Alone Together

Chapter Thirteen

We were plunged into war quickly. Along the border, I ordered the construction of tree stands. Two warriors stood guard in each tower, and while the towers were few, it was a better defense. The Tesera had no leader, and they were vulnerable. For a long time, we didn't see anything of them. I had them make stronger defenses to the children's longhouse, and to the elder's longhouse. As the leaves changed colors, I increased the frequency of hunting patrols. We always had a surplus, and everything we didn't eat that night, we put in the smoke house and prepared it for winter. With the warriors stationed along the border, they took turns walking to and from the other stations, a constant border patrol. While we were busy, I also made sure everyone got plenty of rest. I knew that no matter what preparations were made, if a warrior was unrested everything would have been in vain. We also mourned. Ice-Veins had been a good chief, and I didn't feel qualified to take his place. But he had named me as his successor, and no one challenged me. Helios was very supportive, despite how distracted I was with planning an attack. 

I planned one on the Tesera camp a month after their leader had died. Most of the warriors would come with me. Those that were, I ordered to get extra rest. It was hard to rest, but I managed somehow. The new responsibilities of being chief began to give me nightmares, sending me waking up with a cry in the middle of the night. Helios stayed with me through it all, and when I woke up hysterical, he would comfort me until we both fell asleep again. I made sure to get the opinions of my fellow tribemates whenever it came to a decision. Mostly, they followed me as they'd promised to. Lily-Shine and Wolf-Wing were good with strategy, so I usually turned to them for guidance. We spent days planning the attack on the Tesera camp. Both of them had already been there, when Ice-Veins had lead an attack. 

We split into three groups. I'd lead the group that would charge into the middle of the camp, and Lily-Shine and Wolf-Wing would attack the camp from each side. I lead a team of nine to charge the camp, and Lily-Shine and Wolf-Wing each took a team of eight. On my team, I had Helios, Astrid, Brook-Song, Adder-Sky, Fog-Veins, Soft-Stream, Cedar-Splash, and White-Berry. We waited until dark to start moving. We kept our weapons drawn and moved silently in the shadows. It wasn't hard to find the camp. I took the lead, taking a moment to take a deep breath of the warm night air. A breath of wind ghosted over us, making the leaves around us tremble. The silence seemed unbreakable. 

Moments later, we let out a war-cry and charged. As soon as we let out the cry, the Tesera began stirring. We were waiting for them, spread out in a line across their camp. There were no children there, I noticed with satisfaction, and there were few elders. Perhaps they had listened to my warning. Our swords gleamed in the soft moonlight. The night would be bloody. With a grim satisfaction, I noticed they'd fallen asleep with their weapons next to them. "You have one chance to surrender. If you fail to do so, the camp will run red with your blood," I call out. 

They charge. Already, I'm bringing my sword up to block a hit and the opposing side hits us in a thunderous clash of steel. Helios and Astrid have magic crackling in their palms, and use every chance they get to cut the enemies down. Minutes later, Wolf-Wing and Lily-Shine lead their group in, pinning the Tesera in between us. They fall like dominoes, and the dirt of the camp floor is a sea of red when the sun rises. By then, all of them are dead. We've lost a few of our own, Lake-Shimmer, Brook-Song, and Soft-Stream among them. We bandaged our injured as best as possible with the limited supplies in the Tesera camp, and then we carried our dead back home to bury. Helios, Astrid, and Aela had walked out of the battlefield covered in blood, but none of it their own. 

We had won the war before it had the time to begin.

A/N: There's not much left in this story. It'll be hard to let these characters go, but at least I'll leave them with a happy ending. That's all I'm going to say about the end of this story. There's only the Epilogue left, and it'll probably go up today as well. I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I have.

~Ariella