The battle at the castle

The journey to the Castle was unkind and unforgiving. Peter fell sick numerous times on the way and Claire who was the frailest of the four of them collapsed a few times. They took different treacherous routes, the southern forest which was particularly filled with werewolves and rogue gargoyles, the reapers pass which was inhabited by saber-tooth tigers and man-eating bats, the river of disappearance, which got its name from the numerous fishermen and farmers who'd gone missing there, but they weren't really disappearances, they were killed and dragged to the bottom by a large river snake, almost 30 feet long. After their journey they finally arrived at the gates of seven crowns, representing the seven Queens, they observed the gate from a hill just a few minutes away. They saw 20 angel guards standing in rolls of fives in front of the gate, and despite their magic abilities, they were armed with magic items of devasting power as observed by Melwise.

"How do you reckon we get past those guards," Peter asked.

"That would prove to be a rather difficult task, Peter," said Melwise.

Peter's face dulled as if he had lost hope.

"There's honestly no way we can get past that lot, I mean look at them," Alice said as she rolled over looking into the starry sky.

"What do we do now?" Claire asked Melwise.

"I honestly haven't the faintest clue," Melwise said wearing a look of disappointment on her face.

"I have an idea," Peter said.

"I hope it's not a suicidal one?" Alice asked as she sat up.

"No it isn't, you'll find it to be a brilliant idea actually," Peter smiled.

"Ok then, let's hear it–,"

"Why don't we have Melwise capture me and drag me to the gate, she'll tell them that I exhibited the power of the Demon Lord and the power should be taken from me before any further harm is done, which will require meeting the council of Queens," said Peter, smiling proudly at his brilliant idea.

"You said no suicidal ideas Peter," jeered Alice.

"It's honestly all I've got, we've already come this far, we can't blow this chance," Peter said as he fell slumped back to the ground in frustration.

"It's actually a brilliant idea," Melwise said getting up and looking excited.

"What d'you mean?" Claire asked.

"Guardian angels usually give a report of the happenings in their assigned towns, and I was supposed to give mine a week ago," Melwise said. "I'll tell them that I caught you practicing dark magic."

"Won't that make them want to kill me even more?" asked Peter looking confused.

"No Peter, if anyone is caught practicing dark magic, the council of Queens personally collect their souls and feed them to the great dragon," Melwise said.

"The great what now?" a bewildered Alice asked.

"The great dragon is an ancient creature, it held all the worlds together before the war," Melwise said. "It feeds on the souls of they who've given themselves to the darkness".

"So the plan now is, Melwise takes me to the gate while you two stay here". Peter said.

They left for the castle gate with Peter in chains being dragged by Melwise.

"Could you be a bit gentle?" Peter said grimacing.

They got to the gate and as expected they were halted by pointed spears and helmet-faced guards.

"What business do you have here?" a guard asked.

"I'm the guardian angel assigned to Krabstinole, I caught this one practicing black magic up in the northern forest," Melwise said.

"What proof do you have of this claim?" the guard asked.

Melwise then brought out a black book with empty pages she conjured before they reached the gate and threw it to them.

"What's this?"–

"It's a book of dark spells, the pages are empty and can only be read by a necromancer which he is," Melwise said this time looking nervous.

"Very well then, you may pass,"–.

Melwise picked up Peter by the end of the chain and began dragging him into the castle grounds, with a guard following behind them, they began to smile as they walked further in thinking that their plan had gone smoothly but they were wrong.

"Stop right there!" a voice behind them shouted, they turned to the gate and saw a guard running towards them with the black book in his hand.

"I used to be a necromancer, and when I opened the pages, the book remained blank," the guard unsheathing his sword. "Who are you?".

"I told you I am the guardian angel assigned to Krabstinole," Melwise said subtly undoing Peter's chains.

"I confirmed your identity, I was referring to the boy. The human boy," the guard said and immediately the guards unsheathed their swords with the others pointing their spears at Melwise. "I will ask again, who are you?!".

"We come in peace," Melwise said. "We know you wouldn't have allowed our audience with the council that's why we resulted to this".

"Your world is in danger, the Demon Lord is attacking the human world and he'll come here next," Peter said as he stood up.

"Intruders!" the guard shouted and immediately soldiers began to run out from behind the castle toward them. Peter steadied himself and readied for battle but the force from the blast the guard gave him knocked him off balance and he fell to the ground. Melwise with a spell sent the guards around them crashing into each other and she hurried to help Peter up. The other soldiers in coordination sent slashes into the air from their swords and a mighty force hit Peter and Melwise and they were sent flying into the iron fence just beside the gate. With a continued attack they sent a rain of spears toward them but instantly a scarlet light lit up the darkness around the spears and they stopped mid-air, slowly turning till they were facing the soldiers and they flew towards them maiming the soldiers who couldn't shield themselves. It was Alice, she ran towards Melwise and Peter who were struggling to get up.

"Are you ok?" Alice asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, we've got to do something about them, their numbers aren't reducing at all," Peter said.

"Where's Claire?" Melwise asked.

"She was just behi,"–.

"Draco igneus!" Claire bellowed and a large fiery dragon came out from the air in front of Claire and flew towards the guards, burning those it touched to a crisp. "It was about time you woke up,". she said to Peter and Melwise who now joined her alongside Alice. The soldiers began charging toward them and they kept blasting the ones they used with spells trying desperately not to use curses as their strengths were limited due to their journey to the castle. Melwise put up a barrier blocking the guards from reaching them but it didn't do much as it broke in a matter of seconds, just then as the barrier broke a spear went through Claire, and instantly in Peter's ears the castle ground filled with the noise of the running soldiers and clattering of armor disappeared and all Peter could hear was his heart beating slowly until stopped. Peter rose in the air with his eye already blackened only reflecting the dull light from the moon, and he stretched his arms out toward the soldier who had already stopped fighting as their eyes were fixated on him and immediately a crackling sound followed by crimson light appeared just at his fingertips and a large fireball formed just above them and crashed on them and exploded burning the ones it touched with the fallout which made Alice and Melwise crouch to their kneels. He flew down and with a wave of his hand, he unleashed a large gust of flame burning the other soldiers who hadn't been hit by the first attack. More soldiers began trooping out and hurling spells at Peter but didn't do any damage when they touched him. His hand lit up with bright red which was the color of the instant killing spell, he stretched it and bellowed "neco" and a mighty wind blew through the approaching soldiers instantly killing all of them. He continued the killing spree as he flew into the sky again this time heading for the castle but before he could get there a voice shouted: "Moderatius!" the spell hit Peter and he fell to the ground with a thud like he had been bound by invisible chains, he twisted and turned as he tried to break free and the voice bellowed again: "Ego dolorem!" and Peter continued turning on the ground but not in pain, he was trying to break free from the spell and with the wave of his hand he dispelled the woman who had bound him. He walked slowly to her as she crawled away from him struggling over her overflowing turquoise gown, she pointed her hand again to him and this time used the instant killing spell but Peter deflected it, he weaved his fingers and raised his hand and she immediate rose holding her throat, with a wave of his hand Peter sent her flying and crashing into the empty horse stables and knocking her out. From behind another woman bellowed "neco!" but Peter disappeared and reappeared right behind her, with his feet he kicked her and she fell to the ground, but she quickly got up with an acrobatic effort and with a spell she knocked him off his feet away into the ground, she raised her hand and suspended Peter in the air and she attempted to use a sealing spell on him but Peter closed his hands and weaved his hands and immediately she fell to her knees, she had already fallen under his control. He slowly came back to the ground and his hand lit up with a bright red color, he walked towards her and attempted to release the spell but Alice called from behind him.

"Peter!" and he fell to his knees and collapsed.