Waging War | The Amber Duology #1

45 | The End of An Era

Zane moved with both speed and agility as he worked his way through the crowd of Oni. His weapon of choice was a pair of shurikens that were made to be bigger than the usual size.

They were forged from the toughest of iron with a hint of white and blue for the grip, and just like any other weapon in the battlefield, they were meant to kill.

He winded his arm backward to throw his blade into the distance as an Oni tackled him to the ground. All Zane had to do was hold him up at the right angle and watch as he blade flew back to finish the job.

Of course, the result wasn't as clean as he wished when he ended up spitting purple from his mouth. Ugh, it probably scraped his teeth too.

"You're getting a little cocky there, Zane." A voice called from above him, feminine, who spoke gently despite her choice of words. "Turning into Kai, perhaps?"

The boy got up from the grass. "Just because I can fight doesn't mean I'm showing off." He dusted his robes free from the clippings of green.

"So what was that?"

"I call it a mixture of skill and a good amount of praying."

Pixal simply rolled her eyes at him and returned her attention to the Oni she was fending off. "You mean luck and your gift of foresight." She muttered under her breath but Zane caught on and shot her a glare.

It was true that his gift of foresight had been proven useful in planning for the next phase of attack, or in helping Zane figure out where the Army should send their reinforcements to, but it doesn't mean everything it brought was a good thing.

A mere flashback of his brother's face was enough for Zane to shake the thought away from his head. There were plenty of moments in his life to mourn for the loss of his family but today, he had to get his mind in the game.

And as he watched Pixal take down another Oni with nothing but a bow and arrow in her hands, Zane was more determined than ever.

A bet had been placed before any of this fighting had even started, one that staked their bragging rights along with their pride. Because Zane was so sure that Pixal wouldn't last five minutes on the battlefield without him, the girl had been intent on proving him wrong.

"If I kill more Oni than you, I will be in charge of the testing area from now on." Pixal had said, pacing through the machines and gadgets that were scattered all over The Lab.

Zane leaned back in his chair, lifting his leg to rest his foot on his thigh. "And if I kill more than you," He thought for a moment what suitable punishment would be for the girl. "You'll be in charge of monitoring the blueprints."

"But that's so boring!"

"Better fight harder then."

Now, his eyes left her figure in search of more enemies to take down. He wasn't going to let her get what she wants when Zane was in charge of protecting her in the first place. And a job like that meant keeping her away from the harm she's insisting on walking into.

It turns out, Zane didn't have to look any further when a new wave of Oni soldiers rushed out of the cloud and hurried over to their side. One by one, the Oni took down as many of Ninjago's fighters as they could, using their combined weight and force for a better kill.

Zane watched every strike of the Oni's staff, every blow that the soldiers had to endure, and every death that would happen. Because even if plenty of Oni had died in Zane's hands, there were also lives of soldiers in the enemy's.

He shook his head and dared a glance at Pixal. The girl nodded in response, her cheek already bleeding from how close she held her arrows to her face. And with that, they launched forward, providing backup to their already losing side.