29. Painful memories.

"General Marcus? What are you doing here?" Niya asked, walking fast towards him in a restless manner. His face was filled with bruises, some of the wounds on his face were bleeding and his once neat blonde hair was in a total mess. Elena left the room immediately.

"Your Majesty, I tried my best to save them but Azizmah captured them before I could do something," Marcus said, looking at the floor blankly. The chivalry, the aura he had in the morning was completely gone at that moment. Niya exhaled deeply, trying her best to control the anger simmering in her veins. She wanted to scream at him because he couldn’t help her friends but as queen, she knew that she couldn’t do that right now. She needed to understand the situation and work with him. Work with him to help her friends. 

"But General Marcus, why the hell were you all fighting with swords when you had the most advanced weapons with you on the battlefield," she asked, trying her best to not sound rude while looking at his dull grey eyes. 

"I think you aren't aware of the rules of war yet. Within a 2 km radius of the inner circle of the battlefield, no advanced weapons are allowed in the war. You can only fight with a sword or order your soldiers to attack with advanced weapons from a distance greater than the minimum threshold," Marcus said, looking in her eyes.

"W-What?! You’re kidding, right? That’s ridiculous!" She paced in front of him, "Now what? What should we do?" Niya said, sitting on the chair next to her bed.

"Even if you meet Azizmah, he won't set them free. He is not at all trustworthy," Marcus said, taking a few steps towards her.

"You do not have to worry about that. I can save them. Trust me. I can." Niya tried to convince him. She had never felt this helpless in her life, the only time she could remember feeling that way was when her mother died but that felt like such a lifetime ago. She wanted to scream her lungs out that yes she can save her friends within a blink of an eye as well as destroy the whole Army of Azizmah just by snapping her fingers but she couldn't do anything.

She couldn't reveal her true identity to Marcus.

"You are a human, Your Majesty. Do you even realize what does that mean in this world full of powerful creatures?" Marcus said, gritting his teeth in anger at his queen suggesting such a thing. Clearly, unaware of what Niya could do. 

"Trust me. I can do this. Can you just please take me to the battlefield without asking any questions? Just forget for a day that I am a human. Please," she pleaded, grabbing his right arm. As soon as she touched his arm, he winced in pain. Looking down at it, Niya saw that it was bleeding. 

"Oh my God! Your arm is injured." She gasped looking at the blood on her hand. "Emily! Bring a first aid box and call the royal doctor," she shouted towards the closed door as if knowing that Emily stood outside, waiting for further instructions.

"It's okay. It's just a small injury," Marcus said, chuckling at her nervousness.

"No. It's bleeding. Sit here quietly." She made him sit on the chair and Emily entered the room with the first aid kit. Niya grabbed a piece of cotton, quickly applying the disinfectant, and started cleaning his wound.

"You don't have to do this. You are a queen, Your Majesty," he said, hesitating a bit.

"And you got this injury while saving my Queendom. I can't be a queen without the Queendom. Can I?" She looked into his eyes and smiled politely. Her words touched Marcus's heart and he smiled at her innocence. The royal doctor came, running through the doors, and quickly checked his wounds. After putting on a white gauze and assuring the nervous queen that the general was okay, he left.

Niya exhaled a breath, trying to calm her worried mind. Shaking off any nerves left, she squared her shoulder, "We should leave, now" Niya said, looking at Marcus and waiting for a response. Marcus gasped and looked back into her eyes.

"Azizmah took them to the further north of the mountain in his army camp. It's a completely frozen area, covered with ice so weather can be harsh for you, Your Majesty," Marcus said, wearing his warm long black coat, suppressing a wince and smiling sheepishly when Niya raised an eyebrow.

"I have spent my whole life in a city which remains covered with a snow blanket for all 365 days in the year." She smiled, putting on her hoodie-cape which was long enough to provide warmth to her whole body and they left immediately. 

After covering a distance of an hour or two, finally, their plane landed in the middle of barren land. As soon as Niya stepped outside, the dry cold wind hit her face.

"Here. Now we have to cover the rest of the distance by horses as beyond this area the Wickton Forest starts and we can't take our jets there," Marcus said, pointing towards two black horses.

"Marcus, you don't have to come with me. I'll find my way through VPS. Azizmah won't like your presence there," she said, looking at him.

"No. We are doing everything he wanted. No security guards and all but I won't send you there alone," he said, helping her mount her horse then making his way to his. She nodded, sensing the gravity of the situation. They both started their journey towards the north and soon they entered the forest with lush green trees covered in snow. After going north for about an hour and a half, Niya saw a light. 

"That's his army camp right?" she asked, looking at Marcus. He nodded. 

"I'm still not convinced that you are going to survive through this," Marcus said, the frustration clear in his tone as he exhaled loudly. Niya smiled, looking at him.

"That's because you aren't aware of the reality, Mr. General." She chuckled, looking at his frustrating expression. He shook his head at her witty reply and within no time they stood in front of the main entrance of the army camp.

"Here we go, Your Majesty. Be careful, Azizmah belongs to a serpent clan. He is very dangerous." Marcus helped her come down and looked into her eyes as if he was assuring her that no matter what he will always have her back.

"Azizmah won't allow me to go further with you. You have to go alone now," Marcus said, looking at her face, trying to figure out if she was nervous or afraid. 

"Who is going to stop you when I'm with you?" She smiled, snapping her fingers and within no time, every soldier there fell unconscious. She looked at Marcus proudly, beaming a smile. 

"How did you do that?" Marcus said, looking at the unconscious bodies.

"I'm the Creator Queen. I know some tricks and this is one of my favorites," she said, smiling at him, and suddenly, they heard heavy footsteps coming towards them.

"I didn't expect that," Azizmah said, looking at the unconscious bodies. He took some steps towards them. His ministers and secretary were also following him.

"You didn't? Then what were your expectations, King Azizmah?" she asked, taking a few steps towards him, her brown eyes reflecting the rage and anger as if she was ready to rip off his head anytime. Azizmah came closer and looked straight into her eyes as if he was looking directly into her soul.

"Quite courageous! Even after knowing that I have captivated all of your friends and I can kill them anytime, you are still looking into my eyes fearlessly? You should be down on your knees begging for their lives, girl," he said, looking at her.

"Queen!" she said, with a smirk on her face. "I am not just another girl. I am the Creator Queen. I must say, you are very courageous too, even after seeing what I have done to your soldiers, you still dare to speak like this to me?" she said, smiling fearlessly. 

"Oh! Wait! General Marcus? Did you see him doing that bow thing that everyone does in front of me?" Niya said dramatically, looking at Marcus. "No?" She answered before he could.

She looked at Azizmah and suddenly he felt a surge of sharp pain in his head as if all his veins were popping out. He winced in pain, grabbing his head in his hands, and within a few seconds he sat on his knees due to unbearable pain. His ministers and secretary came closer to check if he was okay but stopped when Niya’s glare landed on them.

"That’s much better, don’t you think? Next time, remember to pay the due respect, King Azizmah," she said, exhaling proudly. 

"Now, would you please tell me where are my friends?" she asked, grabbing his collar. As soon as she grabbed his collar, his secretary took some steps towards them with his hand on his sword to protect him but was stopped once again. This time by Marcus’s sword under his chin.

"Bring them," he ordered to his secretary as deep down in his heart he knew that he couldn't defeat Niya. His secretary raised his hands and took a couple of steps back, a relief sigh leaving him when Marcus lowered his weapon. Niya released Azizmah and stood closer to Marcus.

He quickly brought Archie and the others as requested. They were badly injured and their wounds weren't recovering fast making Niya suspect that they were caused by another kind of metal. She remembered them explaining how that metal prevents wounds from healing quickly. 

Archie raised his head after grumbling under his breath and was shocked at what his eyes were seeing. 

"Niya? What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, taking some steps towards her, wincing in pain as both of his legs were badly injured. 

"Seriously, Arch? I am here to save your ass but can we please do this drama later?" she said, looking at his injured legs. She wanted to hug all of them once they were safe behind the palace’s doors.

"No. Leave immediately. You were not supposed to come here." He took some fast steps towards her, getting as close that little to no space remained between them. Niya gasped when he hugged her, cradling her head to his chest. She shivered when she felt his breath fan her neck, "Niya, please. Azizmah wants to know your real identity. He did all this chaos just to prove that you are an Angel," he whispered to her ears so that Azizmah couldn't listen.

"What? How does he know that I'm an angel?" she whispered, continuing the hug.

"I don't know but I heard his conversation with his secretary that the reason behind this war was to confirm your real identity," he stepped back and grasped her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

"Your Majesty, now that I realized I can not defeat you in the war of power, I would like to apologize for my deeds," Azizmah interrupted their conversation suddenly out of nowhere, making Archie release Niya and stand discreetly in front of her. They were all shocked at his statement. 

"You are apologizing after killing thousands of innocent people?" She scoffed at his blunt statement of being apologetic. 

"Yes. It was my mistake. I am really sorry for that," he said, looking blankly at the ground as if someone suddenly ordered him to say that.

"No, don't trust him, Niya. He is playing some game again," William said, stepping closer to Niya’s back as if preparing for a sudden attack.

"I was just doing what I was instructed to be done," Azizmah said, looking at Niya. His eyes were dull and his face became pale.

"Instructed by whom?" she asked, frowning a bit on his statement. 

"King Samael," he said and everyone standing there went numb.

"I knew it." Archie gritted his teeth in anger.

"He can't cross the firewall," Edward said, looking at Archie.

"He can. Actually, he did," William replied immediately without even looking at them and everyone turned, looking at him with shocked expressions. 

****