Chapter 7: Checkmate?

Tony's troops had placed themselves in a strategic sector near the village and since then they had fought tirelessly protecting the borders of their home.

Several days had passed since the conflict and Tony could already see the results and wear that the skirmishes of his enemies had generated.

"So this is War," He thought with an anguished sigh, going through the tents that kept the wounded, and feeling the fatigue and tension that seemed to have accumulated in his joints.

His body seemed to retain still the echo of the battles. As if the impression of that moment continued resonating inside. Grim and sharp, clinging like two firm claws to his conscience.

Helping the healers, he worked hard to assist in any task that might be useful. He wanted to do something, anything that would take him out from those gloomy meditations.

However, looking at those laid bodies, Tony could not help but review in his mind, the events of the last days.

The strife had not been easy. Several lives had been lost under the brutality of the combat.

The enemy was fierce. They may not have the same technology in armament as the village, but any deficiency, they supplied it with their large number of soldiers and a tenacity that made him wonder where did all this hatred and rancor come from?

Tony, had tried to do his best to help plan the attacks and organize the combat tactics. His strategy was simple: Try to end the fight as soon as possible and with the least amount of casualties, on both sides of the conflict.

"We are going to win with strategy and not with brute force" He had told the soldiers "If you have to kill to defend yourselves, do so, but if you can avoid the unnecessary death of one of your enemies, forgive their lives. Remember that in a war there are always two sides of the story, there are no good or bad, only people trying to defend their ideals"

The struggle had left many losses, however, the efforts of the village had not been in vain. The result of the last battles had given them a clear clue as to who had the advantage; the enemy was finally retreating.

For the first time in a long time, Tony felt hope sizzle in his chest. If everything went well, the war would end soon and they would be victorious.

If luck was on his side, he could return home and see the man who had not abandoned his thoughts even for a single second during all this dispute. He, whose memory was enough to produce a sweet feeling of happiness and comfort, each time his soul was lost wandering on turbulent roads.

"Loki... soon we will see each other again, I'm sure of that. And when we do it, when this battle is over, I hope this world will be a different place. Together, we will make of our home a place where we can live in peace"

His meditations were suddenly interrupted, by the presence of one of the soldiers entering unexpectedly in the tent.

"Sir, we found a group of archers trying to infiltrate the camp"

"Archers?" He said surprised.

"Yes, they were hidden in the mountains, but we manage to capture them. They managed to do some damage to the base and some people were injured, but fortunately, there were no major losses"

"I'm glad," He said relieved.

Reflecting on what happened, Tony had a sudden idea.

"Would you be so kind as to bring the leader of the group? I'd like to have a few words with him"

Nodding, after a moment, the soldier escorted the prisoner inside the compound.

Seeing him enter, Tony could not help to take notice on his appearance. He was a middle-aged man with light brown hair and a toned body.

At that moment, his blue eyes showed a sharp and fierce look. One with such intensity, that it seemed to Tony as if he were watching the unfathomable eyes of something wild, a glimpse of an indomitable animal.

Strangely, the image of a hawk crossed his mind for a moment.

"Hi! How are you? My name is Tony Stark" He said happily, extending his hand.

The man remained silent, without making any attempt to acknowledge the gesture.

"You know? When someone introduce oneself, it's cordial to say hello and say your name"

If possible, the archer glared at him with an even more lethal gaze.

"Whoa!" Tony said, raising his hands in a pacifist gesture "I understand that you do not want to talk, in your situation I would do the same. But believe me, when I say that I don't want to hurt you, I just want to talk to you"

The man let out an ironic snort.

"Just talk? I know how this works, Stark. You will say anything to get information, but then, when you have what you want, you will kill me along with my people.

There is nothing you can say or do that is new to me. Believe me, Schmidt has already tried everything"

"Schmidt?"

"You don't know? He calls himself Red Skull. He is the man who started this war"

"What do you mean?" Tony said, feeling a cold chill at the back of his neck.

The archer hesitated for a moment, but then, a resigned sigh made its way down his throat. "Well... there is no point in hiding it. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that all this will end soon" There was something strange in his voice, Tony was sure. Maybe it was regret? remorse?

"Schmidt is an ambitious man," The archer told "Some time ago, he undertook the task of convoking and convincing each of the tribes to join and fight in this war. He wanted to have the greatest military power and gather as many allies as possible. His purpose was to defeat your village and thus, seize your technology and your God.

Naturally, some tribes, adhered to his cause, with promises of power and wealth, but others... He needed to be more persuasive..."

The man's voice was expressionless, however, when he spoke again, his eyes had acquired a strange brightness. Looking at it, Tony could not decide if it was a halo of sadness, anguish or just something that was close enough to madness.

"He sacked their houses, seized their goods and burned their crops; and without feeling satisfied with any of this, he took each of the children of the tribe as hostages. Helpless children torn from the arms of their mothers, the perfect blackmail to create exemplary minions. New soldiers who would obey any order without opposition.

You can imagine that after that, there was no tribe that refused his demands"

"I... I'm sorry. If there was something, anything, I could do to help..."

The archer, looked at Tony with an indecipherable expression.

"Help us? And how do you plan to do that? Even if you were as honest as you claim to be, you and your village have shown us that you don't care about anything other than yourselves. You could have helped us, but instead, you denied us access to your technology and weapons. Maybe with your support, we could have defeated Red Skull, but you hid in your small village as if the rest of the world didn't exist"

"Hey! And how were we supposed to know about Schmidt? Or that you needed help? We lived our lives quietly and suddenly, the next thing we knew, was that we were at war. We were attacked, what did you expect from us apart from trying to defend ourselves? Even at the beginning of all this, we tried to negotiate, reach an agreement, but there was no answer from you."

"Of course there was no answer!" Said the man "Did you expect that Red Skull would have allowed us to negotiate? This war was exactly what he wanted. Do you think he would have left unpunished such a challenge to his authority?"

They both looked at each other with piercing eyes; and their agitated breathing, a product of their mutual outburst, was expelled in angry puffs.

For a moment, it seemed no one will yield in this bizarre gazing contest, but then, feeling calmer, Tony let out his breath in a long sigh.

"Well... you're right about something," He said, after a moment "We could have shared our knowledge with you, but we didn't.

If that had been the case, maybe everything would have been different... You may have had the means to defend yourself and even, we could have prevented the beginning of this war"

The archer looked at him bewildered, totally surprised by his words.

"But... it's not too late" Tony continued, with renewed conviction "We can still do something. With your help, we will end this conflict. I have all the security that together, we will succeed in overthrowing Schmidt"

The archer's face lit up suddenly, but it was only a fleeting expression. In a blink, his face changed to one of resignación and sorrow.

"It's too late. there's no point... Red Skull already won"

"Why do you say that?" Tony said, with an intense foreboding crawling up his spine like a hundred ants.

The man just kept silence.

"Oh! come on! You don't owe Schmidt anything. As you say, he doesn't care about anything other than causing harm and suffering. He is an authentic tyrant who will not stop until he destroys everything on his path to success"

When he saw that the archer was still silent, suddenly, realization dawned on him.

"He has your family, isn't it?" He said, with an intense anguish that pierced through his chest "You don't want to talk because you're afraid of putting them in danger..."

The defeated look the man gave him, was all the confirmation Tony needed.

"I promise that if you help me, I will do everything in my power so Red Skull and his allies are defeated. Your family will not have to worry about his threats anymore. Schmidt will lose, I swear it by my village and for all the lives that will be saved when that happens, you have my word"

Tony saw a parade of emotions cross the face of his interlocutor. He sensed that at that moment, a great struggle was developing inside him.

"Okay... I'll tell you what you need to know" The man tightened his jaw and his expression only become more determined.

"Listen, Red Skull had deceived you. This fight, all these battles, are just a distraction. He, with a select group of his best soldiers, will try to infiltrate your village. They will enter on the south side, through one of the most unprotected accesses. It will not be difficult for them to do so, because they have a great advantage; a very powerful weapon that can kill your best soldiers in just seconds.

If you ask me about this weapon, I can't tell you. Anyone who has seen it, didn't survive to tell the story. But I can assure you that it is very lethal, so much that it seems out of this world.

While we are talking, Schmidt is already in motion. At this very moment, he should be arriving at your village. If you are going to do something Stark, I advise you to do it now. Maybe if you wait, it will be too late."

Tony's eyes widened in horror, but he did not let his feelings dominate him. In an instant, he was throwing orders, preparing the weaponry and organizing the departure.

However, before leaving, the archer stopped him.

"Stark, I'm going with you. I can't stay here without doing anything, not while there is still some possibility of freeing my family. I am a good fighter and I can assure you that I will not rest until this conflict comes to an end and justice is done for all the innocent people who suffered and perished under the dominance of Red Skull"

"Of course, your help will be more than welcome," Tony said in an affable way "You and your people, are no longer my prisoners. I will give the immediate order of the cessation of the attacks. From now on, we are allies"

The archer gave him a brief nod and his face softened.

"Let's hurry, there's no time to lose" Tony said, and immediately, they both ran to meet with the rest of the soldiers.

"Hey, Stark," The archer said, as he trotted alongside him "It's Barton"

"What?" Tony said, confused.

"My name, is Clint Barton," He said, with a small smile.

"Nice to meet you, Clint," Tony said, also smiling.

The wind was blowing strongly, and in the distance, could be seen the rosaceous dawn behind a bright fringe of clouds.

The road seemed endless, but when they finally reached the meeting point, without losing more time, they got on the horses and left to the village.

As Tony galloped, the adrenaline made his body tremble and his agitated mind, went from one thought to another at a dizzying speed.

"What happens if Schmidt wins? What if something happens to Loki? What if I don't arrive on time...?"

His heart beat hard and the anxiety of before, now transformed into pure nervousness.

"Just hold on a little more Loki, wait for me, I'm coming..."

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Yes! I'm alive! Haha

This update took a little longer than I expected. In the beginning, I had planned to write the war in a single chapter but sometimes, what you write takes a life of its own and well... now I have two more chapters than expected.

Anyway, I made a lot of progress with the next two chapters, so it should not take so long to post them like this one.

I hope you liked this update! and sorry about the cliffhanger. Ok, not really sorry, but next chapter we will see how Loki and the village face this new threat.

Will Loki be able to face the invaders?
Will Tony be on time?
Could the author post on a regular schedule?

See this and much more, in the next chapter.