Airyos was a pretty nice guy once we got to know him, but the introduction was awkward, and he didn't say anything much more than he thought we needed to know.
"You don't need to cry."
He had said as he put out his hand to help me to my feet.
"You're young...it has to be hard for you...and your friend to lose so much in so little time."
Airyos was right.
Within the past 12 hours, I had lost close to everything that was dear to me.
The only things I had left that were more than a memory were Himora and the crystal spear my father had left to me.
"I'll...I'll be alright."
I said to the two of them who did no more than watch as I pulled myself together.
"We should head back to the village...you know, to check for survivors."
This coming from Himora. The tall elf turned to him and agreed.
"You two move on. I'll be fine as I am."
Airyos was indeed a brave elf, if nothing else.
To stay there alone with a 300-pound Ogre/Changeling took at least that.
"Besides..."
He went on.
"My team will be here in no time to help me return to base with our prisoner."
I was still kind of reluctant to let Yatsimoto off so easily after all of the damage he had done.
The death, the destruction, the pain.
It was all too much for me, and once again, I felt like balling up and dying.
But I couldn't.
I wouldn't until I got what I wanted.
I had become the official man of my family.
I was alone besides Himora, and I didn't even know if my mother had survived the attack.
That was one of many questions I wanted to figure out, so Himora and I equipped our weaponry and headed for the village, or what was left of it.
Once we were rested and ready to go, I turned to Airyos one last time, and to my surprise, I found that he had been staring at my back, waiting for me to turn around.
"Oh...uuuum, yeah. Well, we are going to be on our way...did you, um...want something?"
Airyos just looked at me as if I weren't who I had been for the past hour, then suddenly, he blinked wildly and took a step closer to me.
"Uh, man...your freakin' me out."
Was all I could say.
All along, I was in no real danger; all the same, I raised my spear to my defensive position.
"No...no...it's nothing...just...are you not...human?"
The question caught me off guard, but I soon realized why he had asked.
I had forgotten about my tail (as usual), and while I was talking to Himora, it had been in view of him as my back was turned.
"Uh, no actually...I'm not, but my father was...my mother wasn't from around these parts."
Yeah, my answer was shaky, but that's just how I got when it came to speaking about the past...and the departed. Himora taps my shoulder and reminds me that we have to get going, so at that we thank Airyos for his help and make our way toward the village.
Back to what remained of Leafaria.
"So, what do you think of that Airyos guy?"
Himora asked once we were out of earshot of the warrior elf.
"He's kinda weird...But I don't think low of him, he is strong, and very brave...But I don't think he is too kind to humans."
Was my honest reply.
"Something about the way he looked at me made me think the same thing."
Himora said with a slight stretch of the word "same".
"I don't know...maybe it's an elf thing."
I was later to find that indeed it was.
On the way back to the village, all was not as quiet as I thought it would be. I guess the Shicato army had begun to retreat, for as we grew closer to the entrance of the forest, wounded men could be seen laid out on the ground, some still living, some even awake, most dead.
My guess was from loss of blood.
Regardless, no matter who we came across, or how many there happened to be, none lifted a hand to stop us.
The trip was horrible.
Bodies of all shapes and sizes were all about, limbs and innards were hanging out, or chopped off.
I couldn't take it all in at once, and I began to feel nauseous.
"Can we hurry?"
I asked Himora whose face was just as mine, even though his was a more natural look.
"Yeah, man...this is disgusting."
We gripped our weapons and ran full speed toward the fields that would ensure us fresh air and hopefully an escape from the horrible sight.
We were wrong.
Upon our exit, we stumbled (almost literally) upon a huge pile of dead soldiers.
The smell alone was horrible, but paired with the sights, it was more than even Himora could take, and his stomach was far stronger than mine.
We both threw up.
"What the hell... There are so many of them."
Himora was beside me, standing while I was on my knees in a mixture of disgust, pain, and grief.
The majority of the dead belonged to my village.
"I...I didn't even get to say goodbye!"
I was crying again.
I couldn't help it; this was too much all at once, and my temper began to rise.
"WHAT!?! WHAT WAS DONE BY US THAT WAS SO BAD, THAT WE SHOULD BE KILLED AND SLAUGHTERED LIKE THIS!
In my rage, I couldn't always control myself.
At this young age, I was bad at that.
And out of the corner of my eye, I saw a Shicato soldier approaching. In his arms was the one thing I didn't care to see...
The one thing that I hoped wasn't true.
The one thing that pushed me over the edge.
"Mo...mother?...MOTHER!"
In that instant, my heart fell from its rightful place to my feet, and shattered into a million pieces...
My eyes flashed with a brilliant emerald light.
I was blind to the pain and emotions...
For a moment, I just stood there, my body was too young and weak to take all of the stress that had been suddenly loaded onto it.
I snapped.
Before I could stop myself from going berserk again, the fight had already begun.
At the sight of my mom's limp body, I could do little to control what little nerve I had left, and my rage focused on the lone soldier whose arms she was in.
"You...murdered my...mother...I'll...KILL YOU!"
Himora went to grab hold of my arm, but I was already a step ahead of him.
"Bastion, NO!"
But it was too late.
I gripped my spear with such force that my knuckles cracked, and my feet moved beneath me far faster than they had ever moved before.
"AAAAURGH!"
My battle-cry rang out over the field, and the single soldier unceremoniously dropped my mother's corps and drew his sword.
He was far too slow.
He stepped back and swung with all of his might.
A two-handed blow that was meant to decapitate me.
I flipped high over his blade, and reversing the grip on my spear, I thrust down with both hands.
the blade of my weapon slid into the top of his head.
"Die..."
I said as I put my feet on his shoulders to either side of his head, before I kicked off, flipping and pulling my spear out as I did so.
His head was split in two.
I landed on my feet about five feet away from the standing corps.
The dead man took a step towards me, his knees bent, and his body fell backward.
I stood shaking, hating myself for what I had just done for some reason...
The blood of the dead man dripped from my head to my toes, and from the deadly tip of my spear.
My pain began to subside.
I hated causing others pain...
I hated blood...
I hated death...
So why had I just caused another?
From somewhere behind me, Himora's hand landed on my shoulder.
It made me feel a lot better knowing that at least he, my best friend, my only friend, was still alive.
We had both lost so much at such a speed.
It was unbearable.
"Bastion...it's okay to release your anger, but we can't keep taking the lives of all of these men. Most of them are innocent. They know not of their evil doings, they just know that once they do their time in that horrible army, they will be free. They are working for the money."
Although he didn't mean to, he made me mad all over again. His explanation just wasn't hitting home with me.
"I CAN'T STAND IT!"
I yelled as loud as I could.
"WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO GAIN BY TAKING AN INNOCENT LIFE!? WHAT AMOUNT OF MONEY COULD MOVE YOU TO KILL A CHILD IN IT'S MOTHERS ARMS!? WHAT KIND OF HUMAN WOULD DO SUCH AN EVIL THING!?"
Himora was a calm as I had ever seen him. He looked as if he had just arrived. He was looking around, taking everything in as I stood next to him, looking like a wreck.
"You must understand...these guys aren't your average soldiers...They're what we call "Mercenaries". They're paid to kill or assassinate someone...but never have I seen such a group...an army of mercenaries."
I didn't know how he knew this, and I didn't have the clarity of mind to ask at the time, but I would try to remember to do so later.
"Why do you think...they targeted Leafaria? We are a small village of no one important...there is nothing of value here. Why did they do it?"
Himora's expression was grim, but in all, we both had no answers.
"I don't know...But I can tell you one thing: Those were no ordinary mercenaries."
He said, turning to look out over the vast field of the dead.
"To take down my father...they must not have been."
I said, not daring to glance in the direction of my mother's lifeless body...
I bent low and cleaned my spear in the cold, damp grass,
Himora drew his sword,
And together we entered what was left of my village.
What remained of Leafaria.