The War (All Chapters + Synopsis)

Chapter 23.1 - Ilena

Daryan Solera waves to me as he sets out, one half of our relatively small army at his back. Addilyn frowns as she watches him ride away. She's not very happy to be split from her friend, and lover.

"You know, his last girlfriend's name was Addilyn, maybe that's why he doesn't want to make us a thing," Addilyn mutters.

"Maybe it's because you two fight a lot whenever you're together," Katlyn suggests, all of them joking to take the edge off of their fear.

"Onward!" I shout out, and all of us, the army included, trudge through the last few steps of the border.

We fought only one more battle after the first, both were small, barely more than skirmishes. Still it stings a bit, to know that Carber is sentencing hundreds of children to death, for no reason more than his own greed. I despise the man, now more than ever, especially after those skirmishes in which I killed innocent children who in no way deserved to die. I had no choice, and maybe that hurts the most.

Lues and Amalia are sharing a joke or something as we cross into Ifai, Genna listening to something our aunt is telling him. This duchy and the one directly south of it, Eri, are the only two that have no connections to the seas. Ifai is home to the Barouse family of which Captain Trystane was a descendant. Our path should take us directly through the heart of Ifai, down to Ta Ifaisteia where we'll gather some more of our army, split into two more groups, one to go into Eri and the other to Chlorida.

Hopefully if all goes as planned, we'll be in Moor within the next few days, with an army as strong as Feralis's main force which is encamped all along the eastern and southern shore. Once we get back to Moor, we'll merge our hodgepodge army with the Feralin Royal Army and then all together we'll take down Queen Raverna and her Holy Collective.

I shake my head, I shouldn't think about the future when we still have the present to worry about. My neck tingles a bit from the frosty air, and my hair provides little warmth as it's in a tight braid running down my back.

My black uniform is far more comfortable and warm than the pompous dress uniform we were wearing for show only the day before. The Mark of Conclamata sits on my breast, the thread a mix of red and gold. The collar of the uniform is snug against my neck, and the thick red coat provides a lot of warmth.

Slowly the cold air of the north turns into the brisk air of the season of blooming, of spring. I have no preference when it comes to seasons, darkness can be found in all of them, but my brother's spirits seem to rise with every degree in temperature, his fiery powers strengthened by the sun. We march onward, and slowly the snow gives way to colored flowers. Green trees replace the silver skeletons found in the north.

Animals run across the roads, birds soar through the skies, and more villages come along on our path. The villagers and citizens of our kingdom cheer as we come past. Every once in a while word comes to us commanders in the front that some of our soldiers have fought some of the rebels, but we win every time. As we've fought our enemies we've slowly learned that they are, for the most part, weak and poorly trained.

Outside of Ta Ifaisteia, we meet an army, a rather large one encamped for miles around the county's border. The black banners of the Dark Crown, a dark parody of the Conclamata standard, wave in the wind over the camp. My order for the march to stop is passed around rather quickly. In a neat and orderly fashion, our makeshift army lines up as if they've practiced for this moment a thousand times. Of course they have, but on a smaller scale.

"Soldiers, prepare for battle!" I shout, and the commanding officers of each squadron and platoon repeat the order. My brother unfurls his black wings and soars into the sky, his face determined, and I can almost see the speech he's about to give, forming in his head.