Chapter Thirteen:
The South War
Dmitri
First Day of War: June 6th, 2000
Gwen stood beside the door frame, complete devastation in her eyes as she watched me fasten the buttons of my uniform. I slid my cape over my back and gave myself one last look over before slowly turning to her. Neither of us said a word as I ghosted to her waiting arms. In the doorway of our bedroom I embraced the love of my life, and held her close to my chest as she let out soft sniffles of fear. I kissed her rich black hair softly and rubbed her back in small circles, letting her take her moment before she stood straight and touched my cheek.
Everyone was watching us. Every soul in the castle could feel the gravity of loss we were feeling, and it made nothing but compassion and sympathy fill their souls. I caught her hand and kissed her palm, smiling one last time for her. “Be strong, Dmitri, and know that I will be watching you every step of the way…” she whispered.
“I promise, I’ll be home soon…” I whispered back. She kissed me once more before fixing some of the badges on my coat to procrastinate the moment a second longer. She sighed loudly before nodding, and watched as I slowly turned and walked down the steps.
Archimedes was waiting for me with Mom, who was holding his reins. Zachary and Riley were already on horseback waiting for us, and had said their goodbyes to everyone begrudgingly. Martha was in a plane along with the Air Force, who would implement Stefan’s demolition strategies in just a few moments. Michael was awaiting our orders on what supplies we would need once we made camp, and Gwen was on standby for civilian rescue missions.
I turned to Andrew, Cerelia, and the rest of the staff and gave them a soft salute, which made tears fill their eyes. My mother handed me Archimedes’ reins remorsefully, which made me smile and throw my arms around her. She clutched me back as tightly as she could, and kissed my hair with hands that trembled violently. “I wish you would let me come with you…?”
“This isn’t your battle anymore. I need you to protect everyone here… Show them the queen I know you really are.” I hiccupped. She stepped back and touched my face, as if she were immortalizing my image in her mind before she finally let go and let me climb Archimedes.
Levi slowly walked up to her side, his eyes shimmering with pain. I brought my hand down, which made him reach up and clasp it lovingly. I squeezed his back as he sighed morosely. “Prove to Alexei that you are the men we raised you to be…” he said to Riley and I, with nothing but pride in his voice. We nodded to our parents, saluted the castle, then followed Zachary down the bridge and to The South.
╬
“Dear God…” Riley gasped as he, Zachary, and I lead our army into The South.
Armageddon looked as if it had struck the poor country.
Everything in the space between the borders of The South and The Peace Zone was utterly decimated. Buildings sizzled and burned, and roofs caved in from the weight of soot. Children’s toys and clothing scattered the pavement, and sobs from broken and destroyed evacuating citizens echoed through the streets. The horses neighed softly to one another in fear as we made our way to the castle, which was dark and cold against the background of a bomb decimated battlefield in the far distance. “Look at all the destruction…” I whispered.
“Where is the royal family?” Zachary asked, coming up beside us.
“On their way to The North; I ordered them to be kept there until this is done.” Riley replied. We made our way through the last town that separated The South and The Peace Zone, where bombs could be heard going off in the distance.
Riley nodded to me stiffly. “When we reach the battleground,” I called over the howling winds, “Weapons free! Obliterate every single soldier you can get your sword through!”
“Yes, sir!” Everyone obediently boomed back.
“Are we driving them out, or herding and murdering?” Malcolm asked.
“Depends how big their numbers are; I’d like to herd and murder, but we may not have that capability just yet. Our main focus is to drive them out of the city.” Riley replied.
“Dmitri, Riley, Zachary, do you copy?” Stefan asked through our small headsets.
“Loud and clear.”
“We’ve begun sending bombs to the northern corner of the battlefield, where they seem to be spewing from. The middle and front are overrun, though, so we’re letting you handle it.”
“Roger that; good work Stefan.” Riley replied.
The bombs grew louder as we finally reached the cliffside overlooking the chaos; and chaos it was. Smoke filled the air, clouding out the sun and making the sky grey. Heat from the fires bounced off our armor, and made the damp, humid air even muggier. Bodies, were everywhere. Men, women, children.
It was the true definition of horror.
“There they are…” I menacingly hissed, pointing my sword to the massive group. In my head, I guessed around three thousand soldiers were present at this moment, and knew that if we worked quickly enough, we could mow them down. Thousands of South soldiers were battling off the Satan spawns, and their screams of murder enveloped us.
“You know your job! Obliterate their army and push them back to the northern corner! Fight for your country, and show your worth!” Riley boomed over the destruction. Archimedes neighed loudly as we rocketed down the hill, and as soon as I came in contact with my first soldier, I wiped his head clean off his shoulders, which ignited the bloody fight.
The North charged onto the field like true titans, and bulldozed every single person in our path. Our green uniforms converged on the red so much so that the only red seen was blood that we spilled. The West were so shocked by our attack that they began to panic, which made our jobs even easier. Screams grew louder, horses yelled in fear, and men dropped like flies. The South army took a moment to back off as we pushed our way in, decapitating everything and everyone in our path. Riley and I mowed down soldiers emotionlessly, barreling further and further into the smoke with pure determination rocking our bones.
“Someone find me Serena!” Riley called, slicing a man right in half with one swift swipe.
“Push them back! Push them back!” The North chanted powerfully.
“There’s Serena!” Jordan called over the sounds of swords smashing together.
“I’ll go after her! Keep pushing forward!” I yelled as Archimedes darted into the flames. She was on her own horse, her uniform torn and covered in soot as she tore through man after man before her. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in days, and was on the verge of losing this battle. Archimedes darted up and slammed his head wildly into another horse, who screamed and stumbled backwards. I slashed my sword through its riders neck, finishing off the last of the group as she gasped in relief.
“Get your men back to the camp; Riley and I will lead The North in!” I barked.
“I have never been happier to see your beautiful face!” She bawled, grateful tears in her eyes as she powerfully yelled commands to The South. The broken and defeated men and women retreated, crying thanks and prayers to God as The North viciously entered the battlefield.
Archimedes knew damn well that we were not taking part in an ordinary mission, and transformed into the beautiful war horse I had trained him to be. Any solider I couldn’t see was met by a blow to the head from my horse, who barley flinched as he dominated men in his path. As long as I fought the color red he knew which men were enemies and which weren’t, which made him the best battle companion I could ask for. He and I rode powerfully through the field, soaked in blood and sweat, but refusing to go down until we took our last breaths. Within an hour, we easily had torn through fifty soldiers, fifty-one counting the one that fell before Archimedes and received a hoof to the head for it.
Our headsets buzzed occasionally as Stefan told all of the higher ups where his next attacks would fall, and in the background, I could hear everyone watching discussing each of our movements. Ramah and Gwen were using clairvoyance to project images of the battlefield from multiple angles, as well as keeping eyes on Riley, Zachary, and I at all times during the fight. By the time I made my way back around to find either one of them, I was met with a sight I didn’t think I would in a thousand years.
Riley was the definition of true evil. I had never seen such darkness in my brother’s face, but at this moment, he was a monster. Mercilessly murdering everything in his path, he charged through the field to where Walter was leading his small pack of angry wolves, and when he saw me riding towards him, a lightbulb flicked in his head. “Dmitri! Go for Walter!” He screamed, darting forward into the opening he had created.
“Get him off his horse!” I barked back as we slaughtered the little group within seconds, leaving Walter utterly alone and panicking to find an escape.
“Snap his neck the moment I do!” Riley jumped off his horse and grabbed Walter’s hair on the way down, which ripped him backwards. Walter yelled in shock as Riley slammed him to the ground and held him still.
“Look who it is…?! The West Kingdom’s sunshine boys!” Walter cackled, though fear oozed from his body as I approached. His flat brown eyes burned with fear and rage; “If you kill me now, Alexei will hunt you down and unmercifully murder you…?!” He hissed.
“Well, this is a reminder to your king, then. I'm from The North, and we don’t play nice…” I snapped his neck, pure anger and murder coursing through my veins as his head flopped backwards, and his body collapsed to the ground. Thousands of happy screams echoed through our headsets from the shocked and amazed North. The last hundred or so West soldiers cried out in horror at the death of their Captain, and, realizing they had failed, began to retreat.
But Riley was not having that; no, not at all.
“NO WEST SOLDIER WHO HAS WALKED THIS FIELD TODAY SHALL LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER!” Riley screamed triumphantly, pulling me back onto my horse before we rode to decimate the remaining men before they had the chance to return home.
╬
By midnight, The West had finally been pushed into the northern corner of the country, where they retreated after taking such a heavy blow. Of the three thousand or so we were met with on the field, over twenty-nine hundred were slaughtered, and the remaining hundred or so were too traumatized to continue fighting. It was one of the longest fights I had personally taken part in in years, but the gratification that we had momentarily saved The South from its demise was well worth it.
The North finally retreated back to The South Castle, where Serena automatically had people start treating the wounded and doing body counts. “We’ll set up camp here tonight. We should have a day or two to recover while The West catch their bearings, so we have a good night sleep before moving up to the northern corner! All of you; take advantage of this time and rest. You have done myself and your country proud today, and we cannot thank you enough for your services!” Zachary called to The North Army.
He was met by a respectful, “Yes, sir…” before the camp erupted in horse neighs.
Riley and I met up a moment after, checked in with Zachary, then mopped across the camp grounds to a tent Serena had thankfully set up for us. I collapsed onto a sleeping bag and moaned painfully, pulling my aching legs up to my chest to decompress. “Good lord, what a horrible battle…” he whispered, sitting beside me and pulling out a flask of whiskey as he combed his sweat drenched hair back.
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“Tell me about it…”
“What’s the damage on The South army?” He offered me the flask, which I took happily.
“Out of thirty-six thousand, they lost about fifteen hundred in under a day. Civilian counts are brutal with three hundred and forty seven known to be dead.”
“I can’t believe it…”
“This was worse than any of us had ever expected. Joshua has never stooped as low as to kill children, but now that he has, this war has truly taken a turn for the worse…” I opened the tent and peered out to see Serena sitting on the steps of the castle with her head in her lap. “Riley, get something to eat and rest; I have to go talk to Serena.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” he scoffed as I walked out into the damp summer air.
I limped to Serena and numbly sat beside her before rubbing her back reassuringly. She let out a soft sob of defeat, and began to tremble with utter sadness. “We’ve lost so many precious lives…” She hiccuped morosely.
“I know, Serena, I know…” I sighed painfully.
“We would have been slaughtered if you didn’t come when you did!” She bawled, throwing her arms around me to belt out sharp sobs until she couldn’t breathe.
“We left as soon as we heard what was happening; we would never let anything happen to you or this country. I'm so sorry we couldn’t be here sooner…?”
“Don’t apologize, don’t ever apologize. Your army saved not only our army’s lives, but my own. I will never be able to thank you enough for that…” she paused, then wiped her eyes, “What do we do now?” She whimpered.
“The Great Captain of The South Army asking me for advice? How demeaning!” I cried.
She broke into laughter, punching my arm as she shook her head, “Says the man who led The North in swords blazing!”
“I may have gotten caught up in the moment,” I chuckled as she smirked sadly.
“I seriously can’t make any clear decisions right now. I’ve never felt this lost…”
“Grief is a bitch, isn’t it?”
“My poor citizens; all of those innocent lives…?”
“The best thing we can do to avenge them, is end this war.”
She turned to me, her eyes watering, “You feel it too, don’t you? The unbearable grief?”
“They’re my citizens as well, Serena. Whether I live in The West or not, I'm still a prince, and every civilian life in England is one I am meant to protect.”
“I cannot believe you killed Walter…” She whispered finally. “Part of me thinks his death was a setup; it was too easy. Maybe Joshua meant to get rid of him so Maxwell can take over? Unfortunately, we may never know, so we’ll have to make do with what we can. It must have felt amazing, though!” When she turned to me excitedly and saw the grief on my face, her own fell into sorrow. “I, Dmitri, I’m so sorry…?”
“You did nothing wrong. You’re right, it felt absolutely incredible; and that’s what scares me.” She blinked as I buried my face into my hands. “You will never understand how much pleasure I derive from killing those men…” I began, muffled by my skin, “and yet, they’re the people I grew up with…”
“They are the people who tortured you, Dmitri. You did not grow up with them. The person you grew up with is in that tent, waiting for you to go and eat dinner while you talk about girls and whiskey that I can smell you’ve already begun to drink. You and your brother are the only family you have, and you two have fought so long to finally have this day.”
“I'm not just fighting for revenge anymore. I'm fighting, because I found people that I love…” I fished Gwen’s locket out from under my shirt, popped the latch, and smiled weakly at the picture inside, “These four morons are waiting for me to come home, and I will not fail them, no matter how hard the fight becomes.”
She giggled adorably and pinched my cheek, “It’s an amazing feeling, having something to live for, isn’t it? That confidence will keep you alive, Dmitri.”
I slowly flicked my eyes down to her, deadpan, “It’s, confusing, admittedly.”
“At times, yes, it truly is, but relish in the fact you found people you trust and confide in. Those smiles will become the only light in your tunnel of darkness, so don’t ever let go of them…” she paused, then giggled, “Hey, if you decide you want to get hitched after this, let me know. I still have that ring your mother gave me when we were kids.”
“Ring? What ring?”
“You know, the one I used to steal all the time! I constantly was playing dress up with it, and even though Adelaide scolded me for recklessly toying with such fine jewelry, Morgan always told me that as long as I was having fun she didn’t care…” she smirked sadly, “It’s the one thing I always kept close, no matter what. It served as a reminder that not everyone in The West was a horrid monster.”
“Gee, thanks!” I spat, which made her giggle hysterically.
She peeked at the picture in my locket and smiled warmly to herself, “When we get home, I am going to tell Stefan I love him, and make him love me even if it kills him.”
“You really are a connoisseur of romance; how have you been single so long?” I teased before we shared a good laugh, hug, and a pleasant set of parting words for the night.
Day Thirty-Nine of War: July 15th, 2000
“Left!”
“Right!”
“Behind you!” Riley and I shouted back and forth as a group ganged up on us.
“Right front!” He turned and cut into the soldier, which made his head fly off his body, and blood soak Riley’s face. I gagged as I swung and struck another one, but Riley looked so happy I was expecting him to lick the blood off his skin.
“Where’s Jordan and Mitchell!?” I called over the bloodshed.
“Right; still alive!” He retorted. We had been fighting for sixteen hours, and the darkness of the hot July night was making it difficult to see those around us. Finally, a West Commander called for a retreat. We usually would chase after the stragglers, but our army was so beaten down and exhausted that we took advantage of the break.
“Regroup!” Riley barked to the moaning men left on the field. We tapped the horses to a steady walk as we moved back to the tents, watching as the injured soldiers were brought into the camps; the ones who were uninjured, like us, dragged ourselves to our beds like zombies. “Clean your face off; you look like a bloody animal.” I scoffed to Riley, who chuckled and moved to the makeshift sink and mirror. I slowly flopped down into my cot, my sore arms feeling like jelly in their sleeves, as I slid an aching limb over my face and sighed morosely.
Riley popped some medication before laying back on his own numbly, “We need to go home and get a supply drop in. It’s not going to be long before the smoke starts to affect everyone. You should lead a team; Serena and I can handle it with your absence.”
“Like hell I’m leaving you,” I barked from underneath my arm.
“Dmitri, I’ll be ok…?”
“We’ll talk about it in the morning.” I snapped over him.
“I suppose so. Did, you wish Gwen a happy birthday?” he tried hesitantly.
My soul grew cold, and I clenched the rail of my cot hard, “Yes, I did. She cried for an hour straight, yet still tried to convince me that she was ok. I was supposed to be there. I was supposed to wake her up bright and early, and spend the entire day making her feel like a queen. Yet here I am, lying on a metal bed underneath a sheet, covered in blood…” I trailed off, because it became literally painful to continue. Riley sighed loudly as I slid my arms behind my head and stared into the light of the lantern above us.
An awkward silence filled the space before the tent opened, making us both jump slightly. “Sorry boys; one, two, see you in the morning…” Jordan said, scrolling down our names on his clipboard, “Forty-eight thousand, two-hundred-twenty-seven!” he called as he moved on.
“I thought we were the last tent?” Riley croaked in horror.
“Fuck…” I breathed.
Day Seventy-Six of War: August 23rd, 2000
While taking on a group of seventeen soldiers, Archimedes and I were split. He would have had a sword in his throat had not told him to run, and I would much rather fight on foot than lose my horse. I could hear him in the distance desperately trying to find me in the massive crowd; his heartbroken neighs filled the air and tortured my soul. I sliced through soldier after soldier, trying to find an opening, as the grey sky turned black. I knew what that meant, so my mission changed from trying to escape, to finding any stragglers from my own army.
A few feet in front of me Molly had her own group, and was valiantly swinging her weapon through every throat and chest she could. She became my target, and when I finally was free from my own group, I bolted full speed towards her. “YOU NEED TO MOVE, NOW!?” I screamed bloody murder over the sound of West planes flying overhead.
She heard the engines just as the bombs began to drop, which made her gasp in horror and fall back. I grabbed her coat and ripped her back towards the tree line, trying to forge a path through the bodies and soldiers before us. “LOOK OUT?!” She cried as a shell plummeted towards the earth. There was no way we both would make it out at this rate, and I was not the only one aware of that crippling reality.
She took a deep breath, summoned every ounce of her courage, then grabbed my waist and threw me towards an opening on the right side. I yelped as I spun out and skidded across the wet grass, where I crashed into a bomb destroyed truck. As soon as she knew I was safe, she began her desperate attempt to join me. I immediately realized what she had done, and tried to get up and help, but my shirt sleeve got snagged on broken glass. A terrified cry escaped my lips as I tried to wrench myself free before turning in time to see the shell slam violently into the ground. I screamed her name at the top of my lungs, but it was far too late.
The field turned white.
I felt what was equivalent to a truck slamming into my chest before Molly’s body bounced like a beachball across the ground. I was already screaming for Riley, Serena, Jordan; anyone who was close enough for help. Our headsets were buzzing with the horrified cries of the teams watching us back home, and Michael, who had been covering a shift, began desperately trying to find where she had landed. Little did he know that for the six seconds it took for the smoke to clear, Molly was still airborne. She finally made contact with the ground, and hit the grass with a deafening crunch as, unknown to me at the time, her back snapped.
I heard the sound and whimpered in horror as Serena and her team bolted up the hillside to free me. I was bawling for her to find Molly as Jordan and Mitchell split to scour the field. Jordan rounded the corner and finally caught sight of her, and yelled out to Serena where he was before jumping off his horse and darting to Molly’s side. I didn’t realize just how far she had flown until Serena yelled out coordinates to a rescue truck that happened to be picking up soldiers nearby.
In the background, the bombs were fading off as Stefan sent his own team in, with Martha leading them through the field overhead and back to the northern corner. It was a relief to know we at least wouldn’t have to deal with that for a moment. Jordan slid on his knees and hesitantly looked Molly over, his breaths escaping in hushed gasps at the amount of blood pouring out of her. “Is she alive?!” Serena cried as she and I rode up with the rest of the team.
“Um, barely!?” He yelled back.
I jumped off Serena’s horse while it was still in motion despite her efforts, caught my bearings, then bolted across the wet landscape. When I reached Molly’s side, terror constricted around my lungs and squeezed them violently. Her body was so numb that the only thing she could move was her fingertips, which twitched creepily. Blood cascaded down the sides of her face, slipped from the corners of her mouth, and snaked down her nose over her lips.
I went to work wordlessly wrapping my ripped shirt sleeves over gashes and wounds across her neck and face, with tears that spilled over mine and my comrades soot covered faces. “Do not die on me… Please, do not die on me…!” I stammered softly to her. “Nobody move her until the truck comes! Mitchell: scout ahead and get us a place in line at the medical bay!”
“On it!” He called before disappearing through the smoke.
“Molly, can you hear me…?” I bawled desperately as I delicately slid my fingers through her twitching ones. She summoned every single ounce of her remaining strength and barely squeezed my hand back, but it was enough for me to feel. I gasped in pure relief, and held her hand in both of mine as I prayed under my breath. “You fucking moron… You absolute, fucking moron…” I hiccuped.
A breathy laugh of a gasp escaped her lips, which made me cry harder, “Kill Alexei Mortimer… that… son of a bitch…” she hacked.
“We’re going to kill him together, ok…?! Molly…? MOLLY?!” I tried as her smile slowly faded. I felt her pulse fade under my fingertips, and when it finally stopped, my entire body froze in absolute horror.
“Trucks here!” Jordan barked before darting out into the open and waving his arms. Camilla, Xavier, Remi, and two other South soldiers headed to us with a gurney; Xavier whipped out a stethoscope and began checking for her pulse. Serena knew damn well what he would find, and already put her arms around me to start pulling me away. I fought against her attempts, blinded by denial and anguish. Xavier slowly set the stethoscope down and shook his head, which made a gasp claw from my chest.
“Come on, honey… there’s nothing more we can do…” she breathed.
“No… Molly…?” I whimpered as Camilla laid a blanket over our dead friend’s body. They lifted her, and as they did, the sound of her broken bones crunching rung through our ears. Everyone in the group from The North had tears running down their faces as they carried Molly to the truck and slid her into a slot above another fallen hero. “Molly… Molly…!” I sobbed weakly as Xavier slammed the doors shut and nodded to Serena before wiping his eyes and getting in with the others.
“Riley… please meet us in sector four…” Serena calmly said in her headset, “I need someone to escort Dmitri back to camp…”
“What happened!?” He snapped in fear.
Jordan and Serena turned to see me staring at the pool of blood Molly once laid in, which made Serena sigh painfully. “He’s fine… but he needs a break for today…” was all she said.