章 235: So Close and yet So Far
The final Jorzan soldier left the house, buckling up his belt as he walked away and leaving the girl weeping on the ground while covering her face. Slowly, I crawled out from my hiding spot and stood over the girl with a grim frown on my face. Next to this devastated girl was the corpse of her father, and in the closed closet the corpse of someone I assume to be her younger brother. This all happened because of me. As a soldier, I have failed them and every single Vilhemian in this country. As a soldier and a Vilhemian, I feel ashamed. This is the worst humiliation one could feel. To have the enemy storm your capital and rape, pillage, and murder...this is unacceptable. Yet...this is the reality, and we can do nothing about it.
She continued to weep on the ground, her body trembling from trauma. I am unable to comfort her or offer her any help. I have things to deal with myself. I have my wife to protect from this fate that she had suffered, so... Yeah...the excuses doesn't make the guilt lessen at all. Trying to justify me not helping her and leaving her like this doesn't change the fact that I chose to not help her. Even though I couldn't do anything when she was being violated and her family was murdered before her own eyes, I still chose to hide. My inaction...it led to the same outcome as what those Jorzan soldiers had did. So...I am no different from them.
I forced myself to look away from the girl and block out the weeping sound in my mind as I made my way out of the house. I first peeked my head out cautiously, making sure that there wasn't any Jorzans in sight. When the coast was clear, I immediately ran down the street and headed towards another alleyway. It would appear that those three Jorzan soldiers had strayed from the main group and ventured on their own as there were no other Jorzans in sight. However, that doesn't mean I can give up being cautious. Although the main pillaging force is still making their way through the city from the southern entrance, there are probably plenty of other stray Jorzan soldiers who chose to break from the main group and go pillage ahead of the main group.
On the old city streets, I could see many Vilhemians running away, probably having heard news of the fall of the city. Fathers and mothers carrying what personal belongings they could carry along with children ran down the streets towards the northern exit, senior individuals who slowly trudged along due to their physical disabilities, and kids crying after losing sight of their mothers... Everyone were trying to escape the city, serving their own interests as the city spiraled into a state of pandemonium.
This chaotic scene interfered with progress as I had to dodge the crowd as I sprinted down alleyways and streets towards my house, which is located away from the busier road that led to the northern gates of the city and in a rather quieter part of the city. As I approached my house, I could see, hear, and feel less chaos as the nearby houses were mostly already vacated.
Wait...does that mean she might've left already? I asked myself that question as I ran down the tight alleyway and made a sharp right turn at the corner and immediately accelerated. If that's the case, then that would be for the better. I should still check anyways.
After running for fifteen minutes straight at a fast pace the moment I had left the girl's house, I could finally see my house in the distance down this small road that branched out from the street. The stone bricks that made up the walls still appeared to be in the same shape that I had left them in, the worn roof tiles still seemed as old as ever, and all in all, the entrance leading into the small yard appeared as peaceful as they were when I was still a child. Upon seeing my house, I felt a a feeling of ecstasy.
It appears as if this block of the city wasn't under the chaotic spell of the Jorzan invasion of the city, still with the tranquil atmosphere. Nearby, leaves flown down from the tree branches over head and down onto the ground that rested in the umbrage and birds chirped while resting on the branches overhead. A gentle wind blew by, rustling the trees and produced a symphony of bliss and tranquility. Here, the sound of the war was inaudible, and it was almost as if the brutalities of the war is far, far away. Yet...it is just nearby.
When I neared my house, I could hear the sound of her crying for help, and when I finally made my way to the entrance opening in the wall that surrounded my house, I saw the back of a Jorzan soldier as he was pinning a woman to the wall. Immediately, I reached my hand to where my belt was and grabbed onto the handle to the pistol that I had concealed in there.
"Let go of me," the woman cried as the Jorzan man, with one hand pinning both of her hands against the wall and the other hand trying to pull down on her clothing at the collar, tried to violate her.
I immediately ran towards the unsuspecting man, raising my right hand high into the air and bringing down the butt of the pistol handle hard on the back of the man's head, using so much force that I succeeded in denting his skull. This attack was enough to draw blood and maybe fracture his skull somewhat, but it wasn't enough to kill. The Jorzan soldier subconsciously released the woman and reached his left hand to the back of his head and his right to his pistol holster as he turned around to face me. However, I didn't give him a chance to fight back. I lunged forward, wrapping my left arm around the man's throat and pulled him towards me as I pressed the barrel of the pistol against the man's temple. Then, I pulled the trigger, opening a hole in the man's head, but since I am using a pistol that used rather small bullets, the end result wasn't very dirty.
I slowly laid down the Jorzan soldier's carcass on the ground and kicked it off to the side. I gazed at the carcass, confirming that he was truly dead as I gasped for air. The sound of the pistol firing shouldn't be much of a problem. I have heard many rifles and pistols go off in the city on my journey here. The Jorzans will probably think that it is one of theirs that are executing civilians or just intimidating.
"Alevian?" My wife's surprised and yet calm voice said on my left.
Slowly, I turned my head and looked over at her. She was even more beautiful than she was when I had left home two years ago. Her long black hair still seemed as vibrant and smooth as ever, and her large blue eyes still seemed clear and determined without any speck of obscurity. We're about the same age, so after two years, she should be twenty-three now, and it is this two years of maturing that made her elicit an even more alluring aura. Unlike the sense of beauty I felt for her when I first met her two years ago, this beauty was...more mature, the product of two years of living on her own.
"Muria," I responded by saying her name.
The two of us stood there, staring into each other's eyes for a few more seconds in disbelief. After two years...this long-awaited reunion of ours, it is something that I had dreamed of in the past. Even though the circumstances surrounding this reunion is unpleasant, the reunion is just as I had imagined it. With a sense of awkwardness as neither of us knew what to say to the other, drowning in this sour and yet sweet relationship of ours.
"Muria," I reached out a hand for her. "We need to go."
"Right," she nodded as she looked over at the dead Jorzan soldier on the ground in our yard. "Let me go get some stuff."
I followed her into our home, the home that she had taken care of in the past two years. I walked after her past the familiar kitchen where we shared an awkward meal together the day after our marriage, and into our bedroom. Come to think of it, we still have yet to sleep in the same bed, with both of us being too shy to do so when we first married as we had only known the other person for about two months. Before we familiarized ourselves with each other, I received the draft letter, and then there's that.
"The salaries of yours that they send to our house every month," she explained as she leaned down and unlocked the drawer to her bedside table. "I've been saving them up."
She opened the drawer and took out a small pouch that she handed to me. Upon seeing the small bag, I was somewhat disappointed, thinking that of the wages that I had earned in the past two years, she had only saved a few copper coins. Yet, when I opened the pouch, I discovered that the coins were in fact mostly silver with two gold ones, meaning that she barely spent any.
"Muria..."
I looked over at her, feeling tears in my eyes. Even though I believed that I trusted her, there was still that sense of doubt in my mind during my time away. I worried that maybe she would fall for one of the neighbors and end up sleeping with them, end up spending the money that I earned while risking my life for the two of them. Yet...I was wrong. She remained faithful, living on her own as she resisted the temptations of the physical world.
This feeling of guilt in my chest...it's an awful feeling. Yet, I felt happy, glad that I was wrong. I...I'm the one that had failed her. I'm the one who doubted her, secretly thinking deep down in my mind that I was being cuckolded. Yet...she proved me wrong.
"What's wrong?" she tilted her head somewhat as she looked over at me.
"Nothing," I wiped away the few drops of tears in my eyes.
"I've packed all the valuables already," she then said as she slung a small bag over her shoulders.
"Then why didn't you leave already?" I asked her.
"I..." she blushed somewhat as she looked to the side to avoid my gaze. "I wasn't ready to leave behind our home cause..." she glanced over at me shyly. "you might end up coming back."
Upon seeing her attractive face blush and act so shy, my heart started racing. I felt warm inside, a feeling of great love that made me tear up even more. I am no longer able to contain myself and this desire I had felt upon seeing her. I took a step over towards her and pulled her into a tight embrace. My nose breathed in the scent of her hair as well as the sweet fragrance of her body. It was a calming smell, and the warmth and softness of her body proved soothing to my tensed muscles.
"A-Alevian?" Muria stuttered from surprise and embarrassment.
I had to cut the embrace short due to time constraints, but I was already more than satisfied. This was the most intimate interaction we had ever since our marriage, and by the looks of it, Muria doesn't seem to dislike it.
"Let's go," I smiled and said to her. "The Jorzans shouldn't have reached this north of Palisia just yet. If we head towards the northern gates now, we are guaranteed to be able to make it out safely."
"Then let us leave," Muria smiled.
"Yeah," I nodded as I led her out of our house and towards the exit of our enclosed yard. I have no regrets of leaving this home, because where ever Muria is, that is my home.
My mind immediately cleared up and a feeling of joy seeped into it. If all goes according to schedule, we will be able to escape the city safely. From there, we'll just have to make our way further north and find some sort of transportation that would take us somewhere near Fort Sarendale. The future is still grim, but with Muria safe by my side, I will make sure that I protect her. I have yet to fulfill that promise I made when I left home.
I stepped onto the main city road from the small road that led to it and turned to face north. If we just follow the road down north, we will be able to escape the city. I could even see the opened city gates leading to safety up ahead. I glanced over in Muria's direction, seeing a smile on her face and smiled in return. With each other's presence, both of us must be feeling a sense of security that we were deprived of in the past two years.
We'll get out of this alive together.
With a smile and great confidence in my mind, I took the first step towards salvation. Yet, that is when I felt a sharp pain originating from my left lower back, catching me by surprise and bringing me to a sudden halt. Slowly, I looked down at my stomach and saw my shirt being soaked red with blood originating from my back.
"Alevian!" Muria called out in horror.
Slowly, I turned around with wide eyes as they trembled. Standing behind me with bloodied hands was the girl that I had left behind in her house. On her face was a corrupted and broken smile. She chuckled at first, and that chuckle soon turned into a crazed laughter as she turned around and walked off.
I twisted my body somewhat, feeling a sharp pain in my left lower back. I looked past the blood stained red of my shirt and found the black handle of that kitchen knife the girl had threatened me with. With horror in my trembling eyes, I fell onto my knees.
We're so close, I cursed in my mind as the stab wound burned from the pain as my wife knelt next to me with great worry and concern in her voice and tears in her eyes.
Author's Notes:
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