The entire mer kingdom was gathered in front of the mer castle.
It was more happening than their annual festival.
The sight of males in their region was rare.
Now there were two in front of their very sight.
The one missing for several years and the one yet to be crowned.
" My dear mer-witches! "
The queen was at the pedestal addressing her subjects.
" Today is a very special day! "
Her statement was met with loud cheers. " We are again reunited with our males after several . It's a miracle in itself to see two of them together. Is it not? "
Again loud cheers followed.
" Would we all not want a share of them! "
This however followed with a loud shush. " Why the mum? It's not a crime to want a man in our . It should not be that way. Never. "
Murmurs followed.
"Look at all the creatures on land. Mortals and immortals alike. They enjoy happy conjugal while we have to spend our days killing our own husbands. "
Another round of murmurs. But this time it was more violent.
" But my sisters, today, I, your favorite Queen, will bring you out of your century of darkness!
I have a solution to all our problems. I can grant all your wishes of sleeping in bed with your very mer-kings! "
The Queen's eyes sparkled along with her statement. She enjoyed how she got the drools on crowd.
She went inside and brought Mia's son out.Then held him up mid air.
" This is the answer to all our hardships. The blood of this boy will pave the way for the return of males! "
His cries rippled throughout the water.
Then two guards dragged Jade where the Queen was.
" However I will need all your help because of this traitor, " She pointed at Jade, pausing to her ears with the loud jeers. " This traitor right here has already sent words to the Fox . They might try to stop us from performing our sacrificial ritual! "
" My Queen, I beg you... " Jade wriggled towards the Queen's tail. " Please spare this innocent . Crystal is already gone. We don't know about Mia. He is our only lifeline. "
The queen sent Jade crashing against a rock. She hit her head and was bleeding.
" Crystal was a traitor. She betrayed us all while enjoying her life in the arms of the Wolf King.
And so is her illegitimate daughter. The only way they would be able to atone for their sins is by with the blood of this one! "
Jade's eyes rolled back as she fell, losing her consciousness.
The Queen and her minions totally ignored her state and turning back to the crowd continued.
" The process of the ritual is long and elaborate. It will start by drawing all our strength. And the process is started it will not be possible for us to stop. We will be at the mercy of the
Dark forces. If we are attacked at this vulnerable state, instead of gaining our male population , we will lose more than gladness of our current number strength. "
" My Queen.. "
The queen's frontline of advisors and aids bowed down before her, " We will hold the line.
Please initiate the process without any further delay! "
The queen swam suddenly to the middle of the gathered crowd.
" Are you willing to lend me your strength, my sisters? Are we ready to usher in our glorious ? "
The entire mer population formed five layers of circles around the Queen like a hive.
Except for the few who were left behind to guard the perimeters in case of an infiltration.
The Queen began chanting the Praise of the Dark Forces as the dark waves formed at the . It raised its hood like a serpent lifting the Queen by her foot.
She continued her chants as she slowly drew a dark sword out of her breast.
Vicious, sharp, dripping of darkness .
She swung it around slowly as dark clouds started forming around each of their heads, slowly absorbed inside the handle of the blade.
As the sword went about collecting darkness from each of them, one by one they kept dropping their position.
Strangely enough, none of the others seemed to notice that phenomenon.
As more mer-witches dropped to the ground, the color of the blade started turning gradually .
The mer- males, Anjana and the mer- boy watched from behind, unable to do anything about it of their shackles.
There was no other witness present as the ones defending the perimeters had already left.
Suddenly Mia's son started crying with a terrible loud whine.
It made the Queen open her eyes, getting pulled out of her trance.
She too could sense the reason for the boy's sudden behavioral change. Even though he was a newborn, he had heightened senses.
He probably had felt threatened by the Queen and now that he felt its father's presence in the , it was asking for help.
Anjana and the mer- boy too became agitated. Pulling at their chains to free themselves of the .
" Quite you two! Why are you still being loyal to that Half-ling ? Was I not generous enough to your lives? You were fated to die an inglorious and horrible death. Wasn't I kind enough grant you your lives along with freedom. And after we are done with our sacrificial rituals, you not enjoy your lives with your mates without fear?
IS THAT NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF YOU? "
Her words had quite the opposite reaction on both of them. Instead of stopping, they dragged pulled their bonds furthermore.
But the commotion just outside the ritual perimeter, made the Queen turn her attention away them.
******
Heads flying everywhere
" Get out of there you traitor. Hiding behind these land creatures will not save your dirty life. You your sisters are all disgraces to our kind. "
The words had its effect. Ruby tried pushing out from between Lin and Xie. She was very much .
Xie caught her by her waist.
" What are you doing? Are you crazy? They want you to do something foolish. You are the one us down here. The moment they get you, they will have us without even trying. Try to and get a hold on yourself! "
His words did knock some senses in her head.
Before Xie could retreat his hands and turn back in his position, another round of firing , now the current guns.
Those were designed to shoot high density ripples that impacted on the enemy's flesh with .
The four of them got thrown here and there. Xie catches Ruby's hand just in time and blocks the on her with himself.
" Xie watch out, " Lin jumped to take on them as they advanced on the scattered trio from directions.
" Roe, keep her safe. "
Xie let Ruby go before jumping on the onslaught attempts.
The Wolf and the Fox had to draw from their cultivations, their inner powers. Their brute was of no use nor were their fangs.
It was their first time seeing each other transform.
Transforming to their original forms was painful and it literally ate away from their lives. Though were termed immortals in general, their bodies too had expiring parameters.
It was not like they were gods or completely invincible. They were just born with their respective elements which made them superior to the human race. Expanding or stretching their to a large extent. But it was not infinite.
Lin ' s Fox liked its tongue as it got unsheathed first, swishing its bushy tail in the deep oceans.
It was a strange sight to behold. The handsome little Lin with his towering Fox in the back .He went all in and charged into the enemy hold.
The sound of Xie's knuckle cracking was very much audible as the howl of his Wolf bubbled in waters around its mouth. Xie's wolf was fluffy and bushy. Even the waters were unable to its beauty. He was now a majestic beast. Huge and towering. The only part of Xie left in was his eyes. He had not switched completely into his beast.
Before the next attack, he too chose to ram into the enemy frontline. Tearing them into pieces his mouth. Throwing their carcasses here and there.
Ruby coiled up in Roe's arm.
She started whimpering. The sight of her fellow mer-witches being ripped from their scales with flying here and there was perhaps too much to bear for the timid mermaid who had spent her life locked up.
" You don't need to look. You can hide in my arms and look away. I understand it is difficult for -soldiers to witness sights of gore. " Roe tried moving her face away. But she moved Roe's .
" No! I need to see. They probably must have given Jade a worse end... "Her voice was again up.
" Why are you so pessimistic? Did you see her body? Do you have any proof? "
Roe's attempt to console Ruby was interrupted as one of the limbs , that Lin severed from the a - witch , came flying in their direction! "
Roe ducked before the water turned momentarily red before turning colorless again.
" What was that? Why did the water turn red with its blood and then turn back to normal again? "
Ruby stood up too. She was looking beyond the battlefield. Staring inside towards the Castle of mer-Queen.
" Ruby... "
" The color of our blood is red . But due to saving our waters from getting murky with red every someone got injured, the natural phenomenon here absorbs the blood and turns it into . However... "
" However, what? "
" However , if there are too many murders in one stop. Too much blood for the natural forces to it back to water, the stains appear. The water gets murky and everything starts getting into red.
I have never seen the phenomenon, nor do I know about anyone who does. But we all read it because that is what happened when all your male population was killed and taken from our kingdom. There has not been any deaths too huge in number around here to that. "
Ruby was trying hard to look for what was happening inside the castle.
" It appears like a lot of mer-witches are already dead. We need to go inside before these get completely saturated. "
Xie jumped in front of them or rather his wolf.
" Lin, take them inside. I will hold the line for you! "
Lin felt uncomfortable conversing with Xie in that condition. But he had no option.
" Are you sure? "
" Hell yeah! "
He merrily charged in once again, giving Lin the much needed opening.
Lin dodged and tore a few idle ones who came charging.
" This way, " Ruby hurried from a side passage as a few more managed to get away from Xie's .
They ducked and swam over a few undulating surface before coming out through a clear
Lin finished off the last one following them, then threw its corpse far away. The blood in the was now showing a transparent tint. It was too much blood to tint an entire ocean. That concerning. Even if they had been able to kill all their attackers, they would not lead to a of the number of deaths required for the tinting.
Ruby was pondering as she came out.
But she literally fell back on Roe and Lin who were close behind, after witnessing the scene in of her.
She knew the mer-queen was crazy. But she had no idea what to the extent of that.