“In here!” Lukas shouted to the kids as he ducks into an opening of the catacombs. Alm slides down after him, with his friends following behind him.
“How far are those soldiers going to chase us?” asks Gray.
“Not as far as you go to flirt with the village girls,” retorted Tobin.
“Oh, shut up, Tobin.”
“We don’t have time to bicker, I’ve done the best I can to bring you all to the Deliverance hideout.” Lukas said.
Alm looked in wonder at this dark cave, he had never been outside of his village before. “You all stay here?”
“Yes,” replied Lukas. “After we lost Zofia Castle to the Rigelians, we took shelter in this place. Clive is waiting for us, I imagine.”
And from the dark tunnel, it opened up to a giant maze of sprawling catacombs. Soldiers took up camp inside the halls, with torches lit on the sides for light.
They sighed, some lay on the ground as if already fallen in battle. Lots of them had bandages wrapped around them. A bright light was at the end of the hallway.
And a man with blue hair and a crass face stood in the middle of the path. “You can’t go past here without per-” He looked up.
“Lukas, you ginger stud. Thought you’d never make it back.”
“Hello, Python,” said Lukas. “Is Clive waiting for us?”
“Yeah, yeah, he’s up ahead. Think he’s been waiting for quite some time. Why don’t you go and show around the boy-hero?”
“I’m Alm.”
“And I’ve been waiting to meet you.” A blond man walked out of the brightly lit room. Following him were several more soldiers, with his deputy Fernand and lieutenant Forsyth at each side. “I’ve heard much about you from our scouts, and your military skill.”
“Pleased to meet you as well,” said Alm. “I’ve come from Ram.”
“With us!” shouted Faye.
“Would you quiet down?” muttered Kliff. “You’re interrupting Alm.”
“Yes, I know. I actually wanted to ask you a favor, about why I called you and your grandfather here.” Clive waved over all of the soldiers, and they gathered around Alm and his friends.
“Well, I guess I can answer it.” Alm didn’t seem too worried.
“Then I would like to hand over leadership of the Deliverance to you, Alm.” Clive knelt down. “I was going to ask your grandfather originally, but you being our leader will bring morale to our troops. It will revitalize our fighting spirit.”
“What? But I’m only a boy!”
“But a fine fighter, at that,” said Clair, Clive’s sister. “Even in the short time we have been traveling together, you’ve done much to keep us together and strong.”
“I can’t, do that,” said Alm. He looked towards Clive. His lieutenant seemed pleased with what was happening, but the deputy on the right seemed to grow sour and sour with every passing second.
“Please, Alm.” asked Clive. “Then do this for me, that you might relieve me of some of my stress.”
Alm took a deep breath and sighed. His friends watched him intensely, and the gazes of a hundred soldiers followed him too. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
Clive smiled. “Then we welcome you and your friends to the Deliverance.”
Soldiers clapped, some unsure of where this was going, but others becoming brighter as they were graced by the presence of the blood of a hero.
Gray slapped Alm on the back. “Yeah, way to go, dude!”
Clive’s lieutenant, Forsyth rose up. “I think he will make a fine leader.”
Heads began to nod in agreement, but once Fernand spoke, the conversations stopped.
“I will have none of it! You expect us to listen to a boy, one who isn’t even born from nobility?! Look at what the peasants do to us, expecting us to give them proper wages for their work; they should know their place!”
“Fernand,” said Clive. “I understand that the act the people on your family’s manor unjustly did upon you and your family will be hard to bear, but please, accept this for me. We’re best friends, aren’t we?”
“Not anymore.” said Fernand. “It appears you’ve lost sight of our noble goal. I will not bow down to some wench born from a haystack.”
He stormed towards the exit, with Alm and his friends failing to drop their gazes.
“But mark my words, all of you! Those of you who have forgotten the noble goal of Zofia, will face death at the hands of the Rigelian Empire!”
