Solace and Nox: A New Light

Chapter 23

Raiden stood next to the king, holding his bronze sword and Ciamas shield. His senses were on high alert. Trace stood closeby, shaking uncontrollably. The king stood tall, and led the group of soldiers, Elite Guard and King's Guard. Raiden commanded that Markis stayed back to train some of the soldiers. Markis understood the situation.

Raiden nudged Trace slightly. "Hey, it's going to be alright. I won't let anything happen to you."

He gave Raiden an unsure smile, but he was able to relax a little.

Raiden and Direl stood to each side of King Lotharius. His robe was magnificent, and flowed as he walked. His crown made him appear taller than he actually was. Lotharius was looking more in control, which was good. He needed to look that way for the people.

They were about a mile outside of Shodon, and were entering neutral territory. It was the perfect place for a meeting, because neither side was in their kingdom's boundary.

"I see them," Direl noted.

Just ahead, we could see a fairly large group of Kresallis soldiers, with Moldark at the head.

It had been years since Raiden last saw the Kresallis people. They were a strange race. Their skin varied between different shades of purple and blue. They had humanlike features, but their skin was quite different from human's. they had pointed ears, and long noses, but they stood average height and had normal looking eyes. The colors seemed different at times, but some had blue, or brown eyes, like humans. The Kresallis, all male, were shirtless, and only wore cargo pants. Their hair was fairly short. Only a couple with long hair were an exception. They all had small three pronged knives in each hand that looked like they were easily thrown.

Moldark, with his long black cloak and intimidating yellow eyes, stood at the head of the Kresallis army. He looked so out of place with his multicolored skin army, but that didn't make him any less intimidating.

Raiden couldn't help but wonder if Moldark was actually their leader, or if their leader decided to let Moldark take the reins.

"Lotharius!" Moldark exclaimed, as if greeting an old friend. "It's so good to see you!"

"Moldark," Lotharius replied, clearly not as excited to see his enemy. "Why have you arranged this meeting?"

"Ah, straight to the point," Moldark said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "You're not excited to see your old friend, Lotharius?"

"No."

"You're not still sour about that stuff I threatened you with, are you? Are you mad about the assassin I sent? Well I'm not sure why. Your number one man here took care of her," Moldark said, gesturing to Raiden.

Raiden stood stone still. He refused to show that he knew anything about Cytra. He made a promise to her.

Lotharius didn't back down either. He was sure to have questions later, but in the moment, he had to be strong. He had to face his enemy with power.

"Get to the point, Moldark," Lotharius spat.

"I summoned you all here to tell you that this war needs to end," Moldark said simply.

"Great, surrender yourself to my guard and we can arrange that."

Moldark laughed. "No. That's not how this is going to work. You see, I have something better in mind."

Lotharius stood strong, but his guard was uncomfortable. Even Raiden didn't like where this was going.

"Lotharius, this battle is between you and me," Moldark started. "It always has been. I convinced the Kresallis to side with me against your forces in hopes that we'd be able to get to you, but clearly I failed. The Kresallis are done with this war, and I'm sure your people feel the same way. So let's end this fighting, and leave it to the two of us."

Lotharius's expression didn't change. He glared at Moldark, not responding to his proposal. Raiden didn't like this at all.

"If you don't accept this offer, we will come at you with everything we have. I will single handedly destroy your entire army, and leave you in the dust, on your own. I will destroy everything, and everyone you love."

Lotharius was beginning to look worried. Was the king going to give up himself for everything he had? Did he have it in him?

"Moldark," Lotharius started. "I acc..."

"Don't!" Raiden shouted.

The both turned to him.

"You can't accept this deal, Lotharius," Raiden said. "Who's to stop him from coming and attacking Shodon after you're dead? Nothing. He has every motive to do so, and if you're gone, one of your sons, who are not ready, will have to take the throne. This kingdom will fall apart with you out of the picture. That's why Moldark wants you to give up. If you are gone, so is Shodon."

Moldark glared at Raiden. Lotharius considered Raiden's argument, but Raiden could see that he wanted the war to end. He wanted Moldark's reign to end.

"Sir, if you truly want to protect the ones you love, you have to end this war a different way. You can't sacrifice yourself, because it would be in vain."

"Who do you think you're dealing with, child?" Moldark spat. He had to resist the urge to strangle Raiden right then and there.

"I'm dealing with someone who thinks he's above everyone else, and is too naive to think that someone would be stupid enough to accept this kind of deal," Raiden shot back.

Moldark reached for his blade, but one of the Kresallis soldiers grabbed him and shook his head. They were on neutral ground. Attacking an enemy on neutral ground was considered unconventional, and wrong.

Lotharius was finally understanding what Raiden had to say. He turned to face Moldark and said, "I cannot accept your offer. This battle will continue until both sides agree to end it. No blood will be spilt to end the war. It will end in peace."

"Either path you choose will result in spilling blood. You were just foolish enough to choose the path that spills more blood than is truly necessary," Moldark said through gritted teeth. "This day is the day that the King of Shodon chose to give up."

"This is the day that King Lotharius chose to take a stand," Lotharius shot back.

Moldark sneered at the king, then turned to Raiden. "You're the first on my list, Solace. All the suffering, all the fighting, all the darkness will begin with the spilling of your blood."

Moldark turned back and marched off. The Kresallis looked concerned. King Lotharius looked at them and said, "I'm truly sorry for this."

The Kresallis almost looked like they believed him. But that small ray of hope dissipated when they turned to follow Moldark Rathmore.

The war just took a turning point for the worse...

And Raiden was going to die.