NOVEL FROG Chapter LXXXVII – As we help those who fought with us.
62nd of Summer, 5859
Yellowclover, Casamonu
“Father!”
While his comrades-in-arms were doing battle, Shinasi was concerned with one thing and one thing only. “He’s still breathing!” He and his sister were gathered around the bloodied man who could only follow his children with his eyes. Speaking had become impossible for him.
Ayomide was a few steps away from them. Her eyes still held on to the crystal from the dungeon, a tight grip even if her hand was shaking. I could heal his wounds, but… She remembered time when she had passed out from healing such a simple thing as Brown’s infection. Perhaps with the help of her newly-acquired magical tool she could bring him back to a survivable state, but then what? All the work that Rabanowicz had gone to procure special weaponry for the siege would be gone if there was no Ayomide to operate them. She had been conserving her magic power for that day, and the siege would definitely drag on longer than it needed if she passed out for so long…
“Father! Are you here? Father!”
And yet.
So, why care?
Shinasi and Shirin were holding on to the shirt of the old man, both crying and wetting his vest with tears. Their wails mixed together to create a horrendous sound.
Why haven’t you left and made your way to Zon’guldac?
Was she to sacrifice an old man for the good of the League? It was one old man, a lightskin too, one that she didn’t know so much about. Yet, it was one old man who was very precious to Shinasi. Could one watch as a member of one’s family, even if they were not immediate family, died right in front of them?
…love Love itself above all things.
Ayomide couldn’t bear to watch any further. Damn the consequences! She lunged forward toward the old man and screamed the first few words that came to her mind: “[I Don’t Want To See Shinasi Cry]!”
Despite the odd name of her spell, it managed to take effect and a heavenly light blinded everyone around her.
62nd of Summer, 5859
Yellowclover, Casamonu (League of Gileadites)
There was an air of jubilee mixed with anxiety around the men of the League. Jubilee from all having successfully defeated an enemy; anxiety from those who had seen war for the first time. All that time training up squares had meant nothing when they had needed to break formation while entering the village, and it dawned on them that the actual siege of Casamonu would mean the same when they entered the city itself. A few dozen men had defected in the direction of Zon’guldac after facing battle for the first time and realizing that they weren’t up for it. With that, adding those who had died or got sick on the way, the population of soldiers had dropped to somewhere around nine hundred; keeping accurate count of the actual number of soldiers was a bit hard during travel.
However, for now, nobody was concerned about exact numbers. “Men of Yellowclover! The League of Gileadites, your liberators, have arrived. You have no reason to fear us! The men harassing you have been vanquished.” Brown was screaming his lungs out, trying to get the surviving villagers to come back out. “You are free to tend to your wounded and bury your dead.”
The few villagers who had managed to hide somewhere in time were slowly coming out of hiding while watching the armed men of the League with wary eyes. Their opinion of armed men hadn’t been increased by their village having been almost destroyed minutes ago by a group of armed men, and the average skin color of this new group of armed men were a bit too different to them. Still, in the absence of anyone trying to kill them in the immediate moment, the villagers prioritized saving what they had left rather than worry about or express gratitude to these strangers who had so suddenly saved them.
“Mister Brown, me and Kyauta will be scouting the premises in case anyone has any ideas about attacking the village.” said Tubman as she left Brown’s side. Brown himself got off his horse and began directing the soldiers in putting out fires and generally helping the villagers in recovery. There was much to be done: getting dead bodies off the open air and into the village’s temple for blessings by Vaiz and burial tomorrow, returning looted items back to its owners, healing the wounded…
Work slowed down when the sun began leaving Gemeinplatz for greener pastures elsewhere on not-Earth. Normally Ayomide would be the one to provide them with light for the night, however…
“Captain!”
Shinasi popped into Brown’s tent, which was lit up by slime oil lamps while the old man was pondering a map. The young man looked tired, his cheeks were still wet from the tears, and his hair was somehow in an even bigger mess than it usually was. He had been forgotten amidst the mess that was the after-battle cleanup. “I’ve got some… news.”
“What is it, young man? How is your family?” asked Brown.
“Thankfully they’re all fine. The old man especially – he had a bit of a close encounter with the Divine.” Shinasi took a deep breath in. “All thanks to Ayomide’s magic. They’re both sleeping soundly in my house now.”
“Oh, praise be to God! So, Ayomide used her magic and… last time she did that, she was out cold for the entire week.” Brown got uneasy thinking of the military implications of their catgirl wizard being out-of-commission for a week. Still, his face was still and calm.
“I know that I shouldn’t have let her go against orders, but-”
Brown raised his hand to signal him to stop talking. “Young man, we’re all free men here as made so by the Lord. I’d think of it as a noble action for her to sacrifice a week of her life for your father, and I kindly ask you to not worry about it. God might have taken away one avenue, but he’ll surely show a way out for the righteous. Or, in our case, a way in to the walls. Perhaps we’ll have to wait a week for her to wake up, or perhaps we’ll just have to siege our enemies until they surrender.”
Shinasi couldn’t help but be in doubt at the myriad plans of Brown. “Mister Brown, do you have a plan?”
“The only one to have one, singular plan is the Lord, young man. We, as flawed sinners on this earth, have to do our best to follow the path set forward by Providence to the best of our limited capabilities.” Brown pointed at a piece of paper on the little portable desk of his tent. It had many scratching and writings on it. “Therefore, I don’t have a plan. I have many plans, some admittedly better than others, and we’ll go with the ones which’ll work out when the time comes.” Brown suddenly got excited. He had just made up an aphorism that he thought was good. “To put it succinctly: The first casualties of battle are plans.” He smiled, not out of happiness but out of wisdom brought by age and a second life. “It cost me my life to learn not to stick too closely to one plan.”
Shinasi put his hand on his heart. “You’ve done us well until now captain, so I’ll be entrusting you with my life.”
“The one in charge of your life is the Lord, not me, but I do appreciate the sentiment.” Brown nodded towards the outside after having given his obligatory sermon. “Now, young man, you are discharged for today. Spend good time with your family before we set off tomorrow. Good night.”
“Good night, captain. And, thank you.” Shinasi left the tent and made way for his home. On the way home his head was tilted up towards the only thing he could see in the dark: the countless stars in the sky. He could have been holing up in some Adventurer’s Guild building tonight, worrying about the fugitives running around while making meager pay. He was making no pay now, he was about as dead as these fugitives if ever caught, and perhaps he’d soon meet an otherworld in the battlefield. However, Shinasi smiled. He had something to live for, and that was a whole lot more important than living a life of middling comfort.
The young man carefully opened the door into his house as to not disturb anyone sleeping there. Under the moonlight he could see his sister sleeping next to Ayomide on the bedsheets that he had quickly set up. Shirin had practically collapsed from exhaustion the moment Ayomide had cast the spell, and the business of finding suitable bedding for everyone had fallen to Shinasi. On the other side was his father who, to Shinasi’s surprise, had his eyes open.
“Father?” whispered Shinasi, slowly walking over and kneeling towards his father to see him closely. “How are you?”
“I’ve been better.” replied Shinasi Sr. with the tired smile of an old man defying death. “Thank the Divine that I get to see your face once more, though I’d see you better if I wasn’t lying down.”
Shinasi pulled his father up to face him, taking this opportunity to give him a hug. “Thank It indeed, thank It indeed…” He was crying again. His father gave him a minute to weep as silently as he could in the middle of the night. “So, you must have a lot of questions.”
“I do – about how I’m alive, about who the darkskins marching around here are, and about why you’re with them. However, you need to get some sleep first. I can have my answers later when your face doesn’t make it look like you’re about to collapse at any moment.”
“A-alright…” Shinasi wiped his tears with his hands and unrolled himself a bedsheet to sleep on. “Good night, papa.”
“Sleep well, son.”
The Shinasi household closed their eyes and (would have) had some peaceful sleep (if not for the soldiers celebrating their victory next door).