Marc continues drawing in the ground and marks two spots on the main road. “Those are some of the narrowest parts of the paths that lead here! We’ve got to barricade the streets and all the houses fast, and if we do it there, we could stop them for some time. With the three two-story buildings right next to that spot, we could try shooting them with bows, while you and your men keep them occupied on close range!”, he suggests excitedly.
“You’re just like your father, do you know that? We don’t have any other great ideas ourselves, so lets give it a shot!”, he declares. The tall man turns around and looks at the plaza, filled with terrified and confused faces, but also some that show anger and hatred. Around them are a couple men carrying weapons and shields. He clears his throat, and puffs up his chest. “ATTENTION! THIS IS YOUR CHIEF SPEAKING!”, he roars with incredible volume. “WE ARE UNDER ATTACK BY WHAT WE ASSUME TO BE BANDITS OF THE PROXIA KINGDOM! THEY’RE NO SOLDIERS, BUT SAVAGES TAKING THE LIVES OF OUR INNOCENT PEOPLE! I KNOW THAT SOME OF YOU ARE SAD, SOME OF YOU ARE CONFUSED, AND MOST OF YOU ARE AFRAID! BUT RIGHT NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THAT!”, he screams. The crowd looks at him, surprised by his words, and whispers spread around. “THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO STAY HERE COWERING! THIS IS THE TIME TO FEEL SOMETHING DIFFERENT! THIS IS THE TIME FOR HATRED! THIS IS THE TIME TO FEEL ANGER! THEY HAVE ATTACKED OUR VILLAGE, AND WE WILL PAY THEM BACK! THERE MIGHT BE DOZENS, MAYBE HUNDREDS OF ENEMIES, BUT WE NUMBER THOUSANDS! SO, EVERY ABLE BODIED, EVERYONE WHO CAN LIVE ON HIS OWN, IT’S TIME TO GET UP!”, he yells at the crowd.
A few people get up and yell back “Yeah!”.
“IT’S TIME TO RAISE YOUR WEAPONS!”, he shouts.
“YEAH!”, the hesitant crowd grows. More and more people get up from the ground, both young and old, male and female, and the one’s remaining sitting start to feel their energy.
“IT’S TIME TO FIGHT!”, he screams out.
“YEAH!”, almost the entire village reciprocates.
“THEN EVERYONE, ALLOW ME TO PRESENT TO YOU OUR PLAN TO STAND VICTORIOUS ABOVE THOSE BASTARDS”, he bawls to his fellow warriors.
The second pillar has almost been defeated. ‘Just a few more hits!’, Lark motivates himself to keep swinging those numb arms of his.
“What’cha doin over there?!”, one of the bandits asks him.
‘That one has to be a caveman’, he thinks as he watches the almost two meter tall giant approaching him with his enourmous club dragging across the ground. ‘If that hits me, I’m a goner’. His chopping accelerates, but the force behind his strikes weakens with every strike. The giant starts running in front of the rest of his group, heading for Lark. ‘Oh crap!’. He tries to walk away, but his axe won’t budge. ‘Seriously, now?!’. He let’s go of the axe, but there’s no way he’ll manage to run away from that caveman. With a huge downwards swing, the giant misses his feet by an inch. He lifts his club, and swing from the side. Lark can barely manage to keep up. Already out of breath, he pours whatever power there’s left in this body to jump backwards. The giant stops chasing him, and watches what his prey does. Lark uses the time to catch his breath for a moment, and then runs into the house to the right side of the road. ‘There’s no way I’m getting past him’, he decides. The main issue with the house he ran into, the biggest part of it is burning.
“Are you so scared you’d rather burn yourself? Come on out, I just want to play a little!”, the caveman suggests jockingly.
Shatter. Something comes flying through the window. And after that something follows lark, stretching out his body, and rolling himself of on top of the burning fire wood on the street.
“Don’t any of you touch him!”, the caveman screams to his fellow savages, who are only a couple meters of by now, while running towards Lark.
Lark pushes himself up slowly with that numb arms of his, and, Thwack!, he rolls to the side as the club hits the ground he was just lying on. He runs for the axe, and swings it out of his resting place right at the giant. Clash! It’s blocked by the giant club. But Lark went for the hit with the axe’s backside, and as it swings back, he stears it into the wooden pillar. With loud creeking, the burning buildings leans over the street. The giant, dumbfounded, looks up at the moving house, and Lark uses that moment to dash past him. As the house colapses, the debris covers the street as well as the giant.
“AHHHH! YOU BASTARD!”, the caveman screams, as the smell of burning flesh fills the air.
“Yara!”, another scream appears behind the smokescreen, but it’s sound is faint, as Lark is already on his way towards the others. ‘Told you I wouldn’t die today! Still, too close for comfort.’
Huff. Huff. Huff. ‘Please let him be at that boulder!’, Lex hopes, running towards it with the last of her stamina. Whirr. Crash. The sounds grow louder. ‘YES!’, she celebrates in her mind, and runs the last few meters until Nathan appears in her sight behind the small hill. She stops, almost collapsing to the ground. “The… village..”, is all she can afford to say, still wheezing heavily.
Nathan pulls up his glasses to his forehead, and gives her his usual, uninterested gaze. “Are the tax collectors back? I am sure I have told you this quite clearly, I do not care.”
Lex slowly manages to catch her breath. “It’s the Proxia Kingdom.. they’re.. atacking us!”
Nathan looks.. surprised? “Did I understand that correctly? The Proxia Kingdom is atacking the village?”, he asks her confusedly.
‘Does he.. actually care?’, Lex wonders. ‘I’ve never seen him show any kind of emotion that clearly.’, she realizes. “That’s right! This isn’t about some tax collectors.. anymore! Those are enemies of our.. home country!”, she tells him.
Nathan looks to the ground, processing the information he has just received. ‘The Proxia Kingdom is attacking us. Why would they do such a thing after almost two hundred years?’, he wonders. ‘Is this really just because I’m supposed to be dead? Are they the ones who payed my squad to eliminate me?’ He breaks into a smile. ‘How stupid. Like a single person was capable of stopping an army, but able to be killed by a few traitors.’. Nathan starts laughing maniacally. ‘So, even the people outside of this forsaken country put the blame on me, huh! HAH! Well, I suppose they at least decided to do something about it! Good for them!’. His laugh grows louder.
