Acacia

Chapter 1

As the first light of dawn filtered through the window, Anna awoke with a sharp jolt, a wave of pain radiating from her lower back. She lay still for a moment, the remnants of sleep clinging to her like a heavy blanket, but the discomfort pulled her back into reality. Each breath felt labored, and she could feel the familiar tightness in her muscles, a nagging reminder of the prior night and the defeats suffered at the hands of that monster. Tentatively, she shifted to a sitting position, wincing as she took stock of her body. The day ahead loomed like a daunting mountain, but in that quiet moment, she resolved to face it, embracing both her struggle and resilience.

As she glanced at the window, fading light echoed a second night after the battle passed. Battle, she scoffed to herself. It was more like a slaughter. The night seemed still and somber, as if the trees themselves were mourning the loss of so many men. Blood soaked the roots of the Kajmakcalan forest as the old fae stirred from their hibernation. The echoes of the battlefield flooded her mind like a relentless tide. The acrid smell of smoke and ach, and the distant cries of her comrades haunted her memories. She recalled the clashing steel, the thunder of thousands of boots marching around her. Her heart had raced as she reached for a weapon, anything to defend her claim to her titles. Doubts and fears swirled within her like a raging hurricane, yet in that crucible of chaos she had discovered a weakness. She had spent so much time with the men she fought with that she grew to care for them as a mother, instead of as a general. Now, as the sun outside dipped below the horizon, she let a tear fall for her comrades. She prayed that her advisor, Sebastian, was not among the casualties. She turned a sand-dial to know the hour.

As it creeped towards the midnight hour, Anna tossed and turned in the bed, her mind racing with thoughts of what was now two nights ago. She adjusted her pillow, trying to find a comfortable position, but the quiet was anything other than peaceful. She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the ache in her chest, focusing on the soft satin beneath her fingertips. She tried to let go of the worries that fluttered through her mind, but just as she began to succumb to the shadows, just as she closed her eyes once more, the trees burned once more in front of her.

She was brought back to that night in the woods. Three hundred legions of soldiers had been sleeping, some had been keeping watch, when the alarm had been sounded.

"Men! To arms! Enemies on the hilltop!" Everyone had been rushed awake, rushing to the closest spear or sword they could find. Anna had always slept with her bow in hand and had it ready in an instant.

"They're burning those sleeping! Hurry!" Another man shouted. With great haste she searched for the source of the alarms. An orange glow was simmering in the distance, just close enough for her to see but too far for her bow to make a difference. Her heart ached instantly, not even in her worst battles had the men been set alight in their slumber.

Slumber was meant to be a time for peace, a time to reflect on the day and wonder if a difference was made. Instead it was filled with the painful cries and the stench of searing flesh. She heard their cries as soon after the entire forest was ablaze with the light of men running-trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies. Others stabbed incoherently at anything that moved, even their own comrades.

Under a shroud of darkness they had come. The battlefield hummed as the moon cast an ethereal glow over the landscape. The stillness of the night had been shattered by the first cries of man, sparking chaos as the legions fought desperately. Every second felt like an eternity, until from the distance a flag could be seen in the glow of the burning forest.

"They're ours!" A man shouted.

"No!" I cried. "It's the Macedonians! our brothers! They come like sheep in the night and slaughter us like wolves. Let us not be bested men! all! to arms!"