The sun rising over the mountain cast a glow over the grounds, early sunlight soft and reflecting off the dew throughout the battle camp as warriors milled through the grounds in preparation. Outside of one of many tents sat a young woman, dressed in the robes of mage as she sat silent and watched people move around and call to each other in strained voices.
Lila closed her eyes a moment, unable to bear looking at how peaceful the early light made everything seem even amidst the busy time. To her this felt like a mockery of what was coming next, as they marched into war against their fellow to fight the wars of those that had come before and the leaders had continued to perpetuate for the sake of pride. She had taken the call to war, refusing to stand silent when she could take her part in changing the tides and fighting for peace, but idealistic teens were never told what carnage truly awaited them.
"Lila?"
Her eyes snapped open and she looked up to see a young man in armour standing over her, concern in his eyes. A faint smile came to her lips at seeing him only for it to be washed away in an instant, as she realized that he too was dressed for the first battalion sent out.
"You're coming first, you'll be on the front lines also." She said quietly, her friend nodding without a word. "Then we may both meet our end today."
Michael's shoulders straightened slightly, making him look every bit the powerful warrior he was.
"We may. But it will be worth the sacrifice if we can help protect the generations to come. They called us the dreamers, imagining a life of peace we'll never see. I want to prove them wrong, that even if some of us never see we will bring it forward." He declared, passion shining in his eyes.
With a heavy breath Lila dropped her head, teeth gritted in anger and determination as she rose and reached down to the sword resting on the table next to her. It had the telltale glow of magic, she had just sharpened it with a protection that would not allow it to dull through the battle. He took it, sheathing the blade slowly as if the metal sliding against metal was making the war just outside a little more real.
"For the heirs to come, we must stop this war. Break the cycle, open their eyes before they take the throne." She said, reaching down to grasp hold of her own staff.
Michael reached one hand down, Lila accepting it and rising to her feet as he pulled her forward and into an embrace. She held him tightly, pain deep within her chest as she accepted what came next dulling slightly even as tears trickled silently down her cheeks. Her face was tilted up an inch, eyes meeting Michael's own pained one as he leaned down to press a lingering kiss to her lips.
It tasted of salt, tears mixing on their lips.
Slowly she pulled away, stepping back to recover herself as in the distance the call of the horn sounded.
"I will be at your back if you'll be at mine." She said lowly, a half smile her only response as together they turned to face the entrance of the camp and fell into the warriors and mages following the call alongside them.
It was time to face the battlefield.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the stories it would go down as a fated event, the battle that shifted the outcome of the battle and began the beginning of the end of the war. Everyone in it was lauded as heroes, painted as romantic.
No one spoke of the violence. Steel against steel, the screams of the dying and the explosions of magic as with bared teeth and reckless abandon the mages vowed to take down as many as they could before one by one those chosen to be the first wave of offence began to fall under the fire of the enemy. No one spoke of the brave mage who led a small group through enemy lines to take down the three mages damaging their army, nor did they tell the story of the chilling scream that echoed as a young man brandishing a sword dove between a blast of magic and a mage unshielded crumpled to the ground dead.
Few living know of how that mage unleashed her life force within her magic, vaporizing the enemy mage and every single enemy within range before fading into the afterlife right behind her shield and love. It was there she fell on blood-soaked earth, next to the body of her best friend who had died fighting for the same freedom she had.
They had created a legacy, one their names would not be sang for, but one carried by the freedom of those who came after.
