Piety vs. Malevolence III:
The Final Hope:
Chapter 1: It cannot be won
He had seen death on scales that would freeze hearts. He had killed so many mercilessly now that he wished he never would kill again. Demons, of course, or sometimes it was demented Mobians. If he was lucky it would only be a robot.
Yet Zoran was never lucky in that matter.
He looked to his cousin, Miles Prower, who was exhausted. Miles hated coming up with strategies that involved this much killing. They had been at it for only a month, and already thousands and thousands of skulls lied everywhere. Some bodies haven't even been found.
"Why don't you get some sleep, Miles?" Zoran suggested. "Tomorrow's a new day, right?"
"No. It will be no different than today, or the next. Lives will continuously be lost. Perhaps someone may die even tonight. Perhaps it could even be one of our dear friends, my beloved, or even me." Miles said glumly.
"I was being sarcastic, Miles." Zoran reminded him.
Tails turned and gave him a grim smile as he moved out of the tent. "I know."
The tent door flapped open and shut. Zoran sighed as he turned to look at the rebel's mascot, a flag with a cross of hope. Perhaps their last hope.
Zoran was the general of the rebels, and he hated it. He knew it was better for it to be himself than anyone else, yet he hated ordering people to kill while he did nothing. He hated watching his soldiers die, and hated being in the back of the battle. Often he had to sneak into it, for the woodchuck hated it when he participated. "We can't lose you, Zoran." The wise woodchuck Nilrem would tell him. "You are our final hope."
Zoran knew that was not the case. The final hope really rested in a change of Sonic's hope. He knew that no matter how hard he fought, until the demon no longer had hold of Sonic's heart, they were fighting a losing war.
"It cannot be won," Zoran whispered to himself.
Zoran heard someone approach, but he didn't turn around. He already guessed who it was.
"Why don't you come lie down with me?" A voice asked. Zoran gave the owner of the voice a small smile, Cream the rabbit.
He turned around to regard her. A long time ago, he had learned that she was his Answer. He had not known what that meant until now. He thought that she would tell him his destiny. In the end, he learned that she was his destiny, his future wife, but only if they survived this war. "Cosmo's not asleep yet." Zoran pointed out.
Cream gave him a curious look. "She's always working late in the kitchens, but she gets up later too." Zoran turned back around, and Cream slowly moved her feet toward him, until she was in front of his sight.
She turned his face to regard him. In Zoran's eyes once more was death, destruction, everything dark. He was unreadable. Cream knew that Zoran had never shed a tear for anything, never in all his life not even now. He was made of stuff that hard.
"How much longer do you think until Sonic's forces say farewell to us?" Zoran asked her jokingly. It was another of his lame jokes, and Cream hated them. She gave him a stern look, and Zoran didn't miss it.
"Zoran, please, rest with me? Enjoy this night as if this is our last together. A stray blast might kill either one of us. I really want any moment I can have with you be wonderful. Please?"
Cream was giving him those needy eyes again. Zoran sighed and turned away, when he looked back, there was a smile on his face as he picked up Cream and carried her in his arms. "Every moment like our last." He told her lovingly.
Still in his arms, he carried Cream out of the tent, into their private sleeping quarters, where they would not be disturbed.
Several miles away, Sonic the hedgehog glared at the same camp, with the Demon who called himself the Dread Lord, looked at.
"Are you ready to attack?" The Dread Lord asked him. It wasn't really a question, he already knew the answer.
"In two hours, it will be burnt to the ground." Sonic replied confidently. His grin did not display just confidence now… but evil…
Evil that would jeopardize the entire world's safety.