MEET ME ON THE BATTLEFIELD

CHAPTER 34 - BATTLE CRY

  YuLin felt broken hearted.

  The young women he had met, befriended, became family with. Were riding towards their death.

  YuLin sat down and bored his face in his hands. Not long after, tears began to run afresh through his fingers yet again. His shoulders convulsing rapidly as he choked on his sobs. The soldiers surrounding him looked the other way as the squeezed their eyes shut or bit their lips, preventing themselves from breaking down.

  They were mostly commoners then from the warmth of their homes, but the four sisters provided what was missing in the camp, warmth, femininity, a sisters laugh, a mother's cradle, a lover's whisper, a friends caress.

  A'Li was a sobbing mess on the ground, unrestrained cries ripping out of his throat.

 Even QianDu's lips quivered.

  LiZhao clenched his fist and stepped in front of the thousands of men, making his voice louder by ten times with a talisman.

  "Farmers, shop keepers, errand boys, waiters. I know none of you wish to be here. I do not wish for you to be here. If not for the demons attacking, you'd all be home, safe, happy."

  The men nodded as they acknowledged their previous statuses.

  "This is the greatest sin I have committed. Taking you from your families. But if not for you being here, now, there will be no chance at all for your families to survive when demons attack. You are the last wall between the enemies and obstruction of your homes."

  The men stood straighter, lifted their chins. It was an honour to protect their families.

  "This war will be greater than the largest war you know. Much blood will be spilled, more than most of you can handle. You're friends will die, your brothers will die, you might die. But remember! For every extra second you stay standing! Your families remain safe! Your country remains safe! Your futures remain safe!"

  "For family!" One shouted.

  "For future!" another shouted.

  YuLin stood up, and in a broken voice shouted, "For the fallen!"

  LiZhao looked at YuLin's tear streaked face, red eyes and tense body, his heart ached painfully for him. He drew his sword.

 Thousands followed.

  Thousand swords glistened in the early morning sun as a chant rang over miles again and again. Their battle cry.

"For family!"

  "For future!"

  "For the fallen!"

  Meanwhile, just passing the border, a mass of black clouds followed the impeding army of demons. In the midst, through the maze of horrific beasts and monsters was a palanquin the size of a small palace. On wheels being pulled by elephants selections wearing rotten flesh. Inside the palanquin was a great throne, sat atop it none other than the demon king.

  He stared down at the woman, his aunt Huang Gu, who was shackled to the floor. He lazily raised a hand before a long, barbed, black whip appeared in his hand, forged of molten iron, not solid, yet not liquid. With a mere twitch, it sprang forward at such a speed the naked eye could not see it, only hear HuangGu's scream of pain as her hands fell to the ground. Completely cut off from her arms. Blood flowed grotesquely onto the polished floor as HuangGu's body shook uncontrollably. A demon could recover themselves a hundred times better than a human, even grow back a lost limb... but when struck with this whip... not even a god could recover.