I sit in the Sersia Tower, viewing the vast landscape that stretches and stops at the high canyon walls. I’ve sent a rider to take our prism from Nutarth Fort; I intend to end this game quickly. It's been a week since we attacked Sersia. After their defeat, the old man in black robes took them away. In addition, I sent scouts to search for the Yaesera fortress. It wasn’t hard to find their fortress now that it was only them.

From what my scouts say, like us, they have two cannons. Unlike us, their castle is backed into the canyon wall, which means they can only be attacked from one direction. This poses a problem that I cannot wrap my head around, so I called for Cassiun, Casthus, Andreus, and Dharron. Their footsteps echo throughout the tower as they get closer. “Glad you could all make it,” I tell them, still staring through the windows.

“Of course,” Casthus says. “I hear we’ve come to plan?”

“You’d be correct, take a seat,” I say.

“I must say, I’m honored,” Cassiun says.

I half turn and flash a smile.

They all sit in the seats I arranged horizontally in front of the podium. I get up and turn my chair to face them. Andreus puts one leg over the other and says, “I don’t know why you picked me to come dux. I’m not good at this… planning and all that.”

“Incorrect. I would like to hear how you would handle this predicament we’re in—get your perspective on things,” I say, giving him a nod.

He returns the nod, breaking my gaze and looking at the others.

“The Yaeserans know that Sersia is knocked out of the game. They’ll be moving cautiously after seeing how fast we dealt with Sersia,” I say.

They all lean in now.

“We’ve lost two of our fellow students only during this match; a miracle. That also means that our capability to offend has been reduced. More will soon have to go for the sake of me winning this game. Noble sacrifices.”

I bow my head, feigning sadness at the revelation I just stated.

Casthus leans back in his chair. “There isn’t a need to have any more sacrifices. We can move with deception again. A forest to the right of the fortress can be used as cover, and–”

“No, Casthus. It’s too far,” Cassiun says. “We’ll be picked off by the time we reach 40 meters. I say we push for the wall under the cover of our cannons and scale it. It's the only possible way to get in on such an open field, boss,” Cassiun says, nodding.

Casthus looks at Cassiun as if he is mad. “It doesn’t make sense to push with our full force at a cannon-fortified wall, you imp,” Casthus tells Cassiun.

“It doesn’t make sense to split up either!” Cassiun retorts.

Andreus watches them, and me. I see Dharron trying to speak, but those two are raising their voices now.

“Dharron,” I say, cutting them off. “What is it that you so eagerly want to tell us?”

Cassiun and Casthus fall quiet.

Dharron clears his throat. “I suggest moving with a small force once again to infiltrate the castle.”

Cassiun stands up. “Zageth, it doesn’t make sense to attack like that again due to almost no coverage,” Cassiun urges.

Cassiun is correct, but what I have planned needs for the five of us to be away from everyone else.

“I can make more hooks for our army,” Andreus randomly says.

I look at him, “A great idea.” I return my attention to everyone.

“Here’s the plan,” I say.

<<>>

I leave Inrissa in charge of the rest of our classmates, while Cassiun, Casthus, Andreus, Dharron, and I are away. It is the dark of night, and we creep through the high glowing grass like night stalkers. The Yaesera fortress stands imposing in the distance. We move slowly so we will not contrast against the bright grass. We are spaced out far apart, but we all have the same destination: the hill at least twenty yards away from the left castle wall.

We eventually reach the bottom of the hill that separates us from the sights of the castle guards. The others laugh lightly as we huddle. “Who would’ve thought we could get this close to the castle?” Cassiun asks, before chuckling. “We should’ve brought more people with us.”

“Too risky,” I say.

We all go silent, and the noises of the night take over. “Let’s get some sleep,” I say.

I close my eyes and open them; it is now early morning. Casthus is awake, eating a piece of dried seekora meat.

“You’re up early,” I whisper.

Casthus smiles as he eats, “Can’t sleep a wink at times like this.”

I look in the distance at the swaying grass, and for a moment, I feel like I am in heaven.

“By the way,” Casthus says, snapping me from my daze. “I heard them moving something big away from the fort.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I sit up, wiping the sleep from my eyes. “Did you see what it was?”

Casthus shakes his head. “No, I dare not lift my head past this hill. My best bet is that it's a cannon.”

I hold my face. FUCK. My head hurts as I contemplate why they would bring their cannons out of the castle. Is it to increase the range? Are they gonna ambush Inrissa and the others on their way here?

Oh my god! I’m finished if they do anything other than stay in this castle.

“Zageth,” Casthus says.

“What?” I say, whipping my head around to look at him.

He stops momentarily as if he is scared; only then do I realize that my face is contorted in anger.

“Uh, sorry. What is it?”

“I-I just have to say, I respect you for stepping up and being centurion. So, thank you.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” I say, giving him a thumbs up. I pity this dude for thinking I did this for him or any other Nutarth. Now that he reminded me, I’m fucking dead if we fail. I cross my legs and run my hand through my hair. It’s the only thing I can do to stop myself from going batshit crazy.

It is midday, and I cut my nails short with my dagger knife. Cassiun, Dharron, and Andreus are now awake. They entertain each other with the tales of their youth. “I used to run into town naked when I was a youngling," my mother told me. Do you know how embarrassing that is?” He laughs and Andreus shushes him by placing a finger on his lips.

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologizes.

“You think that’s bad?” Andreus whispers. “I pissed on a Furia when she asked my mother to hold me.”

They all erupt into breathless laughter as if they’ve just heard the greatest joke, slapping the ground and kicking dirt, trying their hardest not to break out into loud laughter. It's hard to try not to laugh with them.

<<>>

The evening has cloaked the sky in darkness. My heart is racing. I crouch, peeking in the distance.

“My heart is about to explode,” Andreus says.

“Do try to keep it together,” Dharron says. “Zageth needs each of us in tip-top shape.”

“Right,” Andreus says, taking our climbing equipment from his bag.

<<>>

The high we felt at the dawn of night has died down. We intermittently peek at the distance for any signs of Inrissa.

“Boredom will be my death, boss,” Cassiun says.

Dharron picks his teeth with his knife and says, “Stop talking. I'm tired of hearing your voice, Cassiun.”

I almost laugh, and Cassiun has taken Dharron’s statement to heart. “I can talk as much as I please. If you have an issue, come and make me shut up.”

Dharron wipes his knife on his pants and says, “I just might.”

“ENEMY SPOTTED! TO ARMS! TO ARMS,” we suddenly hear in the distance. Our machaeras are unsheathed, and we peek, stumbling over one another to see Nutarth in full force approaching.

“Fire!” someone in the fortress commands. The thunderous boom sends a shiver down my spine. I expect the cannon to hit its mark as it barrels toward the Nutarth line and announces imminent demise with its whistle. Fortunately, they have not found their range.

Nutarth returns fire with a volley of flaming rocks launched from slings and the training munitions from the cannons. This combination smears the night sky with a trail of flames and colorful red gashes as they barrel toward the fortress wall, mere concealment. Nutarth begins to dash for the wall with lightning speed, fueled by the fear of the Yaesera cannon's punishment. I’ve never seen them run so fast. Some stop to cover the others with flaming rocks before continuing. Again the Yaeserans fire a volley. One of the cannonballs misses entirely, but the other smacks down right in front of one of the Nutarth students, concealing him in red smoke. He’s out.

They are closing in on the wall, making the Yaesera

cannons useless. Nutarth has to stop firing as well for fear of hitting our own. This is my time to shine now. I look to the group. “Move fast,” I warn.

“Fast is my last name, dux,” Andreus says. I smile at that. The battlefield goes silent except for the screams of Nutarth as they get closer and closer. The silence is broken by the distant boom of a cannon. I stand, my heart racing as I realize what is going to happen.

“FUCK!” I shout as the whistle of the distant cannonball grows closer. The cannonball slams into the back lines of Nutarth, covering ten in red smoke. They get up covered head-to-toe in red dye, and some cough up red smoke before walking away from the battle.

“Let’s move,” I say, scrambling up the hill. As I dash for the wall with my group, I spot Inrissa raising a signal flag. Soon after, a boom from the Nutarth cannons erupts, striking a couple of the Yaeserans on the walls.

Fueled by the fear of losing, I close the distance to the wall. I am certain I close the distance faster than any football player could. We do not engage in banter, we attach our hooks and begin to scale. It is easier this time, and we scale the wall like monkeys. We reach the top where we spot at least a few of our classmates trying to hold off the Yaeserans to allow what is left of Nutarth to scale. I do not focus on them any longer.

Andreus leads the charge to the keep where he enters through one of the many windows. We move fast and silent like night-stalkers heading for the stairwell that leads to the tower. As we reach the tower, we almost backtrack after seeing some Yaeserans waiting. I push forward and swiftly deal with them, before ascending the stairs. I meet a Yaeseran in the stairwell who wastes no time. He unsheathes his machaera and swipes at my head, due to the hallway being narrow his attack held no real power. I clutch his machaera-wielding hand to the wall as Cassiun slips past me and slams his weapon on the boy's head knocking him out. We press on.

We enter the tower without looking for how many Yaeserans will be inside, a mistake on our part. My heart sinks. The taste of my last victory and the fear of death propelled me. I involuntarily hold my face.

“Let’s end this,” a boy I presume to be the leader says.

We all stand in our defensive stances as the Yaeserans charge for us. I look at Andreus and see the fear in his eyes. I almost feel sorry for him. They swarm us, Andreus can’t put up a fight as he is pounded. A primal feeling takes over my free will. I must survive. I block and attack with blinding speed. Blood flies out of a boy's mouth after I slap him with my machaera. He runs away holding his face. Cassiun and Casthus take down some of their own as they watch each other’s back. Dharron is grabbed by his collar and pulled to the ground before being battered. I fight like a cornered animal. Is it me that even moves my body? The violence I dish out is savage. Who knew a stick could do so much damage? I look at Casthus and Cassiun, and then at the prism, and as if reading my mind, they fight to open a hole for me. I wonder if this is how Shaza felt as I defeated her.

Cassiun and Casthus take down four of the Yaeserans but are ultimately defeated. I am stopped before I can reach the prism. A Yaesera attempts to take the glory but I take him down, when another tries, then their leader emerges. He is skillful, not as good as me, but I am So tired. He has me on the defensive, he hits my arm in a weak spot making it feel weak before slapping me across the face with his machaera. I go down like a brick underwater.

They cheer, and my dread is overwhelming. I have failed, Plaara. I have failed my father, and most importantly, I failed myself. Tears want to burst from my eyes. Their cries of rejoicing rise to a crescendo before being outdone by the blaring sound of a ship horn that has multiplied by a thousand. The despair is so great I can’t help but hold my head.