The male Son dragged himself over towards the man. “Where was the help when you were beating me bloody? Where was my mercy when my head was getting kicked in?! Where was the mercy when Euphyre bled?!” He also drew a hidden blade tucked away in his boot.
“Please…”
The Commander gave his order. “Let them go. They will take the horses and ride to Rulven. Ulane and Mayswood offer no guarantee of safety. Dress his wound as best as you can.”
“What? You’re going to let them go, after seeing what they did to us?” said the Son, “and on my horses?”
“Whoever wins, by the end of this war there will be a great need for forgiveness. Now you, Khasari, help your comrade to the horses and get out of here.”
The Rulven Khasari silently helped his comrade up and they hobbled towards the horses. Rhen wasn’t sure at all that this was best, but he wasn’t going to kill two defeated men. It would also amount to breaking Reisch’s order which, still feeling the pain of his broken hand being crushed under the weight of the soldier, didn’t seem like a good idea.
However, the Sons were not part of the Elsgard. The man picked up one of the spears lying on the ground and threw it with all his remaining strength. It struck the hamstrung man in his back. He fell face-first onto the road. Like a younger brother watching an elder disobey their father, Rhen turned to Reisch to see how he would react. The man just stood there, his head lowered in disappointment.
He said softly, “If you can’t find it in your heart to forgive your fellow man, then you should ask Yelia for forgiveness. You walk the same path as our ancestors.”
The man stood there for a second, looking out towards nothing. If Rhen could guess, it was probably contemplating the now discernible difference between what his country asked of him as a soldier, and what his belief in Yelia required of him as a man.
It was simpler for Rhen. He probably wasn’t as pious as he should be, but the Yelia of The Sin and what Karzark asked of its soldiers was mutually compatible. There was no need for doubt, no need to question the wellbeing of your soul. The Karzarki path was simple. They followed the path of their Yelia. Only now, looking into the Son’s blackened, bruised eyes for a second, a tiny crack in the foundation of his belief appeared. The Khasari’s broken oath of Heran had now marked Rhen as a traitor.
Once the man’s eyes returned their gaze to the physical realm, he started gathering up all the weapons on the road and said quietly, “We can’t leave them here. We’ll take them to the forest and give them a proper sending.” That was as close enough to asking for forgiveness that the man was willing to offer.
-------------------------------------
Kiern
“How nice it must be for you old men, far from the battles that make this war, to be able to criticise a loyal general. You call me disgraced and unjust, someone who disregarded Karzarki law. Tell me, where is the justice in the lives that were lost because of our ancient, outdated tradition? I held our Heran, and it cost my legion the battle. Those Euphyrian rats whose lives you hold higher than our own, I recognised their faces. It would have been more unjust to let them live.
General Hydix Parveq’s execution trial during the War of the Last King
For the second time in as many weeks, he stared into a funeral pyre. Five lives he never knew. Fathers, brothers, sons, husbands, who knew? Did they join the Khasari to exact a toll on the Euparyens out of a personal vendetta? Probably not. Did they march all the way across a desert just to patrol the roads and hunt down a few rebels? Probably not.
And yet, as he watched them burn, he found it hard to sympathise. Their oath was of grave importance to them judging by how Rhen stood and opposed them despite not having a weapon of his own. They cast it aside.
He could even sympathise with why they broke it. Their Herann or whatever it was called made no sense to him. It was dumb. They were conquerors, the first to overcome one of Yelia’s barriers, who defeated and occupied the lands of Euparyen for generations. And yet in complete opposition to their militaristic ethos, above all else they retained their belief that no soldier was a soldier until battle lines were drawn.
All Sons are tattooed. All Sons fight the invaders. These ones were even armed, as it turned out. Rhen probably hadn’t imagined so but, according to his own explanation, so long as they weren’t threatening the Khasari, they were still civilians. Ridiculous.
What he couldn’t sympathise with was that they had turned their backs on what they were supposed to be. They would have lived another day had they not done so. It was a stupid oath the Khasari had, but it was theirs to abide by. If you do not follow the laws of the uniform you wear, you are but an imposter. And these men in particular had surrendered their worth to simple thuggery.
He thought a little prayer; May their families find peace, and Yelia watch over them.
Sometime later, they found a nice place to make camp for the night. The great trees kept them from seeing the stars, but the Sons knew the way to Mayswood. They would not be found unless they wanted to be. The canopy kept the warmth of the forest from escaping, though it was still cold. Commander Reisch and the Sons set about making a fire. Kiern walked over and sat down next to Rhen who had found a nice rock amidst the foliage.
“Are you alright?” Three words didn’t seem enough. He was never good at consoling. Even the delivery was underwhelming. An owl nearby agreed with a single hoot.
“They were armed, after all. They killed two Khasari.”
Kiern remained silent for a second, having to change tactic. That wasn’t the answer he anticipated. “But-”
“Yet… they did not know at the time. But they did know their Heran before they joined. They knew the sanctity of it. They spat on Karzark’s traditions.” He let out a big sigh. “I just…I don’t know.”
“I’ll be honest with you Rhen, I’ve seen plenty of Sons very roughly handled by Khasari, but not like today. I don’t know if that makes you feel better or worse, but it seems to me that the specifics of that oath are rather situational. I’ve never met a Son who considers the oath when they make plans. What are the specifics? I’ve never had the chance to ask a Karzarki before.”
It was true. Any plan that relied on any goodwill on behalf of the Khasari was a bad plan. Fortunately, most plans he had been involved in required the Khasari to die. Large groups were avoided, so the likelihood of there being survivors were kept to a minimum.
“I’m not a Khasari. Who knows what it really is? For the non-Khasari among us, we’ve always just assumed – maybe that’s our problem. We’ve always assumed it is absolute, and that if you disagree with it, don’t join the Khasari.” Rhen shifted his weight on the rock, stirring up some foliage underneath his foot which caused the keen ears of the Sons to look their way. After Kiern reassured them no one was sneaking up on them they returned to their duties with a look of annoyance on their face.
“I’m sure those two over there would be happy to tell you their opinions on the matter. And I’ve said before but you’re a smart man, Karzarki. I don’t need to tell you that probably they would have the more convincing story to tell about it.”
Rhen nodded in agreement. “I’d be a fool to maintain my view of yesterday. Ugh, Yelia!” He rubbed his temples. “I still believe in Cerenean unification. It’s still a long way off but, I’ve always thought Karzark would be the most just in ruling, you know? After all, we stand on just principles. Civilians are not to be harmed. That’s a pretty good footing to begin unification with, don’t you think? But what are principles if we just toss them aside when it doesn’t suit us? Are we truly here for the right reasons? Is it truly something Karzark believes, or is it something civilians are told help carry on?”
He looked distraught, unsurprisingly. Well, surprising, given that it was Rhen but, unsurprising given what he had seen. His world’s foundation had been shaken. He wasn’t the first to have experienced that lately.
“Well, we don’t know how wide-spread their contempt
for Heran is, and we don’t know how they interpret it.. Perhaps it was just those five. Their patrols are normally six – perhaps they let their emotions get the better of them after losing one of their own.”
“And I will never know. Letting that Khasari from Rulven live has sealed my fate. I will remember you, Rhen Tallesen, traitor to all Karzark. All of Karzark will know your treachery, he said, riding off. Oh, what a tale he would tell. I imagine I won’t be welcome home any time soon.”
“Your fate is but your own making. You chose to stand up to men who had broken their oath. You could have swallowed your pride and let them pass and sentenced those two over there to a painful death.”
He pointed over towards the two Euparyens at the fire they had made in the woods. He didn’t need to worry about it. It was dark and deep enough in the woods that no Khasari patrol would come investigating. The Khasari sent back to Rulven may have arrived, but a patrol would still be hours away, and he doubted they’d set out at night into what could easily be an ambush. And since Kiern was pretty sure that not all Khasari had so unashamedly forsaken their oaths, some Sons sitting around a fire in the woods were irrelevant.
“You should go talk to them, Kiern. I don’t think they will want to talk to a Karzarki tonight, nor do I blame them. And I need some time alone.”
Kiern felt bad for leaving his friend alone but he didn’t know what else to say if he stayed. He used Rhen’s shoulder to push himself up and said, “I’m here if you need me. You are my friend. Come talk to me anytime.”
He left towards the fire. He noticed there were two rabbits roasting on a spit, and he was reminded that he was hungry.
“Are they nearly done?” he asked Nymessa, the woman with the bandaged leg. She had let her wavy black hair down, revealing a white streak on the side. This wasn’t the first time she was in such a condition.
“Soon enough.” She was sitting on a rock with her leg outstretched. That leg really was in bad shape. He didn’t expect her to march again to the next battleground.
“You saved my friend today. I saw what you did. I am in your debt,” he said, taking a seat next to her on the ground.
“Hmph. The Karzarki boy returned the favour. Let’s leave it at that and not think deeper.”
“He’s not like them, you know. He’s not a Khasari.”
“Okay, we’re thinking deeper. He’s a merchant, is he not? He fattens his purse by pillaging our lands. He is no Khasari, and we will not kill him, even if he has tainted blood. But,” she grabbed one of the rabbits off the fire, “he is not welcome here. Not in the homeland.”
“Well that’s a shame. He’s not welcome back in Karzark either after saving the hide of the enemy.” Kiern wasn’t too impressed with her reply. It made him re-evaluate his own thoughts on the matter.
“We have more important matters to worry about. His problem is not our problem,” said the man with the swollen face who had ambled over to them.
“Volkyr, I see the Commander’s words fell on deaf ears.”
“No, they didn’t. He had the right of it. I’ve thought of nothing else since I threw that spear into the man. But this war isn’t going to be won by feeling sorry for your enemy. Sparing his life today will cost one of our own tomorrow.”
The man was right. War was not a place for acts of kindness. Kill or be killed. It was simple. Yet…it didn’t feel right seeing the injured Khasari die like that. He probably would have been sent home.
“You made your choice, you did what you thought was right. I won’t hold that against you. However, I will not accept your scorn of Rhen.”
Nymessa tilted her head up to meet Kiern’s eyes. “He is not welcome here.”
Kiern snatched the rabbit out of her hands and threw it into the darkness. “What do you know?!” They stopped and stared.
“Tell me, why isn’t he welcome? He’s not one of you? I’m not one of you. I am Yalean. My home is far from here. Are you going to tell me I don’t belong here?! No, you won’t. Why? Because we are on your side. So, it is because Karzark is the enemy. Well, you saw what happened today, he is no friend of Karzark. You are alive because of him, and five Khasari died because he couldn’t swallow the injustice of what he saw. So, which one is it? Tell me right now.” His face was red with anger.
“He’s…”
“He’s what?!”
She lowered her head. Silence.
“Volkyr? What do you have to say?”
Silence.
“Merciful Yelia, save you both.” He stormed off. He had gone too far, that much he was sure. He should at least go and find the rabbit that he had thrown away. That was stupid of him.
He started scouring through the scrub by torchlight when he bumped into Rhen. He was carrying some clean bandages and…the rabbit.
“Rhen…you didn’t need to get the rabbit. I shouldn’t have thrown it away, I’m sorry. I just…”
“It’s fine. Thank you. I thought about things a bit and I’m going to talk to them. I’ll make this rabbit my peace offering. But maybe…make yourself scarce for a little bit? They might piss themselves if you come back.” Kiern snorted. They probably would.
“Alright then, good luck. Hopefully Volkyr has thrown his last spear today.”
He left Rhen to make his peace with the Euparyens and decided it was his turn to be alone for a while. He left the light of the camp and sat down in the darkness, alone with the woods and his thoughts. He thought about today’s fight. He was mentally exhausted from his training, but he had done it. Those daggers curved. It was marginal, and they flew true, but not straight. But he was exhausted. He hadn’t felt this cold in a long time. To make matters worse, a gentle snow began to fall.
“You did well today.” Commander Reisch hadn’t made a sound, but there he was, sitting next to him.
“It was only a little, and if I had missed…”
“But you didn’t. Your training paid off.”
“Even still, it drained me.”
“And so it should.” The Commander’s tone became more serious. “Magick is not a skill that will change the course of a war, nor should it.”
“What do you mean? You can stop arrows, control fire itself.”
“No, I cannot control fire. I suffocated it. And it took me a day to recover after that. It is not a skill that you should come to rely on, nor is it a skill that the world should know about.”
“Besides those who already know. We can’t be the only ones.”
“I don’t doubt some remember.”
“Remember?” Damn his ancestors.
“There are stories –”
“About our ancestors?”
“Yes, but not the Youngers. The Elders. They are but stories, however, stories have roots, and Magick certainly did not start with me.”
Kiern was all ears.
“Yalea is a fractured nation. The east has its roots in Paresan, the west in Galaces. But the north has always stood alone, always a periphery. They remember what others have forgotten. In their stories they claim Magick was first wielded by the Elders. At first, it was weak, like you and me. But as they wanted, needed more power, more control, they turned to the power of blood. It enhanced their power, but so too the cost.”
If that is what the north believed, then they were foolish. Though they were Yalean, those stories would be considered heresy (and rightly so) in the capital. It was a spit in the face of Yelia, of The Wrath. Perhaps it was best they stayed in the frigid northern wilderness. But Kiern didn’t feel it was a good time to interrupt Reisch, so he let him continue.
“As their plight grew more and more desperate, they came to rely on it more and more. What it achieved is lost to history, but I have my doubts as to what truly caused the Schism, among other things. But I will tell you now that Magick is no gift. It should not be used recklessly, even when facing death. One man’s death is lighter than a thousand.”
Kiern was confused. “So, why did you tell me about it?”
“You
asked.” He had a point.
“I guess you’re right.”
“I am.” Despite his annoying reply, Reisch did seem to leave the Commander veneer behind, and it was just the man who was sitting beside him.
“You know, I always had the choice to not join the Elsgard but, without arguing for argument’s sake, I never really had a choice. My father presumably served you if you knew him, then he died, and then you took me in. I’ve never questioned the Elsgard, our cause, nor you. I’ve never questioned the will of Yelia, nor our mission. But do you think it will actually work? Do you think if we obtain the four Caranaum Yelia will come back?”
“You have to have hope. I choose to believe that conquering your neighbours does not appease the goddess. The histories tell us the Youngers betrayed the love of Yelia by killing the Elders, and the logical course of action is to repent. Don’t you think so?”
“Of course.”
“If you were to repent, for the sins of man, don’t you think that the best course of action would be to surrender the artefacts that first allowed the destruction wrought by the hand of man?”
Kiern agreed. “We can’t be trusted with power. All we do is kill and assert our will on others. It is hubris that we think we know better than Yelia herself. She must rule. All of man’s convictions are fallible before the divine.”
Kiern knew Reisch was thinking of Volkyr killing that Khasari. “Come, let us return to the fire. I haven’t felt this cold in a long time.”
“You’re right. After today, you should be feeling winter’s bite.” For the first time, Kiern felt that it was Reisch who needed guidance. He wasn’t the man to give it, however. An awkward pat on the back and a simple it wasn’t your fault didn’t seem like it would help.
He returned to the Euparyens and Rhen. They were all alive, that was good. “Our Karzarki still breathes. I take it my words reached you, even though they were perhaps a little bit harsh.” He bowed slightly, offering his apology.
“A civilian is a civilian. A Khasari is a Khasari. I was wrong about Rhen, but I stand by killing that Khasari, cursed my soul be in the afterlife. I did what was right for my country.” Volkyr had a defiant look in his eye.
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