9 Courage Under Fire (2/2)

”Remind me to get some for next time,” I agreed. ”You and Edo ready?”

”Yeah... we picked three elves and two humans who are all light on their feet,” Luca answered.

”As soon as the fighting starts, you and Edo take the ditches down to the halfway point of the hill. Wait there for the enemy to pass you by and then ambush them whenever you see an opportunity. Then run back through the ditches and take another route. Rinse and repeat,” I instructed.

”So that's why you left the ditches alone,” Luca said.

”Yeah... last night's match proved how effective they are as a pathway, and no one really noticed us use one. Might as well take advantage while we can,” I answered.

Luca nodded thoughtfully before whispering in my ear, ”What about the soldiers? How are you going to get them to follow you?”

”Do you remember that really old movie, Independence Day?” I asked.

”Yeah… it was dad's favorite,” Luca answered.

I nodded. ”Therein lies the key, little brother.”

Luca's forehead creased. ”We don't have an alien space ship to blow the enemy army away, Dean...”

I patted him on the shoulder. ”You missed the point... it wasn't the weapons, it was the speech that turned things around.”

Three minutes after Luca and I finished our conversation, I was standing in front of the seventy-one hardened veterans of last night's battle, sweating buckets for all to see. Behind me, the enemy army just finished with their own preparations. I could hear their war cries from below to our position on the hilltop.

Thunder shook the heavens. Rain poured.

I refocused my thoughts back on my men.

”This is not the time to panic, Dean. It's a time for action,” I whispered to myself before I finally addressed the soldiers. ”Hi...”

As rousing openings went, mine was pathetic. I coughed to hide away my embarrassment. Then I tried again.

”Hi!” I repeated, stronger this time. ”I don't want to be here... I don't think any of you want to either.”

I always loved the speeches from movies that were based on real-life stories which is why I figured being honest had to be the right way to start things.

”I'm also sure that you don't want a weakling like me standing here talking to you,” I said in jest.

This got me a few laughs. Some cat-calls about how right I was. Plenty of boos.

”But I'm all you've got!” I fired back. ”Our leader, in his cowardice, has abandoned us and the hill we must defend!”

Shifting the blame to Roselle meant giving the soldiers someone else to hate, and anger was just as good a motivator as hope. Of course, I still needed to raise hope, too.

”He ran because he didn't believe in any of us... because he didn't know about your courage,” My voice was steady. My hand raised and pointed at random soldiers. ”But I do... I saw it last night. When you endured the enemy's spears and their arrows as you struggled up the hillside you showed me, you showed them, and you showed yourselves exactly who you are!”

The whining stopped. All was silent except for the pouring of the rain. All eyes were on me. I had their attention now.

I smacked my chest with a fist. ”Here.” Then I pointed to my brain. ”And here.”

There were a few nods now. Some calls of agreement.

”And when the battle begins tonight, we've all got to lay that courage on the line now... from the tips of your fingers, squeeze out every ounce of your courage and lay it out on the line tonight until you've got nothing left to give, and if you do that...”

I paused, not just for dramatic effect, but so I could look at as many faces as I could. Human, elf, pixie, dwarf, all of them. I wanted them to see the sincerity in my eyes. The proud way they stared back at me, with their chins raised, their smiles growing, and their eyes blazing, spoke volumes of how they were responding to my rousing call.

”If you do that — if we do that,” I nodded my head, ”we will not lose tonight. We will triumph, and with our heads held high we will have found our opportunity,” I raised my hand high, ”to grab glory and be remembered as heroes!”

Despite how I knew it would cause a reaction, I didn't expect the one I got. I didn't expect the booming cheers or the call to action. I felt humbled at that moment more than any time in my short existence.

Our cheering continued a long time, and I imagined it was causing an effect down below too. It may have even helped to demoralize our enemy. However, we had no such luck. For as we continued to yell ourselves hoarse, a single booming voice drowned out our cheers with a single foreboding word.

”Death!” he called, and the response that met Azuma's rallying cry overwhelmed our morale.

I turned just in time to witness three-hundred soldiers shout in unison, ”De~~ath!”

”Death!” Azuma yelled again, and once more, he received an earth-shattering reply of, ”De~~ath!”

Lightning struck the ground somewhere close by. Thunder boomed. The rain poured even more heavily.

”Death!” Azuma called, and with this final cry raised his spear toward the hilltop.

”De~~ath,” his soldiers answered right before they finally charged.

Qwipps, who was closest to me, said, ”I like his speech better. More impact.”

I nodded wordlessly.

”Guess it's my turn,” Qwipps said.

I nodded while still slightly in shock. There was much I needed to learn. Hopefully, I would survive the night to learn something.

”Alright, you bastards... let's give these Magesong fools a welcome gift,” Qwipps yelled.

Thankfully, Qwipps voice was loud enough to wake the soldiers from their daze. They began notching their bows.

”Aim,” Qwipps ordered.

I glanced at Luca and mouthed for him to go. I saw him gulp visibly before he nodded. Then he, Edo, and their raiding party vanished behind the nearest ditch.

”Fire!” Qwipps yelled.

Soon afterward, the air filled with the swooshing sounds of fifty bowstrings and the skies was blocked from view by a canvas of arrows.