The Battle For The Third Kingdom

In the dark of night, under the stars, Hiroshi stood guard on a hilltop. He was watching for any movement, even though the castle of the third epic we planned to attack was barely visible. Hiroshi was looking around with a cigar in his mouth, deep in thought. I went up the hill to him and sat down next to him.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"That and Babu's snoring," I replied.

Hiroshi looked at me thoughtfully. "Is something bothering you?"

"I don't know," I said. "I'm glad we've made it this far, but it feels like the reasons I fought for are disappearing more every day. As if..."

"Let me guess, it turns into revenge," Hiroshi added.

I nodded. "I don't know if it's because of my wolf lineage, but I'm enjoying the battles more every day. I want to kill more and more. I want revenge and to show everyone who I am. But it doesn't feel right. Tell me what to do."

Hiroshi seemed to understand what I was feeling. He took a puff from his cigar and spoke seriously. "Listen, son. Neither I nor anyone else knows what you should do. Only you can know that. But I have to say, at first, I didn't have much hope for you. I thought you only had a small dream. Since you saved my weapons, I planned to follow you for a short time and leave when you got the hang of it. But then you proved me wrong and gave me a feeling I lost a long time ago."

"What feeling?" I asked.

"Hope," Hiroshi said. "When my hero talked to me, I was like you. I was willing. And now that I think about it, I'm glad I followed you. Look where we are now. The beauty of it is that you didn't do any of this with your wolf power. You did it willingly, with the good in you. We believed in you and that's why we're here fighting back-to-back with you. We may have our reasons for joining you, but you've given us all a little hope."

"I'm glad you think so," I said. "I was wrong about the Prince. If I'd known he was going to do something like that…"

"Don't let it get you down," Hiroshi said. "We all make mistakes of trust. I wasn't quite right about Lena either and Miron threatened her too, so it's not the boy's fault."

"What about your friend Lena? Do you still trust her?"

"We used to spend a lot of time together when we were kids," Hiroshi said. "His dad was always out hunting or on missions and it was nice to have him as my hero. But it's funny how one day you can have everything and the next day it can all be gone. So I'm glad to know he's alive and I'm sure he feels the same way."

Hiroshi was different from my other friends. He gave me advice like an older brother and had my back. I thought I could talk to him about the letter given to me for Rose, but I wasn't sure how to start. As I put my hand in my pocket, I said, "Actually, there's something else I want to talk to you about…"

Suddenly, Hiroshi stood up and threw his cigar on the ground. "Wait," he said. "There's movement over there."

I pulled my hand out of my pocket and took out my binoculars. Focusing on the point Hiroshi indicated, I saw a large army heading west. I was sure they were soldiers of the epic, but the question was where they were going.

"This is the army of the epic," I said.

Hiroshi took the binoculars from me and looked for himself. After a few seconds, he turned to me with a slight flurry. "Yes, you're right."

"Is the epic there too?" I asked.

"No," Hiroshi said. "But I saw the elite soldiers in front of the army when I was taken, prisoner."

"Why would they do that?" I wondered. "Especially on the last day of the war. But if…"

"We must warn the king and the others immediately," Hiroshi said.

We returned to the tents and woke everyone up with a loud shout. Hurrying to the king's tent with our friends, we told him what we saw.

"They're traveling west on horseback at a fast pace," I said.

Wedan tried to understand the situation while making fun of the enemy. "They probably decided to run away from us because we outnumber them," he said. "Why else would they do such a thing?"

The king spoke up. "They're trying to separate us. They know we outnumber them and that we'll have superiority in the air thanks to the wings."

Hiroshi added, "That's why they'll send part of their army to the city and create chaos. So we'll be separated."

The king turned to the paladin standing next to us. "Inform the whole troop and contact the winged before the enemies arrive. The plans have changed."

"Will the attack still go ahead, sir?" the paladin asked.

"We'll besiege the castle while they protect the city," the king said.

Hiroshi spoke up again. "I know the elite soldiers at the front of the army. I saw them when I was taken prisoner. They're much stronger than the others. They may be the first three elite soldiers, so the winged ones alone may not stand much of a chance."

At Hiroshi's words, the king gave another order to the paladin beside us. "Send part of the company to the city. I want them there before dawn."

I had to speak up. "Babu, Lezlie, Mila, it's your turn," I said. "Go with the troops to the city and help them stop them. We'll stay and take the castle."

Even though our plans changed at the last moment, we stuck to the plan and arrived the castle. Some of the soldiers returned to the city with Babu, Lezlie, and Mila, while the rest of us were already in front of the castle in the morning.

Despite being outnumbered, we were determined to bring happiness to the third kingdom by defeating the third epic and Miron. The other thing on my mind was Rose's safety.