Only at that last line did I realize what they were singing about.
“It’s all a metaphor,” the commander said, voicing what I had been thinking. “Kera is the eye.” The commander caught me off guard, as I hadn’t considered that she knew her. “I knew her. I was with her the day she was killed.” The commander turned toward me. “How else do you think I got these?” She pointed out her scars. “We all lost something that day. I was just lucky that I didn’t lose my life.” She paused.
“I...I don’t know what to say-”
“How about nothing? There isn’t anything to say. We’ve already lost so much, but we can still lose more if we don’t stand up to the White. That’s why we need you.”
“I can’t help with that-”
“You’re wrong.” The commander’s voice was hard. “You’re the one person who can help the most.”
“And what if I’m not the one? What if I’m another Kera?” I sucked in a breath, as I saw the commander’s scarred face. “I can’t lead a rebellion. I’m not even a part of all this.” I turned to go, but she gripped me by the wrist and forced me to face her.
“How can you be so selfish?”
Her words struck me with a strength that a physical blow could not. I realized it was because I heard truth in them.
By now, I was desperate. I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t selfish in walking away from leading the cause. Somehow, that too failed and I couldn’t believe myself. I knew that the commander was right.
“You don’t have to say anything,” the commander stated. “Just think of what I’ve said. You would be a most valued leader. It’s your choice.”
She handed me the sheathed blade. It was a comforting weight against my leg as I walked out. I left with those words ringing in my head. They reverberated again and again, echoing louder each time. ‘It’s your choice.’
I walked out of the commander’s quarters and into a mass of people. There were both Trigons and humans, none of whom had even the merest clue of what had just taken place in the commander’s rooms. Nonetheless, they were all individually affected by it. They didn’t know of the proposition posed to me, but, either way, it would drastically change their lives; it could even result in their deaths.
It felt good to be one of the crowd. My face was only one of many and it blended in and out of focus with the rest. There was a Trigon group to my right and a human group to my left. The idle chatter and greetings around me filled my head and drowned out the mantra singing in my mind.
Eventually, I found myself in the solitude of my room. I didn’t mind the quiet or the detachment there. I rather enjoyed it, as it gave me a moment to recollect myself and let my facade of emotion drop.
I noticed a Red envelope lying on my desk. It was peculiar I noticed it, as its color was quite similar to that of the desk and it almost blended in.
The envelope’s flap was sealed perfectly closed, as if someone had taken great pains with it. The letter inside was also written on Red stationary. It was in a neat hand and thanked me profusely for accompanying Lilith here. It wasn’t until the end of the letter that I saw that it was sent by her grandparents. I felt all the better knowing that Lilith was in safe hands. I knew that someday when she was older, her grandparents would tell her what really happened to her parents; however, for now, they were just on a long trip.
I wanted to thank them personally, but I didn’t know where they lived. Knowing the commander’s secretary would be able to tell me, I walked back to the commander’s chambers. He kindly pointed me the right way, describing it as next to one of the mess halls.
The cabin wasn’t hard to find. It wasn’t the biggest building or for that matter the smallest, but there was something very unique about the cabin. The outside was dotted with Red poppies. They were on the windowsills, on the ground, by the door, and everywhere else in between. They gave it a pleasant homey sense, especially in contrast to the angular mess hall that stood next to it.
I hesitated, but knocked on the door while thinking of what to say. Luckily, I didn’t have long to wait before a stout old man opened the door.
“Keldon?” I asked, for that was the name in the letter.
“Yes,” he replied, looking a little perplexed.
I thought his confusion was because he didn’t know who I was. I was about to introduce myself when Lilith wriggled by him.
“I knew I heard your voice!” she said beaming. “You know who this is,” she told her grandfather. “Wasn’t I right, Grandpapa? I knew I’d see them both again.”
“Yes, you are sweetheart,” Keldon said. “Now, why don’t you run inside and get Grandmama.”
Lilith ducked inside and disappeared from view, but I could still hear her puerile footsteps.
“Nice to meet you,” Keldon said, extending his hand, which I promptly shook.
“Likewise,” I said, putting my facade of emotion firmly back in place.
Lilith appeared again, this time dragging her grandmother behind her by the hand.
“Lovely to meet you,” Aurelee said. I remembered her name too from the card she signed. “Won’t you please come in?”
Accepting the offer, I was pulled in by an enthusiastic Lilith, who promptly sat me down in the nearest chair.
“Would you like something to eat or drink?” Aurelee asked.
“No, thank you,” I responded, as I glanced around at the room.
Though the furnishings matched every other cabin and building in the area, there was that nostalgic feeling reflected again inside, which was also discernible outside.
“What a beautiful house you have,” I said and saw Lilith’s tiny face glow in pride.
“Why, thank you,” Aurelee replied. “We do our best to make it feel homey.”
I told her that it most certainly was.
“Keldon,” she called to him. “Why don’t you and Lilith go out for a breath of fresh air?”
“But I want to stay,” Lilith pleaded, looking at me.
“I’m sure our guest will be here when you come back.”
“Do you promise?” Lilith asked me.
“I promise,” I said. It reminded me of the first promise I made her. Since then, we had been through a lot.
Keldon left with Lilith in tow. Closing the door, I heard her remark that they had to walk quickly, so I wouldn’t leave before they came back.
“Isn’t she the sweetest,” Aurelee said with a smile. “We just can’t thank you enough for bringing her safely to us.”
“It wasn’t just me ...”
“Oh, yes. We know about the boy. We were able to talk to him for a little while yesterday and thank him.
He has his heart in the right place.” Aurelee smiled, brushing away a strand of gray hair from her left face.
“Yes, he does,” I agreed.
“If there’s anything we could do for you to properly thank you, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“You’re very kind,” I said. “There is one thing I would like to ask of you, though.”
“Anything,” she breathed.
“Can I see Lilith on occasion? I don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“Oh, that wouldn’t be a disturbance at all. Besides, I’m sure Lilith would love that,” she said.
A brief moment of silence followed, but a question burned to be asked and I didn’t know how. Finally, I spoke, “How ... When will you tell Lilith of her parents?”
Aurelee understood what I had meant. “Keldon and I want to wait until the war is over,” she said, her voice suddenly weary with fatigue. “She deserves to know, but not now. Not in these times.”
I understood her completely. About that time, the door creaked open.
“Grandmama, we’re home!” Lilith bounced into the room.
“So, I see.” Aurelee’s face transformed into one of happiness. Her eyes crinkled in delight and her voice was tired no more.
It was clear to see that Lilith was her whole life and joy. Lilith seemed to have
that effect on most people. She enchanted them all and put them under her spell.
“You kept your promise!” Her smile transcended her faces and seeped through into her voice.
“Yes, I did.” For her, I plastered a smile on my face, but my voice still sounded harsh and apathetic.
There was a shout outside and my head snapped up. I heard the sound of yelling and a commotion coming from the other side of the commander’s quarters. I hastily excused myself and rushed toward it, with everyone else who was running toward the uproar, instead of away from it.
Shoulders hit mine, as some of the crowd ran away from whatever sight they had seen. They pushed their way past me in a great hurry, which made me even more curious as to what I’d find.
A mob had gathered to see what had occurred, but because of the hoards of people, no one could see anything. Shouts and screams of all different voices mingled and buzzed past my head. Between legs in the crowd, I caught a glimpse of a bloodied man crawling on the ground.
“What happened?” I asked a random woman next to me. I had to raise my voice to be heard. She looked worried and I hoped that man wasn’t her husband, brother, or child.
“I don’t know,” she yelled over the clamor of voices. “All I know was that a group went out hunting a few hours ago.”
I pushed my way to the front of the mob. I saw around half a dozen men, both Trigon and human, being lifted up into the encampment. They were all badly injured, blood dripping from them and staining the wooden floor. Some of their limbs were dragging at odd angles, but each looked back, helping the one behind him in whatever way he could.
Then, a scream pierced the air, it was coming from a woman who General Gerrard had to fend off. “Leander!” she cried out. “My boy, Leander! Where is he?” Her arms reached past the general, clawing the air frantically for her son.
She was only one of many, but the crowd knew well how she felt. Everyone there was hoping that his or her loved one was safe, that he wasn’t one of the throngs left dead below.
The commander was there, barking out orders, and I somehow found myself volunteering to help one of the injured men. She pointed out one of the men, and directed me to carry him back to my room. The Trigon she motioned me to get stared at me for a while, as if he wanted to say something, but only a groan escaped him. He looked familiar, but with all the blood covering his face, I couldn’t recognize him.
As I put one of his arms around my shoulders and prepared to haul him over to my room, I felt his weight become lighter. Looking over to the other side of his body, I saw that the boy had taken the man’s other arm onto his shoulder and was helping me lift him.
When we got to my room, we laid the bloody man on the bed and proceeded to examine his wounds. I was no expert in these matters, but his injuries looked ghastly. The man’s body lay at a strange angle, his leg bending underneath him.
“I’ll go get something to clean him off with,” the boy said.
More than ever, I was grateful for his help. The blood on the man’s body stained the sheets a deeper Red. It looked as if he slept on a crimson petal. Though I could only begin to imagine the pain he suffered, his face remained blank and collected. If I didn’t know any better, I would have called his face peaceful.
When the boy returned, he had a basin of water, a sponge, a towel, and bandages. Then, we began cleaning the man’s wounds. They were countless and of different sizes and depths. For a time, the man gritted his teeth and tensed up each time the sponge or towel touched his skin, but after a while of this, he lost consciousness.
The crusted blood washed off, coloring the water a rusty Red. As we cleaned his wounds, the Red washed over him, seeming to rejuvenate him before our very eyes. Layer after layer of dried blood and dirt were sponged away, until, finally, we uncovered the man’s youth. He was no man at all. He was a boy around the age of the boy and me. Further still, he was no stranger. It was Nalin.
I was astounded by the discovery, but my hand never faltered. Soak the towel with water. Clean a gash. Wash the blood off the towel in the basin. It was an unconscious ritual and I didn’t have to think about it.
“I’ve got to go and help with the other injured,” the boy said. “You’ll be okay?”
“I will,” I said. How could I have said anything other than that? I knew the boy worried for me, because his heart was in the right place, but he had other people who depended on him even more than I did.
I continued washing and dressing Nalin’s cuts and slashes until he finally came to. I didn’t notice exactly when he regained consciousness, but soon he was sitting up.
“I’m sorry about your bed,” he said, and even at a time like this, he chuckled in his special way.
I couldn’t respond to that, so I focused on wrapping the deep cut on his forearm. It had to be tight enough to stem the bleeding.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I lost it at those words. I didn’t mean to snap, but his words were the final bricks I could take. “What’s wrong?” I thundered. “Here you are, with more than twenty gashes and countless broken bones and you ask me what’s wrong?”
“I didn’t know you cared so much,” he said.
I balked. “Of course, I care.” I finished bandaging his wounds in silence. Nalin didn’t utter a sound, although I knew he must have been in great pain.
“So, what happened out there?” I asked, after I had calmed my temper.
“What do you know about it?”
“All I know is that your group was out hunting and this isn’t a normal hunting incident,” I replied, gesturing toward his numerous injuries.
“We were finishing the day’s hunt,” he said, reaffirming what I had heard earlier. “We were only about thirty minutes away from the encampment when we were attacked.”
“Attacked? By the unfeelings?”
“Yes, by the White,” he said. “Only some of us managed to escape.”
“And the others?”
“They were all either killed or captured.”
“What will the unfeelings do to the captured men?”
“Kill them if they’re merciful,” he said with a blank face.
“And if they’re not?”
“They’ll make them wish they were dead.”
I was mute at his words. They were harsh, but I knew that they were true.
The boy brought in Nalin’s meal and asked if I could help in distributing food to the rest of the injured. I looked to Nalin for a sense of permission to leave his side, but he merely laughed and waved me on my way.
“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?”
“Only a pencil and some paper,” he responded.
I crossed swiftly to the desk and found precisely what he wanted. At the boy’s questioning look, Nalin explained and what he said brought a long lasting smile to the boy’s face.
“I like to draw.”
Helping him carry the food, I made the meal rounds with the boy. We went to each room and visited every injured man. They were all being tended by weeping family members, mothers, daughters, or sisters, who were all thankful that their boy was one of the few who survived. However, every one of them also felt guilty with the knowledge that there were those who hadn’t been so lucky.
The boy talked softly and greeted everyone we met by name. The people in turn talked to him. They confided in him and told him their fears. The boundaries holding Trigons and humans apart didn’t seem to apply to him, as I saw the boy connect with both species in a way I knew I never could. He felt the same emotions they did and it was clear that he really cared and did his best to help.
We finished our rounds and went back to my room again. The boy left on another errand for one of the Trigon families. Nalin was sleeping, as tranquilly as possible for a recent near death experience. I didn’t want to disturb him, so I found myself outside again.
Deciding that I had an answer to the commander’s question already, I made my way to her rooms for the second time t
hat day. The door opened after only one knock and it seemed as if the commander were expecting me.
“... and move all the injured into the rooms we prepared,” the commander was saying to a young human girl. “Do sit down,” she offered, as the girl left the room. Motioning to a seat at the same table I had sat at earlier, the commander herself took a seat at the head. “I assume you have a verdict you want to give?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, then go ahead,” the commander insisted. “Talk.”
“I will be honored to lead the Red cause.”
“I knew you would step up to lead us. You can provide our side with a strength that even the Pure One doesn’t have. You can band two races together under one common goal. Faith in the prophecy can bring unity, and only you can do it.”
“Commander?” She looked up. “You’re wrong about one thing.”
“And what is that?”
“I won’t be doing this alone.”
The commander visibly leaned forward and uttered one simple word. “Who?”
“The boy.”
He’s only one of the crowd, a camouflaged face amidst many. What makes him qualified to lead with you?” she scoffed. The commander stood up and walked around the table to where I sat.
“The people will accept him. He’s one of them and they know it,” I argued to blocked ears. “What makes me qualified?” I added when it was obvious she was not convinced.
“You’re of the prophecy.”
“And that makes me worthy to band together two races and lead them to what will be certain death for many of them?” I asked her. “And what if I’m not the one the prophecy was talking about, or what if the prophecy was wrong?”
“Then it wouldn’t matter. As long as the people believe you’re the one the prophecy talks about, they’ll believe in you.”
“I want the boy to be the face of the cause.”
“But-”
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