Waiting for Spring - Part I

Chapter Twenty-Two

~Theron

The night came quickly and despite the cold Theron had let April fall asleep in his warm embrace. He tried his best to mediate in the meanwhile. He found it peaceful to just empty the mind from the body and let go of everything: to forget what simple things meant and to not ponder over teething troubles. It was a sort of a sleep in itself, one where you could both be awake and asleep at the same time while having one hand on your blade.

In the early dawn a small band of soldiers passed the couple at the horizon. Theron awoke from his slumber and simply observed the long trail of armed men that slowly marched in the snowy grass. He was assured that they could not be seen from where they sat. There was no purpose in pursuing the army at this time though, so he just let April sleep. She needed it.

Theron found it hard to sympathise with the blonde however. For him, death had always been just another thing in the natural order of things. Ever since the war fifteen years ago it had all felt so customary. It was either to live or die, whether it concerned full-scale war or an ordinary life. People like April had no place in this world. One cannot survive in this world simply by a good heart alone. Cruelty was sometimes necessary and so was death.

Darnell had known what being a soldier meant, his death had been nothing but expected, waited for. He had always known the stakes, he may have been brave and proud, but that had not taken him furtherer than anyone else.

Yet the women were all that ever drove him forward. When he thought of Ashley all hope emerged on the surface of his mind. Her smile gave purpose to his life. Her embrace warmed him in the dead of the cold night. When all felt hopeless she reminded him of happiness. Now April did the same. When Theron looked down on her lying still in the frosty green he knew that beauty still existed, that there was still hope to the endless plague of humanity.

~April

At midday the couple, made up of Theron and April, went of south again. They were both quiet and April was slightly uncomfortable with the situation. She was at a crossroads where all paths only led to more questions about life. It wore her down, slowly and painfully. It felt like she had forgotten what it was like before, who she was before.

What used to make me happy? What small things did I use to enjoy when I was younger? She even wished that she was a child again. Everything was much easier back then. I'm even better off dead.

The silent walk took the pair past the lonely tree once again. It was nothing to see there anymore. No remains or anything, not even footprints. The snow covered everything. The white came and erased all, hid it underneath a new unwritten page of white. April wished she could do the same, just erase everything and begin again.

In the late afternoon, when the sun was setting again, Theron noticed the pavilions and small tents well lit by campfires and torches. He pointed them out to April. The soldiers had set camp about an hour's walk from the city walls, which surely could be seen had the weather been better. Theron seemed a bit unsure about just waltzing into the camp. He was a wanted man after all. People recognised him from both posters and his frequent appearances with Mira in the past. April hoped she could help him in some way or at least she had to believe it so. Theron pulled his hood over his short hair and grabbed April's pale and cold hand.

"Come," he spoke silently and started to march towards the lights. April followed him but had her eyes on the other lights in the far horizon. What looked like a swarm of fireflies was slowly moving south. She could only suspect that it was the invaders and if that was the case, they were many. She hoped it all would end soon.

~Luther

Luther walked back and forth inside his large military tent that was just recently set up. Sara had just left to fetch the crates containing maps and other instruments necessary to plan anything military. The lights on the horizon did not look good. His scouts had also reported that a rather large force already had set up camp just outside the city wall and sent troops into the city. Being an experienced soldier with many years on his back, Luther still could not grasp how the Windsor army could have mobilised so fast. It just did not make any sense. They had been efficient and well planned, more than any other army he had ever seen. Something drove them forward; either that or he could not even begin to guess what it could be.