บท 5: Morales

Morales POV.

After enlisting in the crown prince's army to retake Venezuela, Sergio Morales felt stupidly happy, as he would be a soldier directly under the next Emperor.

Sergio looked at the fact that all his rations had been eaten by day 6th of them marching and resting to pass the river. It is summer, so the whole river is ten meters lower than it should be. And even though he is a Colombian Native, his future Emperor's route was the first time most of their colossal army had seen the Savanna, especially in its dry season.

Colombia is in the Equator, and at least part of it is in the Equator. So there is a need to be colder ever to create snow. Plus, it always rains due to its mountainous terrain and high vegetation. Still, it would generally rain more during the later and earlier months of the year and less in the summer months. That could be even more exaggerated due to the Fenomen of La Niña and El Niño, Where the water temperatures are controlled by the force of the winds when the water near the coast of South America is cold, there is naturally lower precipitation and when the waters are warm, there is higher precipitation. The valley is quite deep in the center of the Empire, with no mountains surrounding it so it would be highly affected by the La Niña and El Niño plus the seasonal changes of it.

'Hope we win this war. The recompense is quite large, bringing the Imperial Family back to the power of the east part of the Empire.' Sergio has heard the claims of the Empire, how the east side of the Empire claimed themselves the republic of Venezuela, traitors that go against the Emperor—He believed them all.

Soon we were able to see the enemy in the distance. It was a flat Savanna either way. They are more, which is scary knowing the numbers we are marching with. They began to spread out and show the magnitude of the enemy.

We could hear the commands of the opposing army. They were a series of trumpet sounds, followed by multiple other trumpets serving as a repetition to make sure all the army heard. We were taught the same formation pattern, so it was easy to see what kind of formation they were making.

I get scared as the ground feels like it is crumbling under me as if the gates of hell will swallow me whole. Then came the instructions for our division in the form of trumpets before it was all going to hell. It took nothing for them to be in range and start shooting.

Another series of instructions happened, so we split to encircle the traitor's army. It is all going too fast. Cavalry--I see them move to flank the enemy, but they have also entered the range of the enemy muskets. 3 Horse riders were shot dead, and the sight of a horse dragging its mounter by one foot stuck on the stirrups makes my blood cold.

Finally, my time to shoot. It was already loaded beforehand. PAH! I can see it. I killed a slave soldier. I need to kill more. But the shock of the constant firing of thousands of muskets overwhelms me.

I pull my weight and reload to aim and shoot; this time, I killed a soldier with a musket. Either way, their slave/Native army clashed with ours, and now they pierced themselves with their improvised spears. Some of them have actual swords.

Another instruction came, and I started moving back to flack the enemy. I see how someone beside me falls due to a bullet in the head. Fuck, fuck, fuck, God, please protect me.

PAH!

The loudest sound I have heard was a soldier discharging his musket beside my ear. I fell to the ground as if shot, and the constant mouse squeal invaded my mind. Fuck fuck, I can't die here.

I get up, load and aim. I chose my target and fire. The man on the horse died just like that. Just after that, I hear the trumpet sound meaning to charge with the bayonet. It makes sense; the slave and native soldiers are already dead, creating a mountain of corpses in the middle of the battle. I reload before the instruction, so I aim and shoot as I run. My bayonet is already on, so I charge like the soldiers around me.

When we made contact, I could stab an enemy soldier with a bayonet. I feel invincible. I have killed so many already. I take his musket/bayonet as mine is stuck in his body. Before I launch, another soldier comes to me, but I defend myself with the musket.

"AAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

I was able to defect the Bayonetbayonet to the sky and backwards. I won. I can point my bayonet faster than him. But, out of nowhere, he uses the back of his musket and gives me the biggest hit on my face I have ever gotten.

This is it, huh? My consciousness is leaving my body as I fall to the ground. My life flashes through my eyes. Mother, I should have paid more attention to what you said.

I get up.

"Morning, soldier." I see another soldier and look around. There were more soldiers. Some fires, most of them already charcoal with little live amber inside of them.

The sound was not possible, so I looked around. I wish I hadn't, all blackbirds, thousands of them feasting on my brother's bodies. I get up, and I vomit my insides out. Fuck, fuck.

"What happened?" I am on the verge of tears.

"Out of more than a 20 thousand army, we are the only ones that survived… the rest are dead or being eaten alive by the blackbirds." The soldier that I didn't recognize told me what had happened. How could this be?

"… How?"

"How we survived? Unless you were the one that brought us away from the pile of bodies, then it was the crown prince. He is knocked out cold." I quickly looked around and saw the people lying on the floor. The heavy breathing of the crown prince made it clear he was still alive. The others were piled up.

"They are dead. They didn't survive the night. All serious wounds."

"…"

The crown prince saved me. Personally, God got my prayers.

"...We are going to make the semi-permanent shelter, the day heat will kill us from dehydration, and we will be here more than a day. You are not injured; can you use a machete, right? Young lad?"

"Yes, yes."

My gratitude to the crown prince could not be higher. I will dedicate my life to him, the one touched by God, able to win while being disadvantaged. Nevertheless, there is something to do. My mind can be distracted as I chop wood.

The crown prince woke up. He is stupidly close to us, even though he is at another level of closeness. This is how an emperor should be, like one of us. He also helps to make the semi-permanent shelter.

The Black Birds sped up the departure of our place. They are too creepy to be around them for much time. I had nightmares, them tearing up my belly to get to my liver. I almost couldn't sleep, and when I did, I woke up crying.

All in all, walking is a big part of our mental stress. Our feet were hurting too much to even think about the deadly battle. Our bodies were too tired to get nightmares. In a way, I prefer this over calmness.

The Prince is too wise. He speaks the truth despite being younger than me or anyone in the group. He will be the leader who will bring us glory.

We are at our first wide river crossing, but now, the crown prince has called me to kill some crocodiles. I feel honoured; I can hunt with the next Emperor, and this tale will be passed down to my descendants.

PAH!

We shoot at the same time. I glee when I see the motionless crocodile. We were successful. Today we dine like kings. But most importantly, I succeeded!

Crocodiles taste like chicken with mud, but after days without a proper meal, they taste like heaven. I could die now, and I would not have any regret. But the crown prince spoke and gave me another responsibility.

I am to enter the City of Caracas and bring back intelligence. We are about to take over a city; while we are just 36 soldiers, ten are too injured to fight. It will be a miracle if we can take it, but then again, the crown prince is an expert in doing miracles.

Such a task is essential and dangerous. But the fact that the crown prince trusts me so much makes me too happy to think of my self-preservation.

We cross the river after shooting all the crocodiles away. We killed some in that way. We used rafts to bring the injured and half the muskets and black powder to the other side. The other half of the guys stayed behind as they shot the water. No crocodile dared to get near us. That way, we did the same, from the other side to the ones that stayed.

After that, we walked for half a day before arriving at our first village. We were 36 men in soldier outfits with muskets, holding the vertical tri-colour flag representing the Empire. The villagers didn't put any resistance. They just accepted the occupation.

Many women cried in front of us after we gave the news of the battle to the village. I thought it was risky, but the crown prince could shift the blame to the traitor Paez for killing their men, even though I probably killed some of them. At the end of the crown prince's speech, most declared their loyalty to the Empire and the Emperor. The crown prince inspires loyalty in anyone that hears his words.

It is my time, so I part from the city dressed as a civilian and arrived in Caracas after a day of travel. I have never been here, but it resembles Santa Fe of Bogota. No wonder they get their ideas of independence.

The city is gloomy, and I understand the situation after entering a bar. Indeed, his majesty the crown prince is not only wise but intelligent. The Venezuelans sent another army to Colombia through the short way. There are about 150 soldiers in the city to maintain the public, so that we can manage that easily.

The rebel Junta was made up of different people. They stroll around in public. I wonder if I should just kill them. But then there would not be a trial of traitors. I will do everything as I was told.

I don't have a place to sleep, so I find a hidden area like a homeless man. I have been sleeping outside for too long for this to bother me. I get together and map out where they live and where they should be.

On the night of my second night in Caracas, I left, and the people in the bar were getting too suspicious of me. My mission was completed.