Bloodline

Final Front(1) - part 35

"Its unavoidable now...What am I going to do now...?" Zircon starts thinking in his sleep, feeling weightless. "I'm going to betray them...but why would I do so...? Is it something the king will do to me, like control me with whatever Valkyrie power he has...?" He starts to wake up as Tesath is putting a wet rag on his head, covering him in a blanket. He doesnt move a muscle as she does her work, humming to herself. "And what's going to happen to them...? Will I harm them once it happens...?" He turns his head as if he was sleeping, looking around. "Seems like everyone set camp around here, wonder if they already started building a fort like Damian said..." Tesath sees his head turn, and readjusts the rag so it doesnt fall. She hums again as she sits on a stool next to him, stroking his hair gently. He sighs silently so she doesnt hear, and begins to open his eyes slightly to look at her.

"That's a beautiful humming voice you have Tesath." He says, Tesath looking at him and smiling. "Is that so? I enjoy caring for you like this, and sometimes it makes it better when I hum something my mom used to hum for me." "Either way, I almost feel like falling asleep again, it's a very nice humming." He sits up, looking at the blue gem in the bracelet. He removes it as Tesath watches, and replaces it with the red gem, covering it with his cloak. "Theres no point in me hiding it from myself now, I need to be who I want to be, but also have a clear vision of who I really am." She holds his hand as he says this, smiling as she interlocks her fingers in his. "Either way, you're still the Zircon I became friends with. And now that Rose is a part of our army and group, I think I might have to compete against her for you." He looks at her, confused. "What's that supposed to mean? The only thing she's ever done is want to talk to me and practice her dagger skills." He says, Tesath smiling as she gets up. "I'll be with Maralyne and Damian to see what's the plan for today. You need to rest after what had happened in the tunnel earlier." She says, Zircon still looking at her with a confused look.

Half an hour later and Zircon leaves the tent, looking at the walls of the newly made fort, and looks around as soldiers are doing their own things. He walks around the fort for a while as he looks at the views ahead, seeing how nature flourishes and the village seems nice from afar. "They spoke about how the new king ravaged the villages and hunted for the Valkyries, but it all looks fine from here." He thinks, walking towards the new courtyard of the fort. He reaches it and stares at the gates, walking to them he opens them, and walks out, some soldiers watching as he goes. He steps out into the beautiful landscape, and takes a deep breath. "This feels familiar for some reason..." he thinks as he walks more into the field. The landscape is filled with hills to one side, a forest just a while after with plains as far as the eye can see in the other direction, the village built on them as well as the castle nearby. He walks deep into the plains, and examines the area, watching the castle and village as enemy soldiers and villagers seem happy doing their own thing. He lays down on the grass, taking a deep breath. "Something is giving me deja vu walking around here...But nothing comes to mind...Nothing except their attack on us." He thinks, the grass swaying in the wind. He sees as animals look out of the forest, villagers go about their day, and enemy knights watching the landscape. "It was a dark day...but now they're getting the consequences they deserve. Hopefully those cannons will prove effective on those walls." He says aloud, sitting up as Rose, Lutol, and Damian come walking to him.

"Guys? What are you doing out here?" "We could ask you the same thing, but seeing how relaxed you are it's more than likely not spying on them." Lutol says, them sitting on the grass and looking around. "Its quite the place here, so beautiful." Damian says, Rose nodding as she stares at the castle. "Hard to believe this came from an evil king, and the villagers are happy too." Lutol says, laying down. "It only looks this way due to the king's sacrificing the Valkyries, he absorbed their power and forced them under his rule, and people are now trying to live as if nothing happened? It's his power that's causing this, I'm sure of it." Zircon sighs as he looks back at the fort. "It took quite a large amount of time to get here didnt it? First the plains, then the forest, and finally all those hills leading to the border with the mountains? Didnt seem like much from what Osred thought all that time ago." Damian and Lutol laugh, then sigh as they look at the floor. "Its a shame we lost him, Opal's last ditch effort to get Damian cost us him instead..." Damian says, sighing.

"But that can only mean we have to keep going for him, and now that Rose is a part of us now, we can finish them quicker than we thought." Lutol says, everyone else nodding as Rose keeps looking at the castle. After some time they all go back to the fort just as the sun begins to set, Maralyne and Tesath telling them about the siege preparations needed for the castle. "We have everything we need, planning this will take a while but we'll get a plan set and we'll take the king down. It all just needs time." He says as they go to their tents, Rose sneaking off once they all go into the tents.