Xerxes by Micheal Achonye

Breathe Xerxes, just breathe. Soot and ash still fell from the charred sky. Everything reeked of burning flesh from the dragon attack. Queen, the love of my life was gone.How could I move on?This battle was clearly over, my life was clearly over.The cards were all up, I had lost.There was no way we could defeat the King and his army. The King had the coven of dark magicians on his side. He also had the Vladians and their dragons. He had demi gods and demons acting on his command. There was no way a group of humans without useful weapons could attack. Even with the handful of magicians in the field, it was nothing when compared to the thousands of blood thirsty necromancers with nothing left to lose on the side of the King.We had clearly lost.It was time to count our losses and retreat.Who knows, maybe I would live to see twenty five."All magicians on the right, the humans on the left and the Vladians in the middle!" a man announced repeatedly. That was the General putting

(Angs POV)It was a mess on the ship with everyone running helter skelter to avoid colliding with the Vladians and magicians. No one had expected them to show up so soon. So many things went through my mind, if they were here it meant the distraction hadn't worked.Oh I hope the Soldier is okay, I hope the warriors who had stayed back to act as decoys were okay.I could not stay here anymore, I had to find my brother and if possible get off this ship.He had a murderous look on his face. He had surely grown, from the little cartographer I had known to the man who stood before me.I wanted to hold him in my arms and tell him that it would be okay, that it would be over soon, but we all know it would not solve anything. Xerxes was no quitter that's for sure, and he had come so far to think of giving up.No, he would never do it. Not now, not on this ship. There was nothing he could do, but knowing the young man, he was not going down without a fight, sooner or later a plan would surely

"So, why are you out anyway?" she let out shattering my daydream, bringing me back to reality. "The healer said your mind needed time to conform, but here you are, what's on your mind?"I did need time to heal but my mind was not broken, not with what I had seen and heard. I was as fit as a fiddle and I bet I could start training if the Xaj had allowed it. The dreams were all things of the past as I envisioned a future where we all got to win and taste victory. "Have you been to the library before?" I asked, trying not to sound excited. She nodded in affirmation but immediately advised against it saying the books were not up to date, however what I searched for was something that didn't need additional information.Petra had been with me and given me the plans on how my training was to go. We would visit the ten temples of the gods where I would train with the monks and Xaj learning to control my innate abilities. We would pass through Crete, the city of knowledge and I would get th

She stood, wandering over to the shelves with her index finger pointed at the books, "I thought these books were supposed to be destroyed. I can see you saved them...""Can we get back to the story?" I asked impatiently. I felt for her, I really did, but I needed to know if I was on the right side of the war. I needed to know who the real enemy was. "Very well," she said, walking back to her seat and falling in a lazy manner. "Where was I? Ahhh yes, my journey," she went on. "When I ran out of the nation, I joined the outcasts. They were a group of people unjustly kicked out of the country for one crime or the other. They were my new family. I learnt a lot from them and I got stronger with their help. I learnt all about the gods and the different powers a Xaj could wield. I... No, we fought together and we became more powerful. We recruited new members to our team and that was where I met General Obsidian and Kol. Together we drove off every single evil we could find until we becam

It was midnight and I could not sleep. I stood at the edge of the ship watching the moonlight kiss the open sea. It was quiet now, maybe too quiet. It is what happens when war becomes a norm in a person's life, peace makes one uneasy. My birth had brought about the death of so many people, and I knew it would not end until the tyrant was stopped. Ang did not deserve to die. Little Georgey, the abbot and so many warriors I had grown up knowing did not deserve to die. When the news of his death was announced, I broke down. The sweet lovely kid, dying in a brutal way, it really was horrible. "May I join you?" she asked, breaking my train of thoughts. I wanted to be alone, I wanted a 'me' time right now. I was tired of the heroic life I was forced to live because I was seen as some kind of saviour. I'm not a hero, I'm a mistake. "Look, I know you hate me so much for not saving Ang, George or the abbot, but just know that I tried everything in my power..." "Don't... Just don't... pl