Eladea: A Hopeless Age

Chapter 40: Liam

Chapter 40: Liam's POV

We got here! Chapter 40! I had originally only planned to do like 30, but whatever lol. Also sorry for the two week wait, these chapters are getting increasingly hard to write. Anyway, here we go!

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My heart thumped in my chest so loud I almost didn't hear the drums. By the way everyone bristled, I thought for sure they could hear it, but then I realized that the banging everyone was hearing was different to the one clanging in my head. I swallow thickly, trying to force my body to stop shaking. After all, there's no reason to fear death. I'd be going up with Kismed, anyway. Right? The only thing to fear was the pain. The blinding, agonizing pain that went along with it...

I shake my head to clear the thought. That's the last thing I need to be thinking about right now. I take a deep breath, trying desperately to calm myself enough to focus. The only thing that matters right now is winning this battle. For Sage. For New Eladea. It doesn't matter what happens to me, only that we get back what we've lost, and that we get justice.

I listen to the sounds of nervous shuffling, people whispering, animals stomping and huffing, dragons grumbling under their breath. Tension hovers over our small army like a weighted blanket, heavy on everyone's shoulders. It left us feeling breathless and anxious, wanting the battle just to start already.

The sword in my hand that had been gifted to me by a blacksmith feels awkward in my palm. It isn't balanced to my grip, and is incredibly flashy. It's obviously made for royalty. A queen. Not me. It doesn't belong in my hands, yet here I am, preparing to use it to cause pain.

At least it won't be killing anyone. Well, maybe one person, but I refuse to feel guilty about that.

Just as I think this unbearable silence will carry on forever, the sound of hundreds of men letting out their battle cries echo in the valley. Ivar's army charges forward, weapons held high, their pace measured to stay neatly in their ranks.

They're too far out. We'll lose our advantage if we rush now. I think. I raise my closed fist, signaling to my own army to hold. I clench my hand tighter around my weapon, shifting uncomfortably in the flimsy yet heavy leather armor the people had forced me to wear. I glance upwards and recite the prayer that had been circling in my head for the past few hours.

Fates and Goddesses, I pray for you to have mercy on me and my people. Please see us through to the end, the end you have promised to us. Please.

And then I lower my fist, pointing forward without a word.

Elric's team of animals shoot forward immediately, sprinting past me with the speed no human can possess. Rats, cats, wolves, Justice the horse and many others flying by. Then there's the battle cry of the humans as they start their charge forward. I'm able to hear Renate's loud "For Eladea!" Cry above the chaos as his team advances too.

I take a deep breath, glancing upwards as the dragons take to the air, then backwards to the medics laying in wait. I catch Reid's eye, his surprisingly calm expression meeting mine as he stands confidently in front of his platoon. His eyebrows fall a bit and a silent understanding passes between us.

I study his red irises, his ghostly pale skin almost glowing in the gloomy light and his white hair being thrown about in the steady wind. I grip my sword tighter, his soft eyes calming something in me, before I turn, reenergized.

I raise my sword and repeat Ren's battle cry. "For Eladea!" I scream, before breaking out into a run with the last of the stragglers from my army.

I break to the side as soon as I see the pileup in the middle of the armies. The edges are spread more thin, an obvious weak point. I duck as a column of fire explodes from the sky, cutting off the enemy's advancement to the left.