"This is it, guys... The fight for freedom. It won't be easy, but let's do our best."
Athena says as we make our way up the steep steps.
"So this militia... What's it like?"
Himora asks Athena as we were coming to the top of the stairs.
"They are all quite mysterious... My mother hired them for that... They are all elite."
It was a rather vague answer, but I suppose I shouldn't have expected more from the tired woman.
"Well, we'll see about that."
Himora says as he draws his lethal sword.
I silently follow behind the two of them and await the upcoming battle.
"Good luck."
I call out to the others.
"We are going to need it."
Athena replies.
As we step into the room, we all stop and stare at the huge interior of the castle. Trees are everywhere, and birds whistle from the outspread branches.
I speak before the equally stunned Himora.
"Thi-this... Is a forest... What the hell?"
I stuttered to Athena.
The scenery was beautiful.
Birds flew up ahead, rodents scurried below, and the leaves swayed back and forth as a gentle breeze traveled throughout the room.
"My mother made sure to make this room look as real as possible in order to give its challengers a true "forest" feeling."
Himora was bemused and impatient.
"Oh, swell... Let's go."
He pushed past us and approached the heavily wooded area.
But before he made it more than 10 feet into the forest, an arrow shot past him and lodged itself in the trunk of the tree right next to his head. The hyper-vigilant swordsman spun around, sword drawn and ready for his adversary.
Athena moved towards the projectile, her head turning about to look for its sender.
"Look at that arrow... It's silver!"
She reached up and pulled the arrow from the tree, handing it to me after a short period of speculation.
"That must mean our 'hero' is here."
She continued.
"MOVE!"
I tackled Athena out of the direct path of the massive Sumo Wrestler, who had flung himself at her from behind in an attempt to quickly crush her in his huge arms.
In the split second of time we had before he came at us again, Athena managed to spit out a quick response.
"Today is NOT my day!"
Himora was already on the offense when, out of nowhere, the swordsman known as Tien came from behind the Sumo, kicked off his shoulder, and landed squarely in front of the stunned Himora, Sword drawn and a smirk on his face.
"Himora Amir... Nice to see you again."
I have never seen Himora hesitate till this point in my life.
"Bro-brother!?"
He said, freezing in place where he stood. His sword only inches from his sheath.
"Imp-impossible! You... You're dead! WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS!? HOW ARE YOU HERE!?"
Tein -almost a replica of Himora- steps towards his baffled little brother, his blade an equally deadly mirror to Himora's own.
"Don't act as if you don't know what happened!... Those many, many years ago... And just to think, you didn't even try to help us... TO HELP ME!"
-----
Flashback.
Himora walks along through the vast forest of Woodridge.
Leaves fall, and birds sing as the bright sun shines through the canopy above.
Suddenly, the silence and tranquility are broken, shattered by the loud roar of flames and explosions.
"What the hell!?"
Himora sprints off in the direction of his village.
His family lived in a small, isolated village before they moved to Wateria in Solithia.
Rounding the wall of threes that separated him from his family, he stops and stares in fear and disbelief as hundreds of Shicato soldiers storm the home of his helpless people.
A lone voice catches his ear.
"HIMORA! HIMORA, WHERE ARE YOU? HIMORA!?"
Tein runs from one burning hut to the next, desperately trying to find his lost little brother. Several soldiers take to him, yet with his skill and sword, he overcomes them with ease.
"TEIN! I AM HERE!... OVER HERE!"
Himora draws his training sword and runs to his brother's aid, yet the Shicato soldiers pose a much greater threat to the young boy at his diminutive size.
"Himora run!... I can handle this! GET AWAY FROM HERE!"
Tein steps between his little brother and the circling men.
"But-"
Himora shoots back, but Tein cuts him off with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"No buts...Get... Away... NOW!!"
Himora, with tears streaming down his tiny face, turns and runs into the now-burning forest.
Moments later, the young, frightened boy hears screams of pain and agony resonating from the village, screams that he hopes and prays are not coming from Tein...
As he looks back at the village through the trees, he sees the soldiers surround his brother and manage to knock his sword from his hands.
"C'MERE YA LITTLE BRAT!"
The soldiers drag him off as he kicks and screams, throwing him into the back of a waiting, caged wagon.
Thick black smoke fills the air and the lungs of the young boy as he runs in the opposite direction from his burning village.
He screams into the pitch-black night, a lost name and a painful refrain.
"Tein! TEEEEEIIIIN!"
-----
Back to reality.
Himora was in shock.
Hot tears of both sadness and anger streamed halfway down his face before being rapidly absorbed into his skin.
"I never left you! You told me to leave! It's your own fault!"
Tein takes a half step forward, this time bracing his sword for the attack.
"You were too small. Small and weak, LIKE YOU ARE NOW!"
He lunges at Himora, and their blades ricochet off each other at speeds that are hardly traceable between the two skilled swordsmen.
Their battle would be one for the ages.