The light of the trodden

The Warrior Code.

"Seriously you wanna do this?" Boris asked his captor. Iskander looked at him.
"And here I thought you wanted to live." Iskander hissed.
" You really don't have a compulsion you know." Lionheart said. Iskander looked at him.
"Now here's the situation. Your friend's life is literally in my hands and you're trying to annoy me. You really want that?" Iskander rolled his eyes.
"You're taking a hostage because you need to." Boris smiled. Iskander kicked him.
"I NEED to? If I wanted to I could've cut your head and I could've escaped and your dear little friend wouldn't have been able to catch me but I decided to let you live provided I can go quietly without anyone on my tail yet you all insist on compelling me." Iskander brought the knife a little more into the skin "Let's see how a person drowning in his own blood looks like huh?"
Boris elbowed Iskander in the gut and as Iskander doubled over, Boris disarmed him and threw the knife away.
"We were told how to get you and quite frankly you're weak in the abdomen region." Boris smirked.
"I can still defeat you both." Iskander snarled.
"Guess we'll never know for real." Came a voice from behind Iskander but a voice he was all too familiar with. "Shadow. Traitor." Iskander bared his teeth.
"You never could look at the bigger picture could you?" Shadow laughed "Debrune is dead. You're almost dead and none of us have suffered serious injuries."
"That's because I underestimated you, next time I won't." Iskander glared at Shadow.
"There won't be a next time. You'll be in our prison the whole time." Shadow came close to Iskander and kicked him. Iskander suddenly began to glow red and black.
"God!! Will you ever choose the right option for once in your life?" Shadow yelled, his raised fists shrouded in darkness.
"Stop!" Came a weak voice from the bushes. Nearly everyone except the General turned.
"Debrune, you're alive!! That's great!!! Come here help me fight them." Iskander  laughed. Debrune slowly shook his head.
"Iskander let's stop the fight. It's over. Let's live for once in our wretched, miserable lives." Debrune raised his head, his face streaked with tears.
"Debrune, you've come close to death and have survived, you're in a state of shock right now but I really need you to remember your loyalty." Iskander started to levitate.
"I've come close to death to only realize that I never lived Iskander. I came close to death only to find myself begging for life but when I asked myself why I wanted to live, I had no answers. I didn't live while I had the chance. Everybody dreams to die with no regrets but I never felt anything beyond a certain level. You and I have been training our whole lives and yet that rat bastard is not even present here. Our loyalties are misplaced. My friend, my brother let's just go." Debrune knelt to the ground. One bright flash and Debrune fell to the ground, lifeless.
"Traitor." Iskander muttered, his hand smoking. Zane and Boris rushed at Debrune's body.
"He was just trying to help you!!" Lionhewrt screamed and charged at him.
"Come on stay alive, stay alive." Zane muttered. Debrune clasped his hand.
"I have no right to ask you of anything. I could never think smart or act smart. Leader always uses a person's flaws to make them his slave. Iskander is not a bad person. Please save him. I beg of you."
"No." Zane muttered "After he killed you even though you were his friend. He deserves to die."
"He believes that too." Debrune muttered "He thinks dying is his salvation but living every day is much more beautiful. You need to remind him that. You need to remind him something I made him forget." A single teardrop fell from his eyes as his last breath left the body. Zane got up.
"You going to honor his wishes?" Boris asked, gently closing Debrune's eyes.
"A dead person's wishes are non existent. He dies today." Zane unsheated his sword "it's war."
Lionheart was engaged in a full offensive against Iskander with General blocking any direct hits and magician dispelling all potent spells. Iskander pushed off Lionheart and screamed.
"Why do you even care he died? You killed him long ago."
"We killed him because he tried to kill us. You killed him while he trusted you, that's not what the warrior code tells us." Lionheart gritted his teeth.
"The warrior code, you know why people made that? It was so that people who had the courage to do things no one else would dream of, would be silenced. Warrior code is nothing but a blind lie." Iskander threw a large black ball at Lionheart.
"The code is what I have adopted." Lionheart said swatting the ball away. "Morals, honor, dignity what would these words mean to a coward like you? I use them as the backbone of my integrity. The warrior code uses them as a backbone of its true sense. A person like you with loose morals will always lose. You were made to lose just because you will never follow these morals which you laugh at." Lionheart thumped his chest.
"Ha what a farce! Each one of your words is like salt coming from your mouth. Three people fight me together and you say you follow the code!! Shame on you and shame on your integrity. Morals? Honor? Dignity? Where are these esteemed values you speak so highly of when such tyranny goes on behind its back." Iskanders every word felt like a blow to Lionheart.
"Your words ring with a hint of truth in all its provocative tome. It is true that I have been a strict follower of morals and I use them as my backbone. Even though you provoke me and even though you will never follow these morals yourself, my conscience will never allow me to sleep knowing I did wrong. Fight me like a man Iskander, only us two. I'll make you see the result of the salt you rubbed in my wounds."