The Promise of the Dawn

Chapter Fifty-Three: Coveted Resistance

The night air was crisp and cool. It was the kind of air that chilled you to the bone in one gust. We'd traveled all day, and now we stood, disguised by the shadows of the night, only feet away from enemy lines. There were six of us. Me, Aurora, Samael, Brianna, and two other members chosen for their strength in training. I set down our bag of weapons, opening the top and revealing them to the rest of the group.

"Pick your weapon wisely. You'll be stuck with it for the rest of the mission." I suggest as I display the equipment.

We all then proceed to choose our weapons. Brianna goes last, selecting several small daggers and concealing them within her undergarments.

"You sure you'll be okay with those Brianna?" I ask her.

"I'm most comfortable with them. I'll be fine" She replies.

I glance towards Aurora and she just shrugs before we slink over to the edge of the trenches, leaning over and watching the Rochdalian's mill about below us. Samael comes up behind me, peering over my shoulder. I hold my finger to my lips, then point downwards, which he somehow understands and nods.

I wait for the next unsuspecting soldier to come into view, then drop down from above, knocking him to the ground and slitting his throat before he can make a sound. I then gesture to the others, who slowly drop down into the trenches themselves, scattering. I drag the body into a nearby room, quickly undressing him and putting the uniform on myself, then stepping out of the room, tucking away the last strands of hair into the hat and looking to my right, where I meet eyes with Samael, who's stepping out of a nearby room, dressed in the same uniform as I am.

"I must say... I like this new look for you Duchess" He says.

"Will you shut up! You'll expose our identities and get us both killed!" I whisper to him in aggravation, pushing past him to try and find the others.

I run into Brianna in a hallway I turn down on accident, sending my hat flying, which I quickly secure back onto my head, afraid I've just exposed myself. Relief overwhelms me when I meet Brianna's eyes.

"Brianna? Is that you?" I question, taking in her appearance.

"Or should we say, Commander" Samael chimes in, saluting.

Brianna looks down at her lapel, noticing the embroidered ribbons for the first time.

"Did I really just kill a Commander?" She asks.

"I'd say so. And you did much better than the rest of us" Aurora says, approaching us with our other two team members.

We all have plain uniforms except for Brianna.

"There's no way I can pull this off. I can barely be a soldier, let alone a Commander" Brianna says.

"Don't psych yourself out. You got this. Just remember what I told you" I say, patting her shoulder and continuing on down the hallway.

"Let's stick together. That way, if any of us get stuck, the group can save us" I suggest.

Everyone nods in acknowledgement, and we turn the corner, reaching a busy hallway where men mill about, drinking coffee, and talking in hushed voices.

"Just look like you belong" I whisper through my teeth as the eyes of all the men look up at us.

I then continue on down the hallway, sitting myself down next to a random soldier sitting in the dirt and propping my head up against the wall behind us.

"You new? I don't recognize you" The soldier next to me asks.

"Yeah I'm new" I say in the deepest voice possible.

It was hard pretending to be your enemy. It was even harder pretending to be the opposite sex.

"Huh." The soldier replies, looking me up and down one last time before returning back to his own business.

A little while later, he offers me a strange product from a paper bag. I reach inside, pulling out some kind of jerky and taking a bite. I make a strange face as the taste hits me.

"What is it? Never had jackfruit jerky before?" The soldier laughs, some of his friends joining in.

"Alright men. Time to retire for the night. But stay alert. We never know when they'll attack." A commander orders, walking down the hallway.

I was unable to determine if the commander was Brianna or not, because the shade of the helmet was covering their face. The soldiers do as they say, returning to their respective rooms. As I walk down the hallway, I realize I'm unaware of which one's mine, and I begin to panic until I hear a familiar voice coming from behind one of the doors.

"Psst!" It says.

I branch off from the others and walk over to the door, placing my hand on the doorknob and glancing both ways before entering the room. I'm immediately pulled into the embrace of Samael, which I promptly break away from.

"What're you doing? We'll be killed if we're caught together!" I question him.

"Now, now, Riri, no need to lash out. We're all men here, remember?" He replies calmly.

"Whatever" I grumble, walking over to a dusty mattress and laying back on it.

"We seem to have found ourselves in quite the crisis" Samael says.

"What is it now?" I grumble.

Samael gestures to the other side of the room.

"There's only one bed" He explains.

I sit up, as if looking myself will change the outcome, but it does no such thing.

"Mind if we share?" Samael asks.

"Just stick to your side of the bed." I grumble.

Samael walks over, sitting on the end of the mattress and taking off his dusty boots, while I remove my uniform's shirt, revealing the cloth I'd wrapped around my upper body as a binding. I catch him glimpsing at me as I do so.

"What? You didn't think I'd actually sleep in these dirty things, did you?" I question him.

"Fair enough" He says, beginning to pull his own uniform off.

I catch my gaze wandering along the definition of his back, but quickly divert my gaze.

"Now if you wouldn't mind turning away..." I say.

Samael follows my instructions and looks towards the wall as I pull off my pants, grabbing the blanket set atop the mattress and placing it on top of me, trying to make myself comfortable. Samael soon joins me, lying on his side behind me. He then grabs my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" I question him.

"It's for body heat, obviously. That is... unless you want to freeze" Samael replies.

I come to peace with this fact after a while and close my eyes preparing for sleep.

"Amaris?" Samael asks me.

"Hmm?" I question, half asleep.

"Why do you push me away?" He asks.

I'm now becoming increasingly aware of his fingertips as they trace along the side of my bare leg, starting at the lower calf. His fingertips move back and forth across my bare skin, and I suddenly break out in goosebumps.

"I understand you've experienced things unimaginable to the human brain" He says, slowly moving his fingertips up to the side of my knee.

I try to fight the sudden feeling I have, but struggle.

"But so have I. We're very similar, you and I." He says, brushing his fingertips across my thigh.

"The sooner you give in, the easier it'll be for you" He whispers into my ear, brushing his fingertips along the line of my underwear.

Goddammit. How was he so good at this?

I can no longer hold back, and I flip around to face him, connecting our lips.

The deeper he kisses me, the less I find myself holding back, and I let him take the lead.