His voice was clearly damaged, no doubt he had taken charge of the battlefield and worn out his lungs with orders.


    "I thought you''d be dead." His sentence was ended by a fit of coughing that landed him leaning against the nearest tree keeping his head parallel to the ground. Still, he continued. "I suppose our staggering loss today at least two of you will live to tell the tale."


    So we had lost. He fell to the ground and the soldier with me quickly rushed over to lean his back against the tree so he wouldn''t be inhaling dirt and fallen leaves.


    "How did we lose?" She had chimed in after ensuring he was sitting upright.


    He cleared his throat before speaking again.


    "Shortly after my arrival at the enemy encampment, I had believed my impact strong enough to result in the death of their mage, but as I turned my back he emerged an abomination. Some devilish spell he cast gave him the ability to ravage the entire battlefield." He paused to swallow, but as he opened his mouth to speak again blood spilled out. He went into another fit, pouring his organs out with every cough.


    She had rushed over once more with a potion in hand. While shoving it down his throat she examined his body. Lifting a piece of leather he had loosely placed over his armor revealed a gash over his heart. He winced as she removed the leather, exposing the wound, and she placed it back over the hole in his armor as quickly as she had taken it off.


    "Before I had the strength to respond, I viewed the corpses of hundreds, I looked to the location of my camp and found ruins." He spoke more softly. "I am to blame. No doubt my arrogance is the cause of this resultant incident."


    "Don''t speak like that." She interrupted him again. "It''s not like a noble to take responsibility. Didn''t your parents teach you anything?"


    He chuckled. "I hope you aren''t taking advantage of my injuries to slander me."


    "I might''ve thought of that." She had cut off the sleeve of her blouse and after alteration, wrapped it around the area of his wound. She stood up and walked over to me, handing me a potion as well.


    "We are to blame, your grace." I provided an interruption of my own. "Had we handled the wizard effectively instead of assuming victory after killing the wrong target he would not have gone on to defeat our forces."


    After the potion was empty, the feeling of my legs returned. However much pain I had as a result of this was infinitely better than before.


    "Do not blame yourselves." He wiped the blood near his mouth with his sleeve. "If I am to hold any pride as a commander it should be in my tactics. My father would insult me far more than I currently am if he had witnessed this defeat."Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    She had walked over to a tree a ways away from the both of us, forming a triangle between us three. "There''s no use in complaining about it. You ran from the battlefield because you wanted to survive, right? If you sit here sobbing they''ll just find you anyway."


    I was about to scold her when I saw his grace gesture at me to hold my words.


    "You speak well for a commoner." He gave her a slight smile.


    "This is probably my only opportunity to get out of your estate. I hope you''ll forgive me for skipping the theatrics."


    "What grievances do you hold toward my family?" His smile had disappeared soon after her comment.


    "Nothing in particular. I don''t do well with orders." She was taking swigs from her pouch of water in between responses.


    "If you were some sort of insurrectionist I would''ve heard of you."


    "If I were stupid, you''d know that I''m an insurrectionist. I prefer to deal with these things silently."


    "So you''re the one who sent your commander into the woods that night."


    The conversation was escaping from my understanding, each sentence rife with information, leaving me babbling to myself just struggling to understand the basics of this exchange. She was a rebel? She killed our former commander? I was caught up in contemplating whether she had ever shown signs of this, when I re-entered the conversation they had moved to an entirely separate topic.


    "There is no reason for me to believe the capital will fall within the next century." His voice had returned to him, somewhat.


    "All of you nobles say you''re different and yet your view of the world is the same. If King Farjerd hadn''t happened to be in Prymdor at the time the Ernstoff Twins would''ve caused the collapse of the country right there and then. The empire survived by luck, and they learned nothing."


    "I would not call that luck. Farjerd was in the running for a position in the monarchy at that time already, that was a choice made by him because he had wanted to assist in the growth of Melantia."


    "Yes, you nobles love to think that you''re all so great and everything good comes from the things you do, even if they aren''t on purpose."


    "If it ''just so happens'' to be that way, then what argument do you have against such a claim?"


    Their argument was interrupted by a bellowing scream throughout the entire forest. She spoke before he could explain what it was.


    "I guess that''s our wizard friend?"


    "If those noises are him, then I''d suggest you both ready your blades?"


    "You truly expect us to win against that thing?" I had come out of silence.


    "Is it unfair for me to have faith in my knights in shining armor?"


    "If I return this favor, will you let me go when the time comes?" They stared at each other after she said this. Neither of them said a word, but I knew that he was deciding whether to accept her offer.


    "I could lie right now, say that I''ll free you, and then keep you under the estate after you both save us all."


    "You could, but I was under the impression that Dorian Maeldt is a man of his word."


    The silence was filled with the sound of the approaching wizard.


    "We do not have the time for you two to be strong and silent!"


    "Very well." He spoke to her. "You have my word that you shall be free."


    She smiled at him in response. "Then I guess we''ve got a mage to kill, commander." She looked back at me, and just then the abomination he had not properly described made itself apparent.


    Standing just above the treetops, a black mass of agony and despair lay before us.