The Destiny Of Solaris(Book 2 of "The Planets In Exile")

The Last Stand

Ash and Klaus reached the treehouse and could witness the vast army with Thunder's army at the front, behind them were the armies of Northburn and Darklands, adjacent to each other and behind them was the army of Frozen throne. The army of Solaris Prime arrived later, which was vast than any of the others.

The moment Klaus spotted Draven, his hatred towards Draven came to the surface, but it was no time for personal vendetta.

Reagan: Draven isn't noble enough to fight for Solaris. He might be here with an ulterior motive.

Cyrus: He might be here to s*******r the soldiers who would survive the battle with those creepy demons.

Klaus: We will deal with him later. Right now, we need to march forward and find a battleground that is advantageous for us. Also, this is the Chosen One. His name is Ash.

Reagan: I wish we were meeting under different circumstances. But we don't have time now.

Cyrus: According to the map, there is a hilly terrain if we head east from here. It would give us an altitude to shoot them down before they can even climb the hill.

Klaus: Looks good. Share with everyone. Let's go.

Watching all the armies march together in a perfect synchronization was uncommon. The soldiers of Thunder were more skilled than any other, so they were the first line of defense. It took them eight hours to reach the place where they decided to take the stand. All they could now do was wait for the demons to arrive there.

Daggfin Northcot of Northburn, Harald Garcia of Darklands, Darrius Sterling of Frozen Throne, the Knightstar brothers, Draven of Solaris Prime, and Ash gathered in a tent to discuss their strategy.

Since the murderer of Thunder's king and Emperor was in the tent, there was tension in the atmosphere. Klaus had neither looked nor talked to Draven.

Darrius: So what is the attack plan? Can we fight them with our weapons? Are they killable?

Klaus: Yes, they are. We have never fought anything like these before, but I have information about how to kill them. Since we are a vast army, the soldiers who stand at the back are useless to the fight, so we extend the first line of defense, thereby giving a greater number of soldiers a chance to attack. With the numbers we have, we can cover the entire hill.

Harald: Are you sure the creatures that you speak of would show up? Because we cannot feed all the soldiers if we have to stay here for a week or more.

Ash: They will definitely come. Based on our experience, I think they are already on the move and can approach us anytime. Scouts will let us know if they see something, and it should give us time to take positions.

Daggfin: I'm sorry for asking this, but are they even real?

Klaus: They are very much real. Coming to how to fight with them. We have spoken with a creature, and it told us some of the things that would help us win the battle. Demons only attack at night, so we got to be more attentive at night. And fire is the element that scares or startles them. So we light a fire in appropriate places to deviate them into separate ways. In that way, a group of soldiers would only have to deal with a segregated horde of demons. We know three ways of how to kill a demon. The first one is to burn them down. The second is to decapitate the head or cut off its brains, and the third is to pierce the heart.

Cyrus: How do you know all this information?

Klaus: A creature called Kappa shared it with me.

Cyrus: What is a Kappa?

Klaus: All those stories are for another time. I hope the information I shared today is clear. Circulate it with your armies. We got this.

Draven stayed silent throughout the discussion. No one knows what was running on his mind, but whatever that was, it is definitely not good.

Except for a few people, no one really knows about the enemy yet. They had never fought anyone other than the humans before. Klaus was worried about what would happen if they witness a whole army of demons. Ash and Klaus themselves never saw a demon army, but they had some idea from the encounters they had in the recent days. But Klaus had complete trust in his soldiers as they were trained by his brother. Despite the fear, they would never flee from the battleground.

Every soldier was eagerly waiting because it was for the first time that the troops of every kingdom joined together to fight a common enemy. A situation like this never happened before. The atmosphere soon turned dark, and demons can attack them at any time now. The arrangements were all made. They created diversions by establishing boundaries made of wood which were lit on fire as demons are vulnerable to fire.

From a distance, Klaus could see the scout approaching them and behind him was a force of darkness that was rushing at a greater speed. The entire greenery of the forest was covered with a layer of black as if they were devouring everything on their way. The distance between the scout and demon army reduced significantly. In a matter of seconds, the demons outran him and killed him. Thousands of demons preying on a single organism looked horrific. The scout must have died in an instant.

As the demons came closer to the mountain, they started to disperse because of the fire that was installed.

Klaus: Archers. Ready. Loose.

A rain of fiery arrows lit up the dark sky. It looked as if it was a rain of fire. The demons that got hit, burned, and turned to ashes. The soldiers were relieved as now they knew that fire would kill them. But there were so many demons that, a wave of arrows didn't reduce their numbers. They kept firing the arrows. Now, it had become like a competition. The army which could keep the demons off the mountain was the most skilled now. Their competency now helped them in fighting more efficiently.

The infantry was in position and was waiting for demons to approach them. Klaus and Ash even though prevented many demons from spawning, there was a huge army. It looked like humans fighting against a swarm of bees. If the archers couldn't keep the demons at bay, then it would certainly lead to the defeat of mankind and the defeat of Solaris. Every soldier was afraid of what would happen to them if they had to fight them hand to hand. And if they fail, they were also worried about their loved ones. For Klaus, the defeat of Demons was personal as it was his father's last wish.

In a short duration, the demons made it to the steep part of the mountain. That zone could not be covered by the archers and tackling them right now was too soon. They need to eliminate a lot more demons before the infantry involves. Now, it was time to release the ball of fires. They made huge balls made of a kind of grass that has the ability to burn. They lit it and rolled it over the steep part of the mountain and all the demons on its way cleared in an instant. But the demons were enormous in number that the fire got put off sooner than they expected.

Now they knew for sure that they cannot hold the horde any longer. It was time to fight them. It was evident that they were outnumbered. Klaus imagined how it would have been if all the demons were spawned. It would be s*******r and a one-sided war. In the current scenario, they needed a miracle to win the battle.

The horse of demons now made it to the top of the mountain where the infantry is positioned. The demons collided with the first line of defense and most of the soldiers were thrown into the air upon impact. The demons were innumerable that everyone just waved their sword around them. They couldn't use any technique that they had learned all their life. They could not even see clearly in the first place.

Ash was positioned way behind as he did not know how to fight. He wanted to help, but he knew that he wouldn't last even for a second. Klaus, even though skilled was not able to fight them off properly. He could only protect himself. He could not even see his fellow soldiers around. All he could see was the black four-legged crawling creatures.

Ash hated himself for being useless even he was the Chosen One. He could not do anything, other than just sit and watch the soldiers getting massacred. A strong feeling of hatred, panic, and sadness developed in him which increased his body temperature. Ash could easily recognize that he was burning up. He unbuttoned his shirt to see what was happening. His mark was glowing very brightly. It was radiant like a sun but wasn't hurting him. Soon, everyone could hear the sounds of thunder and the lightning began to strike, but it was red in color. All the demons which were very agile up till that point suddenly froze for a second as if they were startled by the thunder. The clouds then began to turn red which made everyone anxious and they keenly looked at what was going to happen.

Through the clouds emerged the flying creatures, the dragons. Most of them breathed fire which vaporized a greater portion of demons in seconds.

' The miracle, ' whispered Klaus.

The legends about dragons were true. They do exist and now everyone believed as they witnessed them in the first person. With the assist of the dragons, the tables have turned. Now the soldiers of Solaris have higher odds of success. Even though they lost a lot of soldiers, they could now save the people of Solaris. Apart from the demons on the top of the mountain, the rest of them were cleared entirely.

With the relentless efforts of all the warriors, all the demons were finally vanquished. The death toll was high, but they won the war. They ended the cycle of destruction. They saved humanity. The dragons soon vanished into the clouds. All the soldiers were shouting in happiness.

The army of Prime was standing behind the armies of other kingdoms. They did not take part in the war. Soon all the armies turned to see Draven.

Draven: Soldiers of Solaris Prime, on my command, eliminate every one of them.

Klaus: What is happening, Draven?

Draven: I will kill the rest of you and then I will rule the Solaris by myself.

The army of Prime alone was huge than all of the others combined and also they were at their peak strength and uninjured since they weren't involved in the war.

Klaus: Everyone knows that something is terribly wrong with you. Do not do anything that you cannot take back later.

Draven: Let me jog your memory, Klaus. I had already done something drastic. Killed the emperor and also your father. Isn't that enough?

Soldiers, march and end the enemy.

After Draven ordered his soldiers, they turned towards him and launched their spears into Draven. Draven's entire body was filled with spears.

Soldier: We are very much sorry for not helping you all in the greatest moment of need. Solaris would never evolve as long as people like Draven are alive. Since he is gone now, Solaris is in good hands.

The Knighstar's got their revenge and they didn't need to make their hands dirty.

Ash followed Klaus to his kingdom, The Thunder. It was beautiful. He could see the happiness in the people of Thunder upon seeing the soldiers returning. It made him remind about his family and friends.

Klaus came from behind, and put his hand on Ash's shoulder, and said, ' Miss your family? '

' There is nothing I could do about it. '

' I promise I will find a way to get you back home. Until then I hope you find yourself at home here. '

At the same time, Sylvie also approached them.

' Hello, Ash. I am Sylvia Knightstar. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving Solaris. '

' It's my pleasure. '

' I think I will be good here after all, ' said Ash to himself.

                                                                                        ----*----

Tron: It had been many days and Ash had not returned yet. We don't even know if he is alive.

Izumi: We should hope that he is alive. Because recently I discovered a new thing about the marks you both possess. It is not just to represent that you are special, it also acts as a beacon for something. Now I do not know how to activate it, but if we find it, then we can use yours to send signals of some kind and if that works, we can have Ash back here on earth...................

                                                "    Heroes are not born, they are made. "