Amaya had been in several wars and understood the magical stones’ power better than many other kings and warriors. Hoseki had great knowledge and had always had great wisdom in whatever he said. When Hoseki said they must move away from the kingdom, Amaya didn’t hesitate. He ordered the pull back and the army left away from the kingdom. There were many soldiers and people that had fled outside and in shock for what had happened. Some gave up while others ran away, but the war was over, Amaya believed for now and only disarmed those who gave up. He had no interest in taking prisoners and told them only to flee far away.
The Alumrylite stones were placed in a chest that was moved back into a wagon by the six large soldiers. The wagon held only two passengers and was protected by the knight. Hoseki was sitting in the wagon as well with Amaya riding beside him. The order to retreat came quick as the kingdom acquired a dark cloud that covered the whole kingdom and purple lightning started to hit it. Amaya felt disappointed to leave and not having the shadow stone in his possession, but he looked at the kingdom through a small looking glass. He saw Kemi and Jay standing at the edge of the walls staring at the army. Her eyes looked dead and she stared down at him with them. He looked at Hoseki who said they had to change tactic to bring her down. He reminded Amaya of that the Alumrylite stones would lose their power if used too much. Amaya nodded and knew Kemi would most likely use up all the power right away which would give them a chance to attack without having to worry about the magic of it.
‘The world just acquired a new Daku army that hadn’t been around for hundreds of years,’ Hoseki mumbled. Amaya remembered the name Daku from a story of when the Shadow stone displayed its power to his ancestors. He suddenly saw the forest people that had assembled together and were looking at the army. They knew he had the earth stone and Hun begged Amaya to return it to them. Amaya told them their ancestors stole it from his kingdom and if they ever set their foot on the land of Redonia, they would be killed. He said they should return to their forest because the land would now experience a horror not seen there before.
Hun knew he had only one choice and told those that remained of his people that they need to return home to not emerge ever again out of the forest. They were far less then when they last saw the forest but since it was their home, they would have to try to grow strong again. From the complex in the mountain, Gon had seen everything and wondered what was happening with the kingdom. He wondered why the soldiers left despite looking like they were going to take over. He knew there must be a strong reason for it and the dark cloud with the purple lightning, must have been triggered by something powerful. Sophia asked her father about his dream that he said he had after the tournament when he came home, and said the soldiers looked strange. He told her that the soldiers had different clothes and the flag was one he had never seen. He said again that it was most likely the dream filled the clothes and faces of the people, with just random colours and people.
They looked over the land to the kingdom and the clouds seemed to become thicker. Amaya’s army continued to walk and despite not bringing down the kingdom, he was happy. He knew he might have made a mistake by not letting Kemi give herself up but was confident he was able to take her down at a later stage. Hoseki was not so happy about the situation but he wouldn’t let it bother him. A magic stone was, however, acquired and then the true king who gladly called himself general, had three of the seven Alumrylite stones in his possession.
When the collected army had left far enough, Gon and everyone else in the school came out and started to fill the training ground. Isabel asked if she could go back to the kingdom soon but Gon said that now was not the time. ‘Perhaps the Redonian army placed the curse on the castle,’ he said. But since he had not fully seen what had happened, he wanted them to wait until they knew it was safe. The days came and went with no change over the kingdom. At times, he saw people who fled the castle coming close but no one dared knock on the castle gate. The clouds with lightning continued throughout all the days and Gon wondered about his friends in the kingdom. Some of the students in the school had went outside to look for fire wood or to check if any trouble was still around. Wame, who was one of those who volunteered to gather wood, told about something strange. He had met some people that lived in the castle before the clouds appeared and then were afraid of going back in. They said the people that were still in the kingdom had been changed by a magical stone. How a stone that was magical could create such destruction was hard to believe, but Gon had also seen how the earth stone had been used to create trees and hills.
Wame told Gon that some people would like to come to the school to rest before they left for another land. Gon told him that in this time of need, how could he refuse anyone who asked for help. The first people came the same day and told Gon about what they had seen. He knew of the shadow stone that they found but not that it brought so much power so it could heal people and engulf the whole castle with the city. Gon looked over at the kingdom that was still covered in the mist and lightning. He hoped Jay was safe and saw the fear in the people as they came to his school. The people came and went with stories of what they had witnessed before leaving. Not only those that lived inside the walls of the kingdom felt like leaving, some of his pupils had also left until the land went back to normal.
Gon was sad to see them leave but would never stop anyone from walking out of his school. Every day Gon woke up, he looked outside his window and was sad to see that the kingdom had yet to change. But on the eighth day since the mist had appeared, something finally changed. The kingdom started to receive a lot more of the lightning strikes and a vortex was forming over the kingdom. It was violent and not an eye turned away from the kingdom that looked like it would explode any minute then. But the castle and the city surrounding it never did explode. Instead, the mist disappeared and soon the lightning did so as well. Whatever created a circle around the kingdom, must have ceased finally.
The big door opened to the kingdom and many soldiers came out from the gate. With the mist gone, the kingdom could be seen to be badly damaged and there didn’t seem to be any effort to fix anything. Gon had acquired a small telescope from a man heading towards the great city of Shetana. He had said Gon could have it because he didn’t need it anymore then. Gon saw the soldiers that came out ride towards the small village next to the kingdom where they lived in before. The soldiers looked dirty and they wore no armour whatsoever. They only had swords but no helmet when they entered the village. It was almost empty since the people were so afraid to stay so close to the kingdom during the war. But some of the people fleeing from the kingdom must have stayed in hope to come back.
Gon saw, to his horror, that the soldiers that came out from the kingdom gate dragged ten people from the village and brought them back to the kingdom. The soldiers closed the gate again as they entered through it. Gon let everyone know and confusion mixed with fear went through the school. Isabel was afraid and had a lot of friends in the kingdom, so she asked her father to send someone to find out what was going on. He told her they needed to wait until they knew what was happening and during this day, several times, the door opened and soldiers came out. They rode further away each time and came back with new people. While this was happening, Gon didn’t know what was going on but knew something was very wrong. They were too far away to hear anything from the castle that was silent and they could only guess what was happening there.
When, on the second day, the door opened to the kingdom, the reality opened up for him. It was just before noon and no one had had any good sleep in the school. No one had left the kingdom this day but it all changed then. The door opened up and first everyone believed the same would play out as the day before but this day would change everything. The few soldiers leaving each time to bring people back inside the kingdom, look different then. The few that came out with broken armour and looked more like barbarians, suddenly came out in thousands. The then large group of people was big and looked a lot different than the origina
l army fighting before. They rode to the middle of the land and stood up on several rows of 100 soldiers in a row. When standing ready, several flags were raised revealing a familiar sight for Gon who dropped the telescope and looked white in the face. Everyone could see the strong famous fighter was looking scared and they were wondering what was going on.
Gon turned to the students, daughters and other people still in the complex to say that those outside were a threat to their own lives. He told Sophia that the flags that were then raised and armour they wore looked exactly like the ones in his dream. Sophia had rarely seen her father scared but seeing him then, made her have much fear inside her body. The weapons that had been hidden had been left where they were as they weren’t sure if the king of Redonia would come back. It was clear that Amaya knew better than to stay to face the people in Gon’s dream that was so brutal. The army was quiet and faced the way out of the kingdom.
Sophia saw Jay in the front of the army and told her father who also located him. Jay looked towards the way out of the land, and behind him was the shadow stone on a wagon, in the middle of the army. A person was standing on one of the wagons and was wearing a cloak. The person turned their face towards the school and then Gon saw Kemi. She was covered up and she made a signal to one of the other high officers. The officer had with him 300 people and they then walked towards the school, while the main army began to move forward. Gon told everyone to get ready because this time it might be time to fight. The students asked if they should hide but Gon knew those coming would not stop this time. He told everyone to move the people not with the school to the cave and close it. He believed the moment coming would be of life and death so anyone not wanting to fight should also hide.
His pupils were just 389 left and many had only been at the school for less than a year but there was not a single one that intended to leave. He told Isabel to hide and not to come out until he or her sister came to get her, and she left without question as she knew the situation was dangerous. Sophia asked if she could stay and defend her home as he would do so. Gon told her she was old enough to make her own decision, but if she stayed, he would expect her to not hold back. Kemi and the others in the army did not look to be stopping to see what would happen and instead continued forward, towards the exit of the land. The people coming towards the school could be seen to be a mix of soldiers and regular people came up to the school gate where they stopped outside.
The high officer talked with a high voice that the people inside were ordered to come out and follow them. Those down at the gate looked scary, Sophia thought, and Gon responded with that they didn’t want anything to do with the war. The officer said anyone not following the order would be classified as a traitor and would be executed. His voice told of someone that meant what he said and this made many feel afraid even more. The students inside trusted Gon and would do exactly what he said. Many of them did not come from this land and had found a family in the school.
Gon asked the officer why the changed flags and armour but the soldier said nothing and repeated that anyone not complying would be executed. Gon recognised several of the people and they were regular citizens from the city, mixed with some of the soldiers. The men stared right out in the air and Sophia then called out to the officer that the school was neutral and would never came out by force. The officer told the soldiers, loudly, to draw their swords and they all did in one go. The pupils had then brought all of their weapons from their hiding places and stayed ready to fight. The aggressive men outside started to hit the door with their swords causing much damage.
The door was made of strong wood but would not stand against many strikes of the swords. Gon told everyone that they would either be caught, and what he could only guess, be turned into what the soldiers were, or they had to win. The soldiers were more but Gon had taught the students well and they were ready to use their skills then. The door broke after ten minutes of constant chopping and then it was pulled down. The students had practised before the soldiers came for an attack by the Redonian army that never came to them. Some of the pupils threw knives through the open door that hit the soldiers. Arrows were shot back but missed when the students had much to hide behind in the school.
As soon as the soldiers came in, they were attacked by the students inside. Swords from the soldiers met with a variety of weapons and at first, the soldiers fell easily. Gon had told them to take them down at every cost without getting injured themselves. The initial few seconds of the fight went as everyone had hoped. The students had an easy time to fight the soldiers that were pushing in to each other to get in. At first, everyone thought that the soldiers would lie down when hit hard enough but when the soldiers rose again as if the strikes made no harm, the situation became more dangerous. The first member of the school got a strike in the back by a sword and died when he brought down one of the soldiers.
The soldier had been struck down so the student had turned his back from him. The pupil never saw the dark-eyed soldier coming up to strike his sword through him. He looked horrified into the dead eyes of the soldier that walked past to fight others. Others got killed when the main force of the soldiers came in. The soldiers were many and with their armour, it was hard to get a direct hit. Several women wearing normal clothes under a few parts of armour surprised everyone. There were no female soldiers fighting for Grasoll and never had been. Gon told Sophia to hold the back of the school from being taken and be ready to kill anyone coming close to her. She saw her father run towards the edge with his staff and jump down to the students. As he landed, he met one soldier that got his head cracked by a swing of the weapon. Gon then got all the attention of the high officer who charged in with the horse that also looked like it had changed. The sword of the officer missed when Gon ducked and he put the staff between the legs of the erratic horse that fell.
The officer got up but got an arrow in the chest. Gon looked at the arrow that he knew was shot by Sophia. Her arrows had a different mark because she wanted them to be a signature of hers. He felt good that she had his back with her excellent archery skills. Ever since she first got a bow from her father when she was young, she had practised a lot. She continued to fire arrows and so did others from a sheltered area on the way up to the house. Gon finished the officer off by blocking the sword. He then grabbed the arrow sticking out from the chest and pulled it out. He struck fast and hard on the throat to break it and without moving, he twisted the officer so he faced away from Gon. He kicked him hard in back, breaking the spine, causing him to tilt backwards where finally Gon stabbed the arrow into his head killing him.
The most experienced members of the school picked off soldier after soldier and grabbed weapon that had been hidden if they lost one. Many soldiers fell but since the soldiers did not seem to feel pain, they forced forward and trapped several students that got killed. Gon spun around and broke the bones on many soldiers as he moved. He was able to kill ten people in twenty seconds and moved like the wind in lightning speed. He felt like everything was in slow motion and could see the movements of the soldiers easily. Deeper inside the complex, some of the soldiers had made themselves up the stairs and killed three people that came from the castle to seek shelter. They stood at the bottom trying to fight them down again but were not used to handling weapons.
Sophia grabbed a spear with a thick blade, and ran down the stairs while others kept firing the arrows. She cut the head of one of the soldiers and slashed up another soldier’s chest. The spear got stuck in the abdomen of a soldier and he tried to swing the sword towards her. She pushed him down towards the rest of the soldiers and cleared off the rest of the soldiers on the stairs. Every swing she did, she either killed or disabled a soldier. Some blood came out of them as she hit them but less than expected. Not only that but the soldier she cut open, simply got up and began fighting again. How it was possible, she didn’t know but she had no time to think about it. The little blood that had come out from the soldiers still managed to land on her clothes bu
t it was not red. The black thick substance was very strange and smelled foul.
She watched her father fight off soldiers that were a group of six. She wanted to help but knew she must stay to keep the soldiers off the stairs. There were too many people hiding in the mountain and she could not let them be easy targets for these strange soldiers. The men that came were not more than the students but the fact that they didn’t go down and killed without conscience brought this battle to a dangerous point. What turned the table was the fact that Gon had taught everyone well and their skills exceeded that of the soldiers. They began to take over the fight. Gon killed the six soldiers surrounding him with the help of Wame who threw a small knife at one of the soldiers which disrupted the flow of the attacks.
Gon’s strength and speed made his staff a lethal weapon. He crushed the ribs of a soldier and broke the legs on some of them so they fell. Wame was quickly there to stab all of those falling in the head. Some of the pupils finished off the soldiers that were still moving as they fell and the soldiers became less and less. Sophia knew these people were Grasoll kingdom soldiers and could not believe they were now trying to kill everyone in the school. She knew what to do and told some of the others to guard the stairs. With the situation now being in their favour, she joined the fight with the last soldiers and killed several with her spear. With more members of the school standing and fighting better than the soldiers, they controlled the fight.
Everyone worked as a collected group and took out one after another. Soon the attack ended and everyone in the complex stood with blood stains on their clothes. Gon had the last attacker at his feet and asked him what happened to the people that were taken to the castle. The man tried to fight still but with a broken neck, he could only move the head. He didn’t seem to realise he couldn’t move and made only strange sounds from his mouth. Sophia looked at the person and recognised him. It was the son of one of the best bakers in the city who Gon knew also all too well. The son was not a soldier and not his family either. He was just two years older than Sophia and they had met many times in school. He may not be a soldier but was still wearing armour, even if it did not cover his whole body.
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