Short Stories

Not you... (𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕤𝕪/𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖)

"Tonight" a general spoke up "We ride into battle! With our hearts aflame and our weapons raised! For Quintaria!"

"For Quintaria!" the soldiers echoed in a unanimous shout.

Some clanked their swords against their shields, yelling unintelligible battle cries.

Faelyn joined in, raising her sword with a passionate shout.

"For Quintaria!"

~•~

  Faelyn rode fearlessly into battle, the man she loved by her side. She knew that she might not make it and she would die to protect Cal, but nothing was certain on the battle field.

They could both perish. But Faelyn preferred not to think about that part, but to focus on the rush of battle and beating of her heart.

The enemy army, the Beshanians, could be seen in the distance. Instead of marching in orderly rows, they charged in one huge hoard.

Their swords were raised, they horses were galloping wildly and fearsome battle cries tore from their throats.

The Quintarians met them head on and the battle began.

Faelyn slashed a Beshanian's white horse, staining the creature's snowy fur with a line of crimson red. The stallion stumbled forward, causing the rider to pitch forward.

She killed him and turned her attention to the other enemy soldiers coming her way. She cut down man after man, her hand steady but her heart aching for the lost lives.

Faelyn tried to keep one eye on her beloved, but there were stretches when she couldn't catch glimpses of him through the frenzy of fighting.

She wanted nothing more than to stay as close as possible, but she couldn't risk being a distraction. When in the heat of battle, even the smallest distraction could be the cause of your death.

After a particularly long period of time when Faelyn couldn't spot a soldier with dark curls poking out from under their helmet, she began to worry.

Between fatal swings of her sword, she searched for Cal's oh so familiar face. Finally, she found it. Faelyn dispatched the Beshanian soldier she was battling and directed her horse in Cal's direction.

She wouldn't distract him. She just needed to make sure he was okay.

Faelyn watched as he ended the life of his opponent with a powerful blow to the heart. Cal paused a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow.

"Cal!" Faelyn called out.

She hadn't even meant to say it out loud, but her mind had been repeating it so loudly, desperate to see him face to face, to know for sure that it was her Cal under the helmet that his name slipped through her lips.

"Faelyn! Are you alright!?" Cal rode over to her, concern evident in his every movement.

He had to shout so that his voice would carry over the clanking armor and shouting soldiers. His voice sounded like sweetest thing Faelyn had ever heard.

"Yes." she assured him, as his eyes travelled over every detail of her face and body, searching for injuries "I just wanted to see you for a moment."

Cal directed his horse so that he was as close to Faelyn as he could get.

Horses and people rushed forward on either side of the pair, parting like a stream parts for a stone.

"You know it isn't safe." Cal chided loudly, though not quite a shout now that they were closer to each other.

"Safe has never been my specialty." Faelyn reminded him.

Cal sent her a small smile. Faelyn basked in the miniscule moment of piece amidst the battle. Just her and him.

Then the moment was over and Faelyn had to raise her sword to deflect an enemy blow.

She blocked another swing and fainted to the left. The Beshanian soldier took the bait and raised his sword to the left, while she killed him with a blow to his right.

She glanced to her right at Cal to make sure he was alive. He glanced at her at the same time and for an instant, their eyes met.

Time seemed to stop. There was Cal- alive and breathing, safe for a brief moment. And then he wasn't.

An enemy's soldier's blade was thrust through his back with tremendous force.

"CAL!" Faelyn screamed so loud she thought her lungs might tear apart.

He toppled off his horse, drops of blood trickling down his chin. He hit the ground with painful thud, landing on his side.

Faelyn numbly slid out of her saddle and knelt down beside him, heart pounding so loud she couldn't hear the roar of battle.

She cradled Cal in her arms, ignoring the fighting raging on around them.

Cal coughed weakly, more blood spilling from his lips. A shocked sob wracked Faelyn's body.

"Shh, don't cry." Cal soothed, his voice trembling slightly.

"I can't loose you." she told him, tears flowing freely down her face "I can loose everything, but not you... Oh God, not you..."

She'd known that they might not make it. She'd told herself that nothing was certain on the battlefield. But knowing it and watching the man she loved die in her arms were two very different things.

"Fight for me." Cal said quietly, almost too quietly to be heard over the ruckus "I love you. I... always will."

He released another trembling cough, then lay still.

"Cal! CAL! Cal, please wake up!" Faelyn cried desperately, but Calius didn't stir.

She wiped her eyes and gently lowered his eyelids, giving the illusion that Cal was simply sleeping.

Then she got back onto her horse and fought with a new fire in her heart. She cut down soldier after soldier, filled with the power of pain.

For Cal, she thought viciously as she killed enemy after enemy, For Cal...

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