The Last Stand (The Eleven Years War: Book One) (Wattys 2019)

Chapter Seven

The Gisken soldiers lead Elise and Ulrick out of town, down towards the hills on the outskirts of town. Giving them a tour of all the destruction the Giskens had wreaked during their attack on the town. There were bodies just about everywhere she turned. Some were dead, their glazed over eyes staring blankly at the sky, but most... well, most of them weren't dead. In fact, most of them were not only still alive, but aware of what was happening to them. A few were asking for help from the Gisken soldiers, some were crying, some were attempting to drag themselves over to shelter. And the Giskens... the Giskens were killing the ones that were left. The ones that obviously wouldn't recover were run through with swords.

It took every ounce of willpower she had to not try and wrench herself out of that Gisken's grip and try to help some of those poor boys. She could do it; she knew full well that she was able to help them. But... she wasn't able to. She just had to sit there and watch them as they were killed for no good reason.

"Why?" It was all Elise could manage.

"It's a mercy," the Gisken said. "Their lives might not be worth living with their injuries; it's like putting down a horse that can't walk. We're just... putting them out of their misery."

He obviously didn't like it that much, either: he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself that it was the right thing to do than he was trying to convince her.

Not too long afterward, they reached the back of that hillside.

Her breath caught in her throat.

There was a whole city of white canvas tents there: hundreds and hundreds set up so, so close to Thaos. It was buzzing with activity at that point: men ran in and out of the camp, some camp followers were cleaning things up; it was... it was absolutely insane. How could all of that be there? How could all of that be there, and how could nobody notice it?

It was almost as if the Gisken behind her could tell what she was thinking. "We haven't been allowed to use fires for the past few days. It's been... well, it's been pretty miserable. Especially with all the rain."

Was that Gisken trying to get her to feel sympathetic for her? Because it certainly wasn't working. Not with Ulrick nursing yet another injury to that shoulder of his and his wrist cut.

"Why did you do that to Ulrick?" Elise asked quietly.

"What are you talking about?"

She shot him a glare. "You people burned him, beat him, shot him with a crossbow, and left him to die. What kind of people do that to another human being?"

The Gisken was quiet for a few seconds. "I didn't do any of that. And I didn't want them to do any of it; in fact, most of it wasn't sanctioned by the General, now that I think about it. Most of it was Blair's handiwork."

"If he didn't approve of it, why did he let it happen?"

Once again, the Gisken was quiet. "He has bigger things he has to worry about. He wasn't all that interested in what happened or didn't happen to the Watchman with an invasion to plan."

Elise wasn't satisfied by that answer. She wasn't satisfied by it at all.

But, judging by the tone of his voice, he wasn't all that satisfied by it, either. It made her wonder: why was this man still with the Giskens? He obviously didn't like what they were doing. Why didn't he speak up, maybe even resign from his post and go back home?

Because he was a Gisken. And that was what Giskens did: they fought and they killed, and for what? To gain a little more land. Why did they need so much of it? Their country was big enough, wasn't it? Why couldn't they have just left Caitha alone?