We smile while we march to their capital. All of our actions have lead up to this. Our victories and the deaths of our close friends and family have brought us to this moment.

We are eager to finally face the Cinari one last time, to take control of the south. We should be concealing our movements while walking through the thick forest, but our excitement makes us laugh while we talk loudly about what we will do once this is all over.

I ignore that conversation. I am more interested in the slaughter of their kind.

‘They say in the forge, complacency kills a man.’ Dust walks beside me.

‘Only if the threat is dangerous,’ I chuckle at his remark. ‘I didn’t know you’d joined us, Dust. What brings you along?’

‘I couldn’t watch the fall of the Cinari without my boy. And you need someone to fix your equipment from time to time.’

‘You fighting with us, or going to be watching from the sides?’ I sarcastically say to him.

Dust lightly punches my shoulder. ‘I might be twice as old as you, boy, but I can still flatten your stubborn arse.’

‘That’s precious from you, old man. Are you going to do that by falling onto me?’

‘No!’ He proclaims. ‘I will use my infinite knowledge and experience to fight you in the arena. Might even become the new chief afterwards. To make my new-’

He cuts himself off by tripling over a rock. I help him up, hiding my smile.

We stare at each other, pausing for a moment. Then we laugh hysterically at one another.

‘It’s been awhile since I heard you laugh, Marak.’

‘You’re right, it’s been a while.’

‘It has, indeed it has been.’ Dust sighs. ‘Do you remember life before this? When we were slaves?’

‘How can I forget? Why are you asking?’

‘A lot has changed Marak, especially you. I feel that you are not the man you used to be.’

What is he getting at? He is trying to come to a conclusion about me? Whatever it is, something is off.

‘War does that.’

‘Maybe it does, or maybe it just shows our true colours.’

‘I like to think in our case, it shows us our full potential.’

Dust raises a brow. ‘Like becoming an old fart like me?’

I stop in my tracks to laugh at his joke. ‘You could say that.’

‘If May was here, she would be proud to see her dad smile again.’ Dust’s voice lowers as if he notice he made a mistake. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-’

I raise my hand to cut Dust off. ‘No, it’s okay. Sh… she would’ve liked it up here. To see what the surface looked like. She would’ve thought it was magical.’

‘You still have it?’

‘The buckle?’

Dust nods as he keeps his silence. I reach for my pocket to bring it out.

‘It’s the only thing I have of her. The last gift I would ever give her.’

‘Did she like it at least?’ Dust asks.

‘She loved it. It gave her some hope. That a stupid mouse told me a special person would free our people.’

I smile to hide my sorrow.

‘Sounds like that mouse predicted you,’ Dust chuckles.

‘No. She was meant to free us, not me.’

Dust pauses, staying silent beside me in sympathy to my grief.

‘When this is over, Dust, they will get what they deserve.’

‘What do you mean, boy?’

It’s best that you don’t know, my friend. Oh, I want their flesh ripped apart, their hell-spawn hanging from every tree and post. Their deaths will bring me enjoyment for what they have done.

‘I want them to experience what we suffered. Nothing more,’ I lie.

‘Sure? Regardless, we can’t let them experience our pain forever. Acting like them won’t fix anything, but cause more issues. And we will have to start to think about what out future should be like. Hopefully, a future without slavery.’

‘Compared to what they did to us. I am giving them the luxury of mercy. If they don’t like it, they can pray for their Gods for help.’ I growl as I walk ahead of him.

That is the end of our conversation, friend. I don’t need to go any deeper than that.

The sun sets behind us, we exit the dense forest to emerge onto an open field. This will make a suitable camping spot to give us some much needed rest.

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‘Cinari on the hill!’ One Dog shouts as he points to the figure.

I glare at a single man on his horse on the hill, wearing all black, and looking down at us.

‘Get into formation!’ I yell at my army.

The Dogs frantically line up into their columns. I glance at Alex as he rushes his archers behind the main force.

He seems to have trained my army well, having all the archers behind us to fight off the Cinari. Perhaps his training can serve me well.

Dust lines up next to me with a shield and hammer at the ready. The Cinari stays on the hill, watching us. Not a single Cinari soldier in sight. Is this a trap? Something isn’t right?

‘Left and right flank. Stay behind,’ I command. My orders ring across the battle line as every Dog shouts the same order.

I grab my horn and blow on it once, giving the signal to march forward, our shields aimed high, our spears and swords pointing forwards towards our enemy.

As we move forward, a loud horn blasts through the field.

Hooroom!

We all stop, preparing for some sort of charge.

Hooroom!

It blasts again. We all stand silently. What is that?

A floating rock emerges from behind the hill. The giant floating monstrosity is slick with strange golden carvings on the side. Another emerges. It too blasts its deafening horn.

They both slowly hover towards us. This is going to be easier than I thought.

‘Archers! Bring it down!’ I command, as arrows fly to the sky beast. Only for them to fall in mid-air around the floating rock.

What is that? How is that even possible?

‘Archers! A-’

The second column to my left erupts in flames as a thunderbolt from the black sky beast crashes down on them.

Blood and earth spew from the impact as it rains down death onto us. I stand there, facing the demon as it fires again, decimating another column.

They fire again, and again, ripping us apart and breaking our formation.

The sensible ones run back into the forest, away from the horror. Others stay still, waiting for my orders.

My stomach turns, my heart skipping every time a bolt of lightning crashes against the earth. We can’t win this horror. This is not from this world! What monstrosity have the bastard Cinari made?

‘Everyone, back to the forest!’ I order as a bolt crashes next to me, knocking me to the ground. Next to me, Dust lays there on his stomach, groaning in pain.

‘Dust!’ I bolt towards him. I flip him on onto his back to see if he is alright. The right side of his body is burned from the blast, revealing muscle and charred flesh. He is still alive!

‘I’m getting you out of here, friend.’

I throw away my shield and sword so I can pick him up and place him over my shoulders.

I run to the safety of the forest, watching as the two sky monsters continue to fire their lightning of death upon us.

A blast of thunder explodes next to me, cracking my armour in two while the blast launches me into the air.

I crash onto the hard surface, my body weak and parts of it burnt from the bolt of lightning. Its electric fire burns my flesh, eating and melting the right side of my face. The pain is unbearable, as if my skin is actively being poked and prodded by a hot iron pole.

I lay there dying, spiting out blood that builds up around my throat.

A pathetic end to my quest.

So this is how I die? On this field, watching my people face a similar gruesome fate as my own?

I move my arm to attempt to crawl to Dust’s body. But I my body is too heavy to move. I reach my hand out, trying to scream for his name to see if he is alright. Yet my lungs burns and fills up with my own blood, making me unable to speak to my dearest friend.

The world gets darker, the surrounding screams becoming silent. I want to cry, to pray, anything. But my body buckles into itself, degrading with every painful breath I take.

I’ve failed you, May. I’ve failed us all.