I’ve grown up hearing about wars.

I’ve grown up hearing about the men and women who fight in them.

The soldiers and the knights.

I’ve found my blood boiling as I hear stories of heroes.

I’ve found my heart thumping as I hear stories of battles.

I’ve never seen what it means for a war to take place.

But I see it now.

As I walked around the streets of Draconis,

I see recruitment grounds set all over Draconis City.

I see people lovingly caress their loved ones before walking with a straight back and a heaving chest towards the army camps.

I see the mothers and fathers who cannot fight - wish with all their being that they were the ones who could take their child’s place.

I see the children, normally exuberantly playing around - fall silent as their parents hold them up high and leave.

I see the children, stifled by the heavy atmosphere - fall silent and dutifully stand as supports to their aging grandparents.

I see the people tighten their belts and I see the shops shutting down as the men and women who run them gird their belts and heft their weapons.

The soldiers marched into the city every moment, formations of cavalry and infantry in all their livery - Proud, tough as nails - these sons and daughters of the earth hammered their footsteps into the ground, leaving proof that they once walked it for the future was uncertain.

I saw all this.

My heart ached, but the fire within burned even brighter.

For what can be more inspiring than knowing that you might be marching to your doom, but with heavy tread you go forth anyway?

For what can be more inspiring than knowing that for a conflict of small importance in the river of time, the soldiers will still offer their lives for a cause that is theirs.

This is humanity.

Flawed and greedy.

Yet selfless and heroic.

This is humanity.

Yet there is also cruelty.

The cruelty of the fights of royalty.

I wandered the streets every day.

One day, I saw Master Wagner, the bookshop owner, drive out a carriage loaded with books and join the civilians that would join the army in its march.

I went up to him and asked him why he was taking the books.

His answer?

“It’s a long way there and the lads might get bored. After battles, some of the wounded will also need something to distract themselves, so I’m taking these books for them.”

“But why do you have to go yourself?” I asked.

“Because most of the soldiers come from poor backgrounds and don’t know how to read. I can read the stories for them and if things come to it, I can also throw these books at any Hagarian that dares to come after them!”

I took my leave silently before walking further when I heard a small girl’s voice that sounded familiar.

Walking closer, I saw it was the girl from the festival.

Eavesdropping, I heard her say,

“I’ll be a good girl - mom, dad! Don’t worry about me. I’ll stay with grandpa and make sure he eats every day. I’ll also stand at the walls every day until you come back, so make sure you come back, okay?!”

Blinking back tears, this girl who could not have been over 5 years old comforted her parents and eased their worries.

Blinking back tears myself, I walked further on.

On an impulse, I walked to the little master’s den, the tavern that belongs to Edwin.

Only to stop incredulously.

The entire tavern was gone.

Every piece of wood, beams and all, was gone.

There was no tavern anymore!

Instead, there was a huge area where benches and chairs were placed haphazardly while soldiers sat somberly and drank.

Small children carrying foaming mugs of ale ran about amidst the grizzled soldiers and danced away when the soldiers tried to pay.

Edwin was standing on a barrel yelling, “Drink as much as you want lads, it’s all on me! Just piss on the Hagarians instead of in the city - that’s all!”

Quietly, I walked closer to the barrels placed before grabbing two mugs and filling them. Then I slowly walked to a table where a man and a woman, both soldiers, sat.

Moving closer, I made out their conversation.

“If something happens to me, don’t marry that chicken-headed Balakash, but don’t follow me to the beyond either. Stay and live on. Bal, even if you want to marry that chicken-headed Balakash - I won’t mind.”

Cracking a fist into the man's head, the woman snorted, “As if! If I don’t follow you, who knows how many wives you’ll pick up in the afterlife.”

Then she said softly, “But I like our lives here…”

“So don’t you dare kick the bucket or else I will follow you for sure,” she said fiercely.

Placing the tankards between the two lovers, I paused, choked for words before nodding back in return to the pair’s kindly glances.

“Good luck,” I whispered.

Turning, I walked and served more and more soldiers who at some point began singing, slowly at first, before lustily yelling out the words.

“Men and women of the land,

Come one, come all to make your stand.

Your footsteps shall be the marching band!

The enemies shall fall down at your hand!

The sand shall be stained by your last stand!

Their blood shall splatter across the land!

Heroes we shall be.

Common though we might be.

Soldiers we are even if you’re an enemy

Humans we are, from birth to the afterlife that awaits us beings

Salut! Salut! Salut!

Heroes we shall be,

Common though we might be,

Soldiers we are throughout what may be,

Humans we are, from birth to the afterlife that awaits us beings.

Salut! Salut! Salut! “

I found myself roaring out the “Salut! Salut! Salut!” as lustily as the soldiers sitting there and my heart felt as though it was going to beat out of my chest and a warm current spread through my body, making it feel comfortable.

Salut! Salut! Salut!

My head still stuck in that refrain, I walked to the palace, which was now what it truly was designed to be - a castle.

The castle bristled with soldiers, and equipment was piled high in mountains.

My stomach rumbling, I made my way to the kitchens, only to find Thomas, who was even more scarecrow thin than before, directing people from a makeshift bed that somebody had placed in the kitchen.

Shocked, I quickly asked him what happened.

To which he replied, “I fell down,” before shouting out more orders and then attempting to get out of bed - only to be held back by a few youths.

One of them turned to me and said, “He didn’t fall down, he worked until he Bal near fell into the pot himself.”

Dumbly, I gazed at the man before looking wordlessly at Thomas, who grunted impatiently and waved his hands at me before I excused myself and went to my room.

Sitting there, I stared at my shoes for a long time.

Why did we fight?

For what did we train?

Why do we willingly go to our doom?

All these questions thundered in my head.

Shaking my head furiously, I tried to clear my thoughts, only to fail.

Frustrated, I rose and searched for my teachers or Sia - so that I could let loose some of the frustration.

One serving maid told me she saw Sia head outside around the same time that I did.

So I left the palace and walked aimlessly again.

Until I found Paul.