Chapter Two

A cold sensation slithers all over me. My body feels like it’s floating. I’m probably flying in the air after getting hit by a car. But then my feet touch the ground. Softly?

“Now, King of the Dead, I command thee to rid these soldiers of my sight!”

My eyes shoot open. A gust of dirt rushes around me like an explosion. “Huh?”

I rapidly blink. In front of me is a group of gold-padded chainmail soldiers? They’re wearing steel conical helmets? Holding… katanas? They look wary? Of what? And behind them is another dude wearing a bigger platted armor also wielding a sword on a horse?

“What the hell?” My eyes dart around. I’m in the middle of a wide dirt path with what I think are rice fields on both sides. I can see what looks like a village on fire behind the soldiers? And next to me is a little girl? No, she's much older. I can’t really tell as she’s wearing a black robe that covers her entire figure. I can barely see her slightly pale skin face and grayish-purple braided hair. And she’s looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

“What is thy problem? I command thee to attack!” says the girl.

“W-what? I’m so confused here.”

“Attack, you imbecile!”

I want to ask more questions, but the golden soldiers start yelling and then charge at me with katanas in the air. I raise both arms up and back up. “Woah, woah woah! Hold u-”

The blades come rushing down on me. As if fear has a hand, it clutches onto me and yanks me out of the swords’ way. “Wait!” I duck from a swing. “Hang o-” I pivot from another. “Sto-” And I dodge another hack.

My blood boils, then I clench my fist. Hard. I swing. “I said, wait!” Smashing into one of the soldier’s gut, spit spews from his mouth as he grunts, then I launch him a few yards away.

The other soldiers gasp and look like their legs are shaking. While the cloaked girl glances from her hands and back to me, mumbling to herself with a furrow brow like she messed up or something. I turn to the general or commander as he's the one on a horse watching one of his guys get beat up. "Hey! I don't know what kind of beef you have with that girl, but it does not involve me! I don't know what the hell is going on or where I am. I was just killed a minute ago! Is this heaven or is it hell?"

“Kill the witch and her dead servant, now!” The guy on the horse shouts.

Like dogs, the soldiers react on command. I groan and raise my arms up. "You're not even going to answer my questions!"

My fist clench. I strike first. I lunge forward before one of the soldiers can blink and bash into the side of his head with a powerful hook. His helmet breaks on impact, and I can see his eyes rolling back. Blood boiling, I rush for the one behind me and weave under his swing. I throw a body shot jab, then lean forward. I grunt loudly as I thrust my weight into another punch to the gut. The soldier rolls into the rice fields, splashing. More soldiers come charging at me.

Now that I’m in the same situation I was in just a few minutes ago with those thugs, it got me thinking. I should have just started swinging. My fists bash into many soldiers, not bothering to count as they all slowly drop like flies. Body shot, weave under, left, right, left, uppercut, headshot.

My knuckles ache and burn, dripping blood. Seems like I'm alive as I can feel pain.

A high pitch scream pierces the air. My eyes dart. The cloaked girl is being chased by a towering soldier. Her hood falls, revealing more of her long purple ash-colored braided hair. She screams. For a second, I see my little sister being killed by Cruz. 

Heat flushes. Dirt kicks up as I dash toward the girl, and with a shout, I pound my fist straight into the soldier’s face, crushing his nose and feeling it break into his skull. I send the soldier crashing into their commander’s horse, also sending him flying. I turn to the girl to see if she’s hurt. And she looks fine.

“Now thou do as thy commanded?”

“Sure, whatever.” I shake my head.

More soldiers with katanas rush in and surround us. I clench my fists tight at my sides, thinking of a way out of this.

A slow gallop of hooves captures my attention. I figure it’s more soldiers, but no. A golden carriage arrives with only one soldier walking alongside it. But this guy is different from any of the grunts I faced. This guy has on a tight black and golden vest with matching fingerless gloves. With iron greaves on his legs that clink with every step and his hair is black, tied in a top knot.

The carriage opens, and the soldiers step back and bow. An important-looking middle-aged man with a thin tendril mustache waves them all down. I say “important” because he wears a golden blanket-like gown with many designs. Clouds, fish, and dragons are etched into the cloth, dazzling. He’s also wearing a funny-looking hat, like a board leaned forward with strings of beads dangling in front of his face and behind his head. I assume he’s the king or something. Probably someone I won’t get along with because I don’t like the way he’s grinning at me while petting his mustache.

With a wave of his hand, the king’s voice booms. “Get them.”

The top knot guy nods. The iron greaves on his legs clink as he slowly approaches me, tugging on his fingerless gloves.