A Game of Flags

Book Two, Chapter One: The Other Side

𝗢n the other side of the war, Donrule, also known as the "Good Guys" of the war, had its own special Solidarity; although they weren't out for the Flag, they were out to fight Nazrule Soldiers, as they were seen as Prey.
One Soldier of that Solidarity was another Youngling, he went by the name of Rago; Rago was his surname, Dorric was his first name. But he found Rago to be shorter and more easier to say.
Rago was intelligent and a quick thinker, he was a natural at sword-fighting, which is the main reason why he learnt to get good so quick, his main style is defense. He doesn't attack unless he is attacked, like a proper Prey.

A squad full of Donrule Soldiers were currently searching the woods, Rago was on the mission. As he was clearly spotted by being slightly shorter than everyone else (despite being the age of twenty-four), as he held a sharp, yet small sword in his right hand, and a flashlight in his left, it was quite dark out, so the flashlights were a valuable item for the mission.
"Gosh, how long are we out here for?" complained a Soldier. "We've been out here for hours!"
"Scared of the dark?" said Captain. "Or are you scared of the war in general."
Rago didn't say much, as he occasionally climbed up a few slopes to get a close look, but he found nothing, and he was getting quite irritated by the bickering in the background.
"I'm not scared of the dark!" said the Soldier. "I just don't like what's in it, there's a difference! Plus, my wife expects me home!"
"Well, tell that pansy wife of yours that you ain't going home, this is war; you kill or you get killed, that's how it works."
"Statistically speaking, none of us have fought the Nazrule's in a while," said Rago; "so really, we can all go home. We have been searching for hours straight, afterall." even Rago couldn't calculate how long he's been out for, most of the Soldiers were either sitting down or leaning against a tree; resources ran out quickly, barely any food was in there bags; unfortunately they got so hungry to the point they ate it all in one go.
Rago slowly look a piece of bread out and gave it a little bite, before placing it back in the bag. He looked around a few slopes with his Sword armed in his hand.
But then, he saw something unfamilar, like a shadow in the darkness, and the only light was the red eyes with the white pupils in the middle, as he turned the flashlight on, the shadow disappeared; mainly because of the light.
Rago felt disturbed by this. "Strange," he said, "i don't know if this is valuable news i shall tell the others back there."
He turned the flashlight off and saw the shadow again, this time it got a bit closer. And the figure of a horse could be seen, along with a drilling screech that hit Rago's ears.
Rago groaned, as he fell to his knees, holding his ears; with the Shadow's horse trotting towards him, Rago impulsively got up and ran away, despite the screech still being drilled into his ears.
As he jumped down the slope, the screech suddenly disappeared, and Rago threw out his flashlight and turned it on, looking at his surroundings.
And then he heard a familiar voice. "Youngling!" it said. "What're you doing out here? Get back to the others, come on!"

"Run! Run! As fast as you can, come on!" said Evera, as the Younglings approached the Sherry Ford, with screeching birds in the background, Evera's words barely made it across to the others, but he still cried them out, hoping it was a sign that they wouldn't stop.
Suddenly, Evera heard a horse in the background, as three horses approached the ford, running across the water, going in single file by rider: Greflyn, Arathor, Eli.
Greflyn grabbed Evera up, along with Arathor grabbing Perrin up, and finally Eli grabbed Gimitri up, the three horses than ran off as fast as they could, eventually escaping the sound of the Demobirds.
They kept traveling to a few other floors, now making progress as they went north. They stopped for a few breaks; mainly to have a quick snack, but before the Younglings knew it, they were back on the road again.
Perrin was now behind Greflyn, Greflyn was mainly silent for most of the journey, but Perrin liked to look at the wildlife that he was seeing; the flowers, the animals, the weather, and the grass; it felt like home to him.
Evera was now on the horse with Arathor, as Arathor said: "That was a very stupid thing you three did."
"What was stupid?" asked Evera.
"Ditching the group like that," said Arathor, "maybe it was a Diversion trick or some sort, but it was not clever. You guys almost got killed."
"Yet we gave you guys time to get the horses," said Evera; "believe me, Master, i know it wasn't exactly the best plan. But if it wasn't for our move, we would all be swarmed; possibly dead, by those Demobirds - and believe me when i say dead; i studied the wild country while we was at Brookrill."
Arathor sighed. "You are rather educated amongst the others," he said. "You may know the wild country and places of it, but that doesn't mean you're street wise about it, trust me when i say this. I know more, and i mean i know ALOT more."
"I understand, of course," said Evera, "- where are we going?"
"North, we're going to Floor Fifty-Seven now, it'll take us two hours max. Try and get some sleep while you can."
Evera nodded, as he wrapped his Grey Cloak around him, and before he knew it, he fell asleep. And the Three Horses trotted up the Hill.

Two is soon!