Wings of Honor: Tales of Pyrrhia

Chapter 11: Basic Training

First of all, Jade Mountain Academy was maybe a place where I should've brought half my squad.
Between dodging curious and hungry dragons, I got a glimpse of the place I saw in my vision. Only instead of hellfire, it was calm. At least, as calm as it could be considering a public school. The trees led out into an empty and calm ocean, with no enemies, no threats. The library turned out to be a treasure trove of information and supplies. I snagged a map of the area, and enough supplies to make a water still large enough to service all of us and then some.
Starflight, the helpful but nervous librarian, seemed less cheerful than one would've observed. Somehow, I found that he had been blinded by an explosion from something. Clay had saved him, but it left him totally blind. I shivered at the thought of losing my sight. I wouldn't be able to see my family or my hometown again. The face of my smiling mother Moniqua. The stern but competent scruffed face of my father Arthur. My cheerful but mischievous brother Gregory. Even the peaceful face of my grandma Aneeta. The green growing town settled gently in the middle of our central valley. I remember seeing it from the mountains, at a country house of a friend from church. Then I wondered what I would do if it was all taken away. I secretly wiped away a tear.
I'll focus on the here and now. I'll worry about going home later.
I felt a warm presence, keeping me company as we walked. Moon had stayed nearly silent the entire walk there. I wondered if she was just listening. Listening to my story, and trying to figure out of I was a useless, broken soldier who was woefully unprepared to tackle this new situation.
"Um... I don't think you're broken."
I chuckled. "Maybe now. Just wait until I've told you about the things I've seen, I've done." The memories of all the missions I've dropped in. The hell I've seen. Destroyed towns, townspeople and soldiers alike hanged for petty crimes. The camps.
Oh, God. The camps I've witnessed. Dachau. People starved, forced naked, and left to die in rotting, broken-down buildings. A horrible memory came to mind, how I accidentally killed a man by giving him my last reserve of good chocolate. At least, until I saw Moon reeling by something. I remembered we had a mental connection, sending in Mr. Sweeps to clear my mind. She immediately improved.
"H-how can you do things like that?" She asked.
"Like what?" I turned to face her while still walking.
"I never knew how to clear my mind. At least..." At least not until I met Darkstalker.
Darkstalker? "But, to answer your question. I guess I just... figured it out one day. I mean, all the combat, stress, all of that. You need a way to just... clear your head. Relax. So you can look at the situation from a better angle, and not go insane stressing about the small stuff."
"Almost exactly what Darkstalker taught me."
"And, thanks for circling back, Who is this Darkstalker character?"
"Oh, he was... a bad person. He was a prophet and a mind reader, like us."
"Huh." I looked ahead.
"But he was also an animus dragon."
"Animus?" I turned to face her a moment.
"Yeah. Dragons who can enchant things with magic."
"Well, I'll be. First mindreading, prophecies, real-life dragons, now magic? Is there anything remotely normal like here?" Moon gave me a confused look, as if this was perfectly normal to them. "I mean, the way I meant normal. We don't get mindreaders or prophets or magic. Unless you go down to LA and pay 20 bucks to get wowed for a moment by a magician, until his buddies rifle through your pockets."
"Sounds like an interesting place this city is."
"Psh! You have no idea."
I noticed the cave opened up, my eyes adjusting to the sudden change in brightness. There was a rather large pool of water before us. A small skylight let in enough light to see. Reflecting and refracting off the decently still surface. Ripples from condensation, or echoing an entrence or exit of something or someone.
This was where- Moon didn't finish her thought.
I knelt, taking a good look at the water. It was clear, from what I could tell. I scooped a small amount of it in my hand, lapping it up. A faint, funky, taste entered my mouth. It wasn't the saltiness of my hands or the hard minerals from the rocks.
"Did people bathe in this?" I frowned.
I felt a tinge of embarrassment radiate from Moon
"Yeah. Me and Turtle swam here once."
"Okay. Well..." I turned back to the lake. "at least it's still drinkable. How long we'll go before getting some sort of illness is another question altogether." We can sterilize this water once we get back to camp. Right now, any water is good water.
I stooped down, dipping the first canteen in. The soft "gloop gloop" sounds of water and air equalizing in the bottle.
"So... what do you plan to do here?" Moon asked, laying down next to me.
"I don't know. If at all possible, I'd like to at least get my men safely home."
"That's nice of you. But..."
"But what?" I knew what she was thinking, but I caught her mid-thought. She hung her head.
"Those visions I see in you. That's from the war right?"
I sighed, capping the second canteen. "Yeah. It is truly a world war. It's practically over now, but they're fighting to the last man. To the death."
"That's horrible!" Moon recoiled.
"Tell me about it." I sighed. "I don't want to put you through that. If I could keep my worst memories from you in a respectful way." I stopped and sighed for a moment. "What I'm trying to say, Moon, is that I don't want to bring the war here. From what I gather, you all have this peace thing figured out. We haven't yet. When I was born, wars were still going on, I don't think I've ever seen a day of true world peace. I don't want to bring that to you, I can't bring that to you." I cried. I broke down crying.
The men I led to their deaths. The people I killed. This damn war. This God damned war!
I felt Moon come closer, enveloping me with her wing. She pulled herself alongside me, and I felt all the pain and suffering begin to melt away. Here was someone, who knew me as well as I knew myself. She was alien, but so was I to her. She trusted me as much as I trusted anyone. She knew what this felt like, even though I tried to spare her from it. I hate to say this, but it felt nice to know someone who truly knows how you feel.
"I only hope you feel the same."
"I-Thank you, Moon."
I hugged her leg, where I could. Together, somehow, we could get through this. And maybe get home in time to celebrate one final Easter. Together.