Avalyne War Stories

4th Story - Eirlys

"I hate this."

"This is the only way, Eirlys."

I slammed my fist on the table before me, scattering splinters through the air. It was a momentary loss of control that I shouldn't have allowed, but I simply couldn't stop myself. I doubt anyone else in my shoes could.

Except maybe him.

Across from me, Bradley crossed his arms unflinchingly. The expression he wore on his face was stony and stoic. Impassive. Inhuman. I'd never seen him be so detached in my entire life, and I'd known this man for years.

"They're children, damn it!" I grit my teeth, attempting to control my emotions. "It should be us who are going out there, fighting those damn monsters!"

"And who will be left to defend the civilians in the academy?" Bradley said matter-of-factly. "The children will be forced to fight regardless, not out of necessity, but out of duty. Can you truly say there is a single knight—No, a single student in this academy who would willingly put their own lives before the lives of the civilians we harbor?"

I already knew the answer in my heart, but I couldn't bring myself to utter it. I knew he was right. I just didn't want to admit it.

"Of course not. We taught them better than that. You taught them better than that." Bradley finished.

"...They should be enjoying their youth right now, whiling their days away in those mock matches." I said, barely noticing that my voice had fallen to a whisper. "They should be preparing for the winter gala... The winter rodeo, and the celebration of the coming new year..."

"...I know." Bradley said, the first flicker of emotion appearing on his face. He held my pained gaze with one of his own for a split second before putting on that stony mask of his once more.

I sighed, collapsing in my chair. My shoulders slumped in resignation as I stared at the shattered desk in front of me. Papers were strewn across the floor, decorated by chips of wood and spilled ink. An ugly mess crafted by the consequences of my own actions.

"...We'll have to make our choices now," I said. Even with my documents in tatters, my mind couldn't forget them. The lists we'd made and the plans we'd drafted, all of them sins that would forever haunt my memory. The country had been ill-prepared for a sudden attack on this scale.

Had it only been Kaslavna's grand attack, we would've dealt with it perfectly fine. The students never would have needed to get involved. I mean, sure. The academy's normal curriculum would've been disrupted thanks to the war efforts and many knight-instructors would've been called to the front line, but the students themselves would never have to deal with it directly.

Even now, I regretted telling Medrauta and her friends that they couldn't make that cafe booth they wanted for the festival. Sure, provisions for the soldiers in the north needed to be prioritized, but if I had known it would be their first and final festival before they were inadvertently thrown into this mess, I would have permitted it no matter what. The mere fact that we now needed students to fight our battles was proof of our failure as senior knights.

Bradley stooped down and picked up the ruined papers, the sound of his hand smacking the parchment interrupting my thoughts. He glanced over them slowly, looking at the damaged lists of names. It was obvious that he was just putting on an act. I could tell from his eyes.

Whoever he was going to nominate, he had already decided in his head long, long ago.

"We'll need several teams. Mobile teams who can clear an area quickly and construct barriers. They'll create chokepoints where we can funnel the witchspawn through and offset the advantage of their numbers," Bradley mused to himself.