A/N -- Thanks for the click! Hope you enjoy!
IMPORTANT: At this moment, Fearless is going through editing. It won't be perfect, so bear with me!
IMPORTANT ALSO (due to being asked more than once): While this book sounds incredibly personal by way of writing, it is not actual POV! It in third person. As a Mulan retelling, the main character will obviously disguise herself as a he. However, even in disguise, she will be referred to as she during the narration --as I, the narrator, am referring to her as a she. Unless the other characters refer to Iris as a she by spoken word or italicized thought, they are not referring to her as a she! It's just the narration. *thumbs up* Hope that clears things up!
Another thing, if someone calls the main character "girl". For instance. It's cultural and meant to be said with a warm inflection. Like calling someone "dear" or "daughter". Or "my girl" or "my child". It's not offensive. It's not insulting. I have meant it that way since the book is written. I've had a lot of confusion over it and am clarifying it here so I don't keep having to explain myself in the comments."
The general grimaced as his eyes moved over the razed village. Debris and ash painted a desolate picture across the soil, and the framework of what had once been cottages and homes served as a sooty skeleton to the now lifeless place. This hadn't been an accident by any means -in fact, it couldn't have been any less than an act of war against the country of Eldia.
As the general stared at the remains, he knew at once that no one had been spared -no one had been left alive. If the panorama didn't serve as proof enough of that, the lack of noise surely did. The quiet was certainly eerie, as it was a definite promise of horror -the calm before storm, as it were. The only sound that could be heard was the steady breathing of the horses. Several soldiers were mounted atop them, gazing outward -spectators to the destruction.
"General Zayn," one man finally spoke out, calling the attention of their supervisor. Zayn's eyes snapped over to find who had spoken. The general's eyes zeroed in on a younger soldier, who resumed speaking once he was certain he was heard. "This is the third village that has been attacked as of late. We have to respond with force -we have to take action, real action, else the whole countryside is gonna look just like this right here."
Zayn said nothing in response. Instead, he turned back around to the view. The soldier started talking again, but the general threw up a hand to silence him.
Now, Zayn closed his eyes and did his best to collect his thoughts. The soldier that had spoken wasn't wrong. Something indeed had to be done -something more than they were doing at present, or more innocent people were doomed to die. Gods damn it, how had it come to this? Zayn clenched his teeth and said several choice curses under his breath.
The general's horse whinnied under him now, impatient to the stillness or perhaps nervous to the atmosphere, causing Zayn to reopen his eyes and set his lips into a hard frown.
"My reports say that there's been activity at the Garhemian border," Zayn told them. "I'll send out more scouts as soon as possible to try and glean more information. But what about the rumors? Are we dealing with the country as a whole or otherwise? I need a report -anything that any of you can give me to go on." As he spoke, he jerked lightly on the reigns to keep his increasingly uncooperative mount still.
There was no answer for a moment as the recruits deliberated his question.
"Rumors have indeed spread, general. They say that the attacks lay at the hands of the Tokens." The response came from over to the left. Zayn cut his eyes immediately to look over at the soldier who had answered.
From the looks of the man, he seemed intelligent. He was an older man with stark black eyes that tapered at the corners in permanent deliberation. Threads of grey whisked through the man's dark, shoulder-length ponytail, acting in accord with the slight wrinkling on his cheeks. The way this person carried himself hinted that he'd seen likely countless battles -perhaps even more than the younger general himself had.
"What is your name?" General Zayn finally asked.
In an instant, the man's frown lines deepened against his dark skin.
"I am Vaughn." The answer was simple.
Zayn accepted the response, giving Vaughn a once-over before averting his eyes. As it stood now, Zayn hadn't heard awfully much about the Tokens, as the primary dealings with them had been concluded far before his time as general. He only knew that they were a sort of large rebel group from Garhemia that had fallen dormant somewhere around twenty years ago -give or take a few years.
Another question left the general's lips, directed again at Vaughn. "How did you come about this information?"
"Mostly talk," Vaughn answered. "Last time this happened, a couple of militia found their symbol carved into one of the posts. As it stands, my sources are unverified, but perhaps it's something to consider."
"It is indeed that," Zayn conceded. "Very well. For assumption's sake, let us say that this group of Tokens are indeed at fault for the attacks on our villages; what does that mean for us?"
One by one, he looked to each member of their entourage, awaiting one of them to answer. When none did -Zayn narrowed his eyes. One of the warriors coughed to dispel the silent unease. A moment later, General Zayn leaped from his horse.
When his feet hit the ground, a tiny puff of ash filled the air, subsequently making the animal snort in annoyance. Zayn cut his eyes at the animal, deciding somewhere in the back of his mind that he should've brought a better horse to come along with him. He gazed once more at the wreckage. "We should see what's left before any decision is made."
Though Zayn knew that there was nothing left, he figured that there was no harm is fully scouting the area. Perhaps they'd be so lucky to find solid evidence on who had done this -or perhaps on why they had done this merciless thing.
In the next moment, the other soldiers present dismounted alongside their general, their boots hitting the ground in a soft series of thuds. Suddenly, the air around the men was thickly polluted, causing half of the men to cough and clear their throats.
When it all stilled, Zayn spoke again."Forward then." He kept his face expressionless and began walking towards what had presumably once been the heart of the little village.
The sights and gods, the smells, were especially macabre at the edge of the town, where charred bones littered the ground like recycled parchment and singed corpses lie motionless, permeating the air with the smell of burnt and rotting decay. Needless to say, the group moved fast through the area -finding the sights hardly improved further in.
And then, they reached the center of the destruction.
"General..." a man's voice trembled behind Zayn.
He looked back at who had spoken to find that they were pointing at something. Zayn was confused at first, but followed the soldier's finger to a sight that sent chills throughout his body and a deep-rooted fear straight through his bones. A horde of blood-painted bodies laid ever-still in a pile in the market square, covered in feeding vultures and writhing in maggots. These bodies were not burnt like the others had been. On top of the mound of carcasses, there was a child, dead -speared straight through the heart. Her head lolled over in such a way that it faced the approaching group. Her dead eyes stared directly at them, cold and unseeing -almost damning the soldiers for letting the village die.
Tears finally clouded the general's eyes at the little girl's last expression --a silent scream. "What could anyone possibly gain from this?" Zayn's voice was strained as he spoke to the others.
Silence was the only appropriate response.
"Do you want me to remove her from the spear, General?" Vaughn's voice was brusque as he spoke. And still, his proud shoulders were squared and erect. Even in the light of the horde, the soldier portrayed no weakness -no emotion. Meanwhile Zayn could not help but hope his voice would not crack -would not betray his strong front when he spoke again.
"If you will."
With a curt nod, the older warrior walked forward, swinging his arms ever so lightly as he made his way over toward the dead girl. With a swift pull, she slid off the upturned wood with a sick splash. A few vultures flew off the pile -startled at its sudden movement. The general noticed the blood was still wet against the spear.
She hadn't been dead for long.
Vaughn hoisted the girl in his arms and brought her over to Zayn, who looked over the body for any evidence.
"And yet there is no sign of who performed this treachery." The general mainly spoke to himself now. For another moment, he looked again over the girl's frightened features -over her clothes and skin. In some cases, the attackers would leave a symbol. This was not one of those cases, however, as her body was indeed void of any incriminating insignias. The general would certainly need to send out scouts to find more information.
Vaughn simply watched as Zayn mildly picked at the body. And then, when the soldier was sure Zayn was finished, he asked a question. "What do you wish me to do with her?"
The general thought of bringing her back to the army camp and giving her a proper funeral, but after a moment of thought, the thought seemed ridiculous. None of the men there could afford to strap a corpse to them on the journey back -nor did any of the men desire to.
"Set her down, it's time we leave here," the general regrettably said. How he hated to leave her just rotting there.
Vaughn followed instruction and gently laid her down before going back to join the others.
"Go to the horses and ready them to leave," Zayn instructed. He only listened as the entire entourage walked away from the scene.
When the sound of footsteps faded from the area entirely, Zayn took the time to kneel beside the girl and stroke her hair -as if that would somehow comfort her. After a few seconds, he quietly removed a red ribbon from the inner pocket of his uniform. It had been given to him as a small token of his importance when he'd first sworn in as general, but he'd never real found use of it before. He tied it in the best bow he could manage and laid it over the girl's open mouth as a symbol of sympathy. Afterward, he closed her lifeless eyes.
"Rest peacefully, child."
The general then walked away from the massacre, knowing that war was indeed among the people of Eldia.
A/N -- Actually had some awesome fanart done by @CanisLupisRiley for that last little scene you read!