Heroes of Balsam

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-I see a warrior walking towards a castle bravely and there are large black birds flying around the castle.

-I feel this warrior is on a mission and is fearless in the pursuit of completing the mission.

            STORY

“They're coming Kaila! Run!” Horace shouted as he jumped out the window. Kaila swiftly followed him, grabbing her sword and water container. They fled to the roof, their pursuers closely behind, Kaila could almost feel them breathing down her neck. She felt a sharp pain in her chest, but she forged ahead, sweat blinding her eyes. Horace assisted her in getting down from the roof and just when she thought he was coming behind her, she heard a body thump to the ground.

She saw Horace writhe spasmodically before expelling gas and going still. The pungent odor of death filled her nostrils, tears filled her eyes and rage filled her heart. Kaila heard her pursuers gaining on her, so she turned and fled, she kept on running until she reached the pier. With one last look at the men after her, she jumped into the ocean, their arrows flying overhead.

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Kaila woke up gasping for breath.

“Not again, it was a dream” she said, trying to calm herself down.

The bed she laid on was soaked with sweat, but still, she was shivering. Her throat felt choked up, so she reached for the pitcher of water beside the bed, drinking straight from it. Tears stung her eyes at the memory of Horace. Her sweet Horace, best friend and the only man she had ever loved. But the emperor's goons had taken him away from her. She seethed in anger and gritted her teeth as grief washed over her, as had been the case for the past 2 years.

The emperor had labelled kaila and her friends rebels when all they'd been were freedom fighters. It had all begun when Turin had been installed as the Emperor of Balsam. He had turned their small dear kingdom from the thriving vibrant settlement it was into a den of slavery, death, sorrow, and hopelessness. Their kingdom was mostly covered with sand, but underneath it was filled with precious stones and gold.

They used their resources to trade with other kingdoms for food items, and they had built a large dam on the outskirts that supplied water and electricity to every household. But Turin had seized control of everything. Chasing the citizens away from their abodes and turning them to slaves who mined his precious stones. He had also seized control of the food barn and water rations and gave mere scraps to those who slaved for him.

In the midst of the hunger, thirst and hard labor, he also demanded that those who refused to be under him pay him outrageous taxes. The border had been closed so no one could escape his reign of terror. Kaila, Horace, and some other brave souls had defied him and stole from the food barn and water from the dam to feed the starving people. This went on until one of them was caught and the manhunt for them all had begun.

One by one she watched as her friends were killed fighting for justice and freedom until it remained only she and Horace. They had barely managed to escape through the border, but his spies had found them in the Coast of Halam and Horace had been killed while they tried to flee. They had left their families behind, and Kaila prayed every day hers could forgive her for the torture she knew they were going through.

Three sharp raps at her door had her at attention. She moved stealthily to the door, her sword by her side. She was always prepared and slept fully dressed in preparation that anything could happen. The Emperor had spies in every city.

“Who is it?” she asked, disguising her voice by jamming her teeth together.

“It is I, Carlos” a tiny voice responded. Kaila looked through the keyhole to make sure he was alone before letting him in.

Carlos was one of her trusted acquaintances. She had made a few in her journey for survival. The thing she loved most about Carlos was his ability to disguise himself perfectly, this enabled him to fit in anywhere and bring back news to her. No matter where she went, he always knew how to reach her. Today he was dressed like a lady and the makeup looked good on him.

“Well, Lady Carlos, my dear friend. How do you do?” Kaila asked, grinning.

Carlos rolled his eyes, dragged her in for a hug, and looked out the window carefully.

“As you can see, all is well with me. I honestly can't say the same about you” he replied, settling down on the bed.

“Is it because I have no rogue or lip paint on my face?” she teased him

“Ha! I wish! Let's go and have breakfast, then I'll tell you all I recently found out” Carlos replied rising from the bed.

“So you have news for me then?” she asked anxiously.

Carlos didn't reply, he walked past her and headed to the door. She knew he would be waiting for her in the breakfast inn so she hurriedly freshened up, picked up her few belongings and went to meet him. Over breakfast, they discussed the recent happenings around and after eating he hit her with the main news. It was shocking and had her shaking with anger.

The Emperor had taken Kaila's younger sister to become one of his concubines, and her father had been killed when he tried to stop his guards from taking her away. Kaila wept silently as tears ran down her face. She sobbed uncontrollably as Carlos tried to comfort her.

“This is not the time to shed tears. We must stop him once and for all” Carlos said.

“But how? Everyone I know is dead!” Kaila wailed.

“Luckily for us, your friend the Emperor has made countless enemies with his greediness, so getting an alliance to stop him should not be much of a problem” Carlos whispered with a glint in his eyes.

Kaila had stopped crying by this time and wiping her eyed she leaned closer, listening to him intently.

“We go to the neighboring kingdoms he's ripped off and also every person we know he has offended and voilà we have ourselves a large army!” he whispered excitedly.

“Your plan sounds fabulous, but he has spies everywhere. How do we make it work?” Kaila whispered back.

“Of course everything will be done secretly, leave it to me. I'll contact everyone who I think, should be involved” he whispered laughing out loud and throwing his head back as though Kaila had just told him something funny.

She followed his cue and also laughed, and together they exited the inn. They set the ball rolling and in no time, they had gained many allies. They all met secretly until a perfect was formed. Kaila made herself become more visible until the spies noticed her, and then disappeared again when he sent all his goons to her location.

On the assigned day for attack, Kaila rose early, picked up her sword and began the journey home. The plan was for her to head to the palace, and while the Emperor and his guards were preoccupied with capturing her, the army bonded together by revenge would strike. It was a plan that would certainly work. She moved confidently and in no time she arrived at her destination. Large Black birds flew all around, and she could see the palace in the distance. Kaila drew out her sword and matched forward purposefully.

As expected, Emperor Turin fell for the plan, and very soon his palace was surrounded by Kaila's Army. His guards wisely surrendered, but the emperor wanted to flee. His attempt was cut short by Kaila's blade. They rescued his hostages and opened the food barn and dam for everyone to feast on. The people filled the streets with cheers and jubilation, singing praises of the people who had freed them from bondage…

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Slowly, things went back to normal in the kingdom. The people recovered all they lost and trade began again. They were still skeptical about a new Emperor but had put Kaila and Carlos in charge of certain border relations. As for Kaila's family, her siblings had accepted her with joy but her mother, who still mourned the death of her husband, couldn't forgive her easily for what they had passed through in the hands of the emperor.

But with each new day, her mother grew less resentful towards her, and Kaila was thankful for that. One other thing she was grateful for was that the bad dreams had also stopped. She was almost at peace with herself, she had saved her kingdom, reunited with her family and built a tower of heroes for Horace and her lost friends. Change had begun, and she was determined to make the best of it.