LENIN

He was telling the truth; there was no reason to abandon him.

After all, he knew this place way better than we ever did. Even if I used my Solum heat signatures, he still knew the ins and outs of his village.

"Lead us." I declared.

He nodded as we followed him in haste.

It was a maze of an underground system, with many right and lefts that caused us to turn and drift.

We felt like we would be stuck in this underground system forever, so it was no wonder we didn't go on our own.

"Where are we going?" Eleanor grumbled.

"We're here."

We stopped at the door.

Curious, I waited for him to open it, and as he did, there were people—or should I say, prisoners—locked up.

"Captain!"

A woman's voice alerted the other prisoners in their cells.

"Svista, it's good to see you're still alive." Freinson nodded as he immediately walked over to her cage and broke the lock.

Svista instantly saluted, "Was that even in doubt." She had a vast cocky grin on her face, "Our soldiers are hungry, we're ready to punish that bastard Jove."

The soldiers roared in anger, raising their hands in the air.

I could only exchange looks with Eleanor as one thing was sure: Frienson's soldiers were interesting.

"Where are your weapons?" Frienson asked as Svista opened the cell of all the other soldiers trapped here.

"Jove must have incinerated our weapons when he ambushed us." She grumbled, "How did he get the jump on us, out of all people?"

Frienson placed his hand on her shoulder. "Nonetheless, we will continue; it's time we take what's ours, " he declared as he looked over at the other men who were getting ready for the fight of their lives.

We both watched as he ordered his soldiers to inform them what would happen next.

The way he spoke, his will-spoken matter, surprised everyone, especially Eleanor; it was no wonder he was the leader of these people, and so many people respected him because of it.

They all shouted, making their way out of this labyrinth.

"I was certainly not expecting that." Eleanor folded her arms, "But if this is what it takes to make it out of this hole, then I guess we have to follow them, don't we?"

I nodded, "We don't have any choice, but you're right, we'll have to follow them. Besides, we have our orders from him."

Elenoir scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Don't tell me we're following his orders, are we?"

I smirked lightly, "Do we have a choice?"

She sighed, "Let's do this then, shall we?"

I chuckled; that was precisely the spirit we needed to have.

We'll do our part, Frienson, and you do yours.

FRIENSON

GUH!

I pulled my sword out of his body; that was the last of them in the labyrinth.

I looked over my shoulder as Svista patted the dust off her armour.

"Updates?"

She smiled, "Look around you."

There, a hallway of bodies was laid across us, each of them more lifeless than the other.

"A pity," I replied as we made our way out of the labyrinth.

I didn't want to kill any of these people; it wasn't my intention, but I knew that if they were rebels, they would simply have to be punished, killed for their actions.

It was their fault for picking a side that would have never tasted victory in the first place.

Instead of tasting victory, they tasted the drop of blood, their blood, to be precise.

With our soldiers, we ventured out of the labyrinth, nearing the bask of sunlight that accepted our arrival.

"Hold!"

There, we saw soldiers right outside the entrance, waiting for our next move, armed and ready for the battle that was to come.

But in front of them stood an impenetrable wall, grinning at us.

"Jovo." With a small smile, I declared, "Honestly, I expected to run away like the coward you've always been."

His eyes twitched ever so slightly as he pointed his sword at me, "You're lucky I kept you as a prisoner. I should've killed you when I had the chance." He spat on the ground with venom. "For too long, you led us without any progress. You're pathetic and weak."

I instinctively held my hand to the side, acting as a blockage from the ruthlessness seething out of Svista.

Jovo chuckled at her reaction: "I see you still have that dog of yours."

She gritted her teeth, "I promise I'll cut your head off."

"I'd like to see you try!"

I looked at Svista, shaking my head. " Now's not the time; you'll get your chance soon enough."

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It was good enough to ease her ever so slightly despite her glare.

"Listen to your pathetic leader."

I looked at him.

He opened his arm, chuckling loudly, "Look at you! I have an army behind me, while you, you only have these pathetic traitors who will die."

The soldiers behind him roared in cheers, punching their swords in the air, excited for what would come.

I looked at my surroundings; it was clear that our chances of escape were slim.

There was only one possible way.

I would use his arrogance against him.

"Since you're so high and mighty, why don't we fight?" I asked him.

He scoffed, "Why would I fight someone so weak?"

I shrugged, smiling, "You tell me. . . You're not scared to fight me, are you?"

Jovo looked at me, "Scared of you? Please." He moved closer to me as the soldiers behind him began talking to one another, building the growing excitement within them.

I would give a fight for them if they wanted to see a show.

I prepared myself for a fight that would bring a storm between us, holding my sword, ready for what would come.

Jovo was so cocky to the point that he threw his sword away, looking down upon me as if I was some insect.

But out of respect for his bravery, which was equal to his arrogance, I would throw my sword away.

That had drastically dwindled my chances of being able to take him down to near zero.

However, I had to show him the same dominance he projected onto me here.

With my sword initially at my disposal, I would have been able to have my chance against him, but now that it was hand-to-hand combat, trouble would arise.

He was much bigger than me and more used to this combat, but I would have to stand my ground like everything in my life did.

WHOOSH!

A hammer of a fist came roaring down at me; I instantly rolled over as the ground erupted in multiple cracks.

The impact was deadly, but the soldiers still cheered on the fight.

WHOOSH!

PHOOSH!

A barrage of punches came rolling at me. I dodged them, ducking under his punches.

I hit him on the chin, but to no one's surprise, Jovo didn't react.

He had conditioned himself to deal with blows like these.

BOOM!

Jovo speared me, his weight transferring onto me.

"I thought you would've given me a tougher challenge." He grinned, putting his hand on my neck.

I could see Svista ready to jump out of the corner of my eye, but I shook my head, knowing that would only cause further problems.

"Any last words before I finally take over?" He whispered in my ear.

"Look behind you." I gritted my teeth.

He looked over his shoulder; that was all I needed from him.

One thing about Jovo was that he was strong, but the other thing about him was that he was incredibly dumb.

His hands on my throat slightly eased up as I instinctively reached for his eyes, putting pressure on them.

Jovo jumped back, but I instantly took action, pouncing on him like a wild animal.

A barrage of successful hits had landed on him, each one stronger than the other, each one bloodier than the other.

Jovo desperately attempted to block my punches, but it was no use.

Before I knew it, the soldiers had stopped cheering, and now there was only one collective thing we had experienced.

"Stop!"

As I was about to punch him again, I looked up to see who shouted.

"Lenin, I thought you were meant to be gone."

He shook his head alongside Eleanor, who glared at me like usual.

"You can't kill Jovo."

I chuckled lightly, amused at his declaration, "Tell me why I can't kill him?"

"He still has some use." He answered.

Traitors were useless in my village; if they could do it once, they could do it again.

In my circle, those who lied could never be trusted.

This was a way of life that I lived by.

No lies.

But for some reason, Jovo, who was smiling, ceased to exist; his smile was no longer worn on his face.

Instead, that fear came to welcome me. . . Why did this come out all of a sudden?

WHOOSH!

He gripped my shoulder in a panic, almost pleading with me.

"Please! Not him! Kill me!"

What was going on here?

Why was Jovo acting like this all of a sudden?

I let out a deep breath, standing up from the ground as I looked down at Jovo, who was practically begging me to kill him.

While that was happening, Lenin was inching closer and closer to me.

"Move again, and you die." I declared.

Lenin stopped immediately.

"You're in my village, not yours. You don't have authority here." I answered as Lenin remained quiet.

He knew what I was saying was true; even Eleanor remained silent.

"Besides. . ." I looked at Jovo, "I never intended to kill Jovo; that wasn't my idea." I paused for a slight moment, looking over my shoulder at Svista.

"I promised I wouldn't kill him. . . Do it."

"Wa-" Jovo shouted

SLICE

I watched as his head rolled to my feet, his distorted, and I was distraught.

Svista spat onto the ground, "I've been waiting to do that for so long."

I stared straight into Lenin's eyes as he looked disappointed at me.

I signalled my soldiers to push the traitors onto the ground, causing them to drop to their knees.

"See, how I do things here differs greatly from where you come from." I declared.

"Sure, some of them are traitors, but some are innocent. They didn't know what they were doing." Lenin tried to throw some reasoning over at me, but I would reject and step aside from his suggestion.

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Maybe so," I answered, " but I have no use for these people."

"If you have no use for these people, hand them over to me!" Eleanor declared, chiming into our conversation.

She had remained quiet until now.

Her face was filled with such conviction and resolve that it almost impressed me.

I looked over at Svista as she slowly nodded.

"Fine." I declared, "You can have them, but not because you asked, but because we're even now." I directed my gaze to Lenin; something told him there was more to him.

If he could make Jovo react like that, pleading for me to kill him, he must have done something interesting.

"Thank you for your kindness." Lenin bowed, paying respect as I instructed Svista to free the traitors.

Soon enough, they were all freed and ready to go to whatever place they had in mind.

I watched them leave with the others as Lenin looked over his shoulder one last time.

We exchanged looks, not out of anger or anything like that, but a simple look.

But the question is, what was he thinking?

Svista stood beside me, too, watching them leave. "You probably don't want to hear this, but it might be wise to be more inclined to work with them."

"I know," I answered as they vanished from our sight.

After all, it was the most logical choice in this situation.

We had suffered a heavy blow from Jovo and would have to work extremely hard to recover from such losses.

But while thinking about all these thoughts, they would soon be disrupted.

"I thought you were going." I declared, seeing Lenin in front of us.

"I was. . . But I didn't want to leave without saying a few things." Lenin answered back with the same conviction that Eleanor had worn before.

"We can work together, our villages, together we would be better, and our people wouldn't have to suffer as much."

I remained silent, letting him speak his mind; that was the least I could do out of respect for him.

"I know the last thing you would want to do is work with us, but change is in the air, and we can both be a part of it." He smiled, slowly extending his hand out. "So what do you say?"

I slowly looked down at his extended hand.

His words were genuine.

He wanted us to be a part of something special.

There was only one thing I could do now. . . It was to accept his offer.

"I don't want a handshake; I want a treaty." I declared as Lenin's smile grew more expansive, and I nodded.

"We can do that. I'll ensure we have a treaty we can both sign."

"But not just that, to you personally." I looked him right in the eye.

He titled his head, "What is it?"

"I don't like lying, so I'll tell you this now. If danger comes and we must face it, I'll be sure to pick the superior side." I told him, continuing, "I hope you'll understand that. I will always place my people above anything."

A faint smile was plastered onto Lenin's face nodding, "Well. . . I'll assure you then, you'll stick to me for a very long time."

I was unsure whether that was arrogance or confidence in his tone.

Whatever it was, I listed my demands and intentions for him to know, and that was all I was required to do.

I said my peace, but now we must see how far that truly takes us.