The commander

"what's he like?, Your commander?" I asked, intrigued by the amount of fear and dread just saying his name carried.

"If you mean what's he going to do to you, then you shouldn't be scared" Volcox replied calmly, carefully invading the shrubs below him.

"The commander is ruthless, arrogant and defiant. Needless to say that he even fought side by side Lord Vivox and helped subdue the entire army of the thousand swordmen by himself in the blood war."

"Stop it, koldor". Volcox hushed,eyes brimming in worry.

"The blood war?". I muttered calmly, trying to make sense of what I had heard.

"It's a war that occured over two centuries ago, it's nothing special". Volcox was waving as he spoke, still carefully evading over the shrubs around him.

The blood war, vivox; all these were terms I had no knowledge of and I wasn't surprised by it.

The government were overly secretive with the information they shared, and this was nothing new, we at the the front lines were risking our lives with very little information about the foe we were facing and this interaction was the only way I could gather some intel.

Although it was just dawn, the weather had already slowly eased up and the once dark terrains were becoming more and more illuminated by the sun, leaving us with a view that was more outstanding than any forest I had seen on earth.

The tall trees that towered over us were sparsely spread as to encompass the entire forest and surprisingly they were all fruitless but with different shades of colours. There were birds that lingered above the trees and us, completely dominating the skies and never dropping down seemingly, larger than the ones we had on earth, sunlight filtering through the canopy, casting ethereal patterns on the forest floors and giving it a warm feeling. 

As we ventured deeper into the dense foliage of the forest, I could feel the presence of strange creatures peering at us from a distance, carefully observing our movements. 

A very dense fog which had masked our view had slowly began to clear up as the sun rose gradually, and by now, I could make out most of what was lurking behind the massive trees. 

We moved further into the dense forest, cutting through branches and leaves just to create paths narrow enough for foot passage. 

My stomach grumbled repeatedly and I couldn't help but fantasize about the meals back on my home planet; beaf stew and mashed potatoes would definitely lift up my spirit.

"Hey stop slacking off weakling, we're almost there"

Aside from my hunger, the constant insults from koldor added to the cause of my rapidly churning stomach. I had put up with the insults for too long and one more could breach my sanity.

"Koldor, watch your tongue" Volcox responded angrily.

"Yeah right, go on and protect the outsider, when deep down you know she couldn't even care less about what happens to us or our planet"

"I said that's enough -"

"Volcox!!" A voice called out from behind us.

I looked behind and saw a lady arrayed in grey armour and possessing very long white hair that reached even below her knees. I was surprised that a lady of her stature could get sent to a battlefield, but I was easily deceived by appearance.

"Major!!"

"Major!!!"

I watched as they both prostrated before her clearly shaken by her presence. For some reason I found it weird that even the prideful koldor, would prostrate to an officer and not feel ashamed about it.

'Major huh?!'

"What? Don't I look like one" She spoke, rubbing on the hilt of the blade on her waist.

I watched as her eyes trailed towards my direction and tried to avoid making eye contact as much as possible, especially when I didn't know what was going on.

"Huh!?

How did she know what I was thinking?? Or perhaps did I speak out unknowingly?. Her smirk seemed to leave me even more thoughtless than I already was.

I watched as her slight figure weaved through the air as she jumped down from the rock upon which she stood. She leaned towards me when she was close enough, hands crossed below her back and just stared into my eyes, like the secret of everything was in them.

"What are you?"

I was taken aback by her question and tried to shrug off the thought that she might be an actual mind reader.

Strange things had been happening all day and I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case judging from the look on her face.

She stepped back and walked towards the two quivering officers, with their heads still bowed and I watched her giggle as she spoke.

"Lift your heads"

They seemed hesitant like as if she wasn't audible enough, but immediately responded when she made to take another step. 

I watched as koldor smiled wryly while bitting his lower lip and was shocked as to how a single lady could make men crumble in fear. 

What was so special about her?. 

I could definitely feel a certain aura emanating from her but it wasn't terrifying enough to make anyone fear her. 

Slowly, I had began to walk towards them, losing fear by every step I took, I proceeded boldly and without caution, in hopes that I could get some kind of answers regarding certain topics that were shared earlier.

"Who is the commander?" I inquired, keeping some distance from her before speaking.

I watched as she turned towards me, staring at me deeply. She was doing it again, trying to find out who I was simply by looking at me, I didn't know if that was a thing among this species or rather her own way of doing things, but sadly it didn't work on me.

Why?? 

Because she always seem to be at rock bottom everytime she did it.

"The leader of a special otherworldly resistant force, second in command of the main army of the Almighty Vivox, and the one who's going to decide your fate" She replied with pride, her chat puffing up slowly.

Immediately after she spoke those words, I watched as she moved her blade towards me at such a great speed, such that it was hard to dodge.

I didn't even see her unsheathe her blade, and I don't know which was more more frightening; her movement speed or the instant bloodlust I felt when she made the action.

"I...I thought you needed me alive for your commander to determine my fate."

I had began to sweat, my hands were visibly shaking as well as my voice. This was the worst case scenario and I couldn't wrap my head around what could have led to this outcome.

"You're quite overconfident, I'll give you that, human. But make no mistake in your judgement, the commander needs you alive but not in complete form"

"What nonsense are you spewing no-"

I felt the weight of her kick sharply pierce my side as it pushed me rapidly towards the ground almost destroying my ribs in the process. 

My reaction speed was surprisingly high at the moment, such that even though I couldn't completely see her movement, I could definitely respond to them in the nick of time.

"I was going to stop maybe after you bled a little but now, I guess you'll also be losing a body part"

"Why the sudden resentment" I asked chuckling.

It was like as if every statement I made pushed her tolerance to the edge, but surprisingly she was not enraged by this particular question and the fact that she relaxed before speaking, proved that all her actions till now, could be attributed to the reply.

"It's not just you, but your entire kind. Leeches who would dare steal the most prized possession of our lord." She spat in resentment, crouching a bit as she stared at me.

Her gaze dropped and she seemed to have regained her past bloodlust, but this time, it was more fierce than the last.

I readied myself in expectation of an attack, not even knowing if I could parry it.

"Ignorant, puny and foolish. But fret not, for your judgement will come by my hand" Her riddle speech pattern, getting duller by the second

I tied my palms with the remaining piece of the shirt that I had torn. I was left with only my singlet on but I felt more comfortable that way. 

Although I had made a decision to only make choices that would affect me positively, for some reason I felt like smacking the smug look off her face. 

"Yeah, yeah.... Come at me bitch, let's see who's the real dea!"