It didn't take a tactical genius to know something was wrong when bells and drums suddenly started playing, And the cries of terror suddenly filled the air,
Job felt Fear gripped his stomach as he tried his best to stay hidden.
He hid behind a large bundle of sandbags that served as camouflage in case they spotted him during battle.
He was completely alone.
Sir Doyle had abandoned him the moment of the first sound of ringing bells, he had just grabbed his sword and shield and had run out like a scared little rabbit.
Job felt utterly helpless. His legs felt weak; his arms were trembling violently, his throat ached like hell and his heart pounded against his chest so hard he feared it might burst right out of his rib cage
he was shaking so badly he feared he might fall apart in front of his comrades if there were any, to begin with.
He so desperately wanted to prove himself to prove he was worthy of their, respect, their trust, and their love.
He knew it was hopeless, but he had to try, he had to become a knight; he had to hold off until Sir Doyle returned
As the noise of battle intensified so did Job's vigilance.
He needed to wait for the perfect time, for Sir Doyle.
But how long would that take? It could be hours or it could just be minutes for all he cared.
He only could hope to survive this.
"Gods damn it!" someone shouted
Job jumped in surprise and tried to hide deeper into the pile of sandbags,
It sounded like Sir Doyle, but his voice was different from when he talked in battle. His tone was full of anger and hatred,
Job felt his knees giving away beneath him. He slowly lowered himself to the floor hoping he'd make it unnoticed.
and then the noise of fighting morphed as screaming men and their roars along with steel striking steel reached job's ears.
He prayed he wasn't making things worse by not helping,
he could see the shadows of swords and shields as the soldiers fought back against the Huns.
he hoped they outnumbered the Huns by a considerable margin.
but it seemed like they had them cornered.
"Sir, I don't think this is working."
Job couldn't help but hear Sir Doyle's words as his breathing quickened.
His chest tightened, and he felt like throwing up, all this time he kept waiting for that man to come running with his army of warriors and save them but
now that there was actually a battle with actual combat with actual death that man had disappeared.
Job felt his entire chest constrict when he saw the girl,
emerge from among the battlefield and tried to run toward the forest behind the forest but she tripped and fell flat on her face not even ten steps from her destination.
Job's mind instantly went blank as he saw her fall.
She landed heavily on her side. Her dress ruffled, and the fabric ripped under her skin. Her hands lay spread open and exposed in front of her.
his heart nearly stooped when he saw five Hun men, they too had run out of the battle and ran toward the girl advancing on her
he couldn't believe his eyes as he watched her being attacked.
The fear that had been lurking deep inside his heart since the attack was slowly creeping into his thoughts. He didn't know why, but even though his mind screamed for him to run he had a sudden urge to run over and protect her from these cruel animals.
She was so beautiful he thought.
Her hair shone like gold in the dim light. Her skin shined like ivory. Her body, well.
Her face was the only thing that mattered to him it reminded him of his mother, he was forgetting Her face before this very girl had arrived at the fort
So, job rushed out, and against his better judgment, the men noticed him immediately as a cruel smile appeared on their faces.
one of the Hun said something in his language and the rest laughed
as if they didn't seem to consider him a threat at all
which made Job even more pissed.
He knew he should have left when he had the chance to, but he couldn't, not after seeing this girl in need of his help, not after remembering her face.
He called upon his power, the power he had sworn never to use ever again.
And then everything changed.
His mind cleared, his fear disappeared, and he began to think clearly again
like he had been taught, 'without judgment, without assumption, without biases only think on what can you do
he was no longer trembling like a leaf
he was calm, focused, and determined.
the power came to him like an old friend,
He commanded it, controlled it and then he started absorbing the very heat of the world just like his father showed him, air around him began cool so much so that his breath began to be visible as well.
Everything felt so alive. He could still feel the earth beneath his feet and he could hear the sound of the wind blowing in his ear. He was like a spirit, he felt free and invigorated. He felt alive!
as he rushed out, he felt an old memory of what his father had taught him come to him.
..............
"Gaaaaah!" Job cried as he was knocked back across the field,
pain shot through him as his small body rolled in the grass before coming to a stop.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Learn the timing and adjust your own to
fit into the defensive gaps. Most people fight with patterns cause that's all they know.
If you can flow through those patterns, they won't even be able to see how you're hitting them, let alone find a way to block you," said a tall, dark-haired man standing in front of him
Job looked up at his father and nodded
"Sorry... Father," Job squeezed out as he gasped for air.
His father's last punch had knocked the breath out of him.
He was used to it, though, and would recover quickly.
Father didn't hold back when teaching him how to fight, because no one Job ever went up against would be holding back either.
he took a deep breath, and then he got up,
'I'm not going to mess up again' he thought and then his gaze turned to the field.
In the distance the sun was rising above the horizon, bathing the land in orange light.
He smiled and thought of the day that would come,
a day when he would have his revenge, the day he would not be beaten into a pulp,
and the day that he could finally escape and live his life the way he wanted,
without having to worry about getting killed for being a freak.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps
he knew what would happen to him even before he felt the punch hit him, another merciless strong blow sent him flying once again across the ground
once again he lay on the ground groaning in pain as he tried desperately to catch his breath and stand up.
"How many times have I told you not to lose focus, boy?" his father's voice sounded angry and irritated.
He looked at his father in disbelief as tears filled his eyes.
"You're getting worse, Job," his father berated.
"You only landed two punches onto my leg this time before you fell into your rhythm."
Job managed to pull himself to his feet. Small and slight at eight years old and wearing ragged clothing,
the only thing remarkable about the boy standing in front of the robust middle-aged man was
Was his water-like ink black hair, That, and the look of determination screaming out
in his deep brown eyes.
"How do I keep from falling into my rhythm?" Job asked.
"Simple," his father replied. "Don't have one." and laughed hysterically
"Now come and show how much of a son of mine you truly are"
..........................
Job clenched his fist tighter as the memory angered him, he didn't want that day to come. He didn't want to remember what happened to him. He wanted the nightmare to end. He closed his eyes, trying to push the memory away. But the images wouldn't disappear.
they just became brighter and stronger.
Here he was years later applying what his godforsaken father's lessons,
'Never do anything they accept you to do'
when he felt he had absorbed enough heat of the world, Job formed a fist and reared his right arm back, and punched in the Hun men's direction.
Granted, since there was a distance of forty feet between him and his opponents,
it was a ridiculous gesture that had the intended effect,
as then men began laughing instead of dodging and that's when the scorching flame ball flew toward them
and as they were unable to dodge they got scorched by the flames.
two of the five men caught completely caught on fire,
The men screamed and threw their arms trying to extinguish the flames
Job watched proudly at his perfect execution they would now suffer.
The rest retreated.
But Job didn't let them go.
but instead of following the rhythm and attacking them with flames, he project the heat toward his feet causing a blast under his feet propelling him forward, and as he flew forward, the fire erupted around him.
in an instant he reached one of the three Huns, he grabbed the man and clung to him like a baby monkey,
the man jumped screaming in pain, Job had absorbed the man's heat which turned him into a frozen husk in an instant.
then without wasting his time, he went for the Hun closed to him as he overheated his hand as he lunged at the man,
he punched out with an open palm and
his hands went through the man's chest like they very going through melted butter
Job exerted more heat causing the man to burn from inside out and then he twisted the man's head with his left hand before throwing him off the path with a thud,
the body crashed down hard into the dirt below with a grunt.
One of the remaining three men was all that was left, but before going after the man he turned toward the girl, and shouted
"Run, quickly RUN!"
And to his surprise with just that the girl was running away as fast as her legs could carry her away from that place where a man was dying, she wasn't looking back.
Job to turned back toward the last Hun, who was now glaring menacingly at him. He raised his arms gathering the remaining of his body heat and forming a fireball, ready to unleash it, but suddenly the man froze mid-step,
and then the man's eyes widened, and he collapsed, his head rolling across the ground.
A moment of silence filled the area The sounds of the fighting had stopped Job looked around to see what was happening,
then Job saw a man dressed in strange green armor calmly walking toward him,
his sword held high over his head with both arms spread wide apart,
he wore a mask that covered his entire face and he carried a long staff in his right hand that seemed to glow in the sunlight.
Job decided what to do in an instant which was to run, so that is exactly what he did he extinguished the fireball and he ran
he tried to send the heat to his leg in order to increase his speed but he had messed up the heat dissipated outward instead of inward
Job ran as fast as he could but when he heard someone shout, something his vision blurred
Then suddenly he felt something sharp stab through his shoulder and then he fell to the ground
Pain coursed through him as he stared up to see another man walking toward him, and before he could get up the man kicked him hard into the ground, causing his body to fall and roll a few times on the ground.
Then the man knelt down next to him, reached his hand to Job, grabbed his throat, and began choking him.
Job gasped for air, as he watched the man lift his hand in the air and strike the back of his hand against the side of his head.
A moment later Job saw black dots dance before his eyes, as he struggled to breathe and felt his vision darken when suddenly the man's foot connected with his ribs knocking him flat on his belly, and then the man threw him to the ground
As he lay helpless on the ground, he felt the pressure of another boot against his stomach as the man stood up.
As the world faded away, Job wondered if this was it.
.........…
Altan walked among the rest of the fort feeling proud as he surveyed the death and destruction caused by his men
. There was smoke everywhere, blood, flesh, and bone splattered all over the field. It was a beautiful sight.
His men had done well. The soldiers had taken their lives. The war was over, but they weren't.
Their enemy had paid dearly for their resistance.
As Altan surveyed the battle site, feeling proud happy, and satisfied,
he envisioned what his reward would be for capturing the fort,
but his mood dropped when he saw
One of His generals dressed in his green Armor walked toward him
he was holding a little boy like a chicken.
As the general neared him Altan stepped away from the battle scene, not wanting to be noticed by those behind the general.
When they were closer Altan looked at the boy and asked
"Who is he?"
the little boy was unconscious by the look of it, and his eyes were glassy from exhaustion and tears.
"Don't know his name, the boy is a blessed he killed five of my men already," the general answered.
"I don't give a damn whose he is! He killed five people! How dare he kill so many of my men!" Arban growled.
in anger from behind Atlan, clenching tightly as if his fingers would snap off if he didn't control them.
Arban was Atlan's second in command, But the man was a coward and imbecile he always attempted to hide the fact that he wasn't a good military leader.
Altan swore in his heart if the man's wife was not a sacred concubine he would have been executed long ago.
He often complained about being in charge while not knowing a thing about tactics or strategy. Altan despised him, though he also admired him.
Alban looked at his general and said, "So, Batu what do you want to do with the boy?"
Batu shook his head
"I came to ask the wolf general for his advice"
"Sell him," Atlan spoke without even thinking "a blessed would fetch a very high price, maybe I can bargain a deal with slavers for a high price that will solve our problems."
Arban glared at him, he was a bit shocked to hear Atlan's suggestion
"Yes, ser General, what sort of deal do you suggest?" Batu smiled
"Let me have the boy, he may bring us more wealth than even a king could ever offer for his own son," Altan said as he took the child from Batu.