The Hope Of Edna

Nadine

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"Nadine was standing on the balcony, staring at flourishing kingdom of Edna, when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder .She turned and let out a sigh. It was the Queen .The Queen spoke, "Nadine you have to fight this war .For me, for the people of Edna. You are our last and only hope..."

A tear escaped her eyes as she thought about the dream, which came rushing to her mind whenever she closes her eyes, ever since her 16th birthday. She was so positive then and now she was helpless, hiding with those few surviving soldiers of her army.

Nadine always knew that her dream was not like any other. It became clear to her after a year later, when the situation changed. Nadine was not then any ordinary girl, but a hope of many and leader of new powers. She was brought to Edna along with 12 other teenagers of her own age. There she met the Queen, for the first time. She told them a strange story.

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Long time ago in the far east, laid the kingdom of Appollina .The people there were very happy then. Until the Methuselahians attacked them. Those few, who survived, ran away and build the kingdom of Edna and started living there. Everything was going well, till one day, when a spy informed that Methuselahians were planning to attack and take over Edna.

They people of Edna were children of Moon and worshiped the moon goddess. So on their despairing moment they called upon the moon goddess and asked her to help.

After hearing, the moon goddess decided to help them. She gave them 12 children and told them that they will grow up to great warriors. They fight with the Methuselahians and defeat them. And Nadine was chosen as their leader. Since then the people of Edna put their fate on those 12 children and protected them.

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Nadine heart ached to see them now lying wounded and helpless. She prayed to the moon goddess for them. All of them had been trained well. Apart from the battle training they were also taught the history of Appollina.

Within the busy schedule, Nadine made few friends. Seeing both of them die before her eyes was the worst pain she would have ever suffer. One was Nakoa, the head trainer of the moon warrior and the head of royal guards. He was an old man yet, he would talk with them as they were friends. He loved Nadine as his own daughter. And other was Edwin, the second in command of the royal guards as well as of Nadine's army. He was as same age of Nadine but a lot more cheerful. His jokes would get everyone laughing and both of them made great friends.

Now while hiding from the enemies, she thought about the times when they went to take walk to the nearby river and let her tears fall. Edwin could play flute well and Nadine also had a sweet voice and both usually sang their hearts out at that now. Now everything is finished.

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Nadine could not hold back her tears anymore. She sat and silently let her tears fall. When one of the soldiers informed that the enemy's came to know about their position of hiding and were coming in their direction to attack them. She glanced at her army all beaten and wounded. How can they fight and still win the battle. She let out a sigh and ordered them to get ready for the war. There was no other option. She never felt so feeble, so helpless. She knew that it was the day the moon fell. Then a realization struck her. Will the sacrifice of Edwin and Nakoa will be in vain. No, till she is breathing she can't let it happen. With this resolve she wiped her tears and picked up the sword. Ready for the battle.

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Ready for the war, she addressed to her army she said, "My brave soldiers. We know we have suffered the worst. But remember about all the sacrifices made. If we give up now, all those will be in vain. Life does not last for forever. We all will die no matter what happens. But our life is destined for this war. So today we are going to fight it. I know we had already lost once and it is going to be hard to win, but it does not mean it is impossible. So what I say is pick up the sword and get ready to fight. We will either win this war or die trying to fight it."

These words seemed to brought new strength to the army and lit a new fire of revenge among them. They marched towards the enemy. As they got nearer, Nadine looked up at the moon, prayed and ordered to attack. Even though wounded and defeated once the army of Methuselah, was no match for the army of Edna, who were full of spirit and vigor.

By the time the light of the day went out Nadine's army had killed every last of the Methuselahians. At the end of everyone was quite worn out but had a gratifying smile on their faces. Everyone praised and cheered for Nadine for their victory, who by that time had tears of joy on their face.

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At the victory ceremony in the royal palace Nadine was asked by the other royal members as well as the Queen. How was she able to fight a war when everyone gave up on their hope? She said, "Every night we go to bed, we have no assurance to wake up alive tomorrow but we still set up an alarm. That's called hope. The army was strong enough to defeat them. But what they lacked was hope. Hope that they can win the even when defeated once. The rest was all because of their effort."

After minutes of silence, the entire hall busted with Nadine's praise and applause.

Hope is the one thing that can help us get through the darkest of time.

- Unknown