Dry Savanna

Blood, dry grass and dry ground, some blood has mixed with the ground, giving the yellow ground a more terracotta colour look; the blood belongs to dads, sons, brothers and fathers; they were all men, able men willing to lie their lives down for their freedom, for the emperor, for money and just because it was something to do.

The yellow sun scorches the Savanna, and the birds fly over, trying to catch the next small snake of their day or being able to find the next branch of the Orinoco River. The closest thing to the Orinoco would be the Nile River in Egypt. Even though it is not at that same extreme of desertification, vegetation is incredibly concentrated around the river, and the many branches of the river that feeds it—It extends like a lung, where the main river is the trachea, the medium size rives are their bronchus, and the small rivers are the alveoli.

The remains of an all-out battle in the middle of the plains are a gruesome sight to witness. The Smell of Gun Powders is now on the soil and no longer in the air. The bodies are still bleeding, but natural coagulation makes it more difficult for the blood to flow. Moreover, most of the wounds were from bullets; the rest were from Bayonets, and the latter was bleeding more.

Generally, in a battle, people will survive; out of 3 thousand people, 100-200 men would die on each side, and there would never be something even close to all people related to the incident dead.

But this time is different. The gods might want it to happen that way, or God all might…, but 23 thousand men were now dead, decomposing in the hot ground of the Colombian Savana.

A savanna biome is flat by nature. It doesn't have large trees for kilometres, and it is carved by the river, providing an oasis of life and water wherever the River swirls around.

So yeah, it was a whole plane to fucking kill each other. An army of 13 thousand vs an army of 10 thousand.

Nowhere to go, no hide. The only cover would be the gunpowder of all the muskets firing—the lack of nitroglycerine makes it a perfect place for pagan gods, spirits and ghosts to manifest in them. Most importantly is that soldiers would not know where to shoot after 5 minutes of constant firing and reloading.

Such a battle could only be depictured in the golden age of the Phalanx or even at the height of the roman empire. Still, its nature of spreading around and hoping to kill the most you can be more similar to the ancient Greek battles where the entire army would create a line long enough not to see them due to the earth's curvature.

Nonetheless, it was a rush to see who would break first under pressure. But then again, the reason why it looked more like a greek battle was due to the massive amounts of spears impaled on other people's bodies.

Out of 23 thousand men, only 7 thousand had muskets. Such a rare commodity in such a backwater country ranvaged by actual colonialism. None that the battle that just happened was fought by native rival clans, though the soldiers were indeed natives and blacks more than anything. A few white people were dead, but they were usually lying next to a musket, while the blacks and the natives were lying impaled with spears or penetrated by bullets.

Yup, the fight was fought by natives and blacks. The blacks fought for their freedom, and the natives fought for recognition of each side. Many promises were made to obtain a shield made of cannon fodders. Cruel, but it worked; both sides thought the same, and both sides killed each other to the last man. A weird thing to happen, but it did.

One general vs another general, a crown prince vs a separatist general. A critical battle that, if not fought, would lead to the empire's downfall—the split of the developing country.

Out of a pile of bodies that were already being infested by the eggs of flies, which would turn into larvae in less than a day, a man got up. With all the odds against him, he was able to win one of the most decisive battles of the nation.

He is the man God chose to rule over the land he barely stands on. He is the outcome of miracles and abnormalities. After winning such a battle, his mind is back at its peak, the delusion is immeasurable, and the sun's heat hitting his face makes his head feel like an intense migraine.

Dehydration was there, and the battle was over 4 hours ago. The heat has made him lose track of reality.

Only 16 years ago was he sorting through the many historical moments of the 19th century. He had a happy life, nothing luxurious, but he could consider himself comfortable, though he certainly would not put his mark in history.

With so many people living in the world, making even a tiny mark is hard. That is why he would not let it slide when he was reborn with a chance.

But now, he is in the middle of nowhere, thousands of people he railed up. The army would be more significant if not because they are not in the current war!

That's why most of the soldiers were literal natives, and the ones holding the muskets were dark skin criollos, most of them at least.

The light-skinned and white people of the empire went to fight against the Spaniards in the south, creating more kingdoms for his family and dynasty.

The revolutionary movement of the early 19 century saw the sun setting on the empire where the sun never sets; Europe saw the first attempt at unification since the ancient Romans led by Napoleon Bonaparte, a perfect storm, the resentment of the colonies and the weakened European powers, it all leads to the South American colonies to independence.

The Colombian Empire is one of them. It would normally be the Republic of Colombia, but nothing is like usual; it is all different. Now there is an empire, an emperor and a dynasty destined to defend the country at all costs, internally or externally.

Nevertheless, the fact is, the Colombian empire is not all the colonies that have been created on the high hills of the Andes, there is Peru, known as the Vice Royalty of Peru, and there is the Vice Royalty of Santiago, which is Chile and the Vice Royalty of Rio de La Plata, being Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.

So yeah, unlike The Colombian Empire, the rest of South America has not been liberated. Like all pioneers, the revolutionaries of the Empire were now waging costly wars against the Spaniards, leaving the Empire in the hands of inexperienced soldiers, thus, the high recruitment of people that were not soldiers or would even get the opportunity to get soldiers.

The survivor looked around and saw the line of trees in the distance. That means there is a river there. But, it is far, too far to think much of it. His thirst, though, was excellent, his throat felt like being pulled down from inside his body, so he just began to walk, ignoring everything his body was feeling.

There are few people like him inside the colossal line of bodies that grew parallel to the river he is going to. He just took his swords, a spear and his hat with him. He wouldn't know where to start looking for his bag, not that he needed it now. He wants water.

50 minutes later.

He reached the crystal clear water, and thus, his body gave up and plunged into the turquoise river. He felt as if his soul was leaving his body.

His body's buoyancy on the water gave him a sensation of zero gravity. Let his body quickly transition from a state of shock to a state of complete tranquillity. The river received his sacrifice and gave him relief and calmness.

Usually, soldiers rescued from hostile situations would enter into cardiac arrest due to the brutal mindset change. His was a bit different but similar enough.

He felt his heart palpitate with colossal force, creating a sound that travelled through his body, giving him a sense of urgency, kicking his survival instincts again.

"Aaaaaahhhh." He felt liberated once again from the arms of death.

'I can't die here.' With that thought, he leaped out of the water like a dog just introduced to the water, like a father would do to a child in a pool.

Back at the bank, he put his hand on his chest as if pressing over his chest would alleviate everything.