shut the door behind me. She was just trying to deter me because she felt protective over the humans she didn’t even know. They attacked the Navani people, I couldn’t just let that slide.
On reaching the center of the village, I joined the rally of men. Kuro had done well to gather all of the warriors, knowing we would need all of them even without me having to specify. Once everyone arrived and was armed, Kuro, Dran, and I organized a plan and groups, taking our time to be sure we were smart about it. It was around noon before we were ready to leave, making sure everyone was heavily armed and ready for battle. Once we were ready, the men got into ranks, and we led them into the jungle. As we trod through, Kuro took a section of the men with him, and Dran took another section with him and both went in opposite directions. Our best chance of an effective attack was to surround the area and take the humans at every angle. My men and I were taking it head-on while Dran and Kuro attacked from the sides.
After a while of travel, we approached the barracks which was nestled in the trees. It was a rather large stone building, standing tall with two towers on it. Perhaps they had snipers up there? We would have to be careful and not be spotted until we were ready. My group stayed as low to the ground as possible as we gained distance. Just outside the building was a large group of humans doing drills. We would have to attack them first before getting to the actual building. Looking back at my men, I gave a signal and we all rose to stand straight. Just like the attacks before, we raised our weapons and charged out at the men. Just as we entered their sights, Kuro and Dran’s groups entered from the sides as well, having the same thought as I. The humans already had weapons in their hands as they were practicing, all scrambling to load their massive guns as we neared.
Shots sounded from the towers, just as I had suspected. I charged at the men, my sword swinging down on the first human I approached; the blade cut into the crook of his neck, slicing down into his chest. The man quickly fell over, but even more swarmed to me. I lashed my sword as skillfully as possible, feeling a few bullets graze my sides and arms as I fought hard against them. Several of my men stuck close to my sides, wanting to protect me at all costs.
The shelling didn’t seem to ever let up, the smell of gunpowder thick in the air. My ears were ringing from the sound of it all, having never before experienced that. It caused me to look around and notice just how many humans had filed out of the barracks and joined the fight. Just at a glance, it looked like they outnumbered us around five to one. Surely we could still make a difference though; we would retreat soon, we just needed to get them pushed back a little more so that we could.
But it was too late for that. Thunder-like booms came from the towers, followed quickly by deafening explosions. I watched in horror as two missiles collided with groups of Navani warriors. The impact sent them flying to the ground as bursts of flames covered the area. There was another sound of thunder followed by two more explosions. My warriors fell to their deaths, either dying from the blast or burning from the flames.
Julia had been right . We had to retreat. Plunging my sword into a final approaching human, I raised my blade and bellowed out, “RETREAT!” The men fought their way deeper into the jungle, using the advantage of the trees to get out of the line of sight of the humans. We all ran as fast as we could, bullets still weaved through the trees in our direction; but the further we got, the less we could hear the gun fire. By the time we got halfway home, the noise of combat ceased and all that was heard was the pounding of the warriors’ feet as we raced home as fast as we could.
11
Julia
M y nerves were fried the entire day, actually worrying about Nova and his men. They had been gone all day and I
On reaching the center of the village, I joined the rally of men. Kuro had done well to gather all of the warriors, knowing we would need all of them even without me having to specify. Once everyone arrived and was armed, Kuro, Dran, and I organized a plan and groups, taking our time to be sure we were smart about it. It was around noon before we were ready to leave, making sure everyone was heavily armed and ready for battle. Once we were ready, the men got into ranks, and we led them into the jungle. As we trod through, Kuro took a section of the men with him, and Dran took another section with him and both went in opposite directions. Our best chance of an effective attack was to surround the area and take the humans at every angle. My men and I were taking it head-on while Dran and Kuro attacked from the sides.
After a while of travel, we approached the barracks which was nestled in the trees. It was a rather large stone building, standing tall with two towers on it. Perhaps they had snipers up there? We would have to be careful and not be spotted until we were ready. My group stayed as low to the ground as possible as we gained distance. Just outside the building was a large group of humans doing drills. We would have to attack them first before getting to the actual building. Looking back at my men, I gave a signal and we all rose to stand straight. Just like the attacks before, we raised our weapons and charged out at the men. Just as we entered their sights, Kuro and Dran’s groups entered from the sides as well, having the same thought as I. The humans already had weapons in their hands as they were practicing, all scrambling to load their massive guns as we neared.
Shots sounded from the towers, just as I had suspected. I charged at the men, my sword swinging down on the first human I approached; the blade cut into the crook of his neck, slicing down into his chest. The man quickly fell over, but even more swarmed to me. I lashed my sword as skillfully as possible, feeling a few bullets graze my sides and arms as I fought hard against them. Several of my men stuck close to my sides, wanting to protect me at all costs.
The shelling didn’t seem to ever let up, the smell of gunpowder thick in the air. My ears were ringing from the sound of it all, having never before experienced that. It caused me to look around and notice just how many humans had filed out of the barracks and joined the fight. Just at a glance, it looked like they outnumbered us around five to one. Surely we could still make a difference though; we would retreat soon, we just needed to get them pushed back a little more so that we could.
But it was too late for that. Thunder-like booms came from the towers, followed quickly by deafening explosions. I watched in horror as two missiles collided with groups of Navani warriors. The impact sent them flying to the ground as bursts of flames covered the area. There was another sound of thunder followed by two more explosions. My warriors fell to their deaths, either dying from the blast or burning from the flames.
Julia had been right . We had to retreat. Plunging my sword into a final approaching human, I raised my blade and bellowed out, “RETREAT!” The men fought their way deeper into the jungle, using the advantage of the trees to get out of the line of sight of the humans. We all ran as fast as we could, bullets still weaved through the trees in our direction; but the further we got, the less we could hear the gun fire. By the time we got halfway home, the noise of combat ceased and all that was heard was the pounding of the warriors’ feet as we raced home as fast as we could.
11
Julia
M y nerves were fried the entire day, actually worrying about Nova and his men. They had been gone all day and I
Similar Books
