“No...” He said looking at me. “You need to live up to your name Leader.” He looked down at the man on the ground, but continued to address me. “Have you ever killed a man Leader?”

I thought hard and long of all the times I had been in war as a soldier under orders. I thought of all the blood and screaming, the bombs and confusion. I looked up and gave him my true simple answer. “No, General.”

“Uh huh...” Said the General, shaking his head as if he really understood. “So do you like being a Leader?”

The man on the ground screamed as he saw the blood running down his face and into his mouth. He panicked and tried to get up, but then was kicked back down into his silence by the soldier closest to him.

“Yes General. I like my current position. But what does this-?”

“You need to live up to your name Leader.” interrupted the General. He looked down at the poor old man that was now helpless. “In order to keep your position, you must kill a man.”

The General went down over to the man, nearly passed out from his tiny battle of struggling, and kicked him hard. He yelped in pain and I winced from the horror sound. The General used his free hand and aggressively grabbed the coat collar of the man.

“Kill him...” Said the General, holding him out to me.

The soldiers looked at me with questioning faces. They were asking questions in their heads like, will he do it? What will happen if he doesn’t? I looked around for any sort help, but realized that this must be done.

“Kill him...” repeated the General.

“I... I don’t-” I looked down at the poor old man. He starred back at me with a sparkle in his gray eyes silently pleading for mercy. “I can’t do it.”

The soldiers gasped and automatically turned to the General. He was silent for a few moments. All that could be heard was the panicky quick breaths of the little old man. Finally he said, “Leader... If you want to keep your position then you must KILL HIM! DO IT! THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME I ASK YOU!”?
He threw the old man down with force in front of me. “Kill him leader!”

I looked around me and saw the faces. I knew that if I didn’t do this, it would be a huge disgrace to my position and to the entire fire clan. I tried not to think of what the others thought of me, a coward, and slowly pulled my coat back.