“Aldweck...Aldweck, Aldweck!” A voice bounced around in Mitch’s head. A ringing noise permeated his ears and his heart was fluttering. Droplets of dirt fell to his face and the screaming of people around him disoriented him further. A hand grabbed his with a familiar warmth, his eyes fluttered open as the ringing drifted away. Erick was standing above Aldweck with stress in his face. As Erick pulled him up, his neck jolted up and his eyes widened. “Watch out!” His voice pierced through Aldweck’s drums.

Aldweck turned to look and saw Chammie and Larience carrying Velis as they danced in retreat from the hunting bullets that traveled throughout the forest. Another green magic bomb exploded beside them, dirt and rock flying into the air after them while five men followed in suit. They were walking backward, providing suppressive fire. As the cold of the night consumed them, they burrowed deeper into the forest. Aldweck felt a surge of energy course through him, he replaced Chammie and powered up and behind the hill where they slid down into the natural pit in the ground. Another explosion reverberated at the top of the hill and only three of the five men jumped down into the pit.

“Commander Larience, your orders?!”

“Private Steilart, I’m going to need--” another explosion went off, “I’m going to need you to round up the others and take these guys with you. We only have the edge of the forest left. If we keep retreating we’re going to face a cliffside and there’s no way we’re surviving that fall!”

Steilart slapped Commander Larience, “We’re not leaving you here. Think with your head for a second. Let’s go!”

Larience held his red cheek, “If you know what we’re gonna’ do then don’t ask!” He grabbed his rifle and followed Steilart’s long brown hair up the hill. Aldweck threw Chammie over his back and gave Erick a look of reassurance.

Erick was using healing magic on Velis’s fresh gunshot wound.

“How bad is it?” Aldweck asked.

“It’s temporary, if we can get out of here he’ll be fine. I disagree with this plan. I know who’s setting off the magic bombs.”

Commander Larience and Steilart stopped at the hill and looked back at Erick. Steilart stomped back and bent his knees to look at Erick, “Well, what difference does it make? We don’t have the power to fight against what they’re dishin’ out kid.”

“It’s Zaya! The Harbrights have been unofficially conspiring this entire time! It only makes sense. The Cariquey’s recognized Zaya’s identity and position once she spoke her name, but the same couldn’t be said for master! Don’t you see? The moment we set foot on this island we set ourselves up--”

“Shut it, Erick.” Aldweck scooted in and tried to cup his mouth, but was interrupted by Commander Larience who walked up from behind Steilart.

“Aldweck? The Knight Aldweck from Mariotta?” His eyes widened, his rifle shaking in his hand, “Why in the hell are you here and why did you come with Zaya the Conqueror?”

“It’s a long story, there’s no time to explain right now. Velis knows the truth, and if we can get out of here. I’ll be happy to explain it to you.”

“You’re the strongest one out of all of us here!” He slammed his rifle into Aldweck’s chest, his pupils popping out of his face, “Are you telling me all of my men didn’t have to die? That you were concealing your powers? What good is a knight who doesn’t protect the just, eh?” He pushed Aldweck back and made him stumble against the wall of the pit.

Commander Larience kicked the dirt, “We’re fucked!”

Erick turned to Aldweck, “I know your powers haven’t been working properly lately, but I think I have a plan that can use your reputation to scare Zaya and the others off from the forest.”

“Let’s hear it before we’re all turned to ash…” Velis said, before coughing in Erick’s arms.

The sound of screaming soldiers just a few meters away made Aldweck’s skin crawl as the smoke in the air made it hard to breathe. Some of the trees had caught on fire from the magic explosives and had left the resistance group in tattered pieces. Aldweck had unconsciously grabbed some of the dirt on the ground, with Chammie still on his back. Something that Mitch would do when he was feeling anxious.

Mitch could say for the first time, that this wasn’t the first time he felt pushed to the edge. From all the events that had transpired on the Glowing Mariot, and on the ocean, he felt as if he had confronted some of his greatest fears. If anything, he had grown to trust Erick as a symbol of hope, and he trusted him more than anyone. If only he could tell him the truth.

“I’m ready, what’s the plan?”

“I’m going to use magic to propel you into the air and project your voice. You only need to intimidate the army into retreating along with Zaya.”

“How am I supposed to do that? Zaya has anger issues!” Aldweck put Chammie down.

“That’s up to you to figure out. You know her best. She’s your ex! I trust you, master. I trust that you will save us all. We’re counting on you.” Erick said, with a half-smile and glint in his eyes. He thrust his palm out and a blue shield wrapped around Aldweck. It slowly carried him up in the air. Aldweck tried to get out, his heart fluttering as gunshots started to ricochet off the shield.

“Wai--” Aldweck stopped midsentence. Erick put his finger to his mouth to tell him not to state his hesitations.

“Make them fear you. You are the Knight of Mariotta.”

Aldweck gulped, a stream of sweat rolled off his nose and off his chin. Mitch looked around as the magic barrier carried him high into the air. He was just below the tall forest canopy when the shield began to glow brightly throughout the forest. Soldiers that had been advancing closer to the group stopped mid tracks and looked up in awe at the sheer glow of the orb above them.

Zaya appeared out of the bush holding Alex, the secretly overpowered penguin in her arms. He was still sleeping to this very moment. She squinted her eyes and peered through the gap in her hand at the bright figure that had disrupted the battlefield. Only a shadow inside the globe could be seen, but it was reminiscent of a figure she knew all too well.

“So...you’re here,” she said, her voice reaching the edges of the forest.

Mitch felt his legs trembling. He knew inside that he was just an imposter. He wasn’t a real hero. He was powerless to do anything but tremble inside of this sphere! He couldn’t hope to achieve anything and everything he had done up until this point had been a worthless endeavor. Mitch in his heart felt true despair.

“Men, raise your rifles. Attack that man. There is no need to wait for him to move, it’s best you attack now.” Zaya said, petting the penguin’s head. Its expression seemed joyful in its slumber, to the point it was ironic.

Gunfire from all angles of the forest began to plaster the magic sphere. Small cracks began to appear but were gelled back together by the reinforcement of Erick’s magic. Mitch thought back to his family back home on Earth. What it would be like to see his mom and dad again. Why was it that he had to be thrown into a world he wanted no part of? Yet, images of Erick and the others he had met flowed through his mind. He couldn’t leave them to face such a tragic end.

His heart wouldn’t allow it. How many times had Erick saved him in this world? How many times did he have to be useless to be useful? Aldweck laughed, tears streaming down his cheeks as he clenched his fists, “Just like back home. I was useless.”

His voice echoed throughout the entire forest, a wave of energy poured out from the magic globe.

Aldweck realized his voice had been heard by the entire forest.

“But not anymore.”

Aldweck stood up and looked at his hands, “I may not be the person you thought I was.”

Zaya’s eyes narrowed.

“I may not be the person you wanted me to be, but I’m here now. Remember how powerless you were?”

“I had felt the same way before, but now I’m stronger than ever before.” Aldweck paused.

“If you don’t leave this forest, I will use my contract with the God of Hell and sink the Cariqueys with one fell swoop. This forest is under the protection of Knight Aldweck of the Mariotta Kingdom. Attacking this forest is a declaration of war against me, therefore, a declaration of war against my kingdom.”

“G-God of Hell?” One of the soldiers stumbled backward.

“A Knight from Mariotta is here?” They all started turning their heads and looking at each other for confirmation of the news.

“Nonsense, even if you formed a contract with the God of Hell, you have no rights over this land and cannot protect the rebels of Cariquey without calling yourself an agent of espionage against the Cariqueys!” Zaya countered.

“I am here to verify Lord Warner’s safety and save diplomatic ties with the Cariqueys. I am not the enemy who attempted his life. There is no evidence to employ against me. Those who leave now will be spared of Mariotta’s military wrath. I cannot guarantee the same for those of you who continue to pursue hostility.”

“All of you, atta--” Many of the soldiers started to run from the forest, “Where the hell are you guys going!? Seriously? Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

A red glow appeared in her hand as she aimed it at Aldweck who was high above her in the sky. Several of the other men that didn’t retreat stood and waited for the man to reveal himself. A powerful projection of fire exploded from her hand and soared toward the magic sphere, shattering it and sending Aldweck falling out of the sky.

Erick appeared at Zaya’s side and ensnared her feet with earth magic.

“Wha--” She flicked her head and was knocked with a club by Larience. She dropped the penguin and fell unconscious.

Erick closed his eyes and held his hands together, casting a magic realm onto Zaya’s body which would prevent her from using magic altogether.

As soon as Erick finished with Zaya, he dashed over to where Aldweck had fallen but he couldn’t find his body.

“Aldweck! Where are you?”

“Aldweck!” Erick searched relentlessly for his master, “Master?”

“I’m right here,” Aldweck said, hanging upside down from a tree unintentionally.

“How did you manage that?”

“More importantly, is everyone okay?” Aldweck asked, falling out of the tree and groaning.

“Yeah! All thanks to your speech.” Erick smiled.

“W-What about Zaya?” Aldweck asked, rubbing his head and getting to his feet. He looked around to make sure there weren’t any stray soldiers.

“Zaya’s been restrained. She won’t be able to use magic unless I want her to. Though, I won’t be able to use any magic while holding a magic realm on someone as strong as her. If I’m being completely honest, she’s much stronger than I am. I’ve only gotten lucky with her.”

“You’re too damn reliable.” Aldweck patted Erick on his back and smiled. He was glad to have the best disciple in the world.

Everyone had gathered around Velis who was saying something in the distance. When Aldweck and Erick approached they could make out what he was saying.

“Yeah, they're legitimate. They’re not liars. You know how the government is here. After seeing them in action, I have no doubt about it. That knight and his disciple are our best chance at overthrowing Lord Warner once and for all.” He said, weakly.

“Hey, don’t talk about us while we’re not around. We might sneeze.” Erick joked.

~ - ~ - ~

Steilart was sitting on a rock smoking on a wooden pipe as he carved away at a wooden figurine with his knife. Shavings piled up around his foot as the sun had begun to rise from the night that had been a tumultuous climb to safety. Commander Larience was asleep along with Erick and Aldweck. Beyond the wood chippings, Zaya had been tied to a large tree in front of Steilart with cloth wrapped into her mouth to prevent her from speaking. Her brows were furrowed as she did her best to voice her disapproval.

“It’s best to stop grumbling, the others are sleeping.” Steilart continued to carve away at the figurine without pausing. Many of the other soldiers had started to get up from their slumber and were walking around in the forest, talking among themselves.

Zaya grumbled again, worming her body against the restraints. Steilart cut a little too hard into the figurine and paused. He looked at Zaya and dropped it, “You’re annoying me. I tied you up because you tried to escape while everyone was sleeping. You think I’m just some second-rate? That I would allow you to leave after what you pulled?”

He brought the knife to her neck and her brows remained furrowed. Her eyes looked down on Steilart as if he were trash that didn’t belong anywhere near her. Her hair had become frizzy and undone as her chest rose and fell rapidly.

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see any reason to leave you alive. Maybe, I would be doing the world a favor if I just killed you right here? How many people have you killed? How many lives have you ruined? Zaya the Conqueror.”

The knife pressed further into the skin of her neck, daring to draw blood when a hand latched onto Steilart’s and he quickly turned around to see who it was.

“Knight Aldweck, what’s the matter? Are you having trouble sleeping?” Steilart holstered his knife.

“No--well yeah, I have trouble sleeping. Especially lately, but I can’t stand to see someone who is so powerless to be tortured no matter how bad of a person they may be. I’ve been through torture and it’s not a fun experience.”

“Torture? I was just intimidating her, no need to blow things out of the water here.”

“To me, it looked as if you were about to try and hurt her in a fatal way. While killing her now might give us one less enemy, we lose our one bargaining chip that keeps this forest safe from General Hickory and Lord Warner.”

“He’s right.” Commander Larience said, yawning, “I don’t know how valuable she is to Lord Warner, but if Lord Warner wants an alliance with the Harbrights--he’ll make sure to keep one of their biggest assets around at any cost.”

Steilart nodded, “It’s not that I don’t agree, but I hate to say it. Even if we have Zaya, how long can we reasonably stay in this forest before they try something? We’ve been identified and ostracized out of the darkness.”

Velis returned from another group of soldiers, “Commander, I don’t mean to interrupt--I just found out myself, but…”

“Get out with it Private Velis.” Commander Larience stepped up from the group.

“Abion was fatally shot in the battle, medics have tried their best to heal him with magic but his body is rejecting the healing magic. They think he’s going to die within the hour.” Velis gulped, holding the strap of his rifle.

Commander Larience’s eyes widened, “I see, I’ll go talk with him then. If you guys will excuse me.” Larience stepped down from the hill and patted Velis on the back. Velis turned and followed his commander before looking back at the group briefly. He gave a faint smile, his face still full of worry for Grandma Reylis who had been caught in the typhoon he had brought down upon her by being a part of the Cariquey Resistance.

Larience kneeled down to Abion whose skin was as white as a flower petal. He grabbed his hand which was mixed with a mixture of dried and wet blood.

Abion weakly grinned and looked at Larience, “Guess you always had better luck than I did for these kinds of jobs Larience,” He paused, his brow furrowing as he clicked his tongue, “Got shot and my body isn’t responding to magic. I’m all wrapped up but I’ve lost so much blood.” He laughed.

“Don’t force yourself to speak too much Abion, we can fix this. We may have not been friends growing up, but the Cariquey of the old days isn’t far from reach. Don’t give up on our dream!” He clenched his fist tighter.

“Can you shut the hell up for once, Larience?”

“Wha--”

“Always talking about your ideal dreams...never considering reality. We’ve got less than a hundred men and a dying vice-commander. We’re holed up in a forest on the edge of a steep cliff that will bust our heads open if we jumped off. There’s nowhere to hide, run, or plan. We’re sitting ducks.”

Larience looked down at the ground with a dim expression, “Yeah, maybe that’s one way to look at it. But another way to look at it is that we are finally out in the open. Our intentions true and our banner raised. Even if we go down fighting, the spark we leave behind will ignite once again. Once again that flame will rise until Cariquey finds the strength to be whole once more.”

“To be whole once more,” Larience repeated.

His eyes drifted over to Abion’s. There was no color in his eyes. His grip fell apart and his breathing ceased. Larience closed his eyes and clasped his hands together, “Thank you for your service. You will be remembered as a hero, Abion, not a traitor.” Larience stood up and looked around at the other men who looked at him for guidance. Their expressions were grim along with Velis, who held his rifle loosely.

Velis looked at Larience, “What now?”

“We bury our fallen. Can any of us march forward knowing our bodies lay in the fields and our deaths aren’t given honor? I think not. Let us bury our fallen and then we will take one step from there and then another. Trust in this flame and that we are sparks that can ignite true power from within our country.”

Aldweck and Erick stood side by side, shoveling dirt onto one of the fallen soldiers, covering his grave as sweat poured down their faces. A small penguin had waddled awake and was yipping up a storm around Aldweck.

“What did I miss fuck face?! Hey--hey. You can’t ignore me. I’m going to keep talking to you even if you try to ignore me. I took one nap and so much has happened. Why are we on this dirty island and why are you burying the dead? Hey--hey! Are you deaf? King of the penguins is talking to you.”

Steilart heaved a sigh as he patted the dirt and wiped the sweat from his brow, looking down at the barking penguin, “What the hell did you do to that penguin to cause it to hate you so much Aldweck?”

Aldweck sighed as he shoveled, “Wouldn’t a better question be--I don’t know...why is there a penguin on this island? Isn’t that the first thing that should logically come to your mind, Steilart?”

“Well, yeah. Good point. Do you know why?”

“I do, but it would take a long time to explain. To keep the story short, he’s my good luck charm. Ever since I awakened my powers recently, he’s been there. Though those powers do have severe side effe--”

“I’m not your fucking good luck charm you shitty cunt! And those are my powers you’re talking about!” Alex barked at Aldweck before slapping the air. Which slapped Aldweck, making his neck crack.

“Wha-What was that?” Steilart asked.

“J-Just some of the side effects.”

It happened again and again and again, Aldweck’s face was as red and swollen as possible by the time Alex was done. Alex heaved a sigh of relief, feeling satisfied with himself after feeling frustrated that Aldweck had made him into some kind of tool of convenience. Who was he anyway? Alex was an all-powerful penguin, why should he help Aldweck even if it was indirectly for his entertainment?

Alex pondered these thoughts in his head. He had always thought of himself as intelligent, but this paradox of emotions led him astray. All he knew was that he didn’t want Aldweck to die because that would mean he would have no one who could understand him, but at the same time, he didn’t necessarily like helping people.

His heart was truly poisoned with desire and grossness that it made Alex’s stomach sick.

Steilart gulped, he had always been a tough soldier but he had never seen the voodoo-like curse that had been inflicted on Aldweck, let alone had he seen any real power displayed from Aldweck himself. He distanced himself from Aldweck, rotating back to Velis to discuss what he had just bore witness to.

Erick looked toward the penguin, his suspicion growing more. He glanced back to Aldweck, “Sorry master. I can’t heal you as long as I’ve got Zaya restrained.” His voice sounded apologetic.

A strong storm was peering over the horizon, its winds creating large waves down below and causing the forest to shake violently. Aldweck turned and walked to Commander Larience, “Hey, we need to find or build a shelter. There’s a huge storm on the way.”

Larience turned around, his face grim, “A storm is coming? Shit, we’re all going to freeze to death.”