The Great

Savian Yelenta: “From the moment Geon Leventen was born, the world changed drastically,” I held out my hands in front of the fire while trying to speak in a quiet voice. “He’s the only guy I’ve ever seen who’s a legitimate threat on the international level as a kid. Taegan will probably want to exploit him as much as possible when he comes of age, and if they’re smart he’ll probably be promoted faster than any other young warrior in history. If he gets his own army or assault force he’ll be a legendary threat to everyone Taegan dislikes.” The fire cracked and popped as its warm orange glow washed over my body. The pitch black night sky loomed over us and the sound of crickets and cicadas rang out from the forest around us.

I was pretty fucked. We had pulled the gun way too early and jumped at an almost non-existent opportunity. I knew that Taegan was going to be in shambles after the situation in Evian and after that disaster of a summit meeting. But none of these factors really gave us an advantage…Taegan’s armies were still fully operational and the only thing that this whole situation gave us was a little distraction. But the hire-ups decided that this was the best opportunity we were going to get. So we launched the operation and nothing happened…We lost Rui and half of our forces, just to destroy an academy campus. I heard that Taran was the one that killed Rui, which surprised me. Taran was strong but I didn’t know he was capable of killing a legitimate warrior. Rui probably tried to kill him in one shot and Taran tanked it—sending all of that power right back at him… Jed poked around the fire with a stick before speaking for the first time in hours, “We’ve heard of him. He’s world renown but so are you. Of course, “Savian Yelenta,” is the person the world knows but your job is done. After nearly eleven years of espionage you can come home.” I looked at him with a tinge of anger,

“So no “good job?”, no “good work”, or no “you’ve done well?” You just dumped me off into one of the most powerful nations in the world at the age of five, and told me to do impossible tasks for the sake of a country I’ve basically never known?” Jed’s eyes flashed with anger,

“So you’re disloyal to Raga now? Have they turned you? Are you a dirty traitor, you insolent child.” I looked away from his face.

Jed calmed down and started to speak again, “I know how you feel to a certain extent, but you knew what was expected of you. You were fully aware of the details and hardships of the mission. Whether you truly knew these ideas as a child, I don’t know, but you have done a great service to your country, and for that you should be grateful.” I spit into the fire and spoke while avoiding eye contact,

“Yeah, whatever.”

Jed pulled out a loaf of bread from his pack and gave me about half of it. He spoke again,

“Tell me more about them, about the warriors-students. Specifically about Geon.”

I shoved a bit of bread into my mouth, “I can’t beat Geon even if I tried my absolute hardest. I have a chance but he’s too strong, fast, versatile, and he can take a hit.” Jed nodded. I kept speaking.

“The others are much more manageable. Aurora is a good combat tactician and she can hold her own in a battle but she’s not at the level of Geon or some of the others. Lila is pretty valuable for her healing abilities but she’s vulnerable on the battlefield in most situations. She’s got some unexpected power in her reserves though. And Evay is…” Jed looked up at me.

“Go on.”

I tried to string the words together, “I don’t really know. He’s got an incredible ability but at the same time he’s very…clumsy. It’s like he’s never used his abilities before, or like he’s super uncomfortable in his own body. But the most confusing part about him is that sometimes he just turns into a completely different person. He gets more confident, way stronger, and way better in every single way. He’s so confusing…But I would watch out for him.” Jed nodded and continued to sit silently. Jed was always really quiet and indifferent towards me over the years. As my handler I had to report to him and follow his orders every single time I met him. He knew how to speak Taegan’s language well, but even then we never got too close since our conversations were always just me reporting information and him giving me a new mission. But he was the only connection I ever had to home.

Jed stood up and spoke, “put out the fire. We should get moving, Pohan will expect us by the morning.” I stood up quickly and spoke in a shape and urgent voice,

“He’s not sending in the army? What did we do all of this for then? You realize that Taegan will obliterate our nation in the next five hours, right? If we don’t act now our little assault will be for nothing!” Jed argued back,

“The mission was never about causing damage. We needed Mevillime’s full support, once our escapees reach Mevillime they will accept them. Once that happens we’ll have an allegiance with Mevillime, and we’ll get an official seat in the Ring of Nations.”

“What is that?” Jed spoke,

“A giant alliance of nations which aims to try and bring forth world peace through connecting every single nation in the world. Whether they really want that is a different story. Mevillime, Tundra, Northa, and Savarha are the permanent and head nations of the ring, and there are hefty fees and laws of submission to these countries if you want to join, but doing so gives your nation unprecedented protection. Taegan is the only major nation to not be included in the ring, and the heads of the ring haven’t liked that for many years.”

I spoke, “so we want to….kill them?” Jed rolled his eyes,

“Raga experienced what it was like to not have protection during our revolution. Our nation was utterly devastated and eviscerated by Taegan and for nearly decades we wanted to be let into the Ring of Nations. The information you obtained for us about Taegan was given to the ring and that was enough to give us consideration for entry. The ring always wanted to know more about Taegan, and after that bombing at Evian they came to us with a proposal. Take the responsibility of striking first, and start the war on Taegan. Then we will get full-entry into the ring.”

I spoke with a tone of confusion, “why? We—I mean, Taegan—didn’t strike first.” Jed scoffed.

“You don’t have to defend them anymore. The ring and Evian fully believe that they did—especially after that summit. But anyways, they want to exercise Taegan for good—or submit them. When our warriors land in Mevillime they will get confirmation our assault has been conducted. We will have a strong ally to destroy Taegan with—something that we’ve wanted for decades.”

He began to walk off and I followed him. As I jogged the picture of Emy that I always kept in my pocket fell onto the ground. I went to pick it up but Jed swooped in and grabbed it before I could. My eyes flashed with anger, “give that back.” Jed looked at me with anger and disgust,

“Who is this?”

“I said give it—“

“Who is it?”

“She’s my…friend. I like that picture, give it back,”

Jed spoke in a furious voice, “are you telling me you fell for some Taegan girl! You fell for some swine in that country full of pigs and murderers! What? Do you love this—this girl?” I reached for the picture but he kept keeping it from me.

“You’re more loyal to Taegan than expected,” he threw the picture into the fire.

I dashed over to the fire and grabbed the picture before it hit the flames. A pang of intense anger sprung up in my heart as I dashed towards Jed in an instant and lifted him by the throat. His eyes filled with ragefull shock as he looked at me with a murderous expression, “put—me—down!” I threw him into the floor and shoved the picture back into my pocket.

“Don’t ever do something like that again. I don’t care about Taegan, but she’s not a warrior. We won’t fight her and she won’t fight us. She’s just….someone we can use if we need a lifeline inside Taegan that’s not a warrior.” Jed stood up and gave me an angry stare,

“If you truly believe you will remain loyal to Raga then forget her—forget her as a woman and treat her like a lifeline.” My heart dropped.

Jed spoke, “now let’s go, before the sun sets.” I picked him up and dashed off into the darkness, back to the land I was supposed to call home.