Chapter 75
Nicholas
Our armies were too congested, especially being attacked from all directions as we’re pinned in the middle. Marco and I didn’t possess offensive magic, so instead, we raced through the fighting, helping the injured fallen.
During our travel through Windguard, Marco shared the realities of war I hadn’t yet heard from him. He’d seen battle with his army several years back, fending off his neighboring kingdom that sought to claim resource filled areas of Duski.
Whenever he’d shared his war stories in the past, it was usually over dinner, the wine an unnecessary flourish to his storytelling abilities. They’d mostly entailed experiences from within his own band of soldiers, jokes and pranks they’d pull while lying in wait for the day’s fight.
This time, however, he’d confessed what actually goes on.
None of his charismatic nature shone when he’d recanted how the death rattle from dying lungs still haunted his memories.
How soldiers scooped their insides into their hands, trying to physically hold themselves together after being sliced so thoroughly by a sword.
How he’d left shreds of his humanity on those bloody fields because practicality was everything during war, and the tenderhearted died the quickest, leaving gaping holes in defenses that could cost you everything. Decisions needed to be brutally concise.
I came across another fallen body, one that blinked at the sky while his body jerked uncontrollably. Shock had spread through his system. His ribs pierced through his leathers, his body having been yanked to the ground with such force that his skeleton protruded.
A case like this would take days of healing magic.
“You did it. You saved us all,” I said as I crouched beside him.
With erratic jolting movements, he brought his weary stare to meet mine.
For a moment, the light returned to his eyes.
His lips shakily pulled into a smile, accepting praise from his king.
I would never forget the way his smile faded while his body fell still.
Marco decided more expeditiously whether a life was worth stopping to save.
I didn’t judge him for it, though I couldn’t bring myself to match his speed.
The only wars Highcrest had seen over recent decades were across the waters as allies, all under my father’s reign.
I’d never seen war, and now I could never unsee it. Unhear it. Unsmell it.
“Alaina?” Marco asked, eyebrows pinched so close together he could have held a coin in there. He rushed to a wagon bed and flipped back the tarp. “What are you doing here?!” He offered her a hand.
“Evenita told me to stay here until you were sent for me.” She took his hand, but he released it. For the first time today, indecision crossed his features.
“Fuck,” he muttered, reaching for the tarp.
“What are you doing?!” she questioned as he pulled the tarp over her head.
“I wasn’t sent for you, I just stumbled upon you. Stay here until I come back,” he said, hands clenched and flexing at his sides.
Fire erupted in the trees not far from us, and pain induced screams echoed through the woods. He and I took off, and on the way I asked why he’d left her behind. He hadn’t left her side since returning until the battle began.
“Seers speak precisely. If she told Alaina to stay until I summoned her, then that is what needs to happen. Anything different will alter fate, and while I like to think highly of myself, cousin, I won’t pretend to have more wisdom than fate herself.”
Surprisingly humble.
Marco stared off into the distance. “Might be better looking, though.” He flashed a crooked smile, but his expression turned grim as he gazed south. “This won’t last much longer.”
Far off in the distance, color leached from the vibrant green forest. Windguard would soon look like Argora Vale.
The enemy had been clever in their ambush, but while they may have eradicated the portion of Windguard’s army that had been sent with us, a portion of Highcrest and Duski remained, locked in battle, putting up a worthy fight.
From what I could tell, our numbers were dwindling. But at the same time, so were theirs.
“Losing hope is just as dangerous as surrender, cousin,” I repeated his words back to him. He had said he’d seen men live or die based on the hope they held onto. He turned to me with that classic, charming smile.
“Whoever said that must be pretty wise.”
“And handsome,” I added.
He chuckled softly, taking the moment to regain his will. “Alright, let’s go win a war.”