The calm breeze blew through her mane as Blade stood on a cliff looking into the city of Kestrel. As she stood there, she couldn’t help but consider what would happen next as Traipse trotted up, “What do you see?”
Blade replied, “It’s a calming breeze right now… but within the hour it will die.”
Traipse replied, “Then when it does, we will move out. I’ve ordered the griffin to attack from the ground until they reach the city wall. This will leave the skies up to you, so you can kill any griffin you see. However, if you see that stallion you told me about, then try to subdue him. If he is Cutter material, then I would like to speak with him personally.”
Blade nodded her head “If you say so… Tri, the wind just stopped."
Traipse looked back at the city before he replied, "Alright, then let’s go meet Mist. ALL TREBUCHETS FIRE!!! FRONT LINE MOVE OUT!!! Blade, I'll leave the archers with you. You know how to handle it, right?"
Blade smiled, "Of course I do."
Inside the city Major Bolt was standing in front of Sergeant Major Storm holding his new weapon, it was a teardrop shaped shield with a blade built into the point on the bottom. As Major Bolt held this weapon he attached it to his hoof and started swinging the blade, “It’s a little bulky but much lighter than it looks.”
Storm replied, “I had to make it a little bulky to compensate for the shape of the blade, not to mention I need enough strength to stop incoming swords, spears, and arrows. It’s a special mixture of iron, aluminum, and bronze, it’s the same mix I used in my morning star to keep it strong but light.”
“So why is it shaped like a tear drop?”
Commander Mist trotted up and replied, “The smooth surface will make it easier to parry attacks, plus stuff like arrows and spears will be less likely to get stuck in the shield so it will last longer.”
Major Bolt looked at Commander Mist and replied, “I see, it’s a little awkward to carry, but I think I can manage.”
Storm replied, “It just takes practice, you'll get used to it in no time.”
At that moment, Major Gill dove in from the sky and landed next to Commander Mist, “Commander, we have a problem. So far we have lost contact with three scouting pairs.”
Commander Mist replied, “Where?”
“To the north, we lost contact with the first about an hour ago, but the two we sent to search for them have also gone missing.”
“COMMANDER!!!”
Sergeant Snow sprinted up to the group and spoke, “Griffin soldiers approaching from the north, they are being led by a stallion who is wearing gray armor.”
Commander Mist replied, “What was the color of the stallions pelt?”
Sergeant Snow replied, “Um… it was kind of a bluish color. He also has black and gray mane.”
Commander Mist replied with a little anger in his voice, “Traipse… ALL SOLDIERS TO ARMS!!! Major Gill! Get your griffin outside the city and be ready for anything, I'll be out there to assist you soon! Sparky gather our soldiers and have them set up perimeters inside the city! You will be our last line of defense. I'm counting on you.”
Major Bolt replied with an uneasy tone, “Got it sir… I'll do my best.”
“Are you ok?”
“Fine sir, just fine. As long as I don’t fly, right?”
Commander Mist didn’t like the sound of his reply but rather than argue he knew he had to leave so he could get his spear and armor ready. After Commander Mist was gone, Sergeant Major Storm approached Major Bolt, “Are you ok sir? Feeling nervous?”
Major Bolt couldn’t show any more denial with the tone of his reply, “Me… nervous… don’t be ridiculous… I'm… just… I don’t know how well I'll do with my wing like this, that's all.”
Sergeant Snow put his hoof on Major Bolt’s shoulder and replied, “Don’t worry sir, I'll be here to assist you with anything you need. With my help, we will get through this alive. Or die trying.”
Major Bolt took Snow’s hoof of is shoulder and replied with high sarcasm, “Gee thanks… that makes me feel so much better.”
Sergeant Major Storm spoke next, “You want some real advice sir? This is something Commander Mist told me before my first battle…”
Outside the city, Major Gill was watching the enemy griffin approach as Commander Mist galloped up to him, “Major? How many enemy soldiers are there?”
Major Gill replied, “About five hundred, almost half of our force. This battle should be quick.”
Commander Mist shook his head, “Numbers don’t decide a battle, strategy does, not to mention skill. I hope your soldiers are ready for this. We are going against three legends here. The cutters are the most feared mercenaries in the world, and for good reason. I never met The Reaper, but I know Traipse, you already met Blade yesterday so you should know what we are up against.”
“Understood commander, my soldiers a…”
“INCOMING!!!”
Commander Mist used his magic to throw himself and Major Gill out of the way, as a large boulder hit the ground, they were standing on rolling over a few griffin soldiers before crashing into the city gate. As the two officers picked themselves up from the ground, Commander Mist spoke, “Have your front line take to the sky and stop those trebuchets!”
Major Gill Replied, “Yes sir. FRONT LINE TAKE DOWN THOSE TREBUCHETS!!!”
The first rank of the Griffin Royal Forces took to the skies. Traipse and his formation were now less than one thousand feet from the city, as he looked at the archer formation behind him and called to Blade who was leading them, “BLADE! ON YOUR CALL!!!”
Blade nodded her head as she called out, “ARCHERS HALT!!!”
With her order, the formation of griffin stopped marching and held their ground, then she readied herself to take off into the sky as she called out, “MAKE READY!!!”
All the griffin archers pulled an arrow from their quivers, drew their bows, and waited for their order. Blade then took a running start as she yelled “RELEASE!!!”
As all the archers released their arrows sending them into the sky, Blade jumped into the air flying next to the barrage of arrows as they flew over Traipse formation and towards their enemy. Most of the Griffin Royal Forces held up their shields to block the arrows but there were very few expecting Blade to come crashing through their defenses cutting them down without hesitation to the arrows around her. After seeing a large number of Major Gill’s griffin falling to the ground by Blade and her archers arrows, Commander Mist called to his forces, “SHIELDS UP!!!”
The Griffin Royal Soldiers put up their shields as the rain of arrows fell on them. While inside the city, Major Bolt and the Equestrian Forces did the same. Major Bolt hid behind is shield terrified of the screams and whistle of the falling arrows and his soldiers who weren’t getting to cover in time. During this whole ordeal, Major Bolt kept repeating to himself, “I'll be fine… I'll be fine… I can do this… I can do this…”
Shortly after the arrows stopped falling, Sergeant Major Storm emerged from a nearby building to see Major Bolt still taking cover behind his shield. Storm rushed to Major Bolt and started yelling, “SIR!!! WE NEED ORDERS!!! SIR!!!”
Major Bolt finally lowered his shield and looked around, then as if he had just woken from a dream he replied, “Get the wounded out of here and get our archers on that wall!”
Storm still felt uneasy with Major Bolt’s actions during the rain of arrows, but he did as he was ordered anyway.
Outside the city, Traipse and his soldiers stopped less than one hundred feet from Griffin Royal Forces’ front ground line. As they stood, there was brief moment of silence before he called, “FORWARD!!!”
With that order, every griffin in the Griffin Rebellion gave a mighty roar. After hearing the roar, Commander Mist yelled a command of his own, “Stand tall! If you see an opening in their defense then by all means take it! We can’t let your king down!”
With that, Major Gill roared himself followed by the rest of the griffin royal forces. With all these sounds, Commander Mist felt as if he was standing in the middle of a lion’s den.
Both The Griffin Rebellion and the Griffin Royal Forces charged forward at the same time, but right as the Griffin Rebellion came within reach of the Royal Forces’ spears, the first row took to the skies and flew over the front lines and straight to the city gate. The rest of both armies clashed together in an explosion of fur, feathers, and blood from which hasn’t been seen in Kestrel for more than a century. Seeing the front row of griffin landing on the city wall Commander Mist called to Major Gill, “GILL! Support the ponies on the wall! We can’t let them get the gate open!”
Major Gill nodded his head as he and a few of his griffin flew to the wall to help the Equestrian Soldiers.
Back in the city Major Bolt was directing his soldiers inside when Sergeant Snow called out, “SIR! INCOMING!!!”
When Major Bolt looked at the city wall he could see griffin soldiers fighting the pony soldiers, while other griffin were flying into the city and attacking the soldiers on the ground. Major Bolt called out, “All soldiers take down any griffin not wearing royal armor! Don’t let the gate fall!!! If they open that gate it’s all over!!!”
At that moment right as Major Bolt looked up, a griffin soldier dropped from the sky and tried to hit Major Bolt with his axe. Luckily, Major Bolt managed to bring his shield up in time to stop the first swing, but the weight of the axe and the strength of the griffin proved too much for the little pony. The heavy axe knocked Major Bolt to the ground with the swing.
The Axe Griffin tried to take this opportunity to swing again but rather than hitting Major Bolt like he wanted to, Major Bolt managed to stop the massive axe by bringing up his shield on the axe’s shaft. With the sharp axe blade hanging over the shields face , the griffin tried pushing the blade down as hard as he could to dig it into Major Bolt’s face. Dedicated on surviving this battle, Major Bolt held the griffin back as hard as he could but he could tell that the blade was moving closer and closer with each breath he took. Finally, Major Bolt had an idea, he continued holding the griffin’s axe back, until it was close enough for his plan to be set into motion. Shifting his shield to his outside caused the Axe to slide to his side, digging the axe blade into the ground next to his head just barely cutting a few hairs from his mane. Then out of frustrated reflex, Major Bolt drew his shield back and buried the blade into the griffin’s chest.
Major Bolt froze, staring at the griffin’s expression as it slowly faded from his face. A million thoughts went through Major Bolt’s mind as the griffin’s body remained suspended over him. This griffin… this was a creature who was capable of intelligent and reasonable speech. A father, son, brother, uncle, or even a grandfather, who risked… no… gave his life for his beliefs. Moreover, Major Bolt, a pony who devoted his life to protect Equestria and its Princesses, was solely responsible for killing him. Major Bolt rolled to the side and laid the corpse gently on the ground as he pulled the blade free from the griffin’s chest. Sergeant Snow quickly rushed over to him, “MAJOR!!! SIR, TH…”
Major Bolt’s frustration over took him as he reflexively turned around and swung his weapon. Luckily, Sergeant Snow had the same reflex and raised his sword blocking Major Bolt’s attack, “Sir! It’s me!!! Come to your senses!!!”
After realizing what he had just done, Major Bolt lowered his weapon and replied, “Sorry Snow… I… I lost my self for a second… what's going on?”
Acting as if the reflex never happened Sergeant Snow replied, “Sir they are focusing their attack on the gate! What is it we should do?”
“Stop them! If they open that gate then they’ll overrun us!”
Major Bolt readied his weapon as he led Sergeant Snow to the main city gate.
Outside the city Commander Mist was doing a good job pushing back the invaders, as one griffin charged him, he jumped out of the way and used his magic to dig his spear into the griffins back. Then as another tried to strike him from behind he blocked with his usual spear and used the recently killed griffin's spear to stab the attacker in his face, all of which while using his magic. Then as a third attacker came in for the kill, Commander Mist used two of the enemy griffin’s spears to hit the griffin in both talons then he used his own spear to finish the neutralized Griffin. Finally, as he looked into the sky at three griffins who were flying overhead, he used all three of the deceased griffin’s spears in conjunction with his magic. Commander Mist threw all three spears and hit each one with killing blows. Commander Mist picked up his own spear and thought to himself, “Yep… Still got it.”
As Commander Mist turned around, he was surprised to find that Blade was charging towards him with her body tilted sideways so that the Cupid’s Kiss blade would hit him vertically. Out of reflex Commander Mist raised his spear and blocked the attack, however, Blade did a complete cartwheel in midflight bringing the blade on her other wing up Commander Mist’s back leaving a gash in his armor and a small cut on the back of his neck. Flipping through the air and landing with perfect grace, Blade used her wing to blow a kiss to Commander Mist then spoke, “That was a gift… from a fan of your work. I do enjoy your kills; it reminds me of the boss.”
Commander Mist held his spear at the ready as he sneered, “I'm nothing like Traipse!”
Blade shook her head, “No not Traipse. The Reaper, our group’s founder and the only mare I respect.”
Commander Mist felt skeptic, “And where is this Reaper?”
Blade replied, "The boss?... well… sh…”
“She is none of your concern Mist!”
Commander Mist turned to Traipse as he approached him from behind and stared at Commander Mist with an expressionless stare, “Hello captain… long time no see.”
Commander Mist replied also without an expression, “I'm not a captain anymore, colonel…”
“And I'm not a colonel, you and your princesses saw to that.”
Commander Mist smiled, “That’s right… the Crystal Empire. So I see you have kept busy since the empire vanished.”
Traipse started to pace around Commander Mist as he replied, “I had to… what’s a soldier to do when all he knows is how to kill.”
Mist replied, “Find a mare… have a fo…”
“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!”
Commander Mist was intrigued with Traipse outburst, “Did I strike a nerve?”
Traipse looked at Blade and spoke, “Stand down… he’s mine.”
Commander Mist shook his head, “You’re not going to win this battle you know. Your soldiers are outnumbered; mine will overrun yours within the hour.”
Traipse replied with a smile, “I don’t need to win against your soldiers… just you.”
Blade yelled, “So what exactly am I supposed to do?”
Traipse replied, “Don’t let any griffin interfere, if they try… kill them… I don’t care if they are friend or foe.”
Commander Mist used his magic to hold his spear at the ready, while he replied, “Same old traitor… you will kill your own just to face me?”
Traipse readied himself as he replied, “You created this traitor remember. Besides this is a matter between you and me.”
Inside the city, Major Bolt was giving his soldiers their orders, suddenly an enemy griffin charged in from the sky and tried to spear Major Bolt where he stood. Luckily, Major Bolt held up his shield and glancing the spear away from him as he swung the blade back to stab the griffin. The griffin rolled to the side making Major Bolt miss his chest but the blade portion of his shield still managed to cut deeply into the griffin’s wing, causing him to crash to the ground behind Major Bolt. Both the griffin and Major Bolt turned around at the same time as Major Bolt charged the large soldier. When Major Bolt swung his weapon, the large griffin dodged the attack then grabbed Major Bolt by his throat and lifted him into the air. With Major Bolt hanging in the air, he attempted to attack again only this time the large griffin caught the shield just below the blade and yanked it off Major Bolt’s hoof tossing it to the side.
Still holding Major Bolt in the air, the griffin soldier reached down and picked up his spear and held the blade to Major Bolt’s chest, “You ponies… all I can say is you shouldn’t have meddled into things that don’t concern you. You might have lived longer.”
Major Bolt struggled all he could to get free, but it made no difference, the griffin’s talon was too strong. As the enemy griffin raised his spear for a finishing blow, a loud crash caught both their attention. When the two looked in the direction of the crash, they saw a boulder bouncing off the top of the city wall and coming straight for them. Before they could react, the boulder crashed to the ground in front of them and rolled right into the griffin hitting him and throwing both soldiers into a nearby building as the boulder rolled into the building right behind them causing the small shop to collapse on top of them.
When Major Bolt opened his eyes, he was pinned to the ground under a number of support beams, making movement below his neck impossible. As he looked around the dust-covered wreckage, he heard a pain riddled voice call to him, “P-pony?... are… are you dead?”
At first, Major Bolt didn’t want to reply to his foe but when the dust cleared enough, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The griffin soldier that was tossed into the building with him was lying under a pile of rubble, but it was easy to see that a support beam had completely impaled him through his back and out his chest.
The griffin slowly turned his head to Major Bolt and spoke, “You… you’re ok right? T-tell me… please… tell me how bad it looks… I… I can’t see…”
Major Bolt didn’t have the heart to tell the truth, “You… you look fine. Try not to move around, and you will be ok.”
The griffin smiled, “You p-ponies are a strange species. Even to your enemies, you can’t tell them a painful truth, I can see it In y-your eyes. I… I'm done for… I… I can finally stop fighting… and killing. P-pony, you fought well, I'm glad to fall by your hoof…”
With those last words said, the griffin closed his eyes and passed away.
Major Bolt felt a little guilty, not just for the griffin’s death, but the thought that he didn’t fight well at all. A soldier should be fearless, courageous, and hardened, while this whole battle was spent cowering behind the city walls. He didn’t know if he could continue doing what he was doing, but that didn’t matter right now. He was stuck underneath rubble and completely immobilized, in the middle of a battle. As Major Bolt struggled to free himself, he could see shadows in the cloud of dust in front of him, “HEY!!! Can anypony help me? I'm a little stuck at the mo…”
Major Bolt silenced himself as three enemy griffin, emerged from the dust and looked directly at him.
The first griffin smiled as he came closer, “Oh look… the poor little pony is stuck… well guys? Should I cut him free?”
The second griffin sarcastically spoke, “I don’t know? You haven’t been the most accurate with your blade today… you might hurt the poor little guy.”
The third griffin smiled and added, “That’s alright… it’s not like anything will miss him if you accidently kill him.”
The three griffin smiled sinisterly as they came closer to the pinned pony. Major Bolt was now terrified, he wasn’t able to move and these griffin were going to kill him without mercy. Major Bolt pleaded, “No!... please!... Stay back!... I'm… I'm warning you!!!”
As the griffin continued to approach him, Major Bolt started to feel a static feeling in his hooves as a cloud started to appear above his head. When he looked at the cloud he became even more worried, “Uh oh… no… not now… I… I still can’t control it…”
The first griffin looked at the cloud and laughed, “Hey look! I didn’t know ponies could create clouds!”
The second smiled, “You know it’s kinda cute.”
As the second griffin reached to touch the cloud, a small spark jumped out and shocked him, “OUCH!!! What the!?!”
The third laughed, “I guess it doesn’t like you.”
The second spoke again as he drew his sword, “No… This pony is controlling it… so I'll take that shock out on him.”
As the griffin approached him, Major Bolt panicked, “NO!!! QUICKLY!!! GET OUT OF HERE WHILE YOU CAN!!!! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!! I'M BEGGING YOU TO GET TO SAFETY BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!!!”
Outside the city, Commander Mist was using magic to throw spear after spear at Traipse, but the quick earth pony was proving his agility by dodging each one making them stick into the ground around him, all the while making his way closer and closer to Commander Mist. Finally, when he was close enough Traipse pulled one of the spears from the ground and swung the blade at Commander Mist. Mist used the celestial spear that he usually carried to block the attack then he used his magic to send another one at him from the side. Traipse tilted his head back just enough to dodge the incoming spear so that it went between their heads, blocking their view of one another. With the split second that the spear blocked his view, Traipse drew his hoof back and punched Mist as hard as he could right as the incoming spear left both their sights. As Commander Mist was stunned by the attack, Traipse dropped his spear and continued punching the back stepping unicorn. Over and over, Traipse continued punching his foe giving him no time to counter or use his magic to defend himself.
Finally, Traipse punched Commander Mist by swinging his hoof and hitting him with the back of it from across his body, using this as an advantage Commander Mist flung his entire body around with the punches effect and kicked with both is hind hooves hitting Traipse in his muzzle and throwing him a number of feet away from him. When Traipse landed, he wasted no time in grabbing one of the nearby spears, pulling it from the ground and throwing them at Commander Mist. By this time however, Commander Mist was able to focus his magic and stop the incoming threat. Turning the spear around and picking up others with his magic, Commander Mist thought of an idea. The clever unicorn lowered two spears then jumped onto them balancing his right hooves on one and his left hooves on the other, then he used his magic to raise himself high in the air and hover above Traipse as he picked up more spears with his magic and held them at his same height. This irritated Traipse, “Using the spears to fly? Clever … but cowardly. Why don’t you face me like an earth pony!”
Commander Mist smiled , "Because I'm a unicorn, that’s why!”
Commander Mist then started dropping the spears down on top of Traipse as he dodged the attacks from below. Blade watched with suspense at the battle and its possible outcome, then she felt something unusual. The air around them had become more static, any earth pony, unicorn, or griffin wouldn’t notice. However, being a pegasus she could feel it as if the temperature of the air around her had sky rocketed drastically. She didn’t know where it was coming from… but she didn’t like the feeling. Then her attention went back to Traipse who after dodging a spear used it as a spring to jump into the air. Traipse then grabbed both spears that Commander Mist was standing on, and threw his hind hooves upward kicking him in his face and knocking him off his hovering weapons.
Both ponies fell to the ground and hit it with a stunning impact that made them both struggle to pick themselves up. Preventing any opportunity to attack, Traipse charged at Commander Mist again. Commander Mist picked up a spear and raised it to block but right before he could block Traipse’s attack, the sky went dark as a large wide lightning bolt rose up from the center of Kestrel and splintered as it shot into the sky. All three ponies, Mist, Traipse and Blade paused to look at the spectacle as it took place. Of the three, Blade was the most impressed, “That’s… no… it can’t be… how?... Who?...”
as the lightning bolt vanished, Commander Mist mumbled quietly to himself, “Sparky? What…”
Wasting absolutely no time getting back the fight, Traipse quickly turned back to Commander Mist and used all the strength he had left in one bone braking punch.
Out of reflex, Commander Mist raised his spear to block the punch but without expecting it, he wasn't able to use his full force to block the strong attack. As Traipse attack hit the spear, the spear shaft broke into two and his punch went through hitting Commander Mist between his eyes and sending him flying to the ground a few feet away. Stunned, dazed and unable to regain his mind set in time, Commander Mist laid there trying to realize what just happened while Traipse picked up two of the nearby spears and approached Commander Mist while he was still on the ground. Traipse stuck both spears into the ground on both sides of Commander Mist’s neck and crossed them over in a scissor position, then applied pressure. As Traipse pushed against the two spears, the spears' shafts were crossed against Commander Mist’s throat closing his air passage and slowly chocking him.
Commander Mist struggled with all his might but with his weak body, his lack of air and his inability to use his magic in this state, it seemed useless. Listening to the gasping and suffocating stallion, Blade looked back at the city, “TRAIPSE LOOK!!!”
Continuing to strangle his foe, Traipse looked up, “What!”
Traipse looked at Kestrel as the griffin rebels, were fleeing from the city in fear. Seeing this Traipse knew that this battle was already over, so he looked down at the soldier who was now starting to lose consciousness then replied, “Fine! If we won’t win this battle, then we will take a prisoner instead.”
Traipse pulled both spears from the ground as Commander Mist rolled to his side gasping for air. Traipse called out, “Put him in chains! He is coming with us!”
A number of the griffin rebels who were watching the fight from a distance rushed up and chained Commander Mist while he passed out on the ground where he was laying. As the griffin carried him off Traipse started trotting back behind them, but as he did he stopped to look at Blade, “Is this acceptable?”
Blade looked back and replied, “What are you talking about?”
Traipse didn’t reply, he just continued following the griffin with no expression to show his thoughts.
Back in the city, Major Bolt struggled to stand up. The wood rubble that was on top of him pinning him to the ground was now ash so when he stood up, the only resistance he felt was the exhaustion that came from using the Lightning Orb. Major Bolt looked at the three griffin as they laid in front of him, as he did so he felt the pulse of the one closest to him and sighed as a tear rolled down his face, “I… I warned you… why? Why didn’t you listen? Why didn…”
"You ok major?"
Major Gill flew up and landed as Major Bolt replied, "I'm fine... just… fine."
Major Gill looked at the dead griffin in the area and replied, “Not bad for your first battle. And you even survived the whole thing too.”
Major Bolt looked around and asked, “It’s over? What happened?"
Major Gill smiled, “You tell me. Whatever it was that you did made the enemy run away in fear. I gotta say, I was scared too."
Major Bolt asked, "So what's next?"
Major Gill replied, "You should know. You’re in charge of the Equestrian forces. As for me I'm going to gather my griffin and find out my casualty count. I'd suggest you do the same."
Major Bolt nodded his head, “That's a good idea. I'll do that."
Outside the city, The Griffin Revolutionaries set up a camp. Though the camp was visible from the city, both sides seemed to continue to hold their truce for the time being to rest and resupply. meanwhile Commander Mist was escorted back to the underground caverns that they used as a secret base camp. The small convoy, composed of Traipse, Blade, a few griffins and a wagon with Commander Mist laying on it, made its way back as Blade spoke, “Tri? I'm curious, why didn’t you just kill him on the spot? You could have easily stabbed him while he was on the ground, yet instead you ju…”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Blade persisted, “Why?”
Traipse stopped and turned to her, “If you want to kill him so badly then cut his throat and be done with it!”
Blade looked at the unconscious pony, then replied, “No… a soldier with his strength deserves to die fighting.”
Traipse then asked, “So what’s next? Are you going to offer him as a hostage, ask if he wants to employ us, or even use him to gain information on our enemy?”
Blade replied, “N-no, I...”
Traipse shook his head in irritation, “Then shut up and keep moving! Unless you have an idea of what to do with him… I don’t want to hear it!”
Blade was surprised; Traipse has never snapped at her like that before. She knew her history with this stallion, but she was unsure what was irritating him so much. Nevertheless, knowing that she didn’t want to bring up either of their pasts, she just continued the convoy with nothing further on the subject.
Back in Kestrel, Major Bolt trotted up to Sergeant Major Storm as he was talking with Major Gill, "What's the count?"
Storms replied, "Sir... I have some bad news, fifteen of our soldiers are dead, three are severely wounded... And one is missing."
Major Bolt replied, “Ok get the names of the dead and missing soldiers to Commander Mist when you see him."
Storm hesitated, "That's the bad news sir... The missing soldier... Is Commander Mist."
Major Bolt replied, "What are you talking about Storm?"
Major Gill spoke, "Major... What he means to say is... Commander Mist has been captured."
As Major Bolt sat down in concern Storm continued, "Sir... You were second in command. Now, we need you to give us our next order."
Major Bolt thought to himself, "He... He was just here... How... Why...?”
"Major... What are our orders?"
Major Bolt looked at the damage on the city wall and hesitated. Storm spoke up, “MAJOR!...”
Major Bolt looked back and replied with worry in his voice, “I… I… I don’t know…”
Storm shook his head, “Then we are all going to die here, unless you think of something.”