Authors Note: I gots more questions for ya'lls.

Do you guys want these authors notes to be at the top or bottom? Or do you not even read them? (LOL)

Also, I've been wanting to make a cover for this story and maybe even add pictures to chapters, but I was wondering if you as a reader see what the characters look like will it ruin the image you have of them? I'm sure some of you don't care, but for others it can be a big deal.

As always, feedback is welcome as long as its constructive. If you don't like the story that's fine, but don't be mean about it in the comments please.

Here's the chapter. Enjoy!

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Chapter 15

In the southern region of Ganar lied the territory of one of its Lords. The Astrid territory was on the border between Ganar and Nerim.

The land was mostly flat farmland. To the north was a great Lake that was shared by the two countries and to the west was a long mountain range, separating it from the neighboring Nishka territory.

If Nerim wanted to invade, they had no choice but to take this territory first. Once they did, they had the option of going northeast, passing between the mountains and the lake, or go southeast and swing around the mountains.

Unfortunately for them, Ganar was prepared and had forts built at each point which sealed off entrance. However this meant the defense from invasion happened when the territory had almost fallen, but it couldn’t be helped, as building forts on open plains was just asking to be surrounded and besieged.

The one exception was the Lord City itself, as it was built in the center. It was easier to reinforce only one strong point, letting the City be armed to the teeth with anti-invasion weapons that focused on inflicting maximum damage to as many troops as possible.

It was here that General Faren Velcose made his base of operations. Inside the Lord’s manor, he and his lieutenants surrounded a table that was covered in documents and a map of the local area.

General Velcose asked his men. “How are the evacuations proceeding?”

“Sir, most of the elderly and children have been evacuated, however many young men and women have stayed behind and offered to assist the army.”

“Accept them, but make sure they only take laboring jobs. Remind them that it’s the soldiers’ duty to fight.”

“Understood.”

Velcose then asked. “How are the defenses coming?”

“Everything is in position. However we are lacking the experienced personnel to fully man them.”

“The territory soldiers were trained to use them correct?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Then have all of them man it. If we are still lacking, pull some soldiers from the ranks and have them take a crash course from them.”

“It will be done General.”

The two men left the room. As they did, another entered and saluted. “Reporting!”

“Speak.”

“Our scouts have spotted the enemy crossing the border about thirty minutes ago. The main force is heading here while they have detached raiding units to nearby villages.”

“The bastards really did it…”

“General, shall we send our force to meet them in the plains?”

Velcose rubbed his chin. “What are their numbers?”

“It’s a rough estimate, but around 50,000 would be close.”

The faces of the men paled. There were about 20,000 troops in Ganar’s total army, but only half of that number was in this territory, with 5,000 being here and 2,500 being in each of the two forts further back.

General Velcose sighed. “Send only the guerilla units to whittle the enemy down. Their top priority is the supplies. Under no circumstances are they to fight when the enemy retaliates. If they have time, have them set traps, even if it only slows the enemy that is fine.”

“I’ll relay the orders immediately.” The man rushed out.

“What are the estimates on Nerim’s arrival time?”

“Hard to say, but within two to three days wouldn’t be surprising. The numbers are more than we anticipated.”

Velcose nodded. “Get me a relay tuned to the King’s emergency projection.”

In another room was a projection crystal that would send the image of the person using it to another crystal. It allowed two people to communicate over long distances. A staff officer flipped some switches and the crystal began to hum to life. He then fiddled with a knob and after setting it to a specific frequency, nodded to show it was ready to use.

General Velcose stood in front of the crystal and what appeared before him was the image of King Michael.

The King asked in a worried tone. “General Velcose, has something happened?”

“Yes your Majesty, the Nerim army has begun its march and will reach Astrid City in a few days’ time. Our scouts estimate that the enemy ranks consist of roughly 50,000 troops. I’m requesting that you mobilize the rest of the soldiers and have the Lords muster their forces as well.”

The King looked away and talked with someone off to the side. He then turned back and said. “I understand General; I’ll have them send over their units as soon as possible. I’m also conscripting able bodied people and the cadets from the Military Academy… General I know it is selfish but…”

Velcose held up his hand. “Fear not your Highness, I’ll make sure to assign them as many duties that don’t directly put them in harm’s way.”

“Thank you Velcose, I trust your judgement. How many days will you be able to hold?”

Velcose thought for a moment. “With our current armaments and supplies we should be able to last at least three months.”

“I see then… hold on.” The King’s attention was again taken to someone off to the side. He looked back to Velcose. “I just confirmed that Lord Nishka and Delgado’s troops have been ready to mobilize. They should arrive within the week. The students should arrive in two days.”

Velcose saluted. “Thank you, I will not disappoint you my King.”

“Serve well General, the country is counting on you.”

“I won’t let it down.”

The image disappeared and Velcose turned around and went back to the table.

“Alright men, reinforcements are coming. When the students get here have them immediately trained on the cannons mounted on the wall.”

One of the lieutenants showed a puzzled look. “Students, Sir?”

“Yes we are conscripting the Military Academy’s students. Make sure they aren’t in direct line of fire. They are still kids after all.”

“Roger, I’ll put the ones that can use magic in the bombardment unit and the others will man wall defenses.”

“Good.”

Another man burst into the room. “General! The enemy has sent a messenger and requests an audience with you!”

“Hmph, no doubt he will ask for surrender. Send him away. If he insists, burn him alive.”

“By your word.”

The other men asked Velcose in a worried tone. “Was that okay General?”

Velcose pulled out a cigar from his military jacket’s front pocket. After sticking one end in his mouth, he held his index finger at the other. A tiny flame flickered into life, lighting the cigar. After taking a few puffs, the General answered the man’s question.

“They had plenty of time to end this peacefully, and instead they just waltz into our country as if it already belonged to them, weapons drawn. I won’t show the enemy any courtesy or mercy. They can beg it from Nighorum when I send all their asses to him.”

The men all saluted. They could see in his eyes that he had every intention to make those words come true.

“Enough standing around, we have a war to win here, so get moving already.”

“”””Yes Sir!””””

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In the school’s arena sat all the students and teachers from the Military Academy. Down on the field was a podium that was used during the opening ceremony. The principal Logan Marrs stepped up on it and cast his voice enhancement spell.

He spoke in a solemn voice. “Dear students and teachers, I’m sure you are surprised at this sudden assembly and I apologize holding it on such quick notice.”

Everyone began to murmur amongst themselves. The mood Logan was putting out was not the usual. They all knew something serious had happened.

“I don’t know how aware you are of our countries affairs, but tensions have been high with the neighboring country Nerim. There has been talk of war and our King has tried his best to avoid that. However… earlier this morning, the Nerim army has crossed our borders and has invaded the Astrid territory.”

The murmurs grew to outcries. Everyone couldn’t believe what they had just heard. War with Nerim? The teachers and some students grimaced at the news. They had a feeling they knew what was about to happen next.

Their guesses hit the mark. “As a result of having fewer troops, the King has ordered for the conscription of able bodied men and women. Naturally this includes everyone here. We will be shipping out tomorrow and head to Astrid City. There we will fall under the command of General Velcose and await further orders.”

Most of the students grew frightened. While they had entered the Academy knowing they were expected to join the military afterword, when it came down to actually fighting in a war, naturally you would fear dying.

The first year students were the worst. They had barely been taught anything yet. The second years were a little better, knowing what was to be expected of them. Only the third years kept mostly calm when they heard the news.

Logan continued on. “When we leave on the military carriages, you will be in full battle gear. Supplies will be on a separate carriage. Leave any personal belongings in your dorms and take only what you absolutely need.

Teachers this applies to you as well. Classes today are cancelled so everyone return to your dorms and be ready tomorrow morning.”

With that everyone was dismissed. Yumi, Callen and Brett walked back to the dorms.

Callen said absentmindedly. “War… so it really did happen…”

Yumi’s voice shook a little. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for war. The thought of killing a person is just…”

Brett shook his head. “I was hoping to go through school having a leisurely life. This really killed the mood of winning the tournament.”

Yumi agreed. “It’s amazing how a happy thing can change into despair so quickly.”

Callen joined in. “It’s okay guys, we will make it through this if we remember our training and follow orders.” He then looked at Yumi. “And, uh… don’t do anything like what you did in the finals, okay?”

Yumi nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be careful. But if I see you in trouble I won’t hesitate to help.”

Brett pointed at himself. “What about me?”

Yumi smiled. “Of course you too.”

He smiled and nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Sometimes you guys seem to forget I’m also here.”

Callen smirked. “If only we forgot all the time. Well, this is where we part. See you later Yumi.”

Yumi waved as she separated from them. “Bye you two.”

She entered her room and sat on the couch and let out a sigh. Calgar looked up from a book he was reading at the table.

“What’s wrong Yumi?”

“It seems our country is at war with our neighbor and we’ve been conscripted to join. It still doesn’t seem real to me yet…”

Calgar set the book down and became attentive. “War?”

“Yes it seems it just began today.”

He asked her. “Are all the students being forced to join?”

She nodded. “It appears that our side is outnumbered. Since we are a military school, it looks like we are the first to be recruited.”

“Are you scared Yumi?”

She weakly nodded her head. “I’m scared. I’m scared of dying. I’m scared of my friends dying. I’m also scared of killing. I don’t know if I can do it.”

“Killing…”

Calgar wanted to comfort her but when he tried to think back to when he first took a life, he couldn’t remember it. He has killed countless people, but where did it all start? He had been fine killing anyone in the past. It didn’t matter who they were. Only when the war with the other Gods began did he start to question who should die and why.

Out from the bedroom, came Luna who let out a yawn. Noticing Yumi and Calgar talking she asked. “What are you two talking about?”

Calgar answered her. “It seems a war has started and we will be fighting in it.”

Luna’s eyes perked up. “War?! Really? You better not be lying! Oh boy, I can’t wait! This will be so exciting!”

Yumi was shocked at her cheeriness. “Luna you like war?”

Luna smiled and thumped her chest. “I love it. Ah, the scent of blood in the air tickles my nose and gets my adrenaline pumping. It’s pure ecstasy. When will it happen? When do we get to fight?”

“I-I’m not sure.”

Luna spun around. “Oh, I just can’t wait!”

Yumi turned to Calgar. “…Are you as excited as her?”

Calgar looked at Luna. Was he excited? War… It seemed like such a distant thing. He was the God of it, so why did he not feel anything special about it? Had his senses dulled too with time?

“I’m not sure how I feel…”

Luna reassured him. “Just wait until the fighting starts Father. I’m sure you’ll remember this wonderful feeling.”

“Perhaps. How does Sol feel about war?”

Luna pondered. “Uh… I think she likes it too, but she never shows it so it can be hard to tell sometimes.”

Yumi had a cramped smile on her face. “Is that so? Then I’ll be counting on you two when the time comes.”

Luna smirked. “Hmph, It probably won’t be enough to completely satisfy me, but a taste after so long will feel good.”

Calgar asked Yumi. “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. I’ll have everything ready by tonight and turn in early. I just hope I’ll be able to sleep well.”

“Just try to relax Yumi. Worrying will only stress you out more. Try to take your mind off it and sleep should come naturally.”

“Thanks Calgar. I’ll try. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” “Night”

Yumi closed the door behind her. Calgar looked at the book he set down earlier and opened it. He wasn’t reading the pages however. His mind was thinking about the war. For some reason he couldn’t shake this ominous feeling he had.

He looked at Luna still dancing around in glee. She was like a child about to get a brand new toy. The sight of her joy eased his heart a little. Soon he forgot his worries and began reading again.