Chapter 4 Back Again

• NIGHT
• At night, Inside the council hall of the Arcadian kingdom were King Hartley, King Kung Lim, King Duran, King Zuch, King Rahim, King Jeff, King Neur, head General Ben, assistant General Suci, Prince Ranork, Prince Ragon, council members, and the other generals of Arcadian Kingdom.
• There was noise in the hall as everyone talked among each other before King Hartley shut up everyone and asked “Is there anything we have been able to gather about the new Arkians that has just arrived?”.
• “There hasn’t been anything from the scouts monitoring the portal yet except for the fact that the Arkians have begun coming out of the portal” said the minister for information.
• “What about their numbers?” King Neur asked the minister for information.
• “I have discussed with the minister for information concerning that. The number of the Arkians, their size, and their type are still unknown at the moment. The message has also been passed down to the head generals in each Kingdom” said head General Ben.
• “How are the people taking the news about the Arkians?” King Hartley asked.
• “They are terrified. It has been a long time since the Arkians last attacked and I don’t think the people are ready for another invasion of Arkians yet. The news has also traveled so fast through the Kingdom” said the minister for whispers.
• “But messages have been sent to each Kingdom government since their Kings are presently here to handle the people and put their minds to rest” said assistant General Suci.
• “What about the armies?” King Hartley asked.
• “Every army in each Kingdom is ready and they await your royal majesty's command” said head General Ben.
• “I want every…..” said King Hartley.
• King Hartley was cut short of words as King Kung Lim cut in apologizing and asking King Hartley to please let him speak, and King Hartley allowed him to. King Kung Lim said to King Hartley “with due respect, your royal majesty, I don’t think the armies are ready for any battle including the Kingdoms”.
• King Hartley, head General Ben, assistant General Suci, Prince Ragon, Prince Ranork, King Nuer, King Jeff, and some people in the hall find what King Kung Lim said confusing while some people agree with him. King Hartley asked King Kung Lim “what did you mean by what you just said?”.
• “Your royal majesty, the coming of the Arkians has become a shock to everyone and no one was expecting them to be back at this time. The kingdoms had also not completely healed from the last invasion of Arkians and now they are back again after 20 years. The people are way too scared and I don’t think we can be able to calm their minds because they know full well how terrifying and ruthless the Arkians can be. I don’t think the kingdoms are ready for another war yet” said King Zuch.
• “Most of the warriors that are also in all the armies have no experience about the Arkians except the fact that they are all trained in the way of fighting the Arkians. Even at this point, we still don't know anything about the new Arkians that are about to invade us, and it is known that the stories about the Arkians get one scared easily” said King Duran.
• “So are you saying we should just stand by and watch while the Arkians attacked and killed us all?” King Hartley asked the three Kings that talked.
• “No, your royal majesty. What we are saying is that, to spare the lives of many soldiers and keep the people's minds at rest, we should close the great walls gate and battle the Arkians from the great walls battlement just like it has always been done since the beginning. That way many lives will be protected and the people won’t panic because the people believe in the great walls” said King Rahim.
• Hearing King Rahim, head General Ben burst into laughter and everyone in the hall wondered why he laughed except King Hartley, Prince Ranork, Prince Ragon, and assistant General Suci who knew it was because of what King Rahim said. Apart from King Hartley, head General Ben asked all the other Kings “are you all in agreement with the idea of fighting behind the great walls?”.
• “I and King Neur are not. The last battle against the Arkians shows we shouldn’t be dependable on the great wall. The walls almost made us all lose the last battles” said King Jeff.
• “You can all hear King Jeff yourselves. The great wall in each kingdom had always been the thing that protected us from the Arkians ever since the first battle and not to be biased, it is the thing that has kept us alive until this very moment. But depending and fighting from the great wall had made us weak in battles and not only that, the wall almost cost us our lives during the last battle. I am sure most of you here saw how the Arkians were able to make all the great walls crumble during the last battle………” said head General Ben.
• Head General Ben couldn’t finish his words as King Kung Lim cut in saying “the only reason the great walls crumble then is because all the great walls had gotten old with no maintenance but now that it has been repaired it will be able to keep us safe. It was Priest Holland of then who gave the vision of the great walls to be built, and it is because he knows it is the only thing that can keep us safe. The priest believed in it and the walls have always kept us safe”
• “Fighting behind the wall is the only way to keep everyone safe, your royal majesty” said King Duran to King Hartley.
• Head General Ben smirked upon hearing King Duran and cut in before King Hartley talked saying “not to be proud, I am the very reason why every kingdom still exists not the great walls. When all the great walls crumbled, I was the one who single-handedly led all the armies to an open battle against the Arkians and returned victorious. You have no idea what the battle was like and not do anyone think I was going to return alive, but I came back alive with a quarter of the soldiers I took with me. The great walls didn’t collapse because it was old, it collapsed because the Arkians had gotten smarter, and why wouldn’t they get smarter? We have always used the great walls to defeat the Arkians, so I am sure whatever or whoever it is that is commanding the Arkians is not a fool if the Arkians could always return stronger. The Arkians were able to keep us busy while attacking us and in that process, they were making the great walls weaker until they crumbled it all. That is to show that we are not the only ones learning about them, they are also learning about us too”.
• “The great General is right. We can not continue to depend on the great walls which had failed us all once. If not for the great General and the warriors then, we would all have died because when the great walls crumbled and the Arkians swam in, we all lost hope, but the great General and his warriors stood strong and made sure they held the cities gate so the Arkians wouldn’t penetrate each kingdom. Even after they were able to save the kingdoms, they still engaged in an open battle against the Arkians which led us to complete victory. I, King Neur will abide by the great General wishes” said King Neur, and Prince Ranork and Prince Ragon smiled.
• “We will be wiped out in an instant if we engage in an open battle against the Arkians. Yes, the great General returned home victorious but you could hear him say that he returned home with quarter soldiers which means many of the warriors were lost in the battle. We all know the Arkians always return stronger, so what if? What if this time around they came way stronger than last time?” said King Zuch.
• “If we could suffer such great casualties even though we were victorious last time against the Arkians, it will be worse the time around. The Arkians will wipe out this time in an open battle because they will be stronger and our warriors will be no match for them. It has also been a long time since our warriors had fought battles so you can’t just expect them to have an open battle against the Arkians and win. Our warriors have always been trained on how to defend the city from the Arkians with the help of the great walls not fight in an open battle against them” said King Rahim.
• “Why do you think I spearhead the training of the warriors in each kingdom assigning an experienced warrior that had fought an open battle against the Arkians as the training instructor of the warriors? It is because I have been preparing for the return of the Arkians. And this time around, I will make sure the Arkians fear us by leading the battle myself. I will make sure they are terrified by us and send them back to the hell they come from” said head General Ben, and then he faced King Hartley and said to him “your royal majesty, let me lead the armies myself and I promise you that we will be victorious”.
• King Hartley looked at everyone in the hall and asked if anyone had anything else to say but no one wanted to add anything so King Hartley said “this council was created for a reason, and the reason is so that we can all deliberate on whatever matter was brought here so we can find an easy and fast way to solve the matter. My father has always told me that, having just one head takes a long time to build but with many heads, it only takes a while. I indeed have the authority to make an order and you will all abide by it whether it is wrong or right but I am not going to do that this time. We are in a time of war so we need all heads. The majority of support will decide whether we have an open battle against the Arkians or fight behind the great walls”.
• King Hartley asked those who were in favor of fighting behind the great walls to raise their hands and they did. King Hartley also asked those who were in favor of engaging in an open battle against the Arkians to raise their hand and they did.
• The majority of the council supports head General Ben including the two princes since they all love him, believe him, and respect him for his bravery during the last battle which means the armies will engage in an open battle against the Arkians.
• King Hartley was about to give his order that all armies will engage in an open battle against the Arkians with head General Ben leading the armies when Queen Rebeca walked into the hall looking worried. Everyone was surprised to see Queen Rebeca enter the hall. Everyone stands up and bows their heads to show their respect to Queen Rebeca except King Hartley as Queen Rebeca walks toward the head King.
• Queen Rebeca stopped in front of King Hartley and everyone raised their heads and sat down back. King Hartley asked Queen Rebeca “you know this is not a place for a woman not even the head Queen. So what are you doing here, Queen Rebeca?”
• “This place might not be a place for the woman and a Queen but this is a place for the priestess, and I am here as the priestess. It has always been the priest and priestess's right to be present in this hall. The reason I never attended this meeting was because there was peace but now that there is war, I have the right to be here” said Queen Rebeca.
• “So what being your royal majesty here?” head General Ben asked Queen Rebeca.
• “I am here because I had vision while trying to fall asleep and I am not the only one that had that same vision. Priestess Mary also had the same vision” said Queen Rebeca.
• “And what did you both see?” King Hartley asked Queen Rebeca.
• “Our downfall. I see the death of everyone and the destruction of all kingdoms. Right at this moment, I can see death smiling at you all” said Queen Rebeca, and that got everyone in the hall terrified.