“You have won,” said Valiki. He stood up, groaning at his wounds. Kasar did not seem any better. Valiki jutted his hand out for a shake. In the boy’s eyes was a newfound respect, awe, and even fear that he hadn’t had before. Their hands clasped, and the soldiers murmured amongst each other.

  Valiki caught Ezra glaring at him from the corner of his eye. In those dark pools, doubt festered.

  “The villagers should be let free,” commanded Valiki.

  Kasar glanced at the depraved renegades, and sorrow formed in the boy’s face. Valiki followed his gaze and saw the same sight. Alive men, soon to be dead, fighting to the last man.

  Devil’s Honor had been invoked, and Valiki had answered. His army remained the most unorthodox of Lord Torvic’s regime. Each of the other generals were identical in protocol, orders, and results. Lord Torvic had granted Valiki special permission, publicly, to carry out the conquest while maintaining the last few vestiges of his culture. This meant answering such duels from whelps, and giving the renegades a chance to surrender.

  Valiki knew his contributions to the war were worth Lord Torvic’s generosity to Valiki’s desires that contradicted his own. No other general could refute that, as much as they wished to.

  Valiki still believed Ezran to have been placed into his army as a means to keep Valiki in check. To ensure the Devil did not abuse his privileges. Valiki had not, as Devil’s Honor, among other cultural rituals of his teachings, been part of his agreement. Lord Torvic never would have predicted that it could cause unwanted casualties in Valiki’s advancement.

  Valkenian blood was purer, and more divine than filthy Warvalen blood, was it not? So for every Valkenian life lost, a million savages should answer forth in the purification of agony. That was why these renegades would be flayed on the morrow, or the next, or the one after that. It was in their nature as stubborn fighters, to fight for their home, and that was not savagery as far as Valiki was concerned. That was their nature. Human nature.

  No matter what Lord Torvic said, he was human too.

  Yet, who was to blame if not for Valiki if lives were lost the next day, against not just “savages” as his proud patriots would seem the enemy as, but savages that should have died this day, but were let free due to their general’s cultural whims and definitions of honor.

  Valiki would find out soon enough. He did note one thing. Before today, each battle he’d fought, he fought without fear. Death came to all, and his actions were predetermined if he were to live. Plan the next attack, flay more savages, receive supplies to carry onward. Once in a while, he’d earn something for his efforts like freshly cooked boar from a hunt completed successfully.

  Now, he felt fear for the days to come.

  Choice matters. I made a choice that symbolized who I am. My nature. My soul. I am alive. Unlike before I could die tomorrow. Or the next day.

  A smile plastered on Valiki’s face, and Ezra frowned when their eyes met. Fear bubbled in his stomach, but a fire had been kindled. In that fire existed fear for the days to come, but also the drive to meet it head first as nothing else than his own self.

  This was life.

  ***

  Kasar did not receive healing, as he was not part of the army, and he did not have the coin for it. Vorza applied herbs he’d stored in his medicinal pouch, chewing the leaves, and extracting the juices from them.

  “Know the land, and the land will know you,” said Vorza, firmly holding Kasar's leg where the wounded lay open.

  “That doesn’t make sense,” gritted Kasar as his mentor applied the balm.

  “Doesn’t translate well into Maharian,” said Vorza. “It means it will have something for your needs. Food, water, medicine, and even some enjoyment.”

  “That’s what you smoke, yeah?”

  “What I used to smoke.”

  “Ouch!”

  “Almost done.”

  Vorza rebandaged the wound, and tossed Kasar a sturdy stick to use as a walking aid. “We move as soon as we eat.”

  Kasar gave Vorza a nod, fully knowing the old man wished to leave before the renegades caused any more trouble. “I wish to at least speak to Valiki beforehand.”

  Vorza didn’t protest, but Kasar knew he disapproved.

  ***

  Valiki and Ezra sat in the command tent around a large table with maps and ledgers for the war effort. Swaths of countryside lay marked upon the map as potential attack paths, or defensive maneuvers. Strategies to draw out the rabble of resistance fighters in the east and shock slaughter a massive number at once in a death pit. A hyper aggressive push to the northeast port city to utilize the trade with the Gilded Isles and further cripple the enemy’s economy. Or perhaps just to stall until reinforcements arrive and dig deep in their current area so as to not lose the foothold they’d bled for here.

  Ezra cleared his throat and Valiki broke out of his inner musings, his eyes drawing away from the map and toward Ezra.

  “Yes, Ezra?” asked the general.

  “You are in charge, yes,” said Ezra. “However, I report directly to Lord Torvic.”

  “Yes.”

  “And so I must challenge the decisions made here today.”

  “Why is that?” Valiki poured both he and Ezra more water.

  Ezra eyed the cup, and continued. “You have freed prisoners of war, sentenced to purification.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I have abided by the privileges given to me by Lord Torvic to exercise my culture.”

  “A heretical culture, at best,” said Ezra.

  “One that Lord Torvic deemed passable amongst his ranks.”

  “Only you are allowed the ones he deems worthy.”

  Valiki raised his cup of water, and took a sip.

  Ezra’s eyes narrowed.

  “I acted as per the bounds allowed me to. I plan to hunt down these rabble of renegades as soon as they give us reason to.” Valiki did not wince as he told the harsh truth. “They will end up in the same situation.”

  Ezra raised the cup of water and took a sip. “I should hold you to that.”

  “You will not need to.”

  “And the boy?”

  “The victor. Yes, he has a future in his craft.”

  “He should have lost.”

  “He didn’t.”

  “You let him win.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because you agreed with him.”

  “Then why didn’t I command my troops to let the captives go?”

  “It would have been blasphemy to go against Lord Torvic’s order.”

  Valiki shrugged. “And so I did not.”

  Ezra gave Valiki a scowl and stood to leave. “I see your games. Your Devil’s Honor.” He scoffed. “Honor amongst thieves and heretics alike.”

  Valiki sneered at his second. “I will give Lord Torvic his blood of resistance, so much that he’ll drown in it. I assure you. But I will never change who I am.”

  “And if Lord Torvic commanded you to?”

  “Look how far we’ve fought.” Valiki jutted his finger at the various battle sites of the last few years. “How many bodies have I slain in his name. I am rank with death, and choking on my success. The other generals vacation in my warpath, trudging along. I am loyal. And I am true to my word. If Lord Torvic ever commanded me to be anything else but myself, he would lose his best general.” Valiki slammed the cup down, gathered his gear, and stormed out the tent.

  He did not show Ezra the smirk on his face.

  ***

  Kasar heard his conversation with Ezra through the tent. He saw the man burst out the tent, and for a second their eyes connected. Valiki jutted his head so Kasar would follow him. They trekked in silence for a few minutes before coming across a battlefield where the villagers had fought the first time.

  “They put up a brave resistance,” said Valiki. “Now because of you, they will kill my soldiers once again.”

  “Am I supposed to feel sorry?” asked Kasar. “You’re invading.”

  “No,” he said. “However, I want you to know the world isn’t as simple. Sometimes you get unlucky enough to meet authority that can and will crush you.”

  “The day people forget that and all rise up to the task, is the day all will be free.”

  Valiki laughed. “If only…”

  “It is like that,” said Kasar.

  “And what life have you lived to say it with certainty?” asked Valiki.

  “Mine and mine alone,”

  Valiki regarded that with a respectful smile. “When you see more of the world, find me to see I am still alive. I would love to see if a force of nature like you is stamped out by the force of war or not.”

  “War isn’t a force,” said Kasar. “It’s a plague.”

  “I tend to agree.”

  “Why do you serve Torvic?” asked Kasar.

  “He saved my family and I. Did his best to keep us that way. Say what you will about him, he treats his allies well.”

  “So you’re alright with this?” Kasar asked, gesturing to the battlefield.

  “I accept this monster as my lord who I have sworn loyalty to. Do Devils not keep their word?”

  “You’re twisting it,” snapped Kasar. “A Devil’s Word goes both ways. He should never overstep like this, and the second he did, your word is gone.”

  “If I did, my family, and myself would not be here, and someone else would take this rank. Why not keep my own alive?”

  Kasar didn’t have an answer. So far it’d only ever been him. What if he had someone that depending on him for survival like he once depended on his parents. Would he keep to the Path then?

  “Life is not so simple,” said Valiki. He rested a hand on Kasar’s shoulder. “You were in the desert, yes?”

  Kasar gave him a nod.

  “Then you faced tyrants desiring nothing more than a gluttonous life. Torvic fights for his glory and zeal. I fight for my family. You once fought for freedom. Soon you’ll realize there’s more people like me then everyone else. There’s more people that fight to stay alive than to uphold an ideal. I flay these villagers not because I want to, but because I want to see my wife again. Do you understand?”

  Kasar again nodded and forced himself to not tremble with rage. “Then know this,” Kasar spoke finally. “I will be the Devil that keeps these monsters in check. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day I am going to return to every monarch that ever dared overstep and speak their language.”

  Valiki stepped back and sighed. “I believe you will try. You may even succeed. It takes more than a blade master to do such grand things.”

  “This is war,” said Kasar. “I fight till I can’t, and expect nothing but death.”

  “Such a dark person for your age.”

  “You think the boys and girls my age that lived here were any less dark?”

  Valiki raised his hands in defeat. “I understand.” After a moment he said, “I hope we do meet again. So few Devils nowadays.”

  “I hope you save your family and leave this war,” said Kasar.

  Kasar shook his hand and walked away to Vorza.

  ***

  “North?” asked Vorza with a knowing smile.

  “I’ve had enough of this place.”

  “Figured so. Port city to the north. We catch a ship, and we get out.”

  “We don’t have money.”

  Vorza laughed and shook his head. “We’ll act as laborers and sailors for a time to earn our voyage. And sell our swords at sea if need be.”

  “I don’t know anything about sailing.”

  “I’ll teach you.”

  “You know about it?’

  “I sailed for some time, long ago. I am Vrodian after all, and Hessik was my home.” Longing flooded in his eyes. “Hessik was and still is, I am sure, the greatest port city in the world.”

  “Then we’ll work for our voyage.”

  “Hard life at sea.”

  “Harder than the arena and a warzone?”

  “We used to sing as sailors: some men are dead, some are alive, and others sail the seas.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Who can say, we were drunk.”

  The two laughed and made their way away from the war camp.

  Kasar gave one last look to the empty renegade cells before they vanished out of sight behind trees.