THE APPLE OF SNAKES

lvii. toy soldier

Nerluce would not pretend that battle strategy was his forte. 

His grip tightened around his red reigns. Though Nerluce wasn't by any means an expert, he wasn't completely naive to it either. Lady Okiachi was a border lord, Coam was a war hero, and Ethera had trained him not just as a magickian but a Seraph. With all of those things, it was impossible for Nerluce to not at least know the basics.

And logically, of course, he knew that the back of any formation was one of the safest positions a person could ride in. Kings and lords and generals were all notorious for falling back into the safety of their army after leading the charge. They were creatures who valued their own lives quite a bit and if anyone came home, it was always these kings and lords and generals. Therefore, being in this safest position, Nerluce shouldn't be in any real danger.

If only his hands would stop shaking. 

"Ride swiftly and fight ferociously," Lord Father said, standing high above the men and women in armor on horseback. "Abandon your morals in this yard. The snake is not a dishonorable creature for defending its home with venom. You are the same." He lifted his head, red eyes gleaming. "Use whatever power you must to kill them. All of Itoroh watches you with bated breath. Do not disappoint her."

Those men and women that Lord Father loomed over let out a cheer for him. Coam clicked her tongue, but that was only audible to Nerluce.

He understood his sister's sentiment, though. Lord Father was a brilliant speaker, capable of talking courage into nearly anyone, but at the end of the day, that was all he was. A speaker. He never had to actually follow his own words of advice. He would not ride out with them, but stay in the comfort and safety of the Hebikoti Palace. 

Coam snapped her reigns, urging Eden with a shout. Nerluce echoed both action and shout. Both stallions snorted and whinnied before they took off, galloping out of the yard, under Lord Father's watchful crimson gaze. 

They were followed out of the yard by a hundred others and were then joined by five thousand more at the foot of the mountain. A couple thousand more would be added to their ranks before they met with the main Tilican force, though Nerluce wasn't certain of their exact numbers. He'd never been told and never asked. It wouldn't have mattered anyways. Numbers were just numbers and they could not guarantee his survival. 

He swallowed his nerves and tried not to think too much as they rode south.

For three days and three nights, they continued south. For three days they rode, collected soldiers and supplies from the aristocracy of the area, and made camp. At nights, Nerluce listened in while Coam and a couple of other generals and high-ranking military officials murmured plans and moved pieces across a map.

And then, on the fourth day, they rose before dawn, not bothering to take down their tents. The battlefield was meticulously chosen. An open field with a downward tilt. Nowhere for Tilica to hide their soldiers, like trapdoor spiders. The sky was gray, thick with churning clouds. No sunrise would blind their eyes this morning. The red of their armor seemed all the more vibrant. The sounds of their horses were all the louder.

They crested the low hill and a waking Tilican army greeted them.

Coam shouted something that was echoed by everyone but Nerluce's ears were filled with ringing. He couldn't hear. He couldn't focus. He didn't know what was happening, just that people were moving. He urged his stallion forward too. He didn't want to but he no longer felt as though he had any control over his own body.

Because the field was open, but it hadn't always been that way. Because there was a Tilican army, with soft blue Tilican flags, flying high, but there were also charred bamboo walls. There was also the smell. The smell of burnt things. Of burnt bamboo. Of burnt houses. Of burnt socks and burnt dolls. And there was the thing that Nerluce could not take his eyes off of. It was big, black, and still burning, it had probably burnt all night.