The Past
Malikai felt a spot of wetness on her cheek, which she wiped away unconsciously. When she pulled her hand back she saw that the tips of her fingers were smudged with blood.
The battle had ended. A fire blazed nearby where the last of the southern brigade had fortified themselves inside a general store, intending to stymie the flow of the crown’s forces through a measly doorway. Unfortunately, as with the rest of the village, the roof was woven thatch, and burned much quicker than the efforts of their desperation could overcome.
The rest of the village was also in ruin. Malikai pulled a small handkerchief from between chink at her right elbow and dragged the cloth across her face, observing the modest structures that were being swallowed in billows of smoke. Piles of bodies of men caged in the once light blue and golden armor of their enemies lay half-buried in the sodden earth. A few of the crown’s men had fallen with them, sightless faces spattered with dirt and blood. She spent a short moment scanning for those most familiar, offering a silent prayer as she sheathed her sword.
One of the men raised the king’s standard in the middle of the wide road, a sign of their victory, although there was no one left but their armies to see it. Another walked among the bodies, turning this one and that to ensure that they were all dead. Malikai spotted a small head of hair get pushed aside, almost hidden beneath the others. She looked away quickly as the soldier brought his sword up, blinking away the image as she searched for the other knights that had come with her.
Lawrence stood nearby with his leg propped on a hitch, adjusting his forearm guard. His helmet removed, she could see the sweat plastering his platinum locks to his temple, gathering at his brow. As she approached he looked up. When he met her eyes Malikai felt her heart tremble, but she ignored it. Instead, she lifted up her handkerchief and offered it to him. Lawrence accepted with a radiant smile.
“Kai,” he boasted sweetly, “hero of the heroes.”
“I’m glad to know you made it through,” she said, glancing away from him.
“Are you surprised?”
“Sometimes.” She heard him let out a soft laugh, which drew her eyes right back.
“I went to the academy, same as you. Graduated with top honors, if I properly recall.”
“You slept through every single class.”
“Because war can’t be taught through books. If it could all our professors would be here, on the frontlines. But they do seem rather more comfortable talking about it.” He brandished Malikai’s handkerchief to clean his face, before stepping off of the hitch and handing it back to her.
“Still,” she said, “this was not a normal battlefield. By the sound of the tower bell, it appears they knew we were coming.” She glanced up at the burgeoning blue of the sky. “The moonless night was hardly an aide to us. There was nothing but chaos until dawn.”
“Well, we remedied that,” Lawrence said, shrugging a gesture at the crumbling houses still burning around them.
Malikai pursed her lips, looking around once more at the carnage that they left behind. Their scout had informed them of a brigade camped just over a few miles from where they had last stopped on their way to Yeve’neyia, the capital of the southern kingdom and the last real stronghold of the southern armies. Lawrence was in command; he agreed to route their men slightly to the west to confront the brigade, besieging them under the cover of darkness.
As far as Malikai knew, it would’ve been a quick victory. The scout failed to mention that the brigade was quartering in a village full of southern citizens.
“Recklessly,” said Malikai. “There were more than soldiers here.”
After a minute of silence, Lawrence let out a sigh, raking his hair back away from his face. “We didn’t know that,” he said. The wind began to blow, carrying the smell of gore and blackened flesh and fear. “There was no mention of them in the report. I didn’t even notice myself until we were already in the fray, but like you said, it was hard to know what was going on.”
The image returned again to her eyes, mixed with many others. “Yeah.”
“We avoided who we could.” With sincerity, perhaps to give comfort, he stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.
She said, “His majesty will need to be informed.”
“Of course,” Lawrence replied. He studied her quietly. Then his lips pulled into a hesitant smile. “Shall we go and find the others?”
Malikai nodded. His hand slipped from her shoulder as he walked ahead of her. She thought back on his words as she followed, wondering at the scout’s lack of foresight to check the village thoroughly before making his report. He had never made a mistake like that before, but she would suggest later that they have him questioned. The crown’s armies were there to free the southern citizens of the unjust rule of their king, not to harm them. They could hardly do that if they were all dead.
Ash attacked her throat. The village smoldered in the growing light. Mounds like open graves became more than shadow, and she considered Lawrence’s words again. We avoided who we could. From the stillness that reigned, it would appear they hadn’t managed to avoid anyone at all.
eight warriors go to war for the Realms, seven come back; they are praised for the battle, endowed with wealth and titles beyond measure, but none of them ever speak of what happened there.
The-Bleu-Bivouac 