The words had barely left Pope Julius' mouth,when the crowd erupted like a ruptured dam. Shouts, gasps and furious roars swelled into a chaotic wave. But none of them echoed louder than the Pope's last words,
" These four women shall be executed for treason".
Sade froze, her suspicion had been right all along. But this?, Beatrix in chains?, how did that happen?.
The gallows felt a mile away, the dust the crowd raised was too thick she could hardly see Beatrix at the gallows, she pushed back with Helga at her side.
Then.
"Sade!". Beatrix's voice rang in her head.
She turned and looked back at the gallows, Beatrix stood shackled. But her faintly grey glowing eyes locked directly on Sade. In that instant, space folded away. To Sade, it was as if Beatrix was just one step in front of her, she could feel her breath, as if they stood face to face in a world of their own.
That was one of Beatrix's abilities, mind control. She could manipulate a person's mind, she could even transfer her mind into a person's body and communicate with the person.
Beatrix was in her head. Again.
" What the hell is going on?", Sade asked Beatrix in her mind.
"It was a trap", Beatrix's voice replied calmly. "And we fell for it".
A pause. Then,
"They now think we are their enemies … they believed we started the fire and –"
" Did she do it?, Sade interrupted
"No. Somehow…it wasn't her",
" How can you be so sure?", Sade demanded.
" She is not a descendant of the first blood, it is impossible for her to regain her human consciousness after losing it. Besides, Jonathan had predicted that a day like this would come".
The mental conversation faded into silence, the noise of the crowd reduced to a distant hum. Then Sade broke the silence.
" So what is the plan?", she asked.
Sade blinked rapidly, Beatrix's mind had gone back to her body. Sade looked at her again from where she was in the crowd, her eyes still shimmered with what had been shared. That knowledge weighed heavy on Sade's shoulders.
Helga's voice broke the silence besides her
" She's… going to die here, isn't she?".
Sade glanced at her for a few seconds, the confidence in Helga's eyes was sharp, as if she could cut her soul with just her eyes. Sade freed her face and smiled.
"I don't think so", she turned . " Let's go meet the others".
Above, Pope Julius raised his hands to silent the crowd. He frowned his face- maybe for them, maybe for what he was about to do.
"We have tolerated evil in Mediva for too long". His voice thundered." But no more".
" Daemirans burnt down District 5!". He raised his voice
The whole crowd was in shock.
Sade and Helga had now reached the back of the crowd, where a group of Daemirans were gathering.
Boyce, ever watchful, was still on the tower. His eyes suddenly caught something, a figure standing still on a tower across the square.
Then in a blink, the figure vanished.
Back on the stage, Pope Julius lifted his staff, in a ceremonial arc.
" Here and now, in the name of God the Father, I declare Daemirans enemies of Mediva… I declare war on Daemirans!".
Suddenly,
" Run… all of you, get out of this Godforsaken city", Susuri's cracked voice rang through the crowd.
Confusion ran through the crowd, people screamed, scattering in all directions. Did the Pope just declare war on Daemirans?. It was chaotic.
Arrows flew, chains clanked. Cathedral guards and hunters were hunting the Daemirans through the dust.
Sade led her group toward the West gate.
" Why are we running?... Let's fight", a deep voice and with a Serbian accent growled beside Sade.
Rhola, one of the strongest Daemirans. Her beautiful fair face was covered with claw marks, a sign of battles with demons.
" We can't! ". Sade objected.
" Why can't they just break the chains?"Helga, panted beside them.
" The chains… they're made of sandstone" Anna appeared like a ghost, " they absorb both spiritual energy and essence… in other words, our powers are useless against it".
She was so quick that none of the women felt her presence.
Rhola scoffed,
" Oh look who decided to show up … the princess is here"
" I don't have time for your nonsense Rhola", Anna snapped, then to Sade, " what is the plan?".
" We will run to the West gate and hold the line until I open the portal. Every last one must pass through".
"Finally", Rhola lips curled into a grin.
" We draw their attention here", Sade continued. "while they escape the gallows".
" Escape! How?". Anna asked with curiosity.
" It's Beatrix we're talking about, princess", Rhola replied with confidence.
BACK AT THE GALLOWS,
Beatrix's eyes were closed, her breathing slow. Chaos rang around her, but she remained calm, calculating.
Suddenly,
She opened her eyes, it was faintly grey.
Early, at the Grand cathedral, she had slipped fragments of her mind into a cathedral guard.
Now, that cathedral guard approached the gallows. His eyes, glowing fainting grey. About five cathedral guards were guarding the gallows. The chaos made it easier for the cathedral guard to reach the gallows.
Before anyone could notice, the possessed guard reached Beatrix. One of the guards tried to stop him, but it was too late. Her chains fell.
In a single moment, the guards suddenly became unaware of their existence. Beatrix stepped forward, five guards dropped like stones.
Eliana jumped down from the gallows, wind swirling around her, she was using her air manipulation ability to clear a path for the rest.
Susuri looked up at the stage. The Pope was leaving, he locked gaze with her and smiled. She turned towards Salas, he sat calmly, unmoving as if everything was under control.
Was this all his plan?, She thought.
" Can you walk?", Beatrix asked Arora
" Just go without me".
" Don't be foolish Arora", Susuri snapped
Eliana surged her ability again. Hhooww!, an explosive rush of a whirlwind, scattering the remaining hunters.
" I can't hold them forever!" She shouted.
This time she pushed the air with more power, the force cleared everything around her.
The women leapt down from the gallows. Dust swirled like smoke. Susuri gave Eliana a hard look.
" Tsk, that crafty old bastard", Susuri was referring to Salas. " Do not kill them". To Eliana
" Well… they just declared war on us", Eliana snapped. " Killing is justice."
Susuri gave her a cold look enough to make her quiet.
" We should head to the West gate now", Beatrix's eyes instantly started glowing grey.
BACK TO SADE GROUP( West gate).
Before they reached the West gate, the path was blocked by cathedral guards and hunters troops who had already flanked them front and back, now they were trapped. The plan was to reach the West gate, and open the portal on the gate so they only have to fight the enemies behind them. But now the plan was ruined.
From behind, a lot of Daemirans were killed and captured and if they moved any further, they would suffer the same. Susuri's command, the queen of all Daemirans, was not to kill. But Rhola was not buying that shit.
" I'm going to take care of the back".
" Please don't kill them", Anna begged.
" Fuck off princess! This is war".
Rhola turned and started sprinting towards the direction they came from.
A hunter raised his blade over a fallen Daemiran.
Rhola sighted him from afar, her eyes started glowing grey. She implanted her feet on the ground with so much strength that her leg broke the ground, in a flash, she was gone.
Rhola struck her arm, bursting through the hunter's chest. She stood, looking at the hunter like a beast as she watched him gasp for air. His eyes widened in shock and agony before death took him. She pulled out her hand out of the man, turned and looked at the woman on the ground,
" Run!".
The blood dripped from her arm to her fingers and shifted, it began to take the form of a whip with thorns.
The hunter's blood on her hand, now a living weapon.
Rhola ability was blood manipulation, said to be the deadliest ability among all Daemirans. Not only her ability, her monstrous strength and speed gave her the title - the woman beast. Like a beast she was invincible when in combat.
Her blood manipulation ability allows her to manipulate blood to any form and she could extract and manipulate a person's blood once she injected her blood into the person.
A whisper of danger brushed her neck. She turned.
Then,
She felt a presence behind her, a blade, fast with insane speed coming for her neck.
In an instant, she blocked it, with blood forged armor covering her right hand. Steel rang against solidified essence, sounded like steel clashed against steel.
She met her attacker's eyes.
" Long time no see … Boyce", she growled, menacingly.
He didn't reply. Without hesitation, the next swing was already coming.