Dante wasn’t old enough to be in the Midaran military yet; he was still 16 so he had to wait until he was 18. Luckily his 17th birthday was coming up so it was a little more than a year until he would enlist. Despite his age, he and his father still trained often during the night.
“I think that’s good for today, don’t you think,” King Silas said trying to catch his breath.
“I could keep going,” Dante said excitedly.
“Well then you keep training. As for me, I’m going back to the tower.” With that, King Silas left Dante in the training field by the tower. Frida approached King Silas in the tower and notified him that the humans have been trying to contact them.
Dante stayed in the fields honing his new technique to create an ice sword and to control his presence. That’s when he heard a hissing sound. He turned around, toward the fire wall and walked towards it. When he was close enough, he saw a hole towards the bottom and began to look around him sporadically. Finally, Enzo revealed himself and Dante was filled with joy. Dante ran to Enzo and hugged him as hard as he could.
“Damn dude,” Enzo said, “You’re gonna break me.”
Dante released and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” He stood back and they looked at each other; neither of them knew what to say. Even though they had only talked very few times, they felt that times are like these are what people call peace. They looked at each other like they were art or like seeing a loved relative that hasn’t visited in years.
Dante spoke first and asked Enzo if the rumors were true; was he injected with Midaran DNA?
“I didn’t really think about much when I was a kid but,” Dante asked, “when you saved me back then, you really had the power to control fire right?”
“I still do,” Enzo answered. He snapped his fingers to show Dante how big of a flame he could make. Once he turned off the fire, he saw Dante’s smile.
“How did you learn to do that?” Dante asked and then listened intently to Enzo’s answer. Enzo told him all about his life in the Human city, from the surgery to his last years in school, and his recent tough love training he was getting from Sahel. He told Dante about all the injuries he had gotten not to long ago from his first days in the military. Dante was a good communicator and asked questions to clarify information and made comments often while Enzo shared his experiences. Once Enzo finished, Dante began to share some stuff that he had learned over the time.
“I can’t control fire at all,” Dante explained, “But I can control water, wind, ice, and nature.” With each element he named he also showed an example. For water, he held his right hand with his palm facing up to show a ball of water and he did the same for wind in his left hand. Then he clapped and his ends retreated from each other he created an sword made of ice. The sword had to have been at least seven feet long. To show his control of nature, he held the sword in his left hand and with his index and middle finger he raised a piece of the ground up into the air. He then carved a smiley face in it with the sword. After that, he look at Enzo and saw that he enjoyed the show a lot. Enzo admired his power just as much as he did when he was a kid which reminded him of something.
“Show me that power you used when you protected me from those bullies,” Enzo said and was eager to see it. Dante gave a small grin and asked Enzo to step back.
“I’m still working on controlling it so don’t stand too close,” Dante said. Dante put his back toward Enzo and this time held his palms down towards the ground. After a few moments, Enzo felt the cool air coming from Dante, not as extreme as it was when they were in school, but then it started to snow, and ice appeared to be surrounding Dante. Dante managed to cover a 10-foot radius all around in ice and frosty winds. He then stopped and looked towards Enzo again. This time Enzo look more curious than excited.
Enzo asked, “Is there any way I will be able to use that power? Also, what are the uses for it besides combat?”
Dante’s eyes lit up and was excited to tell Enzo about. Dante had become a little bit of a nerd when it came to the powers Midarans had. He had read many books that explained the uses, origins, and elements.
“Fire is known as one of the hardest to control so it will take time, but I am sure that if we work together, you will get the hang of it in no time.” Dante replied, “The uses involve being able to sense your surroundings in the radius of your presence. Right now, I just used it to show you my ice powers. But there is a way to have your presence active but without any element tormenting the area. This means that you can find the most fertile land for crops, or something that is buried, or a missing person. This part, unfortunately, is the hardest. Even I haven’t been able to do it yet.”
Enzo kept asking questions about the Midaran powers and Dante was more than glad to answer. Dante explained that fire is hard to control because it is the one most connected to emotion.
“All elements are more or less connected to emotions but none as much as fire,” Dante explained, “It’s probably where the term hothead comes from. If a fire user were to lose their favorite comrade on the battlefield, that battlefield would most likely be burned to a crisp.”
Dante and Enzo talked throughout the night and enjoyed each other’s company very much. That’s when they realized that it had gotten really late and both of them needed to be back in their rooms. Dante walked Enzo back to the hole in the wall and both said their good-byes and promised to meet each other again.
They both kept their promise and met each other at least once a week. Most of the time they met more often than that. They talked about their training and techniques that could help hone their skills. Sometimes they would just relax and not talk about anything in particular. They both felt happy finally being able to be friends.
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About a month passed until King Silas finally decided to communicate with the Humans again. He had received multiple messages begging that this stalemate be broken with diplomacy. Some of the messages also mentioned a special offer that the Humans had for Midara. Silas sent a message back to the Humans:
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Hear me, Sahel. I will have you know that I am no where close to forgiving you for the loss of my two soldiers. However, I will be honest and tell you that I am curious of what this offer you speak of is. If you think it is something that could release the tension on Midara then please, explain it to me.
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Sahel was ecstatic. After so many ignored messages, King Silas has finally responded. The message also let him no that he doesn’t want a war either and that he wants to know more about the offer. After some consulting with Dr. Diallo, he responded:
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Hear me, King Silas. My offer is to give you the assailant who murdered your soldiers. We agreed that it would be best for the Midarans to decided on the rightful punishment for this criminal. We can transfer him to you by digging a tunnel under the wall. Of course, if you do not feel comfortable with any Humans entering the Midaran city then we can discuss other means of transferring the criminal.
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Sahel was beyond nervous on what King Silas would think. He chose to not mention Enzo yet because he wanted King Silas to think that the Humans were overall losing from this offer. These were the longest minutes Sahel had to endure until finally a response came.
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I would like you, yourself, to dig the assailant into Midaran territory. Only you will accompany the assailant. I will have my guards retrieve the criminal and we will decide what to do with him. That is the only way I will comply.
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Sahel felt like an elephant got off his chest and was able to breathe easy. He sent a short response back immediately.
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I agree to your terms. I will dig my tunnel and have the assailant in the Midaran City by tonight.
Sahel had a small celebration with Dr. Diallo and Dr. Bravo after the successful communication. Now was the time to capture Neema. They went to his quarters, but, he was no where to found. His squad was no where to be seen either. This made Sahel nauseous. They were so close to making peace and if Sahel didn’t show up with Neema by tonight the chances of war were certain. Dr. Diallo was with Sahel when they couldn’t find Neema.
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“What?” Sahel rushed the words out his mouth, “They’ll kill you, maybe even torture you! Do you know what you’re saying?”
“If it means that the rest of the Humans here can survive and maybe one day be back on Earth then I’ll do it.” Sahel couldn’t believe what he was hearing but, Dr. Diallo wasn’t done. “Besides I don’t have any kids so it’s not like I’m leaving anything behind.”
“You would kill yourself just for a chance for us to go back home?” Sahel asked. Dr. Diallo thought about the question until he was ready to answer.
“Well, yeah I guess so,” was his response. “You were about to sacrifice your only son. Isn’t what I’m doing better than that?”
Sahel didn’t answer that last question. It finally clicked that Sahel had been selfish and was willing to give away everything else except himself just for a chance at peace. He cried in Dr. Diallo’s arms and thanked him for taking the place of his foolish son.
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