Orders to Kill

"Then what happened?" Ty asked me.

"After we returned to headquarters, we transferred our prisoners to the interrogation team for questioning and the children to the healing camp to see if they could break the curse," I answered.

It was Wednesday, the day after the Foolhardies' successful mission behind enemy lines. Ty, Arah and I were sharing an afternoon meal at Edward's Chocolate Bar after school so I could share my mission report with them.

"Darah was pleased we stumbled on the clue to the enemy's secret sooner than she anticipated," I breathed in the scent of hot cocoa wafting out of my mug. "She thought it was a nice stroke of luck."

"Were they able to help the children?" Arah asked.

Arah's brow hadn't stopped being furrowed since I told her about the child sacrifices. Honestly, if she'd told me the dark things I told her, I'd feel agitated too.

I shook my head. "Not sure... dawn arrived before the healers tried... I'll know by tonight."

"Damn, dude," Ty paused to sip on the straw of his milk tea before continuing. "That's nasty stuff you've told us. I mean, who does that to kids?"

I shrugged. "Everyone's got their own circumstances over there... it's crazy shit."

"For sure," Ty nodded.

"Well," Arah leaned back on her chair. "At least we know you've got a weakness, Dean..."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "What? What weakness?"

"You keep losing your one-on-one fights... you need more training," Arah deduced.

She was right, of course. I'd just been lucky in my last few fights to have such capable underlings saving me at the last moment. But she knew, as well as I did, that luck could only take me so far. I needed to get my groove back and win some solo fights before I encountered Azuma again.

"Or you could just have one of your stronger teammates stick close to you so they could save your ass whenever you're in need," Ty joked.

His joke pricked on my pride a little.

"Seriously, Dean... you need more training... get back to your Kendo basics," Arah repeated.

"I know..." I sighed. "Maybe after the war..."

"If you survive," Ty teased.

"If I survive," I agreed in a light manner. Although deep down I really was feeling the pressure. The Foolhardies were finally taking part in tonight's big battle. We were in the big leagues now where the pressure was definitely higher.

"Maybe try not to rely too much on your fairy gift," Arah suggested as she blew on her own cup of hot chocolate. "I get the feeling that you're using it too much and it's dulling your other battle senses?"

For a girl who only started martial arts recently, Arah was certainly well on her way to sounding like a combat freak. Ty recently started joking that she was turning into a cliched TV trope of an Asian girl who was both into math and had badass fighting skills, but I thought it was cool.

"You mean my battle sense is unbalanced because I'm relying on sight too much," I guessed.

"Exactly," she said. "Wax on, wax off, Dean..."

Ty, who had just finished the plate of hashbrowns we'd ordered, asked me an interesting question, "Can you even use, um, Fool's Insight here?"

I grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know..." 

"Dude, seriously... can you?" he asked insistently.

I downed my cup of semi-hot chocolate and enjoyed the sweet and sour taste in my mouth before gulping it all down.

"I'll tell you some other time," I answered. "Let's go... I need to get to sleep." 

The trip back to the Fayne was still as thrilling as the first time I took it. The cool wind buffeting my face. The feeling of losing gravity and climbing up to the sky. Then the subsequent fall that made the insides of your stomach go up to your throat. There was nothing like it.

"Greetings, Commander," Varda saluted me as I stretched my back. "Comman — I mean General Thors asked me to tell you he wanted to see you when you arrived from Mudgard."

"Got it, Varda," I returned her salute with my own hammerfist to the chest. "Thanks." 

I looked left and then looked right, taking in the view that greeted me.

Varda and I were standing in front of the rest of the Foolhardies. All of them neatly lined up in rows of five. To their left and to their right were other hundred-man units in ordered rows. This line of soldiers stretched to the sides as far as I could see.

Hundreds of midnight blue banners with a variety of symbols fluttered in the wind. The aroma of sweat mixed with the scent of metal and earth. A hundred different sounds, from the whispering of soldiers to the sounding of horns and the neighing of centaurs, floated around me.

Chills ran up my back. Goosebumps rose on my arms. For it was then that I felt a sense of awe in what I was now a part of. I was a soldier in the great war machine that was the Darah army.

Then I looked behind me, and the awe I felt for the Darah army was quickly replaced by a foreboding sense of fear.

Far away but not far enough that we couldn't see the symbols on their flags was the Magesong army. A large grey mass of soldiers and machines of war that seemed untouched by yesterday's battle.

The chills I experienced when first looking upon the Darah army were running down my back at the fearsome sight of what seemed to be a hundred thousand enemies.

"You looked frightened, Dapper," a commanding female voice whispered in my ear.

I turned around to find that Great General Darah was standing behind me. Standing on opposite sides of her were newly minted General Thors and my masked lieutenant, Aura.

A loud raucous cheering rang out from the soldiers on our side as Darah appeared standing before them. Just the sight of her was enough to raise their morale.

I couldn't blame them. I too felt a stirring in me while I stood under the shadow of the golden general in her golden armor. Her midnight blue cape fluttered in the wind that also carried away the scent of fresh summer flowers from her body.

Darah raised a hand in greeting that was also meant to silence the crowd. After they finally quieted down, she turned her attention back on me.

"See that, Dapper," she crossed her arms over her chest. "That's how a real commander can affect her troops."

"General... Maybe you can school the boy some other time," Thors interjected. "We should give him his mission now."

"My... mission?" I asked curiously.

It was the first time I'd heard of it. The last briefing had me and the Foolhardies fold into the infantry of Thors center army where the fighting was fiercest. General Thors even sent some of his militia to bolster my unit back to full strength. Although we would remain independent of their command structure and answer only to Darah herself.

"You're always ruining the mood, Roger," she rolled her eyes at him before sending her piercing gaze back to me. "Alright, Dapper. Your recent success hasn't gone unnoticed. I want you to keep doing what you do best."

Darah nodded toward the Magesong army before us.

"The Magesong army has greater numbers, but so far, we've made up the difference with quality. That doesn't mean they're not without capable leaders of their own," Darah gazed back at the forces that made up her central army. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to lower their capabilities some more."

Darah placed a heavy yet delicate hand on my shoulder like she was adding onto the troubles I was already carrying on my back, which was most likely the case.

"I want you to hunt enemy officers in their center army," she said.

My brow creased because this was a very tall order. Sure, enemy commanders were usually easy to spot. Most of us had a thing for peacocking. But it wasn't like any of them wouldn't be heavily guarded by their troops. Especially the higher ranking ones. Luckily, Darah didn't mean I was going after a general.

'Start small. Go for the hundred-man commanders like you then work your way up to five-hundred man commanders," she instructed while squeezing on my shoulder. "Don't go risking your neck against the thousand-man commanders unless you're absolutely confident in your victory."

She glanced at her niece before circling back to me. Of course, she was worried about Aura's safety too.

"Do you understand your mission, One-Hundred Man Commander?" Darah asked.

"Um, what about the sacrifices, boss?" I asked worriedly. "Wouldn't hunting officers mean..."

I couldn't finish that sentence because I didn't want to think that Darah was that cruel. This was war, sure, but there had to be boundaries we couldn't cross.

"Lieutenant Aura, tell your commander what you saw in the healing camp," Darah ordered.

Aura stepped forward, and even hooded and masked, I couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was. She wore the elven magician's robe she bought in the auction, the sleeveless one with the metal neck guard and shoulder piece crafted in autumn leaf designs.

"There's been a breakthrough," there was a smile playing on Aura's lips as she answered my question. "and it was actually due to your foolhardiness last night, Commander."

"Um, thanks?" I said, unsure if I was getting complimented or not.

"When you helped strengthen the twins' new oath to cancel out the backlash of breaking their old one... a similar process was introduced to the children's curse. Berrian and the other healers couldn't just simply break the curse. They had to overwrite it with a stronger spell," Aura explained.

"A contract..." I realized.

Of course. The sacrifice curse placed on the children worked similar to a contract already in the way it traded lifeforce from one life to another. Introducing a new contract to overwrite the binds of the first worked with the twins so why wouldn't it work for the kids.

Aura nodded appreciatively. "Yes. There were some complications but the healers were able to deal with them and save the children... I'll fill you in more later."

"Cool," I said.

I was glad something good had come out of my reckless actions. Well, there were a few things to consider, like what type of contract could overwrite such a powerful curse, but I didn't think Berrian was someone who could cast anything too sinister. He struck me as a good soul which was rare in the Fayne.

Darah stepped in front of her niece so we were once more faced to face.

"Now that we're sure you won't hurt anyone you aren't supposed to, Dapper, I expect a few enemy officer heads to roll before night's end," she ordered. "Go and earn yourself some glory."

A smile slowly grew on my face. It was about time for the Foolhardies' name to resound across the heavens. So, it was with great enthusiasm that I answered her call, "Yes, ma'am."