06 |Victory

The ground shook to the hard stomps of metal horseshoes rushing in one direction.

Danji waved his kuiza, directing his warriors to split into groups of three and round the area so as to trap the Arabian army up front.

At the sight of the Sah'Jangi army, Azada raised his sword, signalling his men to pose in defence.

In the centre of their army were four large bamboo cages on wheels, holding numbers of stolen villagers stuffed like animals; all being women and girls chained from wrists and ankles.

They cried and screamed for help.

Azada's archers quickly raised their bows and drew their arrows, releasing them into the air to project onto the Sah'Jangi warriors.

Their group splitted into smaller ones in an attempt to evade — but not all could escape the swift clutches of death on that very spot.

The warriors finally closed in from all corners, heading straight into combat.

Blades and flesh conflicted, sending bodies from both allies and foes to the ground. Immense hunger for victory grew from both sides the closer they drew to risk and death.

Danji grunted, feeling a prompt slash run across his arm and another barely inches to his chest. Before he could raise his weapon in defence, a blade already targeted his neck.

"Ha-Ya!" A sword pierced through the attacker's arm, ripping it off the man's body. In another swing, the blade decapitated him.

Danji snapped his eyes to the side, instantly exhaling in relief. "Ajefe..."

Ajefe smiled, "Thank me later!" He pulled his horse to merge in with the bloody commotion.

Danji smiled, grabbing the leash and pulling his horse back into battle.

As their relentless battle went on, trimming numbers from both — the ground suddenly began to shake.

Feeling the distant yet heavy vibration over the ground draw nearer, the men looked up, simultaneously diverting their attention from bloodshed.

The ground shook harder.

Danji's eyes narrowed, noticing something at a far distance. His brows instantly quirked.

He snapped his head to his men. "Quickly! Their horses!"

"What!?" They furrowed their brows in confusion.

Danji swung his kuiza, striking the limbs of the nearest enemy horse and sending both it and the rider to the ground.

He looked up at Ajefe. "Kill their horses! Now!!"

It took Ajefe a few seconds to understand; until his eyes sighted what was approaching at a distance.

Ajefe quickly pulled out his bow, "Aim for their horses!!!" He drew four arrows at once. His subordinates immediately followed.

Another warrior then looked up at what was approaching them. His eyes widened. "S- S- STAMPEDE!!!"

All eyes widened.

An enormous herd of elephants raced in their direction at full speed, destroying every vegetation in their path as their pace quickened.

ROAR!

Rhou's roar caused even more fright within the large running mammals; it sprung from one side to the other after the elephants, making sure they remained on a particular lane as Kamyla clutched tightly on its fur.

"Fast, Rhou! Faster!"

It increased its pace.

"I just hope Danji gets done before we get there..." Kamyla bit her lips.

Meanwhile, Danji and the rest aim and striked only their horses, completely disabling their only quick mode of transportation.

"Seize the cages!"

His warriors raced forward, slaughtering the cages' coachmen and claiming them.

Danji quickly turned in the direction they came from, waving his army forward. "Run! Quickly!"

They raced downhill.

The elephant stampede finally closed, causing the enemies dispaced on foot and run even faster; as far as their legs could take them — nevertheless, the majority failed to save themselves, getting caught in the heavy stomps of the land giants that attacked and trampled over them.

The minority that struggled to barely ran far enough from the stampede; had their skulls cracked by the straight arrows of Ajefe's archers, dropping dead on the ground.

But unknown to them, Azada and three other of his men, cunningly scaled through in the opposite direction, racing as fast as possible away from the Sah'Jangi warriors.

ROAR!

They instantly shrieked as the white canine beast pounced to their front, snarling. They froze.

Kamyla looked down at them with a deep scowl, watching them shiver on the spot as they fell on their knees in fear.

A few moments later...

Danji and the others stood by the bamboo cages, helping down the women, girls and children.

Their attention were suddenly grasped by the sounds of approaching footsteps.

Looking over their shoulders, they sighted Kamyla on Rhou's back, having four enemy soldiers walking in front of them with their hands over their heads.

Finally approaching her army, Rhou halted, lowering itself for Kamyla to slide down safely. Danji narrowed his eyes at her.

He then said to the two men closest to him, "Chain them!" They stepped forward, pulling Azada and his fellow survivors forward without concern or gentleness.

Kamyla exhaled loudly, holding her waist with both hands.

"Kamy!!!"

She flinched at Danji's violent tone, snapping her head to sight him stomping towards her with a deep scowl. She gulped.

"Are you out of your freaking mind!?"

Kamyla knitted her brows. "Huh? What did I do?"

"What did you do? Really?! You nearly got us all killed with that little spontaneous plan of yours!"

"Well... Nearly, but I didn't, did I?" She shrugged a shoulder.

Danji clinched, "Do you know what would have happened if we were a second slower in evading the path with the hostages!?"

"I don't know why you are getting all upset, Dan. The plan worked, didn't it? Everyone is safe and alive thanks to it!"

Danji grinded his teeth, narrowing his eyes at her challenging grimace with no trace of remorse or regret for her actions as she crossed her arms.

He tsked, "We will talk about this when we get back to the Capital!"

Kamyla furrowed her brows.

Danji hissed, turning around and walking away from her.

Kamyla locked her eyes on his firm muscular back, watching him stride up to the bamboo cages to meet the others.

She pouted, "What's his problem?..."

"I think it is because you put yourself at the highest risk", Ajefe's voice came from her left, causing her to look over her shoulder.

"Meaning?" She crooked a brow.

"Meaning you know how sensitive Danji is when you are careless. He gets all anxious and worried".

"So the best way to show his concern is by scolding me?" She scrunched her face.

Ajefe took a step forward, still watching Danji and the others work. He shrugged, "I guess so. But what do I know? I have never been secretly in love with my female best friend and pretending to be her rival just to keep her on a leash".

Kamyla instantly busted into laughter, "Oh please! Stop that stupid joke already. Aren't you getting too old for it?"

Ajefe snapped his eyes at her, "What are you talking about? I mean, it is so obvious he loves you!"

Kamyla drew a long hiss. "If he really loved me, he wouldn't have kicked my ass the way he did during our last challenge for the Chief Commander's position".

She rolled her eyes, "I fell sick for more than three days and he taunted me for a week later. What kind of love is that?!"

"That of a moron that doesn't know how to handle emotions of love".

Kamyla shook her head, "Rest, Ajefe. You guys have been saying this shit for years now".

Ajefe knitted his brows.

"Besides", she added, "We both know Dan is into dolly docile girls like Ilo".

Ajefe didn't respond, returning his gaze to their comrades. "Maybe..."

"Commander Kamyla!"

The two snapped their heads in one direction, sighting a warrior race towards them.

She unfolded her arms, "What happened?"

He halted before them, bowing, "I- It's Cöfwu".

Their brows quirked.

• • •

Danji, Ajefe and Kamyla stood side by side, staring down at the dead male body lying flat on the ground, inches from their feet.

Cöfwu's body.

Having similar height and size to Ajefe and short black hair, his body from his neck below was covered in dried blood that had leaked from the wide tear across his neck with his sword still clutched within his stiff fingers.

The three friends remained silent with their faces carrying sad grimaces. Danji finally raised his head to look at the warrior standing opposite them.

"Have you carried all the bodies?"

"Yes, Commander".

"How many?"

"Thirty-three of our men, Commander. Including Cöfwu, it is thirty-four. I only left him here because I thought it best you three see him before he is packed with the rest... Given how close you four were", He bowed.

Danji didn't respond, slowly lowering his gaze back to his dear late friend. He bit his lips.

Cöfwu was indeed a close friend of theirs long since childhood, having been raised in the same village and even participating in and surviving the Rlëongē together.

The four of them were the only survivors from their villages' test, which made them grow even closer the older they grew in the army.

And now there he was, lying lifeless and still on the hard ground with all the blood in his body drained and his skin cold and stiff.

No matter how hard a warrior trained to be mentally prepared for the sudden clutches of death every day on the field, it still changed little to nothing of the heavy weight of grief and bereavement one would feel at the death of a friend and partner.

Kamyla gulped bitterly.

Taking a few more moments, Kamyla then looked up as she took in a deep breath. "Commander?"

"Yes?" Danji gazed at her.

"Permission to carry his body on Rhou's back on our way to the Capital?"

Danji stared at her silently, seeing the immense pain in her eyes as she tried to hold out a strong demeanor.

He then nodded, "Very well". Danji turned to the other warrior, "Tell the others we will stop at the Oyamji kingdom to borrow carriages for the hostages before we proceed to the Capital".

"Yes, Commander!" The warrior walked away briskly.

Danji then took a step forward, bending down to carefully pick up the heavy corpse before turning to face Kamyla and Ajefe.

"Let's go. I will help you carry him to Rhou".

Kamyla nodded, slowly turning around with Ajefe and padding forward.

Danji followed.