by Nicol Terra
“Ahn. Ahn Kyung.” He said. Even saying his last name was becoming less painful the further he stayed on this island.
“Oh wow, a royal. I am honored.” He said, bowing dryly at Ahn. Ahn realized with every passing second he didn't like this man.
“Any particular reason you come to my temporary stay other than to annoy me?” He said. He shouldn’t have said his last name, now he regretted it.
“Ow, that hurt.” Zane rolled his eyes, slithering slowly to Ahn’s bedside. His slender figure with his black hair communicated to Ahn no threat, however, felt a small draft that moistened, chilling the surrounding air.
“I wanted to see our saviors in person. I met with Rachel earlier,” He said.
Ahn mood softened as he took another sweet sip from his cup.
“Oh? How is she?” Ahn said.
“Well, she is cute, but taken.” He said, rolling his eyes. His tone was neither confrontational nor intimidating. “I also have a new strategy she suggested, I think it is rather an ingenious plan.”
The key word for Ahn: This strategy is immensely reckless and probably will endanger his life. He smiled.
“You sitting for this?” Zane asked.
“No, but fuck it, I am sure it can't be that bad.” Ahn said.
“She wants you, herself and Illevetar to break into the camp, throwing them into confusion while we surround the camp in a surprise attack at the dawn of morning.” He said.
Ahn face grimaced. “Great, I always wanted to die on an island in the middle of nowhere.” He said sarcastically, a fact that evaded Zane.
“Oh well, I tell her you refused, and we will just play wall def-” Zane started. Ahn teeth ground together.
“I was kidding.” He started, apparently, Zane was not an expert in sarcasm. “I will do it.”
In truth, even though the plan is reckless, he wanted the chance to kill Ra. His image of him almost killing hundreds just because Ra gave him a great rage. Thinking about it made him snarl and pull his sheets toward himself.
“I have a certain goal, anyway,” Ahn said, pulling himself up.
Ahn was the first in the military room, with Rachel showing up later in the day. The two waved and walked up to each other. Quiet, as people slowly scrambled in.
“How was your nap?” Rachel asked.
“Pain in the ass, I didn't get more than four hours.” Ahn letting out a small yawn as he flashed Green for a brief moment, jolting him up for a moment.
“Illevetar gets a cozy eight,” Ahn added. Rachel couldn't help crack a smile.
“Look at us, so nice and energized. Our Elven Princess is cuddling a pillow in safety right now.” Ahn joked.
The two chuckled as they leaned in the back of the hut. Rachel popped a roll for herself, taking one. She offered only, for Ahn to decline and reaching for his own pack.
"I rarely smoke yeah know, I usually only do it when I am stressed." She said, coddling the roll inside.
"Yeah well, I smoke a lot. Mostly to forget about my pains." Ahn added. Which was true. His family hated when he did drugs, but Ahn loved it. It helped him relax.
He got a custom set of clothes; he wore a black, slim and shiny vest. He popped a small roll of ‘Sparks’ and popping one in his mouth. He created a small flame, lighting the roll ablaze. He pointed the flame at Rachel’s roll, as she took a puff.
The inside of the Military Building was adorned with various weapons, mostly swords, knives, axes, and spears. There were guns, but not too many crystal guns; instead, most of the guns loaded points of metal that ripped through flesh.
“Their technology is like, two thousand years old,” Rachel added.
“That is the easy part. Honestly, we are the only ones with experience.” Ahn said.
"Oh god, thanks for reminding me." Rachel exhaled.
"Yeah, how does it feel to be one of the few soldiers ready for war and never having held a weapon?" Ahn said.
Rachel said nothing, instead of pausing and taking a deep puff. She frowned once more and exhaled a billow of smoke.
"You are right, but that is why we have no choice." Rachel sighed.
"Because of Fate?" Ahn added.
Rachel nodded. "Because of fate."
"Well, we already beat roughly a third of their army in Ramas, so this will be a cakewalk." Rachel said.
Rachel nodded. “I am surprised they thought three hundred soldiers was enough to take a city. A thousand is pretty much their entire force.”
“We beat probably combined over two hundred” Ahn added. He killed about eighty himself. Rachel didn‘t kill her opponents, but both Illevetar and Ahn probably took over one hundred and forty just about. He couldn't help looking somberly at the floor. “Sadly, killing is easier the more you do it.”
Rachel took a long puff, his red colored flame inching further down the paper and exhaled. She said nothing. Ahn turned to Rachel.
“Did you-” He said.
“None.” Rachel interrupted
Ahn turned to her, Rachel shrugged as her serious expression was filled with sympathy, something he didn't expect.
“It is not I have moral qualms, those people are evil. You and Illevetar killed many.”
“I.” Ahn felt as if he needed to defend himself, as he took another puff. “I just knew it was killed or be killed. Don’t have time to think about the lives I am ending in this world.”
“I just don‘t kill, Ahn.” Rachel said. Ahn was silent as he leaned further on the wall. “Although maybe I should.”
Ahn had no moral response. “When I was renounced from the main family, I was taught by a former Commander. He gave me a chance, and I always learned one thing. Don't think, just do. You have no time to think about morality if you care about your own safety.”
“Yeah.. my father taught me that. I ignored him. I never lost and I never once concerned myself for my life.” Rachel said, pulling another puff.
Ahn took a long puff from his roll as he turned to Rachel. How can someone so powerful be so unwilling to kill? She was from the Ora family, yet she is compassionate? Ahn felt his stereotype of the elites slide away. He then turned back to the soldiers, trying to relax.
“And? Xin taught you that?” Ahn added, pulling a long hit as he inspected the room. The surrounding soldiers looked anxious, afraid.
“Xin beat me. Now, I want a clean win.” Rachel said, spinning her knife around, looking at her own reflection.
“I have a certain bully to kill.” Ahn smiled as it faded away. He wanted to make sure that Ra was dead so he could never hurt anyone again. Plus, he still was mad that his Airsail was blown to bits.
“Maybe if I fuck up, you can clean up my mess.” Rachel said. Ahn smiled, taking one last smoke. He pulled out a metal tube where he smashed the flame on the roll and tossing the remaining roll inside the container.
“Don't worry about it,” Ahn said. “I am more worried about these guys.”
“You and me both,” Rachel added, taking one last pull and throwing the roll inside a trash bin.
“Take care, Tiger.” Rachel said.
“You owe me a light, Rachel.” Ahn joked.
“Okay flame hands.” She said sarcastically.
The war room started to be filled with soldiers. Ahn later learned he got to lead Two Battalions. His part of the strategy was to lead the disrupting battalions to catch the invading army by surprise. Despite this being a simple plan, the soldiers looked fearful as they were ready to attack in uniform, but their faces were distraught.
“Maybe if we surrender, we won't be harmed.”
Ahn held his arms tightly as he shot at them with an intense gaze.
“Who is that?”
“He looks scary.” One said.
Ahn eyes stiffened as a man walked up to Ahn. He was large, eight foot tall. He was human, which eight feet was pretty tall for a human.
“Yes?” He asked.
“What is a Chisean doing, leading us?” He said.
Ahn scoffed. “What, my race
is now a factor?”
Ahn sparked Green Aura as a warning, with man took a step back.
“You think you may lead us?” He said.
Ahn snarled, “You have an issue, Soldier?”
“Yes, I do.” He yelled. He cocked his fist back as he flashed blue. In a microsecond, Ahn dashed a finger flick into the man's stomach. He grabbed his stomach, crunching over and tripping backward.
“The gap between a Lieutenant Level fighter and a common soldier is roughly a hundred, try again when you have similar energy levels.” He said, spitting in a nearby trashcan.
“With just one finger?” A soldier said.
Ahn sighed for a moment. Instead, he stood up, his body slinked straight.
“Everyone looks to be here, so I will start the briefing.” He said, walking around the lumbering, tall man. He latched onto his Holosphere, spreading a large hologram that covered the room.
“Their base is about five miles away. It is about a thousand strong and comprises ninety-five percent of their total force on the island.” Ahn started, his tone cracked as the soldiers speaking quietly during his lecture. He needed to instill hope into them.
“Myself, Rachel and Illevetar will fall in the base. Within an hour, my squad will ransack and split the bases into three crucial parts.” He said the hologram zoomed in to a massive, white wooden skyscraper, castles, and dozen tents surrounding this small area. This area is usually four hundred strong, with most of their remaining space being self-pitched tents.
One soldier raised his hand. “What do you plan to do?”
Ahn took a pause, this question fumbling him off guard. He sighed. “Protect you all.” He answered honestly. He coated his arm with Orange Aura. The Aura sparkled, strengthening his arm to a thousandfold. He smirked as the surrounding squad winced.
“I won't let any of you get hurt.” He said. “I can take a hundred myself, you know how powerful Lieutenants are. Trust me, I won’t be away taking the top part of this building for long. I just need maybe five minutes. Then, we stay grouped up, and we charge in.”
The surrounding squad nodded. Ahn sparked Orange Aura around for a moment as his will to beat Ra and watch his ego collapse fueled him.
“Also, one more thing. I have a person I need to find. I will find immense satisfaction in beating him senselessly.” He said. The others, taken aback by his bluntness and brutality inched further in the back.
“We meet up in that hour. If we take this building and I disable the alarms and keep the chain of command busy, you will win.”
The soldiers looked unimpressed. He convinced himself this strategy could work as everything was seemingly accounted for. Their lack of experience, however, frightened them.
Ahn knew this would be a tough one. He might have to carry his team to victory if he made one mistake, not only would he die, but more deaths would be on his conscience for all of eternity in the great beyond.
Illevetar shot up from her bed, grabbing around frantically at her body. She panted wildly as she darted her gaze around the room. The room had a window right next to her bedside, her Holosphere right on top of her bed stand. Her chest and stomach were bandaged and tied up, intact and alive. She walked over to the window, slipping on a cotton robe nearby as she slid the blinds open. The City of Tenclo, meaning she made it out in one piece, she couldn't help smile. The City of Tenclo was on a river bed, with dozens of smaller rivers and lakes pooled together to form the city. The city was connected by narrow, smaller streams with boats being used to get from place to place and large lakes where dozens of houses and business lived.
These houses and businesses stayed instead close to the ground, being not much larger than one another and few shooting up into the sky. The climate was also far different. She could smell droplets of rain in the city itself. She couldn't help a smile, the Rain covered the city, creating a small force field of darkened clouds. Then, her smile faded.
“No, Xin could probably get past this too.” Illevetar thought.
Illevetar changed from the robe back to her old clothes, strangely hole free. Rachel or someone else must have sewn her clothes together.
She walked outside, only for lack of a boat to get her around the city. She grumbled, noticing a man slowly paddling towards her building.
“You need a ride missy? You got a bronze?” He said.
She reached inside her pocket, only a single bronze piece left in her pockets. She sighed, she was becoming poor quickly.
She tossed it to the man and walked inside the small paddle boat, sitting in the back as he rowed forward.
“So, where too?” He said.
“Depends, seen a Blonde Human and a Nice Chisean?” Illevetar asked.
“Nope, ain't got a clue.” He said.
She sighed figures. “Fine, take me to your city square, I will use that for information.”
“Oh no, you can‘t go there, An Army is mobilizing to defend this city.” He said.
She smiled. “Perfect.”
“What be your business there?” He asked, tilting his head over.
“I am going to defend this city and protect millions of Innocents.” She said, looking at her Holosphere as the boat peddler giving a small giggle.
"He, yeah you are." He said sarcastically.
"No, I am dead serious. I am going to go with the army to the field so that way another city doesn't burn to the ground." She said, although she just realized the irony of her words, as she blew up half of the empty city by herself. "Okay, should admit I did the last explosion but I next time, I am blowing up Xin or some Maldition Soldiers." She said dryly.
The boat peddler pulled his hat down, shielding his eyes from the sun. "You blew up Ramas?"
"Yes." Illevetar blushed as she let out a small frown. "My friend saved the city, and I sort of got carried away." She said.
The man turned around to her, stopping mid row.
"Wait, you are Princess Illevetar?" The man said, his white face and blue eyes caught Illevetar off guard. He was human, around six foot and much larger then she was. She closed her eyes almost out of fear but then all of the sudden, the man held her close and hugged her. "You saved my son! You are the one who killed Miguel!"
Illevetar froze, the man letting out a few sniffles and sobs as he handed her back the coin. "You know what, I will paddle you for free. I want to show you my beautiful city!"
The city had multiple river systems, similar to how Orem and Agall used man dug docks with Earth to peddle and guide ships across the city. Tenclo was held up via light wood. The city was divided up into multiple floating boards. Some of them held businesses, others held Houses. The city itself was surrounded by paddlers.
"This is the North Part of the City. Where most of the people and businesses live." The peddler said.
"Its the closest to the ocean, isn't it?" She asked.
The man nodded. "There is a small river system that leads out to the ocean, although it is hard to see from the sky thanks to how shallow it is." He said, waving at a random paddler. "How are ya doing Donny?"
"Not much Tommy, hope to see you again.” Tommy said.
"Hope to see you too," Tommy said, paddling away. Illevetar raised her finger in confusion.
"W-We can stop if you wanna talk." She started.
Tommy giggled and shrugged. "Nah, we can't stop our work just cuz. Plus, I need to show you the east side." He said. Illevetar nodded, forcing a smile.
"Right!" She said. Then, she felt the boat sink to her right, sort of dragging her down. As Illevetar moved her gaze, she saw a massive waterfall that Illevetar jaw dropped as she forced a gasp.
"What ta-" She squeaked.
"Buckle up!" He said.
Illevetar didn't have a chance to scream, as she fell a solid fifty feet, her heart and soul seemed to be stuck at the top where she was. For a few moments, the boat stopped and was held up by a small tornado. As soon as the boat waddled from side to side, Illevetar screamed, her heart and soul landing with
her on landing.
The man let a small laugh. "I love doing that with new people."
Illevetar frowned and intensified her glare. "Don't do that again!"
"Nah, it is only a one-time thing. Better then most people, some of them started crying." Tommy said.
Illevetar sighed in relief. "Lovely."
The East side of the City and South Side of the City was on a large, half-cylindrical river that held dozens of small boats, floating around with the current. As she looked in amazement, Illevetar saw not just hundreds, but thousands of boats, being dragged along with the flow at blind neck speed. She saw to her corner a small blue forcefield, which Illevetar deduced must have been Magical. The Forcefield was surrounded by an endless plain with a small forest on the horizon, a perfect view.
"This is our Floatroad, most of the people use this to paddle to work, or to tend with the Barrier." He said. Illevetar noticed a few dozen soldiers dotting her eyesight, keeping vigilant just in case Xin attacks again.
"Wow, back home we use Spidernets to blitz across the continent at sound breaking speed." She looked in amazement, this culture and city took advantage of everything they could and make a lifestyle out of it. It amazed her, surpassing and circumventing her expectations even.
The West of the City was a large business district, where instead the only part of the city on land was. This place had dozens of large buildings with small docks to tie their boat too. Hundreds of Boats paddled to the Docks and continued down their morning commute. Unlike the anxiety of Ramas, Tenclo was stoic and calm, albeit the people around her still probably feared Xin, they continued to work as if nothing happened.
"We have a saying, actually." Tommy started. "Those who bow down to fear are ignoring the present. They work because we don't worry about fate. We worry about taking hold of it." He said.
Illevetar let out a small 'Wow' as the Boat stopped at the base of a Waterfall, this time shooting upward. She felt a small gust of wind lift her up as she saw the same landscape as before.
"Well, that is it. Pretty small compared to Ramas, but it will hold. Now let's take you to the Center."