Prologue
“Sire, we must retreat!” The emperor’s lover as well as the commander in chief of one of the largest troops in the world spoke frantically, as he tried to divert the man he loved from his untimely death, but a deep sense of despair flooded him as the emperor, Fitzgerald looked at him with a small smile, which might have been meaningless to the majority of the people, but it was as though a poisoned arrow had been nocked and fired and gone straight in his chest, piercing his heart. And, he thought sadly that it was but better to die in that manner than see the death of his long lover, best friend and confidante.
“You could always return, Alexander. The both of us know how this is going to end. I could possibly die, but you could live. Go, Alexander, live the life you have always wished for yourself. I set you free, my faithful slave. Spread your wings, fly, and one day, avenge me.”
He held Alexander’s face for a short while before connecting their lips together, and both could feel the parting weigh heavily on their shoulders and the sorrow filled their embrace more than what they thought they could be capable of conveying.
The young emperor smiled again, before saying, “Do not take this so heavily on yourself, beautiful. There will be plenty of young men who would fall on your feet and ask your heavenly figure to take them in, even for a night.”
“You understand that I cannot do that, my love. I cannot leave without you. Please, my lord, come with me.”
“My code of conduct does not allow me to retreat. I do not want to be remembered as the king who left everything and everyone behind, only to live a lavish life he should not have had the privilege of having. But, you are a free thinker, and I want you to leave, Alexander. Go with your troops, establish a new empire, take care of all that I shall soon leave behind. That is an order.”
His lips trembled as he mumbled a succession of words that were soon drowned out by a raging battle cry from the side that was very likely to defeat them all.
He mounted his horse, and signalled to those nearest him to follow him out of the battlefield. Many, like the man he had left behind, stayed put in their positions, while those who believed it wise to live another day and get a brighter chance of defeating the monster once and for all, followed him out.
The last thing he ever saw of the man was his form charging into the smoke, his sword pointed right at the gigantic, enormous creature, before the woods blocked his sight of the battlefield completely.
