Kingdom Rivalry

Chapter 22

Early the next morning, the troops for the battle were gathered in the lands behind the Cosmic Kingdom. Somehow, they knew that the battle would be today. Maybe it was the tenseness in the air, maybe it was the fact that those sensitive to dark energies were acting strangely. Whatever the reason, they gathered there together and waited.

King Zeon stood at the back with the other sorcerers. They were gathered at the back with the sharpshooters. In front of them was the cavalry, and in front of those people, the infantry. Beside them, huge, golden-armored dragons were poised for flight and battle. Finally, at the front lines were black hounds from the Obscure Kingdom. The hounds howled into the early morning sky and barked excessively. They, too, could sense the dark ones approaching.

On another expedition were Black Mist, Astral, a small pack of hounds, and a small band of foot soldiers to protect them. Since they knew what they were looking for, Astral and Black Mist were in charge of finding the energy source of the dark ones. Only Black Mist knew it would be a crystal, but Astral would be able to sense it long before they reached it. He could guide them, and Black Mist could recognize it. They didn't know how to destroy it, though. That would have to come later.

Meanwhile, Esmeralda was still summoning more and more creatures for their army. Kai was at the surface, gathering their army and making sure they knew exactly what their target was. He made sure they were in good formation and that they were well equipped. As for the dragons, they seemed to know already what they were going to do. They obediently sat with their wings neatly folded on their backs, awaiting directions. Esmeralda soon came back up, signaling that they were ready. She had positioned a mage dark being to keep summoning more and more; thus, making their supply of soldiers endless.

They were all ready.

~.Cosmic Kingdom.~

Pluto watched the distance tirelessly for the army to appear. He could sense them approaching. He could feel the sweet darkness in the air, but he didn't ever keep his eyes off. He needed to make visual contact before giving the army he and Zeon had mustered the sign to attack.

At last he saw them. The dark army was marching in a surprisingly organized formation with Kai in the middle of them all so he wouldn't get killed. The Obscure king snarled. To think that he trusted that brat and his mother!

As soon as the army was within range, Pluto called out, "Archers! Fire!!"

On command, the sharpshooters let loose a volley of crystal arrows at the first line of the army, causing one whole line to fall. Again and again, they fired. More and more dark ones fell. None got back up because of the power in the crystal from which their weapons were made.

"Sorcerers! Gather your mana to attack!!"

The sorcerers concentrated their mana to their staffs, and some gathered the mana in their hands to be released into some sort of hindering spell to slow down the army's approach. When all magical energy was gathered, they joined the sharpshooters in destroying as many dark ones as possible. They released the magic at two minute intervals to keep from running out too quickly.

Pluto kept watching the army's approach, and finally, when they were close enough yet far, he roared at his own army, "Attack!! Show no mercy!!"

And so the army of Obscure and Cosmic soldiers cried out into early morning sky and attacked.

~.Unknown Lands.~

It was a tad cold in the Unknown Lands. Astral held his golden cloak close to his body to trap in the warmth while Black Mist seemed unaffected. The hounds were covered in fur, and the foot soldiers never complained. They just silently followed.

"What are we looking for?" Astral asked Black Mist as they walked.

"A black crystal," he replied. "It should either be in a cave or underground; I don't know."

"And you're sure about it?"

"As sure as I'll ever be."

Astral thought for a long time about how to destroy the crystal once they found it. Sure, they both agreed that it would wait until they actually found it, but he just couldn't help thinking! Surely, it would have to take a lot of physical force, right? In that case, it would be up to Black Mist to destroy it. However, there was also the possibility that it would need to be Astral who destroyed it, which would mean that it would probably take a long time.

He sighed, causing Black Mist to look over in concern. "You okay, Astral?"

"I'm fine. I'm just...thinking?"

"You always seem to do that. Try not to, alright?"

Before Astral could reply, the hounds started howling and baying loudly and wildly. The soldiers unsheathed their weapons quickly to confront the enemies, which turned out to be stragglers from the large army. They were shambling along, but when they sighted Astral, they started growling and running. The foot soldiers and dogs attacked the shamblers before they could reach the two princes and quickly ended them.

Astral, who was shocked when they reacted very negatively, was merely frozen in place. Finally, he spoke. "What made them react like that?"

Black Mist was also shocked, but not as badly as Astral. "Maybe it was your natural light? I mean, they wouldn't have detected me because I posses dark energies."

Astral shook his head. "That makes sense, but..." It might make the job of destroying the crystal that much harder...

"But what?"

"We should move on," the leader of the band said once they were done cleaning their weapons. "We haven't that much time."

"Yes," both Astral and Black Mist replied. They moved on.

~.Cosmic Kingdom.~

They wouldn't end. It was like a nightmare straight from the darkest corners! Soldiers were getting tired, sorcerers were running out of mana, sharpshooters were running out of ammo. Zeon, who was taking a small break before attempting to attack again, was beginning to fear Astral's dream had come true. Maybe they were going to die.

No! he scolded himself, gathering up his energies again. I can't think like that! This won't turn out like the vision.

Even so, he couldn't deny that they were being pushed back into the walls of the Cosmic Kingdom. They were being cornered, and there was no way they could stop it. Zeon just hoped Astral and Black Mist found the fuel source for all these dark beings!

Meanwhile, Pluto was breathing heavily as he swung and slammed his sword down on the dark ones. He wasn't nearly as tired as the others, but he was getting there. Slowly but surely, he was reaching the center, where Kai and Esmeralda were being protected by the dark ones. He would show them that they couldn't fool him and get away with it! 

He was nearly there when a huge beast knocked him back. He wasn't thrown off his feet, but he stumbled back some. His sword arm rose up with alarming speed to slice his opponent, but the monster grabbed the sword and lifted the king up by it. Pluto them lashed out with his foot, blinding his opponent and forcing him to put Pluto down. The king then struck the beast in the stomach and dragged the sword all the way up to the chest, insuring that the beast was killed. Then, he thundered on to the middle, cutting down anything that got in the way.