FF Chapter 22

War breaks out in the small town of Sanel, and Alex is caught in the middle.

Chapter 22

      As Alex and his friends walked down the streets, the atmosphere in Sanel began to change. Vendors started to close up shop despite it still being mid-day. People began shutting their doors and windows, and parents hurriedly called in their playing children. Even Indol and Eira noticed the tension in the air.

      Alex stopped in the middle of the road and motioned for everyone else to do the same. They were being watched, hunted. There were two groups; one to their right, one to their left. He cursed himself for leaving his knife back in the library, but he’d gotten tired of leaving it outside all day.

      Frey noticed the threat too. “Are they after Eira?”

      “Doesn’t matter; Frey, get the others out of here. I’ll cover you.” Alex stood his ground. The two groups knew they were spotted, but stayed put.

      “Won’t that leave you to face them all alone?”

      “Not really.” Alex smirked. “They’re not together. If they were they’d have sprung the trap by now. Both sides are waiting for the other to act first.”

      “But that will still leave you alone.” Frey was insistent.

      Alex flashed a reassuring smile “Don’t worry, I can handle it. I’ll meet up with you guys back at the bridge”

      As Frey, Eira, Ana, and Indol left for the bridge, Alex turned to the two groups of stalkers; they hadn’t flinched.

      Alex stepped forward to get a better look. On his left was a large group of regular looking men, he recognized a few of them as men Gordian was talking to, and ones who were giving them dirty looks. On his right was…MALENT! Malent stood beside Whar and the others from the pub. They were a small group but looked tough, and a few had beast marks. All eyes were on Alex. It was then he realized, they weren’t after Eira, they were after HIM!

      After a second to gather his thoughts, Alex had a plan. He quickly dashed towards his left, startling both groups. The men on his left readied themselves for a fight, while Whar led Malent and the rest of his group in a charge to get Alex from behind. Before Alex reached the large group though, he jumped and hastily scaled a nearby building. A few men thought about climbing after him, but before they could act, a wave of Whar’s men crashed into them, and the fighting began.

 

      From his perch on the rooftop, Alex casually watched the fighting below. All he had to do was wait up here until everyone tired out, and then walk back to the school. As the fight below raged, a few champions distinguished themselves from the crowd.

      From the left group a dragonblood emerged, it seemed he was named ‘Sleet’ from all the cheers he heard, flying above the crowd and breathing fire. The red torrent seemed to paralyze Malent, but Whar fired a precise blast directly into the half-dragon’s mouth, sending him sputtering out of the sky, before giving Malent a chastising look.

      Only one other came up to try and challenge Whar, a tall man wearing a metal helmet that covered his face. Activating a beast gift, he multiplied until Whar was facing five men, all wearing masks and brandishing swords.

      Whar readied a blade of his own before confidently announcing “Five weaklings are still just weaklings.”

      Alex got to see only a short display of their heated duel though, as a few men finally climbed or jumped their way onto the roof. Alex backed up as they squared off against him. There were three men, two with beast marks, and one without. One of them readied a sword, only to be stopped by his companion.

      “Are you crazy? We need him alive!”

      “Yeah, but you didn’t have to tell him that.” The other hissed back, jerking his head towards Alex.

      The boy smiled. They needed him alive! Full of confidence, he rushed the trio. Catching them off guard, he managed to disarm one, but got kicked in the back for his trouble. Teetering near the edge, he recovered his balance, and looked at his attackers. All three were smiling confidently. Alex fired a blast from his hand, and one of the trio responded in kind; their shots met midair. His shot overpowered Alex’s, tearing through it and slamming into the boy’s chest, knocking him off the roof.

      Down in the alley, Alex picked himself up. He was faced with a horrible realization; he was in over his head. Looking up at the roof, he saw the three men staring down at him. Terrified, he ran.

      His feet carried him through allies and dusty roads as the riot raged around him. The fighting had poured out from the one courtyard, and now pockets of skirmishes were exploding all over Sanel.

      As he ran a memory flashed through his mind, a painful memory, long since forgotten. In it he was running. To his right and left he saw blurry figures, they were on all fours and sprinting; it was wolves! His lungs ached and his legs felt like stone, yet he still ran from the furry killers. One of them pounced towards him! In a flash of steel and a flurry of hair, the beast was slain in one swing, the rest of its pack soon to follow. His mother had saved him then, but not this time; no one was. Not Uncle Bor, Erald, Lo, Winchester; he needed them, and they weren’t there.

      Panicking, Alex darted into an empty warehouse near the edge of town. He huddled in a corner and looked around. There were three exits he could take to escape; a window on his left, a door in front of him, and a door to his right.

      Not knowing which way to go, he pulled out his cards to ask them, when he remembered something; the last time he’d tried them, they didn’t work. When he tried to show Jack his cards, they failed him; he hadn’t tried them since. His mind willed with questions. What if they don’t work this time? What if I only think they do? Those men could get me, they could KILL me? Those soldiers said they needed me alive, but the other group might not. I-I’m not strong enough to face them. I could die. I don’t wanna die!

      All his confidence shattered; wracked with doubt and indecision, he cowered in the corner and prayed no one would find him.

 

      Whar scanned the battlefield with trained eyes, and didn’t like what he saw. The battle was a disorganized mess, and Alex hadn’t been captured yet. He rallied his men with orders and cries, and the trained soldiers flocked back to their commander. I already have a few men posted near the bridge if he makes a run for it, but we can’t do much with this rabble here. First we scatter them, and then we get the boy. With a battle cry, he activated his beast gift.

      Nicknamed ‘War cry’, his power boosted the strength of those near him by removing their inhibitions and fears. His men no longer feared death, or felt pain; they would fight until their bodies stopped moving. With this power flooding through their veins, Whar commanded his army “ATTACK!”

 

      From his hiding spot, Alex felt something ripple through him, and stumbled to the ground. He clutched his head as the sound of drums clouded his mind. It was steady and strong, like a heartbeat. Then it got faster and faster. His eyes went blurry and he flailed on the ground helplessly. Then his vision went red.

      Alex felt the red disappear from his eyes, as he looked out the window towards a group of men. One word rang through his mind. “Attack!” he obeyed.

      Picking up a nearby metal rod, he brandished it like his Uncle’s wooden staff; they’d trained him how to fight monsters, and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

 

      Evil sped towards Sanel on his black horse. Atop a hill, he paused briefly to observe the skirmish with a spyglass, the messenger that was sent waiting patiently beside him. General Whar was overseeing things nicely; as expected of his right-hand man. Then he saw someone else rampaging across the battlefield. It was a young child, a boy. He wielded a pole as skillfully as Future, and fought with the ferocity and power of a beast. Evil smiled as he watched and, like a spoiled child in a candy store, three words dominated his mind; ‘I want it!’