Kaija: Queen of Stone

Epilogue

Dari

I knew the war was over when Mara dropped to her knees, face stained with blood and devastation. My thoughts were drowned in red, coated in bloodlust. The queen of stone was worn and defeated.

Queen Mara stared off into the distance, her gaze absent of emotion. Lying in front of her was the once King of Kaija. His chest caved with an ungodly wound and near his corpse, in the ashes and embers of the Dead Lands, was his still heart. The Queen of Kaija's head was on his stomach, her eyes open in fear and betrayal. A knife was fastened to her hand, dripped in her own blood.

They were two hearts alike, ruptured and broken.

The battlefield was full of wounded Udanians and Kaijans. They limped and dragged themselves, carrying faces of strain. Beside the wounded were the dead. They covered the black soil in numbers.

My stomach twisted as the screams I heard from the war burrowed into my head; embedding there so they could haunt me again and again.

I was a part of this.

I listened to my queen and caused pain for my people and Kaijans. I did not hesitate to pick up my blade because the thought of achieving honor in killing our enemy was an intoxicating power. The sorrow cast upon these lands was mine to claim.

War was promised and it was delivered. I looked down in a puddle of blood, seeing a red reflection. I was the farmer boy from Udan on the outside, but on the inside, I was Mara's monster.

I gulped, thinking the name over. Udan. My home. My heart strained as I thought of the flames licking the wood of the villager's homes and the stone of the castle. I remembered the amber skies and the screams of the ones that had survived.

Now it was gone.

Mere ashes on the ground.

There was no longer a home to return to once we collected our wounded. There was no retreat from the consequences of our mess.

I approached Mara, and placed a hand on her shoulder, attempting to pull her from her trance.

"My queen," I began, the heaviness of the air weighing me down. "What are we to do now?"

Bitter silence flew through the battleground, numbing the cries of the wounded and the scared. It took moments before she spoke. "We rebuild," she answered, monotoned. "We change."

"Where are we to go?"

"Here," she stated. "This is the place to rebuild. The land of the dead, of the fallen."

"My Queen," I paused, thinking my words before saying them. I had seen the mighty display of power Mara held and did not want to anger her. "It would take months to rebuild, maybe even years."

"There's no need to worry," she replied. "Kaija has no monarch, they are in need of guidance and rule."

"What do you mean?"

"I will take my place."

"You wish to become Queen of Kaija?" I asked, bewildered.

"And Udan," she stated. "For in time, we will be united."

The End of Book 1