The Union

And then he saw Prince Timothy in the middle. He rubbed his eyes, but the scene was still the same. Prince Timothy is in front of them.

Amir was confused. They were looking for the Prince and then suddenly here he was, standing in front of them. This was a dream, right? He thought that it would still take days for them to capture the Prince. He imagined going through the same grueling chase.

Prince Timothy then raised his spear towards them. Like an unstoppable wave, the prince"s men charged.

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The charge enhanced his spirit. It dulled the fear and made him feel like he can do anything. Timothy was sprinting towards the Wismarines.

His guards on horseback reached the Wismarines first. Their lances impaled some of the enemies. The impetus of the charge was devastating.

Timothy looked around and saw the villagers charging with him. Many of the villagers joined the battle, even some of the women. In their eyes was hatred. Samuel once told Timothy that these villagers were here because they were afraid. Now, he can"t see that fear anymore.

He then eyed Samuel. When he declared that he was seeking revenge for the death of Conrad, Samuel stopped grieving. The old man went to his hut and came out dressed in his royal guard armor. He even still had his sword. At first Timothy thought that the sword was dull. But upon closer inspection, it wasn"t. Samuel maintained the sword even though he quit being a royal guard.

He looked forward. The earlier effectiveness of the charge had faded and the Wismarines were fighting back. Thankfully, they are close. He held his spear. Timothy was a royal, but that doesn"t mean he"s weak.

After a while, they reached the enemies. Timothy stabbed his spear towards a Wismarine. The man evaded, but Timothy bent his arm at the last moment. The tip of his spear impaled the man"s arm. He retracted the spear and stabbed again. This time, he missed.

The Wismarine stabbed his own spear towards Timothy. It was so fast that he failed to dodge. The spear hit him in the chest. The iron tip slightly penetrated his armor and buried through his flesh.

It was painful. Blood dripped from Timothy"s armor. It wasn"t fatal, but pain from the wound made him stumble. The Wismarine wasted no time and led his horse to trample Timothy.

Timothy rolled to avoid the hooves of the horse. Luckily, he wasn"t trampled.

He quickly stood up and rushed towards the Wismarine. He put strength into his legs and lunged at the man. Both of them fell down. The strong impact of the fall shook Timothy"s vision. But between the two of them, the Wismarine had it worse. Timothy saw that the man went limp from the fall.

Timothy doesn"t want to kill a defenseless man, but the Wismarine could wake up any moment. He held his dagger towards the man"s neck and stabbed.

It was a strange feeling. Timothy hadn"t killed before. He never knew that the act of taking someone"s life was this hard. Marvin told him before that the first kill was the hardest, but he did not expect that it would be like this.

He pulled his dagger and blood flowed from the man"s neck. Timothy sat on the ground to catch his breath. His chest wound was painful. If he wasn"t wearing armor, he would have been dead already.

Timothy then saw someone hiding. At first he thought that the man was an enemy. After looking closely, he confirmed that it was Abraham.

He stood up despite the pain on his chest. He went towards the tree Abraham was hiding and grabbed the coward.

"What are you doing?!" Timothy grabbed the coward by the hair.

Abraham looked at him with tears on his eyes "I am a coward Prince Timothy. I"m sorry but that"s what I am. I don"t want to die!"

Timothy got angry. He was about to punch Abraham"s face when he stopped himself. This isn"t like him, he thought. He was supposed to be Timothy Castonia, the rooster prince. He had always used his brains to solve problems, not his fist. Earlier, he almost died because he insisted in joining the battle. That was stupid, he thought. Although charging with the villagers will boost their morale, it also put him in danger. If he falls in battle, his men will rout.

Also hitting Abraham"s face will not solve his problem. Of course he was angry, but his anger would not give Abraham courage. Even if he punched Abraham thousands of times, nothing will happen. Timothy decided to use his most powerful weapon, his words.

He lowered his fist and looked at Abraham. "Being a coward is a choice Abraham."

Abraham stopped crying and looked at him.

"Do you want to be a coward?" Timothy asked. Abraham shook his head."Of course you do. Like what I said, being a coward is a choice. You abandoned Conrad because you chose to."

"No!" Abraham shouted "I abandoned him not because I want to. I wanted to help him, but I didn"t have the courage"

"Having courage is a choice Abraham. Fear is the one we don"t have choice over. Whether we like it or not, we will always be afraid. And that"s alright because brave men are afraid too. Everyone fears death Abraham. The difference between a brave man and a coward is facing that fear. Courage is when you"re afraid but still faces your fear because you know that you have to."

Abraham again lowered his head, but Timothy noticed that his words had penetrated Abraham"s heart. The big man looked at Timothy and nodded.

Timothy patted Abraham"s shoulder. "Go Abraham. Fight for me. I know you"re afraid, but face that fear. Today, you are my champion. Your strength shall be my strength. I trust you."

"I am your champion?" Abraham repeated Timothy"s words. "Okay Prince Timothy. I will be your champion."

Abraham stood up and sprinted towards one of the Wismarines. He used his large body to ram the enemy. The Wismarine fell and Abraham stomped on his head.

Timothy was glad he was able to unleash Abraham. He stood up to rejoin the battle, but his legs were weak. It must be because of his wound, Timothy thought. He had lost too much blood. He felt dizzy and his vision blurred. Timothy lost consciousness.

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Abraham had already killed four Wismarines with his bare hands. He did not expect that he was this strong. A single punch from him could crumple lamellar armor. His kick can break bones. He felt proud of himself. He is Prince Timothy"s champion.

He then grabbed a sword from a dead Wismarine. He looked around and saw the man who killed Conrad. It was Amir.

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d was pulling his sword from the body of one of Prince Timothy"s guards. Abraham sprinted towards Amir and swung the sword. Amir noticed him and parried the sword with his own.

Abraham was surprised by Amir"s strength. The Wismarine was as strong as him. But Abraham will not lose. He will avenge Conrad.

He balled his other hand and punched Amir. His punch landed on Amir"s face and the Wismarine stumbled backwards. Abraham grabbed the handle of the sword tightly and stabbed the pointy end towards the downed Amir.

But Amir kicked his arm and Abraham lost grip of the sword. He stumbled himself. His face hit the ground and his vision blurred. But he can"t. He can"t lose!

He steeled his resolve and lunged at Amir again. They wrestled. Punches and jabs flew between them. Occasional head-b.u.t.ts and bites were also included in their fight.

He put both of his hands on Amir"s neck and strangled him. Amir did the same.

The two of them screamed at each other"s face. Their incomprehensible yells filled the battlefield with virility. Like two brawling bears they fought.

But Abraham was stronger in the end. Amir may be muscular, but he was heavier. He was able to pin Amir down. With a single powerful jab from him, Amir lost consciousness.

Abraham was panting and his face was b.l.o.o.d.y. His body was weak and had injuries all over. But he wasn"t finished yet. He forced his body to move and grabbed the sword he lost earlier.

He held the sword against Amir"s chest.

"Conrad, this is justice for you" Abraham murmured as he stabbed Amir"s chest.

The blade entered the Wismarine"s chest and blood flowed from the wound.

Abraham let go of the sword. He did it. He avenged Conrad.

Abraham stood up and looked around. The battle was coming to an end. They had won. Most of the Wismarines were already dead. He looked for Prince Timothy to declare his victory against Amir. He wanted to thank the Prince for helping him find courage.

And then he saw Prince Timothy lying on the ground. The image of the body of Prince Timothy sprawled on the ground was a horrific scene.

Even though his body hurts, Abraham rushed towards the Prince.

"Prince Timothy!" he called. But the Prince had lost consciousness. He lifted Timothy with both arms and saw that the Prince was wounded on the chest. Blood from the wound dyed the armor with a red hue. He saw flashbacks of Conrad"s death.

"Help!" he screamed "Prince Timothy is wounded!"

Abraham looked at the Prince. No, he declared, Prince Timothy must live! He carried Timothy and ran back to the village.