David

 

 

David sipped his tea and watched from his window as shadowmorths swarmed over Tulipakar. Black veils, billowing, drifting, turning. They’d been at it for hours. It was as if they could sense the battle, smell the blood that was coming. A feast. New recruits. As the sun began to rise, they banded together, a single great black cloud of hissing terror. As if on a signal, they closed in tighter and headed north.

“They’re leaving,” David said. “The soldiers took off a few hours ago.”

“Are you ready to fight?” Gertie asked. She was decked out in brown leather pants, a matching long–sleeve doublet, and boots to her thighs. She wore two bandoliers stuffed with every sort of hand weapon imaginable.

“Is anyone ever ready to fight when there is no chance of winning?”

Garret sat in a chair to put on his boots. He was dressed in similar garb to Gertie, except he had crossbows, swords, and some small explosive devices Slavandria gave him.

“You’re still doubting our resolve?” Garret asked.

David shook his head. “I’m not doubting our willpower or courage, but we cannot defeat that monster out there without Eric or Mirith. That is a fact. If they do not show soon, this battle will be a massacre. All of us will die.”

“That may be true,” Gertie said, “but I intend to kill as many of those tyrants out there who are responsible for killing my parents, my friends, and my family as I can. If we don’t stand up to them, they’ll continue to think they can have whatever they want. They will continue to spread their vileness all over this world. It is time to bring peace.”

“Through war?” David asked.

Garret stood and faced David, vambraces in hand. “We all have our reasons for being here. Mine are similar to Gertie’s. Yours, I believe, is tied to a sacrificial tree. Those knights out there, they fight because they believe in freedom for all, not just for some. They are willing to die for that. What are you willing to die for?”

David stared at the floor. An image of Charlotte formed in his mind. Her smile. Her eyes. The light that would leave this world if she was no longer a part of it. That’s what he would die for. A hundred times over.

He held his arms straight out to his sides. “I’m ready. Put the armor on.”

Garret and Gertie smiled.

It was time for war.