Blood and bloody ashes! A phrase that was perfectly suited to the situation laid out before him.
It was the end of one among innumberable campaigns, and this day would either make or break the army. General Keiro Dreamwalker had struggled for half a decade against the Shadow, taking his cause across worlds and dimensions, both physical and nonphysical and riding a groundswell of popular support amongst the Houses – all of which had led him to this place. A last stand where the Shadow was bound to be forced to balance themselves out with the Light.
The battle over one of the worlds would decide it all.
The General’s teeth ached from clenching his jaw, but he stood on the top of the hill, overlooking the forces arrayed below, ostensibly calm and confident. He had not intended to be the Light’s leader, but the role had been forced on him, and he’d never lost sight of the goal. The ancient incestuous system had oppressed many populations. The more powerful Houses devoured the weaker ones to steal their military and financials. Ultimately, even those powerful Houses split up and tore at one another, as if it were some kind of game. It had gone on far too long.
For five years now, Keiro’s ever-growing forces had battled old-guard loyalists to the Shadow and Light, winning victories and suffering defeats. Any reasonable person could see that there was great imbalances between the Shadow and Light. People across the worlds had only needed a man to serve as an example, someone to light the spark and unify their grievances. Keiro had fallen into this role by accident, but like a piece of driftwood caught in a whitewater flood, he had been swept along to his inevitable destination.
Now his forces, arrayed below him with their worn, but well-used armor spoke to him of their confidence that they would win today.
“General?”
His eyes were drawn to his right, to one of several other Generals. He could not help but to smile at this one, for it was General Shepard that asked for his attention. “Yes, General?” His voice was smooth, but there was a thin veneer of calm hiding the strain of the campaign that wore on him. At a nearly imperceptible gesture from the other, he nodded, “… Very well. Blood will be spilled today.”
He looked back, and nodded before shouting in the ancient language, “Muad’drin tia dar allende caba’drin rhiadem! Los Valdar Cuebiyari! Los! Carai an Caldazar! Al Caldazar!” (Footmen prepare to pass the cavalry forward! Forward the Heart Guard! Forward! For the Honor of the Red Eagle! The Red Eagle!)
As the order was passed on, he smiled grimly, moving forward, ignoring the protests from the others, most especially from General Shepard, “Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin!” (The grave is no bar to my call!)
Soon, he passed through the ranks, his nanosuit accelerating his movements towards the frontlines quickly. Over the communication lines, he could be heard muttering, “Weep for Manetheren. Weep for what is lost forever…”, removing the sword he carried in a socket, shifting to an offensive running posture.
“For… blood is thicker than water…” He smiled coldly, with a tinge of sadness as he heard Shepard dimly call to him once he locked blades with another foe. More quietly to himself, “Dovie’andi se tovya sagain…” as he scored a blow, two, then three.
It seemed as if he would win this battle, until an unlucky blow struck him through the chest, a blade revealing itself, catching on the nanosuit he wore and breaking. Dimly, he heard cries of astonishment and fear as he swung, pulling a pistol out and firing off quick bursts at opposing foes.
He stumbled then, taking a step. Two. Three. Then he fell forward, just as Shepard reached him, “… Death comes for us all. We can only choose how to face it when it comes, Shane.” His visor had come loose, adding to the whitening vision as it exposed his face to the elements, and revealing pain in his eyes. Such cold, sad eyes that’d haunt anyone.
A warm voice, that of a woman’s, sang to him softly as he passed out, Remember me and smile, for it’s better to forget than to remember me and cry…
When he next awakened, it was in an infirmary. His dim view revealed an angry Shepard, barely holding it together for the doctor’s sake as he was being checked over. “General…”