Chapter 17: Chapter XVI: To Kill a General

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Twisted trees flew past him like shadows, riflemen scattered among them. They fired their guns but missed. The panicked human soldier raised his rifle like a shield above his head as Kai appeared in front of him.

“Argh!” Kai swung his glaive, splitting both rifle and the man beneath it.

The others set off running.

His blood boiled too hot; he couldn’t stop himself at this point. He didn’t want to.

There was no mercy left in him.

He charged after the fleeing soldiers with a roar, leaving his squad behind.

The skirmishes raged on until nightfall.

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Kai sat alone on a hill outside the capital, watching the summit of the mountain glow with enemy tents. He wiped the blood and sweat from his face with a rag, his new glaive resting against his chest.

Warriors formed a ring around the mountain, besieging the general’s army and cutting it off from the rest of the world.

The elders opted to starve the humans out while they waited for reinforcements, as taking the high ground by storm would be far too costly.

Something was off, however. Kai tapped the pole of his weapon against his shoulder, an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach.

Why would Constantino go through the trouble of marching all the way around the wastelands just to isolate himself in enemy territory? There had to be more to the story. Maybe they were not the only ones waiting for reinforcements...

His heart skipped a beat. If the humans were about to move out in full force as he predicted, she would likely be among them.

It had been a couple of weeks. He’d tried to let go, shift his focus to what mattered, but her laughter at that camp by the river haunted him like a ghost...

He sighed at himself. It was unfair to blame her memory for haunting him when he was the one who kept bringing it back.

Something buzzed behind him, then stopped.

“Kai,” said a masculine voice. “I hope I didn’t startle you. I’m Jack; we’ve met before.”

Kai kept to the lights ahead. “How did you get so close to the capital, Jack? You and your bike.”

“Our mutual friends on your side covered me, of course. They are still waiting to escort me back”

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Kai allowed himself a faint smile, as if he glimpsed an old friend. He knew these so-called friends. They were few and discrete—warriors who opposed this war like his father used to.

Jack scratched his head. He had something to say. Why couldn’t he say it?

“Jack.”

“Yeah?”

Kai’s smile faded away. “What is humanity’s plan?”

Jack stood in silence for a while, then sighed. “I’m sorry. They call it... ‘The Final Solution’.”

“I see.”

“They are going to... Well, we are...”

“I know. You’re coming to help Constantino squash us.”

The human fell silent, confirming his suspicions.

“I didn’t come here just to rat on my people,” Jack said. “But as a favor to someone we both know.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve met Olivia.”

Kai flipped around, staring at Jack with wide eyes. “What did you say?”

“She’s coming with the army. It’s not like none of us have a choice.”

He turned back to the mountain, hugging his glaive. It felt like a gut punch even though he already knew she would come. This was a bad time.

Was this fear or shame? Both? Hard to say, and even harder to admit to himself.

“I don’t blame her. Or you, for that matter. I never did.”

“We don’t blame you either, Kai. Things are just... shit.”

“Aye. Is there anything else? If not, then I wish you a safe return home.”

“There is. Olivia wants to talk.”

Kai froze as Jack’s words hit him like a club.

It was fear—he was sure this time. Fear of losing her forever if she saw the new him, as there still seemed to be a sliver of hope remaining in his heart, despite everything.

“Kai?”

He snapped back to himself. “Tell Olivia I’ll see her one last time, in a place only we know. She knows what that means.”

“Understood... good luck.” Jack turned on his bike and buzzed away, leaving Kai to his thoughts.

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The command tent’s interior glowed with braziers. The elders stood around the fire, discussing among themselves. Orion uncrossed his arms and turned to him as Kai stepped inside.

“He’s here,” an elder said.

“You have summoned me,” Kai said, bowing. “I’m at your service.”

“Approach, warrior.”

Kai obeyed.

Orion inspected him from head to toe. “Do you understand the kind of predicament we find ourselves in?”

“I do.”

“Then you understand that we can’t wait any longer. That army sitting on our mountain needs go.”

“I could lead a charge,” Kai said.

Orion drew his hands to his waist, shaking his head. “You know we can’t do that. Who will be left to defend the capital after we lose half of our men in an uphill battle? That’d be the same as delivering our people to the humans.”

“I don’t see any other options.”

“No.” An elder took a step forward into the light, both of his eyes missing. “There is an option. Something that has been done before.”

Kai frowned.

“We only have one shot at this.” Orion took his shoulder, a strange look on his face, almost paternal. “It needs to be you, Kai.”

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Men passed by him, carrying supplies and weapons along the encirclement line. The mountain echoed back the erratic gunshots from the small skirmishes happening above. Both sides knew it was unwise to let the enemy sleep peacefully.

Kai didn’t need loud rifles to keep him awake, though. He had his love and hatred battling for space in his mind day and night.

The lights from the camp shone brighter from here.

He promised Olivia not to die, but that also might’ve been a lie. One simply didn't assassinate a general and survive to tell the tale. Neither could one escape who they were, human or mutant alike.

Kai looked at her face floating amidst the lights one last time.

It was time to let go of love. It was time for war.

The wooden pole of his weapon groaned under his grip as he turned, looking the warriors that stood behind him in the eyes.

“It has been done before,” he said. “In a few days, some of you will be responsible for creating distractions, and the rest will slip inside that camp.”

They listened to him in silence, chins high. Handpicked men, every single one of them.

He gritted his teeth.

Constatino, I will return you the mercy you showed my family.

“But none of us will return.” Kai threw the glaive over his shoulder. “That’s the price to kill a general.”

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