The Fight for Freedom: Part 1; Chapter 2

- The Nazgûl

As Spark walked toward the tavern, he watched the townsfolk. He felt pity towards them. None of them had ever fought before. Soon, they would all be sucked in to the war that was about to come. It reminded him of when he was a little boy, lost and alone with no idea how cruel the world was. He didn’t want to be reminded of those times.

He arrived at the tavern and had to squeeze his way through a large crowd. It was more of what we would call a coffee shop, but as they served drinks other than coffee, and had no earthly idea of what coffee was, they called it a tavern. Two men were sitting on opposite sides of a table. One, Orion, was challenging the other, Caleb, to a game. They had no name for this game, but everyone knew how to play it. It was a strategy game that tended to take a couple hours. Caleb had always been good, mostly because Spark thought him. Behind Caleb was Cole. These two he planned on having be his generals. As he squeezed through the thick crowd of spectators, he caught a glimpse of the board. Upon arriving at the table, he stared at the board for a few seconds. Everyone was silent as they listened for what Spark had to say. After about thirty seconds, Spark turned towards the counter. As he passed Caleb, he patted him on the back and said for the purpose of all to hear, “Nice work buddy, you got him pinned.” He could tell that everyone was quite confused as Caleb was quite clearly surrounded. Spark went and ordered a drink. He took a mix of berry juices. He never really had supported alcohol since he was a child, so he just ordered juice most of the time. After he put in his order, he asked the bartender to ask everyone to head out once the game was over. The bartender nodded and made Spark his drink. As he set it down, the crowd cheered and there was thunderous applause. Spark smiled. He knew Caleb had won.

“Everyone out!” The bartender yelled.

“Caleb, Cole, come over here.” Spark said. They came running over.

“Nice work on the win Caleb. Now, I have some disturbing news. Grant is amassing an army and plans to overrun the whole island.”

“No way! You mean the same Grant that we were buddies with just a year or so ago?” Cole asked.

“Yes. I have been put in charge and I need you two to be my generals. I can’t say much now, but meet me at my hut later and I’ll run over the whole plan with you. First, you guys need to go tell the council that you are my generals and they should announce that we are going to war so everyone can prepare.”

They both nodded and ran off confidently. Spark wished he was that confident. He hadn’t the slightest idea how they would beat Grant. Then he realized. He would use the same tactics that he knew Caleb had used to beat Orion. Grant wouldn’t stand a chance.