Enceladus 2: The War
Chapter Sixteen

As the thousands of figures in the sky got closer, I knew they were Tethians. But what I couldn’t figure out was what they were riding. Or how they weren’t in spaceships.

“Positions!” Cassiopeia yelled.

My heart was beating uncontrollably as I took my spot between Lynx and Delphinus. I reached over and squeezed both of their hands for second. The Constable tried to make Cassiopeia stand in the back but she wouldn’t budge.

The Tethians drew closer and closer. I could tell now what they were riding. Günt. Their dragon-like creatures. But how were the Tethians breathing in outer space?

There were hundreds of thousands of them. Our population was nearly similar in size but in the sky, it seemed like there were millions of them. I gripped tighter on my shield and the hilt of my sword.

In a second they were on the ground, dismounting their dragons. There were about three people on each dragon. Some were simply flying, their black wings blending in with the dark sky. On each and every one of their heads were helmets that looked like bubbles. That must have been how they didn’t explode in space. Magic.

Queen Amara landed first, directly in front of Cassiopeia. The rest of the Tethians hung back, nearly behind the city hall, popping their helmets.

“Queen Amara.” Cass stared her in the eyes, not blinking. Amara had pale, chalky skin and black hair. All over her body were strange markings appearing to be tattoos that resembled Princess Drea’s. She wore armor that was similar to Cass’ only Amara’s hanging armor was much longer, past her knees. She wore boots that stopped on her calves. In her hand was a tall scepter with a red diamond shinning in the center.

“Queen Cassiopeia. Finally I get to meet you,” Amara’s voice was dripping with fake admiration.

“Please, there must be something I can do so we don’t have to go to war?” Cass pleaded but still Queen-like.

“We’re already here for war, darling.” Suddenly Amara said something incomprehensible into her cupped hands. Probably in Tethian. She then blew whatever was in her hands into Cass’ face.

It was a spell, I realized.

At first, nothing happened but when Cass tried to speak, she made no sound. She opened her mouth wide as if to yell. Nothing. Amara laughed.

Suddenly a fire ball shot out from behind me and hit Amara in the chest.

And that was when it began.

The Tethians charged toward us and us them.

A Tethian with red hair and a simple sash covering her privates bumped into me and started to mumble something. But I quickly stabbed her in the stomach. Cass was right. It took them forever to cast their spells. In the world of war, that mumbling lasted a lifetime.

It was also a good thing these people’s armor was barely protective. It made for a quick kill.

I advanced forward to the nearest Tethian. His torso was bare and he was wearing a floor length skirt. He was casting a spell and again I stopped it. By chopping his head off. I was surprised at how easily killing was for me again. It barely phased me now.

In fact, it felt . . . good.

When I turned, there was a Tethian with a sword. Most of them didn’t have weapons. The Tethian tried to stab me in the abdomen but I blocked his attack with my shield.

We then proceeded to clank swords and I finally got the upper hand and shoved him to the ground, ending his life with a stab in the neck. The killing was too easy for me. It was too . . . fun.

An older Tethian came running up to me, with a scream. A battle cry, I supposed. She wore armor all down her arms. Her armored boots went almost up to her hips which there held only underwear. On the woman’s head sat a helmet that resembled a günt head. All I did was straighten my sword to stab her in the throat. She ran right into it, stunned, blood spewing. I grinned.

My high was crushed when my body was engulfed in flames. I yelped but slowly realized the fire wasn’t burning me. What the hell? I tried to pat myself out but that didn’t work. Through the flames, I saw someone coming towards me. She came through the fire and stabbed at my chest. Thanks to the incognito armor, her blade made a metal clanging sound. I shoved her away and decapitated her. Only then did the flames leave me.

I looked right and watched as Lynx used his telekinesis to slam a Tethian down on the ground, no doubt breaking their back. To my left, Alessa used a piece of earth with her elemental control to crush someone, killing them.

As I was watching Lynx and Alessa, I didn’t hear someone whispering a spell behind me. Then I was frozen. It started at my feet and made its way up. It was like ice but black. I shivered when it reached my hands. I tried to wiggle out of it. It covered my sword and shield. And then it was at my neck where it stopped.

“Well, now what are you going to do?” I asked the guy who had cast the spell on me. He was tall and not wearing a shirt. Perfect for when I killed him.

He simply smiled and I felt why. The black ice became so cold that my teeth chattered. It became hard to breathe. The ice tightened on my body to the point where I couldn’t even squirm. I gasped for air as the ice crawled up my neck and to my chin. “Stop,” I had tried to use my mind control on him. But no sound left my mouth.

Then I thought of an idea. I used my element control to heat up my hands. I made it heat up my whole body. Slowly, the black ice began to melt.

The man’s eyes grew wide with astonishment. “How,” he began.

By that time, I was completely free. I took my broadsword and stabbed him through the heart. He gurgled blood and fell when I yanked my sword out. It seemed the people of Tethys weren’t very bright. It was like they didn’t care to save their own lives.

I heard a woman yelp in pain. I turned and saw a man on top of Talia. I ran to her and threw the guy off of her by his arm. I helped her up. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you, Amelia.” She smiled.

I turned around to fight the man in her honor but he was nowhere to be seen.

“You threw him pretty far,” said Talia.

“I did?” I hadn’t realized I had thrown him with such force. I touched Talia’s hand. “How are you doing?”

Before she could answer, a günt stood over us and roared. It was huge; the size a real life dragon. And yes, dragons were real. Its skin was a gruesome black. Talia stared at me as if to say, “what now”.

The dragon swiped its massive paw at us and we barely made it out of the way.

I glanced at Talia and yanked my head towards the sky. She nodded and we spread our wings and flew above the creature. His head followed us up and tried to swat us down. I dove in with my sword, stabbing it through the neck. The skin was tough and it took a tremendous amount of strength to break. As soon as I did, warm green blood squirted out and onto my face. Gross.

“How did you do that?” Talia hovered next to me. “That thing’s skin is thick.”

I shrugged as we watched the creature fall. We landed next to it only to be ambushed by a woman who threw orange dust in my face. It made me sneeze and then I felt extreme drowsiness. I fell to my knees.

“Princess, what are you doing?” Talia shouted at me.

“I think I’ll take a nap.” I laid on the ground and simply closed my eyes.

I was awoken by a slap on the face. Ouch.

Talia was sitting on top of me, legs straddling my hips, her eyes wide. “I am so, so, so, so sorry Princess. I had to wake you up.”

This was not the moment to be turned on. But I was. “It’s fine.”

Talia got off me and helped me up. I looked to the women who had blown that dust in my face. She had on a long cape and was strikingly beautiful. She was also lying with her own blade in her neck.

“How long was I out?”

“Just long enough for me to make her stab herself,” Talia answered.

I nodded and resumed fighting like I wasn’t just asleep. I decapitated here, stabbed there.

I didn’t know how much time had passed but my hands were caked in blood. I should have worn gloves. My face was sticky from dragon blood.

My shield had gotten lost some time in the last ten minutes. Surprisingly, my cape hadn’t gotten in the way.

I had a killing high and although it disgusted me, I reveled in it.

That was when things went bad.

I heard a scream to my right. A familiar scream. I looked and saw Alessa with a dagger sticking out of her chest. I ran to her.

“Alessa!” I spotted the source of the dagger and yelled a command, telling him to kill himself.

I dropped to my knees next to Alessa. She smiled through the pain. “Amy.”

I frantically thought of what to do. I put my hand on the dagger and pulled. Alessa cried out. I threw the dagger aside and ripped the bottom of my cape, pressing it to her chest. There was so much red.

“It’ll be okay. You’ll be fine.”

She looked at me like she knew she wouldn’t. She put her hand on mine. “It’s okay. I’m ready,” she croaked.

“No. You’re too young.”

“Oh, Amelia. My first girlfriend. And the best. Goodbye.” Her eyes closed and she was gone.

“Fëw,” I cursed. I felt tears fall but I quickly wiped them away. I hated to leave her there but I had no other choice. “Goodbye, Alessa.”

I stood and grabbed my sword.

“Awe, how sad.”

I turned around and saw Princess Drea.

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