Last Hope [VERSION I]

|13|

"Yes, so I won't have to keep calling you girl or woman in my head."

She removed the arrow from my neck, but still didn't budge from ontop of me. She looked over to her right and without any emotion she opened her mouth and spoke.

"My name is Lotus, if you really want to know so bad."

My mouth formed into a smile. "Lotus. Lotus. Just like your hair. Like a white lotus." My hand gently tugged a piece of her long hair.

She snickered and stood up. "I suppose now you know the story behind my naming."

I as well stood up, my back still aching from previously being slammed into it. "And your hair color is natural?"

"As natural as the grass and dirt we stand on."

"Ah."

I shifted my footing on the ground. Lotus looked at me still, cautious of my motives. I motioned my head to the right of her. "And whose that little guy?"

Lotus looked back where I was motioning my head. Within seconds, she dashed over to the small boy's body and lifted him up. Under her breath, she muttered curse words.

"Is he alright? Shall I escort you to my camp and perhaps let you two get rested and treated for your wounds? I'll show you that we aren't all that—"

"I appreciate the chivalry, Andreas, but honestly I don't give a shit about you and your camp. Now if you excuse me, I have to go." With that, she turned around, without giving me second glance, and walked with the boy in her arms.

I stood there shocked, slightly offended, but yet I smiled. I wouldn't forget her bright blue eyes or the determined look on her face whenever I saw her.

And I don't think this'll be the last time I'll see Lotus either.

||Tristan||

"So, do you come here often?" I leaned against the brown rock and showed off a stunning smirk. The blonde haired Teran soldier narrowed her eyes in disgust. "I shall kill you."

"If you say so, sweetheart." I chuckled. Her? Kill me? The darn girl was a twig! Couldn't hurt a fly! Just another pretty face! What were the Terans thinking when drafting her?

She knocked my blood stained sword from my hand when I least expected it.

What the fuck.

At moments like these, I wished I had powers—like a Dyzek or a Ciro. But, like many Erwyns, we were powerless and relied on the strength of our weapons and muscles to get us through a fight.

I lunged forward to grasp my weapon before it hit the floor, but ended up laying face first in mud. The tip of a sword slashed my back from the top right corner to the bottom left in a fast and painful motion. I groaned.

"Any last words?" The girl asked. "Before I cut you to bits?" The sword once again slashed me, cutting from the top left corner to the bottom right. Under her breath she muttered "X marks the spot."

"Yes, actually, I do." I turned my head around to the girl, who propped her foot on my bloody back and her sword pointing to the center of it, ready to impale me.

Fire seemed to dance in her dark, cold eyes. Beautiful nonetheless. She looked ready to unleash the flames that hid behind her finger tips. She had to be a Blayze, it was more than obvious. Yet her sword remained dominant as it pushed into me further, nearly stabbing me. My witty, flirtatious last words erased from my mind in that moment. "You know, you don't have to listen to Revana's rules."

She twisted her sword on my back. "What?"

"She doesn't want her soldiers to use their powers. But you're talented, I can tell by just the way you look at me. It's unfair she forces you to hide it behind a dumb chunk of metal."

"Shut up. Our Empress Revana is wise and will guide us to victory. She only desires what is best for her country." 

"You actually believe that bullshit?" I laughed. "She might guide herself into victory. She's just using you to take over our country. She'll toss you in the trash when she's done."

Pain flickered in her eyes. Bingo.

"And what makes your treacherous Empress Adair any better?"

I thought about it for a moment. Adair wasn't a bad woman... lost her son way back when when he was a teenager, lost her husband due to a serious illness, lost nearly everything... but she didn't make a great empress for Erwyn, that was for sure.

I snickered. "She's hot."

The girls face contorted into a sickened look. "You nauseate me. What was your name again? It would only feel right to know before I slaughter you."

"Why? Plan taking my parts out on a date? I know special part that'll really want to spend time with you..."

"Pervert!" Her sword dug deeper. "Time to di—"

Blood emerged from the blonde girl's neck, spraying all over my back. Her head flew into the air, leaving the rest of her body to collapse on the ground in front of me.

Behind the body was a familiar black haired guy holding his sword, now fresh with the blood of the Teran.

I turned around and sighed in relief. "Elliot, thank god you are here! To bad I didn't get more time to hit on this babe, though..."

"Whatever. Getting into trouble as always I see, Tristan."

"Bipolar much? You seem to have quite the 'tude."

"Yeah, well, I'm not myself when I'm on the battlefield."

Elliot was the shy, quiet, and kind one typically. But whenever he was presented with a battlefield and enemies to fight, he turned into a stone cold killer.

Sometimes, I felt like he had something to prove. We teased him, picked on him, but when it was time to fight, he changed completely.

"Haha, I know. But I also know I'll have my old buddy back in no time."

"Yeah..."

"So." I patted Elliot on the back. "Where's the girls?"

"Rilynn was dragging Leona behind me. Probably got held up somehow."

"What happened to Leona?"

"Passed out. Not sure how or why."

I nodded my head. "Well, lets go help them out, shall we?"