War for the Skies (completed) (Book 1 of the Heroes of the Realms series)

Chapter 53

"Onward boys!" Tormenius ordered in the Skylar-Tormenius voice he/she had. "Change all of the gateways into the Sky Kingdom! It is time to invade!"

A loud "HUZZAH!" filled the air from the army of the Cursed.

The shackles that bound my hands together were weakening me. I felt more tired and less energetic. I was forced to watch this horrifying sight of the beginning of the end of every Realm. I didn't even have enough energy to speak or object. My eyes just followed the Cursed as they started flying their ships and disappearing into nothing, but I knew where they were going- into the Sky Kingdom, and there was nothing we could do.

I still couldn't believe that Skylar had backstabbed us. She had said It's for the greater good. Did that mean she was siding with the evil? Did she think that it was better for nothing to exist in any Realm, or be Cursed souls forever?

My mind started to spin, and I couldn't see. I didn't know if all of the energy I had wasted fighting the Cursed got me into that condition or if it were the handcuffs which were magically draining my power.

The army had marched into the Sky Kingdom through the gateways until there was only about ten men left. Tormenius hadn't left yet, he was waiting next to us, looking at us cheerfully.

"What's wrong, Leon?" he kicked me on the side, which sent a burst of pain throughout my stomach. "You can't use your powers?"

I didn't say anything, but my heart burned from anger and sorrow. I just wanted to break out of the stupid cuffs and give him a hard punch on the face. But the fact that he had Skylar's face would probably make me hesitate before I could do much.

"Just... go..." I managed to say.

He chuckled in the Tormenius-Skylar voice which was seriously beginning to bother me. "Alright then. Take them into the dungeon!" he said and nudged his head toward the temple.

Then the most terrifying thing I'd seen this entire adventure happened. Skylar's body... changed. Her face became cracked with purple zigzagged lines. A larger, purple, ghostly figure loomed above her body, following her movement, like a giant shadow.

Skylar-Tormenius walked over to one of the gateways and froze in front of it.

"Don't torture them too much," he told his mean before disappearing through the gateway.

Four guards flew over to us and grabbed us by the shoulders. The bulky one of the bunch grabbed Stormo onto his shoulders, which was probably a bad idea since Stormo wouldn't stop clawing at him.

"Come on," one of them said in a dead, raspy voice- which made sense since he was technically dead.

We walked in the direction which the ghosts pulled us in. We strolled through the temple, passed the rune of Tormenius- which wasn't glowing anymore- and reached the back wall.

I looked at the guards. "Um..."

"Wait for it," the one holding Mia said.

Suddenly, the wall split into two, revealing a set of stairs which led downward. The place was lit up with torches of purple fire, not helping a lot with the brightness of the place. It reeked of death, and I was starting to wonder if everywhere in this Realm smelled like that.

We groggily made our way down the set of slippery stone stairs. Since I was so tired, I almost fell down more than many times, but my guard kept fiercely tugging on my shirt and pulling me back up.

"Thanks," I told him one time, even though he probably wanted to kill me.

He gave a "You're welcome" in one silent grunt.