The man who had originally opened the door to allow access stands at attention, his voice echoing in the empty space and my mind as he announces, "Amphion Runyon Garmr, Prince of Quintarian, and son of the Wolf King."

I am rooted to the spot, my eyes unable to leave the male as we continue to study each other. He has the eyes of the wolf, living up to his title as the predator pins me down, studying me. I can almost see the hackles of the beast rise, the stillness in the air, and the silent tipping point that is barely hanging on- tension rising, rising, and about to burst with his attack.

His hand rises and I can envision it now- of this face once again taking me and leaving me trapped in darkness, as fingers curl around my neck, slowly, slowly the grip becoming tighter, tighter - finishing the job that his counterpart had been unable to.

The name rings deeply within me - the same face, but a different name, a different person. I couldn't understand what was happening or if my eyes were deceiving me. The horror of this moment- and being lost in the unknown and the single truth that I had to take in - that this was not him. This was not the great leader.

"Amphion."

The voice of the Elephant king breaks us apart, bursting whatever trap I had become entangled in. Air leaves my lungs when he turns away from me.

The Elephant King steps towards us, his eyes flickering back and forth as he extends his hand. The male steps forward, accepting the King's greeting.

"Aran...I've brought the men you need...but it was hell getting into your city."

The Elephant King does not display any emotion of frustration at his situation- he does not vent like how he did just moments ago with his advisors. I see the transformation of the man stepping into his throne and transforming himself to something more.

It is a reminder to myself to take in his actions and internalize them. To do the same.

The male's words still rattle inside me. I see Khalid from the corner of my eye at the edge of the room- watching and tense at the sudden closeness that had occurred between me and the other male. I wondered vaguely if he was thinking of my single spoken word. Of the name that had slipped from my lips.

I wondered also...if the Elephant King even knew. If he even knew the name of the man who was outside his gates tormenting him. Nothing but a great conqueror. Nothing but a title that confirmed his ability to be known because of the simple goal he was striving towards.

"I appreciate the swiftness of your arrival - how close are they?"

"Circling - within the next two or three days..."

The Elephant King's jaw clenches, muscles strained as he nods his head. He turns to me, my presence suddenly catching his attention.

"And here is the reasons for this war," he motions towards me and for the first time I hear slight anger in this tone. Perhaps it was finally dawning on him that war was coming and he had been played into participating in it.

"You originally attacked," the male points out.

"They were getting too big...and I knew they were coming to my city - it was only a matter of time... I had underestimated their size. I still cannot believe that so many tribes have been able to unify like this."

The male's gaze comes back to me - his eyes make me feel small and powerless.

"And how is it that a little girl such as her is the instigator of war?"

"They are claiming that I killed her - but as you can see here she is breathing and alive...but they are angry...she is their goddess afterall."

"A goddess?"

Each question from the male makes his gaze become colder and colder. A feeling of dread is slowly washing over me that this man already knew. He already knew who I was the moment he had stepped through those doors.

"Mikabellum."

Both males turn to look at me. I step closer, gazing at the prince of wolves.

Don't become small. Don't become still. Don't let this be the end. Don't let this face become your downfall again.

Rise. Rise. Rise.

Wrap yourself in red and gold, and become the embodiment of war. Set the crown of a sun upon your head and cloud your vision in red. Meet him here upon this sacred battle ground. Stand with your arms raised and the heavens above. Release your claws.

They are nothing but mortal men.

"I am Mikabellum. The goddess of war."

His smile twists into something savage, a gleam of dark light coming to his eyes.

"So that is what you are," he breathes, taking me in.

I don't look away from him. I was the goddess of war. And I knew what death looked like. I was the one who had cheated it. I had somehow managed to claw my way out of hell. Life had been breathed back into me so that vengeance could be delivered.

And I knew that death - the promise for it - was concealed in this male's eyes.

I didn't know what was happening. But I had survived this long. I had adapted- and the single thought again races in my head.

Think like a goddess.

He looks away, walking toward the map that is laid out. The Elephant king glances at me before following. I stay where I am at, watching and taking it all in.

They were coming. And this prince of wolves had arrived to help with his own men. Battle was inevitable.

"She needs to be there," though they had whispered initially, the conversation had become heated, voices slowly rising.

The Elephant King was shaking his head, "I have to worry about the Onism- I can't have her distracting - this started because of her death- I can't even imagine what would happen if those rumors became the truth."

"But what if they see her," the wolf prince argues, "what if they stop when they realize that she is there."

"I can't take that chance- we can't take that chance."

"But it is worth trying," the other male argues, "and if it doesn't work then have someone carry her away from the battle."

Chills run through me, a cold whisper of unwanted promises. I knew what betrayal looked like. And I saw streaks of it in his gaze.

This male wanted me dead. He could try to hide it all he wanted, but I knew that face. Though they were different people, expressions could be similar when given the same features.

All I knew was that I did not want to be caught alone with this man.

The Elephant King is considering it. And what coward would I be - the goddess of war refusing to do battle.

"She was able to convince them once- she can do it again."

The Elephant King was warming to the idea now. I began to approach them, capturing their attention. I stood on the other side of the table, looking down at the map and the marks it carried.

"How do you convince people of the truth. All they had to do was look at me and know."

"So they will see you and know again," the prince of wolves is starting to grin. He is starting to show his canines- letting me see what they looked like and how sharp they could be.

"I am beginning to see your point," the Elephant King is still torn. The debate is still happening in his head. To bring the goddess of war, or to keep her safe?

"It has to be done," the other male is insisting now. He wants this.

I can't think of the words that need to be said to stop this. My words had been the main factor in my survival. The thing that had kept me and my truth. The declaration of my being.

But nothing was coming to me now.

I closed my eyes to the realization that upon that battle field, I was going to die.

"Mikabellum," I open them to see the Elephant King staring at me. "I will be by your side. And I will take you away when it begins- if this does not work. What will you do to repay me for my protection?"

"What is it that you desire?"

"Become my goddess...let me worship you." His words are serious. He wanted me. He would go to war for me. He would see that he conquered men and then creatures of the divine.

"My men can-,"

"She is with me," the Elephant King sharply said, gaze cutting to find the other man.

The wolf prince pauses before nodding.

"I will bless you," I suddenly said, breaking their gaze from each other. "I will be there. And I will make sure that victory is yours."

The Elephant King leaves to go to one of his men- asking for the advisors to be brought back into the room.

And while he is away, the wolf prince looks into my eyes. He looks at me- and I see mixtures clouding there. Emotions stacking on top of each other. Promises. Death. Hate. And then...awe.

"I underestimated you," he whispers, "I didn't realize how well you had spun your lies."

*      *     *

I keep Khalid close to my side.

I whisper to him that the prince of wolves cannot be trusted. I didn't need to ask him for protection. He would accept it no matter what I said. He doesn't wish to leave my side either. The Elephant King initially would not accept his presence on the battlefield.

"He is of the Onism...for all I know the moment the flags are raised I will feel a knife in my back."

"I am of the Onism also," I point this fact out to him. We stand on top of the wall again, looking out at the land that will soon be watered in blood.

He may think there is something about me that was telling the truth of my existence. Some small part of his mind though still saw me as nothing but a little girl. The goddess of war who was only a symbol and not the true embodiment of its actions.

I could tell him- that red had stained my hands. That I had cut hearts out of men. That I knew what the taste of blood felt like on my lips- that it was not sweet and never would be.

He turns to me, taking a strand of my hair. He twists it around his finger, something close to a feral grin lighting up his face.

"What if I claim you in front of the great leader himself? What if I make him watch as you give your blessing to me instead of him? Have you tasted it, Mikabellum?" he leans in closer, kissing the locks of gold he had captured in his fingers.

"Did you convince him of your divinity the same way you did with me?" He closes the space between. His lips come closer. Closer. Until they settle on the corner of my neck. "Did you let him worship you?" he softly says- words landing on my skin and crawling to chip away at my sanity.

"You over-step," I tell him, "do not touch me unless I give permission."

He is becoming drunk from my words. He steps back. I see how the light reflects off his hair - the color matching my eyes. Red. Always red. A color I wished could be avoided. But it flowed throughout our body and showed clearly in our weakest moments that humans were made of nothing but it. Violence would always be within us.

"You will be glorious there, Mikabellum."

I would be. I had to be.

And later that day when the sound of horns could be heard. When the familiar noise of hooves riding in the distance, coming to me, closer and closer- bringing with them destruction. I knew that my life was a pattern that repeated over and over again.

Clio does not speak. She is silent as she takes the silk, covering my skin to hide proof that I was like them.

Death was something I should not fear. Not when I had taken in that darkness and felt how the stress and worries of the world could be released.

It would take me away from this exhausting name. This burden that would forever be carried.

They told me I had been born for this. I had once been nothing, only to degrade myself into something. I had once been omnipotent, only to come down and see the ugly sins of men and women. But no one had to tell me that I would die for this.

No...I had figured out that truth the moment I saw someone who had the power to shake the earth with each step, take me.

My face is not painted.

Clio had listened to my words, taking care with everything else. If I was going to see him again, then I wanted him to recognize me and feel the weight from his actions.

She takes my face in her hands, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

Khalid's head bows when I exit the room. He falls to one knee, not daring to look up. His hands rise, lifting an offering. He presents to me a knife. Silver and encrusted with red jewels.

I take it from him, reaching out to make him stand. His eyes are still lowered- but I hold his chin and lift it to look at me.
"Do you remember how I took the heart of a man with this?"

"How could I forget," he said.

"I will do it again, Khalid. I can. You will never know how grateful I am for your protection. But I want you to also know that I am capable of violence. And that I will use it to keep us safe."

From my words he takes my hand- a bold act that he has never once attempted. From his hands he lifts my own, pressing them to his covered lips. From my skin, he receives my blessing.

He follows after me, trailing behind, not daring to match my steps or walk beside.

The Elephant King is waiting. He wears armor of gold. The symbol is on the middle of his chest- the animal he was named after curving and becoming a part of his image.

I had put on my own armor. No more dresses that hindered me and flowed around my body. I realized it now that I was the goddess of love and war and I had dressed correctly for one, but incorrectly for the other. This was a military uniform that soldiers wore for war.

"I had expected red," he said, looking me up and down.

I looked down also to see my chosen colors.

Black and silver

In the past he had painted me red like the sun- he had made me into a phoenix. He had told me to burn and then rise.

But he had lit the match and watched the flames. He had taken the black fire he could control and left me thinking he had taken my wings.

He did not think it possible for me to steal them back and fit them into the bloody holes he had made.

I had fallen like the sun.

And risen like the moon.

And soon... soon...soon...as I sat in front of the Elephant King and Khalid rode beside me. As the prince of wolves gripped the sword that was at his side, dark eyes watching me that resembled the flames I had already been consumed in.

As I saw them approaching in the distance.

I knew that soon he would see my face.

And he would soon know that my death had not been given to forgive him of his sins. 

Author note here- I would like to be given praise at the fact that I actually updated. 

(lol no, I don't want to sound like I am desperate for love (I am) but kind words are always nice)

I was so confused when people thought in the last chapter that the man had actually been Roark. I guess I didn't write it clear enough because my excitement had been looking forward to the comments of people in disbelief and confusion that there was someone who resembled him. 

My face was     -_-

What do we think of what is happening so far? Tell me what you think will happen so I can laugh at how wrong you are (this is not me being mean, but simply telling the truth). 

ALSO. Let me self promote that I am planning on posting a new story soon- as a sneak peak I will tell you the title- 'In the rise' (don't you dare steal that title it took me a long time to come up with it). I'm beginning to realize that it is basically impossible for me to write a light fluffy story. I always start off with that intention and then it somehow twists into this dark depression and close to soul crushing thing. 

Sorry about that. 

Hope everyone is having a nice day! 

Until next time my loves, 

/////WORLD_JOY_/////