The Battle for Panzora
an excerpt

The general stood atop the hill glancing down at what was the result of their last battle. The ground lay strewn with bodies and there was about three times as many of his men down there than Rokoru’s. He clenched his fist and cursed in anger. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. Things were supposed to be better, he was supposed to bring hope the people of Panzora. Hope for winning the battle, but right now he felt as if things were utterly hopeless.
“General Katzu?” a familiar voice called.
Katzu turned to face Koji, “What is it Lieutenant?” It still felt strange after all this time for Koji to be looking to him for direction and guidance. “What is it?”
“Our scouts have spotted another deployment of Rokorus too the south, their approaching fast.”
“How many?”
“At least a thousand, there could be more.”
“We need to move.” Katzu said without hesitation.
Koji nodded, “Exactly, we don’t have the strength to fight them off, not after this last battle.”
“Very well, get the men ready to move out, I’ll be down in a moment.”
“Yes sir.”
Katzu stared back at the battlefield and nodded to himself. Yep there was definitely no hope left for them. Rokoru was destined to win the war and nothing they did or tried to do could stop that. They couldn’t even go down in a blaze of glory. They hadn’t won a battle in almost a full year. It was pathetic. It had been five month since he had become General which was about six months after that day he had found out Koji hated him. A lot had happened in those six month, a whole lot. For one thing he excelled greatly in his skills and training and for another he earned Koji’s love and respect. The two still weren’t all that friendly but deep down they cared a lot for each other, it just didn’t show very well on the surface. He sighed, that day felt like ages ago now, he felt as if he had been fighting for years maybe even a lifetime, it was like all he knew was war and battle and fighting. Being General took quite a toll on him. He was now responsible for the lives of thousands of hundreds of men, and not only that he was responsible to the high council who expected him to win this war for him. And then there was the people. The people needed some shred of hope a single ounce of something to believe in, something that they could think of in the darkest of nights and then be able to smile. Katzu frowned he felt like the last five months had been one long night, he felt like he was constantly shrouded in darkness and death. In the five months he had been general he had fought in countless battles, all of which felt like complete and total failures to him. He frowned it would be hard when they reached the city…it always was. For he always bore the responsibility of telling the families of his men about their deaths. He would ride into the streets and still the people would cheer him. He would watch them and look into their eyes knowing that in a few short hours he would have to tell a number of the people in the crowd that their son, brother, father, husband, wife, daughter, sister or mother was now dead. Then of course they would break down in tears and there was absolutely nothing he could do. No ounce of comfort he could provide them, all he could do was walk away and tell another person that their loved one was dead, and another and another and another.
“Katzu!” Katzu suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder pulling him back to the present.