Embracing Love and Power

Tillie looked at her soldiers, they were perfectly lined up in front of her. The rose tied around their wrist. Tillie felt pride blossom in her chest. Ace was standing next to her. She motioned for all the men to draw their swords. As she looked at her own sword she cast a spell that strengthened the swords with a little magic. She ran her fingers over her blade making it glow, while the soldiers did the same, their blades lit up too. “Be careful out there, we aren’t facing ordinary rebels. With your sword you can withstand magic attacks, in case it should come this far. It was a honor to have you guys in my squad. I’ll make a promise to all of you; if we get out of here alive, I’ll give you all a better life. If we don’t, I’m afraid that there won’t be much to live for.” Cheers filled the air as Tillie finished her speech.

Mages had lined up next to her soldiers and they looked expectantly at her. Tillie saw August and Althea among them. Commander Foreman walked up beside Tillie. “You are already wearing the roses, we are also part of that elite.” He said and as he snapped his fingers. Roses appeared on the uniforms the mages wore. Tillie smiled. “You also have to motivate them.” Foreman whispered. Tillie looked up at the mages. “Today we fight as brothers together with the black rose elite. I know that that’s not easy, but I trust them with my life. They have proven themselves more than worthy. They followed the wrong orders, but without them I wouldn’t be alive. We need them for what’s coming as much as they need us. My dream is that you fight united as the rose army, we will crush our enemy and live the rest of our lives in peace.”

“Breaker” a spotter on a horse rushed over towards Tillie. “Movement on the battlefield. A small delegation is waving a white flag.” Tillie looked at Foreman. “I’ll go and listen. I am taking four of my soldiers. I want you guys to stay hidden for as long as possible, behind the hill.” With her small delegation Tillie descended the hill to where they waved the white flag. Illmenni looked straight at her. Timber and Valen stood by his side, along with a few other soldiers. Tillie felt how Timber’s eyes landed immediately on the roses on the uniforms of her soldiers. His eyes almost burned into hers.

“Breaker” “Illmenni” they greeted. “I am here to offer you a peaceful solution. I am here to give you a way out.” Tillie smiled. “Do you surrender yourself?” she asked. The soldiers behind her laughed. “No, but you can all save us the trouble and surrender.” Illmenni said stern. “Why would I do that?” she asked. “You do know how powerful I am?” he asked. Tillie smiled at him. “Do you know how powerful I am?” she asked. “What are you going to do against a mage?” he laughed loudly and then he whispered something that, within seconds, plunged the battlefield into darkness. Tillie smirked she quickly casted a spell to bring the light back. She saw how Valen and Timber’s face palled. “Haven’t you heard the news yet? I am one too. So now that that’s settled, do you want to surrender or do you still think you can win this thing?” she asked with a sweet smile. “After all you have seen how big my mark is.”

Illmenni refused to surrender and so Tillie knew that the inevitable was approaching her. As she looked over her soldiers Foreman and Ace took place beside her. “What are you thinking?” Foreman asked. “A strategy, anything to defeat him. But that open field limits what we can do.” She was silent for a moment. “I don’t know how hard it will be to face him. I don’t know how many troops Illmenni has. I don’t know what to do.” She felt unease settle in her belly. Ace put his hands on her shoulders. “Easy, focus on your breathing. What does your heart say?” he asked. Tillie closed her eyes, her heart was with Timber. But she already tried that and failed miserably.

“Have your scouts reported anything else?” Tillie asked Foreman. “Just numbers.” He replied. “How much bigger than us?” she asked. “At least four times.” Tillie sighed. “Guess a quick efficient knockout blow is off the table.” Foreman chuckled. Tillie closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. Suddenly an image of the ocean appeared in her mind and she knew what she had to do. “We’ll attack in waves.” Ace and Foreman looked at her in bewilderment. “Why would we do that? Your attack will be weakened and it will give Illmenni a chance to learn your tactics.” Foreman replied. “But on the other hand, you will have a couple of surprise waves.” Ace stated. “Exactly.” Tillie replied. “We’ll keep them short one after the other. Using the mages as a means to crush our enemy.” Ace nodded his head and walked over to his men, the waves had to be in quick succession, not giving much room to beat her soldiers.

Tillie positioned herself amongst her soldiers as they lined themselves up on top of the hill. Their enemy had gathered on the other side and the scout had been quite right. The enemy was at least 4 times larger in numbers. But they only had a couple of mages. Illmenni marched onto the battlefield the black elite soldiers on his left, the guards on his right and the mages that sided with him, behind him. Tillie smiled when she knew what she had to do. She began to whisper a spell to immobilize the black elite soldiers. As the rest of Illmenni’s army marched forward they appeared to be stuck in place.

As soon as Illmenni noticed what was happening, he launched blast after blast over towards Tillie. She protected her troops with a magic shield. Illmenni was quick and his guards moved forward. As she looked at Timber and his men she saw how more soldiers walked in front of them. She suspected that Illmenni had more than one elite under his control. Tillie trembled as she nearly came face to face with Illmenni. He attacked her with full force and all hell broke loose around her.