NOELLE’S POV,
I jump into the crowd of demons and fire as much light as I can. I take out 10 demons before a big bolt of fire hits me and throws me to the ground a few meters further. I land on the ground with a loud bang and my body hurts everywhere from the impact of the fall. I barely have enough energy left to lift up my head. My vision is all blurry when I look around me.
I see people that are on fire and screaming, everything seems to happen in slow motion, I wonder if this is the moment before you die when you see your life pass in front of your eyes. I am just so tired that reliving memories sounds like heaven right now. I lay down my head and close my eyes, feeling ready for whatever comes next. I doze away and let the screaming and fighting sounds disappear. There is only silence and I feel at peace when I think about Gabriel and his beautiful smile and blue eyes.
Suddenly my peaceful vision gets interrupted by a loud voice in my head.
“MISTRESS!! I AM HERE.”
I feel confused and wonder or I am dreaming. “Thorn?” I ask.
His voice sounds panicked when he answers, “Yes mistress it’s me. I can feel you are here, but I can’t get to you with the sea in the way. You have to open it up for us.”
I feel a bit of hope maybe this is not the end after all. But how should I open the sea when I can’t even open my eyes. I slowly open them, and I am immediately back in a living hell. There are just a few people left standing including Gabriel. Looking at him still fighting with everything he has makes me realize I just have to try to open the sea even if it takes every last bit of magic I have left. I look around and see Faith sitting with Nolan holding him while Zeus protects them as good as he can.
Faith locks eyes with me and I can see the despair in her eyes. None of them know about Thorn above us. They think all hope is lost. So, it’s all down to me whether we make it out alive or not.
“Mistress it’s now or never! We will get attacked if you don’t open up the Sea soon,” Thorn screams in my head.
I take a deep breath and channel all the magic I have left in my body. I let it build until I can’t hold it any longer and then release it with the thought of the sea parting in 2 ways opening up the battlefield.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA,” I scream when all the magic pours out.
A small opening above me starts to emerge getting bigger and bigger. Everything around me gets silent for a while because they are all looking at what’s happening. The sea opens up and I don’t think I have ever been as happy to see the sky. The sky is filled with what must be all the dragons from Liberum. I see Thorn and next to him Dagahra with Holly riding her. Thorn makes a sharp dive as soon as he sees me and takes me in his big claws. All around me the same happens to the other people that are left. Thorn flies over some demons and burns them with his dragon fire. Apparently, dragon fire can also kill demons which is good to know. He quickly gets back up into the sky. While he gets me to higher ground, I get a good look at what’s left of the Sea Realm. Which is barely anything. All the buildings are collapsed or on fire and there are bodies everywhere.
The further away Thorn takes me the more the water starts to fall back into the gap. Dragons keep coming out carrying people in their claws. Thorn doesn’t hesitate and directly starts flying home when we are above the water.
I don’t see any of my friends or Gabriel. My heart beats fast from fear that they didn’t make it. It is probably the only thing that keeps me awake at the moment.
“Gabriel?” I ask weakly through our mind connection. I hear nothing for a while, and I am starting to feel like I have to throw up when I finally hear something back.
“I am here Noelle. It’s going to be okay,” I hear him say.
I take a deep sigh and the adrenaline leaves my body. With that so does my energy and before I know it, I am unconscious.
I wake up to the sound of loud voices and realize I am in Gabriel’s bed. My whole body hurts when I get up, but I push myself to go towards the sounds.
I walk in and hear Nolan say, “We have no elements of surprise left. They know what powers Noelle has and they know about the dragons. Besides that, they have reduced our forces massively. I have no idea how we still stand a chance at beating Hades.”
I cough and walk in, and everyone looks at me. Nolan sits in a chair and is completely covered in bandages. But thank God he is alive. Holly stands behind him with her hands on his shoulders. Around the table stand Faith, Gabriel, Zeus, and Julias.
“Hi, how are you feeling?” Gabriel asks softly.
I walk to him and stand in his embrace when I say, “I have felt better but I’ll be alright.”
Julias looks at me and says, “That was some magic you did during the battle Noelle. Holy shit.”
I look down and feel like there is a stone in my stomach and grunt, “Wasn’t enough though, can’t believe I led everyone into a trap again.”
Julias gives me a sad smile, “Without your warning, no one would have survived.”
I look at Gabriel with sad eyes and ask, “How many did survive?”
Gabriel looks a bit uncomfortable and answers, “30 people.”
Everyone is quiet because no one expected that we would lose so many lives. Faith breaks the silence and asks, “So what do we do now?”
Julias is the first to answer, “We obviously need more people to fight with us. So, we need to recruit people at the Mortal Realm.”
Holly walks around the table and says, “Even with more people we don’t stand a chance as soon as Hades uses his mind magic. Never mind about the demons that are so hard to beat.”
Zeus quickly responds, “Well one positive thing we found out is that dragon fire kills demons. However, mind magic is a massive problem. We can only beat him on that area if we find a way to teach Noelle.”
I look at him confused and ask, “But only a dark human has those abilities. There are only dark humans in the Under Realm. How would I get a teacher here?”
Zeus scrapes his throat, “I didn’t say anything about learning it here.”
Gabriel loudly objects, “No… No… No! Don’t even think of proposing that Zeus.”
Holly puts her hand on his shoulder and tries to calm him down, “It’s okay Gab. I know it sounds dangerous but if she doesn’t find a teacher, we all die including Noelle.”
Gabriel grits his teeth and grunts, “Only if she wants to go. No one is going to force her!”
They all look at me, “Even if I find a dark human there and trap it. How can we ever make sure it will teach me? I don’t think any of them feel much for teaching the enemy.”
Faith her eyes light up and she says, “I will go with you. I have a theory I want to test that might solve that problem.”
Gabriel takes a deep sigh and says, “Everyone in agreement that Noelle and Faith will go to the Under Realm?”
Everyone nods so Gabriel says, “Alright then they will leave in 3 days. In the meantime, I will go to the Mortal Realm to try and recruit more people for our army. Julias I would like it if you came with me?”
Julias looks like he just swallowed a sour lemon, but he agrees to come. Nolan, Holly, and Zeus will stay in Liberum to keep training the remains of the army and come up with a battle strategy. When the meeting is over, I walk to holly and give her a hug, “Thank you for rescuing us and I am so sorry for what happened to Nolan.”
Holly squeezes my hand, “I know you feel responsible but it’s not your fault. I know you did everything you could. Thank god for that dragon of yours though because otherwise none of you would be here today.”
I smile and say, “Yeah he is the best. I better make sure he gets some good food later.”
I turn around and see Gabriel whispering with Faith and Nolan. I want to walk over to them, but Gabriel gives a look I can’t place to Holly.
“OO… Noelle, I forgot I really have to show you something,” Holly says.
She takes my hand and pulls me with her to the stairs that lead outside. I stumble after her and ask, “Show me what?”
Holly hesitates and then says, “I need to show you this beautiful dress that would be perfect for you.”
I stand still and look at her a bit amazed, “You want to show me a dress now? Really?”
Holly gives me her best puppy eyes and prowls, “I just thought we could both use a bit of positivity, and what better way to get happy than by a beautiful dress.”
I shake my head and chuckle, “You are crazy Holly.”
I walk with her to her house. She pushes me to her bedroom and on her bed lays a beautiful dark blue dress from chiffon. I let my hand go over the fabric that has little shimmers in them. “You were right it’s gorgeous,” I say out of breath.
Holly smiles, “Well what are you waiting for! Put it on!”
I take off my clothes and slide into the dress that feels as light as a feather. It has ruffles and an off-shoulder top. I look in the mirror and gasp, “I look like a fairy princess or something.”
Holly puts a little fairy diadem on my head and gives me some diamond slippers. “Yes, you do,” she says.
But then before I know it, she has put a blindfold on my eyes. “Holly! What are you doing?”
She chuckles, “It’s a surprise but trust me it’s a good one.”
I sigh and let her lead me out of the house. We walk for what feels like 15 minutes and then stop. A light breeze plays with my dress, and I can’t wait to take off that stupid blindfold. Holly slowly unbinds it and whispers, “Enjoy.”