Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Forty One

Night had fallen in Chroma. And sure as they expected, the villagers and soldiers watched as the Tokens came with their torches, getting closer and closer to the village. Well, most of the villagers watched. Darsa watched Iris, instead, who looked determined as she stood in wait for the enemies to arrive. In her mind, Darsa wondered what had made Iris choose such a dangerous path.

She didn't have time to form an opinion.

The Tokens were swift-moving. They stampeded past the destroyed gates of Chroma like angry elephants. The general could tell that they were ready to burn what was left of the town... but he could also tell that they were surprised. Surprised at the soldiers that stood within the villager's midst.

"Come and get us, you rat-filth!" Zayn heard Darsa scream to his left. He wanted to shake his head at her, but instead, kept his face level and his eyes on the enemies. If they were going to win, they were going to have to focus. He knew that.

As soon as they were in range of his arm, Zayn began to swing his sword. There were many of them. The villager that he had spoken to had miscalculated. There were about thirty five of them rather than twenty five. It might not have made such a difference... if there weren't so few of their men there.

There were about four of them that charged Zayn at the beginning. They all had their blades pointed outward as if they planned to concurrently skewer him. Yet, they didn't. With the most finesse the Tokens had ever seen, Zayn sliced his sword through the air... knocking all of their blades to the side. Their surprise at his skill and strength made them falter slightly and gave him leverage to make the very first kill of the night. With a mighty swing of the general's sword, the head of the Token thudded to the ground. Disgusting? Yes. Necessary? Also yes.

That just enraged the other three Tokens around him further, and they began to fight with much more vigor. It was overwhelming. Quickly, Zayn grabbed the pommel of his weapon with both hands and cracked it against one's skull. The Token staggered backwards... but Zayn did not go for the kill. Not yet. He knew that if he was to win, he would have to face them one at a time. He sent the next Token to the ground with his fist.

Now that there was only one that had his wits about him. The general knew he would have to be quick. After parrying a blow, Zayn pulled out his shield and slammed it into his opponent. The Token did not seem to be effected too much and tried to stab General Zayn again. However, Zayn caught the Token's blade with his own. Now, it was a battle of force. Zayn began to push against the Token's blade with all of his might. The enemy faltered. The general was too strong.

As soon as Zayn pushed his opponent's sword away, he used his own to stab the man right through the gut. Quickly, the general, with his foot, pushed the dead man off his blade and readied himself to fight the two that he had stunned. The one that he had punched was up first. Zayn couldn't help but to notice that his nose was now crooked... not to mention terribly bloody. With a snarl, the injured Token went against the Eldian general.

Even though he was hurt, the man still put up a good fight. The general noticed how hard the Token's blows were hitting his shield. Even so, hits on Zayn's shield did nothing. The man could not seem to land a hit on Zayn himself, as Zayn wielded the shield flawlessly enough to block.

The Token tried hitting Zayn once more, but missed. Zayn side-stepped as quick as a cat. Even though he knew that Iris would've been faster, the general was still proud of how swiftly he'd been able to dodge the blow. Immediately, he noticed that the Token had swung too powerfully. His enemy's body stumbled from the force of the miss. Zayn bashed the man with his shield in the ridge of his nose.