The awakening of battle and betrayal

Back on Earth, if somebody screamed 'fire', most of the people in the vicinity would simply shrug at the warning. Yet, here on what soon will be a battlefield, it felt as if the entire camp transformed within seconds. The tents that previously stood high on the horizon were collapsed, the horses readied, and all soldiers put on their Altirra marked armour, blending in with the malnourished ground. A single soldier sprinted over to Adrian, offering him the characteristic dark blue - and red armour of Altirra's Lieutenant and guiding him to one of the horses.
"Lieutenant". A stern voice rose up between the noise, reaching Adrian. Without having to look back, General Strefer galloped his horse next to his.
"The time has come where we will figure out who we are."

"Will we be the hunters, or will we be the hunted?"

The words cut deep into Adrian's heart. He did not personally know any of the people present, yet he felt some form of connection to them. Could he even die, or was he invincible? These were questions he'd rather not know the answer to. Even if he himself didn't lose his life, those around him should not either.

Behind Adrian the twelve platoons of Altirra's army formed a half circle, with the General in the middle of the gap. 

"An enemy convoy is heading our direction, hoping to finish what their comrades could not!Those who have fallen!
Thou shall be avenged by them who have survived!
Not a spill of blood that thou has bled will be forgotten about!
We shall show the courage and strength that thou have showed!
Everyone! Fight until your last breath!
This proud land is ours, and no one will ever take it from us!"

Adrian's heartbeat sped up, goosebumps appearing on his arms and a chill went through his spine by hearing those words. Behind Adrian, hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers roared at once, their screams surely heard from kilometers away.
"Lieutenant, we will be between platoons five and eight like we discussed during the briefing. Let us proceed."
The General led in front of Adrian as the platoons, who were in groups of three, moved forwards slowly. The city of Istera at the edge of the Altirran border was estimated to be where the battle would take place. All civilians of the city and surrounding villages had been evacuated according to one of the messengers. War always caused destruction, no matter the length or size of it. Back on Earth, multiple wars had happened throughout history, causing lifelong damages and ramifications. Countries were left in dire states, even if war ended. Adrian could not let that happen to Altirra, even if he had only been here for a couple of days. No civilian deserved to lose their house or their family, and Adrian's knowledge of his other life was going to make a difference here, no matter how. He convinced himself no one should suffer. 

"Lieutenant, just to reiterate. Platoons one, two and three will attack and defend from the left, platoons ten, eleven and twelve from the right, and platoons four through nine cover the center?"
"That is correct General. This allows us to flexibly change the formation based on whether the enemy goes for a centralized or wide attack." 
The formation we held as an army was crucial to determine the outcome of the battle.
Not long after Adrian and the General discussed the details of the plan, had they arrived near Istera. 

"All platoons, perform Operation Swift!"  The General shouted far and wide, showing his commanding presence, and all platoon leaders echoed it to their soldiers.

Each soldier stopped their pursuit towards Istera, and a deafening silence hung over the battlefield. Platoons two and ten, who were stationed at the front, on the inside of the circle, sprinted their horses forward. Instead of staying on them, they all jumped of their respective horses, injecting the horses with a serum. They were letting the horde run off on their own, causing a massive stampede. As the horses rampaged, all the other platoons made a swift turn towards the border between Lunthera and Altirra. There was little time to waste, as the Eldaran soldiers had to find out their strategy as late as possible. 

When the General inquired about Adrian's ideas, he mentioned two things. "We need to go around them, and if the other provinces are not prepared to protect us from the enemy, we will simply force them to join the fight."
Adrian knew it was a risk. Causing a ruckus on somebody else's turf could cause serious damage to one's own. Yet, after confirmation of the General, Adrian's plan was put into motion. 

The figure raised a hand. 
Space cracked again - like wet stone crushed between fingers - and an entire hill collapsed into a pinprick of light before vanishing.
Adrian's stomach lurched. "We have to pull back-!"
"You don't command anymore," Strefer said. Adrian could not believe it. 
"But General!" 
"Lieutenant! I am in command." His voice, loud and clear.
Platoon eleven tried to regroup. Too late.
The gravity collapsed again, and men - friends - were lifted off the ground, limbs contorting midair, before vanishing into the singularity.
Adrian's voice broke. "They're dying-!"
"They are fulfilling their purpose," Strefer replied, dismounting with a sigh. 
"Now, you'll fulfill yours."
Before Adrian could react, he felt a sharp prick in his neck.
His vision spun.
Not from hear. From chemistry.
His knees hit the ground before his mind understood what was happening. The sky blurred.
His breath slowed. The battlefield - distant screams, galloping hooves, the monstrous figure glowing like a god - all melted into a fog of fading light.
Then darkness.

    "Oh Adrian, seems you've finally woken up."
A deep voice cut through the silence like a blade.
Right in front of me, still in the same attire, lounging in an old rusty chair he was - General Strefer.
"General..."
A powerful laugh shook the room.
"See, I know a hell of a lot more than you do - about this place, this world, this entire existence." A butterfly knife danced through his fingers, glinting. 
"And here's the truth: weaklings don't survive."
He stood.
"I spent years rotting away in that pitiful army. I laughed it off when they assigned me the task of infiltrating something so shameful. I thought they were joking, yet from their faces I could see they were serious."
Disgust covered his face.
"I told them they could simply overpower them with their army, but they didn't budge. As such I had to oversee garbage after garbage being trained in front of my own eyes. I'd almost bleached them just so that I didn't have to see it anymore. I almost cut off my own nose so that I didn't have to smell the mere stench of the fodder called the Altirran army."
His eyes then burned with admiration.
"But, then you, Adrian, were there. You Adrian, you made sense. Finally - someone with a brain. You were the key to perfection. The plan. The dream. I couldn't sleep from how excited I was."
He grinned.
"And now I want to keep you, dear Adrian."
He stepped closer to Adrian, his face clearly visible in the moist basement.
"I hereby present to you an offer. If you take it, you live, if you decline, you rot away, and then know that many, many more people will have their bodies used to build a wall between the provinces so that we will not have to see that hideous piece of land anymore."
The most devilish laugh Adrian had ever heard left his mouth, and his patience was up. Darkness swelled at the edge of Adrian's vision. The basement stank of rust and blood and scorched dreams.
His lungs burned. His ribs groaned. And still, Strefer's offer echoed in his mind.
"You have no choice, Adrian."
That was the cruelest part of it all. He was right.
There was no way out. Only forwards, straight into hell.
Yet, shackled, he protested.
"You son of a bitch!" Adrian's vision blurred red.
"You destroy an entire army, your second family, killing every single person that saw you as their leader, and now you want to keep tormenting the ones who did nothing wrong. You're a psychopath!"
Strefer’s eyes lit up with amusement.
"Now we’re talking! You keep surprising me, Adrian! I’d love to see what you’re capable of. But let’s be honest - with that weak power of yours, there’s no way in hell you could beat me."
His smirk twisted into something more menacing.
"Maybe I should take one more life - see how you react."
"Don't. You. Dare." The fear Adrian felt changed into pure rage.
"I'd love to see you stop me!"
Heat surged through his body. Power built in his legs, and he launched himself toward Strefer, aiming to drive his fist straight into his smug face.
A bright, sharpening light shun from the side of the cellar.
Pure instinct made him glance - a fatal mistake. A sharp voice cut through the air.
"Never take your eyes off your enemy, idiot!"
By the time he turned back, it was too late. Strefer's massive fist descended like a meteor, striking him square in the chest. The impact sent him rocketing backward, slamming into the concrete floor so hard the entire basement trembled. Tables overturned. Metal clattered to the ground. The sheer force of the blow felt like a damn earthquake. Shit, that hurts! Every inch of Adrian's body screamed in agony. He could barely think through the pain.
Blood dripped down his forehead, stinging his eyes as he forced himself upright.
"That all you got?! You think that’s enough to kill me!"
Strefer let out a sharp bark of laughter.
"Kill you? Kid, I couldn’t kill you even if I wanted to. Didn't I tell you I wanted you to join me? What in that do you not understand?"
Strefer's smirk never wavered.
"You have no choice Adrian. No one chooses what they become in this world. You either play your part or get crushed under the weight of it. So tell me, what will it be? Run away while everything burns, or join me and truly fight for freedom?"

A shudder ran through Adrian. "What do I even choose...", he muttered. He didn't want to die, nor did he want to join the person who killed all those he knew in this world.
"On one condition. My demand is that you do not harm any civilians."
The general's expression darkened - not in anger, but something worse: amusement.
"You drive a hard bargain for a dying pile of flesh," Strefer said, folding his arms. "But sure. I will not directly harm any civilian."
He's twisting it already. Adrian knew it.
But he nodded. It was a delay. A foothold. The first crack in the mask.
"Seems you are not quite the miserable, good-for-nothing bastard I thought you'd be. Unlike someone similar to you."

His last comment made Adrian question who he meant, but the fatigue of the entire ordeal caught up with him.
He collapsed on the stone-cold floor, breath ragged, ribs screaming. He was now the strategist of a general who betrayed his entire army, his entire province - for reasons still cloaked in shadows.
He had survived.
And for now, that was all that mattered.
But just before the darkness claimed him, a memory drifted in - hazy, fragile, almost unreal.
A subway ride to work. The sight of chairs in a lecture hall.
The scent of coffee on a rainy morning.
The sound of his name - Adrian Tarper - spoken without fear.
He didn't know if he would ever see that world again.
Even if no one remembered who he truly was, he would make damn sure they remembered what he stood for.