LOST WARRIORS (ONGOING)

Is it again a dream? King Henry pinched himself and realized it's not. He could still feel the unbearable heat all over him. The fire spread very fast, bed, curtains, and wooden furniture already caught fire. He was putting all scattered pieces together in his mind.

'Why-why did this all start? And why is nobody coming to save me? They should have come and saved me by now. Could it be that the enemy has already entered the palace and killed them? No-no, I am just overthinking.'

All of these were going through King Henry's subconscious mind. But suddenly, he got his consciousness back by Massimo's loud voice.

"You must be thinking you have made a great mistake by capturing me. But you are destined to die by my hand. Though, you will live longer than this if you didn't. But you must be wondering also why I choose fire-flare to kill you? Your atrocious bastard father also killed my Mom in this same way. She was burned alive. Your father showed no mercy, and neither will I." Massimo gave a painful smile.

"I will not die as long as I breathe, silly boy!" Saying this, Henry pulled out a sword which was hanging from the wall. Without waiting at all, he rushed towards him with that sword.

"It doesn't matter now. I have already accepted my death. I am only living all these years only to avenge my parents' death. But as it's over, there's no need for me to live more. You will be dead after some moments. It's a great relief." Massimo smiled and closed his eyes. Then stretched out his arms.

Fire already came nearer and it was only a matter of time they would all die. Henry had already come closer to Massimo with his sword. He swung his sword towards Massimo's neck.

Simultaneously, two incidents happened in a row. And the distance between them was so small that none of them could react.

Sioux opened the door of Henry's room and shouted "Massimo!!!!"

Then when King Henry was about to slash Massimo's head, another incident happened which he could not even dream of.

Countless arrows came rushing towards the king from different directions within a fraction of seconds, one piercing through his eye. The King wailed loudly and began to squirm on the ground. The sword had already fallen from his hand. Arrows were everywhere in his body from top to bottom, not remaining a single part. The King was screaming so loudly that it could be heard from yards away.

Massimo had his eyes closed all this time. He couldn't understand what happened right then. He opened his eyes and saw the King was fallen in the ground yammering. Then before he could react, Sioux grabbed his hand and started taking him out of the palace. He ordered his men to follow him.

The more they moved outward the more they could see the dead and bloody bodies of the tursian army.

Massimo asked,"Is the King dead?"

"He is not supposed to live after getting pierced by those many arrows." Sioux replied. After saying this, he started whistling slowly.

"How did you manage to come so quickly?" Massimo asked in a devastated voice.

"Adam told us that you have been captured by King Henry. So we summon our villagemen and tribal warriors as much as possible. Why do you think they all come at once? They all loved your parents when they were alive. They both were so kind, helpful, and generous. When they come to know you are their child, they gather whatever they can and rage forward to save you, no matter what cost they have to pay for it."

Massimo hadn't noticed that long. After hearing that, he regained consciousness and looked around to see countless villagers following them. They came to save him. Until then, he thought he was just a burden for the world. Nobody would care if he was alive or not. But now seeing this, his eyes glistened with tears. He thought,"I do have avenge my parents but if they were not here, I would be dead by now. They still remember my parents' after almost 11 years! I am proud of you Mom and Dad." Massimo wiped his eyes, so nobody could see that his eyes were watery.

He asked,"Where is Adam? I can't see him."

"He told us to go and save you, he would be fine. He fought with the guards and soldiers outside all alone. He has guts I must say. Massimo, you are so lucky to have them as your friends. All of them have a golden heart." Sioux said with a smile.

Massimo saw Adam while descending the stairs. He was panting after fighting so long all alone. Massimo saw, there were almost a dozen of soldiers dead or half dead at the entrance of the palace, and they all were supposed to be killed by Adam.

Massimo thought,'He took them down all alone! Pretty Impressive I must say. They all were experienced and well trained. During war time, the best and most experienced ones are given the duty of protecting the palace and of course the King and his family.'

"I took all of them down, but unfortunately one of them escaped. I tried but he jumped to the River and swam away. I made him severely injured though. He shouldn't have gone way further with such physical condition. We will catch him before tomorrow." Adam gasped.

"What?! He must have gone to the battlefield to tell their Commander about this. They will come soon. We must leave this area immediately." Sioux replied.

"On Canon attack their estimated loss is almost 30%. And we have also wiped out the soldiers of the entire palace area. The King is now dead. Their defeat is certain now or later. They have no choice. If their Commander is clever, he will surrender today or tomorrow to save unnecessary bloodshed." Adam said.

"You are not wrong. But I think their ally nation will declare war against Barren as Henry is dead. We have to predict the consequences to be prepared." Sioux said.

The Sun was about to set. All of them were so tired that they had to take a rest for a while. They sat down under a huge tree.

Adam was sitting with his hand behind his head. He said,"We are away from our houses as well as the kingdom for about a month. The atmosphere of war is much lighter now. We should return to our nation. What do you think, Massimo?" Saying this he looked at Massimo and found that he was already asleep. And why shouldn't he? These few days that have been pushed on the poor. His indomitableness kept him giddy. His demeanor is so mature that sometimes one forgets that he is only a 12-year-old boy.

(An hour later)

Adam woke up and saw that the Sun had set down already. But it was a full moon night, so looking further was no big deal. He found that Massimo, most of the villagers, tribal warriors were still asleep. He found that Sioux and some other men were awake and gazing at the stars intently. It struck him as strange and wonderful how so many grown-up warriors could become child-like just by looking at the stars in the sky. It cannot be realized now how they entered the palace so long ago and fought the king and his skilled army and defeated them.

Very impressive, isn't it?

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Massimo's hand on his back.

"We should move to the Sibestia Forest. Mike, Lucifer and Emma must be very anxious." Massimo said with a soft voice.

"Hmm. Let's go." Adam said while standing up.

Gathering all of them, they started advancing towards the East, to Sibestia Forest.

Celestine Sea Port (3 days before)

As per their previous discussions, three friends Orin, Brynn and Rhea met together in front of the restaurant.

"Have you managed it all?" Brynn asked.

"Ofcourse, we will leave in three days. I have arranged secret dealers who will supply resources so we will not be revealed directly and remain behind the shadows." Orin replied.

"Come to the point. What do we have to do?" Rhea asked.

"What do you mean?" Orin was confused about what she was asking about.

"I mean money. How much do we have to pay for this?" Rhea replied.

"Yes, that's why I called you today for the final discussion. But let's go to the rivershore. I will talk about it while walking through." Orin pointed towards the rivershore.

Rivershore

"Why do you think I think of this idea? I mean supplying war resources." Orin asked smilingly.

No one could understand the reason or source of this question. They looked at each other.

Brynn replied,"I guess reputation. Because in terms of money, we have plenty of those and can profit from it in other ways easily and quickly. Why do you bother to ask?"

Orin didn't respond. Instead of answering, he said,"Think something bigger. Have you ever been in a situation during the ongoing war?"

"Nah, but don't paint so much. Say what you want to say directly." Rhea, the most impatient one amongst them, replied.

Orin smiled at them and then started speaking,"So it all started last week…"