Prologue

War. What is it for? Glory? To claim some promised land? To protect? Or is it just feeding that primal desire deep within us? The urge to kill. Maybe war is pointless, maybe us soldiers are dying in vain, merely thought of as fodder.

Do the leaders even care what happens to us? Should we be fulfilled laying down our lives for those that cause this mess? How is this a noble cause? All I see are men dying, left and right, fuelled with a false sense of courage. Then that fake courage shattering in the face of adversity. Their lives stolen for what?

Somehow it's peaceful and quiet in this ditch soaked in blood. Whose I wonder? Mine or a fellow comrade, missing a head on top of me. Perhaps my ears are merely clogged with blood but if I remove it, I'd probably be deafened by the roars of battle. Deafened by the clashes of metal. Deafened by mankind's ferocity.

Flames engulf the sky, heating the surroundings. The time of day? I could not say. Perhaps I feel no honour or pride due to lack of things or people to protect? Maybe I just see through the lies of the ones in control. I didn't even sign up for this. Conscription forced everyone so here we are, soaking in blood, being left to die in ditches.

Seconds, minutes, hours pass. Still the flames climb higher, still the bodies tumble. The clogging in my ears eventually becomes unblocked. The sounds of pointless battle are much more faint. Incantations were being mumbled somewhere near. Lightning crackled and the sound of battle ceased to be.

I could not say who won the battle, all I heard was the marching of soldiers slowly transition to a heavy silence that hung over the battlefield. Hours passed again. A pair of footsteps echoed across the desolate slaughter. The bodies piled above me reduced in number. A hand appeared.

"You don't get to die yet. I still have a debt to pay."

A debt of what kind? I knew no-one and no-one knew me. I interacted with no-one and no-one interacted with me. Did I want to keep living in this miserable world filled purely with greed and bloodshed? What would happen if I were to just die? Is there even an afterlife? Would I be condemned to damnation or be given eternal bliss?

I took their hand.