Xavier pondered everything even as he waited for the force of Foth to assemble at the black cove. Aeon was right; if he hadn’t agreed to give Damien a fair shot at this war, he would have had the upper hand and already wrecked enough damage. Was it pride talking when he made that agreement? Did his anger at every sneaky tactic the King of Foth has used so far make him decide recklessly? He wouldn’t know.Assembled here at the black cove were twenty thousand soldiers of the three kingdoms combined. The enemies coming against them were estimated at fifty thousand soldiers, but he knew they could take them on because that was what they had trained for in the last few years. He had seen this day; he had seen this war over and over. For a while, he thought he wouldn’t be a part of it, but here he stood, about to lead the bloodiest battle ever known in the history of the four kingdoms.“The army from Foth and the slaths approach!” Sir Duncan sounded the alarm, and the army of Wahala fell in

The last batch of the Foth army approached, coming out of the shadow to stand a few feet away from them. Like before, they stood in no formation, only holding their daggers and weapons.“So, do we attack?” Alpha Koz asked after a while, and no attack was made.“We wait for them to attack,” Xavier answered.Koz’s eyes narrowed at him. “We waited for them to attack earlier, and they took down almost all of our men.”“I know that,” Xavier answered.Koz frowned at him. “And you want us to wait.”“Yes, it is our only play,” Xavier told him.Koz didn’t want to do that, but he had no choice; the king made the rules, and they had to follow them.They returned to silence, so that the only sounds being heard were the heavily beating hearts of the soldiers on the field.“Fuck this!” Koz cussed under his breath and charged towards the army of Foth, standing and waiting for them.“Koz!” Xavier yelled at him, but he didn’t stop.Koz’s attack was reckless and not calculated, but he wanted his death

Xavier could hear his heart pacing as he ran towards where Damien, the king of Foth, stood with about three dozen of his guards as protection.Such a coward.He wanted to wreak havoc on Damien and see the fear in his eyes before he snuffed the light away.Yes, they were just seven warriors, but these seven warriors were stronger than average. Aeon had the strength of six mighty soldiers combined, and Xavier could still take on the same number at once, despite his weakness. The queen also wielded strength beyond most imaginations, as did Alpha Zayn, who had just lost his best friend, Alpha Chado, in the war. They were all men scorned by the king of Jade, wanting a fair share of the price."Since you have almost lost this battle, you are here to see if you can take me down instead." King Damien said from where he stood on higher ground, shielded by his soldiers."That is exactly what I am doing, so why don't you come out and face me one-on-one?""That will not be a fair fight then, beca

“How was it?” Xavier asked, as Mia stepped into their chambers and silently made her way to the wardrobe to change out of her robe.She had worn a two-piece black, easy-to-remove robe for the funeral rite at the black cove. She had now taken off the first piece.She turned to him and said, “It went well, but the kingdom took a massive loss. So many sons and daughters would never get a shot at life because they laid it down for the kingdom’s cause.”“It was a great price, and they knew this before joining the warrior’s institute.” He answered.“I do not know how I would feel if those were my boys.” She mumbled under her breath, and he heard.“War is the last thing anyone ever wants. But if the inevitable occurs, we must do whatever it takes to preserve the land. You know this.”She nodded. “Yes. I do, and I understand. I wish there were another way.” She turned to him.He mumbled his agreement under his breath.“How do you feel?” she asked, stepping towards the bed.“I feel like I have

Edward opened the door and stepped into the royal chambers, even without knocking. Judging by Mia's observation of the king's condition, he could tell they were barely on time now. They needed to get to doing what needed to be done.Mia turned to him as soon as they stepped in, and she sat up in bed, her eyes filled with panic."Mother!" Lyon squealed, and the little boy stretched his hand out to her.She ran off the bed and over to her son, taking him into her arms when she got to Edward and hugging him tightly.She stared at him and shook her head, telling him Xavier was dead and there was nothing they could do. She was breaking down yet, doing her best to stay strong through it, probably because her son was watching this all unfold.Edward didn't let her emotions and the truth, which she wanted to confirm, deter him from his mission."How long?" he asked, stepping towards the bed."A few seconds ago." She replied.Good. He thought. That gave them much room for hope.He nodded and m