Metal and Flesh (The Rohvim, Book 1)

15.4 Goodbye

Aeden burned with anger. "But master, you said yourself that every soldier you set free had been a criminal! Some were murderers!"

   "Yes, some were. But most were petty criminals. Tell me Aeden, what is the proper punishment for petty thievery? From what it looks like here, you believe it is death. I'll tell you, while you were asleep here, Betha and Diana and Edwin and Gregory and Ellen and I went from soldier to soldier, liberating them from bondage, defeating the warlord in each of their heads. Yes I saw criminals, but they do not deserve to die!" A bit of his previous fury leaked out, but he calmed himself again.

   Slowly, the remorse grew in Aeden. He looked at the bloodied bodies, and he saw his father and his sister. Conflicted, he answered, "I'm ... I'm ... sorry, master. I saw them with those prisoners, and I just wanted to help them and I wanted to stop them from causing more pain and I ... I ...."

   Lady Ellen interrupted him. "Where is Priam?"

   Aeden looked up at her. "He was with us the last time I saw him. Is he not still asleep?" The members of the party who had come to the rescue fanned out, while the rest of them struggled to their feet.

   The others returned from their search, Ellen announcing, "He is gone."

   Betha said, "I thought I saw a group of them retreating before we arrived."

   The horrible possibility started to dawn on Aeden. Frederick remarked, "They took him."

   They stood in solemn silence for nearly a minute. Aeden came to. "We have to rescue him!"

   The master healer, deep in thought, suddenly snapped, "Edwin, Arturo, Ellen, run ahead to the north and try to locate the group. If you don't find them in an hour's time, return here. The rest of us will wait, and heal." The two men and woman at once dashed off, leaving the remainder there in the field of dead bodies and quivering townspeople. The freed soldiers also began to awake, and the master healer, Betha, Gregory, and Diana went among them, comforting the disoriented men and women.

   Aeden, still stunned by the news of Priam's disappearance, slumped onto the ground and cradled his head in his hands. Rupert approached him, hesitantly putting his hand and Aeden's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know you two were good friends."

   Aeden shrugged the boy's hand off and mumbled, "Please. Go away."

   The gangly boy withdrew his hand and retreated a few steps. For an hour, Aeden sat there, reality forcing itself in on his mind with more force as the minutes passed. He looked in disgust at the bodies. He yearned for his friend. The smell of death filled his nostrils. He wanted death for himself.

   The master healer, pausing a few minutes from his work amongst the freed soldiers, sat next to Aeden. "I do not retract the things I said. But do not hate yourself. These are trying times for us all. And you're right, this is war, and ultimately the person behind this death and blood and pain will reap their reward. But in the midst of all this evil, we must not become evil's ally. From now on, we do not kill enemy soldiers, except at extreme need should our very lives depend on it." He paused, and Aeden nodded somberly. "Arturo and I will give more heed to training you in less ... lethal methods of attack."

   Aeden stirred. "What happened there at the end? Why do I have this massive headache?"

   "That is one of the non-lethal methods of attack I will teach you. It is akin to the soul shock that Arturo taught you. It is a blast of energy that incapacitates a rohva's mind. All within its reach feel the effect to some degree, less so the farther you are from the wielder."

   At that moment, the three searchers returned. Lady Ellen spoke, "We saw traces of their trail, master, but they travel too fast for pursuit. They are far to the north by now." The master healer nodded grimly as Aeden remained sitting on the ground, unable to speak. The rest of the party gathered the bodies into a pile and burned them, being too exhausted to dig proper burial mounds, and they led the townspeople and still dazed soldiers to the top of the precipice, so as to be out of the way of any more groups of the enemy passing through.

   Still Aeden sat. The day lengthened and the shadows stretched, most of the company retired to their beddings near the campfire, after attending to the needs of the freed townspeople and soldiers, and still Aeden sat, cross-legged, staring to the north. He heard a distant voice calling him. He looked up, and squinting, he could see Betha waving her arms at him, beckoning.

   He silently ascended the steep, narrow trail leading to the top and approached the campfire. He lowered himself to the ground and after a moment he felt someone sit beside him. Betha's voice warmed his ears, "When we came to join the fight, I saw you. You were amazing. I've never seen anything like it. It reminded me of my father-he was the finest swordsman there ever was. I thought you'd like to know." He had no reply. "Really, you must have been holding out on me during our duel." He did not answer. She got up, "Please get some sleep Aeden. We'll need you in the morning." And the girl left. Aeden breathed in her fading scent, exhaled, and got to his feet. "Goodbye, Priam," he whispered to the north, and he too lay down by the fire and slept.