5. Fort Tondoga

Casbrita had heard rumors about the Continental Congress. In anticipation of an attack by the colonies, they’d decided to attack first. A logical move if you didn’t know the colonies were actually suing for peace. The natives had seen them, creeping through the night.

When Jefizon thought Ajay was out of earshot, he sought out Fuja. Hidden in the shadows of old trees, they kissed and held each other.

“Come back, please?” he asked.

“Can we keep this a secret while living and working together?”

“Ajay can change. I just—”

“No, he can’t. You know that.”

“Remember what I said? The world needs total, absolute freedom. Ajay is free to control us, I am free to fight back … but I feel too weak to do so. There is only one option: we both leave the rebellion.”

“If it makes you so unhappy,” Fuja said in disbelief, “why do you still stand behind absolute freedom? Why do you still own slaves?”

“It’s not about what makes me happy now, my good woman. It’s about what’s good for the entire world!”

Fuja looked full of pity. “I need to take revenge for my folk. Your bookworm genius is needed to build this land into something better. Are we going to throw that away?”

He wanted to hold Fuja far longer, but the sound of footsteps pushed them apart. Indeed, it was Ajay who held a lantern and scoured the forest. As if he was purposely looking for something like this.

He only found Fuja, alone.

“Where is Pikan?” she asked innocently.

“Locked in the wagon. He’s a slave.”

“Was a slave.”

“He is unreliable, like you.” Ajay’s face grew almost monstrous, lit from below. “Keeps disappearing all the time, refuses to elaborate.”

Shaking his head, Ajay stomped away and mumbled about how there was nobody he could trust.

Wasserbox had released the horses from the wagon. Him, Bardams and Fracclin had all used one to ride in a different direction and gather soldiers. If thy were fast, they could not only stop Casbrita from controlling more territory, they could even defeat them. With that goal in sight, they rode their horses even faster.

The soldiers they found weren’t amazing. Some wouldn’t even know how to shoot a musket gun. Others were too unhealthy to run for more than a minute. They’d all have to make do.

Bardams was proven right again: waiting and seeking peace with Casbrita had made them sluggish, too unprepared.

At dawn, their improvised army encountered troops from Casbrita. On hilly terrain, surrounded by a few thin rivers, the troops faced each other and fired the first shots.

And Wasserbox lost.

His troops were untrained, sleepy, more likely to shoot themselves than the opponent. They were outnumbered; Casbrita had seemingly put their entire army on Elwar.

He had to fall back, further and further away from his friends. Before his eyes fell soldiers whom he’d just pulled out of their beds with promises. Pikan fought fiercely, but he commanded him to stay by his side, afraid to lose the rhino that had quickly become a reliable soldier to him.

His troops were pushed with their back against the river. If they ever wanted to cross, they had to turn around and give Casbrita the perfect opportunity to shoot them in the back.

This wasn’t how it’s supposed to be. Were they not the good side? Were they not the heroes who would free the colonies?

He realized how lucky he’d been, time and time again.

Until this time, as if agreed upon, luck arrived on his side too.

A thick fog descended over the land. Thick enough to obscure Wasserbox’ army from vision, allowing them to cross the river in secret. Once on the other side, they were actually in a favorable position. They stood higher than their enemy and the raging water was a natural shield.

They shot the Casbrita soldiers back to where they came from. And as they retreated, through the hilly colony, Casbrita discovered what it meant if an entire continent wants you gone. Behind every corner, in every village, beings were ready to shoot at them.

However fast Casbrita ran, they always met new Elwar soldiers, most of them enlisted by Fracclin. Bardams tried, sure, but he was far less charismatic and convincing than his friend. It also seemed as if Fracclin had friends and family on every inch of Somnia.

Until Casbrita had no other choice than to pull back all the way to Bosnot, where they stationed themselves like a tortoise receding into its shell.

As a consequence of this event, the second Continental Congress was held earlier than planned. The rebels had barely arrived home or they had to travel again. This time, however, they knew the other leaders would be on their side.

“Casbrita has shown they do not want peace,” Bardams plead before the overcrowded room in Philadinna. “They want to suppress the colonies and shoot down anyone that annoys them. The only reason they haven’t done so yet, is because they have too few soldiers, but reinforcements are surely coming right now as we speak.”

He distributed a paper, written in elegant letters, among those present. “The proposal is simple. One army for all colonies: the Continental Army. The colonies must become their own country and defend themselves as such.”

“And who will manage that?” a voice asked. “This congress gave all colonies equal votes. Nobody decides something for everyone. That’s exactly what we’re fighting against! Each colony wants to be independent! You’ll never make us all accept a single commander.”

“Is that so?” Bardams pointed at Wasserbox. The general stood, wearing his uniform with all the possible medals, and studied the room confidently. “Also not the ape who single-handedly defended against Casbrita’s first attacks? An experienced general that even has books to his name?”

The attendees studied each other, but nobody really protested. Jefizon tentatively raised his hand.

“A vote. If three-quarters agrees, Wasserbox becomes first commander of the Continental Army, consistent of all soldiers from all colonies. All in favor, raise a paw.”

Wasserbox awaited the results with tension in his entire body. Even distrustful Ajay wasn’t sure he agreed with this. But when even he raised his paw, most of the room joined him. They had just enough yes-votes to accept the proposal. Soon after, many animals put there signature below some official piece of paper.

When Wasserbox left the room, he was commander of the entire Continental Army. And he felt he didn’t deserve it in the least, for he’d made blunder after blunder, causing too many deaths. The others might trust him; he didn’t trust himself.

Fuja hid within the bushes. Jefizon took the risk of hiding right next to her. The Children of Freedom looked at an imposing stone castle on a hill, called Fort Tondoga, owned by Casbrita. Ajay had heard that it was barely defended. Crucially, they’d save mountains of weapons and ammunition here, something the rebels desperately needed.

Taking the fort would be a large leap in the right direction.

Bardams hadn’t joined, as usual. Fracclin was sent on a different mission which he had to keep secret to everyone else. Ajay had reluctantly added ex-slave Pikan to this sensitive mission.

As was their ritual before a big fight, they all sipped some hot tea. Ajay had really insisted they do so this time, to calm the nerves and prevent suspicious mistakes. Jefizon just finished his, as Fuja threw away her glass, because the time had come.

“Now!” Ajay whispered.

The group erupted from the foliage and ran to the fort, still covered by darkness. The gate only held two guards, and one of them had falen asleep. Ajay shot them both down, with incredible precision, before they noticed anything.

“I should have used my bow and arrow,” Fuja hissed. “Now everyone heard the gunshot!”

“Mouth shut, follow my commands,” Ajay said. “We’re already inside thanks to me.”

Just as they walked through the gate, other sounds echoed in the night. Many footsteps and clanking metal. The sound of a hundred warm breaths against the freezing weather. They turned around and searched the horizons.

A battalion of soldiers marched for Fort Tondoga. Ajay’s face contorted and realized he lacked enough bullets now. Fuja readied her bow and arrow, but mostly prepared to run away.

Until the soldiers revealed their colors. They belonged to the colonies!

Ajay ran down the hill, leaving his team in an awkward spot around the gate. He met the commander of the battalion, some Bennie Arnold.

“You’re interrupting our mission to take over the fort,” Ajay said. “Continue walking to that other fort—”

“Wasserbox send us.”

“No he didn’t.”

Arrold showed a document proving his story. Ajay sighed and looked back at his team.

“We attack together,” he said. “But I lead the mission.”

“No, I will.”

“No, me.”

“I outrank you,” Arrold said. “What are you even? Don’t think you’re even a soldier.”

“Light is almost upon us,” a soldier said. “If we don’t attack now, we shouldn’t have come.”

Ajay grinned. “You let your soldiers talk to you like that? You are certainly not suited for—”

“We lead together. Come on! Move! Fast!”

With the safety of a hundred soldiers at their back, the team snuck deeper into Fort Tondoga. They found no guards at the entry hallway. Ajay’s information about the terrible defense of this fort seemed correct. They quickly found piles of modern cannons and cannonballs to steal without resistance.

Fuja felt light in her head, pains in her stomach. Jefizon and Pikan felt the same pains, but the rhino whispered that he attributed it to their upcoming victory.

They might have become overconfident. She and Jefizon ran ahead of the pack, looking for more weapons, when a heavy object hit the back of her head.

Everything turned black.