What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath: Chapter 3

Returning to Vangaard had not been a journey thoroughly enjoyed. It was silence the whole flight as we let ourselves rest for the time being, thankful for another day to fly in the sky. Though all of us truthfully wished to return home with all our hearts, we didn't quite yearn for the procession that would await us. There were things to do. People to see. Funerals to be conducted. Tears to be shed as we told our families and friends of the horrors we experienced, and what we were to fall back into when sunrise broke the black veil of night.

This was something to take advantage of. This would be one of the rare times we would come back to Vangaard to rest for the night, and it was only to allow Lord Engel an assessment of what the battle looked like as of now.

Everyone knew it as they passed forced, weak smiles upon their faces, clapping shoulders in encouragement and blowing out the stress of the battle through their lips and letting the relief of being home fill their lungs instead.

Everyone's hearts were heavy that day, and it made the act of flight just a little more difficult.

One of my fellow soldiers teetered in balance as fatigue washed over his body. I quickly offered my hand on his shoulder to steady his unstable movements. I gave a solemn half-smile, his dull eyes staring blankly at me in response as he struggled on focusing to get home in one piece.

We were peaceful creatures at heart, but the battlefield, unfortunately, was not foreign to us. Even so, it was strange to us all. Many of the soldiers, a new generation, had never seen the face of war. They were told stories of the time of trouble those many years past, but never had they ever felt what it was like to walk out towards the enemy—your own kin—and promise in your hearts that you would protect your homeland with your life, even if it meant sacrificing theirs and your very own. This was new to them, and it was sad that it would soon become very familiar. It needed to be. For this battle, unlike any other, had been boiling and awaiting to be unleashed for centuries.

The great citadel stood over the city like a shepherd, watching over its flock day and night from the hungry predators that may come. It grew taller and taller as we neared it, our wings heavy and strained. We began to descend, landing in the plaza where a crowd of civilians had gathered, whispering and murmuring in hushed voices at our arrival. They gazed at us, their eyes searching for a particular face as they held their breath in anxious waiting to see if their loved ones had returned. Through our deafened ears of the cries of war and pain, we could hear shouts of rejoice and of sorrow as all remaining soldiers trudged onwards. A woman clutched her child close to her, tears rolling down her face as she shielded the youth's eyes from discovering it's missing father. She folded her wings around him like a cocoon of safety as she crooned through her hoarse and tear-filled voice. A close friend of hers wrapped her arms around the despairing woman, softening the tears of sadness that racked her small frame.

I stopped midway on the path towards the infirmary, my eyes recording every wearied soldier I could see. I began to encourage them along with small words of praise: You did well. You should be proud of yourself. Good fight. Carry on, Soldier.

I stopped Garrín as he shuffled along with the line of beaten men, pulling him aside to speak in private.

“What's the matter?” He seemed to blink away the haziness of his exhaustion, the action forced.

“I'm afraid already the spirits of the men are dwindling. It seems this war has been noticeably hard on them—more than I had anticipated.”

“I see,” he pondered in silence for a moment, his eyes drifting towards the line of slow moving individuals, their wings dragging on the ground. “What would you have me do?”

“Just encourage them for a moment. A small praise can go a long way, I know it from experience. I hate to leave this task to you, seeing as you need some medical attention and rest, too, but I'm already behind schedule, and I must tell Lord Engel of today's battle.”