FANTASY

From Child Soldier to Soldier of Fortune

From Child Soldier to Soldier of Fortune by Albert_Aragones is a fantasy novel. I am a soldier, a warrior, and a killer. But above all, I am a man on a mission. A mission to reclaim my past and make those who took it from me pay. This is the story of my journey, from a normal person living in the United States to one of the most feared mercenary leaders in the world. This is the tale of how I was taken and transformed, of how I rose from the ashes of my old life to become a legend. Read From Child Soldier to Soldier of Fortune Blurb Below.

From Child Soldier to Soldier of Fortune Blurb

The acrid tang of cordite and the incessant drumming of automatic gunfire were the lullabies of Xander’s childhood. He didn’t remember sunshine and laughter, only the cold glint of a Kalashnikov in his tiny hands and the hollow echo of orders barked in a language he barely understood. War had been his cradle, violence his education.

He wasn’t born a soldier, though. Memories, fragmented and fleeting, flickered at the edges of his mind – a bustling city, the warmth of a hand holding his, the melodic lilt of a language not of war. These were whispers of a life stolen, a childhood ripped away by the brutal hand of circumstance.

One day, the fighting stopped, replaced by a chilling silence. Xander, a scrawny teenager hardened beyond his years, found himself alone amidst a battlefield littered with the corpses of children – his comrades, his only family. Grief, a concept alien to him until then, clawed at his throat, a primal scream trapped within the iron cage he’d built around his heart.

He wandered, a lost soul in a land ravaged by conflict. Hunger gnawed at his belly, fear a constant companion. But within the wreckage of his innocence, a seed of defiance sprouted. He wouldn’t be another nameless casualty. He would survive, and one day, he would understand why his life had been so cruelly twisted.

Fate, or perhaps a cruel twist of irony, led him to a mercenary outfit. Here, violence wasn’t a forced necessity, but a trade. Xander, a natural born killer honed by his horrific past, thrived. He learned the art of war not as a child soldier following orders, but as a mercenary choosing his battles. He devoured knowledge like a starving man presented with a feast – tactics, languages, the intricate dance of weaponry.

Years blurred into a relentless cycle of assignments. Xander, his real name long forgotten, became a legend whispered amongst warlords and arms dealers – “The Ghost,” a moniker earned for his lethality and his uncanny ability to disappear after a job was done. He amassed a fortune, but wealth held no allure for him. It was a means to an end, a way to fund his true mission – to find the ones who stole his past.

His journey led him down dark alleys and through the opulent halls of arms dealers, following a trail of blood and whispers. He encountered ghosts from his past – former child soldiers, their eyes holding the same emptiness that haunted him. He helped some, offered them a chance at a different life, a life he himself craved.

The trail led him to a warlord, a man shrouded in infamy, his hands stained with the blood of countless innocents. This was the man who orchestrated the raid, the man who turned Xander’s world into ashes. The confrontation was brutal, a dance of death fueled by years of suppressed rage. In the end, Xander emerged victorious, the warlord’s blood staining his blade, a grim offering to the ghosts of his childhood.

But vengeance, though a bitter satisfaction, didn’t bring closure. The memories remained fractured, a constant reminder of the life stolen. Xander realized then that his true enemy wasn’t a single warlord, but the system that created child soldiers, the system that profited from their misery.

He used his wealth and notoriety to create a haven – a sanctuary for former child soldiers. Here, they received not just physical rehabilitation, but also psychological healing, a chance to reclaim their identities, their childhoods stolen but their futures not yet written.

Xander, the Ghost, the soldier of fortune, became a beacon of hope for those lost in the darkness. He continued his mercenary work, but his targets were carefully chosen – those who perpetuated the system, those who profited from war. Each mission was an act of defiance, a way to dismantle the machine that had nearly destroyed him.

His journey was far from over. The scars of his past would forever mark him, a constant reminder of the darkness he had overcome. But within him burned a fire, a determination to ensure no child would ever again be forced to endure what he had. Xander, the soldier, the warrior, the man on a mission, would continue his fight, one bullet, one life saved, at a time.