The Scarlet Scepter

Chapter Twenty-one (Revised)

Cornelia woke me up just as she said, and it was still dark. When brass trumpets and drums started thundering outside, I almost jumped out of my skin.

"It's almost dawn," she said. "I'll help you get into your armor."

"I'm going to wear armor?"

"Yes, silly. You can't go into battle wearing those. You're going to be wounded easily."

"But I can't even handle a sword properly!"

"You'll have plenty of time to learn later, just make sure you don't die. Come on."

She helped me put on the armor, with the breastplate, straps and everything that I don't know the names of which, and she put on a suit herself.

"You're going to fight?"

"Well, I can just watch on the side, but that would be boring."

When I got out of my tent, the soldiers were now in arranged into different lines.

Cyrus, dressed in a full dark blue metal suit with a cape, was shouting orders, and Arioch was standing in front of them, watching.

"The sun is rising."

They stood attentively as the image of the Woods shimmered as the sun rose up in the sky. The rays of the sun looked like it was melting the trees, and the roughness of the land began disappearing. The ground rumbled. The birds flew away, and as the enormous plain grassy land appeared, I had to grip Cornelia's hand. On the other side of the plains, were thousands of soldiers organized in lines, with knights in horses.

I ran to Arioch's side with Cornelia behind me. He was clearly surprised when he saw her, but he only nodded.

"You look absolutely like a warrior now," he said affectionately. He handed me a sword, and I dropped it from my shock of its weight. I feel anything but a warrior. Cyrus was also looking at me, and I wondered what was on his mind.

A soldier then led a horse in front of me and bowed. Arioch and the others mounted theirs.

"You don't expect me to actually fight while riding, do you?" I asked Cornelia.

"Don't worry. You'd get used to it," she replied. I scanned the faces of those in horseback. The Council elders were also in armor. I thought those old men were only good at arguing and shouting at each other. Their drooping faces told me that they didn't want to be here, let alone be in the frontlines. However, their wearied faces turned to fear as Jabal faced them. It seemed that they were more terrified of Jabal than dying in battle. That man carried himself with an aura so powerful that I noticed Arioch flinch in the Council room before. People like him are dangerous, and I hope that he's on our side.

Cyrus was also staring at Jabal. His eyes narrowed, and his expression turned stoic when he saw that I was looking at him, and then he faced the soldiers. They raised their shields which bore the image of the lion I saw in the Council room.

Cyrus waved his hand forward, and we started advancing towards the plains. It was as wide as my eyes could see. The other side pressed forward as well. As they marched, the ground trembled beneath our feet. I finally understood what Cyrus meant when he said that we were outnumbered. I estimated that one Serian soldier would be fighting twenty Eirene soldiers. The Serians were holding a blue flag with the figure of the lion. The Eirenes raised a red flag with the image of a wolf. When we got close enough, I saw their faces clearly. In front of the Eirene army, Celia sat on one horse, and beside her wearing heavy armor, was . . . Uncle Robert.

"I thought Celia was dead," I said.

"You saw her burst into ashes. She escaped," said Cornelia.