The march across empty plains seemed to be eternal, as a tired man sat on his horse looked both east and west, seeing nothing but grass and the occasional tree. It had been two days since he had abandoned his people. Guilt manage to build a fortress in his heart as the screams and cries of the slain villagers kept echoing through his head, going on and on.
Where would he go now and what would he do. He knew revenge was the strongest desire, but he could not even protect a village. The answer did not come from his mind, but rather from an encounter with familiar faces. As he looked to the horizon, he suddenly saw a large amount of soldiers patrolling in the distance.
As they marched west, it took not too long before they spotted the single horseman in the distance. Approaching the horseman, the soldiers quickly noticed it was an unarmed villager. "Achaenas?" A voice all too similar arrived from the middle of the group as a familiar man stepped forward and approached the horseman.
"Why are you here, young one?" "The village is no more. Only blood and corpses cover the grounds now" The regret and guilt sounded loud enough to awaken even the stones, as his eyes moved to the grass below him. "March out now! If we're quick we'll catch those bastards before they're gone." With a movement of the hand, the veteran signalled Achaenas to follow him and so he did.
The first night the veteran approached the lone soul. "Feel not guilty. You could have done not a thing to save those people." "You are mistaken for I could choose to fight." "And die along with the others in a futile attempt to save them. It is better to live now and make them proud by living than it is to die amongst them, destroying all hope that could have been" The young man knew the veteran was right, but often the heart proved stronger against the mind than it should be.
Receiving fresh vegetables and some good wine, the young man ate it slowly, appreciating every bite he took. The soldiers felt sorry for the young man, as most of them knew the pain of the losses he made all too well themselves. Indeed, the victims of war were everywhere, in every corner of this wretched world.
And indeed, after a forced march the group arrived after a little more than a day, only to see the suffering of what was once a peaceful village. Some of the soldiers had accompanied the collectors to this village and they remembered the friendly villagers. From their sadness then came anger, for these people deserved no such fate.
But alas they were too late as no raider could be detected. The only remainder of the village was the young Achaenas. Having no more home, he knew not what path should be followed. "If you so desire, Achaenas, you can come with us. It may not be the richest life, but I promise you it would not be a decision to be regretted." And with a nod, Achaenas looked back at the village, seeing everyone one last thing in his heart, before moving onwards with the soldiers.
It did not take long before the group started to get familiar with the new one, as each soldier tried to support him in whatever way they could. Some told stories about their own losses whilst others simply walked beside his horse and smiled once in a while. Licinus supported him by offering the training with the spear and sword, and out of all attempts, it was appreciated most.
The first training period began swift as the group set camp after several hours. Standing across Licinus, Achaenas felt the weight of the quarter staff in his hands and looked at his trainer. He was taught how to properly defend and attack the enemy. Much to the surprise of Licinus himself, Achaenas learned most of the traits rather quickly, beating the average student who required more.
Indeed, it was also the passion in his heart for the training that allowed his mind to adept and improve quickly to the combat. Whilst Licinus managed to beat the young man to the floor with ease the first couple of times, it started to get tougher with each renewed battle. It finally stopped when Achaenas surprised the veteran and managed to disarm him.
What seemed to be impossible did happen. But what the veteran did not realize was that Achaenas had often sparred with his father during the elder's younger days. The combined experience with the new passion found made Achaenas a formidable enemy, even for a veteran. The achievement was met with cheers and applauds from the rest of the soldiers.
And this process went on for days as the group travelled across the land, searching for bandits and other thugs. The training that occurred every night became only more intense as more soldiers started challenging Achaenas, who managed to become superior to most of them in the time of mere days. He was indeed born to be a soldier.
He had earned respect and became admired by the others. Such was the tale of the young man who was lost his village to a cruel band of raiders and found a new chance with a kind group of soldiers.
