From Cold Ashes Risen by Rob J. Hayes

Author:Rob J. Hayes [Hayes, Rob J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Rob J . Hayes
Published: 2020-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Josef was always the patient one. Where I would run off and attempt something with barely a thought of a plan, Josef would consider it from every angle, and plan for every possibility. Of course, I often dragged him astray. I would brook no argument, rushing headlong into my schemes and adventures. Josef would simply rush to catch up, dragged along in my wake. Some tutors named me a good influence on my friend, and others damned me as a bad influence. They were all right. We all influence everyone we touch, sometimes for the good, sometimes not. That is the nature of life. Heroes and villains are for stories. In the world outside of songs and books, we are all just people.

Months of study and experimentation passed. Thousands of deaths weighed heavily on Josef's conscience. I would say it was not his fault, that he was forced into it every time. He didn't want to take a single life, yet he was made to take two hundred and sixteen over and over again. Every time, the experiment failed. Every time, something was missing. No matter how many tweaks the Iron Legion made to his plan, there seemed to be no resolution. Of course, that didn't stop him from trying, and Josef's conscience paid the price along with all the innocents that he was forced to kill. He saw them all, every man, woman, and child. Every screaming face contorted in pain, and every weary acceptance of an end long in its coming. It broke him. Again. How could it not?

In my arrogance, I always thought myself the stronger of us. I never broke. Well, almost never. Josef was broken time and time again, through actions both his own and those done to him, and the consequences of those actions. But every single time he put himself back together again. I might have the strength of conviction, but Josef always had me beat in resolution.

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