Pyrrhic Victory

The Scourge of Carsinex brought down his hammer in a massive slam, cracking the cobblestones beneath its weight. A wave of energy radiated from the blast, knocking soldiers off their feet and sending their weapons clattering to the ground. Vexala screamed a command and a volley of arrows was loosed from a nearby rooftop. Most clattered off the demon general’s thick armor, but a few struck home in the chink where the shoulder met the neck. The Scourge of Carsinex roared, slamming his weapon into the building stop where the archers were stationed, sending it crumbling to the ground.

The Grand Inquisitor came in from the side, sticking the demon general in the side with a pike. Ser Erik came up behind him, slashing his blade across the back of the demon’s leg and severing his tendon. The demon tipped backwards, raising his head to the sky. I slipped in and rammed my sword into his exposed neck. The Scourge of Carsinex slumped to the ground, his hammer falling from his hands. The glowing light that had radiated from its massive head died, leaving the sky dim beneath the thick gray pall of clouds above.

I looked over at the collapsed building. Vexala emerged from the rubble, supporting one of her Sisters. We’d managed to lure the Scourge of Carsinex into a bold attack, using myself as bait. The Inquisitors and what remained of the Crimson Vanguard managed to close the lines up, cutting off the general from his troops.

Ser Erik kicked the corpse, then lifted up its head to see if he was still breathing. It wasn’t. I felt a rush of adrenaline. For the first time, I had managed to vanquish a foe without Atlas or my truck! I was elated. Maybe, just maybe I could start proving myself a hero by my own merits.

I turned my attention to the battle still at hand. After the breach, we’d had to cede nearly a third of the city to the demons, mainly in the northeast, before order could be restored to our armies. Heavy casualties had been sustained during that period, but after we found our footing they slowed as both sides dug in. Fighting did not stop, it merely slowed, with demons taking a more methodical approach, clearing building by building and street by street. We had managed to hold them at deadlock and then very gradually wrest control of certain streets and housing blocks back into human hands. Only the presence of the two demon generals prevented us from eventually taking the city back in whole.

As it turned out, the demons had begun to withdraw from the city once the word of the Scourge of Carsinex’s demise had reached them. The Demonfather had left first, supposedly in a fit of rage, abandoning his lesser officers to facilitate their proper retreat. I gaped as I walked back to the breach, now completely clear of living demons, empty save for the rubble and corpses that piled high in narrow corners and tamped down in open areas where many feet had passed.

“Do we have a damage report?” I asked.

“Not as of yet. I have a few estimates, but we won’t get an accurate count until every company involved sends their reports to Father Alton.” Ser Erik replied.

“Speaking of which, where is the old man?” I asked, “Has someone gotten the good news to him yet?”

“His messenger just ran off.” Ser Erik said, “Word is, it’s been very quiet over there.”

“Good.” I said, “That’s good. I wanted to keep him out of the action today. He seemed very deterministic.”

“Old burdens weigh heavily on an aged mind.” Ser Erik noted, “I’m sure today has reminded him a great deal of his past.”

A man came running up to us. He was dressed as a member of the Order, his face red and drenched in sweat.

“You’re Father Alton’s messenger.” Ser Erik said.

The man coughed, and sputtered out a frantic string of words.

I rubbed my ears. “Can you repeat that again?”

The man repeated himself. My eyes grew wide. My mind could not accept what it was hearing.

“Show me.” I demanded.

The courtyard was a mess. We’d left a dozen men to guard my truck, and the corpses of a dozen men were found. Wide footprints covered every inch of the ground. My truck was gone, disappeared as though it was never there to begin with, and lying where it once sat was the desiccated remains of a man I’d considered a mentor.

“Spineripper.” I spat.

“This is his work.” Ser Erik confirmed.

I’d known it, I realized. I’d known that Spineripper would be here. I knew what his target would be and yet I did nothing. I’d allowed myself to get distracted, to lose sight of what my enemy’s plans truly were, and a dozen innocent men had paid the price. Them, and so many more.

“Dale.” Ser Erik said, concern laced throughout his voice, “You’re shaking.”

I was, I realized. My hands had clenched into fists and turned a dark shade of red. My heart pounded in my chest, same as the blood in my head. Spineripper had bested me. He had taken my truck once more, and worse, he had taken the life of my friend. I hated him. I hated this world. And most of all, I hated myself for allowing all of this to happen. For sending Father Alton to his death.

I slumped down beside what was left of him. The hollow pile of flesh and bone seemed nothing like the man I’d known before. How could it be that not an hour prior he was a breathing, thinking being? The corpse in my hands couldn’t be him, not even a part of him. All that Father Alton had been vanished when the spark of life had faded, and all that remained was an empty pot that could not be filled.

Numbers slowly drifted back to me over the next three days. Reports came in. Casualties and damages, yes, but other, equally important numbers as well. Tonnes of food, gallons of water, shipments of wood and stone for repairs, payments in gold and silver to the mercenaries. I immersed myself in the numbers, in the statistical costs and logical functions. Things I’d never seen much value in before, but they allowed me to view the situation through a different lens, one divorced from the human tragedy that had occurred.

Twenty thousand. That was the wholesale number. When you combined the fatalities from the Inquisitor Legion, Crimson Vanguard, Sisters of Saunlan, Order of the Golden Sun and the citizens of Gemmen and its surroundings, you ended up with, more or less, twenty thousand. Twenty thousand lives on my hands.

Of course, there were matters beyond what numbers could explain. What to do with the remnants of the Inquisitor Legion was a hotly contested issue. The holy war was not officially over, though doubtless the fight had been taken out of the beleaguered inquisitors. Many among them wanted nothing more than to lay down their arms and return to their homes. High Priests from among the Order, having not seen the battle at Gemmen firsthand, wanted to imprison the crimson cloaked men and press the advance towards the Grand Citadel.

In the end the decision fell to me. I ordered them freed. The Grand Inquisitor and his men had fought just as fiercely as any of my own. Thousands owed them their lives. It rained the day I passed my judgement, the gray clouds had not lifted since the day of the battle, and I stood outside the north gate of Gemmen to see the inquisitors off.

“This is where we fought for life together.” I told the Grand Inquisitor. The tall man had shed his armor, instead wearing a simple crimson robe for the journey home. “I would see you here again as soon as this war is over.”

“For me and my men, it already is.” He said. He smiled sadly. “Such a conflict is foolish, I realize that now. Our true enemy, the enemy of all mankind, lies to the south. I will try to petition the Council of the Father to change their minds, though I expect I will lose my head for it.”

“Then don’t.” I said, “Take your men, go elsewhere. Forget war and forget fury and just live.”

“I can’t do that.” He replied, “I’ve seen ruin with my own eyes. I cannot allow it to descend on another place such as this. Even if our holy war is to be ended, there is still one more conflict we must face. The demons must be eradicated if this land is to ever know peace.”

I nodded solemnly. That much had been made clear to me over my tenure in this world.

“I bid you good luck.” I said, “And the next time I see you, I hope you still bear a head.”

The Grand Inquisitor laughed, then turned his horse and rode away, the clouds rolling along behind him.