Dawn- An age of Darkness

Chapter 63 - Selfishness?

We arrived at the gates. We were out of breath, out of energy, and on the verge of collapse.

A familiar voice shouted. "You're still alive!" It was Jocaur. He was atop the wall. The guy must have had mighty eyesight for somebody that old.

"Glad to see, you made it out alive too." I didn't know if he heard it but he smiled.

"Open the gates," he shouted.

The undead were far behind us. With haste, we went inside and the door was again shut tight. The undead were too slow-paced. Even a child could outrun them. But their numbers were overwhelmingly huge. If just a fraction of them could get inside, a lot of people were about to die.

"So, this is all we have?" I said.

We stood on top of the wall. Everything was lit up. Lianne's eyes were a liability, so she closed them and clung to my arm instead: more like I clung to her.

"These guys are disobeying orders just to be here. So don't be so picky," Jocaur bitterly explained.

Only a handful of soldiers were here. Some adventurers were here too but the numbers were a little too thin. The rest of the soldiers and knights were guarding the castle. It's funny how people with power always end up with most of the privileges.

"I don't see Gorgan. Did he go back to the castle as well?"

"Yeah." One word was enough to convey a butt load of feelings.

I had respect for Gorgan. He was strong and didn't have too much pride. He was sociable and approachable. I really had respect for him… But that respect was crumbling a little.

"Oh, you've found the elves. Anyway grab a torch, grit your teeth, and chew some herbs. We're going to have a damned night." You're realizing that now? He might have been a little dense but he meant no harm. However, I didn't like his grin when he noticed how much Lianne and I were clinging to each other. His gaze almost said, "I see. So that's why." But that wasn't why.

A knight brought us some herbs. I and the elf-boy took them while Lianne cleaned her wounds. It was amazing how she could do that keeping her eyes closed. My wounds weren't deep but I still cleaned them anyway and wrapped some bandages. The herbs were effective. But the problems were the broken bones. At least three bones of my ribcage broke. It was very hard to breathe because of that.

Jocaur's eyes shimmered with rage and courage. "If only our soldiers weren't such cowards." But the soldiers did have reasons to be cowards. If they died their families would be making a one-way trip to the slums.

There was no way I could tell him about that woman though. Besides, he wouldn't have believed me anyway. So I took a different approach.

We sat down, ate little food, drank water and rested for a few minutes. The first wave of undead would reach the city within half an hour.

I looked up at the sky. I couldn't see any stars. It was awfully cloudy. "So that woman is inside the castle with all her guards?"

When I attacked her my sword had gone through her without even leaving a scratch. It made me very worried. Plus now she had her army. If she tried to frame me, I'd be doomed. My only choice was to convince Gorgan somehow. But it was awfully optimistic of me thinking it was going to be that easy.

"That woman? Oh you mean, that snotty princess? You should know how royalty works."

So she's a princess? It was obvious but I didn't assume her to be royalty. Maybe I was the dense one?

"Damn!" I shouted. And then quickly grabbed the left side of my chest. The pain stung. I should have known, but some part of me still hadn't accepted it all. If God created all man equal then why is there a hierarchy?

"What's wrong? Don't get so worked up. This is the city of dreams. We won't let those things trample over our city; not after the blood and sweat went under its creation," he said with a firm look. "Besides, I have a family to protect."

I got his drift. He was doing this for his family. This old man was just doing his job as a fellow citizen and a father- may be a grandfather as well. But didn't he realized that his family would be in jeopardy if he died as well? "Won't your family suffer if you died?" I was acting out of my character.

"Huh!" He laughed." Worried about me? I have good kids. Plus I don't plan on dyin!" He laughed rather loudly. The soldiers around us wore smiles.

Maybe it took a lot more courage to face an impossible battle like this than I thought. "Hey, old man, do you know how to hit something which you can't hit?"

He scratched his head. His eyes were questioning my sanity. After a while, he let out a sigh. "If something's unhittable then fundamentally It's impossible to hit it in the first place." I sighed. But he wasn't done. "However in that case magic might come in handy."

That's right, Lianne's spell had worked.

Suddenly I found new hope. I stood up and the two elves knew what I was about to do. "I think there could be a way to stop this. But I'd need you to hold this line."

Jacour squinted his eyes. "I'll believe you. Honestly, I don't really have anything else to hope for." Although he trusted me, his words didn't really show much appreciation. Jocaur punched his chest forward. "You can count on me. We will guard till the last breath. Can I count on you?" Jocaur without much pretense believed me; did he trust me that much? I didn't know.

This isn't time to be heroic with the speeches.

"You got that right!" But I wasn't planning on letting him down.

Both me and the elf rapidly headed to the palace along with Lianne. This can't go on.

My wounds still hurt, but I could move better. Chewing and rubbing herbs might have been more effective than just drinking potions.

But something else was on my mind. How would we go through the knights that protected the princess? Damn it! I hate this salty smell. My mind was going crazy. If the knights were too faithful to the princess and refused to listen to reason, we were as good as screwed.

We rushed to the castle. There weren't many people out. Maybe they'd heard the rumor of the undead. Rain? It was cloudy, so I wasn't really surprised.. It drizzled a little.