[PART I]
An eerie silence had fallen across the world in the moments that followed the death of a king. He had been slain and his military quashed at the hands of an opposing force. The humans had celebrated their victory, at savoured its sweet taste and in doing so, had forgotten the creatures that had made their success possible. The mighty beasts, often mistaken for horses, had led their comrades into battle and on many occasions had saved their lives. The casualties experienced by these Soquili now lay strewn across the battlefield, warped and trampled through the maltreatment they had received during combat. It should have come at no surprise that these mighty creatures now found themselves in mourning and felt no inclination to celebrate.
There were of course a number of unicorns amongst the survivors, slipping silently along the ranks in the hopes of locating a survivor amongst the wreckage. A lone Kirin stood in the midst of these mourning creatures, her emerald gaze tracking each passing healer as they sought out a patient. Any being now on the brink of death was beyond her care, while she could limit the pain she couldn’t save them. A cynic to the core, she had seen far too much death and suffering to believe that very many individuals could have survived the onslaught... particularly in the current conditions. If being trampled and mutilated hadn’t destroyed them, then the chill that seeped into their skin through the frozen soils would. It wasn’t the most desirable of ways to go but unfortunately the vast majority of soldiers would meet their fate in this manner.
However, few could accuse her of being an Ice Queen and even she could feel the crushing weight of a broken heart.
She dropped her gaze briefly and picked her way through the fallen bodies, stopping only once to close the eyes of a fallen comrade. Her tail paused briefly over his eyes, murmured a gentle prayer and then she pressed on. Blood relatives would weep at their loss and would grieve for a time; there would be ceremonies to attend and condolences to be given. Support would be provided by those nations that could give it.
She’d been through enough to recognise that civilians were naive in many respects. Though militaries may have taken their orders from civilians, these individuals failed to recognise many things. For example, they never seemed to realise that the military was a family; the bonds forged in combat were often stronger than blood. Soquili hadn’t lost friends today; they had lost family and potentially lovers. But, would anything be given to assist those who had seen their best friends fall in battle?
No.
They weren’t entitled to it.
An outcast since she was a mere filly, she had been thrown out by her parents in adolescence for experimenting with things she shouldn’t have. With nowhere to go, she had wandered without direction until she had stumbled into yet another bad crowd. When she appeared to have reached the point of no return she had been saved – or rather, she’d experienced an intervention. Staring down from the precipice that would have been her undoing, she encountered a stallion who gave her a choice. In return for her natural capabilities as a healer he would give her a home, he would given her companionship, friendship and a purpose. She’d accepted it and quickly found herself embraced by the military, it was an unusual life but it was one she had grown to love. Her order had been incredibly successful as well, they had never lost a battle and while today was yet another victory it was somewhat different.
...Everyone was gone.
Her surrogate family now lay in tatters, her human slain despite her attempts to protect him. He’d fought valiantly of course, as had they all but he hadn’t been the only one to meet his maker a number of hours before. Her fellow brothers and sisters had fallen too, if there had been survivors then they appeared to have scattered. It was an even lonelier and desolate feeling to realise you were the only survivor on a battlefield filled with corpses. Words couldn’t describe the distress that one experienced when they came face to face with a dead soquili they recognised. It should have come at no surprise that the mare’s ears had a constant and rather loud ring to them, the cheers of success dulled considerably against that overwhelming sense of emptiness.
No one noticed of course.
To a passing soquili from another troop, she would just be another healer in search of survivors when really she was the survivor.
She didn’t expect help (that would be foolish), but she did have to wonder - should she scatter to a far off corner of the world, or, should she revert to a way of life she had escaped years ago? It would have been an insult to the memory of her family to return to such despicable ways. Thus, only one real question was raised in those moments – which direction should she pick? For many years she had happily followed the directions she had been given, they’d always been given a destination and ironically everything seemed to have come full circle.
No family, no friends and no direction.
Wonderful.
Her lips pursed as she observed the meandering healers once more. Their fruitless efforts were becoming all the more depressing as the light dimmed and was extinguished in their eyes. The younglings, new to the warzone were learning very quickly that life was not all glory and celebration. The cruel truth of it was that they had the worst jobs in existence. They trawled through the dead bodies in search of survivors and when there were none, they had the task of identifying who had fallen. She didn’t have the heart to inform them that on many occasions it would also be their responsibility to inform the families of their losses. It sucked to be a doctor but she had known that from the beginning, thankfully her superiors hadn’t painted pretty pictures and to be frank, she had already seen rather gruesome imagery before she had joined their ranks.
This time, things were going to have to be different. They just had to be.
Without any real plan the mare continued to pick her way through the battlefield and came to a halt once she had escaped the most concentrated region of slain creatures. It wasn’t a pretty sight, casualties and death all along the horizon and darkening clouds above. A foreboding sight and one that spoke volumes about the mood; some individuals would not celebrate this evening. Suffice to say that as her gaze travelled along this warzone she realised that things had to be different this time – she was older and wiser now. Adolescence had led her down a dangerous path but she had been given a second chance, she knew better. Admittedly it was a touch cliché but she could appreciate that for once, she was going to walk into the light.
This in mind, her direction was easy. She was going to head east; to a land that she heard was one that boasted a rising sun.
Disregarding the remarks of officers from other battalions the mare merely gathered her own wits and pointed her head in the right direction. There were occasions when her mentors and superiors had advised her to follow her feet. She hadn’t quite grasped the idea behind this, but she’d finally figured it out and as a consequence her hooves began to move of their own accord; her steps stiff and awkward at first, almost as though she were a newborn once more. Step by step she gathered momentum and while a smile wasn’t forthcoming on her lips she did feel a little lighter.
They would no doubt say that she had suffered shellshock of some description but now that she had made her mind up, she wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. Her family had lost their lives prematurely and rather than fall into line with another company of soquili, she would take a moment to herself. She’d take the time to reflect, to consider her options and maybe she would return in due course.
...Just not right now.
“Priest!” a colonel roared behind her, causing her to turn around albeit briefly. “Do not forget your place!” It was a stark warning, but the rebel in her lifted its head just a touch and snorted. She knew what his words meant and understood them fully but rather than obey, she kept walking instead.
“You dishonour your battalion, a deserter in their ranks!” he continued.
“A deserter is one who runs from the battlefield during combat, one who abandons their brothers and sisters to save their own skin,” the Kirin corrected her superior calmly and shook her head. A small, sad smile played on her lips and she nodded towards the corpse riddled battlefield. “I never abandoned them to the wolves, I fought with them and did everything I could to try and save them - ” her expression clouded and she stilled for a few moments to regain her composure. “But you must recognise that they are dead now, my brothers and sisters are gone and you are no father to me...” she pursed her lips and released a sigh.
“Do not mistake an individual’s decision to embrace freedom as cowardice. My family and I fought to ensure that we could decide our own fates. Their dreams lie in ruins now; those dreams follow them into their eternal slumber,” the Kirin was silent as she let these words settle in. It was rare for a mare to challenge her superiors but technically, she didn’t have any anymore. “It would be an insult to their memory to lay waste to my own dreams and ignore them. What they fought so hard for will not be in vain – ”
“But – ”
“They will not be just a memory,” she snapped, her eyes flaring just a touch. She didn’t expect the colonel to understand, she doubted he’d ever been in the same position as her. She was sure he’d experienced loss, but she sincerely doubted he’d lost his entire family in one fell swoop. “I am alive and that alone is a gift, I will honour their sacrifice!” She waited at this point, assuming that there would be some smart remark to follow but none came. Instead, the colonel merely pressed his lips into a thin line and gave a very small nod.
“We all will,” he reassured her quietly. A soft sigh escaped his lips and then he allowed a hint of a smile to creep into the corners. “Perhaps you will reconsider your position in the future, and find your way home once more,” he murmured. He seemed to accept her argument even if he wasn’t completely satisfied by the outcome – who was he to argue with a grief stricken mare? Every individual dealt with their losses in their own way and she would certainly be no exception. At this moment in time he would have bet good money on the possibility that her calm exterior was a very fragile facade.
“Maybe,” she responded numbly.
With no argument forthcoming she turned her back on the stallion and with a sense of finality, headed east.
