The Final Battle

Chapter 15

The Final Battle

Chapter 15

"Get those peasants! Do not let any escape!" They heard the soldiers in the near distance, galloping closer to them on their horses.

"My sweet boys, please, run. Your lives are too important." Their mother told them. "Leave now!" She then reached her her pocket and held out a pendant of a lion with two swords. "Take this to a man named Marx in Alexandria. He will take care of you. He will protect you.

As scared as Ty was, he accepted the pendant and listened to his mother, tears escaping his worried eyes as he stood up and began to run through the forest.

Ty remained still in the bushes near his village, watching with his heart in his throat and tears in his eyes as the soldiers finished raiding the village. There was a sense of helplessness and despair as he saw his mother and brother being tossed unceremoniously into one of the cages, along with the other fearful peasants and children. He was hoping that the soldiers would soon finish up and leave, but his hope was dashed when he saw another boy approaching. Ty ducked his head down in a desperate attempt to stay hidden from the strange boy's attention but only managed to make some noise that drew the boy's attention. He was filled with a sense of fear and trembling as he peeped from the bushes, seeing the boy's piercing malevolent eyes and fearsome smile which chilled him to the core. He could only imagine the horrors that would surely befall him once the boy discovered him. Ty held his breath as he awaited his fate, his stomach churning with dread as his heart began to beat quickly. He then looked over to where Ty was hiding and smiled...his smile, was frightening, almost immorally even.

Ty was but a young lad of eleven, just beginning to experience the joys and sorrows in life when the Mortimus troops arrived to slaughter his village and take his mother and brother away to a land far away, likely never to be seen again. Ty watched nervously, filled with a sense of fear and despair as the Mortimus army pulled out of the burning village with the selected townsfolk in their clutches. He was left alone amongst the lifeless bodies of the residents he once knew, his mind blank and in a state of complete shock and disbelief. Ty's thoughts turned to Qualen, his closest and dearest friend who was away from home, luckily spared from witnessing the tragedies that had befallen their neighbors and their village. The thought brought a sense of relief to his heart, though he couldn't help but still feel a sinking sense of despair at the empty feeling that had begun to envelop his entire being.

Ty's head hung down and his shoulders shook as tears began to flow down his cheeks. He looked up to a dark sky, eyes filled with sorrow and sadness, asking a question that had no answer. Why did this happen? What could they have possibly done to deserve this punishment from the cruel world? The ongoing war was taking an unbearable toll on both countries, and it seemed that the boy's family had become one of the victims of this pointless and unnecessary bloodshed. Ty's heart was filled with pain and guilt as he started to believe that he failed his mother and caused his entire world to collapse around him. He couldn't even bring himself to stay in the village where he had spent so much of his life, and Ty walked away without a destination or purpose in mind. He just simply walked out into the bleak and dark night as the moon began to light his path, feeling a sense of hopelessness and despair over the death of his father and the abduction of his mother and brother.

When the carriage arrived at Miclotov Castle, there was a collective feeling of apprehension and nervousness as the guards approached the cage-wagon and unlocked the door to examine the new captives. There was a sense of anticipation and apprehension as everyone awaited the sight of these individuals who had been deemed worth catching by the Mortimus army.