Chapter One: Bloodshed

The rebellion is crippled by the might of the military, being forced to use questionable measures to ensure the survival of their movement.

Had all of this bloodshed been for nothing? Did the value of all those who lost their lives to this movement, truly add up to emptiness and waste? These thoughts clogged up my mind, freezing my hand on the hilt of my sword. As I watched the soldiers slaughter all the people I knew, these were the only thoughts I could think. I was frozen there by them like I was given a front row ticket to the slaughter. Though, that would make this awful sight the first play put on in years.

I shut out these invasive thoughts, finally drawing my sword from its sheath and plunging it into the chest of the soldier nearest to me. For a second the soldier and I made eye contact. As he bled out on my blade, I could see the same thoughts I pushed aside, inside him. I could only pretend I didn't, pulling my sword from his chest and letting my instincts overrule my thoughts. I had done it so many times before, the killing had almost become muscle memory to me. I had grown used to the red that would pour from the throats of my adversary. Over time the soldiers became nothing but uniforms to me. I'm sure the enemy had as well. The curtain had only been lifted for me for an instant when I let those thoughts pervert my mind. I'm sure death would do the same, but I knew I couldn't let it happen again. Another ran at me, getting his chest slashed open as he had planned to do to me. More and more soldiers flooded into our supposedly hidden base. 

"We can't take them all, we need to get out of here," Commander Uli said, beginning to fall back with the rest of our forces. 

To me, it almost seemed like a dare, but something so childish could never be true. The opportunity to prove myself mixed well with the resentment I already held for the soldiers I was killing, or at least who they worked for. This mixed together to put me in the perfect mood not to take orders. With even more vigor than before, my blade penetrated the flesh of my enemy. The adrenaline pumping through my veins dulled the minor injuries I would suffer in return. As my instincts took full control, it seemed as if my sword had a mind of its own. Of course, I knew my violence originated in what Uli described as 'a lack of self-discipline'.

"Chrissa! This is your last warning, we need to go before we all die here." Uli said.

I groaned, making my way towards the exit with the others. The enemy forces were vast and unrelenting, and the rebellions numbers were dwindling. With this raid on our bade, the chances that our army could defeat theirs grew even slimmer. However, our lack of numbers made it easier to escape. Uli and the other made it our, guarding it for my exit as well. 

"It's now or never." Uli said, pulling out a fire striker and beginning to light the fuse rigged at the back of the building. 

The makeshift explosives began to activate in the walls, making the building quake. I sheathed my sword, making a break for the exit. The soldiers began to flee as well, stopped by their commander urging them to kill me. No doubt the King would execute them if they returned, anyway. I stumbled out of the exit as the building continued to collapse behind me. I fell to the ground as the sound of its collapse deafened everyone around it. The rebellion began to make their getaway, bard pulling me up to go with them. 

"You can't gamble the survival of the entire rebellion like that." Uli said, looking back at me as we were fleeing away. 

I disregarded her words, as I had heard them so many times I couldn't forget them if I tried. 

"Where are we going now?" I asked, changing the subject. 

"Where can we go now?" Bard asked.

"Now's not the time to lose hope, Bard." Uli said.

"You didn't really answer the question." I said.

"Current plan is to survive." Diedric said, cutting into the conversation.

"Nobody asked you, Diedric." I said.

"Actually," Uli said, "he's the one who came up with our plan."

"Don't worry Chrissa, I don't hold grudges." Diedric said smugly, smirking at me because Uli had brought him validation.

"I'm not worried." I said, Diedric's mere presence having the power to annoy me.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Bard asked.

"I'm sure it took my genius to realize this city is a bust." Diedric said sarcastically, " Staying in the capital in the first place was over-aggressive and ill-advised."

"Can anyone just answer a question?" I asked,

"A forest surrounds the city," Diedric said, "and despite the government's best attempts, ingenious people still live there."

"Last I heard they killed outsiders." I said.

"Makes sense, after what the Government's done to them." Bard said.

"So do we." Diedric said, letting himself smile just a bit.

Uli thinks Diedric is 'ruthlessly efficient'. I just think he's a sadist. In this case, it's the same thing. Diedric had already killed the tribe's leader, hacking off his head to use as a scare tactic.This was enough to get them to flee their home, probably aware of what the soldiers did to their neighbors and expecting us to do the same. 

This display seemed to upset Bard. Not that I necessarily enjoyed it, definitely not like Diedric did. It's all necessary, however. I had to tell myself that a lot. No matter how many times I had to tell myself that, it was still true. The King was much worse than whatever we had done or had to do. Diedric is a child in comparison to him. Diedric was fighting on the right side, after all.

The homes we had stolen from them were simple, in a picturesque kind of way. They seemed to base their entire way of life on farming, based on the amount of produce. It was definitely a good base for acquisition. It was a good move for Diedric to make. Doesn't make him any less annoying. 

"Doubt the government will look for us here." Diedric said, "They're convinced we're peace-loving hippies who would never do something like this, despite how many of them we've killed."

"It's just propaganda." Uli said, "it wouldn't be beneficial if the people, or the soldiers for that matter, believed we were as powerful as we are. Anyway, this is an excellent base."

"Of course it is." Diedric said, "I picked it."

"At any rate, we've got to come up with a plan of attack." Uli said.

Our forces were just cut in half." Bard said.

"Doesn't change our goal," Uli said, "just how we go about achieving it."

The culture of the tribe was far from anything I'd ever known.Not only the lack of modern technology but their farming based way of life. I kind of wished my life had been more like this as a kid, with all the food they shared. Of course, it would have actually been a nightmare. Starving as a kid wasn't great, but dying of the hundred of diseases and dangerous creatures they have out here would have also been bad. Now the two worlds were colliding, with their homes being turned into war rooms.

"We have so little people, we're more like a task force than the arm we're supposed to be." Bard said. 

"That could prove useful." Uli said, "We were never capable of taking them in an all-out war, even in our prime. We need to attack their weak spots."

"The King doesn't have any." Bard said.

"That's just propaganda." Uli said, "You need to forget what they taught you when you were with their forces." 

"The weak point is their citizens. Most people hate the government, especially the lower class." I said.

"The poor? Are you joking?" Diedric said, "they're useless."

Sometimes I wondered if Diedric forgot that I had a sword. 

"Oh, yeah. That's where you came from, Chrissa." Diedric said, his voice indicating that he definitely had not forgotten that fact, "We can't run the risk of making that mistake twice."

Sometimes I wondered if Uli would mind if Diedric suddenly went missing. She's the only reason he hasn't already. 

"I'm just joking, of course." Diedric said.

"Humor won't bring down the government, will it?" Uli said.

"Chrissa's insight could actually be of use." Dieric said, "However, there are too many sympathizers for it to be too important. They take up half of the country and have infiltrated every class."

"Most of the lower class is still on our side," I said, "sympathizers are usually rich."

"All it takes is one rat." Diedric said.

"So we set a trap for the rats," Uli said, " unless anyone has any other ideas."

"Those bombs we used to rig our old base could be used again if we can simplify their creation and make them less unstable." Diedric said.

"Chrissa and Bard, we need you two to do reconnaissance in the slums of the capital." Uli said, "Diedric, you can start working on the bombs."

"Me?" I asked, "I've killed more of their soldiers than anyone. I think they'll recognize me." 

"Remember what I said about propaganda? The King, and the higher ranks, won't let stories like that to spread. The only men who know how many you killed are the ones you killed. Not to mention, they wouldn't believe a woman could do that to them anyway. Thier ignorance is our strength."

"What about me?" Bard asked.

"You've been legally dead for quite some time, the soldiers you used to work with are all dead, and you haven't made much of a, uh, splash in the resistance." Uli said, "and all you two should be doing is looking around. There's no reason you should come into close contact with the enemy."

Especially in the capital city, the slums look like a dystopian version of society. It's gotten so bad because nobody cares about the people in it. The soldiers usually only go into it when we're rumored to be there. The people practically rule over themselves, and it's not pretty. Crime became law, and the law becomes obsolete. At least it taught me adaptability. If you don't think fast down here, you're dead or starving. It might have been worse if the soldiers were down here, though, as they did more murdering and robbery than anyone. At least most the criminals were just fighting to survive. 

We stood in the middle of one of those streets, taking in the hovels the people were forced to live in. The worst was the smell that wafts down the entire block, being a concerning mix of rotting flesh and human feces.

"This place doesn't look like it has many soldiers... or anyone." Bard said.

"Of course there aren't any soldiers, otherwise I wouldn't have suggested we come here." I said, "but this is one of the most populated parts of the city."

"I assumed the military would be on higher alert since they just destroyed our base." Bard said.

"They know we could never move into a residential area, for a lot of reasons." I said, "for one we'd be ratted out, and we'd risk public safety." 

"How could anyone sympathize with the king?" Bard asked, "He neglects his people, so they praise him?"

"You did once." I said, "the same reason you did back then."

"I broke free." Bard said.

"You're in the minority." I said.

As Bard had pointed out, not many people were out on the street. Even though this area was grossly overcrowded, most people knew to stay in their homes as much as possible. It wouldn't be worth going in public. A few did still travel the streets; mobsters and those who were rich enough not to fear the mob, but poor enough to live there.

A single girl was also running down the street in the distance. Not a strange sight, even in the middle of the day.

"We should leave." I said as the girl got closer to us.

"Why is that girl running?" Bard asked.

"Don't bother," I said, "the last thing we need is to get mixed up with the mob. We already have our hands full with the government."

"What do you mean?" Bard asked.

"I assume she's a prostitute or drug mule who got herself into a bad situation." I said.

"She's looking right at us, we have to help her." Bard said.

"You're right, we'll save her. We'll save everyone when we take down the government." I said.

The girl reached us, falling to her knees in front of us. She was breathing heavily, looking up at us. I then decided she had to be one of their prostitutes, as she was too pretty for them to use as a drug mule. She had the blonde hair and blue eyes that had been so fetishized as of late. 

"You..." She said, out of breath but remaining eye contact.

Her voice was clear and melodic. Perhaps she hadn't lived there long enough for the chemicals in the air to mess up her voice, or perhaps she was just lucky. 

"You're with the rebellion." She finally blurted out.

I grabbed her throat, getting down on one knee as I slammed her head against the ground.

"How do you know?" I asked, tightening my grasp.

My hand seized up, loosening its grip on her throat without my consent. The skin on the girl's arms began to bleed from cuts that came out of nowhere. More cuts formed on her as my hand went limp, releasing her entirely. I stood back up, holding my limp hand in shock.

"Who are you?" Bard asked, as her cuts stopped forming and my hand began to gain it's feeling back. 

Author's Note

As I have written this only for the purpose of self-improvement, I would be forever grateful if you would leave me any criticisms or compliments that you have. I'm eager to learn what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. Thank you for reading.