All I Need ✔️

Chapter 95

The following chapter contains violence and references to sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

Third Person POV (Ari)

Ari and his unit moved through the streets quickly, trying to get out of the city. Ahead of them, they saw a family – a father carrying his young daughter, and a mother running hand-in-hand with her son. Suddenly, a fireball appeared in the sky. It was as if Ari was seeing it all happen in slow motion. "No!" he cried out, running towards the family. 

Valery and her unit emerged from a nearby street. Once Valery saw the fireball, she tried to destroy it, but it was too late. The projectile had already landed on top of the family.

Valery let out a string of curses, while Ari stood silently, frozen and trembling. He had been to battle before, but never like this. Never with one side willing to kill their kingdom's own children without a second thought. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Ari?" Valery asked, running to him and placing her arm gently on his shoulder. Her voice was soft and laced with concern, but Ari was too shocked to even notice how out of character she was acting.

Instead, he turned to her, shaking his head. "These are my people," he told her in a hollow voice.

"I know," she said wistfully. Her somber expression immediately shifted to dark and determined. "Don't let that pain consume you. Let it drive you. We have to stop him."

Ari nodded. "You're right," he said, collecting himself. "Let's go," he commanded his troops.

The two units travelled together through the rest of the city, townspeople scurrying past them in a desperate attempt to escape. Every block had new destruction – shops, houses, taverns burned to the ground or left as a pile of rubble. This isn't even about us, Ari realized. This is a warning to all the people of Peria that no one is safe. That Alterius is willing to do whatever it takes to stay in power, and that no one should ever even think about crossing him.

Ari and Valery's units finally made it to the battlefield, where Cassius's forces were clashing with the palace guard. Even though all of the units hadn't emerged from the city yet, it was clear they were already winning. It was also clear that the elementalists were the main reason for that. Ari watched in awe as some of the air elementalists launched dozens of the fort's soldiers in the air, allowing them to attack from above. One of the water elementalists near him had a stream of water she was using as a massive whip to knock down anyone who dared charge at her. The earth elementalists were using giant boulders to take out the catapults.

"This is incredible," he told Valery. He had seen them train, but he had no idea they were capable of this. 

Valery smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet," she told him. She crossed her wrists at her chest, her hands in fists. After taking a deep breath, she swept her hands out quickly in front of her. At least fifty of Alterius's men fell over instantly, hit by an explosive burst of flame. 

Ari watched her in awe. He remembered what Safania had done in the castle when they fled, but this was even bigger, and Valery was in complete control of it. And she looked like she had barely broken a sweat.

Valery turned back to him. "Are you going to help me, General?" she asked sweetly.

Ari snapped back to reality. Right. He charged with his sword drawn and began to fight off Alterius's troops who were still standing. As he fought through the soldiers, he was relieved to see Alton alive and fighting nearby. He saw Zamari's unit as well, though he didn't see her. But what worried him most was that he didn't see Cassius.

Distracted, an opposing soldier's blade smacked his side. Fortunately his armor caught the blow, but it reminded him to stay focused. He easily took out the soldier that had hit him and proceeded to work his way through the crowd.