THE WESTERN ALLIANCE

Copyright © 2024 by B.W. Reeves

All rights reserved. This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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First Edition: May 2024

CHAPTER 2

Warkar

No one knew the reason why the Orcarians invaded our land. We had been peacefully trading with them for a few years. Then, for no apparent reason, they attacked without warning. They moved swiftly across our lands, meeting little resistance.

     Now, the invaders had come to my city. The Defenders held the defensive line around our city’s perimeter for as long as they could. It hadn’t been good enough.

     The invaders closed in around us. They poured into the streets, killing everyone who moved. Their eyes glowed with menacing yellow energy, and they had tan bodies covered in thick black and brown plating. They were everywhere.

     I ran, attempting to escape. My two friends dashed through the streets alongside me, but the invaders were everywhere. Perhaps they wouldn’t kill us. We were just kids, after all.

     The girl by my side fell, and I stopped to help her up. Reaching down, I saw a smoking hole in her back. She wasn’t moving. Her blue life energy shone brightly in the night until it faded before my eyes. I’d never seen anyone get killed before.

     We heard the invaders found a way to cast their life energy at a great distance, turning it into a deadly blast. But I thought those people had made it up. I couldn’t imagine anyone wasting life energy in such a manner. But I had been wrong. These deadly weapons proved to be very effective, decimating everyone who stood in their way.

     My other friend was long gone, so I ran toward my home. My parents would know what to do. An older guy ahead of me ran the same way, so I stayed with him.

     We cut across the street, and he staggered back. A smoking divot appeared in his chest plating, but the Orcarian life energy hadn’t penetrated all the way through. He remained on his feet and kept moving. I went with him. Two more flashes of yellow energy struck him, and he flew back, landing beside me.

     I bent down to check on him, but his body stopped writhing in pain. His life energy was gone.

     More shots came toward me, and I took off. I could no longer go home that way, so I ran back the way I had come.

     Soon, I found myself in a part of the city I’d never been to. I didn’t know how to get home from here. I’d become lost in the chaos.

     Orcarian energy sliced through the air, barely missing my shoulder. It struck the building next to me, exploding into the stone wall.

     I bolted around the corner directly into a group of adults fighting against the enemy. The Defenders were using the few pounders our city possessed against the invaders. The shiny metal rods had a handle at the end for gripping. These weapons were typically used to protect the travel caravans from wild animals when we traded with other communities.

     The three Defenders finished killing the Orcarians they fought against and looked around for more. Several people were engaged in combat in the distance. One of the adults spotted me and beckoned for me to join them.

     “They’re right behind me,” I yelled, moving behind the group.

     “What’s your name, kid?” he asked.

     “Warkar, sir.”

     “I’m Gatkin.”

     I knew his name already. He was one of the best trade caravan Protectors. I had hoped to join them one day when I was older. The allure of traveling to other regions was intoxicating.

     He handed me a pounder from the dead body near his feet. It was so heavy I nearly dropped it. The thing was almost as long as my arm. I was too young to fight and had never held a weapon before.

     “How do I use it?” I asked.

     “Just swing as hard as you can. You may not be strong enough to crack their plating, but it’ll hurt them.”

     With pounders in hand, we moved close to the building and crouched behind the rubble. The narrow street was the perfect spot for an ambush.

     As the invaders’ black and brown stone plating appeared around the corner, we sprang up, swinging wildly. The sound of metal hitting stone rang out through the streets. The Orcarians weren’t expecting such resistance. They didn’t know about our pounders or how effective they were in close-quarters combat.

     As we fought for our lives, one invader knocked the weapon from my grasp. He came at me. I grappled with him, struggling to get away. He was getting the better of me until Gatkin appeared. My new friend sprinted to us and swung his pounder.

     A loud crack rang out as the invader took a smashing blow to the side of his head. His plating cracked. He spun around to face the new attacker.

     Gatkin delivered another blow.

     I picked up my pounder and joined in.

     Shortly, the man’s insides spurted everywhere as we smashed through his chest plating and beat him to death. His mid section was a shattered ruin, but I continued swinging wildly.

     Gatkin grabbed my arm to stop me, and I returned to my senses. The other Defenders had driven the enemy back.

     I went to chase after them, but Gatkin held me back. “Let them go. We need to regroup with the others and consolidate our fighting force.”

     He led our small group through the war-torn streets. Lifeless bodies were strewn about everywhere. It was a horrifying sight to see my home in such a state. I didn’t know where my parents were. If they still lived or not.

     Anger burned in my life core. I bend down to take one of the energy casters from a dead body.

     “Don’t bother,” Gatkin said. “We can’t use them. We already tried.”

     I followed them until we encountered a large group engaged with the enemy. Without hesitation, we joined them.

     After what felt like an eternity of intense fighting, the enemy pulled back, and the streets grew quiet. They were leaving at last.

     There was a strange roaring sound in the distance. It grew louder. Everyone turned to look. Then we saw it. A black shadow floated over the street.

     We looked at one another, but no one knew what it was. The dark specter continued to grow as it approached. It was a huge monstrosity covered in weapons and lines of Orcarian energy—a machine of war.

     The man next to me left his position and broke into a run, fleeing. Others joined him. Should I run away with them?

     I looked to Gatkin for guidance, but he had none to offer. I wasn’t under his command.

     One cannon pulsed, and a massive beam of Orcarian energy shot out. The deadly beam struck one of the fleeing men, sending him flying. His broken body lay motionless on the ground. His gelatinous insides gushed out from the wounds as he slowly died.

     It turned its weapons on us, tearing into the buildings we hid behind. We had no way to fight against something like that. When two more large shadows moved in behind the first, Gatkin ordered a retreat.

     We were severely outmatched. There was no chance we could win this. Even I could see how hopeless the situation was. The fight was over.

     A noise down the street drew my attention. I turned my head and fell to my knees. The enemy sent reinforcements. It was over.

     No, they hadn’t. Their plating wasn’t black and brown; it was off-white with blue slivers of rock scattered throughout. A group of Arklur from the Western plains were charging in to rescue us.

     It was the strangest sight. I’d never seen any Arklur from other regions before. Few people other than those who traveled with the trade caravans had. A young woman led them.

     As the new group drew closer, I saw several Arklur from the Great Northwest Forest among them. The brown rocks in their sandstone plating were unmistakable.

     “Who are you guys?” Gatkin called.

     “We’re part of the Western Alliance,” said the West-born woman. “We’ve been fighting back against the invaders. We saw your city was in trouble and came to help.”

     “You arrived just in time,” Gatkin said. “Those war machines were about to tear us apart.”

     “We can help with that.” She turned to address the fighter beside her, “Korthan, you know what to do.”

     “Yes, ma’am.”

     The woman stayed with us while the man led several West-born fighters to engage the war machines. Blue Arklur life energy shot from their hands. They had casters of their own. This fight wasn’t over after all.

     Although several cracks covered the woman’s left arm, he found her plating extremely appealing.

     “What’s your name?” I asked, looking up at her.

     “Merlissa,” she answered. She took several energy casters from her bandolier and handed them out. “Take these. It will even the playing field. Just flare your energy to activate them. Be sure to monitor your life energy. It can go quickly using these things.”

     Blue energy streaked down around the war machines. Several Western Alliance fighters had taken to the rooftops. They forced the floating vessels to back away from us.

     Another West-born joined Merlissa and began passing out casters until everyone was armed. We now had a fighting chance.

     With Merlissa leading the way, we charged into battle. We fired the strange weapons at the invaders as fast as possible. No matter how hard we tried, few shots hit their mark. Still, our haphazard weapon fire caused the enemy to cease their advance and seek cover.

     As our opposing groups met, we switched to melee combat. Merlissa fought beside me. The way she moved was a sight to behold. She swung a pounder in each hand as she twirled gracefully through them. I’d never seen anyone fight like that before.

     We continued to use our pounders to great effect. The fighting was fierce, but enemy fighters began to fall as we overwhelmed them with our superior numbers.

     A massive fireball erupted down the street. Those on the rooftops had taken out one of the war machines. The other vessels veered off. They changed tactics and began providing covering fire for their fleeing troops.

     Soon, there were no more enemy combatants to kill. Most of our people came away with smoking gouges and cracks in their plating, but the battle was over. I couldn’t believe it. We had won.

     A resounding cheer erupted as the last of the invaders fled. I felt drained as the fight inside me died down. My life energy was so low I could barely stand. It hadn’t been this low in a long time.

     Merlissa turned to address those of us who remained alive. “We have won this day, but they will return. We need to be moving on. The invaders still occupy our land. We don’t plan to stop until every last one of them is dead.

     “If you would like to join our alliance, we would be happy to have you. We could really use the help. Think on it tonight. Our people need some rest and to tend to our wounded. We leave at first light.”

I returned home with a group of people who lived near me. To my horror, I discovered my house had been severely damaged in the attack. I ran inside. I couldn’t find my parents anywhere. I fell to the floor, unsure where to look next.

     Someone appeared in the doorway. I jumped to my feet, ready to defend myself if necessary. It was only Holdin, so I relaxed.

     “We heard you rummaging around in here,” he said. He entered, and his younger brother Keldin trailed in behind him.

     As Holdin approached me, I asked, “Do you know where my parents are?”

     He hesitated before answering. His forehead plates sagged low. “They died along with our parents. Almost everyone on this street was killed during the attack.”

     “What happened here?” I said meekly.

     “The war machines came through this section first,” Holdin explained. “Their cannon fire blasted everything. Our houses got the worst of it. Some people told us an emergency shelter had been set up near the center of the city. We were headed there when we heard you.”

     “I don’t want to go to a shelter,” I whined.

     Holdin put a hand on my shoulder and said, “I know it’s hard. We’ve had more time to process our parents’ death. Trust me, the shelter is the best place for us.”

     Keldin glanced out the window as he moved closer to us. “The enemy isn’t likely to attack again with the Western Alliance fighters here. Why don’t we spend the night at our house? It’s in better shape than yours.”

     “All right,” I agreed.

The following day, it was time for the men and women of the Western Alliance to take their leave. Keldin, Holdin, and I went to see them off. Everywhere we looked, people collected the dead.

     We passed by the sacred stones on the way to the city’s outskirts. Broken bodies covered most of the area. The piles of dead grew steadily higher as people dragged their loved ones here.

     Shortly, pounding filled the streets. The death ritual had begun. We joined in, thumping our fists against our chest plates.

     As the pillars at the sacred stones rang out, we reached the crowd bunched up around the Western Alliance troops. It surprised us to see how many of our people chose to go with them, but I understood. We were in a fight for our very existence.

     Keldin and Holdin stood next to me, watching everyone prepare to leave. It looked like half the town was going with them, including all our Defenders. There would be no one to protect us if the invaders returned to our city.

     Merlissa stood in the center of her troops. Her exotic plating gleamed brightly in the early rays of light. She spotted me in the crowd and walked over to speak with me. “Are you coming with us? We could use someone like you.”

     “I’m just a kid,” I replied shyly. “I don’t even have all of my plating. I’m not old enough to be a fighter.”

     “You fought well enough back there,” she said. “I’d say you have what it takes. Right, Korthan?”

     “I agree,” said the West-born standing beside her. “Merlissa and I are only a couple of years older than you, kid. What do you say?”

     It had felt good to contribute to the defense of my city. I never imagined fighting in a battle, much less a war. But I discovered I was good at it, and our lives wouldn’t be the same until we rid the land of the invaders. Also, Gatkin was one of my idols, and he was going with them. After this was all over, he might allow me to join the caravan protectors. “Yes, I’ll go with you.”

     The group began to move out, but I didn’t fall in behind them. My mind was still trying to process what I had agreed to.

     Korthan noticed my hesitation and said, “Hey, kid, if you want to join the Alliance, you better get moving.”

     I turned to my two friends. “Come on, let’s go. They’re leaving.”

     “We need to stay here and help rebuild all this.” Holdin gestured to the burning buildings behind him.

     Much work would be needed to restore the city, but now was not the time. I glanced at the departing fighters. “This place isn’t safe. You heard what they said. The invaders will return.”

     Holdin turned to leave. “Come on, Keldin. Let’s go back home.”

     “But I want to go with them,” Keldin complained.

     “We’re only kids,” Holdin said. “Let the adults handle this.”

     “We have to help,” Keldin insisted. “We’re fighting for our lives.”

     I looked to Keldin. “You can’t let your brother’s fear cloud your mind.”

     Holdin whipped around and took a step toward me. “I’m not afraid, Warkar. To prove it to you, I’ll accompany you two in this foolishness. Someone has to look after my brother.”

CHAPTER 3

Kayla

“What happened after that?” I asked, anxious to hear more.

     Warkar leaned back against the rocks, coming out of his reverie. “After the Western Alliance saved our city from destruction, Keldin, Holdin, and I joined them. We knew nothing of war but were fortunate enough to have Gatkin as a mentor to teach us.

     “At first, many of the Western Arklur didn’t want to fight alongside us North-born. After our first few encounters with the enemy, they changed their minds. We proved to be among the best fighters. Our plating was thicker and more durable than theirs, and we always fought until the last man fell. We quickly earned their respect.

     “We went on to raid their supply lines and steal their weapons of war. I even came up with an idea to use several grapplers to capture our first war machine.”

     “Hold on,” I said. “You’re telling me you carjacked a war machine with harpoons? Man, you were one tough little kid.”

     “I’m not sure what carjacked means,” he said. “But it wasn’t just me. Everyone helped. Anyway, the Western Alliance went on the offensive. With the combined effort of all three regions working together, we pushed the invaders all the way to the Northeast mountain range.

     “But that was as far as we could go. They had placed defensive towers near all the mountain passes. We lost many lives trying to get through the line.

     “We hadn’t purged the invaders from our land, but we had contained them in the Northeast. They were quiet for a time, building up their forces and converting our land to suit their needs.

     “We raided them, but their perimeter defenses became more formidable every day. It soon became clear there was no more we could do.

     “When the Orcarians went back on the offensive, a day didn’t go by without death. They mercilessly attacked our towns and bombed our cities. We couldn’t escape the violence. Many of us in the north pushed the Westlanders to allow the Eastlanders to join us in the fight but they refused.

     “After months of fighting with little progress, disagreements along region lines cropped up. They relied on us North-born far too much. We felt like we were always at the forefront of the battle, losing the most lives. Arguments broke out, and the Western Arklur left. They wanted to return to their families. Who could blame them. The Northwest Arklur left soon after and the Western Alliance disbanded.

     “Everyone returned to their home region except those of us who rose up to become leaders. We stayed to decide what to do next. The women wanted to form a War Council with Arklur from each region. The men didn’t.

     “In the end, the women created this new organization without the men. They went to each region and asked the Triumvirate leader of the largest cities to join them. They proposed to pool everyone’s resources and devote them to start manufacturing our own weapons of war.

     “Eventually, a War Chief was chosen from each region to represent their interests and after everything was agreed upon, they voted for Merlissa to be the War Leader. The Eastern Arklur weren’t happy to have a West-born leader, so the council decided to give Merlissa two Eastern entraki advisers.

     “Their first official act was to build a secret meeting hall on a mesa in the Abyss. Eventually, they divided our land into seven defined sectors, and the War Chiefs became the Sector Commanders.

     “We thought with all we had set into motion, the nightmare would soon be over. We were wrong. The battle for our land would continue for years to come.”

     “Wow,” I said. “That’s quite a story. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. I’d really like to hear that war machine story.”

     “Perhaps another time.”

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Copyright © 2024 by B.W. Reeves. All rights reserved.