Feel the Fire (Septiplier story)

Chapter 26.

A shadowy figure ran past the frozen soldiers and they entered the castle. Since nobody was guarding it, it was easy for them to get inside, without being noticed. The person went over to Jack's frozen figure and looked over him. They looked at the others too, but the person stood in front of Jack instead. They started saying magic words and Jack was surrounded by a purple cloud. As the person finished the cloud disappeared and Jack was free from the freezing. He looked around with confusion when he saw the same witch in front of him.

"What are y..." he started, but the witch interrupted.

"Shh. We have no time to lose," she said and smiled at Jack. "Your friend is in danger. You might want to help him."

Jack went through the main door and exited the castle. He saw as Mark was fighting with the minotaur and so he started running down the stairs. He looked back as if the witch was following him, but she disappeared. He found it strange that she helped him. Plus how could she be able to move since the time freezing spell should affect everyone?

Jack heard as Mark was fighting with the minotaur, so he quickly turned around and started running towards them. He didn't really have a plan on how to stop the fight, but he had to do something for sure. When he saw that the minotaur pushed Mark a bit away from himself, Jack took the opportunity and ran in front of Mark, putting out his hand protectively in front of him. The minotaur didn't stop though and he swung his sword with all of his power. However, he couldn't harm either of them. Jack was surprised that it happened again and the shield was around them, but Mark was surprised by how Jack could be free from the spell.

"How?" asked Mark from Jack.

"I have some things to explain to you too," said Jack then he turned back to the minotaur.

"Your poor shield can't protect you from me." said the minotaur.

"Listen, we came here to talk with you," said Jack and the minotaur shook his head.

"I'm not talking with anybody as long as he is alive," he said and pointed his sword at Mark.

"Look, um..." started Mark, but because he didn't know the minotaur's name he couldn't continue his sentence.

"Tuman. The son of the great minotaur, Tauraan." he said.

"Tuman... I want all of this to end," said Mark, and Tuman looked at him with disbelief. "There is no reason to continue this. This won't lead us anywhere."

Tuman lowered his sword and listened to Mark. He still looked unconvinced, but Mark knew exactly what he wanted to do. Jack let go of the shield too, so they could talk without not trusting the other.

"I don't want to follow my father's step in this." continued Mark. "I promise you that I won't build the wall back... IF you put an end to this fight."

"How can I trust you?" Tuman asked.

"Come back tomorrow with a representative from each clan," said Jack as he stepped beside Mark. "And you will see that we told you the truth."

"I warn you..." started Tuman, pointing a stern finger at Jack and Mark. "if you won't keep your promise... Zartaria will disappear from the face of this island."

"Alright," said Mark as he straightened.

Tuman started to believe them so he just nodded. Mark withdraw the spell and the fighting continued. Tuman turned to a troll who was standing next to him and told him to call the monsters back. He then turned back to Mark to see if he really keeps his promise. Mark nodded and with that, he turned around to face his soldiers.

"The war is over," he shouted and some of the soldiers who were close to him stopped fighting.

They looked at Mark with a questioned look, because they didn't understand what happened. The troll blew the horn and to the sound of it, the monsters started to run out of the city. Mark walked around with Jack and they told to the soldiers that the war was over. They all stopped fighting and just watched as the monsters left. Nobody understood what happened, but they were happy that it was finally over. Mark started to walk back to the castle to inform his friends about his decision and Jack followed him. Before he could turn around to follow Mark though he saw as the witch was watching him from behind a building. She smiled at him and bowed her head before she ran away and joined the monsters. Jack was confused about her and this whole place, but he was at least happy that he can be with Mark still and that they were both alive.

"Guys, it's over," said Mark when he met with his friends on the street.

"What happened?" asked Gloom.

"I found their leader and made a decision you probably won't like," said Mark and his friends looked at him curiously. "I promised him that I won't build the wall back."

"What?" they asked at the same time.

"This was the only logical thing I could think of," said Mark. "Besides, I don't want this to continue. If we want peace, then we have to do this."

"I hope you know what you are doing, Mark," said Sydra with crossed arms.

"Don't worry," said Mark and he looked in the direction where the monsters left. "Tomorrow we will talk with them and everything will be settled between us."

They walked around and helped the soldiers and people in the city to get better. The soldiers went back to recover, while others already started to build back the buildings in the city. They wanted to get back to their normal life as soon as it was possible, and so they had to start working. Mark told the Senate his decision and of course, they didn't like it at all. Mark tried to explain his point and that after the meeting they can still decide what should be the next move. He wanted all of them to be there too, after all, they have the right to be there.