Immediately they see George, all the soldiers in our troop — all forty-nine, except me, Jeriq, and the passed out Lanin — stand up.

They stump their feet on the ground.

The ground shakes again, and I hold Jeriq steady under the table.

As the soldiers salute, "Captain!" They all cry out in unison.

"My men!" George yells. "It's that time again!" He steps inside the tent slowly, his cape fluttering behind his back. "That time when we have to challenge ourselves! To prove to the world that we still have something left in us to give before we die! Do not fret!" He walks in; toward where I and Jeriq are hiding. "Do not cower!" He drops a spear on the ground next to Jeriq.

Where'd he get that from?

Jeriq wastes no time and grabs the spear.

"We all knew this before we came here, didn't we? It's what we signed up for! We all knew we'd die. But still.. before we die.." he drags the table where we're hiding, throws it by the side, and offers both me and Jeriq his two hands.

I grab his left hand and Jeriq grabs his right, and he drags us both.

"Let us kill at least one of those Orcan Bastards!!"

I stand fully.

"Now.. who's with me?!"

Boom! Boom!

They all stump their feet.

"Ayyy!!! Captain!!!" All the soldiers scream.

George walks toward the entrance of the tent. "Let us show them hell." He opens the tent, walks out, and we all march behind him.

"Alberto!!" He screams.

Alberto runs from afar, toward him, and kneels on one knee. "My Lord!"

"Open the cart!"

Alberto nods, and runs toward the tent that they call 'cart' and he opens it, exposing heaps of swords and spears.

All the soldiers rush toward the tent and grab their weapons.

I stand. Jeriq stands beside me, by my right hand side. I turn to look at him, and he does the same. We both nod in unison.

I see two other red troop captains; one slender female with a full body armor, and sword hanging on her waist in her sheath and a red scarf tied around her neck rushes toward the cafeteria to rally her soldiers. And the other, a large man wearing no armor. Only red pants, holding a large, red shield, goes to rally his soldiers too.

As all the soldiers in our troop collect their respective weapons, George nods, and whispers as he gazes up at the bright blue sky, "it looks like a beautiful day to die."

He immediately starts jogging slowly, and our troop follows behind him.

Me and Jeriq, we both jog with them, heading to the large battlefield.

"Halt!" George shouts as we reach the land under the hills, a beach-like place with sand stretched out in the horizon.

All the soldiers of the Jalozi Empire are here. All in different colored uniforms: Red, green, blue, orange.

We're at the very last line in the battalion of soldiers. At the very rear as the lowest of the red troops.

I think we number up to thousands.

I see a massive flag bearing the symbol of the Jalozi Empire at the forefront of the army. Where I presume the General to be.

I turn to look at Jeriq at my left who's breathing loudly.

"Ease your heart, Jeriq."

He forces a smile as he nods, "the captain was right. It is a beautiful day to die."

What bullshit. I'm not dying here.

The sea beyond the beach is blue and beautiful, and it's filled with large wooden ships.. ships that carry death of hundreds toward our land.

I look left, and I see the large flag of a different Empire. They're all lined up with their thousands of soldiers too.

I look right, and I see the same thing.

The Jalozian Army is just one of many battalions.

It's quiet. Very quiet.

Too quiet.

The sound of the horns blaring from the incoming Orcan ships passes through my ears.

My heart keeps pounding against my ribs, threatening to deafen me internally.

"Here they come!! Soldiers!!!! Brace yourselves!!" A strong voice rings from the front of the battlefield. Where our flag stands.

It's the General.

"This would be a day to remember." A voice whispers beside me on my right hand side.

It's not Jeriq. I turn, it's someone I've seen a couple times in our camp. But I've never spoken to him.

As the hundreds of ships inch closer and closer; my heart pounds louder and louder.

"Now is... war!!!!!" The General screams.

The frontlines move first.

=======

The mercenaries had all been grouped. All the mercenaries in every single Empire and Kingdom in Levaria were all under the leadership of K who was recommended to be their leader to the Levarian Generals' Alliance by General Varlen.

K watched quietly at the incoming ships, his arms were crossed, and his face was plastered with a wide, almost insane grin.

Gislow stood by his right, clutching his long sword with his right hand, and his large shield tight with his left, and Laran stood by K's left, twirling his spear with his fingers.

"It's that time again." K spoke in a low voice.

"Let's just do this and get it done with." Gislow replied.

"Hubolt bless you all, and keep you all from harm." Laran whispered to the air.

"You know you all totally sound like people that are about to die, right?" Lali, who was standing behind K spoke.

Terran stood far back, never uttering a word. He was perfectly blended in the shadows of the mercenaries. He just stared at the incoming ships with that same, deadly calm in his eyes.

K sighed bitterly, regretting becoming a mercenary.

"Shut up and get your water spells ready. You're a water mage and we're close to the sea. That should count for something." Gislow spoke.

K raised an arm. And they all went silent. Including the thousands of Mercenaries behind him that were muttering. They all shut up.

K asked Gislow, "do you remember the strategy?"

Gislow nodded, "of course I do. I'm the one who came up with it."

K nodded back. And he turned to face the army of mercenaries as the ships drew closer.

"I have no words to offer to you all. You all came here knowing you might die. You're all mercenaries. You came for the riches, for fame, for the glory.." he pointed toward the incoming ships, "do you see those ships?"

"Ayy!!" Their voices echoed.

"Inside those ships lie your riches, your fame, and your glory! So take it! Go and claim it!!!"

"Ayyyy!!!!!"

Their voices tore through the wind as they stumped their feet.

K's lips widened with a smirk as he turned back to face the incoming fleets, "it's been a while."