Fade [On Hold]

Chapter 9- Siva Blaze

We reached the next city by dawn, arriving with the first rays of the sun. A string of curses was muttered below my breath; Dylan sunburnt by our flight through the desert so badly that it was beyond my repair. I didn’t care much; I was starting to get real sick of him anyway, so hopefully he would just decide it was pointless to carry on and would stay here.

It probably wouldn’t happen, but one could dream.

It took me longer to notice we were at Rockfell than I’d like to admit, but once I did realize I set about preparing battle speeches. We had been set back quite a bit by the attack in the desert and it was time to get back down to business. There was only so much time left.

I sent Dylan off to speak to the Mayor and alert him of my presence while I laid out a map of the Society in the apartment I had haphazardly rented when we arrived. I had bought the map itself from a vendor on the way in, and now I took the time to look over the area. There were twenty-three strongholds that we needed to take before moving on to the capital.

Flagging the especially important places to wipeout, I made a note of names and dates, forming a distinct plan that could be changed if necessary. I didn’t want something to cling to; I wanted something to use and abuse. I needed to be ready to do anything, to sink to any level, to win, because now it was personal.

They had killed my family and friends; destroyed my home. They hit me while I was down, and now I was going to rip them to shreds.

Dylan returned with the news that the Mayor would love to hear my battle speech. Finally, something is going right for us. I thought happily. Things were smoothing out now, and I was sure our position would rapidly increase from here. We just needed to increase our numbers to get back on top, and here I was with the opportunity sitting obediently in my lap.

I could be mean,

I could be angry,

You know I could be just like you.

With a general idea of what I wanted to say, I got myself prepared to speak in front of a group- which means I brushed my hair and teeth, put on some makeup, the average girl things. The kind of things you wouldn’t expect from a warmonger. However I wasn’t very good at living up to people’s expectations, so who really cared.

I put my hair up in a ponytail and rolled up my maps, putting them into my bag. Looking at it I found it kind of pathetic that all of my worldly belongings could fit in one sack, especially because of the fact I was trying to destroy the Society. I had no equipment, and I had no real plan. Not yet anyway, but in my brain the gears were turning wildly.

It only took me a few minutes to get to the town hall.

After a little more prep, I finally felt ready and approached the podium they had set up for me. Several thousand faces watched silently as I did so, judging me; sizing me up. I can feel them deciding whether or not they’ll follow me into war. I was thrown, however, by the amount of faces looking at me with respect.

I took a deep breath and began. “I know you expected more, a bigger army- a better leader. Well I’m sorry. We were attacked in the desert; the Society dropped a bomb on us. Literally. My friend Dylan is the only other survivor to my knowledge. Yet that’s not very important. It’s in the past, we can’t change it as cruel as that may sound.”

“I’m here to ask you for help. I ask you to join me. You won’t be forced, but don’t you think it would be worth the risk of dying to unshackle your family? Is it not worth dying to get your family to a better place; a place where they need not worry about where they might get their next meal or what’ll happen when they get sick? A place where everyone is fed and healthy?”