I haven't been able to make a new entry in over three months. It's spring, just by the way. We were constantly on the road, constantly fighting and always tired and exhausted. When we built a camp somewhere in the evening and spent the night there, we were just happy when we had eaten something and then could sleep.
Our ranks have greatly increased. Reports are coming in from all over the world that they are successfully fighting the creatures and many, like us, have recaptured cities. We have recaptured many cities and many people have stayed behind to defend the cities from possible new attacks and to begin rebuilding.
By now all the fighters, whether humans or creatures, have become a well-coordinated team. Everyone knows what to do and even the language barriers are no longer a problem. You can ultimately explain yourself with hands and feet hahaha. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that between the survivors and creatures, like Yibo, me and Bac, real friendships have developed. They have a common goal and for that they like to work closely together. But that's all.
A few times we almost managed to catch Raha. But unfortunately he escaped us again and again narrowly. Only a week ago we found one of his hiding places again, but when we got there, he was already gone. His men are getting fewer and fewer. He sent most of them into battle and only a handful, we heard, were with him to defend him.
Janala had been very worried that there would be no one left of her folk the Demoids once the war was over.
More to follow later. We are once again dividing our army into several groups. Yibo and I are supposed to help with that.
***
We are currently sitting in a hideout watching Raha and his men. At his side are about 30 men. Their hideout is well secured and viewable from all sides. We have to wait until nightfall to attack. Hopefully, by then we will have found and disarmed all the traps.
Actually, I wanted to continue writing right after the army was divided up, but then a runner came and explained that he had found out where Raha was hiding. We had to pack up everything immediately and went on our way. The runner was right and now we just have to be patient for a few more hours.
What I wanted to write earlier and didn't get around to it was that we were also in Beijing recapturing the city. Yibo and I discovered in the process that my apartment still exists. Two window panes are broken as we could see from downstairs, but it is otherwise still habitable.
We briefly ran upstairs to my apartment. There is some chaos in the living room, probably from the black flying creature that discovered us there at that time and entered the apartment through a window. But the mess is quickly cleaned up. So we still have a home when the war is over!
Yibo and I have been talking on and off for the past 12 weeks about where we want to live when it's all over. And after we saw 3 weeks ago that my apartment still existed, Yibo said that we should live there. We could of course move to the valley and live with our parents. But that's not a life like Yibo and I imagine. We want to stay in the city and help rebuild it. Our parents want to stay in the valley with Jing and the others and help there as much as they can.
Already there are many people there, even from bunkers nearby, who have started rebuilding. The waterworks are back in operation and currently they are working on electric power and district heating. We also know that a few have started to rebuild the radio and television stations.
And something incredible had also happened. We were in Shanghai and involved in a nasty battle that took place on the streets and in the houses. We were able to drive the enemy out of the city and into open fields. And all of a sudden a couple of fighter jets shot overhead. Then three fighter helicopters and they were all fighting the enemies on the ground from the air, along with flying creatures!
But that was not all. Shortly after, a convoy of tanks and army cars rolled up. Soldiers jumped out of the cars and helped us fight those creatures that had not been killed from the air. The tanks took aim at their targets and fired at the attackers. This was the final proof that hiding had finally come to an end! Now they are fighting back and we are winning!
And Jing told us that scientists and construction workers have started to close the sinkholes! They collect all the scrap from the streets and cities and throw everything into the sinkholes. Then they build huge platforms over them and with a substance that the scientists have made, the constructions are sealed. According to Jing, no one can break them.
Haikuan and Cheng are by our side again. After we reached their bunker, they did not let us stop them from joining us and the fight. Bac made them stronger. Well, I don't have to explain how or? A bite, some blood. Well, the usual.
He Peng also wanted to join us. But our doctor travels the cities because he is needed everywhere. He helps women deliver their babies. Lots of babies!
And our parents started to work the fields. They planted crops and vegetables. They, and also many other farmers, have made it their business to provide by growing as much as they can in the fields. Soon there will be vegetables again, bread and even some fruit. That is, fruit that does not grow on trees.
***
It's early in the morning, the sun has just risen. That was a long night and I am totally exhausted. Yibo is already lying next to me, asleep. But I still want to write down the events of last night while the memories are still fresh. And after that, I'll go to sleep and I'm sure I'll sleep more peacefully than I have in more than a year and a half.
Just before sunset, one of Bac's scouts came to us and reported that it looked like Raha and his men were going to pack up and move on. Bac immediately ordered the attack so that Raha would not be able to slip away from us again. Sneaking, or at least trying to sneak, all of us, about 12 humans and 80 creatures, carefully made our way through the thicket of the forest where Raha was hiding.
Not all of the traps had been found and disarmed by now, and so some of us kept getting caught in a trap. Bac ordered the people to stay behind except for Yibo, me, Haikuan and Cheng. When we finally arrived at Raha's hideout, we were 4 humans and 26 creatures, mostly Amores and a handful of jungle warriors besides Janala.
However, Raha had obviously been expecting us and was prepared. Suddenly, several of his warriors jumped from the trees, which we had not seen in the trees thanks to the darkness. One of them grabbed me and dragged me to Raha. Raha held a blade to my throat and yelled to Bac and Janala, "If you want me to let your toy live, lay down your weapons and surrender!"
Yibo yelled, "If you hurt Zhan, I'll kill you!" I saw Bac trying to push him behind him, but Yibo remained stubborn and even took two more steps toward Raha's camp.
"Oh look. Your mate thinks he can stand up to me. How sweet. He must really love you very much. Too bad you two won't survive the night." Raha whispered in my ear and dragged me further back to a rock. Only when we were close to it did I see the opening in the rock.
"Trap! It's a trap!" I yelled and Bac covered my mouth and dragged me inside the opening in the rock.
Once we were inside the cave, Raha just threw me over his shoulder and ran at it. And no matter how hard I tried to get away from him, I had no chance. And the more I struggled, the rougher he grabbed. I just thought, if no miracle happens now, I will really die tonight by the hand of Raha.
I could hear the noise of battle from outside and all my worry about my survival gave way and went to Yibo. In my mind, I called out to Yibo and Bac which direction we were going. "Along to the right. Straight ahead. Right again. Large cave room. Second passage from the left." And so on. I hoped they would hear and remember the way.
In another large cave room, Raha stopped. He looked around and seemed confused. Had he lost his bearings himself? I hoped so. Because it gave the others time to catch up. Again and again Raha looked questioningly at the passages, walked toward one, stopped, and went to the next. "Well? Don't you remember which way is up?" I asked him mockingly.
He took me down from his shoulder and pushed me to the floor. The ground felt wet and muddy and something in it was moving. Were it worms?
Raha pointed his sword at me and asked, "Why should I even take you with me? I could kill you right now, too, and I would save myself the trouble of dragging the weight of your body around with me."
"Do what you want. But know this, whether I am dead or not, they will find you and kill you. And if I'm dead, I'm sure they'll make you suffer a little more." I replied. I had to get him to talk to me somehow. Because that way I could give the others the time they would need to get there.
"You still don't realize the damage I can do to Bac with your death, do you? Bac and you are connected to each other! You have royal blood of the Amore in you and you are one of his relatives. Moreover, he gave you of his blood and made a bond with you. A blood-created covenant with us meant that Bac can sense everything I do to you. If I slap you, he feels it. If I cut you, he feels it. If I kill you, he feels it and that pain will be unbearable for him. Because if your covenant is ended by the violent death of the other, then a part of his heart dies. He becomes weak! Weak like a human being. It is a pity that your mate is not also descended from the Amores. Because if I killed him too, Bac would die too. But he is not descended from the Amore, so by killing you I can only hurt Bac and not kill him. But then if he's weak, it doesn't matter. Because then he won't be able to fight back anyway."
"You really are sick in the head!"
"Oh, am I? I don't think so. You have no idea what I had to do to become king! Do you think I'm going to let you take that away from me again?"
"Yes I do! Janala showed it to me. You seduced Janala and made her fall in love with you. Both of you poisoned the king. Then you betrayed Janala and let a jungle warrior kill her. I saw it all!"
"So what? It was my right! The throne has always been mine! Janala didn't show you that or, because not even she knew who I really am! I am the true heir to the throne! I am the firstborn prince! The king I poisoned was my little brother! My father never trusted me! He didn't even pay attention to me and only cared about my brother. And then he married him to Janala and I had to serve my brother! My brother took me to Janala's kingdom, where I wasn't even allowed to say I was the king's brother!"
"That's..."
"What, unfair?"
"That's not quite what I was going to say. But if that's the case, and you're the firstborn prince, why didn't you take your father's kingdom?"
"My father was king. But his kingdom was tiny and he had nothing. Besides, he gave his position to our youngest brother. The third brother inherited our father's throne and had even less than our father. The kingdom was at an end! Who wants to have such a kingdom?"
"So what? That didn't give you the right to take someone else's kingdom!"
"You don't know our laws Zhan."
"That's true..."
"You know Zhan, if you didn't belong to Bac, I might have kept you. You're cute and I think I could have put you in my harem."
"I'll pass on that."
"Because of your mate? Or because of Bac?"
"Because I love Yibo, I respect Bac, and I would never start anything with you anyway."
"And you really believe that, don't you? You have no idea about the love of Demoids."
"By love I don't understand the same thing you do."
"What don't you understand?"
"If I love someone, it's only him. I don't need a harem."
"Oh so that bothers you. You don't like the fact that we Demoids and even the Amores can make love to everyone, do you?"
"No."
"Well, shall I tell you something? The blood of the Amore in you, surely sees it differently. If you hadn't already found your mate, I'm sure you wouldn't have held back."
"That's not true. I was with a woman before Yibo and..."
"No Zhan. No people and gender doesn't matter either. If there wasn't the blood of a Demoid in your mate, he would never have been considered for you. The blood of the Amore in you was looking for a strong mate. Someone who is like you and can protect you. You would never have fallen in love with him if he had been a simple man. And likewise, he could never have had a mate other than you. Because he needs the right counterpart to himself." Somehow I even believed him.
"And?"
"And, that means that if there were more people like you two, you would have mated with all of them until you found Yibo. And if you had grown up with us in our world, you would have continued to do so."
"You seem to forget that we are mostly human. The little blood of the Amores or Demoids would have made no difference. Nor would it have if we had grown up in your world."
"Then tell me, how did you feel when you pretended to want to make love in threesomes? You were touching each other, getting very close. How did it feel? Like you couldn't stand it. Or did you get all hot?"
"What does it matter? Haikuan doesn't carry the blood of the Amores or Demoids."
"But still, you got hot didn't you?"
"Even if that was the case, he would never have slept with Haikuan." Roared Yibo, who had suddenly appeared in the cave. Next to him was Bac, shaking his head. I was relieved to see the two of them and took a deep breath.
Raha tried to grab me again, but suddenly he stopped as if frozen. He gasped and reached behind him to his back. Then Janala stepped out from behind him, her hand all bloody, and she laughed. "How many years have I waited for this moment? I finally have my revenge!" She said and rammed her bloody fist into his back once again.
Full of disbelief, Raha stared at Janala, then sank to the ground and landed next to me. He put his left hand on mine and whispered, "In our next life, you will be mine." Then he spat blood, stroked my hand and smiled. "I knew you would be the death of me. Hahaha, how could I fall in love with a human?" Then he closed his eyes and exhaled one last time.
I stared at his lifeless body and asked, "He was in love with me?" Yibo came next to me, wrapped his arms around me and helped me stand up.
"If he hadn't loved you, you would have died long ago." Said Bac, squatting down next to the dead man. "He would never have hurt you. I think he really loved you."
"But that's..." I began.
"That's not unusual. Our peoples also fell in love with people back then and got involved with them. You two are the best proof." Janala interfered, licking her hand with relish.
Bac sent Yibo and me away. He told us to go back out to the others. He wanted to be alone with Janala for a moment. We obeyed and left. Yibo held me in his arms as we went and kept asking me if everything was all right with me. And when we got outside, he kissed me very passionately.
An hour later, Bac and Janala came out of the cave with the body of Raha. I immediately saw what Bac and Janala had done. For Janala no longer looked hideously disfigured, but like the queen she once was. The healing blood of Bac had really changed her back. But Bac now looked very weak. She must have drunk a lot of his blood.
Janala put on her signet ring and showed it to the Demoids who had surrendered. "I am your queen again and from now on you will obey my orders again." The Demoids went down on their knees in front of her. Then she sent messengers to announce the death of Raha.
As everyone made their way to the camp, Yibo and I stopped by Bac, who had clung to the rock wall. As soon as the others left, Bac sank to his knees. Yibo and I were really startled. "Just, just a moment, then I'll be all right." Said Bac weakly. We saw the big bite wound on his neck.
I don't know why, but suddenly everything inside me screamed that I must squat in front of him and grab his hands. I got on my knees in front of him, took his big hands in which my hands completely sank, then I felt some kind of energy pass from me to Bac. Not much, but enough to make him stand up again.
Then Yibo did the same and put his hands on Bac's and mine as well. I felt a warmth flowing through our hands and passing to Bac. "Enough." Said Bac, pushing our hands away from him. "You will die if you give me too much of your energy." He said. He stroked both of our heads and smiled. "Let us go. We all need rest and sleep now." And we went.
Now I am sitting here in the camp, next to me is my husband and I am relieved and I know that this was now the last big fight. I now lay down to sleep as well. My journal now has only two pages left. Someday I will also use these last two pages and write on them. Good night.