Chapter 8

Eunjung and Hyomin rode their horses towards the Darkness Kingdom. They could see that the castle was getting closer and closer to them from the distance. It was their chance to put an end to their battle once and for all.

“If only your little sister were a better fighter, we could’ve used her help,” Hyomin said smugly.

“Well I’m just glad that she’s safe and back on the right side,” Eunjung responded.

Behind them were countless men and women from the Light Kingdom who were ready to fight an all-out battle for control of the land.

As they got closer towards the castle, they could already see armed guards protecting the perimeter of the castle.

“Let’s break in and end this once and for all,” Eunjung said to Hyomin who nodded in response.

The warriors on both sides clashed with all their swords and horses. It was truly a battle to end the war and restore peace to the land for whoever would come out on top.

Eunjung and Hyomin passed through the fields and went straight towards the castle, ignoring all the fights on the side. Their goal was to get to Queen Soyeon and finish her.

As they approached, they were stopped by a sword thrown in front of them that stuck to the ground. A woman came to grab it, she was covered in a dark metallic armor.

“I am Qri, the commander of this army and you will go no further,” Qri had deathly cold eyes with a stare that could turn people to ice.

“We’ll see about that,” Hyomin unsheathed her sword which was glowing with light. “I’ve been training for this moment all my life!” She charged toward Qri with her sword drawn and jumped in the air.

Qri sensed the attack and quickly grabbed her sword before Hyomin could come crashing down. Hyomin quickly backed away and got away from Qri’s grip. She charged again with all her might. Their swords clashed against each other and a shockwave of power erupted.

Qri gritted her teeth and pushed Hyomin back. “You won’t harm a single hair on Queen Soyeon.” She said as she pushed Hyomin away. Their swords remained deadlocked.

Hyomin looked back at Eunjung and mouthed the words, “Go.”

Eunjung nodded and slipped away into the castle.

“You’re going to regret that,” Qri said angrily.

“Your battle is here with me,” Hyomin said as she charged toward Qri again.

Eunjung quietly snuck into the castle and shut the door. She exhaled a sigh of relief, Hyomin could take care of that distraction while she could follow along with her main plan.

It was oddly quiet as she walked through the castle.

Meanwhile, Soyeon peered at the battlefield from her window. It seemed like a horrific scene and she felt guilty and responsible. She wondered if war was the only way to bring the world back to peace. She heard rumbling coming from the ground floor.

A woman appeared out of the shadows, “My lady, shall I go check it out?” Boram asked Soyeon. “We may have company.”

Soyeon nodded, she had a worried look on her face. Where was her best friend?

Jiyeon had been riding on the closest horse she could find at Eunjung’s house. She dressed in proper Light Kingdom knight attire and she now knew what she had to do. As the prophecy told, she would be responsible to stopping the war.

“I’m sorry Soyeon…” Jiyeon whispered in the air as she neared towards the battlefield.

As soon as she stepped off her horse and entered the battlefield, some of the other warriors stared at her, thinking that she looked familiar.

“Hey what’s that weakling doing here?” She could hear some say.

Jiyeon said nothing but lifted a single hand and opened her palm, causing a blast of light to shoot out and blast around twenty warriors from the Darkness Kingdom up into the air.

The air was silent for a moment before a wave of cheers followed from the Light Kingdom.

“The prophecy was right! We do have a hero who can stand up against the Darkness!” They cheered, finally understanding that it was this girl out of nowhere all along.

However, Jiyeon didn’t take any time to bask in the glory, she had work to do.

Back inside the castle, Eunjung found a staircase and started to rush up towards the next floor. She could hear footsteps of someone who was nearby.

As she entered the floor, she could sense someone was there but she couldn’t see anything.

“Where is Jiyeon, I know you have taken her away from me,” Boram stepped out of the shadows and faced Eunjung.

“Jiyeon is my sister,” Eunjung said with the same intensity as Boram’s accusation, “You took her away from me when she was just a baby! She belongs in the Light Kingdom!”

Boram had enough of listening to Eunjung and drew her sword. A shroud of darkness enveloped it. “You give my sister back to me.” She said angrily.

“You won’t ever harm my sister again,” Eunjung responded with the same intensity in her eyes to match Boram’s.

They ran towards each other and their swords clashed, creating a shockwave that shook the entire castle and even cracked some of the walls. Each woman warrior was determined to make her case as Jiyeon’s older sister. They each had something to fight for, something greater than their kingdoms.

Back outside the castle, Jiyeon swiftly sliced her sword into the air and created a burst of light energy in all directions, scattering across the enemies from the darkness kingdom. She looked everywhere she could to find Hyomin and Eunjung.

Hyomin and Qri continued to push against each other with their swords.

“I’ll have to use all my training to win this,” Hyomin thought to herself. She screamed with all her might trying to muster all the light energy from her body and into her sword. Her red hair seemed to glow.

“Aish, she’s pretty strong,” Qri thought as the girl in front of her was getting hard to put a stop to. She had to jump and back away.

Hyomin came at her with the strongest blows and Qri used most of her energy to block each attack. Her dark armor began to chip away and her defense was weakening.

“That’s enough!” Qri yelled and charged at Hyomin with all her might and pushed her back.

“Damn, she got stronger…” Hyomin gritted her teeth and tried to match the newfound strength that was coming from Qri. Her legs were swiped from under her as Qri surprised her with a sweep. The kick was strong enough to flip Hyomin into the air several times until she tumbled onto the ground.

Qri walked over and grabbed Hyomin by her red hair. “You’re no match for the Darkness Kingdom.” She pushed Hyomin’s face into the gravel.

“Aigoo…” Hyomin thought to herself as she could feel Qri’s grip tighten on her. After all her training, she still wasn’t strong enough! She wondered if Qri would kill her right now.

However, a quick flash of light whizzed by and the next thing Hyomin knew, Qri wasn’t grabbing her hair anymore.

Qri was swept off her feet and felt a huge force hit her right in the shoulder and she was sent flying into the trees, breaking several of them. Finally her momentum began to slow down and she began to roll around on the ground. She felt dizzy and tried to get up but she was too weak.

Her vision was blurry but she could see a woman standing in front of her glowing with immense light, “Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am,” Jiyeon said as she looked down at Qri who was about to faint. She dark armor had cracked completely and was left useless.

Jiyeon looked behind her and could see a red-haired girl walking up to her in the distance.

As Hyomin got closer, her eyes widened. What was Jiyeon doing here?

“W-where did you get all this power?” Hyomin asked Jiyeon. “You’re supposed to be resting!”

Jiyeon normally would have responded with a playful remark but she was serious about putting an end to the war. “I don’t have much time, where did Eunjung go?”

“She went to the castle but why are you looking for her?” Hyomin asked, still limping as she continued to walk. “I don’t know what kind of training you have been doing but you’re going to get yourself killed.”

Jiyeon ignored Hyomin and started to look toward the castle. Hyomin was too weak to stop her and convince her otherwise. She looked at Qri who was now unconscious on the ground.

How had Jiyeon been training?

Back inside the castle, the walls were crumbling as Eunjung and Boram started to trade blows. Each shockwave was creating cracks that were cutting deeper into the stone walls. They were not only fighting for their respective kingdoms but for something greater.

Eunjung was fighting for her long lost sister who she had finally found and wanted to make sure that she kept.

Boram was fighting for the sister that she had known since she was a child since before she could remember.

Boram channeled dark energy which increased her speed. She was so quick that her opponent could only see her as a black blur. She kicked Eunjung up into the air and appeared above her in an instant and smacked her into the ground.

Eunjung crawled out of the ground with light charging out of her eyes. She also had some tricks up her sleeve.