Allan. “I didn’t know he was going to gallop to the head of the column, at least you asked but my answer is no, my prince, your safeties are our priority and all of us in this army will die to defend you, we have pledged allegiance to you without objection” said the soldier as he turned to look and the foot soldiers behind their position and looked back at Allan. “That’s funny, father always says the lives of you and the people are our priority and we have pledged our services to you” said the smiling Allan. “Your father is a good man, he has convinced everyone they have to prioritise everyone else, he himself prioritises others and in turn we prioritise him, that’s why people from all kingdoms pray for his good health, he is a person we all look up to. I will die for him and I will die for his sons as well” said the soldier, assuring the prince he will protect him. “You don’t have to die for me, I rather die fighting alongside you and the others than to have you die for me while I live, we live and we shall die together” said Allan. “Well said my prince, you are as your father was” said the soldier as he put hand on Allan’s shoulder.
In the late afternoon, smoke from the Hetheilian border village of Udom could be observed, the village was in sight and the army was just half a mile away from their destination. Elis was far ahead, he was so close he could smell the smoke from village, he decided to turn around and ride past the army, his intention was to have a look at the troops and shout at them to increase the speed at which they were marching, he wanted him and the army to reach the village sooner. He rode back, passing the kings guard, his brother’s position and to the rear where the foot soldiers were, they were already lagging slightly behind. “Move it! The village is near, walk faster soldiers!” commanded Elis. They did as he commanded and started marching faster even though they were all thoroughly exhausted. Suddenly Elis noticed a soldier around his age in the ranks of a unit in the rear. He was eerily familiar, he has seen him recently and behind him was another young soldier who he could also tell was around his age, he had seen him before as well. He stared at the pair and slowly rode behind them and he noticed that at the very back, the end of the column, here were three men, all were his age surprisingly. It hit him, he soon realised who they were, these soldiers weren’t soldiers and they were the five others who train with Elis under Lumbre. He squinted as he stared at them while they marched past him, he coiled his whip and rode past the first two he saw.
He then pointed at them with his coiled whip, asked them to step out of formation, “the two of you, out of the line” said Elis. They responded with a loud “yes sir!” and stepped out of their formation while the rest of the army continued marching forward. Elis then called out to the other three at the back, “the three of you two, come here as well” commanded Elis. They too left their marching positions and came to wear Elis and their comrades were. Elis, a superior grin on his face, gets off his horse and as soon as he does his smile turns into a friendly one. The largest of them all, a big brute dressed in soldier’s chainmail, known to the group as cutthroat, walked up to Elis and said in his deep yet raspy voice “took you some time to recognise us, Elis”. “Well, I wasn’t expecting you, cutthroat and company, why on Paradon are you here? I am sure you are aware you are wanted criminals” said Elis. “We are here on important business, courtesy of Lumbre, to ensure your safety” said another in the group. “Yes, none of us or Lumbre trust that you will be safe, we know you will be able to defend yourself but if you are fatally wounded, the soldiers will not protect you, they will defend your brother instead, we are here to offer you extra protection” said the youngest. “I appreciate it, thank you, whenever a battle arises keep an eye on me. But for now, remain discrete, blend in with the others because they will kill you once they find out your true identities. But before that they will subject you to tortures to find out your purpose in the army, I’ll be snuffed out. Just keep a low profile, go back to your former positions and try not to collaborate with each other too often” said Elis. They shouted “yes sir!” purposefully loudly and ran back to the column to re-join their unit. Elis then got on his horse and uncoiled his whip and rode forward to ride past the troops and to the head of the column once again.
Chapter 3 Part II
The army finally reached the village, where the mayor of the village came out to greet Allan and Elis who had just gotten off their horses. “Welcome to Lesser Ohith, my princes, sons of the noble king Henriet. Stay here for as long as you wish, we will provide you with anything you desire” said the mayor giving the princes and their army a warm greeting. “Thank you, we’d like food and water, whatever food you can offer us, we will stay the night and leave tomorrow before dawn” said Allan. “Where does this village store food, old man? We need to collect a week’s supply of food” asked Elis. “Food yes, it is in a large wooden shack next to my living quarters” said the mayor. After hearing that Elis went to the troops who had just sat down on the grass to have a quick rest. “On your feet! Nobody rests yet, all of you are to collect a week’s worth of food and water and load them up onto the drawn wagons” commanded Elis. All of them got up and started moving into the village to collect the food and water from the store house. One young soldier jokingly mumbled to another “this prince is a bloody slave driver, no wonder his brother is more popular”. Unfortunately, the already angry prince, Elis heard the comment. He clenched his fist and just as the soldier turned to walk towards the village, he brisk walked towards him, his fists furiously clenched and he quickly and angrily walks up to the soldier.
The soldier spotted him coming up to him, he stops in his tracks and his face turned pale in sheer terror. Suddenly the prince’s brisk walk broke into a run and he punched the soldier in his face, forcing the poor soldier backwards. Against everything and against the allegiance he has pledged to the prince, he strikes back with his own punch. However, with superior training and reflexes the prince uses his right hand to stop the punch, he then drew his sword with his left and to insure he didn’t kill the soldier he swiftly flipped it over so that he was holding the blade and the hilt of the sword would face his opponent. With the hilt of the sword he hit the soldier once again in his face, the soldier fell backwards again but this time he fell on to the ground. Elis still unsatisfied towers above the soldier and frantically kicks the side of his body shouting “do not defy me!” On and on, loud and violent impacts, the poor soldier was squealing in pain while his assailant kept hitting in a complete rage.
Suddenly, from behind the scene, Allan shouts “Elis, stop!” and rams into Elis and they both hit the ground. Elis is the first to get up and even goes toward Allan, his fists clenched, ready to attack his own brother. Just as he takes his first step, the soldier that was still on the ground grabs his leg, preventing him from taking another step. Elis turns around to end the soldier’s resistance, he kicks the soldier's arm off him and raises his sword, this time with the tip of the curved blade facing the soldier. Suddenly a strong kick in the elbow forced Elis to drop the weapon, it was Allan. He wrapped his arms around his brother and squeezed tightly and he shifted his entire body weight forward. Surprisingly Elis maintained his balanced and managed to free one of his arms. With it, he used the back of his hand to hit Allan’s face, this freed Elis from Allan’s strong grip. The two fell in opposite directions, Elis then regained his footing just as Allan did and lunged forward to attack. Fortunately, a group of soldiers managed to restrain Elis just in time. One held his legs together, two grabbed one arm each and another two subdued his waist and upper body. Elis was exhausted, part of his heart was telling him to stop and he just didn’t have the strength to break free from the soldiers. “This is madness, Elis cease this!” shouted Allan. He observed Elis’s eyes, they were the eyes of a defeated animal in regret. As they fought earlier, Allan noticed something in Elis, something he had never seen in him. Elis regained control of himself and stopped struggling, “Release me” said Elis, confusing the soldiers. But once Allan nodded, they released Elis a
nd backed up, away from Elis. He stood there, heavily panting, he looked up at the darkening sky and then looked directly at Allan.
Then Elis bent down and put his arm the young soldier’s back and his other arm in between the ground and the soldier’s chest. “Someone get a stretcher please!” shouted Allan before running to aid the soldier. The two picked the young soldier up and along came a stretcher carried by their advisor and an elderly soldier from the king’s guard. They put him onto it, they noticed the soldier had suffered numerous blows to his head and chest, inflicted by Elis’s maddened kicks. They whisked him away to the village to receive medical assistance from village medics. Elis and Allan stood in front of each other eye to eye and face to face, it must have seemed like an eternity for the brothers, soldiers and villagers frequently turning their heads to look at them. After just seconds, Elis walked away towards the area next to village where the soldiers were pitching tents and loading bags of grain and barrels of water onto