Chapter 66: Chapter 66

“Why a Yoren of all people? this happened long before Historia and your father fell in love with each other.”

“Because the next sentence is this: as light retreated to its shrine, and shadows of dissolution danced in the far edges, promising nothing but endless darkness, the sacred heart wept tears of remorse and sorrow, as the dying lover’s blood were spilled outside the land of light, but as one life was sacrificed, a soul was tied with another, carried in the blood of the blessed ones!”

“I believe the light refers to the creation energy, the shadows of dissolution are the dark energy, the endless darkness in death, it matches perfectly with how the world turned out to be the way it is, but the blessed ones, does it refer to humans?”

“Not all humans, I am sure it means the Yorens, in our family’s records, there is only a little about the first Yoren, but it does mention that he died for the sake of the Gods! and it says here that his soul was tied to Historia's.”

“Does that mean that, your father, is the reincarnation of the first Yoren?!”

“That is what I believe, and apparently, he had a love affair with the Goddess!”

“Do you think that is the reason behind his…”

“Betrayal? Yes, I strongly believe so, my father is very capable of betraying his own family members, not just his brothers, but his wife and children, for the sake of the woman he loved!” Henry said with bitterness lacing his words, mocking the history that repeated itself.

“I don’t even know what to say!” Rima whispered, not knowing how to react about the truth they learned, the betrayal was still the same, the consequences were also the same, but knowing that it was Henry’s father was the hardest part.

“You don’t have to say anything!” Henry shook his head, grateful for the ice queen’s consideration, however, he didn’t care at all about that matter, he already made a promise to not let himself be affected by his father anymore, to him, it was but another information, one which can turn out to be very useful.

“I believe this barrier is not the only one, we are going to be faced by many, each forming a circle around the very center which I believe to be the shrine these symbols mentioned, however, this one barrier is different from the other, as it wasn’t created by the Gods, but by Edard Yoren the first!”

"How is that even possible? Humans don’t have magical abilities!”

“True, we don’t, but who said anything about magic, this seal is created by blood, and blood is the extract of life, no?”

“Yes?”

“And what creates life?”

“The creation energy!” Rima exclaimed, finally understanding the meaning behind Henry's words.

“My father always told me that there was strength in our blood, maybe this is what he meant, maybe this is why the Yoren dynasty is called the blessed warriors of the Gods, I believe the first Yoren, gave his life in order to create a barrier that would protect his lover!”

“So, how are we going to destroy this barrier?!”

“We infiltrate it with the same blood and the opposite element!” Henry sounded sure to everyone but himself and the ice queen who noticed the subtle twitch on the corner of his lips, but even if it worried her, she didn’t show it, for she knew the human king was under a lot of pressure already, Henry wasn’t his father, but he hoped that his blood would be similarly strong, the rest was out of his hands.

Once the sun disappeared from the sky, Both Henry and Rima stood next to the rock where the writings started, taking a deep breath, Henry grabbed his blade.

“This seal was made of blood and light, maybe the way to crack it is through blood and darkness!”

“Are you going to be okay?” Rima asked worriedly, her eyes seeking the reassurance which she found in his warm smile

“I will be, unlike the first Yoren, I am not going to spill all of my blood, just a few drops to merge with the existing seal, and because it is not as strong as his, I am sure the damn thing would be weakened, enough for the darkness to seep into the cracks!” using his weakness for his advantage, Rima smiled back at him taking the blade from his hand!

“Let me do this with you then!” Brushing off his objection, Rima took his hand in hers and sliced his palm, letting the warm blood drip on the rock, few seconds passed but nothing happened.

Henry didn’t dare to look anywhere, for he knew he was going to be met with disappointed eyes, ones he didn’t know how to face, his plan didn’t work, but before he could pull back his hand, he felt the biting frost on his skin.

Looking at the ice queen, he noticed that she was holding his hand firmly, her eyes looking at him confidently as she said, “You said you needed the blood of the Yoren and the Darkness to seep into the cracks, maybe what we need is to intensify that darkness, and what is better to fuel darkness, than dark magic? " Henry stared at her for a second before he understood what she meant, and it made all the sense in the world.

Looking down at their intertwined hand, Henry noticed the thick cold droplets fall on the rocks, right where the symbols were engraved, a confirmation to an earlier thought building up in his head.

A human’s blood and a demon’s energy, the union of rivals, predators and preys, just like their armies, their alliance was indeed the way to break through the Gods' barriers, and maybe this was another reason as to why the first Yoren betrayed his brother openly, to create an enmity that would last so long, enough where demons and humans keep on seeing each other as enemies and stay away from each other instead of uniting as one against the Gods, all to keep his beloved safe.

The Gods, were indeed afraid of the alliance, because it was the way to defeat them just as it was defeating the barrier.

“It is working!” Rima breathed out the words, a part of her not believing her own eyes as the scene changed in front of their eyes, the rocks crumbled to nothing but sand, revealing not just the rest of the island, but the light which was emprisoned inside.

“Is this real?!” One of the soldiers asked, his breath almost gone from the magnificent sight, the shore was not a narrow one but rather large, circling a golden forest of the highest trees.

“Where did this light came from?!” Henry picked up the question he was asking himself, it was as if the sun was still in the sky, but it wasn’t, let alone the fact that the light did not pass the perimeter of the island.

“From over there!” Rima pointed out at the center of the island, it took Henry some time to notice it, but it was indeed there, a high tower, barely visible, shining like a lighthouse.

“Do you think this is our aim?”

“I am sure it is, the thickness of the creation energy is almost painful, Henry, we did it!”

Exchanging a single happy look, with which they shared their happiness and gratitude for each other, the human king and the ice queen did not waste any other second as they gave their troops orders to invade the shores, and as if a slight sign was all what the soldiers were waiting for, the boats sailed from and to the creation energy quickly, carrying the soldiers who were yet to know what they were going to face.

It was too fast, even for the demons’ instincts to detect the danger before it was too late, and by the time she sensed it, the sky was already clouded with arrows.