Sophie was disappointed with the battle. She had been thwarted even an inkling of the glamour that she had always yearned from a war. The starlite king Suffle had led them towards an easy victory at Fort Plier- the highest mountain peak in the area. Sophie did not stand out; she had no claim on fame, nor any stories to tell.
King Suffle however, had a consolation prize for her. She was to deliver the news if their victory to the Chief Commander Neal. He was camped at Xeo with one of the human troops. Sophie tied her shoelaces and started the hour-long journey.
On reaching Xeo, all her glee vanished. The gloomy human faces told her that the position at Xeo was not as pretty as at Fort Plier. She had assumed being on higher grounds would have given them an advantage, but the case seemed to be contrary.
Unlike the walls at Fort Plier, there was nothing protecting them from the weather at Xeo. The camp had cloth tents and the soldiers were visibly cold. There was nothing but the snowy slopes as far as eyes would go. The humans wore grey uniforms with heavy metallic armour. Sophie felt it to be a poor choice in the snow-covered mountains. She, like all other starlite soldiers, was wearing a white fur uniform. The only armour she wore was the helmet that protected her favourite body part.
Sophie gave her name and office to the soldier guarding Neal's tent. She was let in immediately. Almost everybody was surrounding a table invisible to her, with their shoulders hunched and eyes focused on the centre.
"We are outnumbered," a blonde blob of hair said. The fear was apparent in his quivering voice.
Another one chimed in, "Our scouts said that the enemy could be here in less than an hour."
"We'll think of something," a composed voice said. "I believe we have some good news." Sophie couldn't see him, but she instinctively knew that his eyes aimed towards her.
The group dispersed a little and the owner of the voice became visible to Sophie. She walked forward and greeted Neal in the starlite fashion, by crossing her fluttering palms on her chest. He looked at her, took a deep breath and asked, "Fort Plier?"
"We have captured it. Sir," Sophie said looking at her feet. "The enemy is either dead or captured. Sir."
The nervousness in her voice was easy to comprehend. Most starlites felt uneasy around humans. And this was no common man. This was the crown prince, the Chief Commander of all forces. She had seen his tall, thick-necked figure in the past during some parade or the other. However, it was her debut in front of those almond eyes embedded in the diamond-shaped face.
"Splendid," he said but did not look the part. He looked tired. His eyes had bags underneath, his hair was matted and the stubble was not helping his looks. "We need more people here," he said, more to himself than to her, and everybody nodded in agreement.
"Fly right now and send as many starlites as can be spared," Neal ordered her and added a 'thank you' as an afterthought.
Sophie departed immediately. Just as she had taken altitude, she heard an ear-deafening blast from the campsite. When she looked down she saw smoke coming from the campsite. She returned. To her utter horror, the camp had turned into a pit of fire. There was nothing of the camp that she could see which was not engulfed in flames.
Sophie hovered around the fire, trying to find a way in. There was no way she could douse it herself. The smell of the fire burned her nose. She could smell wood, cloth, and a strange chemical, but the most devastating was the smell of burning flesh.
"I don't think anybody else is alive," a deadpan voice said.
Sophie was speechless. The prince was not only alive but also unharmed; although his white face was ashen and his clothes had burn marks on them. What alarmed her more was his calm face. He did not seem devastated by the sudden death of his whole unit or the fact that he could have been one of them. He looked as if it was just another tiring normal day for him.
Her eyes were still on the burning wreckage when Neal casually dusted the snow from his clothes and said, "I don't know what new weapon they have got on their hands, but it is far more advanced than the burning coal we are used to fighting against."
Sophie was in a state of shock even though she had not known any of them. Unlike Neal, she was not very good at masking her feelings. She felt a sense of helplessness creeping upon her. She hated feeling helpless.
"Don't bother going back," Neal said. He was searching the rubble for anything they could use. "The king would be coming soon. A blast like this would not go unnoticed." His tone was business-like and didn't betray any emotion.
"It will take them about an hour," she informed him.
"We don't have the leisure to wait for them." Neal finally found something of use in the rubble. It was a sword. He kept looking for another.
Sophie recalled what she had heard earlier. The attack was anticipated sooner than they could afford. She wondered if she should suggest flying out of there. Carrying him away to Plier would be easy.
"Then we will hold them off as long as we can," she said with a level of optimism only novices can have.
"What's your name?" Neal asked her.
"Sophia Antofurota, Your Highness."
"Do you have any weapon?" He enquired while getting the soot out of his hair.
Sophie shook her head. She had carried only a small pocket knife with her which couldn't be very useful in combat. As a messenger, she had thought her sword to be a useless weight for the journey.
Accessing her own vulnerability, she realised that the prince had neither fur nor armour to protect him.
"We can fly out of here," she suggested.
"You can, I can't," he replied. "If I abandon my post, we will lose this battle and maybe the war. If I'm able to hold Xeo till our forces come, we have a chance to end this."
She lifted her head and tried to look as tall as possible. It was still a foot less than the man. "Then I can't leave either."
It earned her an amused smile. "We are in luck. I have got two of these." He handed her a sword. "You will be fighting humans. You know the rules?"
She nodded. The battle rules were simple- humans should fight humans, and starlites should pretend to be human while fighting them. "I cannot fly." Neal was amused by her adherence to rules. He had half expected her to suggest that she would fly and kill all the enemies and leave no witnesses.
Neal explained the strategy to her. "Our scouts accessed the attack to happen from that direction." He pointed at the valley in the left. "They will have to climb up here. We had planned boulders and fire arrows for them. But now as they are destroyed, we cannot stop them as I had hoped. Our only way is to fight them as they come."
Sophie could already see heads emerging out of the valley. "They must have been sent to analyse the situation and report back," Neal whispered.
"They won't go back," Sophie promised.
Five men charged towards them with swords in hand. Sophie knew that the enemy wasn't expecting anybody in the ruin. They were there to claim Xeo. Neal engaged three of them while the other two targeted her.
The duo consisted of one heavy muscular man and one tall, lean man. Sophie clashed her sword with the bulky man while ducking under the tall guy's sword. The difference in their heights proved advantageous for her. Her helmet took the blow and fell off unleashing the braid tucked inside it. Her brain spun for a moment by the blow. One of her opponents took the opportunity and managed to scrape the back of her neck. Sophie winced. It stung but the cold helped with the bleeding. Fighting on the ground was turning out to be a challenge for the starlite soldier. She slipped and fell face up on the soft snow.
The bulky guy raised his sword up high, aiming for her throat. The tall man had claimed her sword and was standing beside his comrade to watch the kill. Her heart threatened to stop but her brain urged her to survive. Sophie summoned all her energy and kicked the tall man's shin. He fell on the snow, face down with both swords in his hand. The bulky man was stunned for a second, his sword frozen mid-air. That second was enough for Sophie to jab her knife in his foot. He lost his hold on the sword, stomping in pain. Sophie rolled to her side and missed the sword by an inch. She found something strange on the ground. For a second she thought it was a rope, but then she realised it was her braid. Pure rage fuelled her body as she rose up.
She picked up a sword and slew the fallen man with one swift blow. The muscular man got over the pain in his foot and tried to retaliate, but he was no match for Sophie. She finished him by piercing his heart.
Sophie had just enough time to get her knife from the dead man's shin when her eye caught a man trying to attack the prince from behind.
"Bloody backstabber." She hurled the knife at him, which hit his neck, killing him on the spot.
Neal had already killed one of his challengers and now he finished the other. Sophie noticed that he had taken the dead man's sword and held one sword in each hand. She imitated him, taking time to wear her helmet back.
"Good work," he commented, "but more will follow. These were just scouts."
The duo did not have time to calm themselves as more men came running towards them. They were more than she had time to count. The cut on her neck stung terribly. Her head felt heavy, her body stiff and the fatigue of the flight and the fight at Plier had started claiming their share.
But to their advantage, they both held two swords each and Sophie had not gotten in a forgiving mood yet.
"Defence would be the best strategy here," Neal said, drumming his fingers on the sword hilt. Sophie had not waited to hear his wise words and was already engaged in a fight.
Neal was half surprised half irritated to see her disobedience. Fighting uncountable enemies alone was Sophie's idea of a good battle. She was fighting like she had a death-wish and Neal feared for her safety.
They had killed a couple of foes and injured a few before they caught the welcome sight of the starlite army in the sky. The enemy line retreated hastily.
"If I may say so, Miss Antofurota," Neal smiled in a wicked manner. "Your hair has proven its worth in gold."
Sophie replied through gritted teeth, "I would still prefer it on my head, Your Majesty."
King Suffle congratulated them both on the victory. "Prince Neal, to say the truth, I'm relieved to see you alive. We feared the worst when we saw the blast." He looked around. "I count ten bodies," he said, "including the injured."
Neal greeted the king in the human fashion while the king gave him a starlite salute. The difference between the two gestures was that the hands fluttered in only one of them.
"Someone was feeling a bit light 'headed, I suppose," Neal said while maintaining the dignity of his office.
"Yeah, I suppose the climb up would have been exhausting for the poor chaps," Suffle said, not getting the joke. "Nevertheless, let me be the first to congratulate you on your victory. You too, Sophie, I'm glad to see you unharmed."
King Suffle's affectionate towards Sophie made Neal realize that he had heard about a Sophie from the king's children.
"I thank you, Your Highness," she said giving him a fluttering salute.
"It does feel good to have a burden lifted from your head." Neal's jab got unnoticed by everyone but Sophie.
The king started to inquire about the blast and tried to guess what weapon and technology were responsible for it. Sophie saw it as her chance to leave unnoticed.
Suffle and Neal discussed their next move.
"They will be ready to talk now," Neal said. "How many captives do we have at Plier?"
Suffle's brow creased. "Talk now? We have crushed them. They have even lost at the waterfront. There is nothing to be gained by talks."
"Peace is not nothing."
The king crossed his arms. "Do I need to remind you how many times we have had the illusion of peace during the last century?"
"We may as well try once again." His voice was calm and his intention clear.
"I'll send a peace envoy," the king said, clearly annoyed.
Neal moved on to the more pressing matter at hand- Sophia.
Sophie was getting patched up by the medics when the prince approached her.
"So, Miss Antofurota." He smiled. "How attached are you to your home?"