I woke up in a tent. Sunlight hit my eyes and I felt the warmth of a nice cotton bed, soft sheets, and a fluffy pillow encompass my body. I looked down at my arms and they were covered in bandages, my legs were put in some type of cast, and I had a long head-band like bandage wrapped around my head. My arms were basically two white cylinders with all the bandages wrapped around them and I looked like a giant marshmallow man who had just gotten out of a house fire. A nurse, wearing simple white clothing, walked in. She was pretty tall with long legs and smooth white skin. She had waist length white hair and stormy gray eyes as well as very smooth, red lips. I had listened to some of Deven’s fantasies involving nurses–very unwillingly–and I think these were the nurses he was talking about… She looked at me with surprised eyes and immediately motioned for people to come to her, “PATIENT AWAKE, PATIENT AWAKE, PLEASE, I NEED ASSISTANCE,” she walked up towards me and began to ask questions, “how are you feeling? Any nausea, pain, any light-headness?” Light emitted out of her fingertips as she shined the light in my eyes. I spoke with much difficulty,

“um ... .no…can you–can you tell me where Lila is? I want to see her.” She looked me over a little more before nodding. She walked off and Lila burst through the door. She ran up to me and gave me a massive, bone-crushing hug. Aurora also ran through the door and came to my side. Lila grabbed my face and put her lips to mine–giving me the most tender yet aggressive kiss known to man. I smiled in pain and spoke cautiously, “um….hey baby….Don’t get mad but I almost kinda died,” she looked at me and anger flashed into her eyes,

“YEAH, YOU DID. WHERE DID YOU GO? ALL WE HAD TO DO WAS STAY IN THAT TENT AND YOU RAN OFF TO NOWHERE! GEON, WHAT THE FUCK?” Aurora started to pull her away from me,

“Lila stop, he’s had a rough night,” Lila calmed down and took a seat at my bedside. I laughed to myself,

Aurora’s the one calming Lila down… I began to speak, “I went to help out a squad with patrol. They were very nice–they were basically a small family. They had these very kind people…who….who got killed by Teras. I fought him–I fought Teras,” Lila’s eyes went wide and Aurora gave her an I-told-you-so look. I continued speaking, “Yeah, it’s true. I dropped a meteor on him, threw a sun at him, and threw a mountain on him but he didn’t even break a sweat. He put two holes in my chest–it was a pretty awful experience. Did you know it hurts really bad when one of your lungs is missing—who knew?” Lila gingerly touched my bandaged chest while I tried my best to speak, “he said that someone wanted me dead–and they paid him to kill me. He got his money but whoever paid him just got scammed.” Lila gave me some water and Aurora started to speak,

“It’s probably one of the nations we’re at war with,” I looked at her with confusion,

“One of the nations? I thought we only had something with Raga?” Aurora looked at Lila and they both dawned a look of anxiety and fear. Aurora looked at me like I was being carried to my own funeral,

“The Raga spies reached Mevillime. The Ring of nations has officially released a Declaration of War upon the Taegan Empire. Almost a third of the world’s nations are now our enemies, we have conscripted a draft of existing and in-training warriors, the nation is currently preparing to consecrate the Imperial forces this week, and we’ve been drafted as well. Geon, we’re not going back to Eden–we’re not going back home….” I felt my heart–or what was left of it–drop to the deepest pits of my existence,

“We’re gonna fight–fight for our country.”

Evay Maver: As I sat in my very rusty metal chair I began to wonder how things ended up the way they did. I was a pathetic, scrawny, powerless kid just a year ago but now I felt different, looked different, and was just so….different in every single way. But my life hadn’t necessarily gotten better–in fact in some ways it had gotten a lot worse… Hence the reason why I was being interrogated by the Imperial guard…. Jugo stood in front of me and Lela accompanied him as well. He looked at me with a long, cold stare and Lela’s sharp, golden eyes pierced into my very being. I cleared my throat and tried to speak, “Sir, mam, I’m–I’m prepared to tell you anything but there are many things I do not have answers to.” Jugo’s expression didn’t change and Lela’s didn’t either. Jugo finally spoke,

“Go on.” I took a deep breath and continued to talk,

“My powers, my abilities, I don’t really know how they work to an absolute tee. I was born in the country and had my liquor abilities granted to me later on in life–compared to other young warriors–and I had to figure out a lot of things by trial and error. I keep discovering new things that I can do everyday and I’m still trying to figure out the extent of my abilities. Even if I’m not so sure of myself I can tell you one thing for sure–that attack on Evian was done by a foreign power–it was not released by one of us.” Lela’s face filled with confusion,

“We never even suggested the idea that one of you released the attack. Why did you say that?” My heart dropped and adrenaline coursed through my veins. She got me….Why did I say that? I tried to avoid eye contact and felt myself start to squirm. I began to tap my feet uncontrollably, my pupils dilated, sweat rolled down my face, and my breathing quickened. I have to think of something quick…or else something is going to happen. I heard a small laugh go off in the back of my head as Hiem started to speak to me,

“You’re in a bit of trouble, no? It’s funny how you always end up in these situations. It looks like I chose the right person to follow,” I responded inside my head,

“I need you to help me–I really need your help. They’re going to torture me, or kill me, or do something else….I need you please.” Hiem laughed again,

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“You really need to get yourself some better acquaintances, child. First your so-called friends let you get taken by the royal guard, then they do not even search for you, then you find out that they’re not even loyal to you.” My heart dropped,

“What do you mean? They can’t search for me….. They didn’t let me get taken…well….I guess they did…. But they are loyal to me! What are you talking about?”

Hiem laughed, “You didn’t know? In my opinion it was quite obvious but I guess you humans do not see as we do. Savian Yelenta was confirmed to be a traitor for an enemy nation. You humans and your espionage humor me–the idea of spies are not really–”

“Shut the fuck up Hiem….What are you talking about…Savian is our friend. He’s our friend. We got closer to him at the tournament, he was opening up to us, he was becoming one of us. We ate together, trained together, he told me about Emmy. he’s not a traitor.” Hiem spoke with a tone of regret and sorrow,

“Betrayal, a hard emotion to swallow. How do you think your enemies got through your dense defenses, how do you think Eden academy was infiltrated–which it was while you were away–why do you think he was always so reserved when being around you. Did you not see the guilt in his eyes? The sorrow when talking about his so called “friends.” He was always going to leave you–none of the words of advice he spoke to you and none of the moments you shared were ever real. You must accept that.” My eyes began to grow even wider and I began to hyperventilate. Savain? Savian was a traitor…He had fought with us and had done so much for the Taegan empire in his youth but he hadn’t meant any of it. He was living a lie and dragging us all into it…. He was never real–he never cared for us, or truly liked us, or even truly meant anything he had ever said. Hiem spoke again but this time his voice was cold, indifferent, and uncharacteristic just like last time, “You see Evay, they will always leave you. Just like mother and father left you, just like Amie left you, just like all your brothers, sisters, and family left you, they will all leave eventually. Don’t you not get it, you’ve been distracted by the temptations of people and you’ve failed to realize one thing,” I keeled over and put my head in my hands–clawing my hair out like a feral cat.

“You will always be alone–no matter where you go.”

Lela suddenly spoke, “Your heart rate is about 180 beats per minute, your pupils are dilating and you reek of epinephrine and norepinephrine–the hormones your body releases when you lie. You're lying, kid–I can tell.” My eyes grew to the size of saucers and I tried to get up from my chair. Jugo held out his hand and I was thrown back into my seat. I slammed into the metal chair and both the chair–and myself–crashed into the brick wall behind me. A giant bang roared throughout the room as the brick wall behind me shattered and crumbled from the impact of Jugo’s attack. He flashed out of existence and reappeared in front of me in a cloud of dark black and gray smoke. His cold, dark eyes bore into my soul as he spoke to me in a deadly tone,

“Lela has extremely heightened primary senses–touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing–she can tell anyone about anything just by looking at them. If she says you're lying–you’re lying. I don’t know if you somehow tricked the curse of order I put upon you, or if I just didn’t ask the right questions, but I want you to cooperate with us right now or suffer grave consequences.” I couldn’t lie to them–I had no chance of doing anything to protect myself either…..But even if I did tell the truth–it wouldn’t be the truth. I didn’t know why Hiem had forced me to lie and I had no clue what he was trying to tell me or show me. I had lied about what happened at the tournament even if I didn’t want to…I don’t know why I had done it….. I wasn’t trying to save myself and I didn’t lie to save anyone else either. Hiem was doing something, making something out of my situation, and I didn’t know any of his intentions.

But it didn’t really matter anymore. It was all fucked–everything was too fucked. “Hiem, I’ll play your game. Nobody will come for me anyway.”

Jugo spoke again, “was what you said about a foreign power attacking you true, Evay Maver? Was it a lie? Answer with the full truth,” Lela dashed towards me and held one of her very sharp, golden bengals to my throat, “or this room will be painted with your blood.” I began to hyperventilate, my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head, and my hands and legs started to tremble. Jugo spoke again, “answer me,” I tried to move but I couldn’t, “speak child,” I moved my body forward but all I could manage was a small kick of the leg, “ANSWER ME!” Gold’s Veil adorned my body as my hair turned a brilliant shade of white and beautiful ivory and gold robes came adorned my body. I spoke with a hint of maniacal laughter,

“I DIDN’T LIE!” Jugo grabbed my neck and glared at me with intense anger. I spoke in between desperate gasps of air, “I–I–didn’t lie! I–tried to stop the attacker but–but I couldn’t tell you the truth! The attacker–the attacker wasn’t exactly from–from another nation…. He was–was one of our own! Savian Yelenta is a traitor–a spy–to the Taegan people. He has been a spy for all of his living years and his final decision was to make the most of a situation where he was isolated with your Empire’s most talented young warriors! Of course he couldn’t have done that amount of damage himself but used the stadium to his advantage. The stadium has an immense amount of liquor flowing deep underneath the floors in order to provide us with liquor screens–he purposefully targeted those and used some of his own power in order to create that destruction. Do you not believe me? Check any letters you have received or check any messengers which were sent to you! I am telling the truth!” Lela pushed her bengal in deeper into my neck as I felt my jugular pound from the added pressure,

“And you expect me to believe you–” Jugo whipped his head around as a giant golden eagle flew right through the wall and landed on my shoulder. Lela’s eyes went wide as she backed away from me and the eagle. The bird’s sharp golden talons dug into my shoulders and its black obsidian eyes bore straight into Jugo–his owner. Jugo held out his hand and the bird stuck out its talon and dropped him a letter–made of parchment as white as snow. He opened the letter and his expression changed from doubtful to dead-pan serious. He nodded at the eagle and it flew through the wall again in a shimmer of golden light as it disappeared into thin air. He looked at me with a mix of anger, doubt, desperation and regret,

“Evay Maver, I, Jugo, of the Royal guard, with the power invested in me declare you cleared of all suspected charges and offenses put onto you by the Taegan Empire. In some miracle you have told the truth and have cleared yourself of all potential accusations. How you knew that Savain Yelenta was the traitor, how you knew about the leading theory that Yelenta used the liquor technology to his advantage, and why you held this information from us for so long I do not know. But I can not neutralize you now. Evay Maver, come with me.” Gold’s veil disappeared and I tried to stand up but my legs gave out. I tripped and fell onto the floor but Lela pulled me up. She looked at me with pity,

“Jugo, I read the letter. Is it true?” Jugo didn’t look at us or face us. He turned towards the door and stepped outside,

“Evay Maver, your friend Geon Leventen has been critically injured and is near death. The temporary camp near Eden academy is almost all destroyed and the surrounding land is tarnished from Mr. Leventen’s fight with Tears the Butcher. Taegan has officially declared war on Raga and the Ring of Nations has declared war on Taegan. You–along with most of your fellow classmates–will be conscripted to fight for the empire and you will be accompanied by the standard Taegan military forces in battle. Congratulations Evay Maver, you will become a warrior much earlier than you would have ever expected.”