Chapter 66: Trampled Flowers on the Dead Field





The Eastern woods was silent. There were no birds on the trees; no noises on the ground. It was like the wood was scared to make a sound – as if by doing so would attract the destructive monster rampaging on the other side of it. The woods, no matter how scary they were as told by the stories, were being tamed by the monstrosity of the men. Indeed, we were one of the villains we fear the most.



Argos' pace was quick; the beast was quiet but swift. I wondered if it knew where I was taking us. Did it know that we are going to a war? Did it understand that I was taking us to the edge where we might be able to have a glimpse of death?



It was a tensed ride. It was when we were getting nearer to a clearing when I hear the sound. That only meant that we were closer to the border between the Borgian Castle and the West Land than we thought. I slowed Argos down and the sound became louder. There were explosions; it almost shattered the Earth with its every blast. Arrows were flying and the clangs of armours and shields and the clashes of swords were deafening. There were shouts of courage and screams of pain. And amidst all of these sounds, there was an almost inaudible silence – and that stillness only meant one thing: death.



Argos was becoming agitated. And I, too, wanted to drop on my knees on the ground and cover my ears. I almost didn't want to go. But I had to – for the sake of all these noises; for all the unbearable silence.



When we finally reached the edge of the clearing that was when I saw the immense chaos that was destroying the land. Pirates and soldiers were clashing against each other; both were determined to make their opponents fall to the ground. Those who were fallen were either fatally wounded or dead.



From where I was, I could see the Borgian Castle in the distance. I urged Argos to run discreetly towards it, careful not to get any attention on our way. Fortunately, we did it successfully. I decided to dismount the stallion before reaching the castle and touched it with my palm.



"Run to your safety. If this battle decides that I must live until its end then come back to me," I whispered and patted its hind. I watched it as it ran back to the woods. When it disappeared from my sight, I turned towards the castle and headed to its entrance. I hadn't even reached it yet when a couple of pirates cried out for help. I saw that one of them was heavily injured in his leg and shoulder while the other one was trying to help him up.



"Please help us, he wouldn't stop bleeding!" the pirate cried.



I immediately helped them get inside the castle's infirmary where lots of wounded pirates and allied soldiers were being treated. We put the injured pirate on one of the vacant beds and I started gathering medicines and bandages to treat him.



"I have to go back to the battlefield now. I'm entrusting him to you," the pirate said after realizing that I knew what I was doing.



I nodded. "Be safe," I muttered and went back to my patient. I thought that I was already seeing the worst scenario of the infirmary at that moment. But hours passed by and the arrival of wounded fighters didn't stop. Those who weren't fatally injured and recovered fast decided to go back to the battlefield. Some of them made it back to the infirmary for having another injury while most of them didn't.



I was already sweating when Cecilia appeared by my side and handed me a bottle of water. I didn't know that I was thirsty until I emptied it.



"I didn't hear of your arrival, my lady. And based on the patients you've attended, you were already here for quite a long time," she commented.



"This is an emergency. I didn't think that having my arrival announced was that important," I answered.



"Well, you must not tire yourself too much. The Borgian King will not be pleased if something happens to you."



There was no hint of doubt when she said that. She firmly believed that we will win the war and the Borgian kingdom would rise. She urged me to rest for a little but just when I was about to go farther inside the castle, another wounded pirate arrived. And when I saw who it was, I decided against resting and received him immediately.



"Erasmus!" He was severely bleeding as the other soldiers carried him to the bed. He was still conscious and I could see from his expression that he was being tortured by the pain. The soldiers who helped him threw a pitiful look at the young pirate before hurrying back to the battlefield.



"Do I look really that bad?" He was trying to make light of the situation. However, I remained stunned in front of him unable to process what happened.



Cecilia, upon realizing that I needed a moment to catch myself, moved quickly and gathered the bandages we would need. She grasped my arm firmly and squeezed, telling me to go back to my senses.



"We need to act now, or he would bleed to his death," she said.



My eyes fluttered as if finally waking up from a dream – only it was a living nightmare. I swallowed and gazed towards his trousers – where there was only one leg on them and the other one was barely even there.



"I- I don't know if I can do it!" I whispered shakily. It was the worst time to have a panic attack; every second was too vital to lose at that time. However, I seemed to have difficulty making my hands move. All I could think was that Erasmus was too young with his life full of dreams ahead of him to have such kind of suffering.



"Lady Primrose!" Cecilia's call was urgent but I was still completely immobilized. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my cheek which freed me from whatever trance I was in.



"Get your shit together, Primrose Crimson! The castle doctors' hands are full! So whatever you learned from those books they gave you, put them into good use now and save this boy!"



She just slapped me. And I was glad that she did. I couldn't believe that my weakness paralyzed me to the point of bringing an even more danger to a friend. Getting back to my senses, I focused on what I had to do and stopped the bleeding. Erasmus had lost consciousness during the process but a doctor checked on us and assured that he would survive. He even commended us for doing it properly. He took over from that point.



"It's alright. You aren't a doctor," Cecilia said. "And I'm sure it will take you more years of facing cases like this before you become one. It's going to take more than those huge piles of books you're reading. It might be hell. Saving lives, indeed, is harder than taking one."



I knew I did just well. However, the pride I felt for such accomplishment vanished when I realized how life would be when Erasmus finally recovered. He would be amputated. It would surely be hard for him to accept that he needs to live the rest of his life with only one leg.



I just finished taking care of a patient when another wounded soldier was taken to the infirmary. He was sniffling as I approach him. I was preparing the bandages when he began to speak.



"We'll lose this war. The enemies had gathered the best fighters from West, North, and South Land. Our forces are not enough to beat them."



"My chest tightened at his hopelessness. "We still have the pirates and the soldiers who are fighting for the Borgian kingdom. They are still standing and fighting their best in the battlefield. We shouldn't lose our hope."



"No, you don't understand," he cried again. "Lots of us had already fallen. There are injured fighters who decided to stay in there and die fighting. Unlike me, they didn't make it back to the castle. The pirates are so passionate that they refused to drop their weapons despite of being surrounded by the enemies. We are being cut, stabbed, and shot at. They tore our limbs and spill our guts on the grass until nothing was left to us. Tell me the truth, my lady. Is the fire in our hearts really enough to win this war?"



I should give him more encouragement. I should assure him that what we have was enough – that our hearts are strong and our greatest weapon. I should have lied to him. But I didn't. The whole land had already been showered with lies that we had enough of it.



"Win or lose, this battle will be written down in history. If blood is what it would take for the words not to fade, then I'd gladly shed mine on the papers. We will never be forgotten. Not again."



The man cried but he nodded firmly in agreement. I asked someone to assist him as another plan came into my mind. I took a huge bag and started packing bottled waters, bandages, and other medicines I would need for a first-aid treatment.



"What are you doing?" Cecilia asked when she came to my side.



"The man said that there are injured fighters who couldn't make it back to the castle to be treated." I zipped the bag close and strap it on my shoulder. It was heavier than I expected.



"So? What are you going to do now? Carry them all on your back and bring them here?"



I refused to be affected by the sarcasm in her voice. I knew that she didn't have any bad intention. She followed me as I hurry towards the castle entrance.



"It is dangerous outside, Lady Primrose! You're already doing great helping in here. You don't have to risk your life –"



"I have to do this, Cecilia. I promised to do everything I can in this war. I know that my knowledge and little experience are not enough to carry out this mission but I believe that no matter how small I was in this battle, I could still help. Maybe, I could even make a difference."



Cecilia's gaze softened. I knew that she understands me. She was just scared of the dangers that are lying outside the castle. Who wouldn't?



"But a lot of those who went to the battlefield didn't make it back. What if –"



"Then please know that despite of what happened in the Pirate City, I consider you as a friend," I answered.



Suddenly, she was pulling me into a tight embrace and by the way she was sniffling through my hair, I knew that she was crying. I patted her back gently until she lets me go.



"Indeed, you are the beautiful sun of the East Land. I pray that you come back safely and shine as bright as hope when this battle ends."



I smiled at her as we parted and hurried outside the castle. The guards eyed me warily but nodded at me respectfully when Cecilia explained to them what I was planning to do. I ran again towards the border. It was only a short distance from the castle - they could easily conquer it if we were defeated in the battle.



The first thing I did when I reached the edge of the commotion was to take cover behind a huge rock that could protect me from the attacks. A stray arrow fell mere inches from my foot and I immediately folded my knees to my chest protectively to avoid being shot. Good thing, I was still far from the center of the battle and the boulder was huge enough to serve as my shield. I looked around me and realized that this could be the safest place in the battlefield: distant from the chaos in the center, protected by a monster boulder, and definitely hidden from anyone who wanted to attack us.



I settled the bag on the grass and placed the bottled waters beside it. Holding my breath, I stood from where I was sitting and took a peek on the chaos that was happening from behind the rock.



Blood. There was too much blood. The war had been watering the land with it leaving lifeless bodies on the ground. I felt sick. It was dizzying. The scene almost made me spew the contents of my stomach. I took a deep breath and held myself up firmly from where I stood. I scanned the lying bodies near me; most of them aren't moving while some of them were still breathing. I searched among them and I found a young pirate who was moving and calling for help.



Summoning the strength I had, I ran stealthily towards his direction and checked on him. He was in pain because of the wound across his head; blood was oozing from it. I thought that he might not have a chance but when I checked his cut, it wasn't deep and seemed to be only grazed by an arrow. His shooter might have thought that he shot him dead and left him to die. When I asked him if he could still walk, he nodded. I helped him up and we walked back to hide behind the rock. I cleaned his wound before wrapping it with bandage.



"You shouldn't be here –" he started to speak but I gave him the bottled water in which he drank from immediately.



"If I'm not here, then I wouldn't be able to help you," I scoffed quietly.



I stood again and scanned the bodies around us; looking for a possible wounded warrior I could save. The pirate recovered quickly and helped me on getting the bodies of the warriors I could still tend. It had been like that for a number of hours until those who had gained their strength decided to join the battle again and those who were needed to be checked by the doctors were sent back to the castle.



The space I had which had been protected by the huge rock became a safe, recovering ground for the Borgian warriors. One of them decided not to go back to the middle of the battle anymore and instead, helped me by running back to the castle to get more water and medical supplies.



Things were going as planned – until suddenly, the screams and shouting became louder, the explosions seemed to be nearer, and the stray arrows that were landing near the rock increased in number. The thing I feared became real when a wounded warrior ran towards us and stopped when he saw what was hiding behind the huge rock.



"Lady Primrose?" He was surprised to see me. "We need to go back to the castle!"



"What? But why?" I asked.



"The enemies are gaining at us! We have to go back and protect the castle!"



Upon hearing that, I instructed the other Borgian warriors to help the wounded back to the fortress. I decided to fall behind them and make another quick search on the lying bodies near me just in case there's still another one who needs my help. But I found no one; most of them were dead and the rest were dying – I couldn't do anything to save them. And somehow it saddened me. At that time, I promised myself to be better at what I do so I could help more people. I was already running back to the castle when I heard a little commotion behind me. I stopped and turned around to see what it was. There were two people fighting: one was a Borgian warrior and the other one was wearing armour that belonged to the South Land. The latter seemed to be going after the Borgian warrior and not letting him escape.



However, when the Borgian warrior fell on the ground, he managed to get hold of a dead pirate's dagger and successfully stabbed his opponent by the shoulder. The situation changed abruptly as the Borgian warrior set to end the other's life by stabbing him on his neck. But from where I stood, I could see that they were both young and he was hesitant in taking action. He was pale and scared; it must be his first time participating in a fight like this. Realizing that he had to do something, he raised the dagger and prepared to end his enemy's life. But he failed. The South land fighter screamed as he stabbed it instead on his wound. He cried, clearly disappointed with himself, and whispered an apology before running towards the castle. He just wanted to be safe. And I understood that. He couldn't even meet my eyes when he ran passed me.



The South Land warrior was left crying in agony as he clutched his severely wounded shoulder. I was about to turn my back from it when he spoke. "Help," he pleaded.



And that's when I knew that I couldn't be deft on his cries. I understood why the young Borgian warrior failed to do what he had to do and why I did what I planned on doing. When humanity desperately calls for an action, ignoring it would be evil.



I hurried towards him. He was stunned when he recognized me. He was almost in disbelief that he would see me that time. I tried to check the stab wound but he flinched and swatted my hand away.



"Don't touch me. I know you're with them."



The boy must have been Erasmus's age. His dark, tanned skin reminded me of golden desert and rich colors of the citizens of the South Land. I've heard that General Amir Kaveera was keen when it comes to accepting soldiers in his legion. Why would he get one as young and as inexperienced like him in a great war like this?



I pressed on his wound intentionally and raised an eyebrow when he screamed, "It hurts! Fuck! Help me, please!"



"I'm the only help you can get right now. So unless you want to bleed to death, you better keep silent and endure the pain while I fix you."



Surprisingly, he did as he was told. He gritted his teeth as he tried not to scream from pain as I treat his wound.



"You're not so bad at all," he gasped. "If you aren't on the side of the enemies, the rulers would have been praising you for your skills."



I smirked when he winced as I finished what I was doing. "Is that what you're trying to do right now? Proving your worth to them?"



He didn't answer. He just averted his gaze from me. "Well, that would be tiring. If you're doing things for other people's approval, then whatever you do will never be enough. You will never get that recognition you've always wanted because you will constantly look for something you think you deserve. But if you're doing it for yourself, then what you'll find are improvement and contentment and I think those are more important than being in the cage of always second-guessing yourself."



He scoffed. "That's easier said than done."



"Indeed," I answered. "But young man, look at what I just did."



I helped him up and when he realized that he had the strength to walk, he whispered his gratitude and walked to another direction. I sighed and gathered the stuff I used putting them all back to the bag. The war was getting closer; I knew it from the screams and the arrows landing near me. If I don't move quickly, I might get caught in it. Without looking back, I started running back towards the castle. However, I hadn't even gotten farther from the he rock when a figure suddenly got on my way and pushed me violently making me fall on the ground with a thud.



"You?" I gasped in shock.



The perpetrator narrowed its eyes and raised a sword. "You helped the enemy. Now, the traitor must die."