The soldier and the sparrow

“ATTENTION! GET INTO FORMATION!”, the old commanding generals awe-inspiring voice thundered across the plain with the intensity of a rainstorm. His old but well-trained body seemed to radiate confidence and the military strictness of a veteran soldier.

At his command the thirty thousand men gathered on the plain straightened up and began to move in orderly lines. The sound of their steps resounded like the beats of war drums; strong and unyielding. Within moments the formerly unorderly travelling formation had transformed into strict military ranks.

Each of the soldiers were battle-hardened veterans with a wealth of experience and a fierce desire for battle. They were just like their commander, mighty warriors of their clan living for battle and the glory of their ancestors.

“FOR THE GLORY OF THE HAN-CLAN -”, the voice of the old general swept across his soldiers akin to an unstoppable wave.

“ADVANCE!”, the soldiers minds shook as they took their first step forward.

Once again, the plain seemed to drown in the unbearable symphony of war drums as the troops went into motion and accelerated.

Thirty thousand men.

Thirty thousand stomps.

The earth shook under the feet of the advancing army.

“Take the land, bury the dead, bring glory to you kin…”, his deep, sharp eyes were following his marching soldiers as the old general mumbled these words. His eyes separated from the departing troops and locked onto the horizon.

Fire descended from the sky, unnaturally shaped objects descending towards the earth like shooting stars. Each of them carried the destructive power to kill even the gods. The land beneath was engulfed by a scarlet abyss of fire and even from the far away hill the general could hear the screams.

Fear

Anger

Fury

Death

The old general closed his eyes and sighed ruefully.

“Peace to the dead, may they forgive us who are unworthy of their mercy.”, there was bitterness and sadness in his voice, a sadness that told of the many times he had already spoken those words. The bitterness of a man who knew that this wasn’t the last time he would have to beg for forgiveness.

He opened his old, wrinkled eyes and steeled himself. Turning around to his attendant he gave his orders.

“Shoot another barrage, we cannot risk any surviving gods!”, then his eyes fell back onto the dark billows of smoke that rose in the distance. A few moments later another hail of fire rained down on the devastated land.

…

Three men ran through a lush, ancient forest. Only a few scattered rays of light managed to find their way through the thick foliage of these giant trees of which each was at least a thousand years old. Beneath their feet the ground was covered in green and white mosses that made it seem like someone forgot his carpet in the forest.

It was truly a carpet. A beautiful, living carpet.

Despite the beauty around them the three men did not care about their surroundings, in fact they did not even notice it’s wonderful appeal. They continued their fast advance while wearing the black armor of the Han clan and bearing the short swords that belonged to a soldier’s basic equipment.

Only one of them was slightly different from the rest. He too, did not bother with the beauty surrounding them, nor did he care about the ever-increasing stench of burned wood that drifted towards them as they advanced into the direction where the missiles had exploded. The difference laid in his weapon, the long but sleek, black sword on his back.

He was at the center of this small formation and also the leader of the unit.

“Tye, we have advanced too far!”, one of the two other soldiers suddenly said to their leader. He nervously surveyed the surrounding.

“The other units are far behind us, if we engage into combat there won’t be anyone who can reinforce us!”, despite expressing his worries the soldier did not slow down and continued to advance together with the other two.

Anything else, even just a short pause in their continuous sprint, would have been a serious violation of orders and the soldier knew that his superior, Tye Reven, would harshly persecute anyone who breached against any orders given.

“The higher the risk, the greater the reward!”, was the only response he received from Tye.

The soldier couldn’t be sure as they all wore helmets covering their faces, but he could swear that his superior was secretly grinning under that helmet.

Actually, the three members of the unit were very good friends and had a close relationship to each other, it was only in matters concerning their profession as soldier that Tye was so unyielding even to his close friends.

The soldier cursed under his breath. Tye heard it either way.

“You really shouldn’t curse at your superiors, Lei!”, he said with a humored voice.

“Ah, fuck you, you prick. Always nitpicking!”, Lei responded with a grumping voice.

The third soldier had to laugh. “You two really should go and make a couple therapy!”

“” Shut up Hu-Li!””, both Tye and Lei said at the same time.

During the entire conversation neither of them halted for even a single moment, running over the complex terrain of hills and large roots whilst keeping their incredible speed.

Suddenly Tye heard something. Before anything else could happen, his trained body reacted on its own, twisting in a strange angle and brought him down to the ground. In the next moment an unusually thick and heavy arrow pierced the ground behind Tye.

Without any words the other two, Lei and Hu-Li, unsheathed their swords and shot towards the direction the arrow had come from. At the same time Tye rose from the ground and coldly scanned the area for any other attackers.

There was no need for him to accompany the two. Only was arrow was fired and even though the marksman was obviously very skilled, there was no way he alone could stand a chance against the two trained veterans Lei and Hu-Li.

It was certain that it was only one attacker because it was only one arrow that was fired. Only the most incompetent warriors would waste their element of surprise and attack one at a time instead of unleashing a far more dangerous hail of arrows.

Nonetheless he could not rule out the possibility that there were other, unrelated attackers in close proximity. As such he immediately began to comb the surroundings, searching not only for individuals that might be a thread, but also for marks that indicated the presence of such individuals.

While doing this he suddenly noticed a small colony of little, white sparrows sitting in the tree’s and cautiously observing him. Strangely they seemed to be nervous about something and even appeared to be ready to attack him.

But this was not the thing that surprised Tye the most, the mere presence of these birds in this forest was already startling. After all there had been a major airstrike only a couple of minutes ago. Any animal that survived the attack should have fled long ago!

He became suspicious and a thought appeared in his mind. It was ridiculous and unlikely, you could almost call it stupid, but the longer he observed the small birds on the tree, the more he could actually believe that it was true.

A little bit hesitant he took a step forward and observed the reactions of the birds.

It was as he suspected. The birds reacted aggressively and clearly wanted to keep him away from the area behind the tree. Tye smiled disbelievingly. He couldn’t believe his luck.

Giving the birds no chance to react he suddenly accelerated and jump-dived behind the tree and the few bushes growing beneath it. The twigs and small branches tore and scratched against his armor and helmet but did not do any damage to the steel-alloy.

He broke through the foliage of the shrubs and arrived at a small clearing surrounded by a few of these taller bushes. Using his arms, he feathered off his landing on the ground and utilized the momentum to make a somersault and gracefully land on his feet.

After this he immediately took a look around. What he searched for was laying on the ground.

A young girl, maybe 15 years old, with snow-white hair that glistered in the few rays of sunlight that reached it. She was wearing a complicated brown and red dress that fitted into the fashion of the eastern wildlands. Her beautiful face was tainted with dried up blood and at a closer look Tye could tell that there were cuts and burn-marks all over her body.

His expression beneath the helmet lightened up and he barely could not suppress the excitement he felt.

A last glance to the canopy of the forest confirmed his suspicions. The foliage surrounding this small clearing was slightly burned, as if something was about to destroy it, but was stopped at the last moment. Stopped by the injured goddess that was now laying on the ground.

She had been hit by one of the missiles and in exchange for her heavy injuries she managed to protect her people -the white sparrows on the surrounding tree’s.

Tye stepped forward and suddenly the hundred plus sparrows on the surrounding trees took off from their branches and twigs and began their suicidal attack against him. Without minding any injuries, they plunged onto him and attacked with their sharp beaks and claws.

Unfortunately, they could not even scratch the steel armor Tye was wearing, leaving their attacks completely ineffective.

Nonetheless their relentless on slaughter was rather annoying to Tye and he was considering whether he should kill a few to ward of the rest.

Suddenly the girl on the forest floor opened her eyes and looked straight into Tye’s eyes. Her pretty little lips trembled and while mustering her last remaining strength she spoke. “Little ones, stop harassing him. It is already too late.”, her voice was bell-like, but her words and tone betrayed the resignation she felt.

The small birds heard her order and hesitated, but many of them still continued their reckless and fruitless attacks. The little goddess on the ground was one of their kind, a sparrow goddess of their tribe and she had risked her life to protect her kin. How could they be heartless enough to betray her at this moment?

The little sparrow goddess’s lips quivered as she understood that these small sparrows were ready to leave their lives for her, knowing that in the end it wouldn’t change anything. “Please”, she pleaded in her desperation.

This made the sparrows stop. They looked back at their goddess and forced themselves to let off of this intruding vile man. One after another they returned to the surrounding branches and continued to angrily observe this human soldier who was coming for their goddess’s life.

Tye did not interfere during the whole conflict. He had no desire to kill these small sparrows and honestly, he even felt a little sympathetic to the goddess that he was about to kill. He hesitated before drawing his sword.

Breathing in deeply he stabbed it into the ground and used his hands to lift his helmet off his head. The face of an average 18 year old white men with dark brown hair and cold, grey eyes was uncovered.

The small goddess looked surprised.

“You are from the west, the ancestral valley?”, her tired eyes curiously mustered him.

Tye shook his head, his expression unchanging.

“My family was forced to leave three generations ago.”, his voice was slightly frigid, a result of him trying to suppress his sympathy to the young-looking goddess.

She smiled wryly, her face slightly grimacing at the pain that radiated through her body.

“It seems like it is my fate to perish at the hand of the west. First, the damned missiles they produced wounded me, now a young soldier whose blood stems from the west will bring an end to me. Come on, young man, kill me and earn your credit. I am sure you will receive a generous compensation!”, her voice was jeering, yet it was obvious that she had already given up.

Even a goddess like her, who lived remotely and rarely interacted with the other human and nonhuman tribes in the area, knew that whatever clan this soldier belonged to would pay a handsome reward to anyone who killed a god or goddess.

Tye closed his eyes and calmed his mind. Then he picked up his long sword and stepped before the goddess. He lowered his sword above her head.

She knew that this young soldier had already shown his respect by removing his helmet and showing his face to her, now he only had to kill her and receive the rewards. Most likely he would become a high ranked officer and be entrusted with a whole squad of subordinates.

Her lips quivered as she felt bitter to become a mere step stone for some human she never even harmed. Yet she remained quiet.

This was how the world worked, there was no such thing as fairness or justice for those who did not earn them with their own strength. She could only lament her own inability to protect herself and her clan.

She closed her eyes, aware that it would be the last time she did so.

The blow she awaited did not come. Instead she suddenly felt someone picking her up from the ground and lifting her small frame into the air. Surprised she opened her eyes and realized that the young soldier had placed her onto his shoulder and now carried her away to somewhere.

The hordes of small sparrows flew around them in circles, their angry and agitated chirping echoed through the entire area. With a single look she told the sparrows to become quiet and follow them from the distance, then she tried to turn her powerless neck to see what was going on.

“W-what are you doing?”, she asked with true surprise in her voice. It was completely incomprehensible to her why this soldier had not just killed her on the spot.

Tye had placed the helmet back on his head and stubbornly walked into a random direction.

“You will have to repay me later.”, he said with a clearly grumpy voice.

The truth was that he himself did not entirely understand why he did not kill her. He was breaching his orders and acting on his own accord, things which that entirely went against the very concept of who he believed himself to be.

The goddess was quiet for some time, seeming to think about something.

After some time, she suddenly spoke. “I will.”

There was a strange graveness in her voice, a seriousness that exceeded the favor Tye originally spoke about.

Suddenly the little goddess felt herself becoming tired. Her eyes became heavy and her consciousness began to slip. Now that she had survived this ordeal and was in relative safety, her body had relaxed and the tiredness that had built up was released. Right before she really fell asleep she managed to mutter something.

“I’m… going to sleep… a bit…”, her eyes closed and her beautiful face relaxed. She was truly cute while sleeping.