Interlude - Three Sisters

23 Tavorhel.

‘Triplets. Mixed-blood as well, huh…’

The strange man in front of the three girls recorded down their details.

‘Elethien. Birthday: the first day of the first month. Height: 1.89 standard units. Aletha. Birthday: the first day of the first month. Height: 1.89 standard units. Enaien. Birthday: the first day of the first month. Height: 1.89 standard units.’

He scribbled down on a comically large sheet of paper, noting down their basing physical characteristics for some sort of documentation. Not that they particularly knew what exactly he was writing about. They weren’t taught to read or write. The same as everyone else in the village.

They remembered being transported here on a cart with around twenty others their age from their village. Every year, there’d be a group of men to pick up those who had or were soon to turn sixteen, placing them on a cart just like they were. A few were left behind, but those were usually the infirmed or had some genetic defect that hindered them physically. The rest went to this complex as their destination.

Nestled in the mountains, the complex was made of many towering stone buildings, some of them even carved into the mountain itself. It felt secure, the greyness offering a sense of protection. Yet… it also felt a little suffocating. After all, they weren’t used to the near absence of green in this area.

It had already been a few months since they arrived here. After some physical and skills training, all of them knew how to handle various tools and weapons, particularly the spear. The food was extremely basic, but it was enough to fill their stomachs. A few apparently had passed out in the middle of the training during this time. They were sent away somewhere that no one really knew. Other than that, however, there wasn’t much of note. Every day felt the same with the same routines, same interactions, same beration.

They were finally ready.

‘Go towards the right.’

They were then led towards a corridor, following the others that had also come from faraway lands towards a large hall. Thousands of them stood in confusion as various people came to separate them into various columns, separated by what could only be seen as randomness.

Finally, as the last ones arrived and settled in their place, a muscular, uniformed man entered, the colourful plume on his helmet a stark contrast to their grey tunics. Behind him were similarly-dressed men, though their helmets lacked such a plume.

‘Foresters!’ he called. The hall fell silent as thousands of pairs of green eyes looked towards the front, awaiting for whatever news was to come.

The man stepped forward and cleared his throat. ‘From this point forth, you are no longer nationless children living in seclusion and separation from society. As a warrior race, you will serve your life to your duty as a warrior. This is your first step into adulthood. Those who have turned or will turn sixteen years of age as of this calendar year, whatever calendar you use, are all gathered here to witness this glorious moment. Instead of sticks and rocks, you will hold spears and shields. Instead of the comfortable woods, you will face the steep mountains, the scorching deserts, the endless plains. All of you are soldiers. This will be your life. We, the Mercenaries’ Guild, will protect and feed you all through the kingdoms that you serve. You may not understand the purpose of this now, but you will soon as you step upon the realities of the true, real world.

‘Now go, and serve your duty.’

Without waiting for some sort of cheer or applause (not that they’d have any), they were sent out column by column towards three different exits by several of those uniformed officers.

‘This column, to Trelven! This column, to Rhinn! This column, to other countries!’

They had probably only vaguely heard of these names through those that occasionally returned to their village. Those veteran warriors talked of hellish realms, of Foresters fighting Foresters, of ruin that seemed to have no end. Yet they also talked of the grand cities of stone and brick, their massive walls protecting many treasures that lay within.

Those veterans, unless heavily injured, soon left the village again. Only a few really remembered what they looked like now. Those that stayed would nurse their wounds and raise the young. If lucky, they survived past their forties. Most died within a month of returning.

In a sense, every Forester in the hall already had a taste of the world before they stepped into it.

‘Hey, you reckon we can be assigned to the kingdom east of the mountains?’ Aletha asked.

‘That’s… Rhinn, right?’ Enaien pondered.

‘Yes,’ Elethien answered. ‘I remember one of the veterans that came back was assigned there as well.’

‘This column, to Trelven!’ the officer directed.

Aletha groaned.

After another quick physical examination, they were sent to another open-aired cart and shoved onto the nearly-full platform. By this time, they were already separated from the rest of the Foresters they arrived with, now grouped with a bunch of strange men and women, many even speaking an entirely different language.

‘Where in Trelven are we going?’ Aletha managed to squeeze through the crowd and asked the driver.

‘You wouldn’t know,’ he answered. ‘Get back, mixed-blood.’

They arrived at a sandy plain after what seemed like a couple of months of travelling south and southeast. They barely took rests in the journey, stopping only for sleep over the night. Several carts travelled together, guarded in the front and rear by some armoured soldiers on horseback. Those men sat high above them, only talking to themselves as they travelled and avoided any contact. Only occasionally would their faces be shown, and even then it was during meals when they sat in a secluded area just within sight of everyone else.

The plain was dotted with tents, the borders of the camp marked out with tall wooden palisades. The air felt dry to the skin, dust occasionally getting into their eyes from the wind. There were only dry bushes in the area without a tree in sight. A few shallow streams ran through the camp, the water slightly muddy and filled with sediment.

‘Even in this weather, your hair is so well-kept,’ a Forester complimented.

‘This is probably the tenth time you’ve said it by now,’ Elethien commented.

‘Today,’ Aletha added.

They laughed.

The triplets’ hair was seen as a curiosity by the others during the journey. Being white-haired wasn’t really a problem for their fellow Foresters, but it certainly seemed so for the cart drivers and the soldiers. The three of them often had to sit at the back, placed as far away from the driver as possible. Well, not that it was an issue. They could breathe more fresh air from their positions.

Somehow, despite Aletha being the one that interacted with the others the most and Enaien the one that tagged along to nearly anything, Elethien was the most often approached, her calmness being somewhat of a contrast to the others’ personalities. Even though she wasn’t exactly the most talkative, when she did, the others listened. Perhaps this was a byproduct of being the eldest of three, but it wasn’t as if Elethien was that much older than her sisters anyway.

They stepped off the cart, following the soldiers to their barracks. It was just a large, crude tent with several backpacks piled up in a corner.

‘You’ll be living here for the time being,’ a soldier said.

The tent already smelled a bit of sweat.

‘Were there any others that lived here before?’ a Forester asked.

‘None of your business. We will gather at the front of the camp tomorrow.’ With that, the soldiers left.

‘March!’

It was the second day since the new Foresters arrived at the camp, and the first day of battle. The battle drums sounded from a distance, keeping the soldiers in line as they approached closer and closer towards the battlefield.

‘Hey, are you nervous?’ Aletha asked, noticing Enaien’s shaking hands.

‘A bit.’

‘Just stick together,’ Elethien said. ‘I’ll protect you.’

‘Elethien, just because you like to use magic doesn’t mean you’re the best at it,’ Aletha complained.

‘Hey, I never said I was best at it.’

‘You basically meant that when you said it.’

‘But it’s true, right?’ Enaien said. ‘The explosions, the little carvings you make by shooting small bursts of energy—’

‘Sometimes I forget we’re shaving off our lifespans by watching her doing all those things,’ Aletha sighed. ‘Seriously, at this rate you’re going to kill yourself someday making those fancy fireworks of yours.’

‘Oi,’ Enaien warned.

‘Sorry.’

‘It’s alright,’ Elethien said. ‘We all die at some point, right?’

‘Now that’s not something I like to think about. Nevermind coming from your mouth, Elethien.’

‘But it’s the truth, though… That’s why you have to treasure every moment. Magic is just one way to make our lives more colourful, even if it comes at the expense of our supposed lifespan.’

‘And it’s a beautiful use of our lives too, isn’t it?’ Enaien added.

‘I guess…’ Aletha gave in. ‘I mean, it is pretty and all that.’

‘See?’

‘And just as magic can be used to make pretty explosions, it can also protect us from harm,’ Elethien said. ‘In a way, that’s kind of extending our lifespans too.’

‘It won’t just be you who’s protecting us, Elethien,’ Aletha responded. ‘You’re the oldest, but don’t forget, you’re only around a moment older.’

‘We’ll protect each other as we’ve always done,’ Enaien smiled.

‘Halt!’ the commander shouted. The Foresters stood tensely, watching the dust kick up before them. The enemy was here. Splotches of reddened dirt spread all across the empty space, the last remaining evidence of those who fell in the last encounter.

‘Our first battle, huh,’ Elethien noted.

‘Who are we even fighting for?’ Aletha asked.

‘No idea,’ Enaien answered. ‘Maybe ourselves, I guess.’

‘Charge!’ The order roared throughout the ranks. The Foresters ran with their spears, their feet kicking up more dust as they sprinted towards the unknown enemy before them. Their iron helmets reflected the daylight, creating a flash of intense brightness on the battlefield.

Then, as the dust overlapped, they collided.

Perhaps ‘collided’ wasn’t the correct term. Both sides kept each other at a distance with their spears, carefully stepping from side to side to avoid getting impaled by the enemy. At another order, arrows flew into the enemy ranks, peppering them with a rain of iron. The enemy responded, firing their own bolts towards the Foresters.

From what little she could see in front of her, Elethien managed to take a peek at the faces of the enemy.

They were green-eyed. Just like her. Just like Aletha and Enaien. Just like everyone else.

The ones stationed to the sides of the battlefield began firing their energy blasts, piercing the enemy’s bodies in rapid succession. The other side did the same.

With the grunts and screams of their companions, disarray gradually began to fall among the ranks. The two sides pushed closer and closer into each other. There was no space to dodge. Spears stabbed into bodies. Where one fell, another quickly took their place, stepping over their corpse.

Elethien soon found herself at the very front, waving her spear helplessly in front of her as she felt the weight of everyone behind pushing her further in. An iron tip grazed her forearm, stabbing into the stomach of the Forester next to her. Next that stepped forward was Aletha, her terrified expression useless in the face of an equally terrified enemy. Enaien was already behind her, poking her spear at whatever enemy was in front of Elethien.

A blast. One of the enemies fired an energy blast from his palm against one of their own a short distance away. The poor individual’s head was blown apart, blood splattering in all directions.

They were Foresters. All of them were. But it made no difference. Those that tried to kill them were the enemy, and those that didn’t were their allies.

Following the first’s lead, blasts began to be fired at random all across the front. The smell of scorched flesh and blood emanated throughout the field, the dust only able to shield the visibility of the chaos.

A spearhead appeared before Elethien. She dodged. The tip sliced Enaien’s ear behind. Her sister hissed in pain.

Reflexively, she pointed her palm towards the enemy.

A ray of light cut through the enemy ranks for a split second. The heat blew against her face, knocking her and several others around her down. A column of scorched corpses stood before her for a moment before they collapsed into a heap of ash, bone and flesh. She felt a part of her insides being carved and hollowed out, never to be refilled.

This was magic.

‘Ah.’

A roar of victory echoed across the landscape. The people swarmed in, exploiting the gap that had been created. Her sisters dropped their weapons and crouched next to her, preventing all three of them from being trampled in the stampede.

‘Retreat! Retreat!’ she heard some people cry. The enemy was fleeing.

‘Hey, are you alright?’ Enaien lightly shook Elethien. ‘Hey, hey!’

‘Yes, I’m fine,’ she answered. ‘Just feel a little… dizzy. Probably from your shaking.’

‘Now you’ve done it,’ Aletha scolded. ‘That was, what, probably a few years off your lifespan in one go? What were you thinking?’

‘I just saw the enemy attack Enaien, so instinctively, you know, I just… fired.’

‘T-Thanks, Elethien,’ Enaien said.

‘Ah, geez…’ Aletha shook her head. ‘You seriously want to die before us?’

‘You’d do the same.’

‘Well, I guess.’

The drums were signalling advance. They were not going to stop. It was likely they were about to move the camp later as well. The enemy was running. It was becoming a rout. Forester chased after Forester, killing the other with their spears and energy blasts. It didn’t matter that they were of the same race. They needed to survive.

Self-preservation. It was that simple to get the Foresters to kill each other.

The day was over. As expected, they moved camps to a more advanced location, settling on a hill that the enemy originally occupied. The Foresters rested at the foot of the hill, surrounding the officers’ tents that were placed higher up.

It was a resounding victory.

Elethien placed down her mat next to her sisters. She was tired.

‘I heard the officers are holding a celebration in the camp,’ a Forester said.

‘Are you going?’ another asked.

‘Are you new or something? We don’t get that. Being able to keep our loot for the day is already a blessing.’

‘That said, any of you guys got anything interesting?’ a third joined.

‘Oh, I got this…’ The Foresters gathered their items together. There was a locket of someone in high standing, probably dropped by an enemy officer. There was an enemy speartip. There was even someone’s detached finger, though that’d have to be disposed of soon.

‘Hey, white-haired girl, you got something?’ one of them called.

‘Which one?’

‘The one with a mole below her eye.’

‘Oh, you mean Elethien.’

‘Uh, Elethien, do you have anything to show?’

She turned her head away. ‘No, not really.’

‘Oh… By the way, did you see that insane blast today?’

‘Who would’ve thought someone would actually sacrifice so much of their life just for one battle? And not under orders as well?’

‘They were probably on the brink of death. In that case, it’d make sense.’

‘Where do you think that person is now?’

‘Probably resting or something. If not dead, that is.’

‘I would really want to meet that crazy idiot someday, man…’

‘Good night,’ Elethien said.

‘Oh, uh, good night!’ the others responded.

She closed her eyes, letting the lull of sleep take over.

She was in a field full of green-eyed corpses. They fought each other as soon as they arrived, not really knowing the reason why. They just fought for their lives, praying they’d survive the day. They followed each other, not really knowing where to go. They didn’t have the mental capacity to go anywhere else. As soon as they left the battlefield, they fell. When the battle resumed, they rose. They surrounded themselves with battle and violence, not because they felt any joy from the act of it, but because it was just their life. Stuck for near eternity, they fought and fought until they couldn’t anymore, melting and disappearing into the ground.

Soon, she was the only one left.

‘Hey, Elethien?’ Enaien tapped her head.

‘Yeah…?’ She was just a little annoyed at being woken up. She needed a rest, after all.

‘I don’t really know how to say this, but… I don’t feel good.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know, the feeling of killing other people. They were Foresters too. You saw as well, didn’t you?’

‘I… guess.’ She didn’t feel especially disturbed from taking someone else’s life. Quite a few people, in fact. Strange. Was it because they were just all tossed in without much preparation? It wasn’t as if she had killed someone before. The others looked the same. Well, maybe those months of training before did something to them.

‘It’ll probably soon go away,’ Aletha chimed in. ‘There’s another battle tomorrow. We’ll get used to it.’

‘Is that a good thing?’ Enaien asked.

‘... I don’t know.’

The day of battle had ended. The tent was already a quarter empty.