The Legend Of The Five Queens : Arabella's tale

Chapter 34: The End Is Never Truly The End

"Now is the time men! Help me raid his kingdom and smite their knights! Do not attack any civilians and most importantly, leave King Dietrich to me!" Arabella declares as she faces her army while sitting on top of Equidor. She turns back around to look back at the castle before raising her sword into the air.
"Now, charge!!!" She cries out before kicking Equidor causing him to start running. Arabella and her entire army run forwards with all of their might towards the castle. They all collectively let out a loud violent battle cry as they run.

King Dietrich's men notice the army that is suddenly coming towards them and begin to quickly gather their forces together. They prepare their crossbows and stand in front of the castle thus making a small wall of men. They stand on balconies up high ready to rain fire from above.

The knights unleash their arrows onto Arabella's army. Some of her men fall off of their horses as they become impaled by the incoming arrows. Her army manages to break through the knights and storm the castle grounds. Arabella jumps off of Equidor and cuts down an enemy knight before landing on her feet. Chaos quickly ensues as everyone begins to fight each other. Swords start slashing and clashing with one another. A huge battle begins as Arabella's men continue to pour into the castle grounds. Men scream out in anger as pain and specks of blood splat all over the courtyard ground.

Arabella attacks several knights cutting them down with ease. More of King Dietrich's men charge towards the queen with their swords at the ready to attack her.
Four of Arabella's men start pounding on the castle door with a battering ram.
Arabella duels multiple knights simultaneously as they try to overpower her. An enemy knight comes lashes his sword at Arabella to which she quickly dodges. The sword cuts through another knight's neck causing blood to pour out of their neck.

An arrow passes by her face from behind nearly cutting her cheek before penetrating the ground beneath her. Multiple arrows quickly rain down from above the castle walls. She launches fireballs at the knights catching some of them on fire. Chaos ensues among the castle grounds as everyone battles one another. The only sound that can be heard is the sound of men yelling and swords clashing.
Where is he?! Where is your king? I demand his presence!" Arabella screams as loud as she can as she faces the castle with her sword in the air. "Come out you damn coward!! Are you too much of a coward that you refuse to face a mere 16-year-old like myself?! Her voice echoes throughout the kingdom.
Arabella's heart pounds violently in her chest as she becomes enraged by the kings' absence. Suddenly her feelings shift as she senses the presence of another stone nearby.
Arabella looks around quickly as she tries to track down this feeling
"What the hell? I am feeling the presence of two stones now. How are there two more here?" Arabella continues to look around when suddenly a hooded figure tackles her and slams her into a wooden wall of a nearby saloon. The queen's body slams through a wooden table shattering it into pieces. Her face takes multiple beatings as the hooded figure unleashes a barrage of punches onto her. She lets out a scream as she sends out a curved fire wave that knocks the figure back. Arabella quickly stands back up and sets both of her hands-on fire.
"How dare you attack me! Who are you?" Arabella keeps her eyes locked onto her new opponent who is slowly standing up.
The figure pulls his hood down to reveal the face of a man. This man has a long thick curly beard that hangs down to his Addams apple. The color of his hair matches him in it. Arabella sees him as a built white man who looks angry.
"My name is Marcilious. I have been tracking you since you gained the firestone," His voice is loud and demanding.
"What do you want with my stone Marcilous?" She asks him as she continues to transfer the power from her stone into her hands.
"Let's put it this way, I know the full potential of what that stone can do. You can either give it to me willingly or I will take it forcefully from you,"
"What are you talking about? I cannot separate this stone from my body," Arabella slows the flow of energy down as to not drain too much of her life force.
"Then I suppose I will have to take it by force," Marcilious hurls himself towards Arabella with his hand stretched out in front of him.
Arabella lets out a burst of fire towards Marcilous to slow him down. He puts his arms out to cover his face from the fire. He quickly removes his trench coat which reveals a black stone that sits in his chest identical to how Arabella's fire stone is. The Queen notices the black stone right away.
   "What the hell is that?" She says as she keeps her eyes on the stone.
   "I suppose I will educate you a little. This is the Death Stone and it is the most powerful out of all of the stones," Marcilous responds before launching himself at Arabella.
   Arabella lands some punches onto Marcilious's face causing it to burn. He cries out in pain as he covers his face with his hands. Arabella punches him in the stomach forcing him to take some steps back.
   He uncovers his face to reveal the burn wounds quickly heal perfectly on his face.
"What kind of sorcery is this? How did he heal so quickly like that?" The Queen thinks to herself.
"Increased healing, one of the abilities the user of the Death stone gains. They can also do this," Marcilous puts his hand out and sends out a blast of black-lighting. Arabella quickly lunges and barrel rolls across the ground. The lightning bolt strikes the floor causes multiple shards of wood to fly out in multiple directions. Arabella lays flat against the ground to avoid getting hit. She quickly stands back up and launches two fireballs at him. Marcilious covers his face to protect himself from the fire. Queen Arabella jumps over a small table and attempts to land another punch on Marcilious.
Her fist suddenly hits a transparent force field that surrounds Marcilious's body. He keeps his hand out as if it is emitting the shield. Arabella's body freezes in the air as if some kind of invisible force is holding her in the air.
"You are now witnessing my powers! Telekinesis and force field creation," Marcilious says before hurling Arabella's body through the wall behind him.
   Her body slides across the muddy ground and comes to a stop as the back of her head touches the ground. She groans quietly before slowly bringing herself back up to her feet. Arabella tries to wipe off the mud as she notices the extra weight that it is putting on her.
Marcilious hovers a few inches above the air and slowly flies through the opening into the wall. He hovers higher until he is 2 feet in the air and is looking down at Arabella.
"I suppose that can figure out what my last original ability of flight. Now, surrender to me or you will be forced to endure more pain,"
Arabella looks up at him with anger in her eyes as she creates 2 small fireballs in her hands.
"A good queen never gives up no matter what challenges she may face," Arabella says loud enough for him to hear.
   Arabella extinguishes the fires from her hands and slowly floats up to get eye level with Marcilious. Marcilious gives her an evil smirk before saying, "So you have learned how to fly. I am impressed. However, that ability will not be as helpful as you think it is," He quickly flies towards Arabella with a fist out ready to strike. Arabella mimics his moves as she prepares herself for the impact. Marcilious's fist connects to Arabella's chest and sends her hurtling towards the ground. Her back slams against the ground causing all of the air to leave Arabella's lungs. As the queen tries to recover, Marcilious lands on top of her and punches her in the face repeatedly with his right hand. He opens his left hand which suddenly makes the firestone feel like it is being pulled away.
Arabella grunts out in pain as the stone is slowly ripping from her skin. She manages to turn her face to look at Marcilious while he pins her down. Suddenly, Arabella's vision turns red as her eyes quickly emit a bright yellow glow. Her eyes send out a concussive been of light that takes the shape of a laser beam. The beams burn through Marcilious's forearm as well as his shoulder and come out the other end of his body.
Marcilious cries out in pain as he quickly backs away. Arabella leaps forward and unleashes a long burst of fire with both of her hands. Marcilious quickly creates a force field and deflects the fire before it gets a chance to reach his body. The wounds on his body quickly heal just as his face had healed in the bar. Arabella cuts off the fire as a wave of exhaustion quickly flows through her body.
"If I keep going at this rate I will probably be dead soon," Queen Arabella thinks to herself as she uses one arm to cover the armor that sits over her ribs.
"Enough of this!" Marcilious cries out before extending his hand. Arabella's body quickly straightens out and begins to hover in the air against her will. The rest of the armor that covers the fire stone is quickly torn off by an invisible force and thrown to the ground. The stone budges as an invisible force begins to pull it towards Marcilious.
Arabella struggles to cry out in pain as the stone starts to slowly rip out of her chest. She slowly manages to force her head to look at her right hand and creates a fireball. She grits her teeth as she turns her attention back to Marcilous. Her hand opens fully and sends the fireball at Marcilous to which he easily blocks with his force field. Arabella's back arches as the stone continue to be pulled from her chest. Blood surrounds the stone on her chest causing Arabella to hurt more.
She manages to look at Marcilious and notices two lit torches stationed on the wall behind him. Arabella concentrates on the torches and mentally controls the fire to the extend outwards and fly to Marcilious's back. The fire hits the back of his force field and quickly covers the back half of it. Marcilous smirks.
"Nice try Arabella, but that will not work on me. You will have to try harder than that," He says as he lifts his freed hand to pull the stone harder.
"Damnit, I need to figure something out before it is too late! Maybe this is the end for me! Mom, I think I failed,"
Two of Arabella's knights run through the hole of the bar and stare at their queen in the air. The two of them quickly load their arrows and launch them towards Marcilious. The two arrows penetrate his thighs and bring Marcilious to his knees thus causing him to release his hold of Arabella.
Arabella falls to her knees and instantly tries to push the stone back into her chest. She feels thankful that she still has the fire stone attached to her body.
"Perhaps it is time for me to use my full potential. Cassandra may be able to craft a spell that can reverse my aging. It is worth a shot!" She thinks to herself as she stands back up.
Marcilious uses his telekinesis to fling the knights away from the area. He turns around to face Arabella giving her an angry look.
   Arabella starts to quickly draw power from the fire stone and disperses it throughout her body. Her body underneath the armor turns black and yellow as if she is made of molten lava. The leather padding instantly catches on fire and quickly heats the armor to its melting point.
   "I see, so your desperation to defeat me has led you to activate that mode? Very well, I will challenge you before you run out of time!" Marcilious shouts with a smile on his face. He pulls his hands together and creates a string of black electricity that flows between his hands. He quickly pulls his hands apart and clenches his hands. The black electricity flows around this fists as he enters a fighting stance.
  "Let's do it," Arabella quickly says before flying quickly at Marcilous.
   Marcilous screams with rage and flies towards Arabella with his fists ready to attack. The two of them collide with one another punching each other brutally. They both grunt as they land punches at one another in the face and stomach. Arabella feels absolute pain and tiredness as the stone steadily takes her life force into itself.
   Marcilious lands a few punches onto Arabellas' face thus forcing her to take a few steps back. He raises his hand in front of himself and pulls Arabella into the air. Arabella's skin starts to pull forward as the stone is once again slowly being ripped from her.
    Panic floods Arabella's body as she loses her fire form and finds herself unable to tap into the stone's power. A bust of energy leaves Arabella's body as the fire stone completely detaches from her body.  The stone leaves a definite burn mark on her chest from where it had stayed. The burn mark glows bright white and unleashes a stream of energy that flows into the back of the stone. Arabella's body rapidly ages 70 years in mere moments as the energy continues to flow out of her.
   The energy stops flowing from Arabella's body and gets absorbed into the back of the fire stone. Arabella's body grows numb instantly as she falls to the ground. Her back slams against the ground and refuses to move as if she is lifeless.
   The fire stone flips itself over and attaches itself to Marcilious's left upper arm near his shoulder. The stone glows brightly as it distributes its power through Marcilious's body. Unlike Arabella, Marcilious's body does not become engulfed in flames as he seems to be controlling the power almost instantly.
   Arabella lays on the ground continuing to look up at the sky. Her eyes grow heavy as her body becomes more tired while she continues to age. All of the Queen's efforts to move have been rendered useless as her heartbeat slows down.
   "Two down, plenty more to go," She hears Marcilious say. Marcilous walks over to Arabella and looks down at her with a look of disappointment.
   "I told you what would happen if you refused to give the stone up. Don't take this personally. You were merely an obstacle in my overall plan," Marcilous keeps his voice low as if he only wants Arabella to hear him. The sounds of knights yelling can be heard from behind the bar that Arabella and Marcilious fought in.
Marcilious turns his attention to the barn and squints his eyes.
"It's time for me to leave. I do not plan on causing anymore bloodshed than what has already been done," Marcilious looks up at the sky and quickly flies away.
   Arabella's vision slowly starts to become blurry as her heart pulse rate becomes very slow. The sound of footsteps can be heard approaching Arabella's body.
A young pale girl comes into Arabella's perfial vision. Arabella quickly notices a white stone in the young girl's chest bearing the same shape as both the fire and death stone.
   Arabella looks back up at the girl and recognizes her as a childhood friend who happens to be the daughter of King Dietrich- Princess Sierra.
   Princess Sierra quickly looks around her and runs away from the area. Arabella lets out her last breath of air as her heart stops completely making her vision go black. The world around her goes quiet as Queen Arabella dies.
   Now, some would believe that the world is doomed now that Marcilous has 2 of the stones of power.  All hope is not lost as the world has its next source of hope- Queen Sierra. 

Queen Sierra will appear in the sequel- The Legend of the Five Queens: Sierra's choice.