The Sword Saints

27. Civil War

(Shu)

"Kin is the strongest bond in life. Nothing comes before blood. Therefore, civil strife is the lowest abomination, as blood should never be spilled between brothers."

- The Book of Order: Ch. 13: verses 1-2.

Two days went by before Shu's life was dramatically changed, two days before he was broken and shattered in a way that he could never truly recover from. It was a day that even the Virtues themselves wept for.

In the two days leading up to it, after they left Teak's village, they began to see the dark and deadly signs of the civil war that they were told was beginning to rage throughout the Republic of Balahaar. They often saw towers of smoke far off in the distance, capping the faint glow of distant flames. Shu had never experienced war and he prayed that he would be spared from it.

On the second day on the road between two villages, atop a hill betwixt fields of wheat, sat a gnarled and twisted dead oak, its bark black and cracked. If that were not a depressing enough sight that marred the beauty of the northern Balahaari landscape, then the six men who hung by their necks from those same branches really brought the feeling to roost.

Shu stopped before it and leaned his backside against the small wooden fence that lined each side of the road. He wanted to look away, but his body wouldn't let him. Each man was stripped down to their skivvies, their feet bare and blue, their bodies discolored and already beginning to rot. Shu kept his nose shut and kept his distance.

Asha moved past him and ran a hand over the trunk of the tree. "Someone etched traitors into the bark here," she said without looking at him. She backed away and looked to Shu. "The question is, which side is right, and which one is the traitor?"

"They probably both feel like the other is the traitor."

She walked back over to him and stood next to him, leaning against the fence. "That's usually how it goes with civil wars."

Shu nodded. The dead men stared off blankly, their eyes still open and bulging from their heads. They didn't stare at him, but it almost felt like they were, imploring him to help them. But he couldn't, for they were already dead. Flies buzzed around them and was the only noise that either of them could hear. Shu shivered.

"Should we bury them?" he asked. He didn't know if he was really asking, or just trying to be polite. The Virtues would like them buried and respected.

Asha didn't give him an answer, only another question. "Do you think we have time?"

In all honesty, they didn't. Their mission was very time sensitive as the longer they took, the more likely it was that they would find the princess dead. Burying all those bodies would easily take them the rest of the day, and despite what he was taught as a child about respecting the dead, a life still living took precedence in Sympathy's eyes.

So, he shook his head. "No, we should leave them. It would take us all day to bury them."

The Sword Saint nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right." Her gaze dropped. She wanted to bury them and so did he, but they couldn't afford the delay. Shu said a prayer for them, then they left.

***

It was the following day that all hell broke loose. Asha was in a particularly good mood, the gruesome scene of the prior day seemingly forgotten. She skipped and danced ahead and around him, whistling a tune that he didn't recognize. He shook his head, but he couldn't help but smile. Her joy was infectious. He hadn't felt that way when they first met, but she was slowly working her magic on him.