Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Fear clouded Kathy's senses and she forgot how to breathe. It wasn't until Hala pulled her out of the way that she realized that a misty knife was thrown at her. The girl rushed at her quickly with another knife in hand taking her to the ground with a slam as another man went after Hala. Extreme pain in the left side of her abdomen made her realize that she had been stabbed.

With much effort, she pushed the girl off her and touched her stomach in despair. When she raised her hand to her face, it was covered in blood. The wound was deep from what she could feel. She threw a weak punch at the girl who caught her arm and sent a kick to her wounded stomach. Kathy collapsed to the ground in pain, gasping for air as the wind got knocked out of her.

Kathy tried to start a fire but the girl smashed her head into the ground. Kathy's eyes rolled to the back of her skull, her vision blurring. She then understood why Lunae soldiers could not stand a chance against the shadow warriors–they were indestructible. She realized that when they rose after being killed. The girl on top of her threw various punches at her face and Kathy tried her dizzy best to block some.

Why wasn't she healing?

With the accelerated healing from the moon, she should have started healing by now but the wound kept on bleeding heavily. She was frightened, tired, and hurt. She was never ready to go into battle, never prepared enough. Now, she was going to die just like that. The words of the shadow came back to her mind. She was weak.

'Kathy, please, get up!' Hala's voice rang in her head.

'I can't!' She whimpered.

'Yes, you can! I can't help you now but you can't die like this,' Hala said to her. She could feel the mind-bond fading.

The girl got off Kathy and raised her hand with a sword in hand to finish Kathy off.

'Kathy, please!' Hala pleaded again, sounding more desperate that time. Kathy heard her voice like an echo.

Unable to get her body to stand up, Kathy closed her eyes in defeat. She was bleeding and in so much pain. That was it, the end of her pathetic existence.

"That's enough, Talia!" A familiar voice said coming towards them. Kathy couldn't muster enough strength to look up to see who saved her from dying.

"But she tried to kill me!" The girl, Talia spat, still standing with the sword raised.

"Don't be petty, honey, you can't die as long as I'm alive," the familiar voice said.

Kathy managed to peel her eyes open with much difficulty. Her sight was still slightly blurry making it impossible for her to see. Someone pulled her up and dragged her to the corner of the Castle, there she saw some other elementals. All of them were in bad shape, they were bleeding and exhausted. Why weren't they healing?

She looked around for Hala but couldn't find her. She couldn't find Aerial or Triton. Talia and the female who saved her were nowhere to be found.

"Has anyone seen my parents and brother?" Kathy asked through the pain of her swollen face.

"The last time I saw Luna, she was taken down by a warrior," a water elemental replied. His head was bleeding severely and he was slowly losing consciousness.

Kathy prayed that her family was still alive wherever they were.

She ripped a piece of her dress off and pressed it over the man's head. That movement caused great pain in her abdomen. Her insides felt like it was on fire, she still wasn't healing. From the beginning of the ballroom to the end were bodies for Lunae warriors with the shadow warriors walking around and making sure nobody stood up. None dead but all severely injured.

"How many casualties from our side?" Kathy asked, holding her stomach. The pain increased drastically after she helped the man.

"Everyone is badly injured. At this rate, we would be bleeding to death in a short time," a woman said. The woman cradled her broken left arm in her right hand.

"What is your name?" Kathy asked her.

"Selah, Princess."

"Selah, what happened after the dead soldiers rose? I must have blacked out after I was stabbed," Kathy asked.

"We were fighting with the previously dead warriors when a man commanded them to stop. They rounded us up, and took the royals," Selah explained.

If they took the royals, why was she still there? She decided not to dwell too much on that as she needed to help her people. Shame immediately hit her as her mind reminded her of how quickly she gave up and surrendered to death a while ago. She would have left her people to the clutches of the Dark Queen. Not that her presence would save them from the dark Queen. Only the goddess can help them now.

"Princess, we have to help the rest," Selah said, standing up.

Kathy carefully got up with her and went to help the wounded warriors. They used whatever piece of clothing they could find as bandages and makeshift slings for the warriors. The shadow warriors did nothing but watch them carefully.

How quickly the tide changed. In a few hours, Lunae was taken over by strangers. The shadow people patrolled the castle like they owned it. Technically they did.

"This won't stop the bleeding, they need medical attention," Kathy said to Selah. The man who had a head injury passed out a few minutes ago with his head still bleeding. Thankfully, he was still alive.

"We can't do anything else, Princess."

"I'll see if I can convince one of them to give us some supplies," Kathy said, then moved towards the shadow warriors.

"But…" Selah tried to protest but Kathy kept on moving. If she would get killed for trying to help her people then so be it.

Kathy stood in front of a man who seemed to have a problem with the world. He glared at her intensely with the black veins straining on his forehead. The dark magic had completely taken over him.

She took a deep breath then said, "My people are injured and in need of medical care."

He cocked a brow at her as if saying 'and so?'

"Can I go to the medical wing to get some supplies?" She asked in a low voice. His stare was beginning to bother her.

"Why would I let you do that?" He asked in a deep voice, still glaring at her.

After much persuasion which involved back and forth sentences, he finally allowed her to go only if he went with her. Kathy led the way and Selah came with her and the man walked behind both women.

"The Queen would have pleasure taming this one." She heard the man say to himself. Both women looked back to see who he was referring to. He only smiled smugly and continued walking.

They grabbed what they needed from Cynthia's makeshift hospital and went to help the people. They sat back down, quietly waiting for anything to happen. However, they didn't have to wait for long as the Queen's second in command came in. His eyes searched the room and fell on Kathy.

He came closer and pulled her up. Her wound protested painfully as she was dragged along with him. Selah shot her a pitiful look and Kathy could only hope that he doesn't finish what they started. They climbed the stairs leading to the throne room with her struggling to keep up with him.

The throne room came into view and she stood at the door wondering what he brought her there for.

"Get in," he ordered.

She planted her feet on the ground refusing to go in. It would be disastrous if the shadow people discovered what was in the throne room.

"Must it always be forced with you royals?" She frowned but stayed still. He must have her family so she didn't want to annoy him.

"What is your name?" She asked trying to distract herself from the fact that she was currently bleeding to death.

"Calypso." He opened the door and pushed her in. She must have lost a few minutes because when she opened her eyes, she was on the floor with Triton hovering over her in concern.

"Please, we need to get her some help, she has lost a lot of blood," Triton pleaded but Calypso waved him off.

"No royal leaves until the Queen gets here," Calypso told them. Kathy could feel her life force trickling down her body, slowly taking her life with it.

She grabbed Triton's hand and he looked down at her. Relief showed on his features as he saw her eyes open.

"Sister, I am relieved that you are awake."

"Where is mother, father, and everyone else?" She whispered as loud as she could.

"They were placed in a different room. After the man we captured earlier came and stopped the battle, they took mother, father, aunt Elara and Kade away then brought Zena, Miah, Nila, and I to this place," Triton explained, touching her forehead.

"You are bleeding so much, sister. The wound is very deep." Kathy pulled herself into a sitting position and looked around the room. Zena was glaring heavily at the shadow warrior in front of her. Her clothes were stained with blood but she refused to let the defiance leave her eyes. Her eyes met Kathy's and she nodded at her. Kathy nodded back, happy to see her alive.

Triton's hand on her arm took her eyes away from Nila who was laying on her sister's lap. He pulled his shirt off and tore a long strip out. He wrapped it around her wound. Kathy bit her lips to the point where she tasted blood. However, she couldn't hold the scream in when he moved her a bit.

"Sorry, but the good news is that it doesn't look as bad as it feels," he told her after tying a knot.

"Something is wrong with my power. Ever since I woke up, I've not been able to read anyone's emotions," she said worriedly trying to read his emotion but couldn't.

His silence told her that even he was as clueless as she was. Everyone said nothing else after that, trying to preserve the little time they had left. She thought of Selah and what must be happening to the warriors downstairs. Triton moved closer to her and she placed her head on his shoulder, needing that little comfort.

All she could think about was Lunae had been conquered and in one day. No warning, prophecy, or vision could have prepared them for what befell Lunae.

The door opened and Kade strolled into the room his usual angry expression replaced with a passive one. Lady Elara followed with a limp in her steps. Kathy watched the door, anxiously hoping that her parents would walk through the door. They did walk through the door immediately after Elara did.

Kathy scrambled to her feet but that quick movement caused her to lose balance and fall. Lucky for her Triton was ready to catch. He placed her down as carefully as he could with his injuries.

"Sit, Precious, you aren't supposed to be on your feet," Aerial scolded, running to her with Hala following behind him.

"Father, what happened? Did the dark Queen hurt you guys?" She rushed out, grimacing at the pain from her wound. Her face, ribs, heck her entire body hurt.

"It was her all along," Hala who had been quiet all the while spoke, staring at the space in front of her. She looked shaken up and distraught. Whatever happened in that room must have startled her.

"Who, mother?" Kathy asked.

"The Dark Queen is someone we know," Aerial said as Hala did not utter another word.

"Who?" Kathy groaned, the suspense was killing her.

"Me," a new voice spoke walking into the room. A very familiar voice at that.

Kathy stared wide-eyed at the incoming person. Never in her life could she have believed that it could ever be true.

"No," she whispered. "No, no, it's not true."

But the evil smirk on the face of the person told her all she needed to know. Kathy's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted out of blood loss, shock, betrayal, and most of all, pain with a tear dropping from her left eye.