Chapter List
Chapter Twenty-One
Richard stumbled backwards after being hit in the side of the face. He shook his head and looked at Emperor Diable.
�Sir, there was nothing I could have done!� he said.
�Silence! I don�t need to hear your excuses! You failed me and let him get away. And worse! Now he may know the position of the castle!� the Emperor yelled.
�Sir, I had thought of that and so we had walked him in circles for a while. There�s nothing to worry about. And even if he did manage to make it here our forces would demolish all of theirs.� Richard said, trying to calm the Emperor.
�These creatures have proven resourceful in the past. I don�t want to risk losing all of this. Because you have served me well in the past I will not kill you. Set up defenses around the castle. If you fail me again I�ll give you a slow and horribly painful death.� Diable said, turning away from him.
Richard watched him leave then frowned slightly and walked off down a hallway. He sighed to himself. He was on the edge of the cliff; one more mistake and it would be the end of him. But he had been in this position before and he knew how to fix things.
* * * * * *
Later the next day I stood on top of the sentry wall, helping to keep guard. I had slept for eleven hours strait and I was in much better condition now. I rested my hand on the hilt of my sword, now returned to me. The canine gem eyes shinned in the afternoon sun. The wind had picked up a bit earlier, showing a storm would follow that night. I nodded to myself as thoughts came one by one into my mind.
�Carry on�� I said to a nearby sentry, Anthony. He and the one�s from the forest were very useful and skilled bowman. Anthony himself was a quiet type, but when I saw his skill with a bow and arrow I was quite amazed. I walked to the end of the wall then went down the stairs that led to the ground. I made my way across the courtyard to the main room. I had called for a meeting from all warriors and officers. I made my way to the front of the room, animals moving out of my way to let me through. I leapt up onto the large table, the officers lined up in front of it waiting for me to speak. I looked out across the room; it was packed full of animals and some even waited outside, waiting for a message on what I was saying.
�Animals of th� AFAS. I know tha� in my absence y� were all directed t� change plans an� �ead for th� king�s one by one. Well, tha� plan is no longer effective. We are still followin� Ziara�s wish. We will attack th� Emperors castle tonight while most o� them sleep an� while we �ave the rain t� cover ourselves.� There was a loud murmur throughout the entire room. I waited for a minute while they quieted themselves.
�For this battle we will need all fighters t� participate.� I sighed, �As y� know I don�t like t� force anybody int� anything but� everything is on th� line. Everybody can �elp in some way. Whether it be fightin�, or simply preparin� supplies f� our warriors, everybody can �elp. All warriors, say g�bye t� your loved one�s. F� when th� sun rises tomorrow things will either be th� same as they are now, with animals slaves t� �umans. Or, thing�s will be different an� we will all be free from �uman rule. But I can guarantee tha� not everyone will still be alive come tomorrow, unfortunately. But we must do this�� I said to them all. I took a quick look around then stepped off the table, onto a chair, then down onto the floor. There was a loud response from the entire room but I had said what I needed to say. I opened the door to the planning room and closed it behind me as I went in. I took my sword off of my belt loop and set it on the table in front of me as I sat down. I rubbed my forehead and sighed to myself. So this is it? Well, Ziara, we�re going t� attack th� Emperor, just as you wanted it. I �ope I�ve lived up t� wha� y� thought y� saw in me. I�m no� quite sure m�self.
I looked towards the door as it was opened. I looked at Damien as he stepped in, followed by Charlie, Vincent, Anthony, Jewell, and Fea. Fea closed the door behind her and they all took a seat at the table.
�Renard, are you sure you�re up to fighting tonight? I mean, you were in terrible shape earlier.� Jewell said. I nodded slightly to her.
�Yes, I�m sure.� I told her.
�Why tonight though? Couldn�t we wait for another storm when we have more animals? It doesn�t make sense to me.� Said Fea. I sighed slightly.
�They obviously know where we are. Whether we fight �em �ere or there, we still �ave t� fight them.�
�Well, you can count on my group to back you up.� Anthony said. I smiled at him.
�Good t� know.�
�Renard,� I looked at Damien as he spoke, �I�ve always been by your side through everything bu� I�ve got a bad feeling about this.� I smiled slightly.
�Don�t worry about it. It�ll be fine.� I reassured him, though he still looked a little uneasy.
�Oh, um, Renard. You know Collin, right?� I blinked and looked at Vincent.
�Yes, why?� I asked him.
�A raccoon lady that came in with your group yesterday turned out to be his mother. She wanted me to thank you for her.� He told me. I smiled at him.
�Tha�s certainly a good thing. Two reunions in th� same day.� I said, smiling at Jewell. She smiled and Damien stood up.
�Well, we should probably get ready for tonight then.� I nodded to him and Damien, Vincent, Charlie, Anthony and Fea left the room. Jewell stood up and looked at me.
�Renard, I owe you everything. You�ve helped me countless times since I�ve met you. You�ve given me my freedom, my parents, practically my life back. Thank you.� She said to me. I smiled at her and stood up.
�Don�t worry abou� it, Jewell. Glad t� do my part.� She smiled at me.
�You always have been too modest for your own good.� I chuckled lightly and shook my head. She walked up to me and hugged me lightly.
�Be careful, Renard.� She said. I smiled and hugged her back.
�I will be.� She smiled and kissed my cheek lightly before turning and leaving.
I sighed slightly and walked out of the room. I stood in the doorway, watching animals moving in and out of the main room and through the hallway that led out of it. I thought back to the days at the farm and how amazingly simple things were to now. But I wondered, would I stay with the simpler life and leave this life of decision-making and battles? I shook my head. Never would I do such a thing.
That night every single animal in the castle left its safe walls to travel into the dense forests. It was a long walk and often the children would get tired and have to be carried. But everybody had to come because we needed every fighter to be with us, unable to protect the castle. We followed the marks I had left, we were all aware of the circles we would go in every once in a while. But everybody stayed silent as we walked.
And now we stand at the edge of the forest, looking ahead of us at the largest castle we had ever seen with lightning flashes going off in the distance. I looked it over, seeing to water powered generators, powering two searchlights that lit up the area they were aimed at. I watched them with slight curiosity. I had never seen lights that stayed on like that. At the farm they got their power from a battery charged up manually and would eventually run out.
As I stood, watching the castle, trying to form an attack plan. I was scared, but ready. This would be the battle of all battles. I could see the silhouettes of many sentries guarding the castle. Something else also made me nervous. There was the silhouette of several animals on the sentry wall, traitors to our kind. They figure that it�s better to be on the more powerful human side. We were downwind of them, so luckily they couldn�t catch our scents. As long as the wind continued to blow from the north until the storms came we would be fine.
It was another three hours before it was nearly pitch black and the storms rolled in. The rain fell heavy and cold. But we didn�t let the rain stop us. We would use it. I watched as the searchlights were shut off because of the rain. The only way to be spotted now was lightning flashes. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the forest, followed by our army of animals.