Forgotten Dreams of Eternity: Lost Odyssey: Thousand Years of Dreams
Copyright © 2011 Sky_Knight
(Short Story -XVII.)
*The Bread of Grandma Coto*
There is no way to keep the village from becoming a battlefield.
The enemy forces have crossed the northern pass and made their camp close by.
The home forces are here, too, sending one unit after another into the village to resist the enemy's attack.
The place is a powder keg.
Ringed by mountains where two highways intersect, the village is a crucial focal point for transport.
It cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands, while its capture is essential to any hopes the enemy might have for victory in the war. Long years of fighting have come down to this one major battle.
It is a battle that must be waged.
The logic is clear, simple, inevitable. And it will transform this tranquil village into a battlefield at any moment.
The army has ordered the villagers to evacuate.
Noncombatants can only get in the way.
"The enemy wants to settle this before the weather turns cold,"
"So, what does that mean? Another month? Two weeks?"
"Got your stuff packed? No sense getting caught in the middle and killed. Talk about dying for nothing!"
"Better forget about taking any pots and pans with you. Pack as light as you can and get away as far as you can."
"Think of all the generations our ancestors guarded our houses and land. I hate to think it's going to turn into a wasteland when the fighting starts..."
"There's nothing we can do about it, it's just plain bad luck, that's all."
"We just have to hang in there till the war is over and come back when we find out who won."
"The main thing is to get out now."
"Right, it's all we can do."
"We've got to stay alive. Better not hope for anything more than that."
"Why the hell does this have to happen to us?"
The villagers leave a few at a time, beginning with the first ones to find temporary shelter.
By the time the forest is lightly tinged with red, the village is practically deserted.
The only ones left are old folks who live alond and have no one and no place to run to.
The army has built a crude refugee camp for any evacuees able to cross several mountains to reach it. The aged poor stagger in with little more than clothes on their back.
The only one left in the village is Grandma Coto.
As a mercenary, Kaim first met old Coto shortly after he joined the unit protecting the village.
He was on an inspection round at the time when he spotted an old woman working in the fields. She turned out to be Grandma Coto.
A soldier with him yelled at her, "Hey, old lady, enough of that!"
Another man shouted, "You'd beter get out of here now if you want to stay alive. The fight's going to start in two or three days. How many times do we have to tell you to go to the damn refugee camp?!"
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Forgotten Dreams of Eternity: Lost Odyssey: Thousand Years of Dreams
Science FictionA science fiction novel with 33 short stories foretelling the forgotten dreams of Kaim, A immortal who has lived over more than a thousand years. This novel is based on the hit video game Lost Odyssey. Short Story XV, Short Story -XXI, and Short Sto...
