The beasts, which should have been in peace during this time of great travel, ran blindly into the city and ravaged everything in their path. Erian arrived at Aidine and Roune's side just in time to invoke his magic and envelop them in a spherical shield against which the creatures collided to faint or die. The king took his beloved daughter in his arms, then protected her delicate, bleeding ears with his magic-infused hands.
"Daddy, that hurts!" cried Aidine again in pain despite her father's magic, which protected her ears as best he could."
"I know, sweetie. But you have to hang in there. Don't worry, Daddy's here."
Vogou, who had long since risen to his feet, was now floating on his beast, far above, with an irritating insolence, displaying an air of pure, repulsive ecstasy at the disastrous scene that lay below him.
"How wonderful to see the two greatest rulers of the great Eyel Galaxy, lying at my feet."
"I hope you enjoyed it, you little shit," Jiide remarked as he rose to his feet despite his pain, facing his dark enemy with a dignity that was seriously displeasing to him. But for all the power you display with such laughable pride, you are worthless against the powers of Eyel's two superpowers. "
Then Jiide, Erian, and then all their generals followed, stood up and beamed with a tremendous power that helped them bear the pain. Their marvelous light spread with incredible force, and soon the Aedorians and the other winged ones lit up in turn. Together they extinguished the mortal races and soothed the creatures. Then, in perfect mindshare, they joined forces and magic, and fought back with all the power they possessed, and fought the invading armies.
Vogou contemplated for a moment this rare and magnificent spectacle, feeling the old feelings of inferiority and rejection wandering in his being, but soon repressed them mercilessly, before returning to his two powerful opponents, emitting a light admiring whistle.
"Oh, I see. So this is the new link between the two great powers. Or rather, the bond that unites anyone facing a common enemy."
"And you haven't seen anything yet, Vogou. But you won't get the chance, because you're going down."
And regardless of any response from their dastardly foe, Jiide and Erian joined their magic in a wondrous and perfect alliance, and trapped Vogou and his beast in a huge, indestructible-looking spherical shield and drew him to them.
Against all odds, as his defeat seemed inevitable, Vogou smiled cruelly, with an air of satisfaction that once again put the two rulers on guard and made them fear the worst.
Was there no limit to the surprise attacks of this abject individual, they thought at the same time. And they were right to think so and to be afraid, because the worst was coming and inexorably. Vogou, without adding a single word, but not detaching his gaze of triumph and insanity from his adversaries, turned grey, a dry and alarming grey, before cracking on all sides and drying up like a corpse abandoned in the burning deserts of Keeref, losing all his flesh, even his organs in a disgusting way, leaving only skin and bones, before the latter also end up being reduced to a mass of glittering black dust that dissolves the giant shield with frightening ease. The mass of black mist rose and spread with unstoppable, abominable force to envelop everything in its deadly shroud.
"Aidine!"
Probably feeling with a terrible and inexorable certainty that his end was near, King Erian, in his last moments, had no last thoughts for his people whom he had cherished and protected until the end, and even less for his lost kingdom, to which he had failed by leaving it in the hideous clutches of his enemies. No, his last thoughts, his last strength were dedicated to the only being who would have loved him against all odds, even if he had to lose everything he had and everything he was, and fall into darkness.
And when the fog cleared, and the physical pain faded for a moment, everyone could see with unprecedented horror that all but one of the Aedorian generals were dead, lying on the ground, mortally mutilated, not by dark magic as everyone should have expected, but by weapons. Aidine, kneeling on the ruined ground, was the only one who did not notice, for she saw only one being, her father, standing before her, his chest bleeding, looking at her with despair, for the very last time.
"Father..." she said, not finding what else to say, but knowing that nothing more could be done for him. The word was spoken in a simple whisper, a word of love, a goodbye...
"Aidine, I love you."
The tears did not come, only a smile that meant everything answered these last words. Aidine, unmoved except for the last wish of her father, King Erian Koroth, simply continued to look at him, this beloved father with what was left of him, still smiling at him until the moment he closed his eyes and sank forever. The king fell to the ground, never to wake up again. His reign ended as he had wished all his life. By protecting his greatest love.
General Odief, the only surviving general of the former King of Koroth, despite his impressive wounds, suddenly cried out, pointing at Jiide with terrible rage and disdain.
"I have seen it all! It was Jiide Jeugolk who killed the king! Look, the weapon is still in his hand, along with the blood of our sovereign that he shed without mercy!"
Which in a way was true since the emperor of Yzvalthes still held in his hand his personal weapon stained with blood as well as his hands and his suit that he had however specially made for this unprecedented moment and which now seemed to have lost all spark.
A soldier appeared from nowhere, helped by backing up these very serious statements with a conviction that should leave no doubt about the veracity of the greatest attack of the decade.
"Isn't it obvious?" he added, spitting at the winged emperor, and giving them a most convincing look of hatred. "The Aedor is under attack! The Aedor is badly wounded while the Yzvalthians are unharmed, and soiled with the blood of our own, our heroes!"
General Odief and a few soldiers immediately attacked Jiide and his subjects, knowing full well that this action would establish once and for all the truth of what they were shouting loudly and desperately before everyone. The latter, not knowing how to defend themselves, and perhaps equally indifferent to contesting these monstrous accusations, retaliated and succeeded in pushing them back violently.
"Your Majesty, we must leave here! This is no longer our place!" yelled General Chasol to his emperor, who still had his eyes fixed on the body of his old friend.
Two other winged generals pulled their sovereign by the arms, but the latter could not make the slightest gesture, looking at Erian with an unbearable intensity, his heart twisted until it exploded into a thousand pieces, then turned to Aidine, not knowing what to do or say to this child who had just lost the last of her parents, and that right in front of her. Deciding this time to keep his mouth shut for fear of making the situation worse, he decided to follow the wise advice of his generals and flew to their ships. The Aedorian soldiers pursued them with rage, unsure of how to undo this curse that had begun with unmitigated destruction, willing to go to any lengths to seek justice and revenge. But the nightmare was not yet over. Unknown ships arrived, unarmed enemies dropped bombs, destroyed the entire city, retrieved the rebel armies and left.
Vreik appeared next to Erian's body, which Aidine stroked with heartbreaking hesitation, in a state of total shock. But the being, as greedy as he was malevolent, was not at all saddened by this picture of the ultimate tragedy. On the contrary, as he picked up the crown that was now, at last, his, he felt a long-awaited victory, and a nameless contentment in front of this sinister spectacle, moreover, to show his perverse joy, he let out a cruel laugh.
Jiide Jeugolk and his ilk, counting on them, fled leaving Aedor to fire and blood, and finally the Duke, he appeared before her as she stood, dazed, before her father's body.
He drew his sword and tried to pierce her with it, spitting out the words he'd been saying for a long time.
"Don't be sad princess, I'm going to reunite you, and the whole galaxy will know that it was I, Duke Vreik, who put an end to the Koroth line."
Too upset, Aidine did not even deign to make the effort to turn to Vreik, who was about to point the winged weapon at the grieving young princess. But Roune, the loyal and brave Roune, who had sworn on his life to protect the orphaned princess forever, stood up and, despite the morbid fear that made his limbs tremble, pushed the traitor away with all his might, screaming.
"As if I'd let you do that, you crazy bastard!"
And without waiting, he took Aidine by the arm and flew through the fire trails that engulfed the city of Aedor... Vreik screamed in rage, and ordered eight of his subordinates to pursue them. Roune led them back to the castle as quickly as he could, instinctively guessing that despite the perilous situation, and the domination of the traitors, who were to be the new rulers of the kingdom in a day, he would find help. And his instinct, to his great relief, did not deceive him. No sooner had he entered the main door, with his precious burden in his arms, than important allies was waiting for them with concern but also a healthy calm. Foyne and Tarias. The professor faced the traitor while the red godmother preceded Roune, who was carrying Aidine on his back, still as shocked as ever. Tarias wasted no time in unnecessary words and quickly led them to a secret door that would take them directly to the basement where he would take a ship to escape.
"Roune, go to the north hangar and take the SK Vintra ship. I have provided it with everything you will need to survive until our allies come to your rescue. Have no fear, they are trusted people, they will help you as they have helped all who have asked them in a just cause."
"Yes, Excellency." Roune promised the marquise gravely. But... you?
" I have to stay and help Foyne motsly to escape as well." Affirmed the marquise, sadly but firmly and courageously. "I maybe even have to stay afterwards. We'll meet again. Your role is to take the princess away and protect her. No," she corrected, "the Queen of Aedor."
Tarias pointed to Aidine, half-conscious, wounded and heartbroken, but still confidently sheltered in her creature's gentle arms, then reached out to stroke her hair, which no longer resembled anything of the beautiful work of art from this morning.
" She must not die," the Aedorian magician continued in a whisper, shuddering just at the vision of the atrocious scenes that were sure to occur if the foul recreants ever held her heartbroken little ward in their tainted hands. "All of King Erian's followers died with him, except us. Vreik will have the power. We are not ready to fight him now. We must gather our forces first. We'll do it around her. So go ahead!"
"Yes, I understand your grace. Duke me in." The creature nodded again before entering the hangar. There was only one ship. Alas, just as Roune was about to board it, there was an explosion, sending him hurtling away. He couldn't hold on to Aidine, who collided with a pillar. Then, to no great surprise, Vreik emerged from a suffocating crimson cloud, and strode straight towards the heiress, who was struggling to get up.
"Like I'm going to let you get away with it, you little pest."
He slowed down, and slowly walked towards his latest prey, pointing a sword at her, and displaying an expression of anticipation bordering on madness, signifying the deep desire to finally accomplish his life's mission and achieve the ultimate triumph, with the intention of savoring as much as possible and with all his being, every moment. Aidine kept struggling to sit up, and could not even kneel down. Roune, although seriously affected, tried to stand up in turn to save his young protégé.
"I killed your father," said the duke with abject and unbearable satisfaction.
"No." the young princess refuted with determination to his astonishment. "You haven't. You don't have that power."
Her enemy's face grew even uglier, if possible.
"But I helped kill him, so in the end, it's all the same."
Aidine shook her head again, denying this statement.
The duke was also wounded but driven by a terrible desire to kill. He pulled Aidine by the hair, who cried out in pain and looked at her with his demented eyes.
"Look at me, princess. Look closely. I want to be the last one you see before you die, and I want you to be perfectly aware that it was I who ended your life."
Aidine ached, her body ached, so did this individual, but it was her heart that tortured her, for it kept telling her that she would never see him again. Her mother was gone, now her father. Desperate, devastated, she gritted her teeth, letting herself go, then understood in a kind of lucidity that it was no one holding her by the hair who was the source of all this evil, or at least, guilty to a large extent, besides he added something else.
"You're really cursed. You'd better die."
Then Aidine thought of her beloved father who in the end gave his life to save her and she shall never see again. Then she will live. She will not let him down in her turn.
She brought out a murderous rage in herself, equal to that of her enemy, which wasn't difficult, and amplified it to a point where she could use it as an instrument to fuel her power. She blazed an incredible red and created shapeless beings from the ravaged ground, which seized the Duke and smashed him horribly against the wall.
Without waiting, Roune picked up Aidine, who had lost consciousness, climbed into the ship, which automatically operated in their presence, and left the planet.
$Chapter