_ We shall turn our hearts into steel, which we shall temper in the flame of sacrifice and the blood of patriots fighting for freedom. We shall make our hearts cruel, hard and unmovable, so that no pity shall enter them, and so that they shall not quiver before the stench of enemy's blood. Without sparing, without mercy, we shall kill them in scores of dozens. Let them be hundreds; let them drown themselves in their own blood. For the blood of Lysander and Harrington, Felix and Yves, let there be rivers of the blood of the ingrates – more blood, as much as possible!
Lieutenant Frank Castor was vocally delivering his forlorn and bloodthirsty - but at the same time also eloquently inspirational - speech aloud to rally the loyalists of the Crow Mercenary Knights Company who were fighting. He was promoted to Lieutenant rank by Raven after they had rescued their leader from prison. That made him the third highest ranking among the surviving commanding officers of the Company.
_ Never forget comrades, freedom is not free!
Castor shouted the Company's motto, and the soldiers chanted together with him while still in the thick of mélee clashes with their foes:
_ Freedom is not free! Freedom is not free! Urrraaa!
All of the above happened in the middle of the battle, while the opposing force brought by the Company's turn-coat Owen Felford was paying dearly for their assaults after assaults against the Company's loyalists. However the soldiers of Raven's army were badly outnumbered, they were being mown down by Owen's army and it was a forgone conclusion that it would be only a matter of time until they all would fall in combat.
Frank Castor felt his blood began to boil because of rage every time he caught a glimpse of Owen. He quickly loaded a bolt into his crossbow and aimed at Owen, then pulled the trigger. The bolt only managed to hit a different foe instead, since Owen was simply too far away and leading from behind his soldiers, so it was extremely difficult to snipe him.
Raven Cronwell looked at Castor and felt especially sorry for his case. Before joining the Crow Mercenary Knights, Castor used to lead a band of sellswords himself, but after their force was greatly decimated, most of them together with Castor joined Raven's army, under the manner of the Company absorbing Castor's remaining force. By that time, while witnessing his original comrades and new comrades being slaughtered indiscriminately left and right, and the force as a whole was on the brink of utterly destruction, those were enough to shatter his heart many times over, as this would be the second time he had lost everyone…
Raven was fighting back to back together with his fiancée – Seris. He was greatly weakended and exhausted after his time in prison, having only recovered a small part of his strength compared to when he was in his prime. Given his conditions, Raven could hardly pay attentions or commanding his men effectively, he was too weak, too tired and especially he poured nearly all of his efforts and willpower he still had left just into combating and protecting Seris.
Before, Raven deliberately gave Seris her occupation in his army which saw less combat intensity, hoping that would keep her safe, away from dangers. So Raven and Seris rarely had a chance to fight side by side, like what they were doing at the time. Raven could see Seris was fighting with such great agility, precision and grace. Her sword fighting techniques were more than a match for the individual enemies. Her fighting style was extremely similar to Raven: even in their crafts it still reflected their status as each other's half. Moreover for some reasons when fighting together, both Raven and Seris could instinctively feel each other's dangers and timely supporting each other, something which almost never occurred to them when they were fighting alongside anyone else.
Raven grieved upon witnessing his men felt, one after another. He felt so terrible and tried his best to avert his gaze from them, and back to his surroundings and Seris. He secretly harbored a somewhat selfish wish, that he wanted to die before Seris. He felt he wouldn't be able to bear the wound of seeing Seris drew her last breath, as even a physical stab into his heart would be less painful than that... As Raven was moving backward, his sweat-soaked back touched Seris's sweat-soaked back, they immediately turned their heads to give each other a loving stare, and then they broke off to fight their own enemies.
So Raven fought with as much ferocity as his failling health and stamina allowed, not hesitating to plunge into danger to save Seris. But ironically, as Raven was fighting with wild abandon with little regard for his own wellbeing, the soldiers fighting against him had been, defying common logics, putting so much emphasis on defensive and delaying maneuvers. They seemed to be not in a hurry to overwhelm Raven at all, as if they were ordered before to specifically keeping Raven from dying until he was the last one standing. If that was true then it was such a ridiculous and intelligible decision that had never ceased puzzling Raven…
Raven could hear Seris's pants. Her sword strikes became less accurate and were delivered with less force, signalling that she was at her limit. He dreaded her being killed that he could hardly think about anything else other than Seris's survival. Raven was deflecting an attack aimed at Seris, when he suddenly heard a loud noise and a familiar voice nearby. He looked at the source of the voice, witnessing in horror as Frank Castor was wrestling on the ground against two enemy soldier, one of them had already stabbed at him with a dagger, and then retracted it, intending to continue with a second stab. Blood began to pour out of the wound caused by it…
Raven quickly dashed toward, and with one strike he finished the lieutenant's assailants. Frank was painfully holding into his wound to prevent in vain his own blood from gushing out. Raven knelt down with one leg, holding the commander's nape with his right hand, looked straight into his eyes and ordered with a trembling voice:
_ Get up Lieutenant! You die on my command, not before!
The commanding officer was gasping for air, he gathered the last ounce of his strength to utter his last words:
_ Cap…tain! Those… ingrates, I HATE… them… forever! I… want to believe… our deaths… are for the…greater good, plea…se…tell…me...
…Raven Cronwell was dying. He had became the sole loyalist survivor of his Company, but he knew it would be over soon. He was lying immobile, and felt strangely peaceful and sleepy. He felt so weak that even keeping his eyelids open was asking for too much from him. He closed his eyes, weakly breathing with both nose and mouth.
His blood soaked into the soils of Velder, watered it and part of the root of the tree right next to him. Raven laughed. If he could choose, at that point he was pretty sure that he didn't want even his corpse to remain at this country. He wished his remains would be burried in a grave at a foreign land, with the tombstone engraved these words: Ungrateful fatherland, you shall not even have my bones…
Raven felt his throat was so sore, even coughing was a struggle for him. Then briefly after, Raven finally felt unconscious. Maybe he was already dead, that explained the pain seemed to have abandoned his chest.
…Raven saw a figure looming over him. Raven tried to observe, his breath caught in his chest. It had been so long, but he still recognized that face… Raven couldn't believe in his eyes, it was truly his long lost father; bright light and warm heat seemed to emanate from him... He was in the same uniforms he wore when he departed to save the nation, and also when he was carried back home, in a wooden coffin…
"Dad?" Said Raven "Dad, is that you? Look at me, look! I have became a Captain, dad!"
"My son" replied his father "My beloved boy".
Raven's father reached out to him, and Raven tried to embrace him with his remaining hand, his tears felt down the shoulders of his old man. His father said, his calm and warm voices echoed in his ears:
_ You have served the country well, and I expect nothing less from you…
Raven tearfully replied:
_ I have lost everything. I…I… can't even hug you properly with only one hand. Dad, I'm sorry, I couldn't protect my wife, I couldn't even keep the life you have given me!
Father gently stroke Raven's hair and told:
_ Raven, I beg you, please forgive me for leaving you behind. Seeing you in this state making me feel like my bowels were cut into pieces. You have suffered greatly for the sake of the people, and although the regime may have betrayed you, the people will still remember and be grateful for your deeds, that's all what matter. I want nothing more than to compensate for not being able to raise you, I want to relief you from your sufferings.
_ Yes, dad, let me follow you, I have missed you so much. I have served for so long and I have had enough, my griefs are immeasurable. Are you here to greet me to the eternal heaven for righteous warriors? That's where you're belonged to now, right dad?
Raven looked up and stared deep into the eyes of his old man, half eagerly waiting and half begging.
_ I would love to, one day. But not today. There are ones who still need you, your sufferings are still not over…
_ Please dad, let me go with you... I have served enough in this torturous life, I want to rest, I want to stay with you. I chose the path of warrior partly because I wanted to follow in your footsteps, so after everything had past I would find you at the end of the road, in the afterlife…
_ Son, father love you, I never want to see you suffer. But it's still too soon for you to rest, don't give up, son, don't rob of mankind a courageous and steadfast protector. Don't worry son, in here the more one contributed in their lifetime, the more they will be provided. Endure and live on, for your father, for your comrades.
_ Dad, you're telling me the more I contribute in my lifetime the bigger my seat will be in the afterlife? But dad, I have already sent all my comrades to their deaths, and what can I expect to further contribute anymore… with this disabled and tattered body of mine? What do I have left that haven't already been ripped away from my clutches?
Raven's vision of his deceased father suddenly vanished. He sharply felt the agonizing pains have returned to him as well. Then he realized he was woken up because of a bright light source which was projecting straight at him. It was so bright that even though his eyes were closed he could still tell it was there. Then he could hear some low noises, and then the noises got louder and louder over time, indicated that someone, something was approaching.
Raven heard out that the noises were metallic, and he anticipated that the source of the noises was moving, as if it had been travelling straight to him since after it had spotted his body. Raven felt it was strange, as it never seemed to stop to examine any of the corpses which were scattered everywhere around him for example. "Why me?" – Raven thought. It came closer and closer… and it was right next to him. Then Raven felt something was touching him while bright light shone right above him, but he was too weak that he couldn't simply just open his eyes to see what it was…