Flames of War

They travelled through the night as the trees rushed past them with only the sounds of horses galloping the only comfort within the night.

John and Julius sat in silence for what seemed hours.

John started looking around and saw the tense faces of the guards that rode behind the wagon they were in and turned to Julius.

"You think anyone's alive?" Julius looked up slightly not meeting your eyes.

"I-I don't know... I already saw what happened to my brother but..." He didn't finish but John knew what he was thinking about. He already saw his brother die, he didn't want to see the rest of his family.

Especially if he had to do the deed himself. They both sat back in silence as John pulled out his blade and watched the scratches and worn state on it.

The blade itself was scratched up and was clearly well worn but the edge seemed an entirely different story as the edges were clearly well maintained.

He heard noises as the horses outside neighed and stopped with their wagon slowly coming to a stop and shouts and sounds of weapons being drawn resounded through the quiet night.

John looked at Julius who already pulled out his sword and nodded as they climbed out of the wagon.

They saw the guards lined up at the front blocking whatever was on the other side that they were wary against. He pushed through the guards and got a peek as he saw a horde of undead shambling over with an undead knight on horseback as the undead horse breathed as its breath turned to mist in the cold night.

"Ready up! Spears out back, shields in front. Archers, see if you can climb the wagon and take shots from there!" The leader shouted orders clearly having been in a situation similar to this as he took up a spot with the other shielders as he held out his shield and his sword hidden behind the shield ready to strike if anyone got too close.

To say that they were disadvantaged by the numbers was an insult to the guards as they kept the undead in check with none of the guards dying yet as the spearmen immediately thrust their spears out when the undead came too close and focused on the Undead Knight.

The numbers of undead were quickly thinning as John and Julius watched in awe at the cohesiveness of the guards with their teamwork.

A rustling sound off to the side in the forest caught John's attention as turned towards it and took careful steps towards the forest. Julius turned to John and called out.

"John? What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I thought I heard something here" He started pushing the bushes apart looking inside until another rustle sounded out. But it was louder and higher now.

He looked up and saw nothing in the dark until slowly... yellow eyes opened and stared back at him. John's eyes widened and turned to shout at the guards as the forest almost blew up as hundreds of rustling sounds came out at the same time.

"There's something in the trees!"

But his call was too late as these grossly disfigured creatures with pale skin and claws on all fours leapt out from the treetops and attacked the guards as the twenty or so soldiers screamed as they were attacked from behind.

"G-Ghouls!" One of the guards cried out as some of the other guards turned away from their battles and looked behind just in time to see one of the archers on top of the wagon be dragged down as two or three ghouls pounced on him as the poor archer screamed into the night.

"Gather up! Form a circle, drop yer spears and grab your swords. No use to use spears against something this close and fast." The leader once again took control as the panicking slowly died down.

The ranks were quickly arranged again and the previously hard ghouls seemed to become easier to deal with. The soldiers surrounded both John and Julius and fought of any of the undead that came near.

It was almost dawn before things started to die down as the last of the undead were killed but many of the guards that came with were killed as their bodies were laid strewn about the battlefield. Only the leader and two guards were left and even then, they were heavily injured.

The leader had lost his left arm sometime during the battle and the guards that were left were no better than the leader or even worse.

"John...I think it's better we go back to the city" Julius spoke up beside him.

"What? You wanna leave now! What about our people!" John shouted at Julius with fiery eyes

"John. Do you really think there's someone still alive?" John flinched back as doubt spread across his face

"Look around us." Julius waved his hands at the undead and ghouls "How do you think there's this many of them huh? Do you think they just found some undead along the road? It's time to face reality John"

Julius turned around and walked away to help the two soldiers and hopefully bandage them up as John glared at his back.

"He speaks the truth you know" A voice spoke up behind him. John turned around and saw the leader.

"Oh, H-Hello."

"Easy kid, not like I'm gonna bite yer or anything. But he's probably telling the truth to be honest"

"You really think that?" John looked down dejected

"Not really to be honest"

"Huh? But I thought you said its probably the truth?" John looked up to see him smiling at him while bandaging the place where his left was cut off.

"Yeh, but Exvonia be damned if I'm not looking for survivors" He finished bandaging his arm and stood up.

John's face lit up as he followed the man "Then are we going now, sir?"

"Don't call me sir. Call me Gus, not that old yet. And we're leaving after those two can walk" Gus pointed behind him at the two injured guards.

After about an hour or two the guards were able to walk again after they made a crutch for the other one who's leg was pretty much mush and the other one heavily bandaged across his face and chest.

"See ya both back at Briarstone city. And tell Udyr to man the fuck up and take control for a while" Both the guards saluted as their faces scrunched up as tears threatened to leak out.

"S-Sir..."

"You'll always be my favourite commander..."

A loud smack was heard as one of the guards lurched forward "I'm not fucking dying! I'm gonna check the village and see if any more are left ya bastards."

They both chuckled and John spotted Julius standing behind the guards. John glared at Julius as he looked down to avoid John's gaze

Gus who saw this spoke up "Oh yeah, both of you. Take the other kid with you. Cause how you are now, I think even a rock could kill you right now"

"How is a rock gonna kill us?" The guard on crutch asked

Gus picked up a rock beside the road and held it threateningly above his head "Wanna see?"

"You know what? I think he's right. Come on boy let's go." The guard said hurriedly as he tapped Julius and quickly limped away.

As the guards turned to walk back the direction of the city as Gus turned the other direction.

"Come on boy. I want to be back in the city the sooner the better"

John followed him but not before taking a quick glance behind him as his eyes locked with Julius as he stared back.

Time seemed to stretch on for what seemed like hours before Julius finally moved and removed his bow and quiver and threw it towards John.

It landed on the ground in front of him with a thud and looked at it for a moment and looked back up to find John already catching up with the guards.

He picked up the bow and strapped it to his back while he strapped the quiver behind his hip.