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A true hero

The next few weeks, Darius was buzzing with excitement, and always, despite mothers’ warnings, had Papa's jeweled sword at his side. Then, one morning, Darius looked at his calendar and shouted

“WOOHOO”, accidentally waking the entire home. Now, if you’re wondering if Cassius’ owners had found out about the Opals taking their slave, you are correct, they were suspicious but reckoned that if the Opals had a farm that was constantly failing to produce good crops then they might not be able to sustain another mouth to be fed daily, so they had moved to the capital city, Rancarnis, and started looking for him there. So, the big day arrived, Custerday the 14th, and Darius and Cassius set off on a carriage to the border fort and barracks of Varrackium, and it was a sight to behold, with large turrets rising hundreds of feet into the air, and walls 3 feet thick and made of Charak stone, commonly known as a battle bane. It was huge and built strategically on a hill, so while invaders charged up, defenders charged down. Jaart had already tried to capture this mega-fort, but failed, with casualties of about 20,000 men, and with Varrack’s casualties at 890 men. The carriage stopped at the gates, where many other carriages were parked, all in a neat line, around some tents that were pitched outside. Out of the carriage stepped a short but rather burly boy with blonde hair and a sword at his side just like Darius. Out of another stepped a similar boy, but this time taller, more boys stepped out of their carriages, until, out of one rather lush carriage, stepped a girl, she had brown hair in a bun, and Darius recognized her beauty, and gave her a bow, and said,

“Hail to Princess Veena of Poco.” She gave him a smile and a wave. Which made Darius’ heart skip a beat. He looked into her eyes, and he fell to the ground in a deep bow. Darius was quick to respond, “My name is Darius of Opal. I am from a farm not far from here and am pleased to make your acquaintance.” At that moment a loud and rough voice started to talk.

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“Right, you seven men, and women,” He seemed to scowl when he saw Veena but carried on talking, “are about to become the captains of all nine Black Battalions-” All of the boys gasped and looked at each other in amazement, because, if you didn’t know, the Black battalions were nine troops of elite soldiers that had the Olivian crest burnt into their backs if they lied or ran from a battle, their crests would fade and sting and burn, until a soldier restored valor, by either slaughtering enemies or die doing so. Papa had been a Black battalion captain, so Darius was proud to do what his father had done. The commander walked past each boy and peered at their build, to one boy he said “You wouldn’t survive fighting a mouse, not in your condition anyway, take him to the medical tent” Each boy/girl was drawing their sword when the commander passed, as this was the first step to the crowning of a captain, Darius drew his sword eagerly, and with a blank expression, looked straight, not meeting eyes with anyone. “Hmm, well you have a decent posture, good build, quite muscular, good heavens! You’re a fine man, and I guarantee that one day, you’ll be a true hero.” As the commander walked by, Darius was overwhelmed with joy.

A

In the morning, they all woke up and pulled on their training armour, and went to fortify the barricades. This was an easy task, as they just needed to refill the arrow crates on each tower and battlement, and make sure that your bed was made (they were all given rooms, each had two linen beds, a beer keg with one refill a year, and a weapon rack.) Then they were meant to go on patrol, but they were all called to the gates and were meant to wear their bejewelled armour, only for special occasions. They stood at the entrance, in neat lines, and then drew their swords in perfect sync.

“What in the world is going on?” Muttered Cassius, and just then the sound of marching was heard, and a huge army of men with wings went through the gates and halted, parted in two, and a tall, strong, handsome man came through, wielding a platinum sword with a gold hilt, and wearing silver light armor.

“So, this is the Olivian mega fort? I was expecting some knights to escort us, and some slave girls to bring us food and fresh clothes, and I get some lines of soldiers welcoming us in?” The commander coughed nervously,

“Well, that’s nothing compared to what we have planned for you and your stay.” Darius’ mind suddenly clicked. They were Kararians, men with wings who were both great at riding and sword fighting. Papa had spoken about them before, and how they had helped him when his squadron was ambushed. The commander clapped his hands and a group of women in white dresses came through, with fine wine, jewels, and fine clothing.

“Now this is more like it!” Said the Kararian commander.

As the women whisked the men away into who knows what types of entertainment, the commander turned around and hissed

“You will treat them as kings, understand? We need them”

Darius had no idea what was approaching his life, not a single idea.