Dear Journal,
It is quite frustrating that I know so much but I still know nothing at all.
- 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓼 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓮
                                                                (1605)
      
Elias's mind buzzed in a frenzy as it struggled to process the situation at hand.

Not only had they been betrayed by their allies, they also had the misfortune of Baltazaar being the leader and head of said treachery.

He thought of it as a misfortune; this man had gotten to his allies and infected them with his duplicity, uncaring of the outcome of this backstabbing as long Elias failed.

Baltazaar chuckled at the bleeding Elias, their swords scraping against each other as silver sparks bounced off the raking metal surfaces.

"Yes, I know who you are." Baltazaar mocked, jumping back from the bleeding Elias as he took stock of him. "Honestly, you could have told me from the very start! It was not as if I would have even remembered your name."

Elias's jaws clenched in anger as he sped over to the prince, clashing swords again as Baltazaar quickly shielded against his attack.

"You came back from death just for revenge? You've wasted your time because now, you will die once more; this time for good."

Using his strength incorporated with his poisonous hate for the now king, Elias kicked him across the courtyard, sending him flying into a few creatures that had been battling.

Speeding over to him, Elias positioned his sword parallel to his face as he raised above his head before bringing it down forcefully. Baltazaar, who's reflexes had quickened, rolled out of the way to let Elias's attack land into the thick snow.

Jumping to his feet, the werewolf sped over to him as he swung his sword violently but Elias quickly blocked it with his, sending yellow and orange sparks flying on either side of them.

"So the rumors are true. You're not a weak little shit anymore." Elias teased.

The anger that swelled in Baltazaar's face was visible as he headbutted Elias viciously, causing him to stagger backwards in a momentary concussion.

"I was never weak." Baltazaar answered, speeding behind him before positioning his sword parallel to Elias's neck.

"I told your whore I'd deliver your head onto her pillow." He snickered in the vampire's ear.

"Shut up!" Elias bellowed, bringing his head forward before returning a fierce headbutt to the werewolf, causing his hands to fall to his sides at the impact of the attack.

Elias rubbed the blood from his neck as his wound began to heal, watching Baltazaar who could not hide his repugnant amusement on account of letting out a nasty cackle while shaking his head.

"You sure are emotional for someone who left her in that state." Baltazaar chided.

"What state?" Elias asked.

"Oh, you don't know?" Baltazaar raised an eyebrow, following it up with a dangerous smirk.

His mouth opened once more to speak but quickly shut as he turned around swiftly, running his sword through Melonie's heart. Elias did not notice her trying to enlist a sneak attack from behind but Baltazaar had detected it, countering her strike with a lethal one.

"NO!" Elias shouted as he attacked Baltazaar again, kicking him away from her.

While the hybrid rolled across the courtyard, Elias caught Melonie before she fell, withdrawing the sword from her chest as he applied pressure to her wound.

"You're alright, Okay? I'll get Annora. You'll be fine just hold on for me." He cooed at her, glancing across the courtyard to see Annora locked into battle with her own sister.

Melonie nodded at him, coughing up blood while her body made timely convulsions. Using all the strength she could muster, she placed her hand against the hand Elias had pressed to her wound.

"E-li..." she tried to say, her teeth stained red as the overflow of blood escaped from her mouth.

"I know." He nodded knowingly. He knew she was trying to say that she loved him and that she was sorry she couldn't protect him.

His eyes softened as he stared into hers, unable to form a proper sentence. "It's okay. Thank you, for everything."

Her mouth upturned into a slight smile as she removed her bloody hand from her wound, caressing the side of his face lovingly before it fell limply to her side, her eyes still open as she peered into the abyss that is death.

Setting her lightly onto the snow, Elias held back tears as he wiped the blood from his cheek.

"You are pathetic." Baltazaar laughed. "I'll have to tell Emma you had another lover. Maybe that will cushion the reality of your death."

Elias caught his clawed hand before it could strike him, using his atypical strength to snap it like a twig.

Groaning in agony, Baltazaar stumbled backwards as his hand dangled dangerously from his wrist; broken.

"This is the second time you've murdered someone dare to me." Elias raged.

"And it wont be the last." Baltazaar smirked.

Speeding over to him, Elias raked his fingernails across his neck and sent Baltazaar staggering backwards, falling to his knees as he clutched his throat, trying not to choke on his own blood.

Flashing the blood from his hands, Elias licked his fingers before spitting it infront of him.

"You're not even palatable to taste." He spat.

As the vampire was about to deal the finishing blow, his body froze, unable to move as Zelda made her way pass him.

"I'm sorry, Elias. But I can't let you do that." she said, rushing to Baltazaar's side.

Elias thought Zelda's timing could not have been more terrible as frustration and worry grew inside him. Why had she arrived at such a dire time in his battle? Had she defeated Annora and would now be teaming up with Baltazaar against him?

The werewolf flashed her off as his throat healed, his golden eyes glowing dangerously as he rose to his feet.

"I'm going to revel in killing you." Baltazaar said, his voice sounding more like a growl than actual words.

"Wait, Baltazaar! I thought we agreed you wouldn't transform here?!" Zelda reasoned with him.

"Shut up!" He growled at her as his body began to enlarge.

"If something happens to you in that state..." She tried to say but despite his closeness, he was no longer in earshot.

Baltazaar's ears seemed to stretch while his mouth grew into a long snout, his muscles swelling and tearing through his linen shirt as gray fur appeared to sprout from his skin. His hands extended into longer claws while his legs and feet strengthened to turn into wolf paws, bursting out of his once baggie trousers.

Elias stared in horror at the hairy, gray monster, unrecognizable by his wolf-like features as he let out a loud howl, sending shivers through the entire courtyard who were still apparently locked in battle.

Baltazaar had become exactly like the monster that had attacked the banquet, only he was slightly larger and more buff. His eyes glowed as he snarled at Elias, who would have without a doubt thrown some distance between them if he had been able to move.

The monster lunged at the frozen Elias, grabbing him by the neck as he threw him across the courtyard, shattering the brick wall on collision with the hard surface.

Pain shot through the vampire's entire body as he lay bleeding in the pile of rubble, his vision blurring from the impact of the attack.

Elias was taken by surprise when the werewolf grabbed him around the waist, holding him between his clawed hands before squeezing.

"Break...you." Baltazaar growled at him, enjoying the sound of Elias howling in pain. Elias was on the brink of unconsciousness as pain seared through not only his body but his mind.

Syrus was missing, Melonie was dead and his army had been dismantled. He believed he was sure to die from the strain of this attack and the depletion of his mental fortitude but a shout from a wounded Annora jolted him to life.

"Awaken, Elias! Remember who you are!" She shouted.

Awaken? Remember? Elias thought.

His vision blurred as his eyes slowly peeled open, trying to make out Annora's silhouette in the distance of motioning bodies.

Remember. Elias thought. Remember.

His mind flashed back to the memory of his birth and his mother holding him in her arms. Scrutinizing the setting, Elias noticed there had been a sign carved into the bedpost, something he had not noticed before.

It was letter 'V' with a horizontal line under it but he had little time to process this before the scene blurred and his mind then flashed to a childhood memory of him at age 5,  sitting at a kitchen table as his grandparents whispered outside the door.

"He is a normal boy! Our boy. Stop pushing your agendas on him!" This was his grandmother. They were just outside the kitchen door but it seemed they had thought they were out of earshot.

"He is no where near normal and he is not ours. One day, he will learn of himself because fate has decided it. The moment he does, this world will change." His grandfather had responded back then, the memory becoming obscured once more as his mind sped off another, this time of his father, who was teaching a 14 year old Elias how to create a dagger in his workshop.

"You remind me of these metals, Elias. They can only be forged with fire, as if they savour pain. It is only when they burn that they will conform to change." He had told him that day, that memory also disappearing as his mind made its final stop at the banquet.

The rage he had felt at the monster for destroying everything. His blood began to boil as his soul became ignited by hate.

And then, it happened again.

The sinister red aura began to leak once again from Elias's soul, engulfing his entire body. The veins emerged from the depths of his face, running towards his eyes as his second pair of fangs extended inside his mouth.

His unusually cold skin became deathly hot, causing Baltazaar to release him from his grasp. Despite this, Elias did not fall. Instead, he was left floating in the air as black, leathery wings sprouted from his back, leaving the werewolf stunned as he backed away from the dark angel.

The menacing energy left everyone in battle crippled as weapons fell to the ground and all eyes turned to Elias, whose diabolical tenor had turned the atmosphere hellish.

Opening his eyes, Elias's golden irises had turned blood red, his gaze dead set on Baltazaar.

"Elias, Please!" Zelda shouted as rushed over to him.

"Get away from him, Grizelda!" Annora warned her sister who only ignored her plight.

Rushing over to them, Zelda stood in the space between the monsters. She tried to bide Elias once more but her commands no longer worked.

Flying down to her, Elias grabbed her by the neck, thrusting his hand into her chest and pulling out her heart.

"He will join you shortly." was the only words he said, before dropping the organ into the snow.

Letting out small, inaudible words, her eyes rolled over as she fell onto the icy blanket.

Baltazaar roared in anger before charging at Elias, who simply flew into the air again to use his new found strength to kick him across the courtyard, flying along side him as he tumbled across the field and bursted through the brick wall to land outside of the monastery.

Gracefully landing on the ground, Elias retracted his wings as he walked over to the werewolf who laid bleeding on his back, a dent in his chest from the force of Elias's attack.

"At first, it was about revenge." Elias said, glaring down at him. "But now, it is about ridding the world of scum like you."

"Pl-ease." Baltazaar tried to say as his size began to decrease. He had soon returned to his normal form, blooding poured from his mouth as he choked on the red liquid.

"That's what I said to the knights before they ran a sword through my heart." Elias spat.

Straightening his hand, Elias slowly immersed it into Baltazaar's chest, gripping his heart.

"Em-Em." Baltazaar coughed.

"Don't you dare say her name." Elias threatened.

"No.." he whispered.

"See you in hell." Elias said, pulling his heart from his chest.

He watched as the light from Baltazaar's eyes dimmed, soon falling dark as his eyelids slowly shut down.

Dropping the organ into the snow, Elias ignited his hand in fire, throwing the ball on his body as he watched it slowly engulf Baltazaar in flames.

Turning around, Elias was greeted by the eyes of everyone, both ally and enemy, all staring at him fearfully. The noisy courtyard had become a quiet graveyard as they all watched Elias make his way over to an injured Annora, who watched him with careful eyes while holding up her broken hand.

"Take me to your sister." Elias commanded.

"As you wish." She smiled, extending her uninjured hand to her right. Elias's sword soon flew into her palm upon which she thrusted it into his hand.

"ad factorem tuum, Vylisian Prince." Annora chanted.

(Return to your maker, Vylisian Prince.)

Staring at her confusedly, Elias began to disappear, looking down at his hands as his body became transparent.

The last thing he saw was the smirk on Annora's face as he faded into nothingness.

Darkness enveloped Elias like a fog as he was sent speeding through a pitch black phantasm.

He gripped his sword a little tighter in his hand as the feeling of falling down a dark hole made him slightly panic, the experience drawing similarities to his time spent as a corpse, trapped in the dark chasm of death.

After what seemed like forever, joy beseeched him as he could finally see light ahead. He braced himself for the impact of a fall as he fell straight through the blinding luminosity, upon which he found himself falling from the sky.

His wings quickly spurted from his back as he got his bearings, flapping them effortlessly as he tried to get identify his location.

The emotion of surprise was evident on his face as his eyes widened at the sight before him.

Though he had never been there before, he could feel it in his bones that he was in Selvalley. This however, was not the most shocking thing he was experiencing since he could not ignore the scorching sun behind him.

Looking to the sky, he squinted at the bright rays that invaded his red irises before turning his attention to the ground as shouts of battle cries drew him back to reality.

He had appeared in the middle of Selvalley's battlefield just as humans and monsters from either sides of the war began to clash.

There were creatures Elias had never seen before and cross breeds of creatures that he had as he easily identifed werewolves wreaking havoc and soldiers wearing the sigils of Castle Gandalwell and Asphal.

In the distance, Elias could see the grand castle of Selvalley standing lonely in the daylight, untouched and unguarded as its defenders clashed swords and knocked heads in battle.

A gryffin appeared, flying over Elias's head, followed by another who attacked him, widening its beak to bite away his throat.

Dodging in mid air, Elias swung his sword just in time to kill another who had also flew to attack him.

He did not notice them before but the sky was full of creatures who were having their own airborne battles and he had just landed in the middle of their war.

"This wont work." He said to himself, descending from the sky and retracting his wings as be submerged himself into battle as well.

He was going to have to fight his way towards the castle if he wanted to stop Odelina and cease this war. Afterall, most of these creatures were all under her command and control.

Turning his sword to the ground he impaled a werewolf in the head before rushing out of the way so the griffins that flew after him would crash into other opponents.

In no time was he immersed in battle, cutting down both Odelina and Baltaazar's men as he made his way through the thick crowd of blood lusting monsters.

He dismembered ogres and beheaded chimeras. Ripped the hearts from werewolves and slayed manticores. He was a beast at fighting, something he did not consider himself particularly very good at.

Ever since he saw the memories and images that flashed within his mind, he began to feel a change in his killing intent. It was as if this was what he was made for all along.

He was quickly drawn out of his memories as blood splashed across his face due to bits of flesh splattering all over the battlefield, his skin showing all the evidence of gory battle.

He was sweating, something he did not normally do but given the temperature of Selvalley, he did not find it strange.

"You!" A voice shouted a distance away. Withdrawing his sword from the body of a soldier, Elias's eyes shot to the owner, his wet hair falling around his shoulders as he flashed it backwards.

The voice belonged to a very fatigued King Koren, whose metal breast plate was riddled with claw marks and face filled with dirt and grime from battle.

"Baltazaar... my son." The man seemed to say, tears falling from his eyes as he noticed Elias's change in physical appearance. He knew that if Elias was here that meant that Baltazaar had been defeated and their setup did not not work.

Koren was so distracted and distraught by this knowledge that he did not notice an orge behind him, who swung his barbed mace violently into the back of his head and it sent flying into the air before falling at Elias's feet.

Looking down at the face of the distraught man, Elias had little time to feel remorse for him as he became locked in battle with more monsters.

When he finally breached the monsters last line of defense, Elias who had finally reached the gates of the castle was quite stunned to see that it was indeed unmanned and unlocked, allowing him to run inside without so much as an alarm.

He stopped in the middle of the courtyard, inhaling as he got his bearings, catching the familiar scent of a certain witch before hurriedly rushing to the main keep.

Elias could not help but scowl at their insolence of not having a single guard. He found their arrogance insulting, their sureness that they could defeat any enemy that had the nerve to come charging in.

Running down the corridor, Elias stormed the throne room as he bursted through its wooden doors.

He stopped dead in his tracks once he saw that it was Genevieve standing at a large window located to the left of the throne, peering outside at the battle that ensued in the fallen kingdom with her eyes filled with despair.

"You're here." She said without looking at him, her dainty hands tucked behind her back.

She was wearing a velvet green dress that stopped at her ankles and her blonde hair fell around her shoulders in loose curls. Around her neck, laid a silver necklace Elias had once made for her birthday.

"You look like death." She said again, interrupting his admiration.

It was true. His cape had been torn off sometime in battle and his hair fell past his shoulders in stringy, wet strands.  He had gore all over his face and his black clothing were ripped and muddied with blood.

"Genevieve.." he said, walking further into the large room. It was filled with only a single throne made from bones and raised upon a platform of 3 steps at the back. A red carpet led to the seat and the tapestries that hung behind it were torn, resembling shabby, old rags.

"Do not say my name as if we are friends." She spat, finally turning her head in his direction.

"But we were? Weren't we? We were more than friends." Elias said to her, his tone softer than he would have liked.

"Just stop." Genevieve said, holding up her palm to signal the action.

Raising her dress above her ankles, she began to descend the small flight of stairs, making her way over to the distraught vampire.

"You were my wife." Elias said to her.

"I was." She agreed.

"You loved me."  He said after.

"I did." She answered, finally facing him.

"Then please, if you will not tell me anything else, what happened? How are you alive?" Elias asked her, his blood red eyes softening.

His body had not returned to its normal state since his fight with Baltazaar but be was glad as he would need this extra strength to deal with Odelina.

"Am I, Elias? Am I alive? Are you alive?" She retorted.

"Don't toy with me, Gen."

"YOU DO NOT GET TO CALL ME THAT!" she shouted, causing him to turn his face from her harshness.

"She told me everything." Genevieve said in a softer tone, her eyes filled with tears.

"Odelina did?"

"You were with her, the princess." Genevieve said, a tear falling from her left eye.

"No, never. I was never with her while we were together. I had just met her at market because she stole from me. I was framed, by Baltazaar, by Zelda, by Odelina. They set it all up. They killed us." Elias tried to explain as he came closer to her, staring down at her small frame.

"So you do not love her then?" She asked him, her eyes as innocent as the day they had first met.

"I..." Elias said, struggling to answer.

"You do." She answered for him, another tear falling from her right eye.

"But I still love you. I've always loved you. They took you from me; they took us from each other. I thought you were gone." Elias tried to explain.

"But you never searched, did you, Elias?"

"I was going to. I promise I was, I was just.."

"Busy in another woman's arms." She finished for him.

Opening his mouth to respond, he quickly closed it as she wiped her face.

"You were gone, Gen. I thought you were gone." Elias said quietly. In that moment, it felt like they were the only ones in the land.

"We can be together. After all of this, after I defeat Odelina. We can be together again." Elias reasoned.

"No, Elias. I'm afraid we can't." She responded, turning her back as she walked away from him.

Putting a few feet between them, she only turned around when he spoke again.

"Why?" His mouth twitched at the rejection.

"Why you ask?" She smirked.

"Because I am going to kill you."

——————————————————

The finale is next chapter and then an epilogue.

I'm so excited lol

The final battle begins after this.
Will Elias prevail?

Don't forget to vote❤️