From Ashley's eyes
We all came forward to try to help, even the people at the volcano offered their facilities and resources, but the situation was very serious. When I saw Doc come out of the tent and shake his head, I felt like someone was sucking the air out of my lungs. I just didn't want to accept it, I couldn't accept it.
"Did he die?" My voice trembled.
—Not yet... But I can't do anything else, his organs are burned and are shutting down.
The woman from before approached the volcano infirmary where Sean was.
"Can you do anything?" I asked desperately.
"Yes, I can get him out of this," he replied curtly.
"Please save him," Doc and I begged.
"No, that's one less problem for me," he replied coldly.
-Because?
"Why are the gods selfish, murderous, and tyrants," replied Azumi, approaching using her naginata as a cane.
—He's not like the other gods, he didn't even know he was a god when he agreed to help us free ourselves, please, just save him.
"All gods must die," he replied.
—He doesn't deserve to die here! You're planning to kill a good man because of your hatred for a group of people! He went out to fight for everyone and fought like no one else, you're just looking out for what's best for you. You're equal to the gods! —I was interrupted, the woman slapped me, her eyes full of anger and her jaw clenched, I adopted a defiant stance.
"You don't know me!" he shouted at me angrily.
—And you don't know him.
She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded.
"Don't come in." She walked into the store where Sean was.
I had a bunch of emotions churning through my mind. Sean had brought hope and order. The simple fact of losing him here means our permanent defeat, and to top it all off, me inciting him to wage this whole war means it would have been my fault. This can't end here... Whatever the cost, it can't...
I leaned my back against the volcanic rock wall; the heat, curiously, was not very high inside the cave, where the base was located.
The longest hours of my life passed, until that woman came out.
"I'm done. He'll wake up in a little while, he'll regain his energy in no time," the woman said. Which made me feel a little relieved.
"How did you do it?" Doc asked, approaching Mason and the others.
"It's something just me and him can do with me." I noticed she wasn't making eye contact with them.
—Of course, the medallion that sought his dragon part broke, and the medallion summoned you. You were able to heal him using the blood, the power that drowned us before. It wasn't just yours, it was both of you together.
"I don't belong to anyone," the woman said as she approached me. "Tell him, when he wakes up, to come see me. Don't bother me; once I talk to him, I'll leave." The woman left the base, and I lost sight of her.
When we got in, it was amazing, the sheets were still dirty, but the burns, the cuts, everything was gone and left his scar, it was like he was just sleeping.
Doc brought a change of clothes and a green beret.
Through the eyes of Sean Dorvin
I jumped out of bed and made a katana appear in my hands, along with spears around me. I felt strangely good, and I knew I had to take advantage of it to defeat the fire god.
"Calm down, we're safe now," Ashley reassured me.
I found myself in a completely different situation, for a moment I thought we were dead, but that wasn't possible.
"What... Happened?" I asked.
—Your dragon appeared and…
"Ah!" Azumi said happily as she entered, but as soon as she realized he was naked on the bed, she ran out.
"There are your clothes," Doc pointed out.
"Thank you." I sighed.
As I was getting dressed, I asked:
—I didn't win... Did the dragon beat him?
"No. She just scared him off. The power she briefly unleashed was so great it frightened the fire god. The coward didn't even utter a word of boldness as he fled. On the other hand, you were almost killed, and the dragon saved your life," Doc replied.
"She didn't want to save you, though. I had to convince her," added Mason, who was standing with his arms crossed in a corner.
—Yeah, it looks like the woman doesn't want to see you in person, Grayson mocked.
—In fact, any longer and she'll kill you herself, —Rango mocked.
"She must have some kind of sense of justice or aversion to the gods, since she herself refused to help you because you are a god," Grayson added.
"You're not a god if you don't fuse with her, though," Azumi said, re-entering the room with a blindfold on.
—Don't be stupid, take off that bandage, besides he's almost fully dressed now —Mason laughed at Azumi.
—That woman asked you to go see her when you wake up, she's sitting outside the base, climbing down the volcano —Ashley told me.
"Then I'll go find her, then I'll introduce myself to the generals." As soon as I said that, I walked out the door and saw all my soldiers, many from this base, and even the generals from this one; it was easy to spot them thanks to their green berets.
Hear vitreous and applause
"He made the fire god flee!" a soldier was heard celebrating.
—I can't find words to express my gratitude, your soldiers told us wonders about you, I Mario Lombardi and my friend and advisor Rio Defalco would like to join your liberation forces, after seeing your great battle and hearing the words of your incredible warriors, I am willing to go to hell with you, not to mention that you saved our lives. —Lombardi, who was that tall and robust man with dark skin, had a large and bushy beard, but his smile was noticeable from ear to ear.
—I'm honored to hear so much excitement about fulfilling our shared goal and being chosen as your leader. You deserve credit for being able to defend this volcano for so long, while we waited for you to arrive.
"We're standing by to hear your orders, sir," Defalco said.
—For now, let the boys rest. You guys submit a report on weapons, assets, bullets, and explosives. I need to talk to someone; I need them ready when I arrive.
"You really don't disappoint. As soon as you're out of the clutches of death, you know which way to go." The man really spoke with so much energy, he seemed like a little kid trapped in the body of a two-meter-tall bastard.
I headed to the exit of the volcano, which I actually had to climb from the inside. The base was in a gigantic cave inside the volcano. The volcano had many plots of land where they had crops everywhere. At the exit of the volcano, they had heavy machine guns; to defend themselves, they had done quite well.
As soon as I left the volcano, I was grateful for the wind. Although the base was considerably cold, the interior of the volcano is like an oven. Fortunately, I didn't have to search far.
There was a tall woman with red hair, wearing a black robe and carrying a completely red katana. As soon as I approached her, she turned around and turned her attention to me. Her eyes were beautiful and deep, as if she could drown me with just her crimson gaze. They seemed to shine in the moonlight that now bathed us. The woman is tall, and although it was difficult to see her body because of her robe, you could see that she had good proportions.
"You summoned me, you know very well who I am," the woman said, her hand on her katana, ready to draw at any moment.
—I'm sorry to disagree, but I honestly have no idea who you are. Oh, wait, yes. The theory is that you're the dragon. Supposedly we have to fuse to gain more power.
"The important thing is that you summoned me to merge with you." Her voice was cold. At no point during the conversation did she even look me in the eye; she stared at my feet while clutching her katana tightly.
—It was a mistake, I was fighting, I didn't even know how to activate the medallion that summoned you.
"That medallion activates when blood touches it. In that moment, the medallion sought me out and gave me your blood. For a moment, I became a goddess. That's why, when the fire god saw me, he ran away. He's not afraid of a simple dragon, he's just afraid of another god." She ran her hands over her arms, touching them as if she were cold, something impossible because we were in a damn volcano.
—So not only do I become a god, the dragon does too —I commented.
—Do you really know nothing?
—I come from another place, far away from this one. I don't even have the slightest idea how far away my homeworld is. I fight because I have to, because I swore to.
—Why do you have to fight?
—Simply put, as long as I'm alive, I'm not going to rub shoulders with legends or sit back and watch people suffer.
—Hard to believe coming from a god.
—I will never be a god, not even because my blood dictates it. I don't have the absolute truth.
—Anyway, excuse me... Why don't you become one? To do that, we have to merge and fight as one. I think I've done enough by giving you my blood so you can live. Please don't look for me anymore.
—Excuse me? I don't remember asking.
—Who doesn't want to become a powerful being?
"That's not what I said. From the beginning, I didn't envision actually finding you. If you don't want to help me, that's your decision. Why would I force you to do something you don't want to do? That would make me just like the fire god, whose name I actually don't know." I laughed a little. For the first time in the entire conversation, she looked up, though she didn't quite meet my eyes.
"She was right... You're not normal," she said in a softer tone.
"Anyway, thank you very much for helping me, but I have to get things ready to continue my campaign." I shook his hand, but he didn't respond. I slowly took it and turned to leave.
—I... I... I'd also like to kill the fire god, but I can't fuse, you have to understand that.
"Why didn't you do it before?" I asked.
"I couldn't defeat him alone, he just ran away, because the spell on the medallion, which was given to me along with your blood, is strong enough to make him tremble," she replied.
—Why are you interested in killing him?
"I don't want anyone else to go through what I once went through," she said, her hands shaking.
—Did the fire god do something to you?
—No, the gods ruined my life.
"So why can't you merge? Our power together was already so great it made him run away." He interrupted me.
"I can't!" he said, almost shouting.
"I won't ask any more questions, I apologize... We all have our secrets." I left her alone and returned to the base.
Something had happened to her. Her fear was abnormal, her hands trembling, her gestures sudden, and even her predisposition. It was useless to try to guess, in this macabre world anything could have happened to her.
Ashley was waiting for me at the entrance.
"Summary?" I ask.
"She won't fuse with me because, according to her, she can't. She wouldn't tell me the reason why; however, she's going to follow us to fight the fire god."
—One way or another it's going to be in keeping with his personality, considering he didn't even want to cure you because you have the blood of a god.
—My instinct tells me something happened to him. I assume it was when he was very young and that I'm vulnerable.
—Where do you get that from?
"She's not comfortable with my presence. She was about to draw her katana. In fact, she couldn't even look me in the eye. Something about fusing with her must be repulsive to her. The truth is, I don't know the implications of a fusion either. She doesn't seem like a vulnerable person at first glance. That's why I think it happened to her a long time ago. Besides, she came into the base to heal me, and no one mentioned that she was particularly nervous. Obviously, the problem is me, because she doesn't know me; she can only see what I represented."
—Do you think it's because he's afraid of you becoming a god?
—Maybe... By the way, you're a gossip —I mocked.
—Oh, please! You also spilled all the beans with such gusto. —We laughed together.
"Let's rest for tonight. Tomorrow we'll continue my plan with Lombardi's men. Aside from soldiers, they clearly have access to quality metal here, and they also have plenty of food, something I was already worried about. Once we recapture the city, it will be difficult to feed the people because the roads are closed."
—Yes, in fact, they have a lot of metal and know how to use it. However, they no longer know what to do with it.
—I'm glad to hear that, because I have tanks and planes memorized. If we produce tanks and planes, we'll have a huge advantage. We can even make artillery. Depending on how many we have, the whole plan changes for the better.
—Will it stop being a guerrilla war?
—It never was. I don't plan on using people as shields. This was always going to be a war. I just have to prepare myself and make sure I can defeat the fire god next time. He's already shown me the mountain I have to climb to be on his level.
—Do you think everything will be okay?
—Normally nothing goes according to plan, but even if it doesn't, I know it's going to end well.
-Because?
—You can't command a war, Ashley. War is messy; trying to command it only makes you easy to read and wastes effort. You have to have a quick response time to fight alongside the disorder around us. That way, we can take advantage of even the most intractable things.
-Interesting.
As soon as we entered the base, Grayson was waiting for us with a plate of meat and rice. Around him were the guys dancing, even Mason had a bottle of what I think was rum in his hand. Azumi was playing darts with Rango, who was losing badly.
"These guys really have tons of food," Grayson said, grinning from ear to ear. His eyes sparkled with excitement; he looked like a kid in a candy store. Imagining all the things he could cook.
—I hope that's for me, because fighting with the fire shit left me hungry.
"Didn't Ashley bring you a piece of meat?" Grayson said, puzzled.
—I'll go see her.
I walked over to where Ashley was.
"Want to explain to me what happened to my piece of meat?" I gave Ashley my best idiot face, who was about to piss herself laughing.
"Would you believe me if I told you a raccoon stole it?" Ashley replied, holding back a laugh.
—A raccoon... —I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms.
"Yeah." He laughed as he bit his lip.
—In a volcano... —I burst out laughing myself.
—Hahaha, calm down, I expected it from her. This plate is for you, Grayson said as he handed me the plate.
"Hey, hey, what do you mean you expected that from me?" Ashley acted offended.
—HA HA Grayson, you should be a full-time cook. Guess who had the most casualties today? —Doc said, another bottle of rum in his hand.
"I'm betting on Rango; he's better at aiming than you two combined," I said, with food in my mouth, as I ate on the floor.
—Nah, I won with 180 kills. —Doc mocked.
"How many?" Mason said from the back in a mocking tone.
"Nobody's talking to you, you fucking idiot," Doc became defensive.
"But without a doubt, the greatest feat was that of our great general, Sean Dorvin," said the white-haired woman, Frost, standing next to her friend.
"I fought the fire god too," Azumi pointed at her burns, acting offended because no one mentioned her.
"You don't count, you were knocked unconscious," Ashley mocked.
"I taught her everything she knows!" Azumi continued with her act of being offended.
"Hey, fake, you didn't teach me how to use a katana, I knew that before." I continued laughing, enjoying the moment; I had already finished my plate of food.
The cave was large. There were medium-sized buildings on the sides made of clay, while there was a single carved street in the center, where we all met.
"You really knew how to use a katana before?" Ashley asked.
"I've liked swords since I was little, so yes, I actually learned to use one as a hobby," I replied.
We enjoyed that night of rest before going to recover the first city.
Once again, Ashley and I were given a private room. We enjoyed privacy, something only Lombardi and Defalco had. Excited, they studied tomorrow's plans I had given them before entering the room.
The room was almost empty, furnished only with a table with no chairs and two hammocks. There was a shower in one corner, and next to the door was a box with a change of underwear for both of them.
"I'm going to be the first to shower. If you have anything against that, you're welcome to shower with me." Ashley smiled mischievously as she undressed.
"Feel happy to use it. I'll wait until you're done." I lay down in the hammock and stared at the ceiling; it had a glass embedded in it that gave off light.
It wasn't the first time I saw this, I had seen it both in the village and in the camp.
"Do you think Azumi can keep up with the pace of war?" Ashley asked as she turned on the shower.
—Yeah, she's already suffered the worst, but look at her, she's sad. It's obvious, but she stands tall and continues to stand up to the strongest.
—Maybe you're right, although she made me realize how numb I am.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I've never had anything normal in my life, so my behavior isn't that of a proper person; it never was. I can understand Azumi's reactions to the nudity logically, but I personally don't see the point. Maybe it's just a defense mechanism of mine. After all, if I'd had that kind of modesty, I probably wouldn't have survived the concentration camp."
—There's nothing wrong with that and believe me it's normal, you're a soldier after all.
—But I'm also a woman. —She finished bathing, dried her body, and dressed in the underwear from the box.
—Modesty is taught. I feel it's necessary, but it doesn't really make much sense considering we're animals. Maybe it's simply the evolution of an instinct. I think clothes were born to make us look better and attract other people in our early days.
"I guess you're right," Ashley said as she lay down in her hammock.
I got up and undressed to take a bath. Once I finished, I lay down in my hammock.
—Hey. —She caught my attention.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
—Weren't you afraid of losing when you fought the fire god?
"I had it, or rather, I have it. I'm very scared," I replied.
—You didn't seem afraid, even though you were burned and blood covered your body, you still maintained that defiant smile.
—It's not about not feeling fear, it's about fighting as if you weren't afraid, it's about putting it aside and giving it your all.
—Do you think the coward will appear tomorrow looking for revenge?
—I don't know, but if it turns up, I'll give it my all again.