The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 34.2

The queen was furious. She screamed and shouted, tried to steal Raf's sword and attack somebody with it but it was all in vain. Everybody knew she couldn't hurt others without being attacked first. But when she turned to Raf and threatened to kill him, there was a moment of silence. Could she do this? Not even Raf knew for sure.

'What would you want me to die for? Come on, there's nothing we can do, your army is gone, you lost your game.' Raf said in a bored tone. The queen thought about that for a moment before she replied with a smile in her sweetest voice.

'Actually, once you're dead, I can return to my kingdom and rebuild my army. You're the only thing hindering me...'

'Really? I doubt it, your majesty.' Mersha interrupted her. 'Your magic stems from those who believe in you, and there is nobody left to do so. Right now, you couldn't even capture new souls in this world. I've been watching you, I know you've done it with a dying soldier and you've even convinced the dragon king to give his life. Though I don't understand how you've managed to do this.'

'She promised him eternal life.' Raf explained. 'My old friend was always scared of death, but when he was offered something else instead, he gladly accepted. You should have seen that, he made his commanding officer cut the king's heart out as it was still beating. It was a mess to say the least.' Nume nearly threw up at the thought of it.

'Anyway, your majesty, I am happy to announce that your reign is over. You are completely powerless, you can't even do so much as open a portal to your world to hide for dear Raf here is your husband and thus binds you to this world. But even if you did kill him, you'd still not have the power to arise anew.' Mersha said, causing the queen's madness to show in her eyes. Without so much as another word, she stole one of their umeno and rode away into the distance.

'Shouldn't we be following her?' Nume asked concerned.

'If you want Raf to spend the rest of his days following her, then yes. But right now, she's really just an angry woman, an outcast in a world that is completely strange to her. Don't be fooled, she will do everything possible to take each and every one of us down, but she will do it without the means of magic. Just keep an eye out for assassins she's paid...' Mersha explained with a smile before turning back to Raf. 'How are you? It's not been very long since I've seen you but it must have been an eternity to you... After all, you took the long way round.'

'Well, I guess you've already foreseen most of it, but it was exciting. I strayed from our path at times, but when I met these two idiots out in the woods, totally on their own and doomed to die, an old siren changed my mind. It's a long story, really.' Raf said.

'I have a much more important question...' Nume interrupted. 'Did it really work? They're all gone and they will never return?'

Mersha nodded. 'They lived through their king and most importantly their queen. They could not exist in a time when their queen didn't. Let us say they didn't make it to the point from where on she existed again. Raf here only survived because he didn't exist either. He took the shortcut this time. But should I ever jump in time with either of you again, the consequences might be devastating. If the queen ever returns in time to the moment when her army died, history will be rewritten and she will keep them alive. On the other hand, if I bring Raf to a time when the queen doesn't exist or just jump with the queen but leave him behind, he will cease to exist just like the others did.'

'But what if the queen dies?' Raf wanted to know.

'Then you will die, too. But don't worry, she's actually more of a goddess and in her current body, she's nearly immortal measured in our time. She comes from a world that changes way faster than ours does, thus her body will heal from any wounds before she even gets a chance to die.' Mersha explained.

'What exactly do we do now?' Nume asked after a moment of silence. 'She took one of our umenos...'

'Well, I didn't have one in the first place. Where is Bay?' Raf interrupted her.

'She should still be with the others, following the army... an army that just disappeared into nothingness. Oops, I think we should have told them first...' Nume suddenly realised. 'They'll be worrying and searching for it.'

'Then let them search. The only other thing that there is to be done is wait and that doesn't sound any better.' Mersha said, sitting back up on the umeno they still had.

'Why do you get the umeno?' Nume asked with raised eyebrows.

'Because I'm much older than you.' Mersha replied with a sly smile.

'And I'm even older than that.' Raf said with a sigh.

'Well... but I've just saved the day and I'm tired...' Mersha wouldn't stop trying.

'Alright, go ahead, I don't really care. To be honest, my bottom is already all sore from riding anyway...' Nume said with a smile.

Raf's only answer to that was a howling like noise that was so loud, Nume had to cover her ears.

'What did you do that for?' She asked in anger.

'If Bay is anywhere near, she'll have heard that.'

'So will every other creature in K'haren.' Nume growled.

'Yes, but for them, it will mean to go away, but for her, it means I'm back.'

Raf was right, not long afterwards, Bay became visible in the distance and quickly approached them. As soon as she caught up to them, she threw Raf to the ground and licked his whole body with her mighty tongue before rubbing her head all over him, covering him in hair and slobber. Nume couldn't help laughing at that. But she shouldn't have. Now Bay looked at her with big eyes and let go of Raf, approaching her instead.

'No, no, no, no! Stay away, it's alright, I was never even gone!' Nume insisted, but the baymout didn't care much. With one swift movement, she rubbed her head that was already covered in slobber against Nume. Now it was Raf's turn to laugh. Mersha just smiled and looked down on them, happy to see his friends again.

// A little bit of peace in a world that is still torn apart. Don't forget to vote and leave a comment below, I really appreciate it!