Breathe

Chapter 41 - Beginning

December 27th, 20—. Weather: colder than expected. Sun is moderately high in the sky despite it being about 8am. Right now, it's a cool 55ºF in the bushes outside of the Ainsworth Castle. Likely going to get warmer as the day progresses...likely going to reach a scorching 98.6 at some point today if I'm not careful.

Right now, we were huddled outside of the Ainsworth Castle. We were waiting. Waiting for a sign. Before we had arrived, the Commander announced that there was a spy inside the castle who was planting traps and scouting the area. She said that if we played our cards right, they would give us a sign with cinnamon. If we played our cards right, that is.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of gunpowder and ducked. A wave of black joined me. Then, I heard a thunderous explosion from above.

Wait.

Looking at the sky, I saw the outline of a red and green leaf. Reverting my attention back to the others, I noticed that they recognized it, too. It was a cinnamon tree. It was the sign.

Time to move.

Without saying a word, men and women began to scale the hills and with their arrows in hand, began to shoot down at the castle. Down below, shouts were heard. They tried to draw up the drawbridge. Noticing that, some took the integrity to shoot the drawers.

It fell back down.

The first wave was already making progress. Next wave was sent.

This time, men and women carrying sheathed swords began bolting down the hill. As they drew closer to the entrance, they withdrew their swords and began their onslaught. Watching above, I could already see dye in their shirts. It splattered all over their shirts, their swords, their pants—everything. And waving above, I—

Someone grabbed me by the collar. I looked. It was Phil.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Looking down at the massacre below me, with a hesitant look, I murmured, "No one could ever be ready for this."

He patted me on the back and gave me a grin, perhaps for reassurance. "No worries, dude. Don't forget—I'll be right behind you. If you feel like you're about to give up, just lean on me and I'll pick you right up." Though his words were cheesy, I felt some of the tension inside me loosen up.

Finally, it was our turn. With the other Liberalists, we began our journey down the hill. Unlike the others, we only had small weapons: daggers, small shields, and guns. But we weren't expected to engage in combat. After all, we were the Vanguard.

As we dodged the approaching guards and the swings of our fellow men, we made it inside of the hall.

It was nothing like I imagined. Gold seemed to be lining the ceilings, which stretched to the heavens. There were arches—arches everywhere—and each led to its separate hall. The floor were made of large tiles of what appeared to be unblemished pearl. Or at least, it would be if it weren't for...

No, now's no the time. Ignoring it, I carried on with the others. We were led by a woman dressed in maid's attire down a hall with other Infantry members. We kept her close and protected her from the onslaught of guards. The Infantry members were spread around us, blocking any attacks. But listening to them, I heard them begin to fall one by one the furthest we ran down the hall. But I didn't dare look back. I couldn't. Not when I knew what was happening. We had to keep going. For Libentina.

We burst into the room of her tower. But she wasn't there. All that lay in that secluded, tattered room was a pile of ripped clothes, cut chains, and a guard, lying on the floor with his stomach to the ground.

Grabbing him by the collar, Luckas pulled him up. "You!"

Immediately, the guard woke up. His eyes widened at the sight of Luckas and frantically, he looked around for a weapon.

"YOU!" he repeated, voice echoing in the small room.

"Y-YES!" he answered, mouth trembling and eyes watering.

"Where is the princess?"

"The princess?" Laughing, he murmured, "No princess stays in here. I think you are mistaken."

"There was a princess that stayed in here." He pointed his gun at his forehead. "Princess Evangeline—ring a bell?"

Awkwardly laughing, he nodded his head. "Oh yes, yes—Princess Evangeline. How could I possibly forget her?"

"WHERE is she?"

"I-I don't know!" he replied, babbling to find his words. He adjusted the cuffs of his uniform. "I came here to take her to where the res- I mean, to safety, but she... she knocked me out and I don't know where she is."

"To safety?" He pressed the gun against his forehead. "Tell me, where are the rest of the monarchs?"

He looked at the gun. He leaned back and fervently shook his head. His eyes looked at everything but the person in front of him. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" he repeated over and over again, his voice quivering. "Honestly, I don't know—they didn't tell me. They wouldn't tell me. They just said to go to 'the place' and sent me off." Laughing, he continued. "I don't...I don't even know where the place is! It's just that: a place. I couldn't tell you even if I'd like to!"

"LIAR!" Luckas claimed. He put his finger on the trigger. The man wiggled in his grip. His face started to turn white. All over, his body was trembling. Softly, he commanded, "Tell us where they are." Venom laced his voice.

He burst into tears. Right where he was, he began to bawl like a baby. Yet Luckas kept his firm grip on the boy. His snot began to trail down his arm, yet he kept him up. High.

"I don't knoooow!" he sobbed. "Please, don't hurt me! I didn't do anything to deserve this! I...I have a family to go home to!"

All of a sudden, Luckas burst into laughter.

"A family?" he repeated, stifling his laughter. "You have a family so you think that you deserve to live, huh? Well, you know what? I also had a family. Just like you. They were the only people that I had in my life and the only people who I cared about. But you know what happened to them?"

He shook his head.

"Do you want to know what happened to them?"

He shook his head.

"Let's just say that that excuse didn't work on them. At all. When I came home one day, they were all shot. Dead. Right here." He touched the man's forehead with his gun twice. "Right through it. Clean. There wasn't any hesitation—the bullets were proof of it. And it was your men who did it: your friends killed them. And now you're begging me to spare you when you didn't spare my family? What kind of argument is that?"

His eyes remained closed. In a soft voice, he begged once more. "Please, sir... please spare me. I'll do anything. Just...please don't make my mom cry tonight."

He pulled him up higher.

"Luckas!" Dani screamed.

He threw him across the room. He hit the concrete wall. Hard. I was sure that he was bleeding.

Luckas turned around. Then, he began to walk. "Let's leave."

We followed behind. We didn't look back at the sobbing guard whose ego we had torn apart. And as we left, we closed the door and blocked it. Even though he was crippled, we didn't want him to come back out: that was another luxury we left behind for him.