Chapter 4: Siege at Bledavik

     Fear struck the heart of Fei as he stared at his killer, pointing the assault rifle right at his head. All he could do now was wait for the moment he would be shot. As he stared and waited, it seemed like his life flashed before his eyes. He saw images of Lahan being blown to kingdom come. He saw images of Elly in the Blackmoon Forest where he first met her. He then saw the terrifying Grahf and the memories of his terrible power. Next, he saw Id, his evil personality. He then saw quick images of Elly's rescue from Deus, their marriage and her five miscarriages over the years. "Fei!" Citan shouted from the stands, "Run! Get out of there!" Fei didn't respond. It was almost like he was frozen in place, like he was welded to the floor. Something was holding him there. Some unknown force, which he couldn't identify. "FEI!!!" Elly shouted as she made her way toward the arena, "Please run, Fei!!!" "Why isn't he running?" Rico demanded. "I don't know," Citan replied, "but something is wrong. Fei would usually run and duck behind something." The soldier aimed and fired. "FEEEEIIIIIII!!!" Elly shouted as she dropped to the floor, breaking into tears. The five bullets zoomed at Fei, impacting with a force of hundreds of mighty deathblow combos. Everyone opened their eyes and were shocked. Fei was still standing, not a bullet wound on him. "Huh?" the soldier gasped. "How in the hell did he do that?" Bart exclaimed. "Doc," Hammer asked, "How did bro do that?" Citan shrugged as he scratched his head. "Something is definitely not right," he said, "he should have been killed by the bullets." The soldier reloaded his gun and prepared to fire another round. Billy and two Aveh guards raced through the crowd with their guns in hand, ready to fire. "Drop the gun!" Billy shouted as he aimed his pistol at the soldier's head. The soldier turned and pointed his gun at Billy. "I have orders to kill all who have been unworthy to the Great Kriltine!" the soldier replied, "He is one of many that have broken this law of Kriltine!" "Who says anyone has to follow Kriltine?" Billy demanded. "It says so here, in the Book of Kriltine!" the soldier answered. Billy couldn't take it anymore and shot the soldier dead, blood pouring out of the wound in his head. The crowd screamed and, again, ran in panic. Bart came running into the arena next to Fei. "You alright, man?" he asked with concern. Fei didn't answer. He just stood there, not aware of his surroundings or anyone around him. Elly ran into the arena followed by Chu-Chu, Margie and Maria. "Fei!" Elly shouted with joy, "Fei!" Again, Fei didn't answer. "Something isn't right," Bart fearfully said. They continued to try to get Fei to snap out of his trauma but with failing results. "We need medical attention NOW!" Bart ordered. Within seconds, three paramedics came and took both Fei and Ramsus to the newly built hospital on the west side of Bledavik. "I going with Fei," Elly replied, "I have to know what's wrong with him!" "I'm going too," Citan declared, "I'll let you all know as soon as we find out some information on Fei's condition." The crew nodded as everyone went their separate ways.

     Everyone regrouped at the castle a few minutes later, their minds full of questions and worry as Fei was taken to the hospital. "It looks like Fei was right," Bart concluded, "I should have ordered him not to fight in the tournament!!" "It's not your fault, Bart" Billy replied. "He's right, young one," Maria agreed, "Fei, for some reason, wasn't scared to face that soldier." "Listen, Bart," Rico replied, "Fei has been in a lot worse situations then this. He'll pull through I know he will!!" "You just have to have faith," Billy added, "and ask God to take care of our friend." Bart turned toward Billy and nodded. "I guess that's all we can do at the moment," Bart said. "President Fatima!" Bob shouted as he ran into the room followed by some Aveh troops, "We have a problem!" "What is it?" Bart asked. "We just got reports from our spy teams in the desert. They have reported that Kritline's army has moved out of Dazil and is heading straight for Bledavik!" Margie and Maria gasped in shock. Rico, Billy and Hammer stood there speechless. "How much time do we have?" Sigurd asked. "E.T.A. three days," Bob answered. "Three days?" Margie gasped. Bart quickly turned toward Bob. "Order an evacuation of all citizens out of Bledavik," Bart ordered, "Tell them to head west out of the city toward the mountains!" "Yes sir!" Bob answered, "You heard the man, let's begin evacuation!" The troops followed Bob out of the room. "There's no way you can evacuate a city of four million people in three days!" Rico replied. "Think I don't know that?" Bart demanded," Sigurd, get the Yggdrasil ready for launch. We're leaving in three days!" "Yes young master!" Sigurd answered, "I'll also warn Miss Elly and Citan." "Where can we go?" Maria asked in fright. "As far away from this continent as possible," Bart responded, "Kriltine's forces have basically taken all of the continent of Ignas except for Bledavik and Nisan." "We should then head north for Nisan," Rico suggested, "At least that way, we can get to safety for a couple of days." "Then where?" Bart asked, "Aquavy is out of the question since the Tower of Babel is there." "We don't have a choice, Bart," Billy replied, "We can at least rest up in Nisan for a few days before the Kriltine's forces reach it." "I guess your right," Bart added, "Alright then, Rico, tell the pilot on the Yggdrasil to plot a course for Nisan at maximum speed! I'm not planning on falling to a d**khead like Kriltine!" "That's the spirit!" Margie declared. "Send out the Aveh army," Bart ordered, "it's time to kick Kriltine's ass once and for all!" At this request, the team seemed to have hope once again, but that would soon all change...

     Elly stayed in Fei's room that night while Citan went to a nearby motel and slept. Elly, on the other hand, couldn't sleep. She was too concerned for her husband. The man that loved her, the man that made her realize she had the freedom to choose her path in life, the man who rescued her from Deus' Dungeon. She knew she could never repay him for doing all of that stuff for her. The only thing she could do was stay by his side and pray for the best. The doctor came in a few minutes later. "Mrs. Fong Wong?" she asked, "do you want to stay at a nearby hotel tonight?" Elly just shook her head no and looked back over at Fei. The doctor exited the room and went down the hall to other patient's room.

     Fei appeared in the blue void of his subconscious again. He looked around and saw nothing but blue and calmness. He heard nothing but a peaceful environment surrounding him. "Hello?" he called out. There was no response. "Hello?" he called out again. Again, there was no response. "Can anybody hear me?" he shouted. He got no response. He continued walking around the empty void with feelings of loneliness and confusion. Suddenly, he heard a soft whisper. "Where are you Fei?" it asked. "I'm over here!" Fei responded, "Where are YOU?" "Look to your left," the voice replied, "and you'll see who it is." Fei turned toward his left and saw shadowy figure with long hair. As the figure approached, Fei could make out his red hair and black suit. Fei gasped when he saw this, for he knew who was approaching him. "Id," he said softly, "How did you get back here?" Id came out of the shadows and approached Fei. "Long time no see, Fei," he said with an evil grin. "I thought you were at peace, Id," Fei recalled, "Why are you back here?" "I didn't come back by my free will," Id replied, "Something forced me back here. Some great, unknown power brought me out of my peace and back to my misery." "At the tournament, I froze all of a sudden when that soldier pointed his gun at me," Fei explained, "could that have been you coming back?" "I don't see how my return would cause that," Id smirked, "But, of course, you could have just frozen in fear, afraid of death and afraid of what Elly would do without you!" Fei clinched his fists together and his face turned bright red. "How dare you say that!" Fei shouted. "It's alright to be afraid," Id said, "if it's for a good cause, that is." Fei clinched his fists even harder but than opened them up again. "Maybe you're right, Id," Fei admitted," I do get afraid of death, afraid what would happen to Elly, what she would do without me and how she would cope with it. But, I also believe that if I die, I'll got to a better place. A place where the words suffering or sickness or violence won't exist. A place where all believers will live in paradise with God and will have no worries or anything like that." "I admire your faith," Id added, "I, too, believe that. But, I'm just a second personality so who cares about me." "In a way, Id, your still a person," Fei explained, "you have feelings, emotions and interests and stuff that you dislike." Id crossed his arms and turned his back toward Fei. "You do realize that Kriltine's army will destroy Bledavik in three days don't you?" Id asked. Fei's eyes widend as he looked toward Id. "You mean Kriltine's army is heading for Bledavik at this moment?" Fei asked. Id nodded his head yes. "All we can do for right now is sit tight," he replied. Fei looked sadly down at the ground. "Elly," he whispered to himself.

     Three days have passed and it was only a matter of hours before Kriltine's army would break through the city gates and destroy Bledavik. Fei's condition hasn't changed while Ramsus was still in critical condition. Bart and the rest of the crew were getting ready to board the Yggdrasil and fly to Nisan. "If the troops can hold them off we would have four hours before they would arrive," Bart announced, "Our troops should intercept them anytime now and hopefully, we can destroy Kriltine and his army for good!" "Then we have no time to waste," Billy replied, "We must get onboard the Yggdrasil and head for Nisan." "Agreed," Rico added. "Same here," Hammer replied. "Alright then, we'll leave as soon as we get word from Elly and Citan on Fei's condition." "I hope he's gonna chu be okay," Chu-Chu said sadly. "Don't worry, Chu-Chu," Margie softly said, "I'm sure he'll pull through! He always does!" Chu-Chu seemed to be comforted some by these words. Just then Bob charged into the room. "Mr. President!" he shouted, "Kriltine's forces have just broken through the defense line!" "Already?" Rico demanded. "Yes," Bob answered, "as of last reports, there were no survivors." Bart gave Bob a stare of panic and fear. "How long until the army reaches us," Bart asked. "We have only about an hour," Bob answered. "An hour," Bart repeated, "Okay, I want everyone in the Yggdrasil now! We have no time to waste! Bob, tell Citan and Elly to get Fei and Ramsus and get their @$$s aboard the ship! Hammer, since the Zohar Modifier has been reactivated, get my gear, Andvari out of the hanger" "I'm on it, sir!" Bob shouted as he ran off toward the hospital. Within fifteen minutes, Bart, Rico, Billy, Maria, Margie and Chu-Chu joined Elly, Citan and Fei out on the main street. "Has everyone evacuated?" Bart asked Bob. "Most people are out," Bob answered, "but there are still about two to three thousand left in the city." "WHAT?" Bart screamed, "TWO TO THREE THOUSAND LEFT?" "You can't expect to evacuate four million people out in three days, sir!" Bob shouted, "We're damn lucky to get the amount of people out when we did!" "Someone's gonna have to stay here and help the citizens escape!" Bart demanded. "We don't have the time, young one!" Citan replied, "Kriltine's forces will be here in 45 minutes! I know it sounds cold, but we can't worry about other people right now! All that matters is getting your loved ones to safety!" Bart looked back at the desperate citizens that were trying to get out of the city before Kriltine's forces arrive. "Can't we load some up on the Yggdrasil?" he suggested. "Bad idea!" Rico shouted, "Everyone will be fighting to get aboard and Kriltine's forces will finish us off along with the rest of the citizens!" "Rico's right," Billy added, "we can't take that risk." Bart began to give up hope. He ran to where Elly was to check on Fei. "How's he doing?" he asked her. "I don't see any sign of improvement," she said hopelessly," I don't know what to do anymore! I just don't know what to do!" Bart took Elly in his arms and hugged her. "Remember when Ramsus severely injured Fei that time when he fought underwater? He recovered from that didn't he?" Elly looked up at him and then back down at Fei. "Your right," she said, "I can't give up hope!" Hammer came shortly later with Bart's gear, Andvari, and loaded onboard the Yggdrasil. The crew made their way to the bridge where Sigurd was waiting for them. "Do you want to launch the Yggdrasil?" he asked Bart. "Please do," Bart responded. The Yggdrasil powered up it's engines and took off, heading for the old Aveh captial, Nisan.

     A few minutes after the Yggdrasil took flight, Kriltine's enormous army approached the deserted city. "I see Bledavik!" one of Kriltine's men shouted. Kriltine was aboard a huge, armored horse with a metal saddle and metal nose gear. Kriltine was a large man with black clothing on, long brown hair and a nasty scar on his left eye and three smaller ones on his right cheek. He had hard leather boots on and a brass knuckle on his left hand and a black, leather glove on his right. He carried an ether gun just like Billy's and a wicked, jagged edged sword with him similar to Citan's. He, too, saw the city from a distance. "Prepare for invasion!" he ordered, "we'll teach those people a thing or two about disobeying us!" His army cheered loudly and with meaning. "Charge!" he shouted. The huge army lunged forward and reached the city about five minutes later. They smashed through the front gates, only to find that the city had been evacuated. Kriltine and his General, Armanbad jumped down from their horses and walked into the city. "Check on that side of the city," he ordered Armanbad. Armanbad nodded and began searching the hotels and shops for any signs of people. After an hour of searching, Armanbad spotted a huge group of people in the far distance. "Master Kriltine! Master Kriltine!" he shouted, "I see people! They're crossing that hill over there!" "So that's where they've been hiding," Kriltine said in an evil voice, "Troops! After those civilians!!" Kriltine and Armanbad mounted their horses and sped off toward the defenseless citizens of Bledavik...

Chapter 5
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