Salvation Through War: Chapter 2 – Journeying in a War-Torn Land

Chapter 2 – Journeying in a War-Torn Land

I’ve honestly never looked in a mirror this long before probably because I don’t really care how I look to others, but since Zephan is with me, I care. Is my short brown hair too drab? Is my brown skin smooth to the touch? Do my orange and yellow eyes glow with the ferocity that they’re supposed to? Does my golden corset go well with my long red skirt and cloak? What about the fireproof black bodysuit and chainmail that I’m wearing? Are they okay and in good condition? Is the black war paint on my face too intimidating? Maybe I should’ve done something else besides two tear lines running from my eyes to my mouth and a black mark going from the bottom of my lips to under my chin.

The realization of what I’m doing hits me as I sit down by a table in embarrassment. Right now, Zephan and I have stopped by a town to eat and revigorate ourselves before continuing on my journey. I’m waiting for him to get our food from the nearby hunter store and even as I wait, my eyes still wander to my reflection on the shop windows. The same window reflection and smell of cooked food draws my attention to Zephan who has brought with him plates full of a variety of meat.

“It looks good, doesn’t it?” Zephan says. “Go ahead. Dig in.”

While eating, I say, “We could’ve just hunted for food and cooked it ourselves. Why spend money on it and have others do the cooking as if we’re foreigners?”

“Because this is a special occasion and my status as a lieutenant in the army gives me a discount that makes this meal basically free. My teacher also did the same for me as well so I’d like to carry on the tradition.”

I grunt in acknowledgment. I’ve never eaten something before that I didn’t kill or wasn’t recently killed by someone else like a family member or friend. There’s no shortage of prey in Canis or rather predators that can become prey. Everything is a carnivore in these lands, even the meat-filled plants can walk around and chew you to bits. It’s why there are no farmers in our land, just hunters.

“I saw you looking at yourself in the mirror,” Zephan says and makes me choke on my food for a bit. “Is something wrong with your appearance? Are you trying to look good for someone?”

“N-no, I’m not. Don’t worry about it,” I say.

The people of Canis care very little about fashion so when someone is looking into a mirror, they are either checking themselves for injuries or damage to their armor or making sure they look good for the person they are interested in. It’s obvious that nothing is wrong with my light armor so the other option is the most likely to Zephan, but he’s not interested in me nor do I want to act on my feelings since I don’t really have romantic feelings for him, or at least, I don’t think I do. Still, he’s smiling in a way that makes it look like he’s reading my thoughts and knows something that I don’t. To avoid my face getting flushed red again, I try my best not to look at him and just focus on eating. Everyone in Canis is forward with their feelings so even if he did feel the same way about me, he would’ve said something by now.

“So, why are we going from here to an outside kingdom and then back here?” I ask while pointing to the map Zephan left on the table. “Why don’t we go to someplace like the overgrown lands of Bernhard or the wastes where the ratmen reside if I’m finalizing my training to become a soldier?”

“That’s because even though both places are dangerous, you are already used to living in such places because of your life here despite them not being as hot, however, you aren’t used to the cold and calm of what are considered normal lands,” Zephan explains while tracing his finger through the route he’s planned. “I know I wasn’t prepared for it when I went. Even my combat prowess was tested there because I wasn’t used to fighting in the cold or normal weather, as it’s called by the people who live there. Also, my fellow teachers approved of the plan as well and will be implementing it, if they haven’t already.”

“Hmm.” I guess it makes sense and I know better than to question Zephan’s advice and orders so I accept his plans. “What’s this first region we’re going to anyway? Looks like we’re just wandering around an empty area.”

“It’s the general area I’ve been told is holding a gathering of traitorous bandits. The area is dangerous even for Canis standards so it’s a perfect place for skilled criminals like this to hide.”

“So, we’re going to be hunting the scum of the earth? Say no more.”

“Freya, you will still be killing people. We may be a people who live on war, but we direct our hatred towards sin, not the sinner and our fighting is done for God’s glory, not for the fun of it or our own ends.”

“I know, I know.”

“You must understand this and remember it constantly. If you don’t properly direct your hatred or have the right reasons to fight, then you shouldn’t be a soldier.”

“I know that. It’s one of the first lessons you taught me.”

“Do you remember what else I said?”

“It is the first lesson and the last.”

“Correct. Once we finish eating, we’ll head out to face your first challenge.”

I do as Zephan says and we head out to the area where the criminals are hiding out. The land is one ravaged by the war of the past that is said to have ended the future, or rather, it ended humanity’s technologically advanced age when we could travel the stars. Nothing of it remains in these lands except for broken towers, pieces of metal everywhere, large mechanical weapons of war that are beyond repair, and craters where pools of lava reside. It’s said that the war is the reason why Canis is the way it is, especially because the elves, ratmen, and orcs were changed after remnants from the past were blown up in their respective regions. As far as I know, none of the theories matter to me, and thinking about it beyond knowing about the extent of humanity’s destructive capabilities is just wasting time. Still, this scenery is interesting to look at every now and then and the past is intriguing to remember, nevertheless.

While we hunt for our prey, we have to defend ourselves from the plants and animals that live in the wreckage. Zephan reminds me to primarily use my sword and only use my fire magic if absolutely necessary since using it tires me out quicker, which he is right about, so I do as he says. This reminds me of the days when he first taught me to hunt. Looking at the crystal that lights my sword up with flames, I remember those days as if they were yesterday and the days when Zephan and I would spar together and eat meals that we hunted.

“I think we found them, Freya. Look here,” Zephan says in a loud whisper snapping me out of my daydreaming.

“Footprints,” I say while touching the ashen ground. “And dried blood.”

“Our targets must be close by. Let’s take it slow just in case there may be an ambush. Also, try not to look into that crystal of yours for long in situations like this. Keep your mind in the present. You can reminiscence the past later.”

“Okay.”

Zephan and I follow the trail until we go into a cave whose walls are entirely made of collapsed towers. The tunnel doesn’t go too far back so it isn’t long until we reach our prey who are drinking, eating, holding fights, and doing business in the ruins of what looks to have been a town square or marketplace. It’s also then that I see the scaffolding around the ruined towers that lead up into them and see that the criminals inhabit them.

“You see them up there too, Zephan?” I whisper while we hide in the shadows.

“I do,” he says as he looks around.

“They might’ve already seen us. We should just attack now.”

“If they saw us, then they would’ve done something by now. Let’s wait for a few minutes to see if that’s the case before acting.”

After waiting in the shadows for a few agonizing minutes, we see that nothing happens and the criminals in the marketplace don’t change their behavior. During the wait, I’m tempted to attack the ones that leave the cave, however, Zephan holds me back.

“We must wait for the right opportunity to strike,” he says.

“We came here to bring justice to these people,” I say.

“God will deliver that to them later. Perhaps we will even face them on our way out or someplace else. Our primary concern is everyone down there.”

“Fine. How are we going to deal with them? We’ve waited long enough.”

“You see that the ruined towers around us are still damaged despite the repairs done to them? I say we create a large enough fireball to bring this entire place down on them.”

“It’s…efficient. Here I was thinking that I’d have to get my blade dirty with their blood.”

“As the saying goes, work smarter, not harder.”

“Right, right.”

Together, Zephan and I conjure fireballs and continue to grow them in size until we’re noticed. We then throw the fireballs at the top of the cave, bringing it down upon the marketplace below. The rest of the cave begins to crumble as a result so we rush out of the cave killing whatever returning scum there is and the ones that come out of the broken windows of the towers. Once we make it out, we don’t let our guard down as we catch our breath and wait for any stragglers to come out. Eventually, some do and charge at us while cursing us for what we did. They fall rather easily because of their injuries and lack of armor, which they must’ve either had to lose to escape the cave-in or damaged beyond usefulness in the chaos. We end up killing ten of them until Zephan decides that we waited long enough to see if any more will come out.

“If there’s any more left, they’re trapped inside the cave,” Zephan says.

“What if they end up escaping? Maybe some escaped through an exit in the cave that we don’t know about,” I say.

“Don’t worry. It will take them a while to escape this and I’ve marked this location on my map so we can tell people about it and send guards and soldiers here to keep an eye on it. You did good today.”

“I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to sing battle prayer songs.”

“You know that we don’t always have to sing them even before larger battles, right? You can also let your actions be a song of praise to God. Speaking of which.” Zephan kneels down and prays. He looks back up at me and says, “Pray for the pitiable souls that we killed today and those who may still be trapped in the cave.”

I do as Zephan says, kneel, say a quick prayer, and then get back up just as he is.

“Freya,” he says.

“What?”

“Remember that you are a sinner like the people you killed and should not look so much down on them. Do you remember the words in one of our battle songs; ‘We who were scum slay scum and give mercy to those who don’t deserve it’?”

“It was the song I planned on singing.”

“Remember those lyrics in particular. In this land at war, what separates us from those who are truly lost is our focus on God and that we fight only when we know God wants us to.”

“Yes, Zephan. I’ll remember.”

“Good because you’re really going to be challenged when we enter the cold or rather relatively cold lands just ahead of us.”

“I’m ready.”

“I thought the same thing too when I first heard about it, but I was wrong. For your sake, I hope you’re right.”

I take the crystal out of my sword to snuff out the flames on it, put the crystal in my pocket, put the sword in its sheath, and mentally prepare myself for what’s ahead. If it challenged Zephan, it’ll surely be harder for me. Lord God, give me the strength to face my future challenges and give you glory through overcoming them.