Kingdom Fall: Chapter 22

 

Chapter 22

Sara's mind was a tumult of thoughts. The citadel was nothing like what she expected. She had always wondered why her spies could not find the citadel. They could have walked right past it and not realize it. Did the Elves bury the citadel themselves or did the world consume it? Or did they build the citadel inside the mountain? It would be a good place to hide a fortress but the knowledge and power that it would take to do it was beyond her. It was clear that the elves were more powerful than she even guessed. But what bothered her the most was the apparition. What kind of evil mind would find out the magic to take a person's soul and trap it in a building, forcing it to be the guardian? No matter how human the vision acted, Sara refused to think of it as human. She resented the thing for not letting her rescue her husband. She was so close but could go no closer. She also felt for the Woodsman. He had spent ten years trying to get over the loss of his beloved wife and child only to be confronted by an apparition of his wife, claiming to be still alive. Sara could not think of any worse kind of torture. She could not think which was worse: knowing your true love is alive but being unable to save them or knowing your love was dead only to find out that through elven magic, your love was alive but a captive of a citadel.

The squad made their way back to the horses. They found that the Woodsman had not been there to get his horse. Sara debated what to do about his horse. It was clear that Topher wanted to talk with her, but she let him know with a look that she was not ready to talk. Once they had Needlemeyer secured to his horse, Sara decided to take the Woodsman's horse. She was not sure if they would ever see him again; she hoped they would as she needed him to get inside that citadel. Something told her that she would see him again because of his vow, but logic said he would just wander back into the woods and never be seen again. However, she could not afford to leave his horse here where it might be found by an Emos patrol. If he was going to make it back to camp, he would have to walk.

Sara gave the order for them to go back to where they had made camp the night before. It was a good place to regroup. They all fell into line and made their way back in silence.

It was mid-morning, and the sun was now fully above the horizon. Although it was a source of great heat, its powers were not strong enough to melt the snow that covered the ground. A popular belief was that Chewla, the god of the sun, was out collecting fuel for the great sun furnace. The story was that once the sun had always burned bright and there was no winter. This was when Chewla and his sister Sorna shared the load of feeding the great furnace. One would gather fuel while the other fed the fires. Then when the one returned, the other would go out and collect fuel. One day, Sorna grew bored with the never ending cycle. She told her brother and tried to convince him to leave with her. Chewla, however, cared about the people that lived on Anon. he expressed his concern and told her they had to continue, or all those people would die. Sorna said she did not care about them since they had never done anything for her. Chewla told her that it did not matter if the creatures living on Anon did anything for them or not, they had a duty, a responsibility, and that was what mattered. Sorna was not convinced and just left without him. Chewla was heartbroken but carried on the best he could. He would burn all the fuel he had and then would leave the furnace burning and gather fuel. When he had enough, he would return and re-stoke the fires. Now, during the darkest part of winter, people on Anon would pray for the safety of Chewla so that he could gather the fuel he needs and return. Even the trees mourn the departure of Sorna and to show support for Chewla; they drop their leaves until Chewla's return.

Not even thinking of such mythology could help Sara's mood. Looking around, it was clear that Chewla was not stoking the fuel. A bitter breeze was now blowing down off the mountainside. Sara had to adjust her coat to keep out the biting cold as they rode along. What was she going to do? Would the Woodsman return? She hoped he would but had to plan for him not to.

The sun was not even at its zenith when they arrived back at their campsite. Without prompting, the squad set about digging a grave for Needlemeyer. She was impressed by them undertaking the task voluntarily, but as they proceeded, she began to understand that this was not just for Needlemeyer but for all the men and women that had fallen on this mission. A somber mood had come over the squad. It took them a couple of hours to dig a grave in the semi-frozen ground, but no one complained. By the time they had placed Needlemeyer in the ground and covered him, the rest of the squad had all gathered around the grave. At first, no one said a word, but then Topher spoke.

"Corporal Needlemeyer was a great man and soldier. This was not the first time I have had the honor to serve with him. He was a credit to his family and Carriland." Topher paused and took a deep breath. He allowed himself to think of the seven other soldiers they had lost on this mission. He continued, "As a general, this has always been the worse part of the job. It is never easy to stand here and talk about the passing of a soldier. You always think if there was something you could have done to protect them. As their leader, it is your job to try to protect them, while at the same time win the battle. A dead soldier cannot fight but at the same time, death is sometimes unavoidable. Even so, it does not make it any easier when one is killed.

We stand here today over the body of Corporal Needlemeyer, but it is not just him we mourn, we mourn our comrades who have fallen on this mission: Corporal Sherman, Sargent Mohana, Major Westfield, Corporal Espinoza, Lieutenant Johns, Major Edelbrook, Lieutenant Forza, Captain Jorge and Corporal Needlemeyer. These were all brave men and women, a credit to the service and their families. However they did not die in vain, and they will not be forgotten. We are proof that they did not die in vain. We are here, and we WILL complete this mission. And they will not be forgotten as long as we remember them and we return to tell of their heroic deeds. Knowing that they did not die in vain or that they will be remembered is little solace in the pain we feel in the loss of their life. In a way, they have it easy as we have to learn to live without them.

I have found it helps if we think of the good memories of them." Topher paused to steel his nerves. He then continued, "I remember we were on patrol once in the woods. I had a group of new soldiers, fresh out of training. I was pretty sure none of them had ever been in the woods, let alone spent a night there. The first night a couple of the new recruits had found some animal that had come near the camp. They were making a big deal about it, and one got the idea of catching it to help supplement the evening's meal. Well, then Private Needlemeyer went to see what they had found. Needlemeyer had been paying attention in training and spotted the white stripe down the animal's back and knew it was to be avoided. Unfortunately, before he could say or do anything the animal turned and sprayed him. He stunk for the next three days. At first, I felt sorry for him but what impressed me was that he never once complained. I cannot say the same about the other soldiers that had to bunk with him." Topher smiled as he remembered the fond memory.

After a moment of silence, Colonel Holms began talking about the first time he met Sargent Mohana in a cantina. This was followed by every member of the squad sharing fond memories of their fallen comrades. The three members of the squad that were not from the Carriland army shared memories they had of them. Even General Allison said some words of encouragement that impressed Topher.

Once everyone had spoken, there was a moment of silence. No one was sure how this memorial was supposed to end. It was then that Sara stepped forward. All eyes turned to look at her, and they were surprised to see tears streaming down her face.

After a moment, she said, "As a sovereign, it is my job to ensure the safety of all my citizens. As I stand here, thinking of the loss of these fine women and men, my heart is filled with grief and sorrow." She paused before continuing, "But as I stand here and listen to your stories of how these women and men have touched each of your lives I am filled with pride. I want each of you to know that I am proud to be your queen and that you bring great honor to your families. And as for those of you who are not my subjects, you are a credit to your kingdoms, and when we return, I will see it that each of your monarchs knows of your bravery and contributions to this mission."

Sara then looked at each soldier in the eye with tears flowing and a heart filled with both grief for the loss and pride for the living. She then turned and walked away. After a moment, Topher looked at the men and then turned. Slowly each soldier in turn turned and walked way, each dealing with the loss of their friends in their way.