The Crimson Prince： Awakening

Will couldn"t blame them for their mixed feelings, he witnessed every single death before recruiting the survivors. He knew exactly how he would feel if the same happened to him since Maya was the first he had ever lost. Even then, the thought of seeing her dead on the ground gave him more motivation to end this battle.

Looking through the men, he picked out Leo and Bianca. His best friend wore his hoodie as if it were battle armor while Bianca sported her pink tank top and blue jeans as usual.

Dropping out of the sky right in front of Leo still wasn"t enough to surprise him. His friend only smiled as Will walked the remaining steps and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Looks like I made it in time." he said casually as he pointed a thumb behind him. "Look, I even brought back up." adding a smile into the last statement wasn"t enough to break the atmosphere.

"You know, by bringing her here you"ve only made a target for them to point there blades right?" Will knew Leo wasn"t trying to be rude, but facts were facts. Maya had killed every last mother, father, husband and wife within the villages he had visited. He didn"t think it would be easy to sway them, but what kind of prince would he be if he couldn"t?

Facing the group of two hundred and fifty orphans, widows and widowers, Will allowed himself to lift into the air once more. His aura burst forth in waves as he looked over each and every one.

He motioned for Maya to stay close to Leo. She did as she was told which made the onlookers more anxious. Leo was the one that put them all together and trained them, now the murderer of their families was taking cover behind their teacher. None of them made a move, at least not until they heard what Will had to say.

"I"m sure you are all confused, and you have every right to be." He pointed down at Maya and continued. His voice boomed with his power in every word so all could hear. "This woman has killed every single one of your relatives and left without a word. I"m sure all of you are furious at the sight of her." He folded his arms while hovering above them, his coat swaying in the gentle breeze. "We are all brothers and sisters within this catastrophe, we have all had something taken from us by the darkness. To me, it was Maya when I first came back to Crystallia."

Lots of faces went to the d.u.c.h.ess of darkness in confusion. "Maya was the very first person I met within this world. She was the reason my power activated in the first place." Will crossed his legs as if he were sitting in thin air, he knew this would take some time to explain. "Maya was being taken against her will by a few crimson knights because she couldn"t come up with enough money to pay taxes. I"m sure most of you could relate. How many of your relatives have been taken to Ebonhart and forced into a life of servitude? I"m sure you all know what a life that is." he let the group process what they had just heard for a few minutes. "I saved her, then she let me stay with her. For months, I honed my abilities right outside her home. She had nothing, yet she gave me everything she had. But then," he pointed at the other side of the battlefield where Jake was. "They killed Maya right in front of me. Then they animated her corpse with darkness and used her against me."

Most of the group now had wide eyes as they finally understood who she was to him. "Why is she here then?" Will saw Benjamin and his brother James. He could never forget the first of the casualties. Ben had vowed before he left to get revenge for his parents. Now he was looking at the murderer and now found out she was a puppet created from darkness. Will couldn"t blame him for asking.

"We found a way to break her curse. I have cut her strings, now she wants to turn on her puppeteers." He announced with pride in his voice.

"Maybe you should step aside Prince." someone within the group spat. "This is our fight. You haven"t been here for the last fifteen years, what right do you have in this war?"

Will nodded his head. "What right do I have at all?" The man waited impatiently for him to continue. "I have only known this world existed for less than a year. My mother took me when I was a child to another world. You could say the state of everything is the result of me being gone."

Will waved a hand at the impending darkness. "This is your land, your people. If you think I don"t have it in me to lead you, all you have to do is leave. If you choose to stay though, I"ll ensure you have the power to look into your brightly lit future rather than stare into the darkness of your past." Will saw even more heads raise our of the small army. His inner Prince screamed in relief.

"All of you have suffered in the absence of my father. He has been lost within the darkness of the wrongs that have been done to him. His flame has all but gone out." Will extended his hand upward, producing his crimson gold flame upward to join the pillar of his army"s power. The moment they collided, the pillar took on a bright gold. "Let us light the way for his return to existence!" the crowd screamed in return. It seemed he had finally broken through to them. Even the man of whom had questioned him seemed to have a smirk on his face as he looked up at the long lost Prince.

Will kept eye contact with the man as he slowly descended towards the group. The man could judge where Will was descending and swiftly made s.p.a.ce for the landing.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Will placed his hand on the man"s shoulder. "Thank you." he said as he looked at him with grat.i.tude. "Were it not for your challenge, I doubt I could have raised such spirit from within your comrades." he watched the man"s reaction go from happiness to confusion, and then on to understanding.

"You were counting on someone questioning your rite weren"t you?" he said as he watched Maya make her own descent. Even he had to see that she was not the same woman that had visited the wrath of the kingdom on his family.

"If no one did, I would worry that I was just leading an army of thoughtless followers ready to throw their lives away." Will smiled as he raised an eyebrow. "Your name is Jacob isn"t it?"

The man once again looked surprised. "I wasn"t expecting for you to remember."

Will released his hand from Jacob"s shoulder. "I cannot forget any of you, for what we had to do in the name of this corrupt kingdom." He looked solemnly at Jacob as he allowed himself to raise from the ground once more in a brilliant show of crimson and gold from his aura. "Allow me to put this right," Will said as once again his feet left the ground. "I promise we won"t fail." he said before he was out of ears reach.

As he placed himself in the center of his forces, he looked over his people. Finding the ones he was looking for, he allowed his aura to carry his voice to them. "Leo, Maya, Bianca, Roy and Jacob follow me to the edge of the forces."

He saw each and every one of them nod in understanding. They all moved under Will as he flew to the edge of his forces. By the time he landed, they were standing ready for his instructions.

"Just in time to lead your army, good timing mate." Leo said with a sarcastic smile. Will couldn"t get over the changes that his best friend had undergone. Though he wore the same hoodie and blue jeans he always did, the shirt seemed to be more tight to his chest. When he looked into his friends hazel eyes, he noticed they were no longer the same greenish color, but a gold and silver tint. Will also noticed an absence of gla.s.ses on the bridge of his nose.

"If it weren"t for that shirt, I wouldn"t have even recognized you bro." Will said as he brought his brother in for an unexpected embrace.

Though Leo"s appearance had changed, nothing could compare to his personality. Listening to the way he talked and presented himself, it seemed Leo had matured in the small time he had spent in Crystallia.

"I think you"re missing someone." Bianca said as she put her hands on her hips, clearly tired of being ignored. "You would think I would be the first person you talk to." Will could hear mock hurt in her voice. "After all, I"m your girlfriend aren"t I?" she looked from Will to the black and gold starred aura of Maya who was in the air only feet away.

Will sighed to himself while looking up to the sky. How is it that Leo is the only one to have matured? He thought as he brought his eyes back to Bianca.

Bianca"s eyes narrowed in antic.i.p.ation for her boyfriends answer. He had only been gone a few weeks, yet that was a long time to be away with another girl.

Will could see the irritation within Bianca"s eyes. Instead of feeling bothered by her display of distrust, he waved the question off. "This is neither the time or place to have this conversation Bianca, if we are alive after this fight I"ll let you know."

Setting aside the drama for a moment, Will looked at his would be generals of his small militia. "We have around two hundred and fifty flame wielders between the five of us." He looked over to the cloud of darkness just the distance of two football fields away. "It looks like we may be outnumbered five to one."

Will could see the determined expressions of his friends as he voiced their odds. "We shouldn"t be discouraged by the odds, instead we should be looking for the weaknesses." He looked at Bianca with a knowing smile. "You remember the one wraith that I had to face back home?"

Bianca nodded without saying anything. He didn"t blame her, it wasn"t a time in which she would ever forget even if she wanted.

"I was able to cleave off an arm easily with my blade, much easier than should be possible. Though the darkness can syphon off our flame, if we overpower their chill we should be able to take them easily."

Leo was the first to clear his voice. "If there are five of us, we should have fifty man teams to cover all areas of the battlefield." He said with a stern voice that Will wasn"t used to. Apparently his time within Crystallia had hardened him. "As for overpowering them with our aura," He said with a finger pointed up at the pillar of flame, "I"m sure we"ll manage."

Though they were a group of orphans who had come together through the pain of their loss, they were able to turn that loss into resolve. Their feelings had melded with their prince"s. There would be no more losses due to the darkness. Will was prepared to lay down his life to change the land of his birth. If it had been a land of fairness before he had left, he had a moral obligation to set things back to the way they were before.

"Set up your groups, we set out within the hour." Will said with finality. His generals had left to do as he had instructed. Everyone except Maya who stayed close to Will.

"One way or another, this is going to end tonight." Will said as his feet left the ground once more. Nodding to Maya, he took to the sky and left for the eye of his formation.