Forgotten Dreams of Eternity: Lost Odyssey: Thousand Years of Dreams

(Short Story -XIX.) *The Tragedy of the Butcher General*

Forgotten Dreams of Eternity: Lost Odyssey: Thousand Years of Dreams

Copyright © 2011 Sky_Knight

(Short Story -XIX.)

*The Tragedy of the Butcher General*

Everyone knows this general as "The Butcher."

He is strong in battle, a skilled tactician, he has mastered the techniques of turning the specifics of topography and timing to his advantage, and he is outstanding, above all, in the skills of an individual warrior.

Victory on the battlefield, however, does not lead straight to butchery.

Many generals have been nicknamed for their military prowess-the Victorious, the Indomitable, the Invincible-but only one is known as the Butcher.

"Do you know why that is, Kaim?" the general himself asks as he gloats over the vast mountain of corpses.

Kaim does not reply. He entered the fray as a mercenary, but his exploits far outclassed those of the regular troops. For the general to call a man into his presence and speak to him face-to-face is apparently an honor beyond even most officers' wildest dreams.

"Not just from winning battles." the general goes on. "That would be too simple: just kill the enemy general. Take the big one's head and the battle's over. Right?"

Kaim nods in silence. That is how this battle should have ended instead of continuing for three days. The enemy general proposed a surrender on the first day. He offered his head in exchange for the lives of his men and villagers. But the Butcher rejected the offer and continued his all-out attack on an enemy that had lost the will to fight, annihilating them in the process. The last day was used to burn down the forest into which the unresisting village had fled.

"The real battle doesn't end when you raise the victory song on the battlefield. If even one person survives, the seed of hatred lives on. I'm talking about the desire for revenge. Nothing good can come from leaving that behind. You must cut the cause of future troubles at the root."

This is why the troops under the general's command killed the young men of the village after they were through exterminating the enemy troops. They also killed the unarmed old poeople. They killed mothers fleeing with children in their arms. They killed the children they stripped from those mothers' corpses.

"Do you think me cruel, Kaim?"

"I do." Kaim answered, nodding.

The officers gathered around them went pale, but the Butcher himself smiled magnanimously and went on.

"You didn't do any of those things, I gather."

"My job is to kill soldiers on the battlefield. My contract doesn't call for anything else."

"And i'm saying that that is a follish line of thinking. The soldiers you killed have brothers and children. Do you plan to go on living in fear of their revenge? That is sheer stupidity. If you wipe out the entire family, you can live without such worries, you see."

The general laughs uproariously, and the surrounding officers all smile in response.

Kaim, however, his expression unchanged, starts to walk away.

"Where are you going, Kaim?"

"We are through talking, aren't we? My contract has ended."

"Never mind that. Just wait."

When the general says this, several soldiers stand to block Kaim's way.

"Listen, Kaim. I've had reports of your performance from the front lines. What do you say to fighting under me from now on? You can exploit your martial talents to the full."