Another soldier story, and more - Short Fantasy Story (Part 9)

I sat there, leaning against a tree, by the river. Maybe it wasn't even a river in my eyes anymore, not after all the wonders of the world I saw. Everything had its own color palette, every living and inanimate thing around me. Stones, leaves, insects. It came with life, an awakening. I guess like any other spring. Another in a series of cycles of life, birth and death reopens. I guess both in nature and in life.

My thoughts flowed with the water, only in one direction. But as she was flowing to his mouth, so my thoughts began from a distant past and sailed on the wings of that river to the present. To the moment I experienced, which is to sit here. All those years in the military, I wanted to find myself in this place, away from all the evil things that were happening around me. To come into this peace again, far from the doom that slowly engulfs everything, and first of all the hearts and souls of people. And in fact, as much as in my memories this place seemed to be a part of the Divine, now that I'm actually here, nothing is as I expected. Yes, I got the peace I wanted, but I paid it with a terrible price. The one that forever leaves traces, in the mind, in the soul, and in the body. I no longer resembled the guy who left this place hoping for an adventure. And I got a soul transfusion, something that inevitably comes sooner or later.

But that bother of mine, all that has to wait for later. You have to know what all the currents and life decisions have brought me here at this moment.

..... The days were more or less similar to us, but the friendly people of this region were kind to us. We received more food than we could carry, in always warm words of welcome and greetings. Each night when Eleor and I were on guard, he was trying to break the blockage I had inside my mind. All this time he has told me about the wonders of magic, and how my view of everything around me will change when I see all the facets of that gift. Of course, the drawbacks were there too. Although he didn't seem to care about them. It was interesting to me that, in his words, magic was transmitted through blood, ie from mother to children. I did not realize how I got into the situation of having this gift, when my mother was just a housewife and nothing more, with magic never mentioned in our home. He explained this blockage to me as if there was a lake of magic in me, and it was covered with some veil, like fog. He can see the potential and scale of my talent but is unable to bring them to the surface. He even mentioned at one point that it seemed to him that the blockade was deliberately placed there. Of course, that didn't make sense, and he wasn't sure if anything like that was possible at all. So we kept trying.

It got warmer every day of riding, the days lasted longer, and the nature around us changed. Tall oaks and beech trees, replaced by firs and pines, followed by palm trees. There was less grass, now sand and stone ruled the expanse.

On the tenth day after leaving the barracks, the captain lined us up and ordered a drill. We spend a good part of the morning practicing formations, attacks, and defense, counter attacks. It's like we're preparing for battle. After completing these maneuvers, we were again put into battle order.

'' Boys, two more days of riding separate us from our destination. And this is the Moruval Tower, twenty army units are stationed there. The same composition as our unit. We will merge into one army, still waiting for orders. I think you should know that this was not an exercise, this journey, but we were ordered to come here for help. It is probable that a war will soon follow with the Ural tribes, hiding far beyond the sand dunes of the south. There were already individual attacks on our southern barracks, so the heads thought it better to strengthen the defense if needed. Come on now, fast on the horses. I'll tell you the rest of the story when I learn more about their attacks and movements. '' And he began to saddle his horse for departure.

We did not expect to be sent immediately to the scene, but we accepted it militarily. We all rode up, then headed south. Eleor had a worried look on his face, one that I had never seen before.

Souce