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Head tilted, posture wide.

Confidence and curiosity melded into one.

I bore into his eyes and he tears into mine.

One of us must fall.

And as this thought lurches into the forefront of my mind it ensures the grip on my blade has not slackened.

Both of us realize it now, the truth and despair of this moment.

Neither of us yearns for what must come next.

I taste the ash and gunpowder still lofty in the air and breathe in deep. As if, somehow, the haunting perfume of evergreen will overwhelm these two terrible forces.

Of course it does not.

The forest is in ruin. The village is torn asunder. The only things truly prevalent now are the dead and the opposition that lays before me.

Innumerable lives.

All willing to die for the sake of their Empire. For their glory.

If I had any more tears to cry...it would be for them. But there are none that haven't already been seized and so I pray.

I pray that it will be a quick end for them. Or for me.

His gaze is intense, his brow furrowed and the spear in his hand raised. He, too, has seen far too many casualties. It's written in the circles burrowed deep beneath his eyes.

I can't help, but wonder. If such a man as this, a fierce and unyielding creature, could have been my ally? If this soul, ensnared in the skin of killer, could have been a friend? A loved one? Beloved?

I dare not pry too deep beneath the azure in those irises. Press for information intentionally suppressed in a time of war.

If I do my mind may falter; my heart may slip.

And I will be the one to fall.

I look upon the remains of his men lain out before me one last time.

And close my eyes.

A snowflake traces my skin, melting into my flesh and blood.

And I hear the war cry sound.