Morning Came Eventually

Moriah was gazing at his reflection.

  His tight black armor was made from iron, the breastplate was lined with transmuted thin craft of gold, the symbol of his army Wolf was carved in the left side of the plate. He saw his gesture in the mirror, as cold as always, two piercing and cruel eyes, small stubble around his chin. He blinked, slightly wondering why he was looking at himself, it was unlike of him.

It was also a big day for him.

  He moved to corner of his room, stooping beside the giant bed. There was a mark on the golden wall, just like a small scratch of nails, it couldn't be shown if someone didn't look carefully. He took a deep breath and pressed his palm over the scratch, to reveal his secret chamber under the ground. Since, it was going to be a great day for him, he would want to have a talk with his Lord.

    With a buzzing sound, a passage emerged behind the wall, there were dusty staircases going down. Moriah picked up the little lamp from the bedside table and stepped at the stairs. The dim light appearing inside from the glass fell on stoney old wall, revealing an unknown cave before his eyes. His footsteps echoed in the narrow passage, the smell of paraffin covering the whole place, with a tiny hint of mould. There was a hall room at the end of that way and a black wooden coffin was lying on the middle of it.

   When he was a feet away from the coffin, numerous candles lit up automatically, whetting the smell of aromatic compounds. The room was air proof and the heat of fire began to make him sweat, burning his skin slightly. Moriah knew he had the strength to pull himself away from that room and went to find in the battle, but he didn't know why his body wouldn't move. Maybe coming down here was a grave mistake, maybe worshipping a legend was a silly mistake, maybe taking care of an existence which was much stronger than any living being once but it was weak now, was an accurate mistake.

"You know I can hear your thoughts."

Moriah's mind went blank hearing upon that voice, every time he heard that he felt like he was being hypnotized, handing it the possession of his soul and mind. He spontaneously knelt down on the mosaic floor and brought his hands together in front of his chest as prayers, inclining his head deeply.

"F-forgive m-me, My L-lord," he whispered.

"I find it amusing that a great warrior like you is stuttering like a little piggy child. Your thoughts....are silly, at the same time they are true, so you know," the voice chuckled. "And kneeling in front of a coffin which has been lying here alone for nineteen years and nine months and eleven days. Is it silly? What do you think, great warrior Moriah?"

Moriah kept his head down, feeling dizzy. "I think...It is not silly, M-my Lord."

"It is good that you know your position," it spoke in a domineering way. 

"Y-yes, My Lord."

"Open my coffin, Moriah."

"I-is that o-okay, M-my Lord?" Hearing it asking him to open that box made him....Scared. In these years he had only seen once its true face, then he couldn't sleep at night almost for a month, because whenever he closed his eyes, its deep ghost-looking gaze coming from black eyeballs would appear in his sleep.

"Open it, Moriah," the voice spoke impatiently. "I feel hungry, desperate, breathless, tetchy. So stop testing my patience and open the damn door of this bloody coffin."

Moriah was still hesitating.

"DO IT!"

He flinched at its roar and swiftly lifted his head up from his daze. He pulled himself up like his body weighed a ton, that slowly and took two steps to the high stone slab. His forehead was shining with sweat drops in the light and he was feeling so thirsty, his throat was dry like he was walking in a dessert. There are some things which always alert a human being when they are stepping into danger. Moriah was feeling a thing like that, but he couldn't control his legs, he couldn't break away from daze to the illuminating candles and run away from that cave.

Because it was the Lord of Life.

An uncontrollable mighty legend.

• • • • • 

"You have such beautiful long hair," Alvina heard her saying, fumbling her hair softly with her fingers. "How many girls have this kind of long red hair, tell me?"

"I sure many women have."

"Uh-huh. I don't know any of them. Do you want me to comb your hair now, hm?"

"Thank you, Bella," she replied unmindfully.

"You seem to be a bad mood today," Bella examined her face in the mirror and picked up the comb, sorting the hair locks. She was the Head Maid of this castle and she had always been nice to her since she came here.

"Is something going on your mind? Your face looks glum too, your eyes are tired. Did you not get sleep last night?"

Alvina sighed subconsciously. It was true that many things were going on her mind. She thought first about the battle of the twin brothers which was going to start a while later. One of them had saved her life from being a slave, but didn't respect a low-born woman like her, instead she had become his mistress. It was true that Moriah hadn't been cruel to her or abuse her or anything bad, yet she still lived in confusions and dreams, dreams which might never come true.          

   Another one of the brothers had gone from her life for almost ten years, she couldn't help but recall that how sweet and gentle Nrikawn was to her. He had respected her decisions, her behavior, her lifestyle, tried to help her from preventing becoming the mistress of his brother. But....It was fate that who didn't help her once, like she had been born from something dark, something as bad luck.  

    Today, in the battle, one of them would win. One of them would slaughter this city. One of them would take the throne.

"Hey. What are you thinking so deep?" Bella suddenly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Alvina came back from her thoughts and looked up at the mirror. Bella already combed her red hair into two braids, each of them were placing by the sides of her head beautifully.

"You are so pretty. I wish I had beauty like you," Bella pouted her face, then slowly sat in a chair beside her. 

"You are pretty, too."

"Eh, Alvina. You do not have to say false praise to make me feel better."

She looked down at her nails awkwardly.

"Now girl, tell your old friend what you are so worried about. Your eyes look lost, so tell me. Believe me, I will listen."

Alvina looked at her soft eyes, making up her mind whether she should tell her on not. It was true that Bella had been her only true friend since she left her motherland, but still. She had been betrayed over and over again, it wasn't her fault that she had trust issues.

"Urm," she swallowed nervously. "It is nothing actually. Just....thinking about the next war."

"We are women. What is the point of thinking about war of us? Ohh," she smiled teasingly. "Alvina, don't tell me that you are worrying about Lord Moriah? Are you, huh?"

"No!" she looked away from her, her cheeks were flushed. Although she was his mistress and everyone in the castle knew about that, but she had never wanted for it. That word always made her embarrassed.

But it was also her reality.

• • • • •

    Alexander gazed proudly at the army of ten thousand skilled soldiers in front him in this vast ground, every one of them was standing on their position, holding their shields tightly ahead their chests. The look of their eyes was expressionless, merciless, fearless, dangerous and a glint of something else which couldn't be described in words. They knew what they had to do, because in their stone cold hearts, there wasn't any place left for mercy for the enemies. Today, if they fought bravely, they would be rewarded by their King, but if not, their dead bodies would be lying on the soil or they would be thrown in prison caves, those who surrendered.

Alexander blew his whistle.

"ATTENTION!" he roared loudly. "TAKE YOUR POSITION, SOLDIERS!"

Ten thousand soldiers immediately stiffened in their positions and stopped their previous conversations, standing like statues, waiting for another command from their Commander.

  At that moment, suddenly a whirlpool of dust emerged behind the castle. As soon as the whirl came closer to them, he recognized the Ravens whose he had sent to pass letter of the warnings for war. But a horse was alone without a rider, a stretcher made from tree branches was bindedd on its backside.

Alexander wrinkled his brows with uncertainty and nimbly walked to them.

   Uppermost there was a Raven called Severen, also a close friend of Trion. He got down from his horse and gave a slight nod when he noticed Alexander.

"Commander Alexander," he said roughly.

"Why are there only eight of you?" He asked without delay. "Where are Trion and Yokra?"

Severen glanced back at the stretcher, it was covered with a cloak and when he turned back to him, the knots of his face were shaking. He looked so dangerous.

"T-trion....was killed. We found him dead near of his horse, with an arrow in his back. Yokra," he grimaced when he uttered his name. "He is missing."

Alexander growled with frustration. "Oh, that traitor bastard! Why did he kill him?" He ran his fingers through his beard, deeply calculating their situation. Trion was the best bowman he ever saw in his life, there hadn't been a single target that he missed. Nrikawn's army was three times larger than Moriah's army, but they lacked in skillful archers, there weren't enough of them.

"I resign my position," Severen spoke.

"What? Why?" Alexander questioned.

" 'Cause I am going to avenge for my friend," he bit his lips to not let fall any tear. "Forgive me Commander Alexander, but I have the right to decline my rank. My soul will never rest in peace until I kill Yokra."

Alexander exhaled, it was understandable. He couldn't do anything to hold Severen back, so with a bit hesitation, he nodded.

Severen tore off his hood from his face and muttered with sadness, "I am no longer a Ravenman," he nodded at Alexander and tilted his head to his fellows.

"Farewell, Ravens," he told them before he climbed on his horse. For the last time, he threw his fist in air and yelled their slogan, "WE BEGIN THE WAR!"

The rest of the Ravens followed his movement and yelled in unison, "WE BEGIN THE WAR!"

Severen ran his horse in the back way of them and by making a whirl of dust, he gradually disappeared. 

Alexander turned to the soldiers.

Love.

Betrayal.

Revenge.

Death.

"They all will come true one day," he muttered.