the wagons. Allan kept his distance and walked in the same direction to help the soldiers.
Later that evening, after the soldiers were ready for their campaign in the south, finished with their loading of provisions and pitching, under orders from the princes, they cooked their dinners and got ready for the next day’s intense march to the Unodos capital, Allan, and Elis amongst them. The village’s mayor invited the princes to stay in his villa till the next morning. Elis wasn’t present in the discussion and Allan responded with “I must decline, as a leader I have to eat what they eat and sleep where they sleep, to gain their trust and respect”. Afterwards the prince went back to his tent which was in the middle of the army encampment. As he left his tent, he saw his brother sitting down outside his tent, his back was bent over and he was staring at a roaring fire that strongly reflected in his eyes. Allan walked up to the other side of the fire and sat down in front of it. Elis appeared motionless for a minute and Allan was sitting on the ground right in front of him. Allan noticed there was a small pot of boiled water sitting next to the fire, he took it and filled up a cup he was carrying. With this cup of water in hand he brought it over the fire and without saying a word offered it to Elis. Elis then looked through the fire at his brother and noticed him handing him a cup of water, he willingly accepted it and took it gently from his hand.
“Leave me alone, brother” whispered Elis. “Elis, what happened out there? Why’d you attack that soldier? Thank goodness you were stopped you could have easily killed him” whispered Allan angrily and curiously. “He said something, something I have heard enough of and I gave him what he deserved” whispered Elis. “What did he say that set you off, brother? What did the young soldier say that made you beat him?” asked Allan furiously, in whispers. “Nothing Allan, it was nothing” whispered Elis, back. “No, I will not accept that, why will you not tell me?” whispered Allan as he poured himself a cup of water. Elis then drank his whole cup of water and placed the empty cup next to him. “You will not understand, your own positives blind you, brother. I cannot tell you” whispered Elis. “My own positives? It is me then, brother I will have you know I love you and wish you all the best. I have done nothing to you that would have sparked this incident neither do I have the intent” whispered Allan. “As I said, your positives have blinded you. I love you as well but often I doubt I am your equal. I question the people’s love for me and even father’s love” whispered Elis. “Brother I do not understand, you and I have always been good friends, we spent a lot of time together. You are not yourself, you’ve changed into someone I can’t recognise anymore, I still feel we are brothers because of our blood and how much I see you but now I see your heart no longer sees me as a brother. I do not know what I am to you but I still love you and to me you are my brother” whispered Allan.
Elis slumped his head whispered back “you are my brother but only by blood. I still love you but only because you are family”. Allan got up and calmly says with a stern expression “I will not tell father what you have done, we have a lot of travelling to do tomorrow, go and get some sleep”. Allan then stepped away from the scene and went into his tent, Elis sat there and watched him go, he didn’t respond and just turned back to look at the fire. The blood brothers have never been so far apart in their lives; it seems as if an unclear contest has begun. Allan lay in his tent, a tear rolling down his cheek, reminiscing the times when he and his brother played together and learned together.
Morning arose, moments before the sun came out, the Hetheilian army encampment bustling with noises of the soldiers. A trumpet sounded and the noises in the camp intensified, more soldiers were seen coming out of their tents and dismantling them, however some soldiers were still snoring away in their tents. The trumpet sounded a second and the soldiers began shouting at one another to wake up, dismantle their tents and get into marching positions. On the sound of the second trumpet, Allan stumbled awake, him inside his empty tent. He rubbed his eyes and took one minute to adjust himself and get himself out of the tent to join his men. He emerged from his tent, his troops were rushing and he could hear Elis’s voice in the background yelling at them to get a move on. He grabbed his kit and put it on and he swiftly dismantled his tent. He carried it and walked quickly through the rushing ranks of the soldiers, he loaded it onto a chariot and began helping other soldiers with their kit and food. Within an hour, the troops were ready to march off towards the Unodite capital of Maredos. They lined up in their previous day’s arrangement, the princes on their horses but this time they began the march apart from each other. The mayor of the people of the village bid the soldiers farewell and wished them well in their inevitable battles to come.
After an hour of marching, the army crossed the Hetheil-Unodos border. Elis at the head of the line with five suspicious soldiers and Allan in the centre of the column, the brothers have never been further apart. The army’s next objective was Hetheil, where they would restock on supplies and possibly increase their troop numbers with volunteer soldiers from Unodos, armed with weapons and armour that outmatched their own. Unodos, like Hetheil it had an easily navigable landscape, however its climate was incredibly diverse, at one point, you would have to contend with searing heat from the merciless sun of Unodos, not long after storms would brew and shower anyone unsuspecting and not under a shelter. Because of this climate, many areas in Unodos were prone to flooding, thus an army on the march would have to be careful with the routes they chose. The army continued to march, the sun was still shining onto the soldiers, they were tired and the heat was making it worse. By the time the army was halfway to the capital, they had already consumed all their water. The village could not supply them with the adequate amount of water they required for their journey to Maredos. It was too small a village and they required the supplies for their own population.
Even without water, the army pressed on through the heat, in the hopes they will be able to access water soon. “Good soldier, what do you suppose we do now, the army needs to stop for a rest but we haven’t any water” said Allan, asking his advisor. “My prince, I suggest stopping at a sea, we can refill our barrels and skins with water from one of Unodos’s many seas. You need not worry about the water itself, the water in these parts are just safe enough for Human consumption” said the advisor. “All right, but where and how do we find it?” asked Allan. “An elderly villager told me of a river, west of here, if we wanted to get to it. We would have to temporarily stray off the course” said the advisor. “Then we shall, we shall head west and take a rest at the banks of the river and fill up our barrels and skins” said Allan. “Yes, my prince, I shall inform your brother right away” said the advisor as he rode to the head of the column. Allan feared that his brother would disagree with this new course of action but he was determined to get the army to a source of water.
The advisor rode past the soldiers and to the front, next to Elis. “My prince, your brother has decided to change the course of direction, we are to head west to replenish our water supply and possibly take a short rest at a large river” said the advisor. “No, I am against this, we will stay on the intended course” said Elis, bitterly. “But, his orders are to” said the advisor before the again angry Elis interrupted him and said “enough! I do not take orders from him, we stay on the course and we will not stop till we reach Maredos” said Elis, furiously. “My prince, this is not an order or a request, this is something we have to do for the survival of all of us” said the advisor. “No soldier, we are not heading in any other direction but south towards Maredos. You can tell my brother he can go with whoever wants to follow him, I am just going to continue on the course, leave me be” said Elis. Once the advisor heard that he immediately rode back to the centre to speak to Allan. He panted and said “Sorry my prince, he refuses to change the course and he says those who wish to follow you shall and those who don’t shall continue on with him”. “What does he think he is doing, he is going to put everyone’s life at risk, we are still many hours away
from the capital, many will not make it, I doubt even he will make it, we are thirsty and he is going steer us on a course to death” said Allan. “Sir I shall speak to him again; I’ll try to get him to come to his senses” said the advisor. “No, it’s all right, I’ll talk to him” said Allan.
He then straightened his back and his hopeful look turned into a slightly angered one and pulled out of formation before riding to the head of the column. The army was still on the move and Allan pulled up in front of Elis, the side of his horse copper faced the front of Elis’s horse, Copper. “Elis, you will not go any further” said Allan to his brother. The whole column stopped and soldiers and the back tried to get a glimpse of what was happening. The once noisy march across a hilly terrain under the hot sun suddenly became eerily quiet. “I do not take orders from you, they do but I don’t. Get out of my way brother” said Elis in response, a fierce look on his face. “I am not giving you an order, we are equals. I am asking you to help our men, they