hands, astonishment painting his face. "Beautiful and smart. You surprise me, Princess. I didn't know you would catch on let alone so quickly."

"Catch on to what? Why are you here? What are your plans?" She asked in one breath.

"Catch on to the twist and about my plans, it's already begun. The Queen knew you would put me in an enchanted cell where no magic works including mind-bond. So, there would be no way to contact the top royal family since they would be busy interrogating me. We just had to make sure they were all present," he spoke, seeming satisfied that his plans fell into place.

Kathy dreaded where he was getting to. Something was surely going on and none of them were aware of it.

"Where are you driving at?" Aerial asked impatiently.

The man kept quiet and stared at the gate in front of him. Kathy noticed his mouth moving. He seemed to be having a countdown.

"Two… one.." He said out loud with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Go find out what is happening outside the dungeon," Aerial instructed two of the guards.

The man let out a loud dark chuckle that made Kathy shiver in fear.

"Right about now, thousands of shadow warriors have stormed every city of every colony. The true Queen would take over Lunae in a few minutes and there is nothing you all can do about it," he yelled as everyone ran out of the dungeon leaving the man alone with a guard.

As soon as they got out of the dungeon, the mind-bond opened. People flooded into their heads with alerts. The emergency number kept being repeated by Generals in every colony. They found out that the shadow warriors had taken over almost half of two out of the four colonies and the rest were getting weaker as their defenses were compromised. The shadow warriors did that in a few minutes.

"How close are they to the Castle?" Hala asked, trying to keep the dread she felt out of her features. Kathy felt her emotions as clear as day. Hala knew there was not much they could do, her warriors weren't prepared for that kind of enemy. They had no idea that those kinds of beings even existed.

"Thirty minutes, Luna Queen," A messenger from the eastern colony said and Kathy began the countdown in her head.

"That's enough time to gather our best warriors and secure the Castle. We cannot allow them to get a hold of Lunae's secrets hidden in the castle. I would die before I let that happen," Hala swore, but Kathy was aware that she knew what could happen. Hala told her the secrets of Lunae and what would happen if the wrong person grabs a hold of them. Lunae would be doomed.

Aerial opened his mouth to speak but Hala stopped him, guessing what he wanted to say.

"No, nobody is saying goodbye!" She said to him angrily then turned to Kathy.

"Princess, stay in the safe room and don't come out until your father or I come to get you."

"No, mother, I won't. If dying today while fighting for my people is my fate, then so be it," Kathy said, seriously. Hala probably saw that she couldn't talk her out of it and nodded with a proud look on her face.

Hala called together all the castle warriors and magicians. Everyone who could fight with weapons or their powers was to join in defending the Castle and the rest hid in the dungeon. Aerial then took over in arranging them in formations. The archers were to take to the roof and the swordsmen led by Triton were to be on the ground. The magicians were placed inside of the castle alongside some warriors. Kathy took her spot with the elementals in the Castle.

Twenty minutes passed and everyone held their breaths in anticipation. Yells were heard from afar as the invaders announced their arrival. The defense outside the castle gate was quickly compromised as the shadow warriors made their way into the castle. Kathy took a deep breath and took a fighting stance.

She thought of April and hoped that she was safe. If she were to die that day, she would be happy that April was safe. The shadow people didn't get the benefit of the element of surprise as the fighters inside the castle were prepared for them. They were met with the sword fighters first who fought expertly.

The shadow warriors were not shadows but supernatural beings who dark magic had taken over. They fought with shadow magic in the shape of weapons. One warrior came running to Kathy and she sidestepped him at the last minute making him lose balance. He turned back to her with a growl and lunged at her with a spear of black smoke in hand, taking her down to the floor. Her back hit the ground first, sending pain that momentarily distracted her.

With her power, she burned his hands on her making him yell in agony. That gave her an Idea. She left that warrior and turned to see how everyone was fairing. The shadow warriors had numbers to their advantage as Lunae warriors were outnumbered.

She created two balls of fire in each hand and with that, she took down every warrior in her path while dodging their black mists. The shadow warriors kept on pouring in and Hala set obstacles of stones in their paths slowing them down. The elementals took out more soldiers than the warriors because they were fighting magic with magic. The elementals could block the dark magic with theirs.

A young warrior stood in front of Kathy. He looked like he would not be more than fifteen years old. Kathy wondered why the dark Queen would send kids into a battle. In Lunae, only adults are allowed to fight. The kid smirked evilly at her before running towards her. She ducked just in time and delivered a blow to his head, knocking him out.

She shook her head, that was too easy.

More shadow warriors kept on pouring in and everyone was getting sloppy. Each Lunae warrior fought against three or four shadow warriors at the same time. Kathy was fighting with two warriors in front of her and didn't notice the one behind her until he sent a kick to the back of her legs making her fall to the ground. She rolled onto her back quickly but could not evade the punch to the side of her face. The pain dazed her for a moment but she shook it off.

Her quick response was to sweep the warrior off his feet with her leg then twisted his neck while he was down.

Her first kill.

Quick and easy, she felt nothing after killing him. Standing up quickly, she turned to another warrior and wrapped a rope of fire around his neck, tightening it until she strangled him to death. The next warrior was more unfortunate as she set her hair on fire and let her burn.

The shadow warriors didn't seem to finish. She saw Hala fighting against three warriors at a time. Hala moved quickly and precisely, she knew when to strike. Another warrior moved towards Hala from behind her. Kathy knew that Hala would not see that warrior until he had done some damage. She ran towards Hala and moved to take out that warrior when someone wrestled her to the ground.

It was the man from the dungeon. The Queen's second in command.

"Hello again, Princess."

"How did you get out?" She asked above the noise of battle.

He brought his lips close to her ear. "I was never there," he said then head-butted her. Kathy was dizzy for a few seconds as her head started spinning.

When she recovered, she raised her knee and planted it on his spine. His groan of pain satisfied her and she pushed him off her with much struggle. She heard someone scream in pain, it was Hala. Kathy left the man and ran towards Hala to find her on the floor with a warrior on top of her. Hala had a gash on her forehead that looked nasty. Kathy rushed at the warrior, pushing him off Hala and setting him on fire. The sickening smell of roasted hair and meat filled the room.

"Thank you, my Moon," Hala said and Kathy nodded.

"Are any of our people dead?" Kathy asked, breathing heavily and looking around. When she turned to where she previously stood, the man was no longer there.

"We have no deaths from our side but I noticed something. They don't kill people but injure them enough to put them out of the way. I think the dark Queen wants all of our people to rule over…" Hala dodged a ball of black mist coming her way and raised rock in front of the warrior who sent it, tripping him.

Kathy fisted an arrow made with fire in her hands and sent it to a man running to her, killing him instantly. Suddenly, all the shadow warriors that had been killed stood up again as nothing happened. The girl Kathy burned to death didn't even have a scratch on her.

"What the hell is going on?" Kathy asked Hala then everyone she had previously killed ran towards her simultaneously.