The rcenaries in charge of the bodies ca a few monts later to tend to Organ's body.
"So he's dead too.
"Yeah, I saw him in his last monts. He knew he couldn't do anything against two apprentice knights, one of whom was just a small success. So he pounced on one of them to kill him. The other took advantage and killed him."
"So there was one left?"
"Yeah, luckily Rodrigo, the guy standing next to the boss, took care of him with so thod."
"A certain thod? To kill an apprentice knight? What kind of thod kills an apprentice knight? I'd like to know it too haha."
"He even killed two of them, but don't ask what he used, it was too dark to see exactly what happened."
It wasn't just those two rcenaries. Everyone was talking in hushed tones about the events that had taken place.
Whether it was Ernest who had just started sword training but had managed to block 3 apprentice knights.
Or Andrew who had killed 2 apprentice knights at the cost of serious injury and then held the3rd apprentice knight until the leader arrived.
But also Killian, who not only survived the ambush with vigor, but also held the apprentice knight at the stage of great success who was leading the opposing attack.
The fierce arrival of Maxi and Laura had also shocked many of them.
As soon as they arrived, the whole battlefield had turned upside down and a few minutes later it was all over.
The night ended in a strange atmosphere.
The sky on the horizon gradually blazed with a golden glow, heralding the arrival of daylight.
The first glimrs of sunlight pierced through the trees, casting long, diffuse shadows over the clearing where the rcenaries and soldiers were gathering.
The air was cold, laden with the moisture of the morning dew, and silence reigned on this wasteland nestled in the heart of the forest, cutting off any link with the tumult of the previous day's battle.
In the center of the clearing, bodies had been lined up, prepared for a final tribute before joining the flas.
So were wrapped in blankets or cloaks found on the battlefield; others, fallen with nothing to protect them, simply lay in the dust.
The faces of the dead were calm, frozen in an expression of eternal immobility. Their weapons had been carefully laid out beside them, a final mark of respect for these fallen n.
rcenaries and soldiers, still marked by exhaustion, dragged the last of the corpses to the great wooden pyre that had been erected in the center of the clearing.
The movents were slow, imbued with an invisible weight of grief and duty.
The creak of boots in the damp earth and muffled murmurs accompanied this sad funeral ballet.
Maxi stood a few steps from the pyre, erect and silent.
His gaze wandered over the bodies of his fallen companions, those with whom he had shared wine and fire, those who would never laugh again in their lifeti.
The weight of this reality weighed heavily on his shoulders, but he knew he had to be strong for his n. They had survived, and it was up to him to honor the dead.
Ernest took his place beside Maxi after carefully laying a man's corpse.
Whether a soldier or a rcenary, no one cared.
They had fought side by side and everyone deserved the sa respect.
"Ernest, you've improved very quickly with the sword."
"Thank you chief, I've taken your recomndations to heart."
The fire began to crackle gently, erging from the dry branches that ford the base of the pyre.
The gentle but inexorable sunlight now bathed the entire clearing in a golden hue, slightly warming the cold morning air.
The n had gathered in a circle around the bodies and the pyre, their faces closed and solemn, awaiting their leader's words.
The soldiers, including Killian, Henry and Ultia, also looked at Maxi.
He had now beco the central spiritual figure for all present.
After a while, he slowly raised a hand, drawing everyone's attention.
The murmurs died away, and silence fell like a veil over the clearing. He took a step forward, his long shadow cast by the rising sun behind him. He took one last look at the bodies, then at the n still standing around him, before speaking.
"They're gone," he began, his deep voice echoing in the cool morning air.
"Our brothers, our companions, those who fought alongside us. They left us yesterday, in chaos and blood, but today they rest in peace. This pyre, these flas... it's all we can offer them now."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the tired faces of his n.
"In particular, I'd like to highlight the courage of many of our n, starting with Organ."
"A forr bandit who had co from nothing, who had navigated the dark waters of this world, to show abilities worthy of this world's greatest warriors."
...
Maxi continued, pointing out various glorious deeds of the deceased, which he had either seen from afar or heard.
"They gave their lives so that we could see this sunrise."
"And there is no greater honor than to fall alongside those we call brothers. We survived, yes, but that doesn't an we're the lucky ones."
"They left as warriors. They lived and died with sword in hand, never bowing to fear or death."
So rcenaries bowed their heads, others clutched their weapons, an instinctive gesture that reminded them of the fragility of their existence in this brutal world.
"Their nas may never be engraved in stone," Maxima continued, her voice softer but no less powerful.
"But they will live on in us, in our mories, in every battle we fight in the future. We will carry their courage, their strength and their dreams. That's the only immortality that counts."
He took another step forward, his boots sinking into the soft earth. The fire was crackling louder now, the flas rising little by little, ready to devour the dry wood.
"Today, we let them go. We entrust them to the flas, but not to oblivion. Every sword stroke we give, every battle we win, will be with them in our hearts. And when it's our turn to fall... we hope to leave with the sa peace as they did."
Maxi's speech left its mark on many people.
Killian, Henry and Ultia looked at him with complicated eyes, but they were also filled with respect.
The charisma exuded by this young man with blond hair was particularly striking.
He himself didn't know where his words ca from, except from the depths of his heart and what he really thought.
Eternity wasn't just a ga, these people were real to him, and he carried the responsibility for their future on his shoulders.
Silence settled again, dense and full of the weight of his words. Maxi looked at the faces of the n around him, and found the sa determination, the sa acceptance of what awaited them all one day.
Slowly, he nodded, a gesture heavy with aning.
A soldier stepped forward, carrying a lighted torch.
He handed it to Maxi, who took it without a word.
He raised it high, facing the flas of the pyre, before lowering it gently to add it to the fires already lit.
As if gasoline had been on fire, the flas quickly engulfed the corpses, devouring the bodies of the deceased with a muffled roar, but it was not a sound of destruction.
It was a silent tribute, a way of giving back to the earth what it had given them.
The rcenaries and soldiers watched in silence, their faces lit by the growing flas, witnessing this final farewell.
The crackling of the fire, the song of the birds that were beginning to awaken with the day, and the murmur of the wind in the trees ford a strange concert.
And right now, in the heart of the forest, there was a strange peace, a harmony between life and death.
Maxi stepped back, joining his n. He had offered them words, but he knew it was silence that would allow them to say their own farewells.
They stood there, motionless, watching the flas consu the bodies of their brothers, until the sun had fully risen and the light of day chased away the shadows of the past night.
Reviews
All reviews (0)