The darkness, after what seemed to be but an instant - it could've been a minute or a day - finally gave way to a bleak image of storm clouds and mud. The evergreen trees appeared black in the sunless day, swaying violently in the wind, Tim's eyes had just opened, but he already felt a searing pain coursing through his back, shoulders, and head. His eyes stung as the heavily falling rain sent waves of brown water careening into his face inside his helmet as they hit the ground. He tried to lift his head, but it felt far too heavy for his neck to support. He tried to take a deep breath, but inhaled only water. Coughing violently, he spewed out a mass of bloody, foaming saliva onto the muddy ground of Tenzan Pass. Panicking for air, Tim's body squirmed and shook, trying desperately to get his head above the mud and water. Finally managing to wedge his left arm under his chest, he had the leverage he needed to pick his head out of the mud.
Inhaling deeply, Tim became suddenly conscious of the rain pounding violently on his armor, producing a deafening metallic roar. After resting for several minutes, he felt he had the strength to try to remove his helmet to rid himself of the pounding of the rain. Unable to move his left arm, which was numb after being stuck under his weight and in the cold, muddy water, he tried to use his right arm, but cringed when a burning pain shot down his arm and spine, centering under his right shoulder blade. When the pain subsided, Tim remembered what put him here on the ground: the arrow in his back, shot from the bow of a City-State soldier who helped in the surprise attack of Unicorn Brigade. That's why he was lying here and that's why Walter…
"Walter…" Tim croaked through his dry throat. With a newfound strength, Tim managed to push himself up onto his knees where he removed his helmet and turned his head to his fallen friend. "Walter, are you okay?"
He received no response.
"Walter?"
Again, the nearby body said nothing.
Tim immediately knew what this meant, but he couldn't leave Walter without knowing for sure. Forgetting the pain in his back and arm, he crawled on his hands and knees towards his friend.Panting hard and blinking away the water dripping from his soaked brown hair, Tim softly placed his hand on Walter's armored shoulder and applied a slight pressure. Receiving no response, he pushed harder, rolling the body onto its side, revealing his friend's cold, emotionless face.
Walter was covered in mud. His lips were blue and he wasn't breathing. His right eye was slightly open, but his pupil wasn't visible. Small streaks of dried blood, becoming visible as the rain swept his face clean of mud, ran from his nose and mouth and off his chin. The puddle forming in the crater in which his head was lodged was dyed a deep red. Walter was dead.
Tim stared long and hard at his friend, unable to unglue his eyes from the horrific sight. He knew there was nothing to gain by waiting in vain hope, but he didn't feel right giving up and leaving his friend here, either. He slowly released Walter's head, letting the corpse fall back to the ground. It rolled onto its back, giving a sickening crunch as the arrow lodged in it was pushed even deeper into the cold flesh under the heavy weight of the saturated body and metal uniform. Reacting quickly to the sound, Tim grabbed Walter's body and rolled it back onto its stomach, but not before blood started gushing out of the wound created by the arrow. Averting his eyes, Tim stared at the cold ground, disgusted at himself for letting this happen and enraged at the City-State for betraying the trust of the Highland people.
"Walter," Tim muttered, his voice barely audible above the steadily growing torrents of rain, "I will never forgive the City-State for this. If nothing else, I promise I will help Highland achieve victory over those State scum…in your name."
With nothing more to say, Tim pushed himself to his feet. He had lingered here long enough; it was time to return to the ranks of the Highland Army and report what had happened. He couldn't let the Highland people remain unaware of the tragedy that befell the Unicorn Brigade.
To be continued...