Impressing An Empress

The battlefield next to the forest.

The soldiers are extremely confused.

-”How is it possible?” - The soldier who holds the arrow asks.

-”Is it her skill?” - The commander asks. “OOF!” - He suddenly gets shot in the chest and falls to the ground.

-”Commander!” - The soldiers panic.

-”Wait! Look!” - The soldier puts down the arrow, and removes the one that hit their commander. “Same thing, no wound”.

-”What do we do, commander?” - One of the female soldiers asks. She seems really worried about him.

He doesn’t respond. The stunning effect is too powerful.

Another sudden arrow is shot and hits her. She falls down next to the commander.

The soldiers try to figure out what to do, as a stream of accurate arrows is shot to their direction, getting them one by one, besides 3 of them that are still standing.

-”RUN!” - One of them yells towards the other two who remained. “Make sure to tell the empress exactly what happened! She will know what to do! They may be beneficia… Ghya!” - An arrow hits him.

The two start running fast one after the other. After a few seconds the one in the back gets shot.

-”Matt!” - The other one calls, barely looking back, keeping on running. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” - He says as he manages to get away, hiding behind some trees that are far in the distance.

-”Rain! You got all of them!” - Nir says in appreciation.

-”Not all of them. One got away to be precise, but that will do”.

-”Thank you, Rain. I don’t know what I wou…” - ”Let’s drag them away from here.” - He gets interrupted. “It may take some time but this might save them. We certainly don’t want to make the empire mad”.

-”Yea, that is some good thinking”. - Nir replies.

In the meantime, the soldier who escaped manages to get to a nearby area in which the terrain changes, and climb a small cliff to observe better. He didn’t want to leave the rest of the soldiers behind.

-”What are they doing?” - He wonders in worry. He sees them dragging the soldiers to behind the bushes they emerged from. Rain drags one at a time. Nir manages to drag two, one with each hand at a slightly slower pace. They repeat that until they hide all of them.

“Are they… Trying to protect them from combat?” - He then feels safer to leave them there for now. “Better go report and get reinforcements”. - The soldier thinks to himself and leaves towards the empire.

-”I’m not sure what we should do now”. - Says Rain.

-”Hmm. People saw us standing relatively in the front… But then we somewhat disappeared. They could be led to believe we ran away”.

-”I know! Take one of their helmets. The villagers are wearing leather armor for the most part. It’s common for them to be using swords from the empire, but it seems to not be as common to use their armor, although some of them do, especially on the front lines. If you take just a helmet and wear it - we can take some time to lay low over here, then return to the front after a while. When they see you they will need a second to determine whether you are a friendly unit or not. As they see me next to you they will understand quickly enough who we are and will actually credit us for participation, as all those in proximity have taken the time to identify us”.

-”Not bad. I can even remove the helmet if they seem hesitant. Yes. I think that is the correct move”. - Nir agrees.

Rain lies down against one of the trees. Nir follows her actions, sitting by another tree to be in front of her. He looks at her, but she looks away so he looks away too. Both of them are ironically surrounded by stunned bodies of empire soldiers.

“Do you think the soldiers can hear us?” - Nir asks.

-”I have no idea”.

-”Listen to me, soldiers. The reason we are here is because the village didn’t leave us with any better choice than to go out and fight. If anything, we attempted making contact with you.” - Nir explains.

The soldiers are completely stunned and are not reacting in any visible way.

“They found us in the forest, next to a soldier who died before our eyes from his wounds. But… WE DID NOT KILL HIM!” - He continues.

“The villagers, however, came to believe that we did, so they honored us. As we tried surviving in the village, I decided to buy weapons. They were selling weapons from the empire. When we returned to the forest, another soldier attacked us out of nowhere. Now that I heard the way you talk about us wielding your swords - I imagine he perceived us not only to be his enemies, but perhaps those who killed the other soldier”.

Not a single reaction from the stunned soldiers. The effect’s duration must be long. Nir is incapable of telling if they can actually hear his voice, let alone comprehend it. If they do hear him, but don’t register his words - they might not be able to remember anything later. He is also worried that even at a best cognitive result on their part - they may just straight out not believe any of it.

“If we are ever going to be allies… I’ll have to admit. I did kill that one. But it was done in self defense. We weren’t looking to beef with anyone. He attacked us out of his own volition. We didn’t even take his armor or weapon. I’m sorry if he was someone important to you. I hope you believe me although I’m going to have to take your helmet to convince the villagers that we have killed you”. - Nir says as he takes the helmet off of one of them.

-”Dont worry”. - Rain says. “They won’t find you here”. - She joins in, hoping to reassure them.

They lay low until it gets dark. -”We should probably get moving”. - Nir says. “I doubt they would keep fighting in the dark. Let’s head back while there’s still a bit of light left, so they can see our faces”.

They both get up and start moving towards the area of the fighting, next to the empire’s gates. After walking for a short while, they see in their vicinity the fighting is still happening.

They get closer slowly and are noticed by some villager-warriors and empire soldiers alike. They walk amidst the ranks of villagers. Nir removes his helmet while looking around. Their presence made the fighting come to a halt. Suddenly one of the villagers gets a torch, while two others use a flint and a sword to light it up. The area starts shining in colors of yellow and orange as darkness falls outside the torch’s range. More villagers get their torches one by one, seemingly prepared to fight at night. The soldiers start stepping back slowly.

After lighting up enough torches, the villagers start yelling: “GLORY TO THE SPIRIT!” - Then they scream to the sky and charge in.

-”Fall back!” - Can be heard from the ranks of the soldiers.

The soldiers run back to the walls, trying to retreat through the gate. It doesn’t look like all of them will manage. Then, from the midst of the retreating soldiers, appears a woman going forward into the battle. She holds a sword with a unique design, different from the normal sword the empire soldiers are using. She is dressed beautifully, as if not for a battle, without any armor.

The woman focuses for a moment then immediately disappears. Out of nowhere she is seen suddenly at a further distance with her sword drawn fully. A huge chunk of the villager-warriors on the front line have been turned to nothing but bloody remains. Slain completely, about a third of the village forces have become a red carpet for her.

Suddenly, an enormous shockwave from her strike hits those who stood behind the front liners, including Nir and Rain, reaching the vast majority of the remaining forces.

Nir and Rain get blown a short distance back. The woman, as the source of the shockwave, is unwavering. Her long black hair is blown in the wind. She walks on the bloody trail as the villagers run away in fear. The empire soldiers manage to retreat in a steady stream that keeps on going. The woman gets closer to Nir and Rain who are on the ground. She sees him hugging her, as both of them look straight into her eyes.

That sentiment, combined with their strange apparel - manage to capture her attention. She notices their weird clothes did not obtain any fresh blood stains. She also notices some old blood stains appear on Nir’s apparel, while Rain’s is clean of any, albeit still dirty in general.

A soldier appears next to her. He seems to be the one who ran away earlier. -”There you are, empress!” - He says while trying to catch his breath. “I was looking for you in the castle. So you went out to fight yourself… I have a report! My entire squadron has been defeated but they are all alive and well. Permission to send reinforcements to retrieve them”.

-”Granted”. - She answers.

The empress turns her back to Nir and Rain and starts walking towards the empire’s gate.

-”The rest of the report is about…” - “Is it pressing?” - She cuts him mid-sentence.

-”No. It can wait until… HEY! It’s them! They are the ones who…” - “If it can wait, then let’s head back first”. - She interrupts him again while moving.

-”YES MAM!” - He replies and then immediately follows her, as if forgetting about them completely. The empress and the soldier following her enter through the middle of the gate as the retreating soldiers who are lined one after another make space for her without fail. The last bit of them who remained - finish going through the gate. It closes after, creating a loud metallic sound: “DOM!”

The battlefield has become completely empty. It is now quiet as if no battle has been fought, yet the view of the bloody trails suggests otherwise.

Nir and Rain get up feeling both dread and relief. -”That was… Successful… I guess”. - Nir says. “We survived”.

In the empire’s castle, the main hall.

-”Empress, the two we heard about… They don’t seem to want to fight against the empire”.

-”I’ve seen their clothes.” -She says. “They don’t seem to be from around here. Could it be…?”

Suddenly, the squad that was stunned by Rain’s arrows enters the hall.

-”You are back!” - The soldier yells in joy, seeing his squad is doing well.

-”Your highness!” - The commander calls loudly.

-”What’s with the seriousness?” - The empress replies. “No need for honorifics. The battle is already…”

-”There is no mistaking it.” - He keeps going.

The empress makes a smug face with a confident smile, as she sits on her throne, putting one leg on top of the other.

“Those two…”

She’s looking out the window, already understanding what he is about to say.

-”...are the ones you summoned”.

The empress keeps staring outside, seemingly impressed by this new information.