Cursed

Battle Prepping

Micha

The Goddess drove us all to collect fighters. There aren't many of us ready for fighting, so more often than not we have to settle for people who are less than equipped. Life is very unpleased with this, but with how many people Sullivan and Zachary killed or injured on their two trips here, there aren't left with many people.

I post guards around Life's gem. If she's weakened during our fight then that will be the end of us. Eli's daughter, Tessa, is appointed my personal body guard. She doesn't speak much, which is fine with me. Between her quiet and everyone running around to prepare for the fight ahead of us, I have a lot of time to think to myself.

I think of Zachary and what will happen to him. Despite all the things he's done in the past, I still love him. He is my brother. Mostly, I think of Leaf. There are so many things left unsaid about her that I can't bear the thought of letting her go.

Someone comes up behind me and puts their hand on my shoulder. Startled, I spin around to look at them. It's Eli. "You're wallowing," He remarks.

I shake my head. "No, I'm not."

"Yes you are," Eli repeats, this time his voice allowing no room to contradict.

I cross my arms, unwilling to give in, but knowing he's right.

"I know how you feel, Micha." Eli sighs, sitting down and motioning for Tessa to leave the room. She nods and leaves. Eli, sitting awkwardly because of his leg and crutches, looks up at the ceiling.

The room we're sitting in is a large chamber deep into the tower. I'm not sure what it was used for in the past, but Leaf might know. As you go deeper into the tower there are many things that differ from the top. It's more richly decorated, for one, hinting at a leader who wanted to display his wealth. This room has large rugs and rich tapestries all round it, but they are in disrepair. Lovely pictures, vases, chairs, anything that can be used to display wealth is down here.

"If I had known of theses rooms before, I could have sold the stuff to earn us money, or make into more usable items," I comment.

Eli laughs, "And this is why you're going to be remembered as one of our best leaders ever. You care more the people of the Rebellion than yourself. We haven't had many of those people here."

Something about his words make me sad. It's true that the Rebellion has had horrible leaders in the past. Even Leaf wasn't so great, but in comparison.... Many of them have only been in it for the power, money, or fame. Others have been spies sent by the Empire. They never lasted more than a year or so before they "had an accident" or were "Assassinated".

It was one of the worst things we did in the Rebellion.

"The people will always remember you, Micha. You're more than just a leader to many of us, you're our friend," Eli continues. "And that's why I'm worried about you. I know you're wallowing, and it's important that you know we're doing all we can to save her. I know how you feel, Micha." There's a light in Eli's eyes that screams of a deep sadness. A loss that can't be repaired.

"Eli, what happened to your wife?" I ask softly. I'd always been known to everyone that something had happened to Eli's wife, but no one knew or didn't want to go into details about it.

"A long time about, about twenty years ago, my wife was takeN. She had just given birth to Tessa two weeks before. In a desperate attempt to get her back I chased after them, leaving Tessa with a family friend. The people who took my wife, they weren't random bandits. They were hired by the Empire to kill me, but they came at a time when I wasn't home. My wife tried to take them on, but she got taken. Tessa, thankfully, was left at the house."

Eli's shaking with the memory. I want to reach out to him, but know better.

"They had left a note at the house telling me where they went. Without a thought I chased after them. When I finally reached their camp they welcomed me. There was way more people there than I had expected, and the leader of the group was a notorious killer. He wasn't just wanted by the Rebellion, but also by the Empire. I didn't realize that the Empire had hired them at the time, and that they would have weapons beyond what any normal band of killer would have. I started to fight them all, drunk with rage, and slew over half of them by the time they started to become wary of me. Something I didn't anticipate, thought, was how clever their leader was. I was younger then, and didn't think much."

"The leader realized that I couldn't be taken down with force, so he came up with a plan of escape. I continued fighting when he brought my wife out, but I was so blind with rage I didn't realize he had her."

Eli was crying now, his whole body shaking. Through sobs he finished the story.

"He threw her in front of me and I stabbed her, killing her. The look on her was when she died was one of shock and love at the same time. I killed her, my own wife, the woman I loved. The bandit leader decided to leave me, knowing full well that I wanted to die. He left me, saying that I'd have to live with killing my wife for the rest of my life. I neglected my daughter and chased after the bandit for twelve years. It's in those years that I found out that they were hired by the Empire. When I found the leader I killed him, saying that he wasn't going to get another moment to live with all he's done, that he was going to hell and I was the one sending him there."

Eli, looking completely torn and defeated, turned toward me. His eyes were bloodshot from crying. "I know you are a smart person, Micha. Don't let your dive to save her and bring her back kill her in the end." The pure look of desperation on his face made me nod. Then, Eli did something I never expected him to do, ever. He hugged me. A man who had seen, did, and gone through much worse than me was in desperate need of comfort and understanding. I hugged him back, but weakly, not knowing if I was actually supposed to.

Eli and I sat for a time afterwards, but in the end Life found us both and drove us to work. We were to be leaving within the next few hours.