The Fighter (Book 1)

Chapter 23

By the third day of being in Titan territory, camp was completely set up, and we were back to training, except I was over every single Being. By the fourth, we were in battle.

The third night was rather chaotic with word spreading that they were coming. There was a shift in the air, and I sent everyone to get suited up. We waited on the hill, not wanting to draw attention to our camp. We waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Just when we were starting to drift to sleep–all but the demons, that is–she appeared. She was known as the Morrigan, a symbol of death flocked by ravens or crows or something terrifying.

Zack nudged me when he saw her, and I realized I was asleep on his shoulder. There was a buzz in the crowd, an itch to fight, to prove what we were.

But the Morrigan stood silently, a few crows or ravens or whatever the hell the damned things were pecked the ground around her and a few more were in the sky above her head. A sickening smile could be seen spreading across his coal-black lips and she turned without a sound, walking gracefully with her hips swinging like she was made to walk away with style.

Her birds followed her out, and I sent Zack a silent glance. “What the hell do we do?”

“Demons need to keep watch again,” Zack said quietly. “They’re gonna get rowdy.”

I stood up, hurrying down the hill and using that as an amphitheater. “Okay,” I clapped my hands together to get their attention. “This is it; this is the end. We get up at dawn tomorrow-” a chorus of groans “-What, you think I want to? No, I want to stay in a cozy, memory-foam bed with my fiancé all hours of the day. Can’t always get what we want. So we fight for it.”

Cheering. Lots of cheering from tired lips. I smiled, eyes finding Zack’s. He puckered his lips at me, eyes falling shut. I wanna make out with you so bad, he thought at me. I rolled my eyes.

“Demons, you know the drill. I thank you for your time, and I’ll see you in the morning,” I saluted the army. My army. And they saluted back before cheering and chanting, and I giggled as I watched them haul off to the clearing. Zack sat on the hill, the only one left. His blue eyes were electric in the moonlight. I waved at him, and he waved back.

“You get better each time, I swear,” he said, voice seeming distant as he got to his feet and started down the hill. We walked hand-in-hand through the woods to the camp, and torches were lit to help those that were visually impaired by the darkness.

Tents were plentiful as we entered the clearing, and there was a buzz about the valley. Some of the tents were no more than a few sticks with a tarp thrown on top and a bedroll underneath, while others, like the one Zack and I shared, could sleep a number of people. The generals got larger tents, needing a table and good deal of maps and spreadsheets over them. I bade the T-squad good luck and sweet dreams before settling in my tent.

Zack was pulling off his armor, placing it on the mannequin that was sent with the supplies. He removed his shirt, taking no notice to the fact that I had entered until I croaked out a noise as I strained to get my armor off. He laughed as he helped me out, pulling the belt that held my sword down my legs.

I unzipped my leather jacket, tossing it over the mannequin, and pulled off my lovely-smelling cargo pants, tossing them over the jacket. “I’m gonna have to set those outside. They just smell awful.”

Zack threw them over his shoulder, “I’ll ask Eros what he wants me to do with them, and where I can get your second pair.”

“Thanks,” I kissed his cheek before he left. After I was alone, I crawled into the single bed, pressing myself toward the back. I sighed, realizing I forgot to turn off the oil lamp, and crawled out of the cold bed into the even colder air. The darkness of the room was still terrifying, even after trying for three nights to get used to it, and I turned it back up a little. Just enough so that I could see the floor.