Somewhere in the middle of the night at an outskirt of a forest near the borders.

The duo was still walking towards the end of the country. Along the road, they didn't see a single town up ahead. Only houses now and then. They had been walking for about 6 hours straight now. They were lost in time and didn't know whether they would reach the borders early before the lockdown or they were marching to the closed borders.

"Can we...stop...for some...time?" said Louis out of breath and energy, leaning on his knee

"No!" she shouted. "We need to keep moving forward" and just before she finished, her feet surrendered under the pressure of exhaustion, fell on her knees with a gasp.

Louis stared at her with a compassionate smile despite his internal objection to how Diana was pushing herself up.

He kneeled beside her, resting his hand over her back. "My dear, I know your dreams, but I also know your capability as well. You need to rest, your body can't take much more!"

She looked at his brown eyes. They speak the truth. The very truth she tried to deny for some time.

She sighed. "Fine, but just because I am hungry" she chuckled. He caught her and got her up as they went for a dead fallen tree on the side of the road.

They let their backs rest to it. Their feet were aching and swollen. They spent the last of their energy bringing some small wooden sticks, to start their small campfire.

Louis opened the map he bought. Pointing at the details of the paper." If we continue through this way with the same speed we will reach the borders shortly". Satisfied with the progress they made. They dug into the small meal they had from Tagia. Pleasantly, eating while engaging in pep talks, they were enjoying each other company despite all.

However, under the pressure of pushing themselves to the limit, both of them sunk into a deep sleep. They couldn't open their eyes anymore from fatigue. As Diana cuddled between his arms. Enjoying the warmth of his body facing her freezing body, Shielding herself from the chilly air of the night as they both travel to the dreaming realm.

(We leave our heroes sleeping and take a hop to another action elsewhere near the border, those events happened one day behind the main POV)

"HOLD THE LINE, DON'T LET THEM BREAK THE FORMATION!" Shouted the commander of the battalions guarding the borders against his tower on the front.

The lines of the two armies clashed. The battlefield was a live hurricane spitting bodies, blood, and shouts. Chaos was the dominating element in this haze. No one knew if his life would be spared today or would be stolen at the hands of the enemy blade.

The soldiers slashed each other with swords and whatever tool they could kill with. The amount of bodies stocking the river was so enormous that the water no longer kept its pure tasteless figure.

The situation was like this: 50,000 of Wain's finest men attacked the western border's garrison of 20,000 men. They knew that a battle was lurking on the horizon, yet none ever imagined how that battle would be so horrific and deadly.

The battle began when an all-out attack was upon the garrison which was fortified in a town called "Nale". The town was already fortified by a weak tall wooden wall and a natural border drawn by a shallow river between the two kingdoms.

The town encirclement was the beginning of the long hardship of defending the town and the border from falling. The defence was holding at first, But the numerical advantage had begun to firmly pin the men down.

The General leading the invading forces was labelled a "Blood drinker".

No one knew his real name and if so, it was forbidden to address him by it. He was ruthless scum of human beings when it comes to war. He was a very skilled tactician. He never takes prisoners, except women and only good-looking ones. He didn't lose a single battle due to his high strategy planning and sly intuition.

"They are breaking, keep pushing them!" The invading soldiers realized that they were advancing and gaining ground. They had a great morality while some men on the other side were abandoning their posts, fleeing for their lives. The line of defence was rapidly breaking up, and the commander of the defence battalions was already encircled.

The situation was dire and the defeat was nigh. For This Town, There wasn't any dawn after tonight.

(Back to our sleeping heroes)

Feeling comfortable somehow, Louis was enjoying his nap along with Diana.

He was resting his head on hers, wrapping his hands around her waist.

However, a small thing managed to hop and slowly climb his nose. Its eyes kept blinking at the snoring boy. The strange sound kept rising from the creature.

Feeling uneasy, Louis was shooing the air, for whatever insect wanted to land on his nose could leave him in peace. When the irritating sensation went on. He opened his eyes to find an innocent frog on his nose staring at him.

He opened his eyes to find an innocent frog on his nose staring at him [https://img.wattpad.com/2f15924ddb84c9c5fa8ead41ec8c6cb2e1d6e1aa/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f417667336e30514e4139773850513d3d2d313135393031333731382e313662633763316434323136623063343732333230383038313233312e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

He jumped out of fright. He unintentionally slams the frog into the air, causing it to land away.

After recovering from the fright, he looked at the little creature hop away to its business after roiling the prince's sleep.

He caught his forehead in his hand. Angry and dizzy, he yawned. He scanned his surroundings with half-closed sleepy eyes. Diana was still sleeping. The poor girl was so tired that even a scream next to her ears failed to wake her up. Except for that, not a major change had happened around them.

He drew near her, and brushed her blonde hair aside, with a smile. She had the most innocent face especially when her eyes were closed.

During his looking, his stomach came loud. Hunger began to sting him again. They already finished the food they carried. The last portion they had.

One of them must leave the other to hunt or both will eventually starve.

He looked around, examining. The road they were walking through it, went between long trees, so high that the moon barely reached beyond the leaves of the mountain-size forest.

The idea of leaving a beautiful young girl sleeping in the wild was unfamiliar to Louis.

He couldn't know whether he should wake her up to move on to seek a town that provides food at the nearest spot or should guard her until she woke up on her own, risking losing precious time accompanied by his growing hunger.

He frowned. No choice was good enough. He knew how tired she was and there was no logical way to keep going without a fair sleep. He sits in his place. He allowed his eyes to look at Diana again. He imagined her waking up without anything to eat. He loved her and didn't want her to suffer more than she already lived through...

Her abduction from her Town...

Sentenced to death for loving him...

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Endora's anarchy...

The Red Castle...

He couldn't let her take more suffering. At least not alone again. He was committed by himself to helping her somehow. So, he took his decision...

He looked around for any vegetables or fruits hanging on the trees nearby, but all the trees were too tall to climb and most of them were only green.

On the ground, There was only grass. The only thing out there was some suspicious mushrooms, their appearance does not quite attract the eye nor the appetite.

Trying to not lose hope, he opened the map to search for any landmark he could use to gain food.

One small drawing in particular caught his eye.

A river.

A stream goes through the middle of the forest going to a nearby large lake. A good way to surprise the girl is with some hearty food and water. He grabbed his dagger, still sharp. He slowly brushed her cheek with the back of his other hand.

With a heavy heart, he kissed Diana's soft cheeks before his figure vanished into the forest.

(In the town of Nale)

A woman was staring with wide watered eyes, while the soldiers slowly slit her husband's throat. He coughed his blood till his death. Then 3 soldiers raped her afterwards.

This was just a small example of what happened to the mass population. Every house had a dead man and one or two raped females from his family.

Small Children were ordered to line up and watch mass murders in the streets. They were kept alive; to live with that trauma all their lives.

The streets were full of corpses and the rotting smell was another torment they had to live with, not to mention the numerous deaths between some small girls' ranks due to the random sexual assaults.

The news began to spread across the town with every crow that descended upon the blood field. Each bird eating at a corpse was a personification of the catastrophic reality.

The whole garrison was slaughtered, except for some who fled the battle earlier. The commander of the defence battalions was severely injured during the final decisive hours, however. No one witnessed his corpse anywhere.

Nale was destroyed, it held no strategic significance to the invading army and was too small to commodate such a great army anyway but the moral blow they inflicted was more satisfying than any physical or military goal met.

The general (blood drinker) ordered the men to relax and wait for their next target, as they await new orders from high command.

(Louis pov)

After 2 hours of being lost and dizzy in the forest. Only hearing the cracking sound of small roots breaking under his careful feet. His ear spotted faint water-splashing sounds.

"I must be close, finally!" He encouraged himself

His happiness increased, even more, when he found it minutes later. The stream was very rough, and fast. The sight of the glimmering water under the moon raised Louis's spirit.

He ran to the water in a hurry. Pinning for some fresh water, he lay on his belly as he felt the water paving through his dried throat. The water was so refreshing that Louis could take a bath there. But pushing that allurement away from his head. He turned to look for any small animal to hunt. Yet, The forest was so quiet.

Too quiet...

It was also too dark to see any fish in the water or animals inland. He frowned sadly. It was much easier back in the palace.

Suddenly a nearby bush shook. Louis's response was immediate, he drew his dagger and was prepared.

"Please, don't let it be another wolf" he murmured. He kept waiting in a defensive stance as a tall figure came from the dark and approached the boy.

Louis's eyes widened in fear. Whatever is it is 2 times his tall.

However when the figure came under the moon-safe light, it turned out to be a high-ranking soldier, his breast armor was all red. He was too pale. Blood was everywhere on his skin. And it appeared as if he was dragging his sword with him.

Nonetheless, Louis maintained his stance. Despite the man being in bad shape to put up a fight and very close to death, Louis didn't trust anyone, especially soldiers of this land.

The soldier out of nowhere collapsed on the ground. Louis kept staring unbelieving at first.

However, by the looks of him, that man needed a huge desired help.

Louis, abandoning his caution, approached him and kneeled to check on him.

"You ok, sir? What happened to you?" He

"N..N..Nale, Nale has fallen"

Louis panicked. The town was one day far from where they camped. "That means that...". He stuttered as the horrendous feeling of reality sink in.

"E-End my suffering, please kid," the man said crying and coughing.

Louis was just staring at the man. shocked. He was astonished by the request.

He nodded in refusal. "Absolutely no! Come on, let me just get this off you," Louis said trying to get the heavy armor off the man's chest.

The man resisted strangely.

"NO, SAVE YOURSELF! THEY ARE COMING AFTER ME!"

"Who are they?". Before he got an answer, another voice broke the air.

"I see blood trails, he is close !" an unknown shout came echoing nearby. There was a far faint yellow light wandering the woods. Whoever was there, they weren't coming for a cup of tea.

"I told you to leave me be! Those are scouts. If they saw you with me, they will kill you too"

"Don't worry, if I was ever caught I would be too valuable to be killed, now, let's get this off" Slowly, Louis got the armour of him with a gasp of effort. Revealing a massive big scar along his whole chest and stomach.

Louis didn't have any bandages so he ripped the man's clothes off and dipped them in the river then he used the bandages for the half-naked man's injuries. Trying to clean what he can before moving on.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes," he said out of power.

"Good, pick your sword, we need to hide"

Tired and feeling pain. The man got up and slowly left the spot, supported by the presumed hunter as Louis carefully limped with him behind some thick bushes, using the night as a cover while they waited for the real hunters to pass by.

They didn't wait long for the pursuers to come. Two lightly armoured horsemen came with one-handed swords on each of their pelts and a torch with one of them. they were on high alert, looking left and right.

They moved slowly while engaged in talking.

"Strange, looks like he got rid of his armour"

"I lost the tracks of him as well" He must have washed his blood off in the river, but he can't survive for long without treatment, he is either hiding or already had fallen nearby. nevertheless, we need his head for our general.

"Should we split, it would be easier to find him?"

"Are you mad !? that's a commander of the garrison, not an ordinary soldier! Even if he is injured he won't hesitate to put us down in these dark woods. Come on, let's keep moving, eyes front"

Their horses came loud, as they sprint past the hiding spot, with the yellow flames fading away with them.

After making sure they weren't coming back, Louis checked on the man. He was in terrible shape, covered in dirt, and that dirt reached his wounds. He was shivering; sweating and had the face of an old man corpse in his 90s.

"Come on, let's get you out of here...". he helped the man up to the river. After a bath to clean his injuries and giving the high-ranking man some water for his dry throat, they moved towards Louis's camp.

An hour passed...

It was still dark. hopefully, the dim light of moon in the sky was barely enough for Louis to find his self-made gravings on the trees to know the way back.

Both were silent, they moved quietly so as not to disturb the habitats of the woods. The man - whom Louis knew his rank accidentally from the scouts- was groaning from pain all the way.

On the other hand, Louis was worried, he left his girl alone without food or water, out in the wild. Who would make such an irrational act?!

Now with this road out of the country cut, and an invasion creeping forward. Diana could be mistakenly captured as a war spoil. Even if she woke up, she would be shocked that Louis left her alone. He even took the map with him to find the river, so if anything happened she would be also lost in a forest of another country.

The thoughts kept pinching Louis forcing him to blame himself for his risky decision.

"Hey"

Louis faced the limping man in response to his words.

"What's your name, little fella?

"Louis, you?"

"My men address me by Commander Joseph"

Louis nodded. The name was beautiful, that's why it didn't fit to be side by side with the word commander, so Louis thought.

"how many?"

"20,000 good souls"

"Wow, that's a lot to lead"

"No, young man that's how many I left behind" he stopped in his tracks, and his face turned blacker. The subject clearly came with its hidden heavy burden.

Louis's eyes narrowed questioning.

"How was it ?"

"DOES IT MATTER!?" The commander of the battalion shouted, his cry spread through the darkness of the forest.

He looked to another side of Louis's face. "You don't know how it feels to be out there. All those who put their most valuable trust in you. I can't just scratch the sincerity of my defeat. I don't know what to say to my superiors, That I lost all of my men under my command to their doom?! Because of me, a whole town had fallen under the invasion, and my enemy had an open door straight to the heart of my land.

Louis felt sorry for the man, he couldn't speak a word of condolences because simply put, no words would ever heal such pain. Not at that moment at least.

Louis's actions of himself leaving Diana behind kept flashing. He cursed, and regret. Every minute passing while she is alone puts her in danger.

"Listen, let's just get you to my camp. Then we could figure something up.

Joseph nodded, still feeling pain and guilt.

After some time, Louis spotted an opening in the tall trees. An exit from the forest at last.

He looked at himself. He is wet and tired. All he managed to get was some fresh water from the river and a limping man on his left side.

At least now we would be more careful around the border, or even better turn back to Tagia. he thought to himself. He just had to think about how to break that piece of info to Diana.

"Hello, my dear. Sorry for the inconvenience, but now you are on the wrong side of a war that your mad king waged" he secretly Joked with a sad chuckle. It was as if her problems were never-ending.

"I see a fire nearby, is that your camp?"

Louis looked forward to seeing a good-lit campfire far ahead and that is where it flashed back to Louis.

His eyes narrowed, he remembered very well that he left the campfire with minimum flames. How did that bonfire reach that bright ?!

He drew near. Fear stroke him. His breaths raced. He sprinted straight ahead, leaving the man unanswered and unattended.

His legs finally reached the camp with gasping breaths...

But Diana wasn't there...