Below me was lush, beautiful crystal clear water. I had been watching this river for hours and hours. Today was my first day of leave granted after our victory in Vidley. We had expected more war, a conflict that would drag years one that would change history, yet it never came.

  There were no elven reinforcements. There was no great battle. Vidley was a massacre.

  It's been two months since then. Two months of silence. We were expected to stay quiet about what we did and saw until it was released to the public. Yesterday was that day. My company, the Marines, and the sailors all paraded in the capital for a victory that felt so hollow.

  Today, the Duchess, after two months of captivity, was executed. She was taken to court and found guilty of all crimes before being executed days later.

  Here in this forest, I was not in my old uniform. I had no musket. I only had my coat and boots to keep me warm. My own reflection felt like a mockery. We had thirsted for battle and found it, yet there was no satisfaction.

  I let out a deep sigh and stood looking behind me to see the old house. My house. My father was there. But I hadn't come to see him. Not yet, at least.

  My feet shuffled forward, my mind spinning. Each day, I seemed to remember more of the battle. The smell. The blood. The feeling. Each time is more horrific.

  I pulled my cap low as I walked into the city square. I watched from afar. We had somewhat identified her. Her name and reason to come here remain unknown, but we know she was a Duchess.

  I looked up at the large statue from which she was swaying. Her hair covered her face like a curtain, her entire body limp her pale skin had turned an unnatural blue now. Yet the crowd showed no remorse. Many laughed and cheered others cursed her.

  A strong gust of wind came, it swept her hair up, and there I saw her eyes staring right at me. I stood strong like a soldier, but my hands trembled, simply seeing the image. Even in death, her eyes looked so much more alive than ours.

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  And as quickly as her hair flew up, it came right back down, covering her once more. I looked down, letting out a sigh before I turned on my heel and began my march home. To the old farm which I had left seeking adventure and glory.

  The stone streets slowly turned to ones of pure snow, my eyes fixed down as the image replayed in my head. Before I knew it, I was home.

  I looked at the front door, my mind replaying the moments where I dragged the Duchess away. I stepped forward, my hands trembling as I opened the door and stepped inside.

  A loud cough echoed. My father limped out of his room, aiming his musket toward me. I raised my hands in mock surrender a smile crept on my lips.

  "It's only me, Father," I said and stepped forward. My father immediately set the musket on the wall before chuckling and pulling me into a hug.

  "Kyro, you always did appear so suddenly, didn't you?" He said while patting my back and limping back into his room.

  He laid down on his bed and let out another hoarse cough looking toward me he said.

  "Kyro! Tell me.. how was your first deployment? Who did you fight?" His eyes for once gleamed with excitement.

  "We.. we fought.. inhumans. They were elves. And we won." I said and looked down at my hands, fidgeting with my fingers.

  "Elves, you say? So it's true? How is it, Kyro? The training I gave you worked, didn't it!" He said with a strong sense of pride in his voice he sat up in his bed, wrapping his arms around his chest as he looked at me.

  "It was. Simple. Like hunting. The elves use weapons from the age of chivalry. We smoke and ash our muskets cracked into their lines until there were none left. I..I captured the Duchess. It's the only reason I was given leave." I whispered and then poured myself some tea, taking a long sip and shakily setting down the glass.

  "I knew it! I always knew it would be you, Kyro! My kyro.." my father said and grabbed my arm, smiling before coughing and wheezing once more.

  "Tell me..this Duchess what was she like?" My father asked as he pulled me closer, already anticipating the answer.

  "Beautiful...lively. her eyes were like amethyst so bright, and full of life even when death surrounded her..her hair was of the same color and well kept and groomed to such an extent it was softer than any hide you could imagine...her skin so clear so soft so..Alive." I whispered and shook my head as I tried to wipe the image of her corpse out of my head.

  Then I dug into my pocket. I pulled out a small golden medal and put it in my father's hands, sighing deeply.

  "They gave me this. An award. I'm a decorated soldier now, Father."

  "I see! You've come a long way Kyro..a long way, truly. Stay here, boy.. I need to rest.. but I want to stay in the company of a decorated soldier!" He said and chuckled once more before turning over and closing his eyes. In a matter of minutes, he was asleep. I stayed there. Watching the rise and fall of his chest. The medal still in his hand, even in sleep, he refused to let go.

  Their screams replayed in my head. The echo of gunpowder, the smell of blood, and the feeling of it on my skin. All to find no real purpose in the end.

  The medal made of plundered gold now felt so hollow. The musket lying on the wall felt like an accusation. My eyes finally landed on my father.

  Perhaps we are wrong. Perhaps not. I've lost most things I've held dearly, and so have most here, and to imagine an invader trying to take it all. It only made me wonder where the line between morality and duty is drawn.

  I glanced up at my father, catching an amethyst glint coming from the metal. My eyes froze on the color before it gently faded away. I opened my mouth, yet not a word came out. It was gone. A beautiful color gone so quickly.