Almost immediately after all of the grief had subsided, I began analyzing the plan that the elders put laid forth for us to follow. Surprisingly, I remembered a great amount of it, even a great amount more than Ani’sja remembered. Actually, I started with the plan almost immediately after the message occurred, but not really intensive planning sessions like the ones I would have later. I first had to inform the Shantu of what he would say. At first, he was resistant to saying it, but eventually, I and Ani’sja were able to make him come around to agreeing with it. We didn’t even have to threaten him, which, although I would never dream of doing it in a million lifespans, someone else might. Someone else, like a servant. If that happened, he might make full use of his powers and depose Ani’sja. Ani’sja had to be strong, for he was in constant meetings with other chiefs about strategy and how to deal with the incoming, yet unknown, threat, of other tribes. The unknown part was which tribes it would be.

Some of the tribes one could easily know, like the ‘Uji tribe. That tribe would take any excuse, even something that was not an excuse, to go to war…though some sources suggested that the ‘Uji tribe might fall. Maybe the people thought that the ‘Uji family was not the family to sit in the House of the Chief and they would depose him.

But the Shantu came back with bad news. Only thirty of the fifty Shantus had actually agreed with him, though some of them had the best generals. I only could sigh when I heard this and silently cry. This was not good, no, no, no, it was not good at all. Should I declare myself the prophesied ‘uniter’ now I would most likely be immediately stopped. Most of the chiefs would probably not want themselves to be usurped, even if they would be respected. Most of the tribes would have a succession crisis, with the Shantus usurping the chief whilst the chief tried to usurp them and put another, more agreeable, Shantu in their place. And plus, some of them might only be faking it because they feared my tribe.

Even so, at the great council of chiefs, I had Ani’sja tell them that I was the prophesied Uniter, the one who would establish a never-ending, glorious, empire. Almost immediately, he came back with the news that five of the chiefs had declared war on me, saying that they would be fine if it was a man but not a woman, saying that it was dishonorable to be led by a woman. I was not fazed by any of this. Even now, seven months after the elders died, I was not feeling. But now it was two things: all of the deaths that I had to brace myself for, and the fact that if I was to be strong, I must not feel emotions. Both things would be a great asset to me in the future, I knew.

After I heard about the five chiefs declaring war on me (not the tribe, me), I asked him what allies we had in the mostly-empty meeting chamber of our house.

“Not many.” He told me. “Five tribes at most. And you must remember that five of the strongest tribes had declared war on us, not a mixed five, a strong five. The only way that we can win is to outsmart them. They may have more numbers on the field, but we have more numbers in the tent, hopefully.”

I nodded. “Is ‘Uji part of that five?”

“No.” He said. “Haven’t you heard? ‘Uji is currently in the middle of a succession crisis. I managed to get their Shantu to agree with me just before the first day of the council, and he has now denounced the chief, saying that the reason why his son lost against you is that he was an evil spirit and you a saint. Everybody knows that demons lose against saints.”

I nodded. It all made sense now. I had heard something about a succession crisis, but I had recently been away to try to convince other chiefs to join our cause so I had only heard a passing reference. I could still remember that passing reference, though. It had been my springboard for getting the chief to join my side.

“You know that I got at least fifteen other chiefs to agree with you, right?” I asked upon remembering it, expecting him to breathe a sigh of relief, which he did not do.

“Agree with me, yes, but not fight for me. I heard them as well as you did. They said that they agreed with me that you were the uniter, and that they would not oppose you. However, they did not say that they would fight for you.” He told me.

“Still, at least some of them should fight for us.” I told him, trying to stop myself from worrying about it.

“I’ve already factored that in, and while I do not have a definite answer on who will fight for us, I still think that it is about five tribes.” He told me. “And a mix at that.”

I nodded, now even more worried.

“I do not tell you this to frighten you, my love,” He said. That was now what he was calling me. “I tell you this because this is the simple truth.”

I nodded again. I was doing a lot of nodding, I reflected, and that was strange. But maybe it was just because I wanted to trust in this man, this man that would help me rebuild civilization.

“I am sorry.” He said regrettably, and he exited the room.

“No.” I whispered, my voice barely exiting my mouth. “No!” It was louder this time. “NO!”

I did not know why I was saying it, but I was saying it, and that was all that mattered. I felt that something bad was going to happen, surely, but there was more to it.

Maybe there was a change coming? That was probably part of it, but I really didn’t know. Everything seemed to be falling apart at once. People are afraid of change, I knew that all too well. People did not like being put out of where they were comfortable. But maybe this change was for the worse? Maybe that was why I was now crying.

He was not comforting me. He was just walking away. Maybe something was happening? I certainly heard something outside.

And when I looked outside, I saw it. One of the tribes was attacking. They were ravaging the whole tribe, and the soldiers were having a hard time forming up to face them.

“NO!” I screamed, seeing a man rip a baby from a woman’s breast.

I grabbed my sword from its sheath and rammed it down the vile man’s neck. I turned it, then ripped his body in the shape of his spine. I ran to face the next enemy, but the next enemy was ready for me. We dueled and I tried to switch forms, but he stopped me halfway from doing so. Finally, I was able to get under his guard and kill him.

For the first time, I rejoiced in every death that came with my sword. I was protecting my people! They would not be raped and murdered like the enemy tribe was trying to do.

I counted men as I killed them. Five, six, seven, eight, and up to twenty. I did not care now. More and more came pouring into the village, and I slaughtered them as they came.

“I shall not let my people be raped and slaughtered by you!” I yelled at one of them as he tried to kill me. I cut off his head as he tried to stop me from killing him.

Finally, the enemy began to retreat. I roared like an insane boar when I saw them running from my sword.

When they saw me rejoicing, I saw the fear painted across their faces as they ran.

When he saw me rejoicing, I saw the horror painted clearly across his face as he tried to stop my laughing as everything started to cloud with blood.

I woke up in my house, confused. It was night and no one was standing beside my bed.

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Huh, I thought, I wonder why the healers would not treat me…

Then it all came back to me in a rush: I had done so many vile things to good healers. I had even punched one of them, who had been an old woman.

I was in the meeting room, where the table would be, and I was completely alone. Maybe I deserved it. Maybe I had messed up my life so much that no one liked me anymore, not even Ani’sja.

But I had saved a woman from being raped, I had stopped a soldier from taking her and having his way with her…but what had happened afterward, how I had rejoiced in the killing, must have frightened them away…

Why? I asked myself. Why did I have to ruin the perfect opportunity to make the people like me and in so doing help me avenge my father? Why could I not do things right? Why could I not be human?

At this point, I took a step back and decided to look at myself. Maybe it was only a little streak of bad luck that I was enduring. Surely I would do better next time. Besides, I had heard of soldiers laughing hysterically after a battle. Maybe I was just normal.

That soothed me and I went back to sleep.

But when I awakened, there still was not anyone around to see me, and to make it worse, it was high noon.

Drowsy, I got out of my bed and looked outside.

The first thing that I saw was a soldier leading on his sword over the charred remains of what looked to have been a hut. He was haggard and he had a grim smile on his face.

All around me there were different huts that were in various states of disrepair.

Another attack…I thought…but that seemed to be impossible. Why would they attack another time if we had fled…unless…unless they had left without me…

“Soldier,” I said, trying to be as hard to read as possible, “What happened?”

He looked up and laughed grimly. He had a grease-filled face with blue eyes and dark black hair. He looked even more haggard than he had first appeared.

“He has left you with only me as your guard. You have gone crazy, and that cannot be allowed for a chief’s wife. In a few days, he shall declare himself the uniter if I remember correctly.”

“No.” I said, starting to walk, “It will not work. I must get to him and stop him.”

He stopped me with the point of his sword. “No, you must not. You must stay here. Don’t worry, I will bring you food and feed you. I will not take advantage of this opportunity to…ravage you.”

“Soldier,” I said again. “Who is your allegiance to?”

“My chief.”

“What would he say if he knew that I was not crazy?” I asked, walking right in front of him. His sword was in range now. I could grab it, disarming him.

“He would…he would say to set you free.”

“Then set me free,” I said, grabbing his hand, twisting it, and watching the sword land in my open hand.

All of this time, the soldier had been watching me with awe but at that moment, he grabbed a dagger from his belt and stepped back, throwing it at my arm, but I deflected it so that it landed in my other hand.

The man scrambled back. I pointed his sword at his neck and closed it with his dagger.

“You will take me to him. Now.” I told him firmly, my hand not wavering.

“Yes.” He said quickly, trying to break free of the dagger and the sword.

“No.” I said. “You shall tell me the directions to get where I want then you shall lead me there with my sword at your neck.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Let’s go now.”

“Yes, of course.”

I found that he was, in fact, very agreeable at this point, and in only two days I saw Ani’sja’s hut. It was hard going and I did not sleep in case he decided to betray his morals and ravage or kill me. I didn’t have much food throughout the journey, only the food that I had beforehand.

But on that day, I heard shouts coming from the chief’s house and I decided to sneak up on them and walk in on them. All the time that I was walking through the camp no one spared me even a passing glance.

“We cannot do this. It is impossible.”

“You should have never decided to declare her the chosen one anyway.”

“Stop pretending. Bring the girl out of the previous camp and tell her…”

As I heard it, I became angrier and angrier. So what the man had said was true. They were planning to crown Ani’sja as the true uniter. This move would be disastrous, not to mention insulting…

His voice trailed off as he saw me. He was a strong man with a bulky physique whilst somehow being short. The man next to him was a taller man with a skinny body but with blazing blue eyes. The third was a man who was the two of them put together with green eyes as a bonus. Ani’sja was at the far end of the table, looking haggard. On the table, a map was spread with the known world on it. The room was a dim room with only the sunlight to light it which still made it surprisingly dim.

“Tell her what?” I asked.

“Er—”

“You see, I think that you have tried to exile me when you really had no reason to, Ani’sja. I call you that because you are no chief.” I said with disgust as he got up out of his seat. I moved closer to him. “And I think that you were trying to tell me that I was, in fact, the uniter, which, for the record, I am. And the uniter cannot be restrained by one man. She is a force to be reckoned with and she certainly does not allow false ‘uniters’ to walk the world if I remember the prophecies correctly.”

“Please,” Ani’sja said, “It was only a test to see if you were truly the uniter—”

“Oh, really,” I said, “Because it didn’t seem that way. I heard the conversation about pretending to be the chosen one, and I think that it is frankly offensive.”

“Please don’t,” One of the chiefs said hurriedly. “We only thought that if you were crazy that you couldn’t help us rule the world.”

“Oh,” I said, “You said ‘rule the world?’ I thought that we were going to unite the world under justice and usher in the new golden days of humanity. For me, it was never about ruling humanity, rather it was about uniting them against a common threat.”

“Er, yes it was always about that,” said the taller man.

“Then why did I hear ‘rule?’” I asked, my anger mounting.

“Er—”

“Because a true uniter would never unite the world to rule it. They would unite it to better humanity, not to better oneself or make oneself richer or even more powerful.” I was feeling more and more insulted by their presence here. “Now tell me again why you did not even think to include me in these procedures.” It was more of a statement that a question.

“Silence,” Ani’sja said at just the right time, “I will not have this arguing between you and her. It brings no honor to argue with such women.”

But this only gave me even more reason to argue with him.

“I thought that you treated women with more honor, Ani’sja of tribe ‘Sja, known for its good treatment of people who may not be as well off as you. Or was your father a better boy than you a man?”

This was met with a speedy slap across the face from him.

“I will not be beaten by such women.” He roared.

The other chiefs smiled at him. “It seems that you already have been beaten.” One of them said.

“Dang it, no she hasn’t!” He said.

But all of the chiefs were grinning at him. “Just admit it. Like the man that we expect you to be. She has beaten you in every single way, even, in some ways, on the battlefield. She has used your guard as a guide, I expect. Just admit it. She is the chosen one.” The one with green eyes said.

“Humiliated in my own house,” Ani’sja muttered. “By my former wife.”

That word struck me.

Former? I thought. More like the wife that he is cheating on.

“What whores have you lied with?” I asked.

“You would be surprised,” He said and stormed out.

Once he was out the other chiefs stuck their swords into the ground and knelt before me. “He may not have knelt before you, but we certainly will.” The one with the most muscles said. “For you are the true uniter, the one who will bring a new sunrise to the world, one that will never dim.”

All of them said around the same thing as they knelt before me. I learned their names: the one with the muscles was Ail’ujao, the tall one was Yuo’cala, and the one with the green eyes was Ouio’una

“How many have Ani’sja allied with him?” I asked.

“Three more, but they are not here,” Ouio’una told me. “But do not fear, we shall convince them to ally with you, not Ani’sja, for we have the far greater numbers, you see.”

“How many have agreed to stay out of the fight?” I asked as I wiped a tear from my eye. I had no time for it. I could not waver in my course to unite the world under one banner to save everyone.

“Most everyone, by silent agreement,” Ail’ujao said, getting up from his position. “But I am expecting that you do not want to hear that, so I will tell you that fifteen out of the fifty officially recognized tribes by the council have decided to stay out of the fight, for various reasons.”

I nodded. “That is a good sign. However, we want to either get more tribes to join the fight with us or join the ones consigned not to take any part in the war.”

Yuo’cala nodded. “I can do that. I am a very good…diplomat when it comes to those things.”

“No threatening,” Ail’ujao told him and Yuo’cala laughed darkly.

“I never threaten…just convince,” Yuo’cala said, grinning almost evilly.

I sighed. “We want to be doing what is right, not what is always convenient for us.”

“Fine.” Yuo’cala said, seeming genuinely saddened about it, “I will try not to kill them for you.”

“Good,” I said. “Please go through on that promise.”

“I swear it on my honor.”

“Good,” I said. “Update on the tactical side of things?”

“‘Sja has only a weakened force since the ambush destroyed most of its warriors, however, we have warriors in abundance, and damn good ones, I should add,” Ail’ujao told me.

“Good. I want you to take full inventory of all of the troops and tell them that we are to march to the nearest stronghold where we can gather our forces.” I told them.

“Uniter…the nearest stronghold is over fifty days from here.” Ouio’una tried to warn me.

“Then I guess that we’d best get marching now, must we?” I said. “For there we shall make the great plan.”