"Long, long ago, a curse plagued the lands.
The fields were filled with the corpses of men,
But to calm the anger of the heavens, the goddess of death offered herself as a sacrifice, for she could not bear seeing the demise of humans.
Her sacrifice was so noble, it brought the heavens to tears, and then it rained for over a million years.
Life emerged from the cold droplets after the welcome rain filled the earth.
It was a time when God and humans lived together. The era of coexistence vanished, yet human ambition burned ever so brightly.
The arrogant man obsessed with the sacrifice of death sought to revive her, and the goddess of death came back as war.
She wreaked havoc upon the lands in every direction. Light from as far as the eyes could absorb was drenched with war. It was the price of arrogance and a punishment for our greed."
As the gingerish hue embraced the pair of mother and daughter, walking beyond the dusky sky, the mother sang the war fable to her young daughter.
Accompanying them were the articles of nature: Dogs feeding their younglings, Monkeys paying heed to the inevitable night. But the attention of the child was jammed on her mother, for she was telling her the secrets of this ever so mysterious world.
Even though the fable was universal throughout the lands, every human found themselves a victim or a perpetrator of violence. This violence came in the form of war, which had been plaguing the lands since the start of mankind.
"But mother, why did the man try to bring death back?"
"Who knows, maybe... he was lonely."
Both were going back to their shack after a long day of work in the fields.
"The war is both a curse and a boon to us, given by the gods. It's their tool to reward and punish us as they please."
The mother said this to her child in a rather bittersweet tone.
"But Mother, was Father punished by the heavens?"
The child's innocent spirit of inquiry pierced through the hearts of her mother. She looked at the sinless eyes of her daughter, unable to answer the question, she looked away.
Biting her lip, she said, "Listen, Yue, whatever you do, never anger the heavens, ne-"
"..."
It was clear that she had something important to say to Yue.
But she stopped; she knew that the child would not be able to comprehend the ways of this world, for her innocence was too big of a hurdle.
"Mother?" The young Yue questioned the abrupt silence her mother displayed.
"It's nothing..." Repressing her sorrow, she smiled and patted her daughter on the head. A faint yet sincere smile was enough to lay the child in comfort.
The young Yue, unable to figure out the complexities her mother wanted to convey, could only nod and smile back in return. She looked at the sky, with night covering up, masking the entire sky in dim. Darkness frightened her. She held her mother's hands, tightly clenching them. She wanted to be there with her at that moment.
"-ake up!!..."
"-lease wake up!"
"Captain!! Captain!"
A touch, warm and gentle, reached her first — then a voice, sharp and clear, cut through the silence, dragging her mind from the depths of slumber.
"Captain Yue!! Are you there?? Wake up, Please!"
She felt as if she had woken up from a long, long dream.
[I'm alive...?]
Her thoughts stirred within her.
The mist clouding her mind thinned as the voice called her name.
Her weakened eyes crept open, reluctant and slow and encountered the pale gleam of the moon flooding them.
"The moon is blazing like silver fire."
Her voice, barely more than a breath, spilt out, alerting the man beside her.
she saw the dark obsidian leaves whispering in the gloom, providing the duskwrap. She sensed the withered leaves on the ground, brushing her back.
"Captain? You're awake?! Thank the heavens, are you alright, ma'am?"
The man sighed with relief.
"Yes...I am."
The man offered her water in a shabby leather pouch.
She took the pouch. "What has the situation amounted to, Liang?" She was still trying to understand her surroundings, clearly confused.
The man, Liang, replied in a serious tone, "Captain Yue, we are about 100-120 Weis inside the Nokrang line of control. We were chased by a 100-man unit from the Nokrang army while trying to breakthrough through the Main Nokrang forces, we lost over half of our troops after engaging them. You fell unconscious while fighting off dozens of Nokrang soldiers, and Lieutenant Zhen took you and escaped."
"Are they closing in on us?" Yue asked. She was finally grasping the situation as the memories of the fight surged through her.
"Not quite, ma'am. The remnants of our battalion have spread enough to make them lose track." Another voice, belonging to a young man not more than in his late teens, came.
"Yes! It is as lieutenant Zhen says." Liang followed up.
"How long was I out for?" Yue looked at the bright moon and assumed she had been sleeping for a while.
"It has not been that long, Captain Yue. We engaged the 100 men unit of Nokrang after the sun fell," lieutenant Zhen answered her query.
Yue was still lost in her abyss, exhausted after a near-death experience. Her mind showered with the memories of days long gone.
It left a bittersweet taste inside her.
[It felt like I was in that dream for years...]
[Although, it felt more like visions from my past rather than a dream. Like a trance, in which I drifted for years.]
[Why? Why am I remembering her now of all times..?]
[Say mother, would you still love me? A warmonger, a harbringer of death. A murderer. Without my blade, I am of no value to anyone. in this pitiful state, would you still love me?]
[...]
[There's no point in thinking this, but still...]
Yue was indeed conflicted.
"The sky feels cruel, doesn't it?" Her eyes lingered on the night sky, where countless celestial bodies lay scattered like distant jewels. The question cut through the calm silence, her face remaining still and expressionless.
"What do you mean, ma'am?" Zhen asked. Liang, as usual, listened quietly.
"We're trapped here, in this wretched world," she continued. "Bound to endless war and suffering, shackled by crime and corruption. The gods have turned their backs on us. All we can do is stare at the heavens, marveling at their divine creations, knowing we can never reach them."
She lifted her hand toward the vast expanse above, fingers stretching as if to grasp the stars that gleamed like scattered gems in an ocean of endless black.
"They're beautiful... yet forever out of reach. That's the cruelest fate of all. We struggle through endless trials, only to meet a destiny far worse than life itself."
"The gods are too weak-willed to live here, Only we humans can walk the path of a thousand hardships, yet never stop. Earth is a fitting place for creatures like us."
Zhen smiled faintly. He looked at Yue, "But I would be lying if I say the stars don't incite me at all. What is it that lies within them? I wonder."
"In my village, the elders told us that the heavens are filled with delicious drinks. Rivers upon rivers of them. Maybe someday someone would invade them too..." Liang said. They all looked up for a brief moment.
"Zhen, have you signalled the remnants of our squad to reach the designated rendezvous point? We move at dawn!" Regaining her composure, Yue asked Lieutenant Zhen.
Even though her monotonous face didn't show a hint of emotion, it was clear that she was much calmer now.
Zhen nodded. "It has been done, ma'am."
Coming from a prestigious military family, Zhen had spent his entire life in the capital. He often found himself wondering what kind of life his captain had lived before stepping onto the battlefield.
His father and brothers held considerable influence, both in the court and on the front lines. Yet Zhen lacked the brilliance his brothers possessed. His shortcomings with the blade and his reluctance to engage in politics had left him overlooked and cast aside by his own family.
Still, his noble blood ensured he wasn't entirely discarded. He was appointed as a 50-man commander and assigned as a lieutenant to Captain Yue during his first campaign.
He doesn't feel humiliated being led by a female — far from it. He admires her deeply.
Captain Yue had given him something his family never did: a place to belong. For that, he would follow her — even if it meant charging headfirst into certain death.
"You both should get some rest. Who knows what tomorrow may bring," Yue said quietly. Her gaze wasn't on the sky or the moon.
Zhen opened his mouth to respond, but the words never came. A sudden, sharp impact struck his thigh — yet there was no pain.
Confused, he lowered his head and froze. An arrow jutted out from his right thigh, the shaft quivering.
Mustering what strength he had left, he shouted, "Liang! LIANG! TAKE THE CAPTAIN AND RUN AW—"
Before he could finish, a second arrow struck him — this time in the head.
The force sent his eyeball flying, landing just feet away.
Yue saw it — the suspended eye, the blood, and for a moment, her mind went blank.
Then reality crashed down.
Zhen was dead.
Her breath caught. The air felt heavier, colder. Her chest tightened, and her fingers trembled at her sides.
Liang sprinted toward her, grabbing the weakened captain and bolting for cover in the trees. He didn't look back — Zhen's final order burned in his mind.
Tears blurred his vision as he ran. His breath hitched, and his legs refused to slow. "How did they find us? We lost them hours ago!"
"It was never a question of how," Yue muttered bitterly. "We're behind enemy lines... during a war. It was only a matter of time."
She clenched her teeth, swallowing the bitter truth. Zhen was gone — and they couldn't even mourn him.
"We can't tell how many there are... running is our only option!" Liang barked, forcing himself to focus. He couldn't think about Zhen — not yet.
Yue wondered if this was it — if this was how her life would end.
[This wasn't a long life...
I couldn't change anything. I couldn't save anyone...]
Her limbs felt heavy, her body too worn to resist. Liang's grip kept her moving, but her war-torn body felt like dead weight. Behind them, Nokrong soldiers closed in.
"Curse those Nokrong bastards... filthy devils!" Liang snarled through gritted teeth. "If not for them... If not for them..."
[How ironic...]
[Even though it is us invading their land...]
The slope steepened, and as Liang stumbled over a hidden log, Yue tumbled from his arms. She rolled downhill, colliding hard with something — a rock or a tree, she couldn't tell. It didn't matter.
She barely noticed the pain. Lying there, her thoughts drifted.
[I suppose this is fitting... a death like this... suits someone like me.]
The darkened sea of emerald trees stood witness to the confrontation, the air thick with heavy emotions and the metallic scent of blood beckoning death closer.
[...It's dark, cold...
I'm- I'm scared...]
[Mother...]