Senses

I planned to release this sooner but it accidentally got deleted. My day was ruined and my anger was immeasurable.

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters except some well-known historical figures, are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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As we walked to the stage where our battle would take place, I started regaining my senses as I saw the enemy in the distance. It felt too impulsive. To unpredictable. I was betting on my warrior's skills being superior enough to hold off a hundred people. That twenty people can hold a hundred people off.

I began laughing at the ridiculousness of such a statement. I had been too much in my mind because I hadn't noticed that we were only a three-minute sprint away. I let out a sigh before calling four men along with Sifiso to go with me.

I saw the same number split off from the enemy and we soon met in the middle. There were only two noticeable people amount them. A man with a full silver beard, his left eye closed and a scar that ran down over said eye. The other looked similar but younger. I saw a similar scar the old man had, just on his right arm, running from his wrist to the elbow. From my observations, I guessed that they were father and son.

" I am Siboniso, son of Inkosi Dingiswiyo, chief of the Mthethwa tribe. I've come to request your peaceful surrender. "

The likely child of the old man I guessed was the inkosi looked livid. He was about to say something but the grey fox stopped him with a single finger. His gaze was focused, too focused for someone of his age. His gaze studied everything about me and my men.

I made sure to give her a stare just as intense, or at least as intense as I could be. He finally met my gaze and the side of his lips turned down.

" If you are really from the Mthethwa, why do you have so few men? " the old man questioned.

" There's no need to worry about such. It should not matter unless you have malicious intent. " I said affirmatively.

"I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE! TO LET A CHILD DISRESPECT YOU BABA! I WILL NOT STAND HERE AND TAKE IT! " the youthful version of the fox shouted before sprinting toward me. Two men followed behind him with similar looks on their faces.

My men got ready for a fight, taking a defensive stance but I didn't wait. I ran at the three men while I unconsciously had a crazed grin on my face. Fox Junior was the first to reach me and was the first to attack. He sent a predictable and stiff thrust with his spear everyone of the time used.

Not wanting to kill the kid for obvious reasons, I simply dodged out of the way and got into his personal space to deliver a devastating shield bash to the guy's stomach as I was still short, being a kid and all. Fox Junior doubled over which allowed me to deliver the same move to his head but softer to ensure I didn't accidentally kill the kid.

He rag-dolled to the ground and I immediately had my shield up still acknowledging that I had more enemies on the way. Just in time, a spear hit the shield making me stumble back. The two guys tried to capitalize by barraging me with attacks.

Seeing this before, I had a new tried and true method with such situations. Once I got the chance, I threw my shield at one of the attackers while running toward the other. This guy didn't hesitate like the previous guy in a similar position. The man's defensive stance had no gaps I could see so I decided something new.

Most shields of the time had two things in common, the material and the build. It was made of hide and it was big. Big enough to cover most of the warrior's body behind it. This made it slow and made an obvious blind spot, right in front of the shield.

This blind spot was especially perfect for someone like me, small and nimble. I got low when I was near the man and picked up some sand with an unoccupied hand. The man lowered his shield while backing away and I could see his face perfectly. That was when I threw the sand in the man's face, making him drop his spear but he still held into the shield.

With his defence compromised, I simply had to whack the man's unprotected legs making him bring his shield lower and allowing me to hit the man's head with my spear, knocking him out.

Before I could even turn around, a shadow covered me. I let go of everything and rolled forward. When I looked back, the last man had his spear in the ground where I was last standing. A sudden attack hit the man by his temple and he instantly slumped to the ground which confused me until I saw Sifiso standing behind him. He gave me a thumbs up and I did the same before we faced the waiting opposition.

I saw the guards looking at me in shock. I did not doubt that the man and fox junior was part of the best warriors in their village. After all, an inkosi would not have a rando with basic fighting skills accompany him to see the enemy and the fox junior was most likely taught by their village's best.

Said Inkosi did not show similar looks of shock but was contemplative. I decided to boast a bit and maybe scare the old man after such an excellent performance if I didn't say so myself.

" This is only the basics of what my men have learnt. We are the elite warriors of our village and can easily defeat an army twice our size. So I shall ask again, surrender peacefully or die fighting for nothing. "