Commander Nykon Reev
The war games. We were finally here. Everyone was tense. I stood in the war game complex looking at the field where the competition would take place. Half of the stands were filled with Grantsions Zenkian, and the other half were filled with Waysaw Zenkian. This was going to be either peaceful games or a surprise battle. All of us were ready for both circumstances.
“I see nothing suspicious yet. But keep an eye out. When you are fighting, focus on the fight. Know that the rest of us, as well as the soldier brigade, will be watching for anything unusual. Remember the signal,” I said.
“Understood,” Rizim said as he walked away from me and began to warm up with stretches.
The war complex was loud. Cheering and chaos could be heard. I looked back to the sideline area of the field where Amber stood with the rest of the medical treatment team. I looked at her, but she was not looking at me. She was rigid, as though frozen in fear. I followed her eyes. She was staring across the field at one of the competitors for the Waysaw side. It was Evlon. He was the victor of the war games of the past. He was a high commanding officer; he was second in charge. He was the right-hand soldier of the leader of the Waysaw government. He was going to be the soldier that needed to be beaten in these games. But why was Amber staring at him?
A human female came to Evlon’s side. I recognized her immediately. Her name was Miranda. She had a very dark past attached to her. She had come to Anvin as an emissary of Earth only to turn on Earth and become part of the Waysaw Government. She was Evlon’s wife now. Together they ruled a large part of the Waysaw armies. It was an unusual and complex arrangement, but with Evlon, she had climbed high. Everyone knew this.
But why was Amber staring at them like she had seen a ghost? I watched as Miranda made eye contact with Amber and smiled at her. Then Miranda threw her head back and laughed. Evlon laughed alongside her.
I looked at Amber. She turned her back to them, and I could tell that she was trembling.
“I am going to have ointment rubbed it on my arms,” I said to Rizim and some of the others. I walked over to the sidelines.
“What is it? What is wrong?” I whispered to Amber as I went through the motions of handing her the ointment to put on me.
Tears were in her eyes. “I saw my former masters. I cannot handle seeing them. They terrify me. I feel like at any moment they are going to snatch me away,” she said.
“Yes. You do not know how evil they are. Miranda is a human; how could she be so cruel to her own kind? You have no idea the things they did to me. I cannot return to them,” she said.
“I promise you that I will not allow it. They will never touch you again. I promise,” I whispered to her. I looked across the field at Evlon. He was staring right at me. He narrowed his eyes at me. At the moment, I didn't care. She no longer belonged to them. I hated that these were the owners of Amber. I had heard many stories about just how dark they could be. I would do this for Amber. I would defeat him for her.
“Be careful out there. He is a victor, but only because he cheats. I have seen him do it before. In the last games I watched, a distant scream by some unknown Zenkian caused the soldier to look away for a second. In that second, Evlon took advantage of his distraction and struck a blow to his opponent. Do not to look away, no matter what,” she said.
“I understand. Do not worry. I will be returning to the village. I have a son,” I said to her.
Her lip trembled even more when I said that. Her mouth opened slightly, like she was going to tell me something. But then she held her tongue and just said, “Good luck.”
“Thank you. Both of us are returning home, I guarantee it,” I said to her. Then I walked away to warm up with Rizim.
Suddenly trumpets played, blasting through the stadium atmosphere. The games ceremony was beginning. The Waysaw leader stood on a podium high in the stands.
“Welcome to the war games of Anvin! We have gathered in a time of peace to compete in these ancient games, Waysaw against Grantsions. The best of the best compete against each other, but there can only be one victor. Let the games begin!” he shouted.
The cheers roared across the stadium. I had hoped that this was going to be an actual game and not a trap.
The first soldiers took to the field. Iroq was the soldier from the Grantsions team to face the Waysaw soldier Giat.
The challenge was sword battle. The whistle blew, and the fight began. We watched as Iroq expertly fought against the opponent. I kept one eye on the fight and another on the surroundings. I still did not see anything out of the ordinary. I looked over at Amber; she was watching the fight with two hands on her belly. She seemed nervous and scared. I did not blame her.
“He's got this,” Rizim said by my side. My eyes turned back to the Game. Iroq was winning. The opponent was on his knees. Iroq struck one last blow, killing the man. The crowd went wild. It was a gruesome scene, but these were the war games.
Two more competitions were played. One was fighting with clubs, the other with a dagger and wrestling. We lost a soldier in the club competition. Rizim played in daggers, and won. Now it was my turn.
Evlon stepped onto the field. He stood across from me. I stepped onto the field. The game was axes. I held my ax in my hand, tightening my grip on it. Evlon looked at me with an evil stare. He didn't scare me. I remembered the atrocities that came to Amber under his hand. It made me angry. The whistle blew.
I shouted as I charged at him. We clashed in the center. My ax went flying, swinging at him. It barely missed him. He looked at me with wide eyes; he wasn't expecting my skill. He swung at me, and I jumped up, avoiding contact with the metal.
We fought together, each of us keeping our own. We ducked and swung at each other. I moved my feet fast, darting around him. I swung my ax around my head and down toward him at an angle. This caught him off-guard, and my ax met his shoulder. He screamed. Blood oozed from his arm. He roared in anger. He came at me charging full force. I jumped out of the way, and he rolled onto the field. I put my ax over my head swinging down.
Boom! An explosion rocked the air. I remembered what Amber said, and I did not take my eyes off of my target. I swung down at him. He moved out of the way rolling across the grass. He got to his feet and looked at me. Then he ran. It was only then that I looked around. There was complete chaos as I realize that an explosion had gone off in the corner of the stadium. Zenkian were running everywhere, and it wasn't long before I heard the sound of blasters. Just as we thought, it had been a trap!