"Looks like it's you and me again, buddy," said Louis, staring at his small dagger.

The dagger that once helped him deal with the past, now ~ once again ~ is helping him regain what's lost.

He was on a high cliff. Resting on one knee. Alone again. That cliff served as a watchtower. He could see the lights of the town of Nale from afar.

He was afraid and breathing heavily. Nothing prepared him for what was coming next. Except the few encouraging words of Joseph, and that plant...

"When in injury, chew it then spit the juice on the spot" Louis recalled what Aurora said. When she handed him a white flowering plant called 'Yarrow'.

His eyes met the sky.

A full white moon welcomed him with its bright shining light. And a memory...

On a night like this, he introduced himself to Diana. At the palace. When he knocked on her room's door. That face that greeted could never be released from his memory. He couldn't control the smile that sneaked on his nervous face everytime he sees her in his mind, he missed her.

A horn voice cried on the horizon through the woods

Then another horn followed it...

Then another one afterward...

This wasn't a musical parade. It was better...

It was an orchestra. A melody of an upcoming battle, where soon enough the notes will be mixed with the blood of mighty men fighting to the very end of their breathing, with hearts marching together like organized war drums slowly building the momentum.

It was also the signal for all the backstabbers everywhere to begin their operation. For Louis, It was time to act.

The battle for Nale was on doors.

***************************

Louis jumped anxiously, descending back to the forest. The darkness greeted him down the hill, smoke already was choking his lungs. Tall trees passed to his sides tall enough to shield the disturbed sky above. His running to his destination should have led him to a crippling path to the east right behind Nale to blend in with the backstabbers.

Sweating waterfalls. He didn't cease moving. Nothing would stop him, not even his unprepared body.

But He did stop to a worrying sight.

A huge yellow colour stained the sky far ahead [https://img.wattpad.com/bfa8092d0616f97e46c268a11ddca4ed16920434/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f586c7555672d454e63304c5a54673d3d2d313230383336393637362e3137356364386462626333323765656339303438343532373338362e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

A huge yellow colour stained the sky far ahead. The town structure itself was anonymous from the flames and smoke everywhere. If that's the sight from above how does it feel to be inside this furnace?

His eyes widened as soon as he saw the source of that corruption. He looked up and saw a large volley of yellowish dots piercing the sky, above his head. Flying towards the town. Those were hundreds of fire arrows seeking their target.

He narrowed his eyes, that's where his girl is right now. He needs to get her out. Taking a deep breath. He began sprinting again towards the town.

....

He kept running. He didn't know for how long he was or would be running. But the more he runs, the more the forest got less thicker....and chaotic unholy sounds got louder. He was closing on the town.

"An opening, at last !" he gasped to himself, seeing an exit from the forest. He ran with courage as the noise became clearer and clearer, till he finally broke free from the forest. And a glowing light pushed into his eyes.

He found himself too close to a huge number of men smashing and slashing at each other. His allies had a blue banner of an eagle blue flag while the enemy and his homeland army had the banner of the mighty red wolf.

He saw swords bashing toward each other while the torched houses were lighting the skies with their glowing flames and sparks. The smell of burned furniture and blood filled the air, giving a sense of gawking.

As the truth slowly began to crystallize...

Louis just reached the frontline. But he never knew that, he was too consumed by the shock of the bloody battle he indirectly put himself in. He didn't know where to head, and fate didn't give him the time to think about it either...

Heyaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!

A raging soldier suddenly charged him with a full sharp spear. Louis's eyes scaled to their utmost limits, yet his body refused to move and his legs were fastened to the ground. His mind needed more of the expired time to act.

But with no use.

Out of nowhere, more soldiers came from the woods. Friendlies. and in large numbers.

One of 'em. Jumped and stabbed his sword between the raging soldier's ribs. Halting his charge and putting him down in his spot.

"You alright, mate," he said with worried eyes.

"Y..y..yes, I am ok," said Louis, still trembling a bit.

"Then, Welcome to the war, boy" The friendly soldier smirked sarcastically and moved away with his squad.

Refreshed from that scare he had. He scanned his surroundings. There was no other way except forward or risking flanking through alleyways, and hoping for the best. Either way, he had to reach the town hall. The place whereas true to the intel that was given, they kept most of the hostages there as It was said to be the main stronghold of the enemy.

"If this is the war, then I don't like it" he chuckled and moved on.

He flanked through the first alley on his left.

No enemy was sighted.

"As expected it's dead quiet here," he thought with relief. "The battle is only occurring in the main streets, but moving through those is inevitable" he cursed.

The sound of metal clanking outside the alley sent shivers through Louis's spine. The sky was no longer recognizable from the smoke. The battlefield turned out to be a smaller version of hell on Earth.

"Come on, Loius. Stop bitching. Damn it!"

And so, he rushed to exit the alley. But knowing what awaited him outside, he took a hiding behind a wall edge to scan an opening. While he was there, an obnoxious smell attacked his nose.

"Arghh...What the hell is that smell coming from". His nose protested. But after self-aware of his surroundings, he noticed a dumpster where there was an army of flies fighting viciously for a spot on that box made of wood.

His eyes followed his nose and...the sight he saw...His eyes widened in magnified horror, his face sharpened as he gazed slowly toward that dumpster. The origin of the smell was coming from there.

The more he pays attention, the more the dumpster reveals what's inside.

He backed slowly to the wall behind him, His stares widened, and his lips were shaking. His legs of his were no longer able to carry his body. Blood escaped his face. His stomach couldn't handle the sight, and he puked all of his belly's content

The dumpster was filled with the motionless bodies of headless men

He heard about the brutality and how enraged some people would get in times of war, but to see it with his own eyes is just another form of torment

The prince began to boil from inside, No one deserved this fate, not even the enemy. If they did this to the strong men of the town, then the weakling girls...

"Hang on, my love. I am coming!"

He pressed over his dizziness and natural weakness and dashed outside the alley to another main street. Flanking left and right between the brutal clashing soldiers.

There were lots of bodies, but it was anonymous who was winning. Despite that, Louis notices that the deeper he goes, the more powerful and fiercely the soldiers fight.

"They must be protecting something, I am getting close to it"

However, The maze of the streets began to take its toll on the prince. At some points, he misinterpreted some streets for another, and the battle outside wasn't getting any colder.

"Shit, this will take forever" he cursed, out of breath and out of options. He looked amidst the battling men for another alley to retreat to.

After a lot of running, he found a small and narrow alley to rest. There he noticed an important thing. The fighters outside had their backs towards Louis at all times. Not a single one fought him (except that man earlier). They were busy with their opponent's foes.

"What if I backstabbed them, I am a one-man squad after all, unarmoured and respectively short to be hostile, no one would mistake me for a soldier during this chaos", he muttered to himself. The idea was risky. But it was his better chance.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

He no longer can proceed onward without shading blood. He can't move on unless he is willing to fight.

While his dagger was eager to taste blood once more. He peeked around the corner. Trying to notice weak points through the engagements but everything was too random. He couldn't focus through all this blood, shouts, and death. But he managed to spot one unaware soldier and charged him.

Despite his fear, he stabbed the soldier perfectly through his back thigh, owing the fair time for the friendly to behead his enemy.

Louis was shaking, seeing the head of the man rolling away from his dead body and a fountain of blood splashing from where were supposed to be.

Something inside him was flabbergasted. He looked at the blood that stained his hand with shaking eyes. The touching of the blood awakened the twisted past of that horrendous day. The memory that he wanted to escape for most of his life and always was roaming at the back of his mind, waiting patiently for the right spark to ignite.

The prince was blinded by his surroundings. All the emotions rushed him like a horde of one. As If the battle itself wasn't enough intense. Another enemy emerged within him.

Himself.

"WATCH OUT !!". The unknown shout pulled him out of his shock...

He turned around to see a sword coming to stab him. This time however he dodged it by a finger length as the blade nearly took his eyes away.

He didn't have time to think before another blow was coming towards him.

The hostile soldier was ruthless and fast but he didn't have an eye on his back and a friendly blow punched through his back, killing the man on the spot.

The friendly soldier looked at the corpse with a disgusted face and then spit on it.

On a closer look, the friendly was a captain. A leader of a squad of 100 men. He knew him from the days he spent at the camp.

He turned to Louis with a furious face. "What the fuck are you doing here, hunter!?" He paused waiting for an answer.

But no answer was heard from the prince. He was still recovering from the

trauma, internally struggling not to cry and risk being embarrassed in the middle of such a brave battle.

"If you want to die, then you are free to do so AFTER freeing those poor souls from that hellhole! But If you don't want to get yourself killed then you need to deal with your conscience first!"

Louis stared at the sharp-headed man with a nod, feeling disgraced about his weakness but feeling handless to make a change.

The Allied soldier frowned. Trying to calm down.

"Since you can't spill blood alright, then start running. Head towards the roofs of the houses. (He gestured) Find a vantage point. Then Find your way out from there, we will find a way to breach their defences on our own"

"The roofs! How did I miss that ?!" He was surprised how he missed such vital detail. Every house in this land had a way or another to its roof

"Yes, Sir!" Louis gasped delightfully. Washing himself from his fall and began moving.

He infiltrated the first house on the left. Its front door was broken and was abandoned. It wasn't that tall but it had to do. He found stone stairs leading to the top. He ran to the roof and found a speechless sight.

It was terrifying how many people were fighting hand to hand on the streets, everything was on fire. Blazes full of heat were flying upward. The sky turned to the whiskey colour from the flames.

Of all this chaos, one far figure caught Louis's attention. He narrowed his eyes. His main objective lies ahead on the far distance of the horizon. It was the target that all this madness was for it. The command center of the enemy...

The command center of the enemy [https://img.wattpad.com/be40e71a2f57851248aa198a921150deb7ca3e51/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6b615a54325447785a6f697359413d3d2d313230383336393637362e313735643630396266393033636636343737373531363730303036382e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

The Townhall

The stronghold of the city. If this building fell, the town would be liberated and this bloodshed would stop. Joseph believed that it held all the women hostages. One of these poor souls had to be Diana.

The building was about a mile away in the heart of the city. Louis frowned out of fatigue and stress. He stooped over his knees, eyes fixed on his prize that was so far to reach. He looked down and saw the same hellish path on the street that separated him and the building.

Then something sparked in his head. "Wait, the roofs! That's it !"

His eyes noticed a different path. The roofs of the houses were adjacent to each other, providing the safest and fastest passage away from the anarchy below.

He carefully jumped his first hop, so as not to fall dead below. He reached it the other side, and so on from one building to another, with amazing speed. He ran freely, not bound by any fear of violence. The Only obstacle that met him, was the unbearable fire that caught part of some houses. But that didn't slow him, he managed, cunningly to fly over the danger and towards his goal.

He kept jumping onwards, trying to withstand the winds full of dirt and sparks that spiked his face. Not to mention the Death's smell everywhere.

He dared to imagine himself to be the hero of this battle. Even if it is for a time.

After about half an hour of diving throughout Nale. He jumped on a certain roof. He raised his eye to check his progress and to his surprise, he was literally a street away from the building. Close enough to see the guards everywhere around. Idle and are not fighting anyone but on high alert.

Seeing It up close, he saw how huge the structure was, its dome was made of stone. The flags of Louis's nation fluttered proudly on its roof, stating clearly who this town belonged to. Given the tall of it. Louis guessed there were at least two floors inside it, not counting the guards inside, of course.

Looking below, he saw two dozen calvary in front of the main front door and numerous archers on the roof of the structure. All were waiting to strike any intruder down. Louis was watching keenly, and carefully behind his cover.

A certain knight, however. was running back with his horse towards the building. Right at the same time when the front door of the building opened and a man stepped out. Louis noticed from that man's military clothes that this person very much controlled more power than all of the other soldiers

The Knight bowed to his superior.

"Sir, we had news that the hostile enemy just breached our secondary defences, we are losing men everywhere!"

The opposing man showed no sign of reaction, except a cold face.

"Get down"

"Excu..."

"GET DOWN OFF YOUR FUCK'IN HOURSE !!" The man exploded, pulling the attention of every guard and archer around.

The knight obeyed, with a trembled nod.

The man approached the knight, talking normally as if nothing happened half a minute ago.

"Now, Tell me. who's fault was that?"

"O-our false intelligence, sir. But be assured we-". The other man raised his hands up to interrupt him, Halting his assurance.

"And who's responsible for gathering that intel?"

The knight paused. The fear was all over his face. A small picture in his mind materialized of how the next moment will unfold.

"M...M...Me. s-sir" he said shaking.

"Aaaaah, Right," he said with a wide gasp. While a strange smile crept across his face.

Suddenly the archers on the roof took the position, aiming with their longbows at the dismounted knight as the high-ranked man raised his hand in a gesture to stand by.

The knight fell to his knees, grabbing the man's feet. Begging to be spared, throwing his dignity as a price to be saved. "Please sir, I have a family!"

"Really?! you have a family?! Is that all you can offer me? I killed most of the men of this town. They all had families. Why is your family any different?!"

No answer was provided. Only eyes filled with horror and shameful regret.

"That's what I expected", and with that line, the threatening man banged his fingers.

Louis witnessed as the poor knight was showered by at least 50 arrows, penetrating his flesh and armour. Killing him brutally by his own allies in a hostile land.

Louis's surprise was underrating the fear that struck him deeply by the scene of the murder, concluding that this man who just practised a war crime just now...

....was the blood drinker himself.

The mastermind criminal turned around, with his cold expression. Not giving any importance to the man's corpse at his feet. Because for him, he was like any other Enemy he faced and crushed.

"Dispose of The Body, along with those Pussy girls inside. I don't want to leave anything for them" He shouted, commanding the archers to go commit a Mass Murder inside.

He was going to kill The hostages.

Louis's heart jumped. He couldn't get inside without getting exposed. The town hall was more like a fortress. It needs at least 100 men to storm it if they are skilled enough to avoid the rain of bolts that will shower them before they even start using their blades.

Suddenly, and while Louis was thinking. A loud horn voice cried out loud.

This time, however. the sound was too clear and very close. It was coming from a corner nearby, inside the town. Judging by the reaction of the men in front of him. It wasn't expected to be friendly to them.

*BAM*

An arrow flew piercing the air, reaching his target. The first target fell from his horse. Unaware of his coming death. Striking terror among the surrounding knights as they all saw their fellow horseman dead next to his horsefeet.

Then...

Everything broke out quickly...

A horde of arrows followed. Killing knights left and right. Steering confusion and terror through their ranks.

The archers above the town hall. Took their position aiming at...they didn't know... they didn't know where to aim. They didn't know who they were facing. The arrows were coming out of nowhere. That's when the first archer fell with an arrow struck in his eye and the rest began to follow him onward to their death.

The blood drinker panicked, it was too dark and nothing was clear. His men were falling like corn plants. Some arrows were even targeting him. But they ended up inches from his feet, and the lucky commander retreated inside the building. Locking the door behind him.

Louis was afraid to come out, not to get caught in the crossfire. However, it was his golden chance to get inside. Witnessing half the vanguard of horsemen dead and archer's attention busy away. He descended down from his hidden spot.

He sprinted straight across the square to the building. Totally exposed and unprotected anymore, He pressed on his stressed legs, Not looking left or right, only to the front door.

"One of them is going to the door, stop him!" A sharp-eyed archer shouted, spotting Louis, almost immediately.

Although he knew the risk, he didn't stop. Some archers began to load to shoot arrows but they themselves -as well as their brothers in arms- fell under the power of their sneaky enemy arrows.

Louis's heart raced to pump blood to his short legs. While trying to bypass the corpses of the men falling around him.

He pushed himself forward to find himself up to two knights rushing at him. Louis stopped with fright and wide eyes. Hasting to pull out his dagger. But the second his sight left his enemies to look for his dagger. The two knights were shot and their lifeless bodies refracted from the ground as their corpses fell from their unmanned horses.

That was the last of them.

The sound of shouting men stopped. Looking around, Louis noticed that no man was still standing. Only some stray free horses without humans above.

The carnage ended.

He swallowed hard after scanning around, he didn't see anyone around but himself. But he was sure whoever assaulted those knights and archers, was still around and they were watching him.

Terrified, he ran to the door but was stopped by a woman's voice coming from the right side.

"If I were you, I wouldn't get inside alone" a mysterious woman's voice trailed off out of the shadows.

Louis stopped. Obeying the female voice from touching the door. He slowly turned around facing his speaker, giving himself some time to take a closer look at the woman.

To his surprise, Louis's eyes brightly widened While a victorious smile was carved on his face.

The Backstabbers!

They came out of the shadows with fearsome eyes and a vast number from their hideout. They were the ones who launched their successful attack, killing the whole units guarding the command centre, leaving only death in their awakened fury.

"I thought you guys would never come," said Louis. Trying to shake out his past unnecessary fear.

"Ha! So you thought wrong, hunter lad!" the woman bragged with a happy smirk "Commander, told us about your girl and your visual description. You sure are one lucky bastard that you didn't get shot with your solo reckless mission! Next time come join the professionals!"

She was right, their accuracy in shooting and ambushing was unbelievably good. While their guerilla tactics were perfectly applied by the book. It was hard to believe that those men and women were not entitled to the army and they were only a group of mercenary special forces.

She along with her fellow gang approached the boy, still on high alert for any retaliating enemy.

"He is probably Behind those doors, seeking shelter behind his few bodyguards. You won't stand a chance if you face them alone. So you better get to the hostage till we finish" she said confidently, knowing what awaited them inside.

"Ok, then. On your mark" Louis said spontaneously, shaking with readiness with his loyal dagger on his side, taking his stance to charge with 'em.

"Hole up, boy. You won't go through this door. Your entrance is up there" she gestured with her head upwards.

Following her gaze. He knew what she meant.

"Oh,"

She was referring to a balcony about 7 meters up high...

The question popped to Louis, but he didn't need to ask it. Two men in the group grouped together and linked their hands while bowing slightly. They would give him a lift-up.

"Ready when you are," one of them said.

Louis nodded with hesitation. Slightly Questioning their technique. Everything was set, It was high time for the prince to bust his princess out of this execrable fortress