despite officially declaring war against the entire nation, the friends seemed confident in their victory, while walking their way back home Dean remarked
Dean : huh, they revoked my citizenship.
Zulqarnain : welcome to the group.
Ashhad : we all lost our citizenships except for Kainaat.
Kainaat : guess what, they revoked mine to.
Humzah : I say we head over to the mines, to grind for our fight with Sufiyan.
Ashhad : Humzah's right our armor is strong but an upgrade will further enhance our capabilities.
Dean chuckled and said
Dean : leave the armor, food and weaponry to me.
Alyne : are you going to grind for all of us?
Dean : let's just say, it's a surprise.
Hussnain : why, what is it?
Dean : you'll see, just follow me.
the friends decided to do as told eventually they reached a point where they had to turn right as it would take them to Kainaat's cabin but Dean rejected this ordeal by saying
Dean : I have a secret base not far from here, come with me and you'll get all the equipment needed for tonights fight.
Dean went into the forest, at first the friends were hesitant but they decided to follow Dean anyways, after walking for atleast 10 minutes they finally arrived at their destination as Dean said
Dean : we're here.
it was just some forest area so Ashhad got a bit concerned and asked
Ashhad : Dean where's your base?
Dean : right here.
Dean lifted a small boulder that was on the ground beneath it was a ladder leading downwards as Dean said
Dean : follow my lead.
Dean went down the ladder and so did the friends, when they reached the bottom it was pitch black, they could barely see one another as Hussnain
annoyingly said
Hussnain : does anybody have a torch?
just then Dean pressed a button and the lights turned on and what Ashhad and his friends saw left them shocked, the room had several chests, half the chests had food written on them while the other half had weapons written on them and as for armor their were 20 sets of brand new armor in the room as well, Ashhad screamed in joy
Ashhad : OH MY GOD!!!
Humzah : DEAN WHAT IS THIS?!!
Zulqarnain : HOW DID YOU MAKE ALL OF THIS?!!!
Dean walked upto a chest opened it took out a sword and said
Dean : years of grinding.
Hussnain begin to open each chest one by one as he said
Hussnain : this room is a warriors wet dream.
Dean : Viva La Revolution!!!
with nothing to hold them back the friends took everything they could possibly need and even then their was a lot of stuff left in each chest, afterwards they all headed back home to rest for the great battle ahead of them, back in Stevenburg the townsfolk had expected that the national emergency would soon come to an end, they had not even thought in their dreams that they would have to evacuate the town, but as the news reached the populace through soldiers, many began to question if Sufiyan really was an eligible ruler anymore, whilst the process of evacuation was in full swing a group of townsfolk gathered around Skull crusher and a man from the group asked
Man : sir, what is going on why are we being expelled from our houses and workplaces, does the Kingdom no longer need us?
Skull crusher : of course not, we are not expelling you we are just temporarily relocating you to protect you from getting harmed.
Man : harm, from who?
Skull crusher : that is confidential, only the king knows.
Man : fine then we'll go ask the king.
Skull crusher : I advise you not to do such an act as the king is busy in the affairs of the state.
just then a woman came forward and shouted
Woman : the King and the state exist because of the people, without us their is nothing and if we are kept out of state affairs than what is even the point of having a king?!!
this sparked a wave of revolt as the people began shouting demanding to know what was going on, soon this group turned into a mob of angry people that made its way to the royal palace and then began to protest, inside the palace Sufiyan was with Saad discussing about the fight
Sufiyan : how's the preparations coming along?
Saad : good, Skull crusher is evacuating the town and caravans loaded with artillery, artillery shells, cannons and cannonballs will arrive soon, as for the catapults they are on stand by.
Sufiyan : have you sent a caravan to get Brother Ahad?
Saad : yes, he'll be arriving in a few hours.
Sufiyan : good now go ...
a guard came running into the room and cut Sufiyan off by saying
Guard : your highness, protesters have gathered outside the palace, they're demanding to speak to you.
Sufiyan : tell them I'm busy.
Guard : sir they're saying they'll attack the palace, if you don't meet them right now.
Sufiyan : if they're posing a threat to my safety than it's your duty to protect me.
Guard : what should we do?
Sufiyan : attack them, and If anyone tries to enter the palace kill them.
Guard : as you wish your highness.
the Guard went outside and spread the orders, the protesters were not leaving so, the guards opened fire this resulted in a clash between the two sides, the royal guards brutally suppressed the protest, many people got severely injured but thankfully no one died, after some fighting the mob got dispersed but in the span of a few minutes Sufiyan had lost all his respect that the people had for him, as Caravans of people arrived in Khanville and Falkshire, the news spread like wildfire, and now the whole nation began to protest against Sufiyan and his oppressive government, Ortania lost all it's foreign support and eventually all the countries of the world, disbanded their relations with Ortania, after the evacuation Stevenburg looked like a ghost town, at the entrance of the town a caravan stopped from it emerged brother Ahad as he asked
Ahad : how much do I have to pay you?
Caravan driver : nothing the government paid for this ride.
the caravan left, Ahad made his way to the royal palace where he saw the following scene, soldiers were involved in backbreaking military exercises under Skull crusher and Saad's supervision, while Sufiyan was watching everything from a far, when he saw Ahad he walked up to him and said
Sufiyan : greetings Ahad.
Ahad : Sufiyan ... I mean your highness, what's going on?
Sufiyan : promise me you will not disclose this information to any townsfolk.
Ahad : I promise I won't but, tell me what's going on?
Sufiyan : tonight a group of measly separatists are going to attack our capital.
Ahad : what is their manpower?
Sufiyan : 9, 5 boys and 3 girls along with a third gender.
Ahad : really that's nothing.
Sufiyan gleefully asked
Sufiyan : aren't you going to ask their names?
Ahad : why, who are they?
Sufiyan handed him a list and said
Sufiyan : all the equipment is at your disposal, train as much as you want and if you have any suggestions for improvement than I'm willing to hear them.
Sufiyan left, when Ahad read the list his heart sank, it had the names of Ashhad and his friends, including Zulqarnain and Aliza, Ahad grabbed his head he sat down and began to cry, their was no chance that Ashhad was going to win, Ahad's worst nightmare had came true Ashhad and his friends really had became separatists, Ahad sat their for a few seconds thinking what to do
Ahad : (thinking) what am I gonna do now, am I really going to fight my own teacher?
Ahad looked back at Sufiyan, despite being the king his face looked like the face of a liar, a tyrant, his whole demeanor gave this unsettling vibe, due to this notion, Ahad thought to himself
Ahad : (thinking) no I can't do this, not until I get concrete evidence.
the sound of swords clashing caused Ahad to come out of his thoughts, he walked upto Saad and asked
Ahad : excuse me are you the Prince?
Saad : why yes.
Ahad : I'm the honorary minister Ahad.
Saad : oh nice to meet you Mr Ahad.
Ahad : sir, the king told me that our enemies have a manpower of 9 people.
Saad : he's right about that.
Ahad : I was wondering, what If we attacked them first, I mean they are just 9 in number.
Saad : don't even think about it, I tried to attack them but the dense South Eastern forest of Stevenburg proved to be a great region for guerrilla warfare.
Ahad : did they defeat you?
Saad : don't say it out loud.
Ahad could not believe what he was hearing, as Ahad thought to himself
Ahad : (thinking) is Ashhad really that strong?
as Skull crusher shouted
Skull crusher : Saad can you come here for a second!
Saad : coming!
Saad left, Ahad knew exactly what he had to do now, he went around the exterior of the palace searching for flaws in the fortifications, their were holes in the walls from which cannonballs and shells would be fired furthermore, the archer towers were also renewed, catapults were being readied all left was to bring the artillery and cannons, Saad and Skull crusher came to Ahad as Saad said
Saad : their you are, Skull crusher this is Ahad.
Skull crusher : nice to meet you Mr Ahad.
Ahad : nice to meet you to, say you're the minister of defense right?
Skull crusher : why yes.
Ahad : I was wondering if we're about to be attacked where are the cannons and artilleries?
Skull crusher : due to the war with Navarre and their allies, our equipment was spread all across the nation, currently we are relocating them back to the military camp of Stevenburg, after which they shall be brought here to fortify the palace.
Ahad : and how exactly will they be brought here?
Skull crusher : caravans.
Ahad : alright.
Ahad turned and began making his way to the exit of the royal palace, Saad and Skull crusher continued what they were doing unaware that they had just doomed themselves, once out of the palace Ahad went straight to the forest, no one saw him leave, walking through the streets of the now abandoned Stevenburg gave Ahad goosebumps, while on his way to the forest Ahad looked up at the now abandoned houses and thought to himself
Ahad : (thinking) oh my beautiful Kingdom, look what these imbeciles have done to you, I promise I'll cleanse you of these pathetic overlords.
Ahad soon reached the south eastern part of the forest, at Kainaat's cabin, the friends were sitting at the dining table, ready for lunch as Humzah said
Humzah : do tell if you liked the food.
Dean : why?
Kainaat : Humzah cooked lunch today.
Ashhad : something tells me I'm gonna be the last to leave the table.
a knock happened on the door as Hussnain said
Hussnain : I wonder who that could be?
Ashhad : only one way to find out.
Ashhad stood up and walked to the front door, everyone else also got alert, Ashhad opened the door and standing outside was none other than brother Ahad as Ashhad asked in surprise
Ashhad : Ahad?
Ahad : hi Ashhad.
Ashhad : what are you doing here?
Ahad : it's a long story, can I come inside.
Ashhad : sure.
Ahad walked inside, seeing him Kainaat and Dean simultaneously asked
Dean and Kainaat : who's that?
Ashhad : guys this is Ahad, he's Aliza's cousin and Zulqarnain's student.
Zulqarnain annoyingly said
Zulqarnain : I wish the latter wasn't true.
Kainaat : well in that case, it's a pleasure to meet you Ahad.
Ahad : I appreciate the gratitude but I needed to ask you guys something.
Ashhad : come have lunch with us and then we'll ....
Ahad cut him off by saying
Ahad : are you attacking Stevenburg tonight?
Ashhad drew out his sword and in a split second it was at Ahad's throat as Ashhad said
Ashhad : promise me in the name of God, that Sufiyan didn't send you.
Zulqarnain : Ashhad wait let him speak.
Ashhad : Zulqarnain stay back, he could be a spy.
Ahad : why would I work for someone who has destroyed Stevenburg?
Ashhad : what do you mean?
Ahad : the whole town has been evacuated.
Kainaat : what?!
Ahad : Sufiyan sent a caravan to bring me here, he wanted me to help him in his fight against you guys but I'd rather fight the whole nation, than harm my dear Aliza.
Aliza seemed to show no interest in Ahad's words, as Hussnain asked
Hussnain : than why did you come here?
Ahad : if you guys go out their and fight head on you're not going to win, they have more equipment and manpower than you.
Humzah : then what do you propose?
Ahad : they think I'm loyal to them but I'm not.
Ashhad : but you're just one guy, even if you defected it wouldn't be much of a use.
Ahad : all it takes to burn a forest is a single blaze.
Humzah : I don't quite understand what you're trying to say.
Ahad : allow me to elaborate.
Ahad discussed his plan with the friends, after which he and the group parted ways, by the time Ahad returned to the royal palace, all the soldiers were resting in their tents, Sufiyan, Skull crusher and Saad were also resting for the big fight, Ahad silently made his way to the horse stable, where all the horses that were to be used by the cavalry were kept, Ahad freed all of them, he then went to the catapults, using an axe he broke crucial parts of each catapult rendering them useless, he even made the effort to climb up every archer tower and stole all the bows and arrows, this meant that the royal palace was now completely vulnerable to foreign attacks, not far from the palace, caravans filled with artilleries and cannons were on their way to the palace when midway they were stopped as someone blocked their way, this was Alyne, seeing the pretty lady a few soldiers got off the caravan, walked up to her and asked
Soldier : miss do you need any help?
Alyne : I'm not the one who needs help, it's you.
Soldier : what do you mean?
Alyne : look behind you.
the second the soldiers turned around, Alyne attacked them, Ashhad and his friends used this distraction to attack the caravans, in broad daylight all 40 soldiers that were taking the caravan to the royal palace were killed and the caravans bringing all the equipment were burned down, after this the friends regrouped outside the royal palace and began to wait for evening, the time of revolution was nearing as the sun set and it began to turn dark the friends gathered at a house not far from the palace as Ashhad asked
Ashhad : did you succeed in your plan Ahad?
Ahad : the main course is complete, this is just the dessert.
Ashhad : excellent.
Humzah : Ok captain how we doing this?
Ashhad : simple, we attack ferociously and no looking back.
Dean : you sure this plan will work?
Ashhad : it needs to, cause we don't have an army coming to back us.
Dean : in my eyes Ashhad you are yourself a one man army.
Ashhad : no I'm merely an incompetent general, you all are the real army.
Hussnain : Sufiyan may have a better commander but we are bonded through a much stronger bond, a bond of friendship!
Ashhad : then may this bond be the motivation that leads us to victory.
Kainaat : good luck everybody.
Zulqarnain : may God be our savior.
with all that said, the friends left for the battle ahead of them, on the other hand Sufiyan and his army began preparing, during the formation of battalions, Saad noticed that Ahad was missing as Saad asked
Saad : hey where's Ahad?
Skull crusher : I haven't seen him since afternoon.
Saad : hey Sufiyan have you seen Ahad?
Sufiyan : neither have I seen him nor do I care, we have a war to fight gentlemen, had he cared he would've been here.
Saad : so you don't know where he is?
Sufiyan : I'm not his guardian, Ok.
Saad : as you say your highness.
Skull crusher : hey Sufiyan.
Sufiyan : yes.
Skull crusher : is it just me or the soldiers seem .... less.
Sufiyan : have you forgotten we sent 40 soldiers to retrieve essential equipment.
Skull crusher : I suppose their outside.
Sufiyan : they must be, where else could they be.
the 360 soldiers were divided into 3 battalions, each having 120 troops, outside the palace Ashhad and his friends had arrived they witnessed with their own eyes the might and sheer number of Sufiyan's massive army as Nizaam got a bit intimidated and asked,
Nizaam : are you not even mildly concerned by their manpower?
Ashhad : their leading an army of dissatisfied individuals and I'm leading a group fighting for the truth.
Sufiyan was confident in his victory but
his pride took a nosedive when he saw that niether the war equipment nor the 40 soldiers were present and to make matters worse Ahad was standing alongside Ashhad as Sufiyan growled
Sufiyan : YOU TRAITOR!!!
Humzah : he did the right thing, you deserve to be left alone!
Sufiyan : this pride won't get you anywhere Ashhad, you are doomed!
Ashhad : we'll see about that.
Ashhad raised his sword and in full warrior style roared
Ashhad : GUYS ATTACK!!!!!!!!!
without looking back and without fearing what was ahead of them the group charged into Sufiyan, Saad and Skull crushers army, Sufiyan ordered
Sufiyan : release the catapults!
to Sufiyan's horror a soldier shouted
Soldier : your highness the catapults have been dismantled!
Sufiyan gasped in horror as another soldier shouted
Soldier : the horse stable is also empty!
now Sufiyan was even more terrified and to add the cherry on top, Skull crusher announced with great displeasure
Skull crusher : the archer towers have been looted your highness.
Sufiyan was left in severe shock, the friends took great advantage of this, with Sufiyan still in shock and Saad's incompetency in combat, the burden of the defense fell on Skull crushers shoulders and in all honesty, Skull crusher absolutely fu*ked up, the defenders were numerically superior yet still they were on defense, due to this reason the friends delivered several crucial blows to Sufiyan's army, Humzah, Hussnain and Nizaam fought side by side and with ease battled their way to Saad, Saad was very quickly cornered, but using his troops as a meat shield, somehow avoided death, Kainaat, Aliza, Alyne and Dean wreaked havoc on Sufiyan's army, Dean and Kainaat were so effective that they killed atleast 10 troops before taking their first hit, Dean continued pushing and soon he was face to face with Sufiyan as Sufiyan saw him he took out his sword, Dean said
Dean : you called me a beggar didn't you, now you're gonna pay for that.
had reinforcements not arrived Dean would've surely killed Sufiyan, but because of an influx of troops Dean was pushed back, he fought with full force and at one point many troops began to cry from their wounds and after more than 100 troops had surrounded Dean alone did he began to get hurt and after a lucky shot by one of the soldiers Dean fell he tried to shield himself but it was too late Dean was eventually killed but his contribution to the fight was massive, 50% of the troops had died, Ashhad, Zulqarnain and Ahad were busy in dealing with Skull crushers battalion when a soldier attacked Ashhad, naturally Ashhad dodged him, struck him down and was about to kill him when he saw the soldiers face, Ashhad was left in disbelief, this soldier looked just like his nephew Asad, the soldier quickly got up and attacked Ashhad, Ashhad shielded himself and shouted
Ashhad : wait stop!
the soldier kept attacking as Ashhad screamed again
Ashhad : please no, stop!!
with a powerful strike, the soldier broke Ashhad's shield as he raised his sword and was about to attack Ashhad, Ashhad screamed
Ashhad : Asad no!!!
the soldiers sword stopped mid air, his eyes went wide as he asked
Soldier : how ... how do you know my name?
Ashhad : because I know who you are.
Soldier : liar!
the soldier raised his sword again as Ashhad roared the following words in a more aggressive tone
Ashhad : STOP!!!
the soldier froze as Ashhad got up and said
Ashhad : your father's name was Zakir and your mother's name was Naheed, wasn't it?
the soldier was speechless as Ashhad said
Ashhad : you had 4 sisters, didn't you?
the soldier didn't utter a single word, as Ashhad said
Ashhad : and if that's not enough, you had an uncle 4 years older than you.
the soldier dropped his sword and asked
Soldier : who are you?
Ashhad began weeping as he said
Ashhad : aren't you going to hug your uncle, Asad?
the soldier began to cry as he said
Asad : Ashhad am I dreaming or are you real?
Ashhad : you tell me, cause I don't know what's fake or real anymore.
Asad : that's good enough for me.
Asad came to Ashhad and tightly hugged him as both of them began to cry, Zulqarnain broke through the defensive line, his sword and shield had broken so now he took out his overpowered Trident and with it he cut through his enemies like bars of soap, as he approached Ashhad he saw Ashhad and Asad going somewhere together, thinking that Asad was a soldier Zulqarnain attacked him, he alarmed both Asad and Ashhad by screaming
Zulqarnain : incoming!
Zulqarnain knocked Asad down, Ashhad immediately turned and shouted
Ashhad : wait Zulqarnain that's my nephew!
Zulqarnain stopped, Asad's heart was racing as Ashhad said
Ashhad : he has defected to our side.
Zulqarnain suddenly changed his demeanor to a friendly one and said
Zulqarnain : oh, well in that case nice to meet you brother.
Asad : haha ... yeah.
Ashhad and Zulqarnain had wasted a bit of their time but not Ahad, Ahad went straight through the defenses and anyone unfortunate enough to come in his way would see his wrath, Ahad soon made his way in through the palace walls their he met Skull crusher and when both of them caught eye contact, Skull crusher said
Skull crusher : greetings traitor.
Ahad : seems like your whole plan fell apart minister.
Skull crusher : it wouldn't have had you not been here.
Ahad : oh well that's a thing of the past.
Skull crusher : soon you will be a part of the past to.
Skull crusher drew out his sword as Ahad chuckled so, Skull crusher asked
Skull crusher : what's so funny?
Ahad suddenly changed his tone and said
Ahad : you, your fear, it amuses me.
Ahad attacked Skull crusher and with the instinct of surprise delivered several critical hits, Skull crusher pushed him back and with his sword tried a counter attack but it didn't work Ahad was too fast, Skull crusher tried a more defensive approach and this time it worked Skull managed to deliver a few critical hits forcing Ahad to fallback, Ahad climbed up a ladder and when Skull crusher tried climbing it, Ahad pushed the ladder of, Skull crusher fell of the ladder and got injured as Ahad took out his bow and arrow, Ahad shot Skull crusher multiple times but Skull crusher with great agility got back up and climbed up another ladder, the two men engaged in a fierce fight on the palace wall, Ahad was already at a disadvantage due to his health and when Skull crusher got more aggressive Ahad began to falter, eventually Ahad was dropped to very low health, so in a moment of desperation, Ahad made a plan a plan that would end Skull crusher once and for all, Ahad began climbing up the palace walls, although with great struggle he got higher and higher and Skull crusher did the same, soon they were on the very top of the palace, Ahad stopped as Skull crusher slowly approached him, he smirked and said
Skull crusher : end of the road buddy their's nowhere you can go now.
to this Ahad gave a badass final reply
Ahad : neither can you.
by now Zulqarnain had penetrated through the palaces defenses, when he saw Ahad standing atop the palace roof, with full speed Ahad ran into Skull crusher causing both him and Skull crusher to fall from the top of the royal palace, seeing this Zulqarnain screamed
Zulqarnain : AHAD, NO!!!
when they hit the ground the impact killed both of them, Ahad's sacrifice didn't go to waste, Skull crusher the longest reigning minister of defense of Ortania was now dead, following this unfortunate event both the revolutionaries and the government regrouped, Sufiyan was now starting to fight back but by now it was too late for less than 50 troops were left, still determined Sufiyan and Saad as well as the remnants of the army regrouped in the royal palace while Ashhad and his friends regrouped at the western wall, the friends were jointly heading to the western wall but niether Ashhad nor Zulqarnain were with them seeing this Alyne asked
Alyne : hey any idea where Ashhad is?
Humzah : beats me.
just then Zulqarnain and Ashhad came walking their way, seeing them Nizaam said
Nizaam : look their they are.
upon regrouping Aliza asked
Aliza : where's Ahad?
Zulqarnain looked down with dismay and said
Zulqarnain : Ahad lost his life while trying to kill Skull crusher.
hearing this left Aliza heartbroken, she began weeping as she said in a sad tone
Aliza : I never got the chance to forgive him, Ahad I'm so sorry, rest in peace.
Zulqarnain hugged Aliza and the rest comforted her as a voice asked
? : ahem.
the group looked over and saw Asad, seeing him left the group a bit unnerved and startled but Zulqarnain clarified
Zulqarnain : guys this is Asad, Ashhad's nephew.
Humzah : wait he's alive?
Ashhad : yep, even I couldn't believe it at first but here he is.
Hussnain : I don't want to ruin the moment but we have a war to win.
Ashhad : agreed let's move.
inside the royal palace Sufiyan had barricaded all the rooms and he and Saad were now confined to the throne room, all ways leading to it had soldiers blocking the way, when Ashhad and his friends entered the royal palace they met no resistance, they liberated the entire palace but when they reached the throne room, the final remnants of Sufiyan's mighty army attacked them, the soldiers fiercely defended the room and put up a very good defense, despite their numeric superiority, Ashhad and his friends had better equipment and weapons, eventually albeit slowly all the soldiers were killed and just as the final soldier fell, Ashhad ordered
Ashhad : knock down the door.
the friends broke the door open and inside they saw Sufiyan armed with nothing but a glass of wine and Saad who was standing quietly, Ashhad walked upto Sufiyan and said
Ashhad : game over Sufiyan, abdicate or we will overthrow you.
Sufiyan : Saad attack him!
Ashhad rolled his eyes over to Saad who looked at Sufiyan and said
Saad : no.
Sufiyan : WHAT, HOW DARE YOU!!?
Saad : Sufiyan don't you see they've defeated you, just accept it already.
Sufiyan : never, I will never surrender!
Sufiyan threw his wine on Saad's face and attacked him, Saad startled by Sufiyan's sudden aggression tried to defend himself, as Sufiyan shouted
Sufiyan : you have done tyranny for which you will pay!
Saad : Sufiyan stop!
out of the blue Saad took out his sword as Sufiyan saw this he stopped, Sufiyan gleefully smiled and asked
Sufiyan : what are you going to do with that, kill me?
Saad got a bit annoyed as Sufiyan again tested his patience by saying
Sufiyan : you can't kill me and you know why because you're scared.
Sufiyan turned to the revolutionaries, it was clear that he was drunk as he screamed
Sufiyan : YOU THINK I'M AFRAID OF YOU , I FEAR NO ONE NOT EVEN GOD CAN STOP ME, I'M SUFIYAN THE MAGNIFICENT!!!
the minute Sufiyan said that word, he began feeling a weird pain in his chest as he grabbed it, sat down and said
Sufiyan : guh .... what's happening to me?
all of a sudden Sufiyan collapsed to the ground, the friends as well as Saad rushed to check on him but what they discovered left them absolutely stunned, Sufiyan had died.