Arcanum

Chapter 44: Aiyana

I opened my closet, staring at my most defensive armour. Before the armour was put on, I got dressed into a simple grey long sleeved shirt, and a pair of black leggings. After, I grabbed my armour. The top was like a corset, but was made of metal, and stained an emerald green. It was also covered in patterns.

Then, I put on tall armoured boots covered in grey and cactus green. I slipped on armoured arm plates, and gloves shortly after, and then examined my last piece of armour. Sighing at how uncomfortable it looked, I finally just shrugged, and pulled it onto my tail. The armour mended to the shape of my tail, and it had blade-like green spikes on it, and the tip of the tail served as a spear. The tip was covered in deadly poison. For the last touch, I pulled my hair into a ponytail, and placed a silver tiara with one emerald in the middle onto my head.

"Aiyana, are you ready?" One of my Knights walked into the room,

"Yes." I nodded, and followed the man out. Lucas headed over to me on his horse, and dismounted. In his hands, he held two machetes, different from my own. They were beautiful, with ancient carvings, and looked more lethal. The blade gleamed, and appeared like it had been sharpened just seconds ago.

"Princess, this is for you." He smiled, and handed me the weapons. I smiled my thanks, and slipped the machetes into my belt.

"Where did you get this?" I asked him,

"The blacksmith made it for you. So it should be him you're thanking, not me." He said, and I giggled,

"I defiantly will thank him. Now, Lucas. You have to be careful. For me, right?" The guy chuckled, and pulled me into him, our armour squeaking as it impacted.

"You have to be careful too. You're the Princess, after all. And, soon to be Queen." He said, and I pressed my lips against his, pulling him closer for a loving kiss.

"I love you." I whispered,

"I love you to." He grinned, and gave me a peck on the forehead.

"See you in battle, my princess." The guy smiled, and mounted back on his horse. I could tell that beneath his smile, he was holding sadness. As I watched the man ride off, I stared to doubt if I would see him again.

"We have your horse." Kenji and Akira led my chestnut horse up to me.

"Hey bud." I scratched the horse's chin, and he let out a gentle neigh. Looking at my horse, I examined the green and grey armour that covered him. It was the matching colours and designs with my armour. I grinned, and pulled myself onto my horse, kicking him into a trot. Kenji and Akira followed behind me at either side, and we rode toward the battle field.

---

What I saw was complete chaos. Humans and Catori were fighting, and there was a huge bloodbath. I watched as many of my people, and the humans were killed.

"You okay princess?" Akira laid a gentle hand on my arm,

"Better than ever." I shook it off, and put on a brave face. I kicked my horse into a fast gallop, and I sped toward the humans, my machetes held ready. My weapons killed many humans, and I realized the numbers were decreasing more and more.

"The Catori are winning!" My brother shouted through the crowd, as he fought a wave of humans. I was grinning when I realized that we were in fact winning, but what I saw in front of me, made my heart stop.

"It's a shame you have to die. Such a beautiful woman shouldn't have to pay that price. But, I guess it's Lucas's fault for saving you. He should have just let you be my slave. I would have enjoyed that." The man in front of me smirked, the same man who tried to attack me in the prison.

"How are you-"

"Still alive? Well honey, let's just say our king figured out how to revive the dead. But you see, I'm the only one that didn't turn into those, zombified corpses. I'm as human as anyone else here."

"Shut your mouth. You disgusting human." I growled, and launched my horse forward. It all seemed to move in slow motion, as I rode past him, beheading the man. His head fell to the ground with a thump and the man slumped dead in his saddle. I turned my horse to face the dead mass of humans, and I realized they were slowly transforming into horrible undead creatures.

"We're in trouble." Charlene breathed as she rode up beside me, dressed head to toe in armour. It was a surprise to see her like this, even more surprising was that she wielded a sword.

"Yeah." I finally responded, and kept a tighter clutch on my machetes, "Charlie, we don't kill them. We need to find the King." I growled,

"What?" Charlene asked, confused. Suddenly, a bright red light erupted, cutting through the dark skies. I watched in shock as Dodger stood in the middle of all the zombies, clutching a crystal in his hands. The zombies turned to dust, and now, we were left with only a small crowd of humans. "I don't even have words for that." The green haired girl said in awe,

"Me either." I smiled, and rode toward the humans. My people killed off the rest of the humans, and we realized it was safe to head home.

---

We headed home, exhausted from fighting as we rode toward the village. When we arrived, I noticed something was very wrong. Lucas clutched my hand in his when he realized how pale I was, but when he noticed what I was looking at, his face paled too.

The village was destroyed. It was in complete ruins, and the bodies of many Catori littered the streets.

"They tricked us." I growled, clutching my armoured hands. I leaped off my horse, and didn't even bother if anyone followed as I ran through the streets, desperate to see if any of my people were alive. The humans even killed children, and I hissed in disgust.

"How can they do this." I whispered to myself, and continued on. Passing a large family home, I realized exactly who lived there. My daughter, and her adoptive parents. "No..." I cried out, and rushed into the house, searching through every destroyed room, looking for any signs of my daughter. My eyes caught sight of something hiding under the rubble, and I rushed to it, pushing the bricks and stones off.

"Kimani?" I looked at my sweet child's face. The last few days, I had been thinking about taking her in again, as my daughter. My hand reached for her cheek, and I felt tears rush down my face. She was cold. "Please..." I sobbed, and picked up the baby, cradling her in my arms. The tears wouldn't stop as I stared at the beautiful girl. I never thought I would have wanted a child, but now, I felt like I had lost something very important in my life.

I ran my hands through the girl's short blonde hair, and petted her small cat ears. "I'm so sorry." I whispered, and kissed the girl's head.

I got to my feet, and walked outside, to be welcomed with rain. Lucas noticed me, and he ran toward me,

"Aiyana!" He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the baby, and I gave him a sorrow filled smile.

"I miss her already." I said, and Lucas wrapped me up in his arms, and cuddled me close to him,

"We will find a way to make this right. I promise." He whispered to me, and the two of us shared a sad kiss.

---

I stared at my daughter's grave, and placed a beautiful bouquet of flowers on top of it. Filled with my favourite flowers, and many other different kinds. Then, I stood back, and opened my mouth, beginning to sing the beautiful lullaby my mom used to sing me when I was a child. It was a lullaby in our ancient language, mom had told me.

When I stopped singing, Lucas clutched his hand in mine, and we said our prayers to my daughter.

"Goodbye, Kimani." I whispered.