Memories of Blood and Shadow by Jones Aaron S

Author:Jones, Aaron S.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE LIGHT IN DARKNESS

T he courtyard had been taken by the Alfaran soldiers. Battered, bruised but victorious, the soldiers hoisted their flags and danced around the courtyard of corpses, singing songs from the old days and giving each other hearty pats on the back and even a kiss on a cheek or two. Some of the less jubilant soldiers had sunk into the shadows, curling up into themselves and staring at something that wasn’t there, trying to process what they had just been through. Battles were a damned thing and Tavar didn’t think they were worth the pain and suffering. What had really been accomplished here?

He stumbled from into the courtyard with Carver at his side. His whole body felt drained, as though he had run for days with no rest, not even to eat or sleep. This day had cut years off his life, he knew it there and then. He scoured the crowd of signing soldiers, sighing as they poured from nearby taverns to raucous applause, holding barrels full of ale and mead. There would be fun, dancing and drink tonight. So much drink. That’s how many coped. Fight back the horrors of war by forgetting they even happened. That way you’d be ready for the next one, with only the shadow of a memory waiting in the back of the mind waiting to pounce at some inopportune moment.

He returned the smiles and pressed his hand to his heart, accepting the greetings from his fellow soldiers, hiding his distaste at the whole thing. He scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of his friends, praying to the heavens that they had survived.

“Where the fuck did you get off to?” Adam almost bundled him over from the side, grabbing him in a bear hug and kissing him on the cheek. “I thought you were dead! Been turning over corpses wondering if they were you…” The smile faded as he shuddered at the memory.

“I’m alive.” Tavar smiled weakly, pushing Adam back and taking a good look at him. “And so are you, it seems.”

Adam pointed his thumbs at himself and grinned. “Better than ever. Alice is safe too. Cassie took a blow to the head but she’s fine. They’re in the medic’s tent. Come, let’s grab a drink and you can tell me where you buggered off to.” He glanced at Carver and the corner of his lips curled into a wicked smile. “Though, I understand if you don’t want to give me all of the details…”

“Seriously?” Carver scoffed, hands on her hips and tongue running past her lips. “In the middle of a battlefield.”

“Nothing gets the blood flowing like the chance of your life ending any second.” Adam shrugged before bursting into relieved laughter. “We’re alive!”

The colonels were rushing around the desecrated city now, barking orders at their men and women, flushing out any enemy soldiers who may be in hiding and passing messages where needed. The majority of soldiers sat around, resting in the starlight and accepting the cups passed to them by their allies.

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