Villainous [Wattys 2021 Shortlist]

43: War

"You wanted to see us, General?" Delilah asked stiffly.

His dark eyes were fixed on her, wide as they took in her new hair and her face.

Hawk cleared his throat.

"Yes," Dante said. "I cannot risk this crown being captured. If I am taken as a prisoner during the war, or if the helmet is stolen... All four Opals will fall into enemy hands, and we'd lose everything we worked so hard to achieve."

"What are we going to do, then?" Delilah asked, barely recognising her own cold voice.

Dante placed the helmet on his desk and pulled the Opals out. "Split them up. We'll split our forces, too, to journey in different routes through the mountains. When we meet up again, I shall use all four together - but only when the time is right. When the three armies are together and vulnerable, I shall decimate them." He tossed one of them to Kaya, who caught it as her jaw dropped. "The Sky Opal. You shall be joining the aerial legion, so I suggest you make good use of it while you have it. Go find the Wing Commander."

"Y-Yes, Your Highness," she stammered, staring wide-eyed at the bluish glow in her palms. Delilah had never seen her friend so speechless. Kaya hurried out.

Hawk caught the next Opal - a blur of green.

"Earth," Dante said, slightly softer now. "For Terra."

Hawk nodded. "I'll crush Emperor Kai's armies with the nature they love so much." There was no compassion in his eyes for his birth nation.

Kai - Kai would be the emperor now Lin was dead. They'd killed his mother.

Hawk stomped out and Delilah stared at the two remaining Opals in Dante's hands.

He tossed it so fast she only just managed to catch it - and as her skin made contact, she felt like she'd just sank into a hot bath. She blinked.

"Fire," Dante murmured. "For Pelenu."

She couldn't tear her gaze away from it. When she finally did, she started - Dante had stepped up to her.

His rough, calloused hand scraped her cheekbone, moving to brush a lock of her hair back. "You chopped it all off."

Something hot and powerful in Delilah's chest opened an eye at the touch, and it was a struggle not to acknowledge it. He's going to betray me. He's a liar. "Long hair is no good in war."

A slight crease appeared between his eyebrows. "Promise me you'll grow it back. When this is over."

Even swallowing had suddenly become an effort. The space between them was agonising. "I'll do no such thing. I shall do whatever I want to my hair after the war." Providing I live to see the end.

Dante glanced at the Opal, and a look of danger crossed his features again. "You will bring it back to me, when I ask. You will give it without complaint."

This was another test, she realised. He was trusting her with the Opal - but he'd kill her if she refused to hand it back over.

"Fine," she whispered. "And when we stand in the middle of a field of death - when you've destroyed them all - I'll take it back."

Her jaw clenched as they locked gazes. Delilah wondered at the way the empty air between them had suddenly become... smaller. Had she leaned forwards, without realising?

Dante did not reply to confirm that she would, indeed, be able to take possession of the Fire Opal. He just stepped back and waved his hand: dismissal.

Delilah stomped out, filled with a bizarre mix of fury and longing.

Dawn arrived, and the army spilled out of Irkalla as if racing the sun.