AC: I want to thank my Beta-reader for proof-reading this chapter and all the previous ones I forgot to mention.
Chapter 147: Will
Silence. Silence was the answer from the creatures and the humans. None of them knew what to say or do. They saw well enough that the teenage boy was in the tendrils of the M'arrillian.
Milla'iin watched his troops, but noticed that their spirits didn't lift up. They were still down and defeated. It was clear that they were exhausted and wouldn't want to fight. He needed to raise their spirits. Still, he had a hostage and it did little. His large eye went to the alliance. If he broke them, it would raise their spirits.
"Release my son right now!" The voice of a human yelled furiously at the Chieftain.
The creature in question watched the one who yelled at him. He could see in George that he was the father of the boy. "I won't release him until you surrender."
Bahrakatan raised his voice, "Milla'iin. Can't you see it's over? You have lost the war. Your soldiers are too exhausted and wounded to keep fighting. I know you care about those who are loyal to your cause."
Gal'drad added, "Milla'iin-"
"Enough of your foolish words!" The creature rejected their plea.
Maxxor grunted. He had enough to stay on the side. "What do you want?"
Milla'iin gazed at Maxxor. He acted as if he never had a previous conversation with the traitors, "I have your precious guide here Maxxor," he quietly chuckled.
"This battle is over Milla'iin!" Chaor grunted.
Agitos was by the side of his ruler and waved his hands, "Please. Don't antagonize him, Lord Chaor. We can't put the lives of Kaz's friend in danger."
The red Underworlder grunted and shut his mouth.
"I have many demands for the exchange of the boy."
"Can't we just surrender?" A voice suddenly asked.
Milla'iin was taken aback by the question and searched for which of his soldiers asked that. He couldn't see who it was. He recovered and went on, "My first demand is that you release all of my soldiers."
"Milla'iin. You should just stop. No one can fight anymore and they are hurt enough already," Tom whispered.
The yellow M'arrillian heard him, (Enough with you. I will guide my tribe to victory and fulfill the late Aa'une's dream!)
"At that price?" The teenager asked.
Below the creature, the others wondered what was going on. The chieftain was suddenly quiet and gave his attention to the hostage. Maxxor noticed Tom's lips moving, as if he talked to the creature. He hoped it wouldn't put himself in danger.
Milla'iin took a slow and careful glance at his soldiers. He saw that most of them had already stopped bleeding, but the pain was still written on their faces. They were also on the ground and restrained. He could see the small pools of blood near his soldiers, (There is no prize big enough to reach our goal to conquer Perim Tom. Including my life.)
"This is wrong!" Tom yelled. He looked straight in the eye of the M'arrillian. "Are you going to accept to die for your cause? Just like that?"
"Yes!"
"This is so wrong! Is your life meaningless to Aa'une?"
"No! It's not-"
"Because if your life is an okay price, it is! Aa'une's dream… it's just made with the blood of everyone. Creatures, humans and your own tribe," the boy winced in pain. He felt a heavy pressure on his head.
"Enough of you Tom! I won't waste my time speaking with someone who doesn't get anything about Aa'une's dream!"
"Are we… expendable?" One M'arrillian asked among the prisoners.
"And you are spreading your venom at my soldiers too," Milla'iin said with less conviction than he thought. What the boy said to his face felt true. He was expendable in some way. Still, he wouldn't let everything they did be for nothing. He looked at the creatures as he decided to ignore the words of the boy, "Do not listen to the words of this human. He isn't a creature. He is not from Perim. What can he truly know about our tribe, the meaning of Aa'une's dream and-"
Theb-Saar chuckled and got the attention of the M'arrillian, "Do you know the value of your own tribe? Because you are putting your own young and defenseless in danger. We are in the unknown world of the Cothica."
"It's not," Tom sighed loudly enough to be heard.
"Cothica," the blue Mipedian went on as he crossed his arms. He left himself open, telling the creature that it was over, "Compared to Perim, you know little of this place. Did you know the humans were observing you from a battlegear that are in the stars?"
"Yes I know," his eye glanced at his hostage. He checked in their minds. If they had something like that, they might have bigger things. He couldn't.
"We have scarier weapons than that," George muttered under his breath.
Maxxor heard that, but made no comments, and said, "State your demands," deciding to return to the predicament of the boy.
"My second demand is that you take your headgear and put it on the ground. All of you!" Milla'iin demanded.
Everyone was taken aback. Not by the demand, but the simple thought of doing that. The creatures who went under the mind control of the M'arrillians were the most hesitant and affected by that demand.
"My third one is that this world surrenders to the M'arrillians," the M'arrillian stated.
George gazed down. He looked at the creature. He couldn't reply to the one thing he knew very well. That demand would never be accepted by anyone. It already ended the negotiation. His son might die because the M'arrillian demanded too much.
Tom continued talking, "They won't accept this! I am just a boy. I am nothing special to my world."
Milla'iin glanced at him, "You are for Maxxor and the other creatures. If I control them, the humans will fall."
"You can't control everyone! Chaor won't just give up his battlegear for me! I'm a friend of Maxxors and he tried to get rid of me once," he looked at the red Underworlder.
Chaor had an idea what the boy might try. "Right," he let out a small grin, "It will only help me in the end."
Theb-Saar glanced at the Underworlder ruler, then at the Overworlder ruler. He let out a small smile. The devaluation of the hostage might be the best way to save his life. He had a feeling that the exchange wouldn't be respected in the end, "So do I."
The M'arrillian lost his confidence in the negotiation. It made sense that not every tribe in the alliance would care for the safety of a rival.
Maxxor quickly looked at the Mipedian king in disgust at those words.
Bahrakatan raised his voice, "And the creatures have our guide to the Cothica! I betrayed you because I found our guide and realized that the Cothica didn't forsake us!"
"W-what?"
"You didn't know that. The boy's name is Remi. A friend of mine and surely Aval'par," the Kha'rall put his pincer on his chest, "Our attack on the Cothica is based on the belief that the Cothica has forsaken us… Right?"
Milla'iin didn't know about that fact. Still, he wouldn't lie about it, "No," he saw the crab creature taken aback by his reply, "Aa'une never stated such a fact," he pointed his tendril at him, "You are trying to get me with such belief. I won't back down from this war until you all bow down! You traitors too. I have no reason to listen to you," he noticed something and quickly glanced behind him. He saw Aval'par coming up, "I won't drop my guard this time. That includes you too Takinom."
The female creature grunted as she waited for the situation to evolve.
Aval'par spoke, "Milla'iin. I might be a traitor, but I chose to listen to the voice of an inhabitant of the Cothica. You better not hurt Tom any further."
"I didn't hurt him."
Chaor received a message and looked up. He said it in the coldest way possible, "By the way Milla'iin! Rath'tab is dead!"
That shook the M'arrillian, "D-dead," he grunted. He left him on his own to get the boy. Maybe he caused his death with his decision. He said, "This is war."
"Milla'iin," Neth'uar said as he raised his head. He was still too exhausted to fight, "It's… I believe it's over for us. Gal'drad promised to protect our children and the civilians. I… I believe his words. Even I'm exhausted… tired…" he didn't say what he was tired of.
Milla'iin refused to lose. Defeat this time would mean that everything about their destiny was a lie, "No…" he whispered.
Tom looked at the creature, "Milla'iin. If your soldiers don't want to fight… Do you think it's okay to force them to fight again?"
The M'arrillian took those words right in the heart. He glared at the boy, before he calmly focused on his army once again. He saw many of them wounded. Some seemed to have a few limbs broken at best. Their blood was on the ground, (Why did it end up like this?) He said in his mind, not aware that it reached the boy, (It is our destiny… We cannot lose… None of them can fight anymore. Even having Tom won't change anything. Three tribes don't care for him. Aa'une would keep fighting even in this circumstance.)
"It would make you an expendable creature," Tom whispered.
The eye of the M'arrillian shined on the boy as he realized he heard his thoughts. He guessed he was that shaken up. He heard the many thoughts of his soldiers. Too many to be clear, but they all expressed exhaustion of this war. They were tired of fighting. Tired of thinking of the family they left behind. They wanted everything to just be over.
Milla'iin glanced down and his tendrils shivered. It shook the teenager a little.
Tom took his courage and asked something else, "What about you? What do you want to do? Not what Aa'une's wants."
The creature glanced at the boy, his tribe, his enemies and the Cothica. His breathing accelerated while his body lost a bit of its light. He hesitated. He thought back to everything Tom had told him. He thought of his troops, of those who betrayed Aa'une's cause.
Tension ran high in the air as every creature and humans wondered what was going on. None of them knew of their little conversation. The minutes passed. Maxxor tried to continue the negotiation, but he was met with silence. He tried to talk to the boy, but was also silent.
The Messenger of the Cothica started it all, Milla'iin realised, (Maybe… the Messenger of the Cothica… The fact we lost the first time… It was our- our destiny to lose. Aa'une- A…Aa'une! It was- always been,) he took a deep breath as he began to drop on the ground, "A lie."
His spirit broke. He landed on the ground and released the teenager, "It was all a lie. How- How didn't I see this coming. The Messenger of the Cothica. The Cothica was against Aa'une. Our Oligarch."
Tom didn't walk away. He just couldn't. He kneeled down and kept listening to the M'arrillian.
His father joined his son, his weapon pointed at the M'arrillian.
"We lost. Happy, Tom? Do you want to laugh at me now?" The creature bitterly asked, "You broke me," his eye dimmed a little as he gazed at the teenager, "You won. We lost the war. Everything Aa'une fought for was… It was a lie. You won. This is the proof-" he hit the ground, "Everything was pointless! Everything I trained for was for nothing. My entire life, ready for the war under Aa'une's command. He lost and I kept his spirit alive. Our tribe's purpose was still alive as long as our tribe was here…" he sighed, "It was a lie. Our purpose is meaningless. We- We have nothing. Nothing," he said weakly.
Tom replied, "No."
"W-what?" Milla'iin was confused now.
"I won't laugh," he gazed down. He put his hand on the shoulder of the creature, "But it's not over for your tribe."
"Forgot about us?" Gal'drad asked as he waved his hand.
Milla'iin didn't care anymore, "I- I don't understand."
With those words, the M'arrillian was arrested, just like the rest of his tribe. The final conflict against the M'arrillians seemed over.
The big question was, now what?
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: Reunion.
Everyone returned to the military camp, as the fate of the M'arrillians rested on the hands of the adults. Milla'iin doesn't care about his fate anymore.