The colours of the world had faded; not even the sun could make it past the death cloud surrounding the two armies.

It felt like, despite the years since the last spilt blood, the screams had taken root, imbuing the heavy stones with their echo.

The older wounds had long ago taken hold of her body, leaving behind a map of her biggest victories.

The town lay beneath their feet, its outskirts in ruin from the negligence of arrogant people who thought it was acceptable to let everything fall apart because they could rebuild it without lifting a finger.

If the worst came, they would do their sad duty and fight the last battle above the dead bodies of their friends.

He grasped her chin trying to make sense of her words, smearing her face with the blood of the people he had killed for her.