CHAPTER 5

Brax roared at the top of his lungs, echoing into the sky as the Other World crashed through the gates and came at us. I was joined by the King’s Army just in time.

I flew into battle dodging spears, swords, and arrows. I may have been in human form, but I still possessed alien strength and speed. To say I was operating as if a being possessed by some insane brand of sorcery would have been a gross understatement. I barely remember the fight; it is all such a blur.

Every thought, every impulse was about Tarin and the idea that any of these pigs wanted to get their hands on her and kill her and her family. That would never happen.

“Ready to finish this brother?” Brax shouted as he came at me from the side.

I snarled dodging his spear and retaliating with a vicious swipe of my fist upside his face. He fell to the ground hard and I swung my foot down in a hammering action aiming to drive my heel through his skull. He rolled to the side just in time and my foot bounced off the hard ground. A split second later he was burying a fist in my nose. I felt the hard crunch of bone and the overwhelming numb sensation spreading across my face. I would have hardly felt this in my true form, but as a human it was very damaging.

My body dropped to the floor, but I was determined to not let this be the end as I swung my foot outward colliding with Brax’s leg and dropping him to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a dagger lying in the dirt. I grabbed it quickly and swung it at Brax’s throat.

He caught the blade end of the dagger in his hands and pushed back to block the attack. I grabbed the handle with both hands and leaned against it trying to drive the dagger hard into him. He pushed back as hard as he could, but I was gaining strength.

Brax suddenly realized he was losing. The fear in his eyes was beautiful and it gave me the extra motivation to push forward harder one last time. The dagger pierced his body hard, driving through him. His eyes flew open widely as it all sank into him that he was done for.

I rolled off him and chose not to watch him die. I did not care to see death.

Looking around I saw the remaining soldiers of the Other World leaving. They had lost. The King's Army and I had successfully defended the castle. We had only suffered minimal losses as well. I knew now that the Other World were superior on a personal level to humans, but they did not know about teamwork and dedication to a purpose. They did not care about each other to the extent that humans did and this had proven to be their downfall time and time again.

I was tired of being so cold and empty inside. I was tired of not experiencing love, caring, fear, and even pain, which I was feeling a great deal right then. I looked at myself taking inventory of my injuries. There were long gashes bleeding out profusely on both of my arms and I felt as if my ankle might have been broken. As I tried to put weight down on it the pain shot through my leg into my hips even. It was like something biting and clamping down on my whole leg causing spasms of pain. And my face was still fairly numb, although I could feel the blood that was still gushing from my nose.

I paid no mind to these injuries really; they would heal, although it would take longer since I was remaining in human form. All I wanted to do was get back to Tarin and let her know that everything was ok.

As I walked away from the battlefield I could hear the rest of the army high-fiving each other, and cheering over a hard-fought, well-deserved victory. I shared in their jubilation, but I did not want to waste a second more. I have never felt that war is the answer to anything and I hated it more now that I was becoming more human.

I knew in time that I would become totally human if I allowed myself to be so. I could force myself to stay in human form until eventually the old me would not be able to return. I wasn't sure yet if that was something I wanted. I know that it would have made my life so much easier in every possible way going forward, but if these people needed me again and I was just a normal man I would not be able to protect them the way they deserved to be protected. This battle today would have been lost without my extra abilities.

And I think my fellow soldiers knew that day that I was not like them. They will never know that I am from the Other World and they will never know that I came so close to turning my back on them and leading them to slaughter, but I don't believe they are green enough to think that I am just some orphan. But I don't think they will mention the abilities I displayed to anyone; I think they were just happy that I was there and that I am their friend.

I will tell Tarin one day when the time is right about my past and who I really am. But that day was not the right time. The victory needed to be enjoyed first.