Chapter 24 What Has To Be Done

• It was night and King Hartley was in his chamber and was about to sleep when the head guard announced the presence of Queen Rebeca and Priestess Mary. King Hartley wondered what is it that the two priestesses could be wanting at that time. King Hartley sat down on one of the chairs surrounding a table before he told the head guard to let the two priestesses in.
• Queen Rebeca and priestess Mary walked into the room with priestess Mary holding the dark world book in her hand, and they saw King Hartley seated. Queen Rebeca and priestess Mary walked to King Hartley and upon getting to him, they bowed before they both sat down close to King Hartley. Then King Hartley asked them “what it is that is so urgent and can’t wait till morning?”.
• “We have found 6 dark creatures that are compatible for the army to become” said Queen Rebeca to King Hartley.
• King Hartley was glad to hear that and he asked the two priestesses “so what are they?”.
• “The first is the Vampire, the second is the Minotaur, the third is the Werewolf, the fourth is the Shapeshifter, the fifth is the Demon, and the 6th is the Gargoyle. They are all like the Arkians” said Priestess Mary to King Hartley.
• “I need more details about them and what they are like” said King Hartley to the two priestesses.
• “If we are to become Minotaurs, we will change from being human to a superhuman having the head of a bull, and we will remain like that forever. If we are to become werewolves, we will have the ability to change into wolves at any time but bigger than the size because in the wolves form we will have the shape of the human we are, and we will have the chance to become human back. If we are to become Gargoyles, we will change from being human to a beast-like creature that has wings, and we will remain like that forever. If we are to become Demons, we will also be able to change into ugly beast-like creatures like the Arkians but we will be able to become human back at any time we wish. If we are to become shapeshifters, we will have the ability to change into any animal of our choice at our will, and becoming human back is possible. If we are to become Vampire, we will remain human but our fingers will become claws, our faces will be terrifying with darkened eyes, and we will have fangs” said Queen Rebeca, and priestess Mary placed the dark world book in front of King Hartley.
• Queen Rebeca and priestess Mary opened through the dark world book pages showing King Hartley the pictures of the dark beings they told him about so he can see what they look like since he can’t read the book. While the two priestesses were showing the head King the pictures, King Hartley carefully looks the pictures, and at the same time, studied their shape to know the one suitable for them.
• After King Hartley was done checking out the pictures of the creatures he asked the two priestesses “what about their abilities?”.
• “Their abilities are the same as the Arkians except for the fact that it is only the Gargoyle that can fly. The Gargoyle and the Minotaur are not as fast as the Arkians. The speed of the Shapeshifter also depends on the animal they change into. Apart from that, they all shared the same strength as the Arkians” said priestess Mary to King Hartley.
• Hearing Priestess Mary, King Hartley thinks for a while looking through the pictures of the creatures in the dark world book again. After looking at the picture and done with his thoughts, King Hartley asked the two priestesses “which being do you think is suitable for us?”.
• Hearing King Hartley, Queen Rebeca and priestess Mary looked at each other and then back to the head King before Queen Rebeca said to King Hartley “the ball is in your court, your royal majesty. Your decision is ours to follow”.
• King Hartley thought for some seconds before saying “the idea of changing into animals or dark beings doesn’t sound good to become or to me. I want us to remain human no matter what. So I find being a Vampire preferable to the other beings. Being a vampire is more suitable for us since we will remain human. I choose Vampire”.
• “If that is what you choose, we will get right to it, your royal majesty” said Queen Rebeca to King Hartley.
• “Your royal majesty also needs to know that there is a dark side to being a Vampire. One humanity might remain when one becomes a Vampire but there will always be an inhumane side existing in the person. The inhumane side is said to be the emotionless side of a Vampire and that is why Vampires are called monsters” said priestess Mary to King Hartley.
• “I think that is what the soldiers need. You have to become inhumane or a monster to fight Arkians. So if being a Vampire comes with a monstrous side, why won’t we gladly become one? You need a monster to battle a monster” said King Hartley with a smirk.
• “Okay. Your royal majesty also needs to know that what we are doing is dangerous and can’t be changed. Our names will also be written as murderer” said Queen Rebeca to King Hartley.
• King Hartley was shocked and confused by Queen Rebeca's words so he asked the two priestesses “what do you mean by murderer? We are not killing anybody”.
• “The dark magic requires powerful sources. First is the darker night that would appear tomorrow and many other ingredients” said priestess Mary to King Hartley.
• “A ritual will be done to make the army into Vampires, and the ritual requires sacrifice. And we are to sacrifice 7 female virgins which will be as a source power to the dark magic along with the darker night” said Queen Rebeca to King Hartley.
• King Hartley was shocked and anxious to hear that. King Hartley could not believe that such kind of a thing would be demanded to make the ritual work. Thinking about that alone made King Hartley think he was truly going to become a murderer along with the two priestesses.
• King Hartley asked the two priestesses “does the sacrifice have to be girls?”.
• “The sacrifice requires lives which are priceless things. What we are trying to do is make humans into dark beings so something dark was deemed to be required. The lives of the 7 virgins are the only thing that can make the ritual work” said priestess Mary to King Hartley.
• King Hartley thought for some seconds that the ritual has to be done no matter what to save everyone before saying “if we are to sacrifice a few lives to save many, I would rather become a murderer than stand watching everyone get killed. Do it. I will get the girls so get all the ingredients you will be needing”.
• “Yes, your royal majesty” said the two priestesses in a union.
• “One more thing. You aren’t making the army alone Vampire. You are making the whole of Arcadian into vampires”.
• Queen Rebeca and priestess Mary were shocked and confused to hear that. Queen Rebeca said to King Hartley “what are you doing? We agree to make only the army into Vampire, not the people”.
• “That has changed” said King Hartley.
• “Why would that change? We can’t make the people into vampires that would mean committing a grave sin more than what we are about to do” said priestess Mary to King Hartley.
• “We are not making them into monsters but superhumans. I have thought it through and being a Vampire means being a human with supernatural abilities. Rebeca is right. Everything is going to change including our future but it has to change as a whole. We all have to become stronger for the coming unknown future, and whatever it is that we might meet in the new world. We can never be weak again because being weak has cost us a lot. Arcadian and the other Kingdoms have to be forgotten so we can start afresh. We have to start anew as one under one name. Leaving our world means the end of the world old, and the new world we go to shall become a new world where we will start anew and powerful. The people also need to be made powerful for a situation whereby they will have to protect themselves. I am doing this for everyone, not my interest alone. And if I am called a monster because of this, I wouldn’t rather become a monster than watch us fail. This legacy has failed, a new era has to come into existence” said King Hartley boldly.
• Queen Rebecca and priestess Mary had no choice but to obey King Hartley's command even though they were not in agreement with his decision. Queen Rebecca and priestess Mary find the decision to make the people into vampires a harsh decision and don’t want to do it but they have no choice. Queen Rebeca and priestess Mary left the head King's room thinking why the head King was agreeing to become an evil all just to save everyone.
• It was in the middle of the night and Princess Aris was asleep in her chamber when the head guard came to wake her up saying the head King was requesting to see her. Princess Aris got up on her feet and quickly made her way to her father's chamber after hearing he was requesting to see her.
• Princess Aris entered King Hartley's chamber and saw her father standing close to the window as he stared outside the room. Princess Aris stopped closer to King Hartley and then said with a bow to him “Your royal majesty, I heard you called for me”.
• “Yes, my dear daughter. But before that, have you gathered your blacksmiths and carpenter friends” asked King Hartley.
• “Yes, they will be leaving with Uncle Suci once he returns tomorrow” said Princess Aris.
• “Okay. I have a task for you, and I have specifically chosen you for the task because I believe in you” said King Hartley.
• “Anything for you, father. I will gladly lay down my life to make sure I make you proud and complete the task” said Princess Aris.
• “I would have chosen your brother for the task, but he is not strong enough. Your brother has a soft spot when it comes to protecting humans but you are different. You are strong and smart” said King Hartley.
• “Don’t worry, father. I would do anything to please you” said Princess Aris.
• “Do you trust me, Aris? And what kind of a King do you think I am?” asked King Hartley.
• “Yes, father. I trust you with my life. You are also a King that would do anything to protect his people” said Princess Aris, and then King Hartley moved closer to Princess Aris standing in her front.
• King Hartley looked into Princess Aris's eyes and she looked back into her father's eyes, then King Hartley said to his daughter “Here is the task………..”.
• King Hartley, King Duran, King Rahim, General Dre, and the combat soldiers fiercely fought the Ram Arkians that were thrown into the battlement of the west great wall while the archers continued to shoot the Ram Arkians that were climbing the wall to get to the battlement.
• King Jeff, King Neur, General Baci, and the combat soldiers fiercely fought the Ram Arkians that were thrown into the battlement of the south great wall while the archers continued to shoot the Ram Arkians that were climbing the wall to get to the battlement.
• Head General Ben, the princes, Princess Aris, General Heron, and the combat soldiers fiercely fought the Ram Arkians that were thrown into the battlement of the east great wall while the archers continued to shoot the Ram Arkians that were climbing the wall to get to the battlement.
• King Kung Lim, King Zuch, General Faruk, and the soldiers defending the north side of the wall have no Arkians attacking them since the Arkians were just staring because they couldn’t attack the wall with the mountain close to the wall.
• The leaders and soldiers fighting the Arkians to defend the west, east, and south sides of the wall fought bravely with all their strength to protect the wall and they did well not until a Damn Arkians on it Warf Arkian made it to the east, west, and south battlements of the great wall, and hope seemed lost.