'Ello, this is RoyallyScrewed.

This is very short and very serious, I hope you like it. I've been reading a book with violent battle scenes in it and this just kind of came to me.

Anyway, enjoy.

----------------------------------------------------

The Burden of War

----------------------------------------------------

General Silarn of the Cardan army walked through his camp. The mission he was currently on might not seem important to most people, but to a commander whomust know everythingofthose who served him it was vital that he go.

He was on his way to see one of his men. A very special man, one of the best fighters in the entire army. But that man was currently in the healers tent, for in the last battle fought he had been separated from his troop and surrounded by several of the enemy.

What worried his superiors most was that he had seemed to do it on purpose. The injury or death of a single soldier did not require the general’s attention, it could not, or else he would be tearing himself to pieces trying to take care of all the casualties of war. But the reason why one of his best fighters might want to commit suicide certainly did.

He entered the tent where the man was recovering after being tended by the camp healers. The best in the land, he had made sure of that. A wave of the general’s hand sent the two men attending him out of the tent.

“Timothy,” he said softly, sitting on the stool beside the man’s cot. His aid had given him the name when he heard of the incident. Timothy Webber, light cavalry. A skirmisher.

The man responded, turning his head to look at his general with his one remaining eye. “Sir,” he said quietly.

The general laid a hand on his shoulder, careful not to put pressure on any of the man wounds. “Why did you do it Timothy?” The man looked away. “I need to know please. I can’t have my men trying to commit suicide on me. Why?”

For a moment there was silence, then the general got the outburst that he was expecting. He didn’t get into his position without knowing how people were going to react to every word, every order. “How can you stand it?” The man cried. “All the death, all the killing? I saw the families, how they mourn for their lost ones. That’s why I joined the army in the first place, to stop that! But now I am just causing it to happen again. Those men, our enemies, they’re just like us! They fight because they are loyal to their country, just as we are, and they have families, just as we do. Every man I kill, every enemy I slay, I am only causing more of what I came here to prevent! How can you stand it?”

Silarn sighed. “I have no answer real answer for you. We fight because we must. If we did not then we would lose our freedom and our people would suffer even more than they do by the loss of their loved ones. Yes the ones we kill are men, just like us, but the sooner we win, the faster this war will be over, and then the killing will stop. But to get to that point, to end this war, we have to fight, and we have to kill.”

Timothy looked away from him again. “I’m sorry sir, I just can’t do it any more, I can’t.”

The general sighed. “I understand. Once you are sufficiently recovered you can go home. No one will blame you for leaving.” He got up and left the tent.

“How can you stand it?”

Because I have to, he thought. A general must distance himself from emotion such as pity and sorrow. He must think of his men and his enemies as pieces on a game board. It was the only way to stay sane.

But it was hard. Very hard.

General Silarn of the Cardan army sighed. Such is the burden of war.

----------------------------------------------------

Like I said, serious story. This is my first thing up on fictionpress, had some stuff up on but my parents didn't approve and shut me down, so I'm kinda not in a great mood at the moment, but hope to be getting more up soon.

Reviews would be very appreciated.

Thank you.