The day had been beset by the fire of quarrel and there was not a sea that could extinguish it. Officers, most of noble birth, were pit in feuds reminiscent of the middle ages where one wrong word could be swiftly met by fist. Violence replaced order and the rule of military law had been forgotten. Their spirits had been dissolved and their morale had not been so low since the army’s formation. As the troops of the last wave returned, they had only then realized how their army had been mauled and cleaved apart. There were empty tents and missing rifles from racks. Fewer stools and fewer songs. Dragging their feet to shelter, the ash and gunpowder in their eyes had wiped away the colors of their irises. More and more wounded became numbers in the ledgers of the dead, piling onto the shoulders of surgeons who toiled away endlessly. Thinking when one patient had been absolved of crisis, ten more were added atop of them. But even when the living were many, carts of dead burned. The most decorated were given the honor of burial, saluted by the reluctant men who knew that their last words sent for them to die. Sapped, the conscripts and the volunteers were less likely to riot and fuel disorder when all they sought was rest. The sun of that day began to sink from noon and the shadows of the forest began to lengthen again. Not one creature belonged to the wilderness that had become a field of death, except for us, humans.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sz2G7OYXp
“We cannot allow him to take it into his own hands again.” A lieutenant general slammed his fists onto a table beneath a pair of umbrellas held up by servants.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqgp0JH0GQa
A snigger brought light to his party of comrade officers as he emerged beind them with the stench of battle. “You know how he is.” Žižka spoke of him, like that of a child. “One word and he’s off, another’d change his course like a kite in the wind.” He spat on mother earth and tossed his cigarette onto the ground, buried beneath his heel as he hiked toward the generals.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF49W7Xf3Ms
Overlooking the battlefield from the ridge where their battery once stood, they were exposed to a picture of how defeat had been fashioned for their body who belonged to the Aelon. The enemy remained as one whole troop, as their own withdrew, heads down and faces sagged. Their sabers ploughed through the field as some looked up toward the hill praying that they would not be ordered to take to battle once again. It was a sad sight to behold. Even the entire command struggled to withhold their curses.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdiHTaMfu5
“If it weren’t for Skowroński, we might as well have thrown down our blades.” A brigadier’s immovable trust began to waver too.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl92aMXeQfi
Beside them, detached from reality, an archer hugged onto his silver bow. His quiver was set on the grass as he laid atop a barrel of a broken field gun. The eifer within him had been drained and it was clear to him that his powers would not return before the end of day. Frail from fatigue, his legs dangled off the sides of the cannon like a rider’s with his head resting on his hand. Pinned at the moving clouds who ignored him as they washed by, his orange eyes did not turn to the generals’ protest. But he listened, knowing no input of his’ could absolve his own faults. Replaying in his mind, he was tormented by one word: blame.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7ejPwbCmA
Rolling the tip of his sword on the ground, the lieutenant general dismissed any belief that their luck would stay, “The retreat was a fluke.” Sensing something amiss, he turned to see that the Confederates were withdrawing as well, however it was far too early for them to do so. “Flukes do not happen twice.” The general added quieter.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HOBVcaeXU
His hands stilled. As the highest ranked man in command before all, he had gathered the attention of his comrades who had heard his discontent. Soldiers paused around him and a foreigner major looked up in shame. Their hearts raced and the air changed. The archer pivoted himself and rose from his steel bed.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVs5XLjkytk
“But…” The lieutenant general hesitated before his troops in anticipation who received an answer that many dared not say aloud, “I fear it before long that this army would have to rely on flukes—”24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqF81EmOQKl
“Whose army would that be?” Another’s voice, disastrously familiar, suddenly disturbed his speech.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsShLXWKWQP
There was a long silence and the lieutenant general was frozen in place. Behind him, a man of limiting aura but passioned with anger neared, and the heads of every commander lowered with one meaning or another. Unexpecting his early return, the speaker who had riled up his troops to believe in treason dared not face the commanding general. As all revolved towards him, one did not until he was shoved aside from behind and only then did he give way. Quickly stood to attention, he withdrew his sword and saluted, under his skirt of cowardice, his commander marching through. Sluggishly, the general bore a spear that could barely keep him upright as the weight of his bronze armor slowed him. His robes were tattered and soiled with a white cape that ran through mud. Wet with blood, he glared at each and every advisor that he passed until he came about his seat that was a single wooden chair. A cup-bearer brought him wine and carefully settled a goblet on the table beside him which was smudged with a greased handprint. Soon, his composure ran dry.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkq7CSSiZs
“I take to the field.” Nikola began, unbuckling his chestplate. “Sword in hand, reins in the other.” Facing no particular individual, he told.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbB6fIqVt7
Pieces of his pauldrons, vambrace, greaves, belts and pouches slumped off his body and littered the earth beneath him. Aching, he stretched his arms for however long he had burdened them for. He released his cape and like a waterfall of silk, it rolled onto the ground.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUnuonkb7xv
Holding onto his helmet, the last piece of armor that was still bound to him, the sounds of his lungs deepened with fury, “You lounge here, sulking, whilst I led our men out of hell.” Nikola removed his helm and spun around suddenly. “And I return to such deviousness!” He barked as he threw it at the lieutenant general’s face.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25H0p9V4wC
The bronze struck his cheekbone like a flying hammer that rang aloud before a bruise formed on his face as he stumbled. Onlookers shuddered as the helmet rolled across the grass. The lieutenant general’s grip on his sword tensed but he gathered himself and steadied his temper, worrying for his own good and his position that he had worked so hard to attain. Blood pooled inside his mouth that leaked from gaps between his lips. But it was far from the end of their commander’s tantrum.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wlW7ZXkeA
Slashing his spear that cut into the table, anchoring the polearm by its blade, Nikola reminded his flinching troops with a question that everyone present could answer, “How many have we lost?”24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBApG69U6YN
He looked around and each of their faces told that they knew the same and only answer but kept their mouths shut like a lectured class.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zwe0Rn5QN
“One hundred thousand before a quarter of a year!” Nikola raised a finger. “And behind them, drained bloodless beneath our feet, you excuse their sacrifices?” The general pointed with accusations.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHujigNy69y
Growing paranoid of conspiracy, Nikola eventually retreated, but his eyes were peeled on his aides. As he came under the shade of his umbrellas, the fire in his chest subsided but it was likely from his age that it did. Feeling his wrath draw to a close, his lieutenants came by their commander’s side and prepared to deliver their reports and thoughts on the situation. They were never given the order to speak. Standing around, they watched him sit having grown breathless as he sipped on his goblet of wine. His shaking hand rattled the vessel that was not gently set and rested his arm on the table. Leaning over, the general held his head when his whole body seemed to rise and sag exaggeratedly on every troubled breath.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhkFvd0Q7x
Wrapping a hand around the goblet, he gave a firm exhale. “Convene at sunrise.” Weakly, he uttered, taking another sip of wine. “I expect you all to bear your arms and colors then.” That was his first command that was ever issued since his return from the field.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIyQFfCwR1
“General,” The brigadier intervened, leaning in closer. “Would it not be wise to seek counsel—?” Honestly, he offered a suggestion.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHj1XkhgreH
The base of the goblet slammed onto the table and the brigadier withdrew as did his comrades alike, holding back their files that they intended to report from.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkmXvzIHGb
“My mind is made.” Nikola responded stubbornly, slouching, as he became one with the chair. “From where we have failed, we must take to the offense.” Whirling the wine in his vessel, he sanded down the table with his goblet and pinched his stiffening head.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuSozOSiyj
It seemed he would take no more ideas that would please him and to the brigadier, he assumed that his commander would rather sulk alone. Leaning back, the aide tilted his head behind the vision of the commander and gave a signal with his eyes. Those who caught on nodded and those who did not followed. Heels clicked and salutes lowered. Spinning around, the general’s staff departed with many who crowded the ridge. Their conference was in shambles. With files still bound, its documents unread, and words unheard, they were unsure if their purpose was anything but to be a punching bag for the general. Throughout the day, they had been reminded of the past, of armies’ stubbornness in the face of failure that defined the histories of defeat. They were no stranger to the feeling and had fought as long as the general did, but he had not grown out of his sack. The lieutenant general glanced back at the only man who was ranked higher than himself and cleared his mouth of blood with a spit.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5G6LhRDe8n
Exiting the presence of the commander, the archer leapt off the gun’s barrel and sought to return to his chambers when he spotted a soldier hurrying towards the ridge, rather than away. Sensing news, the boy stayed his ground and waited in the background as a lieutenant brushed by the major who was paused when he noticed him. Troops filed on from behind bearing colors different to the Bohemer which drew the attention of some who turned around nosily. The figures halted before the general in his peripheral vision who raised his head to meet the man approaching him. Tossing his messenger’s banner aside with blades swinging from his belt, he led a string of youth that he had seemingly saved. Nikola’s eyes unblurred and saw who it was in his presence. With the sun backing the young man, he could not quite make of his face yet until he shielded his eyes from the light and his umbrellas were realigned. A foreign shadow entered his midst and had already returned from his quick war.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHph4ZhtIxr
“Apollo.” Nikola called him.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR6V3t12G38
His name froze all. Officers spun around in disbelief. The dismissed convened again. Doubly sure that they were of his own, the major backtracked, pushing past his superiors and juniors alike until he had appeared out of a crowd which had formed again.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPj2JpjQYkt
