He's a battle-hardened knight; she's from the modern world.
He faced the unthinkable; she was sheltered in comfort.
His body and soul bear scars, while she still believes in wonders.
He seeks redemption and peace, and she craves true love.
But in hi...
For a time, William remained lost in the darkness... Then, slowly, his senses returned. But as he regained consciousness, the pain of his wounds paled compared to the heartache that gripped him over what he saw. The cries of the wounded blended with the stench of death that hung heavy over the battlefield. The ground was littered with the disfigured bodies of soldiers from both sides, their twisted forms scattered among the fallen horses.
Among the dead, he recognised some of his comrades, their faces pale—some marred and deformed. Bodies were pierced by arrows, swords, and lances. Skulls were crushed under horses' hooves or heavy weapons. Severed heads and limbs lay apart from their bodies, axes embedded in their faces. Though the chaos and shadows obscured some details, they still revealed the depths of cruelty humans could inflict upon one another.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Soon, like a vast dark cloud, a flock of ravens descended upon the battlefield. They spread their wings wide with relentless croaks to claim the harvest of war and feast upon the fallen. Some of the wounded still had enough consciousness to witness their own devouring. Their heart-wrenching cries were all they could muster, lacking the strength to drive away the scavengers aiming for their eyes.
In this nightmarish scene, William spotted Edward lying motionless among the dead and dying. Driven by desperation, he dragged his battered body across the blood-soaked earth, crawling past the fallen knights who had once fought by his side. His pain and exhaustion forgotten, he focused only on reaching Edward, praying it was not too late to save him.
But the ravens were not the only beings to share in death's harvest. The gleam of stolen steel dispersed the shadows cloaking the battlefield as some Valtharian soldiers ransacked the bodies of the fallen Aradonians. They stayed behind on purpose to profit from the aftermath of conflict. Even their own warriors were not spared from this. The looters stripped their lifeless forms of armour and valuables. The unspoken laws of the battlefield were dismissed with cruel indifference; wounded men who begged for mercy or aid were met with the cold steel of a finishing blow.
Amidst this horror, William's strength had deserted him, leaving his body as broken as the dead around him. His eyes, veiled in pain, witnessed the horrible reality of plunder and death. Anguish pierced his heart, yet his body was helpless, unable to rise to confront the plunderers. His vision blurred, and the world spun around him, but he struggled to stay awake. His dry lips cracked, and he desperately craved water to soothe his profound thirst.
Then the harsh scrape of boots against the churned earth sounded too close to him. A Valtharian soldier with a glint in his eyes approached William and began to rummage through his possessions. The looter's fingers were quick and intrusive, seeking treasures amid the ruins of war.
William tried to remain utterly still, showing no sign of life. He waited for the group of plunderers to move on, allowing him to reach Edward as swiftly as possible. Yet the soldier's eyes, already gleaming with the reflection of looted silver, widened further. He had discerned the fine craftsmanship of William's armour, noted the intricate engravings on his sword hilt—barely visible through the layers of muck and blood—and recognised the remnants of a once-proud crest emblazoned on his battered surcoat. The seemingly lifeless body before him was not just another casualty of war. It was a noble, probably of high rank.
