For Peace

2. Red Lands

To pass the walls shielding Alverton from Morden's raids by drawing a tall border across the tips of the mountains, the group had to ask for passage from a watchtower. The moment they had appeared on the outskirts of the forests, a bunch of soldiers watched them wander closer during the day. There was no need to draw their weapons on this side of the wall, but none of those who visited this place were right in their minds.

After all, who apart from an army would wish to traverse into Red territory?

Yongguk kept to the back as they scaled the last path up to the towering gates. He was swaddled in his coat but didn't hide his identity, as didn't the others. Anything that made them look suspicious would only hold them up.

When they halted at the foot of the tower and blinked against the high sun behind the battlements, two curious guards peered back at them.

"Who goes there?" One of them demanded to know, and Seonghwa shielded his eyes with his hand to make out their silhouettes. A moment later, a wing angled by his side to offer shade.

"I am a faring priest and these are my companions," Seonghwa called back up. The two guards exchanged a glance before their eyes skimmed his group again.

"What leads you here?"

"We seek healing for a disease of my heart. To gain it, we must pass. As we didn't want to catch anyone's attention, I travel with a small group of able fighters and healers instead of the crusaders."

In a way, they were just that. No lie there.

The guard to the left crossed his hands over the railing. The shimmer of his metal armour reflected the sun.

"Then you must be well aware of the dangers that lurk beyond these gates?"

Seonghwa nodded, with eyes firmer than his brittle spirit.

"We didn't take the long way foolishly. We hope to be in and out within less than a fortnight."

The guard nodded. The one by his side wandered off to give the signal to open the gates. He returned with a piece of parchment and a feather poised in his hands.

"There is no protection through the royal army beyond this point. May God bless your path. Tell us your names, so we will let you through if you return."

Seonghwa patiently called up one after the other so the man could jot them down. He purposefully named Perie instead of Yongguk, leaving not a trace of the man's identity. Once the guard waved them through, the Red nodded in gratitude at the priest. Seonghwa beamed back.

The insides of the tower offered blissful shade from the warmth outside. Beyond the open gates, bright light blinded their view as they stepped through.

Seonghwa cast his eyes upon the field once they had passed the border. With a boom, the gates shut behind them and another call of 'Good Luck!" sent them off.

The Red lands were both what he had expected and the crass opposite of the tales whispered in the streets of Alverton.

War marred the lands like the scars across Seonghwa's back.

Fires had consumed large patches of the nearby forest and seared the wild grass of the meadows below. The stomps of countless hooves had turned the earth into a muddy mush, unsightly to look at and soiled by the traces of blood soaking the soil. As if the fights here never ceased, leftovers reminded of the past battles at the border. Tattered rags had once belonged to brilliant white uniforms. Here and there metal glinted in the mud, either a leftover weapon or pieces of a horse's reins. The crows hopping around the mud to leave their three-clawed imprints picked at rotting flesh from either man or animal.