Freedoms War

Chapter 7

I walked around back of the tavern. I walked down a maze of small alleys till i reached to the woods. I stopped. Lone in the darkness. I looked up at the full moon. High and bright in the sky, no other stars out this night. It reminded me of what happened here.

I remembered how it all happened. Ever so fresh in my head.

"General, the town is at our mercy, your orders?" A scout stood before me. As i was mounted on my black steed. Dressed in my black armor and my sword at my hip. Behind me a group of five mounted, armored knights, my personal guard, a red cape on each of their backs.

I smiled at the scout. I could see how nervous he was to even address me. He kept shuffling his feet. "Leave them be, we will camp here for the night" i ordered and he nodded his head vigorously before running off to spread the word down into the village.

Looking up to the hill i had once rode down, it looked so foreign looking from the village. The hill stretched for miles but was clear as day do to the signature oak tree at the top of the hill. It was a night very much like this one. I remembered the moment i stood where i was now. At the edge of the town by the trees. I was seeking a place to meditate when i stood here. Before the battle, it weighed heavily on my mind. Victory so close yet a day away.

I surveyed the area carefully, to make sure there was no one else here. I heard footsteps behind me. I turned half way drawing my sword before i spotted her. Then i slid the sword back down. "I thought i told you to wait for me back at camp?" i asked slightly annoyed. Yet it didn't last long. She was beautiful, it made me forget that she didn't listen to me.

She had long blond hair and bright green eyes. She was wearing a white dress that made this moment seem god like. She smiled at me "I know it's hard for you" she said her eyes softening as she stepped closer to me. I sighed looking back at the forest behind me. "Not, hard, that doesn't describe it. It's consuming" i admitted looking down at the luscious grass. The way it swayed in the night breeze. I heard her footsteps as she approached. "You know that armor doesn't do anything for your figure" she informed me a hint of playfulness in her voice. I smiled but did not turn back to look at her. "Suppose you should do something about that" i said smirking as i heard her laugh. She took my hand and walked out into the woods guiding me with her.

We walked just far enough so we would not be heard by anyone. She was unbuckling my armor as i was taking off my belt. It felt different though. Something about the motions didn't seem right. We usually didn't just walk off to have sex. Hell why were we doing this in the woods? I tried to drown out my General side. The side that told me this was wrong. We should be at camp and i should be preparing for tomorrow. The stress of it all was consuming me alive and i just wanted to forget for just a moment. One moment with my lover.

"Even now i still think of it" i said with a sigh as i tossed my belt with my sword to the ground. "Don't think" she whispered in my ear sending chills down my spine. "Just feel" she said and for once in my life i took that to heart. I let down my guard believing all would be alright. Everything was fine, there was no immediate threat on my life, the battlefield long gone. At least for now. For today. I deserved just that.

My chest plate fell down to the floor by my feet on the grass. Now in a white tunic i closed my eyes as she moved my hair over one shoulder and kissed the back of my neck. Then i heard her feet step back. I turned.

Half way turning i felt something tear into my chest. I gasped at the sudden pain. Looking back at my lover i saw on her white dress, specs of blood on it now. It made me confused. Then i felt it again. This time in my shoulder, more blood appeared on her dress. Her eyes had softened as she looked sadly at me. "Wha-" i started then searing pain in my heart cut me off as i fell to my knees. I looked down at my chest. Arrows with silver tips sticking out from my chest. I looked up at her. "Sara" i breathed her name.

"I'm sorry Fang" she whispered stepping back. Before i could ask what she had done another pulled through my flesh. I gasped once more for air that felt on fire. Liquid filling my lungs as i coughed up my own blood.

"Fang?" someone called from behind me snapping me out of it. I turned half expecting arrows to go through my chest. They did not come though. I looked back to see Jordan standing there. not in her armor. Now just in a shirt and pants. "You alright?" she asked and i looked back at the forest. It was silent. No blood on the ground. I looked back at her "Fine" i said but it wasn't convincing.

"Do you ever regret become her General?" she asked leaning against the wall. I looked back to the tree on top of the hill thinking about it. If i was not my mother's general i wouldn't be here. Hell if i wasn't my mother general that meant she never found me. I would still be in the north. Living like a caveman all alone. Believing no other human life existed. My magic wouldn't have spurred to life and i wouldn't be a mass murder... that actually sounds great. Complete solitude.

"I didn't have much of a choice. Either play her general or her daughter... which requires me to marry some poor boy" i mumbled and shifted my weight to my right foot. I glanced at the swaying grass. "I didn't realize we were even going to war when i agreed to be her General, thought i would be sitting back and at the very least doing border patrol on the sea"

I turned back looking at Jordan. "Suppose i should have never came south, maybe your empire wouldn't be having this problem, all the people i killed most likely alive... my mother not having the power to attack anyone she pleases... now if only i could bend time to make that decision" i spoke more to myself then to her. She pitied me. I could see written on her face. Oh how the mighty are never as strong as they seem.

"No use thinking that way" she said surprising me. I thought she'd agree that if i never came here everything would probably be fine. "Weren't you the one telling me not to think negatively? We can't change the past" she said. I inwardly cursed my tipsy side for giving her advice i needed to take.

"You came south to seek connection, who would have known your mother was power hungry? I always thought the Red Queen was just a myth. Far away on an island somewhere... I'm sure she would have done the same thing without you, you just speeded her plans up. Just like how i slow my mother's plans down" she said with an amused smile at the thought.

It was pretty ironic now that i think about it. Two daughters with power hungry mothers. Both choice to pick up the sword rather than being their puppet at home. I definitely needed a another drink.

I raised my hand summoning a glass of champagne into my hand. "To the misfortune" i said summoning a glass floating in air in front of jordan. She took it cautiously looking at the liquid as if she thought it might be poisoned. I really thought we were past that. "To a new start" she said locking her eyes onto mine and raised her glass. The sound of clinking glass filled the silent night. I knocked back the glass drinking it all. Then i turned on my heel throwing the glass at a nearby tree. It surprised me when i saw Jordan's glass also being flown at the tree. It shattered covering the ground around it in shattered glass. I looked back at her quite amused she followed my example.

"In a ten years i hope we can do the same" i said smirking at Jordan. She shrugged "I hope we live to see that day" she mused back and i laughed. She really thought i was gonna die? And why would i let her die? If anything if she did die i'd raise her from the dead just to fuck with her. "You know, death isn't the real end" i told her and she frown. "No" she answered. But to what? "What?" i asked confused what she said no to...

"I'm not in the mood to discuss what the real end is. I'd rather believe it to be death for now" she said. This confused me. She didn't want to know what was the true end? Maybe she feared the truth of it. So i shrugged "As you wish, princess" i said with a small mock bow. She glared like usual. "You know, you're technically a princess too" she declared. I glared right back as she smirked. "Fine, commander and Lady man hands it is" i grumbled as i walked past her walking back to the tavern.