Following the Leader

      On a battlefield that had only recently known silence, a lone man walked among the corpses of both enemy and comrade alike picking off whatever supplies that was salvageable. His name was Danny and he had recently joined Commander Charles on his conquest to overthrow the royal family. While picking through a soldier's pockets Danny thought back to the strange occurrence that had ended the battle.

        The battle started with a full charge against the enemy, with equal losses on both sides and neither side showing any sign of quitting. Danny thought that the slaughter would never end and was sure that their side would lose. At this point Charles rode out onto the battlefield wielding his sword high above his head and charged straight into the fray. Danny doubted that the presence of the commander would make little difference seeing as how the same tactic had cost many leaders to lose their lives in the past. This time however, was very different.

        As the commander charged toward the enemy every single soldier of the opposing army stopped fighting and dropped their weapons onto the ground. Danny was stunned at the sight, not knowing what could have caused the sudden change in the men who had just recently been possessed by an overwhelming blood-lust. What was even stranger was when, after all of the opposing army had surrendered and handed over their weapons, they requested to defect from their army and join the rebellion. Danny and the other soldiers were against this, fully expecting the enemy soldiers to back stab at the first chance. However, under the commander's orders the men were released and swore oaths to him, promising complete loyalty to him.

        Even with the commander's orders and the oaths of allegiance, there was unrest among the men and it looked as though a riot would ensue. The commander once again pulled his sword from its sheath and raised it high above his head and began to speak, "Comrades! Should we spurn away men who have realized the error of their ways and have realized that the time of the royal family's rule has come to an end? No! Our army accepts all, no matter where they have come from or what they have done in the past. This separates us from the corrupted king that spends his days in the capital, mindlessly sending out men to die. With our combined strength we shall overtake the capital and bring a new age to our land." The crowd erupted in a roar of approval, ending any thoughts of a riot.

        Danny pondered about this event as he returned to the camp with the equipment. His curiosity getting the best of him, Danny decided to start asking around the camp about the commander as soon as he was finished with his duties. He began by asking a fellow soldier named Henry who had been with the commander even before he defected from the royal army. Henry was a large man that had seen his share of battles, as evidenced by the scars covering his body, and was always very open to the other troops.

      "You're asking about how the commander can persuade so many people?" Henry said after hearing Danny's question. "It's not that big of a secret, just listen to the man. The commander's words carry much weight with them, and how could they not since he speaks the truth?  But I can understand your curiosity since there have been others that have held the same beliefs for years and never once had a successful rebellion like we have." Henry paused for a minute to collect himself. "The best way to explain it is to tell you how the rebellion started."

      "It began as a routine job, squashing yet another rebellion that had started in a small town in the mountains. Everything went as planned but after the battle something in the commander had changed. He gathered all of the troops together and began to speak the same words spoken by the same man who he had just slayed a day before. During this time he pulled out of his sheath, not the sword that had been given to him by the king himself, but a new sword that he had claimed from the village elder, the same sword he wields now. He held the sword above his head during the entire speech and when he finished speaking kept it held out until we replied to his request to rebel. Somehow his speech had finally opened our eyes to the truth and inspired us all to raise our swords against the king."

      "But what was so special about this speech that caused so many men to devote their lives to fighting the king?" replied Danny slightly annoyed at not getting a clear answer to his question.

      "No one truly knows but I believe it's just the way that he speaks in such an influential manner and how he reveals to us the terror that is the royal family."

      "Yes but that wouldn't explain how he was able to make all of those soldiers surrender earlier today just by running into battle."

        Henry's brow furrowed at this response, visually showing his annoyance with Danny. "Look, if you still have doubts about how magnificent the commander is at persuading the masses, why don't you go ask him yourself? He's over in his tent right now and I'm sure he would be more than willing to answer your questions."

        Sensing that he would no longer be able to get any more information from Henry, Danny started walking towards the tent that housed the man that had stirred up Danny's curiosity, not to mention an entire rebellion. The tent could be seen from anywhere in the camp since it was the biggest and usually had a numerous amount of people walking in and out with documents and maps for the war effort. Danny approached the front of the tent and was stopped by one of the commander's guards. After telling the guard his reason for being there he was quickly denied, being told the commander was far too busy for such pointless questions.

        Danny began to turn away from the entrance when suddenly the tent flap behind the guard lifted up revealing Commander Charles, still in his battle armor with his sword on his belt.  "What business does this man have with me?" Charles asked the guard.

      "Nothing commander, the man has just come asking pointless questions," replied the guard.

      "And what exactly is he asking?"

      "He's has yet to recognize the almighty power behind your words commander. Don't pay him any mind."

        At this the commander approached Danny, and looked him straight in the eyes. "What is your name soldier?"

      "Danny sir, I've just recently joined your army and was wondering how you are able to persuade so many people towards you cause."

        The commander stood there for a while thinking. "Let this man into my quarters, I have a few things I would like to discuss with him."  The guard obliged and quickly let the commander back into the tent with Danny following close behind. The commander's room was filled with various treasures that had been obtained through the various battles the commander had fought and in the center of the tent was a table with two chairs. A very ornate one reserved for the commander and a chair on the other side for visitors. The commander took his seat behind the desk and then motioned Danny to sit in the other.

      "So you've been wondering how I am able to spurn so many to our cause." Charles said as he took his seat behind the desk. "Well you've seen the way I speak; I just have the gift of opening people's eyes to the truth."

      "With all due respect sir I don't think even God himself would be able to convince these people to rise up against the royal family."

      "Why wouldn't they? The king and his family have ruled this country with an iron fist for centuries and he only makes laws to best suit his needs. Any sane man with enough courage would do the same as I have if given the right abilities."

        At this Danny paused and took some time to think over what he had heard and seen in time that he had joined the rebellion. After 5 minutes of neither Danny nor the commander saying anything Charles broke the silence. "Why are you so curious as to why people join this rebellion?"

      "Well you see I had only just recently joined the army when you entered my city Goan and persuaded most of the people to join you."

      "Ah, so you were compelled by my charisma there and you wish to learn how to do the same?"

      "That's the thing; I didn't join the army because of your speech."

        At this point the commander, who had been very calm and collected during the entirety of this meeting, looked up at Danny with a look as if he had just seen a ghost. "Then why did you join the rebellion?"

      "Because of who you did persuade to join. The governor of Goan was a man by the name of Redford who was a very good friend to the royal family. Redford was actually adopted by the royal family and was given control of the city by the king himself. And yet, he was all too willing to join a rebellion against the very people that raised him."

      "Well he must have realized how corrupt the king had become," Charles said with anxiety in his voice.

      "About that, you say that the king rules with an iron fist but is that even true? Last time I checked the king was a savior to the people and he even gave up half of his own fortune to fix a town that had been burned down in a fire. As for sending armies to stop rebellions from the outskirts of the country I know for a fact that they were areas known for being thief dens and locations of constant anarchy. So tell me, how exactly does this make the royal family unfit to rule?"

        Charles sat in silence for what seemed like an hour, frozen in a state of nervous tension. This continued until Charles mood changed as though he had made an epiphany and composure seemed to wash over his face. Charles stood up from his chair and calmly walked over to a chest in the corner of the room and withdrew a small box with a lock on it. He placed the box on the table, sat down in his chair, and then called for two guards to enter the room.

        Charles removed his sword from his scabbard, placed it on the table, and began to speak. "Do you know how I got this sword? I found it, along with a collection of daggers during a raid. They used to belong to an order of knights that used to serve the people. The order demanded complete loyalty to their leader so that they would never be corrupted to use their power for their own personal gain. To ensure this didn't happen there was forged this sword along with the daggers. What made these blades so special was that they were forged by using sorcery that has long been lost to our world."

      "The leader wielded the sword and the knights carried the daggers on them at all times. What made these weapons so special was that they held the power to influence men's minds and follow whatever orders that were given to them as long as they gazed upon the weapons' blades. Obviously this could have led to the order being corrupted but the leader limited the power of the blades so that they wouldn't have complete control, but would still be able to help persuade people to a certain way of thinking."

      "About a year ago I stumbled upon the tomb of this order and found these weapons. I wondered about where they came from and eventually tracked down some old records of the knights and their order. The records also revealed to me that the limiters that were placed on the weapons had a finite amount of time of how long they affected the enchantments. Using the sword I was able to conquer many other raiders from harming the country without having to shed a single drop of blood."

      "However, I eventually began to wonder about my place in life. With this kind of power should I be satisfied with just being the king's dog? Following his every command? No! So I began to plan the greatest rebellion in history, a rebellion that would cause all people of this country to follow my rule. No longer will I have to stand in the shadow of the king, I will rule the country and perhaps even the world with this kind of power."

        Danny stood straight up from his chair and quickly drew his own sword. "If this was your plan than why are you telling me all of this?"

      "Because my dear boy, in a few moments you will give your undying loyalty to this cause. Guards!" The two guards that had entered the room earlier rushed over to Danny's side grabbing him, and pinning him to the table. Charles unlocked the chest that was on the table and withdrew from it a dagger with an otherworldly glow.

        Charles lowered the dagger into Danny's view and talked quietly, "I didn't tell you how the knights became so loyal to their cause. It would all start with a ritual where a knight would willingly let the leader cut them with one of the magically imbued daggers, allowing the enchantment to flow through the knight's veins. Not only would this make the knight bound to do what the master said but it also gave them the ability to sway others to their cause by cutting them with the same blade. The knights were not willing to use the weapons in this matter. I on the other hand intend to use these weapons to their full potential!"

      "You shall be the first soldier to have this method used on them. I'm not sure how you were able to resist the sword's power but this will ensure that you follow every command I give you to the letter. You will go forth and spread my control throughout the land, making an empire whose subjects will never consider even the idea of rebellion."

        Charles took the dagger and began to slowly move the blade towards Danny's arm. Danny screamed for help but no one would answer, as he watched as his blood was drawn by the cursed blade. In an instant he began to feel different, as if an ungodly creature had taken refuge in his body. Charles commanded the guards to release Danny and rather than run out of the tent to warn the rest of the army stood where he was.

Slowly Danny lowered himself onto one knee in front of Charles and to his horror the words that would come out of his mouth were, "What is thy bidding emperor Charles?"