“The truth is before you. Repent from your wickedness or in the end your fate will be as these creatures were which you will share for all eternity.”I turned from them and picked up a shard of the sword I had broken earlier and walked towards Zarsha. I cut her free from the pole and held her tenderly in my arms and cried like I never had before in my life.A little hand touched my face, “Why are you crying?”Startled, I opened my eyes. Zarsha smiled up at me and brushed the hair back from my forehead. “You were dead!” I exclaimed.“No, I wasn’t. I was sleeping. I had this wonderful dream that a man held my hand and talked to me. His words were warm and He was nice like you are. I wanted to know everything about Him, but He simply smiled and said that you would teach me about Him and that it was time to wake up.”“That’s all you remember?”“Yes, is there something more I should know?”“No! Praise God, no! Here, let’s get out of here and I promise I’ll tell you everything I know and we

“Where’s Krista?” I asked.From her blank expression I could tell she knew nothing. I walked over to where Krista had slept, hoping to find some trace of her disappearance. Her blankets were gone too, but there was a piece of white paper weighted under a rock lying on the ground where she had lain.I sheathed my sword and with a sinking feeling I reached down and picked the paper up and read it. “Dear Jasper , I hope you understand why I have left. You, of all people, must know what the desire for freedom is like. And as you fought to claim yours, so must I. I want you to know that I harbor no ill will against you. I know that as a slave I could have wished for no better a master than you. Sebastian was wise to give me to you and I know I have disappointed both of you by my actions, but I must pursue my dream of being free, whatever the risk may be. I feel that I will die inside if I give up on my dream now. I wish to thank you, Sebastian and the dear woman who raised me for several y

I looked back at him steadily, “Oh, and what would that be councilman?”Turning to General Santaran, Councilman Oswald asked, “How many men can we field General?”The General looked morosely at the table for a moment and then said, “We’ll be lucky to find a hundred and twenty thousand experienced troops and perhaps another fifty thousand boys and older men that are capable of holding a sword and mounting a fight. I would say that would be an accurate assessment of the force that we can hope to raise.”Oswald continued on, practically not waiting for the General to finish talking, “This is what I think would be our best strategy. We defend Kingdom Pass temporarily with just forty thousand of our most battle ready troops and we send the remaining eighty thousand warriors or so to wait for the Attorgrons and cut them down in the passes. After they cut the traitors down in the passes they can return to Kingdom Pass and ensure its continued security against the siege of the Zoarinians. Our

I narrowly side stepped a sudden sword swipe at my ankles from beneath my shield even as the warrior beside me was pulled out into the mob. We wouldn’t hold up to much more of this kind of pressure. I had no idea if the other formations had even reached position yet, but I hoped they had because I had caught a glimpse of the white paint on the ground just up ahead of us.The command to fire would be given when our formation reached its target goal, regardless of whether or not the other groups had reached theirs yet.“Twenty more feet men! Twenty more feet and we have it!” I screamed out in encouragement as I struggled to hold onto my shield and maintain a forward circular motion.There was the huff of renewed struggle as warriors all around me also saw the white arcing lines of paint on the bloodstained ground. It seemed like an hour went by, instead of probably just the few minutes it took us to center overtop the scuffed white paint circle on the ground. We slammed our shields down

“Brothers and sisters, hear me please. You have not only pledged your swords and arrows to me, but now I see that you have pledged your hearts also. I am unworthy of the honor you bestow upon me. I am but a man as you are with the same weaknesses that you struggle with, the same problems. But I am also a man that has faith! I believe in the Valley Lander way of life. The right to serve our Creator as we please! The right to protect our families and our lands from those who would take them from us! The right to live free and accountable to no man, other than those we appoint over us and the sovereignty of our Creator, who reigns over all creation! The enemy beyond those walls wants to take all of that away from us! As I have been elected as your leader in war, I swear that as breath and the strength remains within me to lift my sword, I will fight to preserve all that we hold sacred. I will fight to preserve our freedom and not only ours, but our children’s children as well. This is my