by Noah Michael
“Stop!” The drones stopped in their tracks. The army parted as someone walked through. When she came closer, Arias recognized her.
“Kill her!” he whispered to a nearby archer.
Alia walked out to the front of the army and drew her knife, slashing the arrows to pieces with incredible speed and precision. She met Montis’s eye.
“You wish to die as well, woman?” Montis said. He spit at her feet.
“You fight courageously, Commander. I want to offer you a challenge. If you can kill me, my army will hold off until the morning. If you lose, we will finish you off right here, right now.”
“I will fight you!” Arias said, stepping out from behind the defense line.
Alia regarded him. “I already know I can beat you. I want to fight him.”
“My father held this mountain for seventy years, through six battles. Not once did it fall. My grandfather held this mountain for sixty-four years, through eighteen battles. Not once did it fall. Such has been my family legacy since my tribe first made this valley our home. You shall not take my mountain!” Montis sounded a battle cry, then charged fiercely at Alia.
“I’m sorry for this,” she whispered. She waited calmly for Montis to reach her. He jumped into the air and smashed his axe downwards with great power. Alia flipped backwards, dodging the blow.
“You are predictable, General.” Montis roared and charged once again. This time he dove into the ground and pounced out behind her, swinging his axe. Alia caught the axe between her knives and twisted it out of Montis’s hands, sending it spinning into the sand.
“Go and get it,” she ordered.
Alia waited as Montis ran over to his weapon and lifted it off the ground. He returned to his battle position, his breathing heavy, his muscles sore. Alia stood tall and fully energized.
Arias watched despairingly from behind. It was as if all her physical limitations had been lifted. Arias looked down his line of troops, watching the reactions on their faces. They were utterly embarrassed. Arias realized why Alia had challenged Montis to begin with.
She is a Reader. She knows exactly how to break our spirits. She doesn’t want to kill him. She wants to humiliate him. And there is nothing to be done to stop it.
Montis fought as hard as he could, striking over and over again, Alia dodging each one with ease. As he swung for the tenth time, Alia ducked down and then spun, smashing her foot into his head. He crumbled to the ground, dropping his battle-axe.
“Fine, if you insist on fighting with no weapons, so be it,” she mocked.
Alia returned her knives to their sheaves.
Montis struggled slowly to his feet, hardly able to stand. His left eye was black and blue. He looked at her, seething with anger and hatred.
“I will kill you!” Montis punched at her face. Alia moved her upper body from side to side, dodging each punch with ease. Finally, Alia grabbed his fist and pulled forward, flipping over his body and wrapping her arm around his neck. Montis struggled to break loose, but Alia placed her second hand on his head in position to break his neck. She looked at Arias.
Arias glared back at her, his eyes burned with anger. But he knew she wouldn’t do it.
Alia relaxed her arms, letting Montis fall to the floor. The mountaintop was quiet as the warriors watched as Montis lay helplessly on the sand, gasping for breath. Alia picked up his battle-axe from the floor. She turned to the Shadow army.
“Your General has been defeated!” she shouted, “I expected more than this pathetic match! This is not how I want to win this war! I won’t fight such a weak enemy! You have until tomorrow to leave this mountaintop and surrender! I will keep his weapon as my trophy!”
Alia turned around and walked back towards her troops. Arias looked around at his men. It had worked. They were broken. They looked at their General, lying weak and humiliated in the sand.
“You’re no better than them!” Arias roared. “Another drone, that’s all you are! You have no heart, so you attempt to take ours! It is best you give up now, for a Shadow’s heart cannot be taken! A Shadow’s heart cannot be broken! A Shadow’s heart does not stop beating!”
Arias turned to face his men, his voice glowed with charisma. “Warriors, tell me now! What are we fighting for!?” he shouted.
“Honor!” his men roared back to him, their spirits beginning to regenerate.
“What are we fighting for!?”
“Survival!” Their voices grew louder, as they slowly lifted their heads back up in pride.
“What are we fighting for!?”
“Victory!” The men cheered, clanging their weapons in unison. As they did, Montis slowly lifted himself up from the ground and turned to face his troops.
“My dear brothers, show me now! What is a Shadow!?” he yelled vigorously, despite his torn voice. The men shouted with all their strength, their battle cry ripped through the air, filled the entire desert with life, a thunderous clamor of determination and spirit. Arias turned back towards Alia and screamed at her through the storm.
“This is why you shall never defeat us! This is why you shall never break us! We fight for purpose! And you, what do you fight for!? You fight for—!”
“Family!” Alia shrieked as she spun around, tears in her eyes.
The air grew silent, all eyes turned towards her. Alia glared at Arias, looked him straight in the eye. “I fight for family,” she hissed before storming off through the ranks of drones.
No one uttered another word.
◆◆◆
“Montis, you must relax if you wish to improve your condition. You cannot blame yourself for what happened. She is not an ordinary Enlai. Roko has done something to her.”
“Relax!? How can I relax!? She destroyed everything I have! Every last drop of honor!” The two of them sat in the roofless command tent, its walls flapped in the night wind. They’d spent hours discussing how to save the war.
“Our armies are falling apart,” Montis said hopelessly. “We are significantly outnumbered. Our resources are dwindling. We’ve already had to evacuate twelve villages because of those bloody wasps. Tomorrow morning we’ll be driven off the edge of the mountains, granting Roko full access to the valley entrance. By tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be forced to flee into the villages below, where we will fight to the last man.”
Arias stood up and gazed at the stars above. He took a deep breath, trying to contain the sense of dread and pressure weighing down upon his heart. As he looked up at the stars, he saw the faces of the villagers from before the war. He thought back to the young Shadow whom he’d seen lift the log. His mother must have been out there, perhaps carrying his smaller sister.
What makes that warrior any less of a hero than I? If anything, he is more, to be able to leave his family to fight for his people, never knowing if he shall return. And his mother, she is a hero as well. What courage it must take to depart from your child, to send him off to war. In different ways, each and every one of us are warriors. Even the villagers.
And then, just like that, he had an idea.
“Montis, how quickly can we send a message to each of our villagers?”
“If urgent, we could deliver in a matter of hours. Why?”
“If you say fleeing is our only option, then flee we shall.”
Montis looked at him in surprise. “Are you mad!?”
Arias turned towards Montis and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him in the eyes.
“Perhaps, but I need you to listen.”
◆◆◆
Alia sat on top of a large rock, overlooking the valley below. Her hair blew freely in the cool, desert wind, the stars sparkled above her. She could see a number of villages. The lights were out yet the chimneys burned, keeping the houses warm as the women and children slept. She wondered how many of them had already lost their husbands, how many their sons.
“What brings you here so late?” Roko stood beside her, looking down at the valley.
“None of your business
.”
“My general is having trouble sleeping. That is my business. I need you to win tomorrow. What are they doing down there?”
Roko pointed with his cane towards the school. Alia hadn’t seen it earlier, but looking carefully, she made out what seemed to be a bulk of warriors accumulating around the school. She looked around the mountain range and noticed warriors were beginning to move down from the surrounding mountaintops, including the lowest mountaintop, towards the school.
“It seems my tactic worked. They’ve lost hope. They’re retreating down the valley to prepare for a final battle. We’ll be met by only minimal resistance tomorrow. The bulk of the troops are being moved.” Even as she said it, something didn’t seem right.
Alia looked up at Roko. But before she could share her thoughts, he spoke first.
“I know why you really did it, why you put on that show. You were hoping that, by crushing their spirit, you could get them to surrender with no more bloodshed.”
“Is there a problem with that?” Alia asked coldly.
“Don’t you get it?” Roko exclaimed. “I’m going to kill them all, no matter what you do to delay it. They deserve to be killed!”
Alia glared at him, her heart swelled with hatred and fury. She thought of the children down in the villages below, of the families. There was only one monster on this mountain, and he was standing right beside her. She couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed Roko by the neck and lifted him up into the air. “The only one here who deserves to die is you!” she snarled. She threw him to the floor, then stormed off towards her tent.
“Alia! Come back here this instant! Alia!” Roko cried out in vain.
◆◆◆
Montis hurried into the command tent, where Arias stood speaking to Suria.
“Arias, all plans have been put in place,” he said. “The villagers are ready; the warriors are ready.”
“Good. The sun shall rise within the hour.” Arias turned to Suria. “You must be in position by sunrise. As soon as we are driven from the mountain, the plan shall commence. You should leave with the men immediately.”
“He’s leading the operation!? I’m general over this mountain! I am leading this strike!”
“Montis, you are injured. If this fails, we lose the war.”
“So is he! I know these mountains better than anyone! We need Suria to protect the valley!”
“Montis-”
“Arias, please.” Montis looked Arias in the eye and lowered his voice. “They have taken everything from me. My respect, my honor, my name. I beg of you, let me take back my mountain.”
Arias hesitated, then nodded. “Suria. I’m sorry for the change.”
“I understand,” Suria replied. “I’ll return to my post.”
Arias turned towards Montis. “Do you understand the battle plans, then?”
“I have only one question. How are we to remain unseen?”
“There’s an area in the mountains which nobody knows about. An abandoned village. You will cross through there.”
“I know this mountain like I know the back of my hand. I have never encountered this place. Are you sure of its existence?”
“I grew up there. It was my home.”
◆◆◆
Arias waited at the edge of the mountaintop. The defense line had weakened, as many men had been moved, but there was still enough manpower to pose a reasonable resistance. The enemy could be seen advancing slowly. By now, the entire force had joined them. In the valley below, thousands of warriors guarded the school.
Arias looked up at the sky, watching the sun slowly rise. The attack would begin any minute now. His men were armed and ready, their crossbows strung. They stood behind barricades of wood and rock to protect against enemy fire.
They waited.
The sun beat down upon the Earth, heating up the sand. Enemy forces approached. They were massive, outnumbering the Shadows by at least twenty to one. They were followed in the sky by a cloud of wasps, their stingers ready to fire.
“Watch the wasps!” Arias shouted, “They’ll start off with an onslaught of fire from above. Archers, your priority is to the skies!” The archers adjusted their aim upwards. As his troops awaited the massive force, Arias’s caught a glimpse of the man leading the attack.
“Raja!” he shouted, overwhelmed with rage.
Raja smirked. He led the forces forward, dressed in a fully armored battle suit built specifically for his body and abilities. In each hand he held a long, curved blade. “The Chief gave me a second chance! I only wish I could thank him for it!” Raja shouted sarcastically.
“Your blood is mine!” Arias growled. He drew his sword and pointed it at Raja.
“Now!” Raja seethed. “Drive them from the mountain!” The wasps moved first as they swooped down towards the defense line, raining down thousands of lasers and bullets at the shadows.
“Hold the line!” Arias shouted as he took cover near one of the barricades. The thunderous roar of explosions shook the air as barricades crashed and crumbled. When the wasps pulled back for a second round, the archers fired a hail of arrows. Hundreds of wasps dissipated into cloud of black dust.
Arias twirled his sword swiftly, deflecting the oncoming lasers. He sprinted forward, dove into the air, and stabbed his sword down into a drone below. He sidestepped a swinging blade, then jammed his sword into the drone’s side. He dove back into the ground, this time emerging in the middle of four drones. Before they could react, he spun his sword in a complete circle, slashing off the heads of all four.
A loud, crashing noise filled the air as another wall fell. Soon enough, they would be overrun. “The time has come!” he shouted, “All warriors retreat down the hill! Retreat!”
The Shadows jumped into the ground and fled down the mountain.
“I want everyone dead!” Raja ordered. “Chase them down to the valley! Blow up the ground in which they travel! “Raja led his troops off the mountaintop and down the slope, chasing the fleeing shadows.
Arias ran faster than he’d ever run before. The drones were drawing rapidly closer and he had to reach the assignment point before them. Arias turned as a warrior beside him was shot in the back by a hail of wasp bullets. He struggled to continue as a pool of blood flowed from his shoulder.
“Keep going!” Arias roared, “Do not fall behind! That’s an order!” The warrior nodded and scrunched his face, fighting off his pain with determination. Finally, they reached the assigned area. “Now!” Arias yelled, “Turn and fight!”
The fleeing Shadows stopped in their tracks, suddenly turning to face a surprised enemy. The Shadows pounced at the unsuspecting drones and hacked at their metallic armor. Arias cut down drones with each spin of his sword as he surged forth, leaving behind a trail of scrap metal as he danced through the swarm of enemies.
Raja jumped out screaming from the ground and swung his swords at Arias’s chest. Arias turned just in time to parry the blow. “Give up, Arias! It’s over, and you know it! You’ve sent all your men down to guard the school! This mountain is lost!”
“It’s not lost until I am dead!”
“Then let us fix that!” Raja dove back into the ground and emerged on the other side of Arias. He swung his swords. Arias leaped upwards over the blades and over Raja, spinning. He slashed Raja’s shoulder on the way down. Raja cried out in pain and spun around, swinging once again at Arias.
Arias dodged it easily, then lunged his sword forward into Raja’s other shoulder. Raja cried out as pain surged through his upper body. “Your kinship with cowards has rendered you weak, Raja.”
Raja screamed and charged wildly at Arias, blades stretched outwards. Arias returned his blade to its sheathe. Just before Raja could swing, Arias pounced forward into Raja, grabbed his arms tightly, then jammed his knee powerfully into his stomach. Raja’s blades tumbled to the ground, but before he had time to scream, Arias let go of one of Raja’s arms and grabbed him from the back of the head. He pushed forward on Raj
a’s head, jumped over his body and twisted his arm, cracking the bone in two. Finally, Arias pulled on Raja’s broken arm, spun him around, and sent a spinning kick straight into his face. Raja fell onto the sand, screaming hysterically in agony. Arias drew his sword and walked over to where Raja lay. He grabbed him by the hair and yanked him up to his knees.
“Do you know how many people you have killed!?” Arias roared. “I’ve inflicted upon you but a fraction of the pain you have wrought! And now you shall die for your sins!”
“Look around, Arias,” Raja hissed, Arias’s sword at his neck. “Your men are being slaughtered! You can kill me, but you’ll never win!”
“Perhaps I won’t. But he will.” Raja looked up in horror.
“Attack!” Montis cried. Thousands of Shadows surged downwards from the mountaintop, storming the battlefield. Montis at their lead, they slashed drones from behind, forcing them to fight a battle on both fronts. “The mountain is in our hands!” Montis shouted victoriously, slashing his way through the crowd of drones.
“No!” Raja yelled, his hands clenched to fists. He shoved his body forward, attempting to escape, but Arias shot forth his blade and stabbed it through Raja’s chest. Raja looked up at him, blood dripping from his mouth.
“You are guilty of treason, betrayal, and murder. In the name of the Chief, I, Arias, head of the Chief’s guard, sentence you, Raja, to death.”
Raja croaked in agony as Arias twisted the blade, then pulled it out.
◆◆◆
“What is the meaning of this!? What has gone wrong!?” Roko cried as he jumped into his battle suit. Alia stood beside him, looking out at the rest of the mountaintop. Everything was up in flames. The Shadows had managed to sneak behind the mountain and launch a surprise attack while the bulk of the troops were giving chase to the fleeing Shadow army. Everywhere she looked there were explosions. Hordes of arrows pierced through the sky. Wasps crashed to the ground. Artillery tanks blew up in clouds of dust. Enlai and drones alike lay slaughtered along the sands as the Shadows cut down every tent, slashed apart anything that moved.
