The story:

”You can’t sit there all night, Emaline”, Maurice says. “You have to face it at some point.”

I sit on top of a pile of firewood. I’ve been sitting here for a while now trying to avoid the inevitable. Polishing my blade clean only to have it be coated with blood by morning. The fairies are flying around the room getting our supplies, trying to help us all get ready. There’s no getting ready for what’s coming.

The Reapers are almost here. Vicious creatures, created by Death herself, who are designed to destroy anyone getting on their way. They are approaching our kingdom, more specifically my Father, from the hills giving them a clear advantage. I’m a confident leader and a skilled fighter but even I can’t see us win. Ever since my Father assigned me to lead in this fight I’ve been living on a timer.

“I know.” I wipe my nose on my sleeve and get up. “Let’s go then. It’s time to get slaughtered.”

“Em…” Maurice tries to persuade me but I cut him off.

“Come on, Maur. Don’t try and convince me into thinking that we are anything but a human shield. I am sure even my Father knows what this is about.”

“It’s about honor”, he says enthusiastically. “The daughter of the King defending the crown and returning home as a hero.”

I give a laugh. We hear a single roar of thunder from outside. It’s a sign. We have a group of Elementers keeping watch. They are not the best fighters so their abilities to control water, air and earth serve us best from the distance. I take in a last deep breath. “I’ll return home in a body bag, my friend. Let’s go!”

We make our way out from the hunting shed. I watch our troops settle into their positions on the battle line. The soldiers from the royal army, the elementers hidden in the trees on the mountainside, the trolls with their magic and the centaurs with their crossbows. We even have some giants join us from the woods. There’s quite a few of us but still not enough. It doesn’t take a war genius to know that we don’t stand a chance against the group that’s coming.

I take my spot, next to Maurice, at the front line. I imagine my Father watching this from the warm safety of the castle. There’s no doubt he knows we won’t win. He’s probably even laughing at this point, watching the fight like a spectator sport. Collecting bets on how long his wife’s daughter will stand against the monsters against her. He must be happy. Getting rid of the only obstacle he has between having his own son sitting on the throne. Poor little boy, having to take my place as the next leader of this country without any desire to lead.

Another thunder strikes, this time way closer to us. They are here any time now. I’ve spent thousands of hours in the library learning everything there is to know about the theory of war. I’ve spent ten times more in the training room working on my skills with the sword. The person who has been there by my side the whole time is again standing on my right, no more than a few feet away from me.

“It’s been a pleasure being your friend, Maurice”, I say giving him a small smile.

Maurice matches my smile. “You too, Em. Would’ve been a pleasure to be something more.” He turns to look at the battlefield in front of us. “I probably would have even married you had we been given more time.”

“Most likely”, I agree.

Right then the ground below our feet starts to tremble letting us know they are almost here and soon our eyes confirm it. Hundreds if not thousands of black, eerie creatures appear from behind the hill. I don’t need a superhuman eyesight to be able to tell that their leader is looking at me with an eager grin on his face. He has a bone to pick with my Father and he is here to pick it.

A silence falls on the field. Everyone is waiting orders from either me or my enemy. I stop holding back a smile and let it creep on my face. In a way this is freeing. I will die tonight, there’s no avoiding that. So, I might as well enjoy the hell out of the last few hours I have left.

***

Every single muscle in my body objects me as I drag myself up the stairs to my Father’s office. With every step I take my sword clangs against the cold, stone steps leaving behind a trail of bright red blood. The gaping wound on my side is still bleeding and the throbbing pain makes it hard to breath. But I’m not dead, and as long as I continue to be alive I continue to be stubborn.

We won. Technically. As soon as I managed to jam my blade into the one who was there to kill me, the rest of our opponents retrieved. Useless things, those reapers, nearly impossible to kill as long as they have a leader to follow but as soon as the one giving them orders dies so does their purpose and they just scatter away. So, we won but with all the loss it’s hard to consider today to be a victory. A sight of Maurice, laying dead on the ground, flashes in my eyes and a sharp, white pain strikes through my chest, overpowering the one pulsing on my side.

I don’t bother knocking as I enter the room. My Father’s adviser is the first one to see me come in but he freezes in place like he’s locking eyes with a ghost. They are all there, raising toasts. Wonder what they are celebrating. As my Father turns to face me I can see the shock all over his face. So, no one bothered to tell him I survived, I think. Good, it makes this conversation much more enjoyable.

“Your equation is off, Father”, I grunt through my panting. “If you wanted me dead you should have either raised a weaker daughter or let me face a bigger ­challenge.”