Chapter IV: Lost Friends

Kaliam shifted restlessly in his seat. “To start, I was a part of a special team of five. We struck fear into the eyes of our enemies and many of them would abandon the battlefield if they saw us.” Kaliam spoke as if he was reliving it.

“My group consisted of my childhood friends. One of which was Eli; an amazing friend and a fierce fighter! Gave me a run for my money! Next was Liz. She is very quiet and reserved and loves to dabble in magical arts. Don’t underestimate her; she can turn you into dust with one finger. She was also Eli’s wife.”

“Next would be my little brother Mason… Always toe to toe with me with combat. I would always win against him but the fight was close. Last, but certainly not least, was Nyla.” Kaliam exhales deeply after saying her name. “Nyla is a very quick, nimble fighter… Her heart always saw the good in people, she always asked me to spare those who were forced into combat, and to have mercy… S-she was my fiancé…” Kaliam looked as if he was in pain quickly removing his eye contact.

“Our last mission was our last stand against the evil of our realm. Five against thousands…” Allie stared at him with her full attention as he spoke and didn’t dare interrupt. Kaliam began their story of the last stand…

Purple lightning struck through the thick puffy cloud cover, revealing a massive dark figure above the clouds as massive columns of black smoke rose. Massive black granite walls had been smashed to pieces and many armored men, white armor and black both lay deathly still on the ground.

Fierce battling still roared as the last defense fought hard. Fires broke out all over the massive kingdom and many families were stuck in their homes as they watched in horror; the feared white knights marched through the streets eliminating any resistance that approached. “Resist and die!” One knight bellowed as he leads the march with his clean white armor with a red cape flowing effortlessly. He noticed five figures of intricate designs on their armor. They were mounted on horses with black armor and an intricate purple pinstripe on the edges of the armor. The center knight had a purple symbol for valor engraved onto his right breastplate. Two of the knights in black had a more feminine figure to them and the other three more masculines. The five of them slipped off their horses and approached the knights slowly.

Soon they met in the middle of a courtyard, perfect for a battle for there were no houses close to the center of the courtyard. “You dare resist when we have already taken your kingdom to the ground!” The lead white knight implied as he drew his broad sword, glistening even with no light to reflect from. The black knight with a special engraving, a mark of honor, stepped forward and removed his helmet. Revealing deep emerald eyes and a fierce grin.

“So? You think this is now your kingdom?” Kaliam asked as he removed his helmet and continued approaching the knight. He drew his sword and walked steadily towards him. The four other black knights all came forward, staying silent as Kaliam led them into the center of the courtyard. All drew their weapons which began to intimidate the knights in white armor. The girl to Kaliam’s right struck first and without warning. THUD! She penetrated the knight’s armor behind the lead knight and he made an unsettling groan before he stumbled to the ground.

The battle broke out and for many hours they tirelessly worked away at the white knight’s numbers.

There were as many as a thousand troops at the White Knight’s disposal and more than half had fallen. “We will not fall! Come on!” Kaliam yelled as he battled through the mass of knights. By his side was the girl from before, her helmet had fallen off to reveal beautiful light purple eyes with long, sandy blonde hair put up in braids that lead into a bun. She had very light armor which exposed her fingers and on one of her fingers was an engagement ring. She and Kaliam worked like a well-oiled war machine. Plowing through troops as a team.

“Nyla look out!” Kaliam parried an attack headed straight for Nyla as she was busy with another knight. “Thanks, I owe you one!” She replied and double teamed the next knight with Kaliam.

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After hours of combat, the five knights surrounded the commander. “Commander…” Kaliam spoke out to him with a less harsh voice. “Surrender and go home, see your family, friends and have a drink on me.” Kaliam slowly sheathed his sword and gave the white knight a few coins for a drink.

“Leave with dignity so that you may fight again, but maybe not in this uniform.” Kaliam’s voice was strong and unbroken as he spoke to the commander. The commander simply nodded and ran off towards the shattered walls of the Kingdom.

Before he was out of sight a dark figure struck him down out of nowhere. The figure had the same honorary markings as Kaliam’s squad.

“What the!” Kaliam rushed to see what had happened but the figure confronted him!

Kaliam figured out pretty quickly who this was and frowned. “So? Brother? Explain why you let this murderer go?” Mason asked and pointed his sword towards Kaliam.

“Tsssk… brother!” Kaliam yelled losing his temper. “You know we don’t kill who we don’t have to! It’s always been our way!” Kaliam tried to get his brother to listen but to no avail.

Mason chuckled as he noticed Kaliam’s emerald green eyes turned dark blue. Mason lunged at Kaliam and forced his sword right at him. Kaliam quickly dodging this and countering by kicking his brother in his side. He didn’t want to have to use his sword against his brother.

“Why are you doing this?!” He yelled and stared at Mason, feeling betrayed. Mason’s eyes simply changed to a dark purple color and lunged at Kaliam again.

Kaliam had no choice but to take his sword out. Parrying his brother's attack and with little to no effort sliced Mason’s ligaments on his left knee. Forcing him to kneel. “You are blinded by power brother!” Kaliam spoke desperately trying to get him to listen.

Mason with one leg left glanced over at the three others and smirked. Lunging at them he managed to mortally wound two of them. Nyla was the only one Kaliam could get to in time and Kaliam got struck in the back. A massive gash opened up on his lower back and he screamed in pain. “Gah! Mason stop! These are your friends!” Kaliam hiding Nyla under him for she would be no match for Mason. Mason kicked Kaliam in the side forcing them both into the air. Kaliam hit the ground hard and his sword plunged into his side.

“GRRRR!!” Kaliam growled in pain and was pinned to the ground by his sword. His back stung from the gash being rubbed in the dirt. Mason chuckled walking over to Kaliam “Oh How I love the future Heir in pain! It must feel so good to see YOUR friends die and your own sword to do you in?!” Mason exclaimed with great confidence he had won.

Nyla got up and rashly attempted to end Mason from behind. “Mason you coward!” She yelled as she jumped into the air and forced her rapier downwards onto Mason.

Mason had seen this coming and parried the blow. The sheer force cracked the ground beneath them and he pushed Nyla aside. “No! Nyla stay out of this! Run!!” Kaliam yelled and coughed up some blood.

“If I’m not mistaken? She is your fiancée, correct?” Mason asked taunting Kaliam. “Yes, don’t you dare kill her… I swear I will end you if it’s the last thing I do!” Kaliam yelled desperately as he tried to get unpinned by his sword.

Mason chuckled and slowly walked towards Nyla who still lay on the ground. She began to get up but Mason grabbed her by the collar of her armor and threw her towards Kaliam. “Awe so cute! The soon to newlywed are suffering together!” Mason taunted.

“Stop! You killed Liz and Eli! That’s enough Mason!” Nyla tried to talk sense into him. Mason simply shook his head. “You see I don’t have an actual grudge against you two or Liz and Eli! I’ve simply been ordered to do this in exchange for the throne of our kingdom…” Mason explained as he put his foot on Kal’s stomach and slowly applied pressure “AGHHH!!” Kaliam screamed as his boot’s spike tread sunk into his body.

Nyla stood up and jumped onto Mason, knocking him off his feet she began punching him repeatedly with her metal greaves. Mason growled at this surprise attack and grabbed one of Nyla’s hidden knives and stabbed her and twisted it upwards so she wouldn’t be able to recover.

Nyla fell to the ground nearly lifeless. Tears began forming in Kaliam’s eyes and his eyes returned to his natural Emerald color eyes. He forced himself up and grabbed Nyla by the shoulders, resting her head on his lap. Tears streamed down his face. “N-no… Nyla… please don’t leave me!” Kaliam cried out desperately.

Nyla gave Kaliam a small smile and reached up to wipe his tears away, her engagement ring rubbed lightly against his face. “Kal… I-It's not too bad… It could have gone worse...” she giggled but was interrupted by a raspy cough.

“Be strong and don’t be consumed by the purple demon inside of you… your brother let that side of him control his actions… don’t let it do the same to my beloved.” Nyla used all of her energy to lean up and kiss him. Kaliam hastily kisses her hoping some miracle will happen. As they kissed Nyla slipped her engagement band off her finger and slid it into his hand. She grew weak and her lips soon grew cold and she used all of her life force to send Kaliam away. He teleported to Earth and she closed her eyes peacefully and breathed her last breath.

Mason walked off slowly towards the castle to claim his throne. Tears streaming down his face knowing he had destroyed his only friends he had ever known. He reached the throne room and sat in his new throne. It felt empty and cold.

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