Chapter 9: Forward Break
I couldn't count how many roaches there were, but I knew there were far less of us than when we began. I knew there would be sacrifices, and I was sure getting into this dark land would have taken the most lives. It felt cold without having the Queen with us, but I held onto my beliefs. I was sure that we would give her the victory she desired.
We marched inside the forest of mushrooms without delay. General Kull and KR-01 stood in front leading us forward. The bronze giants were scattered among the rest of the troops. They were slow, but we all moved at the same pace. We all looked up at the mushrooms for any sign of dark elves, but none of us could see any kind of movement besides the mushrooms moving with the eerie wind.
Viking came up to me and patted me on the back. He had a gentle smile and said, "I never got the chance to say this, but that was a nice speech you made. Are you excited just as myself to fight?"
"Of course," I replied. I was still surprised how he could change from a gentle giant to a berserker when the fighting started. It was like he had two different personalities.
Cutter was besides him, but stayed silent and stoic. He never really liked to talk.
"Hey, Cutter," I said, and he nodded his head in reply.
While we kept moving, I asked Viking, "So, you and Cutter seem very close. I never asked this, but how did you meet? Was it during training or in battle?"
Viking laughed and replied, "We were born in the same egg sac. Cutter and I are twins."
"Really? I wouldn't have guessed that at all."
"Yeah. Apparently, I had taken up most of his food, but not enough to get rid of him," he jested.
Cutter just kept walking ignoring Viking's comments. He knew they were jokes, but Cutter didn't really have much of an opinion on anything.
Viking continued, "The two of us have been in everything. We fought that giant spider together soon after we were born. He was always faster, but I'm far more stronger. I was able to lift the spider up, while Cutter here started stabbing it. It beat us in the end, but it led us out afterwards. We went to training together. We went onto many battlefields. Each one felt so fun. The blood. The carnage. It was all so invigorating. And it was even better knowing that the Queen approved very much of the two of us."
"So, you having fun during this battle?"
"Not as much. These dark elves should be more forthcoming," he replied, "By the way, have you seen the dark elves?"
"I've seen a couple of corpses, but I can't say that I've really seen them alive."
"Cutter and I caught a glimpse of a living one before he threw a dagger at her head. They are such beautiful creatures. Their dark complexion. Their long ears. Silky, white hair. Their skin looked surprisingly soft. It had black eyes that stared back at you with so much aggression. Their blood was quite dark, as well."
"I didn't notice," I said, but I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. I watched at sharks floated high up in the air. They had no wings, yet just moved around like they were swimming. They didn't have any riders of collars on them, so they must have been wild, but seeing them was a strange experience.
I also noticed Doc playing around with some small pouches. I didn't know what he was up to, but was uninterested to ask.
I don't know how long we marched. Was it days? Weeks? Time was different here. There was no such thing as night or day. Just a looming darkness around us. Each one of us was hungry and tired. My legs shook and breathing became uneven, but we kept marching. If the Queen had been connected to us, I was sure that we wouldn't have been so tired. Our pace had slowed all except for the bronze giants, General Kull, and KR-01.
Doc came up to me and said, "Roach, the troops are getting worn out. We should let General Kull know that we need a break."
Hornet said, "Doc is right. I don't know how long we've been going, but I'm certain we're making good time to wherever we're going."
Viking was carrying Cutter while he slept. But as I looked at him, I could tell that even he was tired.
I sighed, "Alright. Let's go talk to the general."
So, Hornet, Doc, and I paced faster to get up to General Kull's position. KR-01 stopped us, but Kull allowed the three of us to come forward.
"Sir," I said, "I don't know how long we've been marching for, but the other roaches need a break."
"We will not be stopping," Kull commanded, "The Queen has commanded me to capture the city, swiftly. "
"General, the troops are tired," Doc insisted angrily, "If we don't take a break, then by the time we actually get to the city, we'll all be too tired to fi- ack."
Suddenly, Kull grabbed onto Doc's neck with his bronze, left arm.
"Are you disobeying orders from the Queen, roach?" Kull asked angrily. His face turned all red with rage.
"Stop, General!," I begged.
Hornet was about to raise her electric crossbow at him, but as soon as she met with Kull's dark and sinister eyes, she froze.
Doc began gagging for a few seconds. The other roaches that were able to see froze in fear. KR-01 didn't have any feelings one way or another.
And against all of my better judgement, I had to stand up to the general. I took out my sword and raised it against General Kull.
"What do you plan to do with that, bug? Poke me? Going against my orders is going against the Queen. I would put that weapon down before you commit an act of treason."
"Let him go... general. Please, general. The others just need a short break. I may not know how much time passed, but I know we're on schedule. Please, let him go."
I shivered in my exoskeletal armor. He felt so threatening and menacing. He could crush me without a second thought.
General Kull, however, let go of Doc. He fell to the ground and gasped for air. His neck had been permanently bruised leaving an imprinting of the general's hand.
I put away my blade, and immediately, General Kull looked calm and composed, but the next moment, he back-slapped me. I flew in the air and landed on my back. I got myself up slowly and looked at the general. An aura of terror surrounded him like a blanket. Some bones began to grow from underneath him like plants.
"You're lucky," General Kull said as he began to calm down, "You're lucky that the other roaches respect you, and I'm in a good mood. Rest up and make sure you're ready to go when I command."
"Y-yes, sir," I said. Even when he looked calm, it was like looking at death himself.
"If I see any more disobedience from you, bug, then I will execute you."
I stood up and replied, "Yes, general."
Doc, Hornet, and I walked back. I let some of the roaches know and they spread the news. I didn't know how long the respite would last, but everybody was glad that we got any at all. The news spread about me standing up to him pretty quickly among the roaches. They were all grateful for the brief rest, and thanked me for it.
General Kull wanted to kill me, but after my speech, he felt like killing me would only create even more disobedience. He thought that as long as he had me on a leash, then he had the rest of the roaches tied to him.
I ate a small piece of stale bread that Doc gave me. He thanked me for saving him, but I felt like I didn't really do anything. If the general had decided to kill me and Doc, then he would have done so with ease.
I thought about the plan that General Kull was thinking about. He wanted to go straight through to the city, but even without seeing the capital, I was certain that it would be just like taking the dwarven fortress.
I wanted to know whether there was a better way. I told Hornet, Doc, Viking, and Cutter about my worries. Viking suggested that Cutter could steal the General's map of the Shadow Lands. I thought it was too risky, but Cutter nodded his head and looked quite confident in being able to do that.
Without even any of our say-so, he just ran off and hid among the shadows. He leapt to one of the mushrooms and the next thing I knew, he came back with multiple maps of the area. He was quick, sneaky, and efficient about it. General Kull and KR-01 never even noticed him. Or if they had, they ignored him, but I wasn't sure why they would do that.
We huddled around and took a look at what we were dealing with.
I saw a large straight road that headed into the capital. There were many other cities, but the capital was clearly marked. That was the only one I had to worry about. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to go on. However, Hornet was able to see a way in. She looked at the maps quickly and noticed that there were some sewer lines that went under the city. It was such an obvious way to get in from. I wanted to tell General Kull about it, but only after they got further in. I wasn't sure that going up to him, now, would be a smart move.
Cutter took all the maps and put them back where he found them. Cutter, Doc, Hornet, and I had memorized the map and sewer system layout. Viking tried to memorize it, but just couldn't wrap his head around it.
We had a smarter plan of getting in, but I was unsure that General Kull would listen. But I knew we had to try.
After a couple of minutes, General Kull sent out his undead bats to alert us that we were marching forward. And so we did.
Each roach was reinvigorated within those minutes and moved forward. I looked at General Kull from behind and thought about how I would be able to convince him. As I wondered, we just kept marching forward.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone