Without Question

Without Question

Chapter Seven – Revelations

“This is not a suggestion, officer!  You will do as we command or so help us we will have you court marshaled for your insubordination!”

“I have dedicated my LIFE to you men and this nation!  Countless atrocities in the name of greed and power, all committed with the utmost respect for your judgment!  How can you dismiss my words in such a manner?”

“OFFICER SILUS!  This is your final warning!  Pull your forces back to defend the capital or you will be court marshaled!”

“All of my loyalty over the years has had no meaning, no purpose in serving you bastards!  You would have us all die so that you may bask in the glimmering of gold!  I will no longer be your pathetic pawn and—!”

“THAT IS ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!  Seize him!”

“Wha—unhand me this instant!  Ahmmf mmf!”

“Have him brought to the capital at once!  He will defend his home, regardless of his consent.  He will be brought before a military tribunal upon the successful defense of our lands.  Dismissed.”

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“AGH!” Silus sat up and shouted as he awoke in a sweat.

“Are you alright, milord?” one of Silus’ Guards peeked into the room.

Silus quickly looked around.  He was lying in a very large bed composed of a dark green silk.  The large room was adorned with extravagant decorations and a gold, emerald-encrusted chandelier hung from the ceiling.  The smooth, stone floor was mostly covered with a lighter green rug.  Across the room opposite of the bed was a quietly burning fireplace that sent a comforting orange glow throughout the room.  Just to the right of the bed was a nightstand with a gold clock atop it.  The hands indicated that it was just past midnight.  Wiping away his sweat, Silus pushed away the blankets and sat on the side of the bed.

“Just a nightmare, Guard.  Where am I and how did I get here?” he asked.

“You are in your Lordliness’ bedchambers.  You passed out from all of the celebrations.  Grimsoul challenged you to a drinking game.”

Silus felt a minor headache but ignored it.

“Did I at least win?” Silus asked with a smirk.

“Uh…no, milord.  You collapsed after the first drink.  I don’t think you were quite aware of how strong Changeling brews are.  But Grimsoul had you brought back here to rest.  You’ve been asleep ever since.”

Silus covered his face with one hand.  That really must’ve been some very hard alcohol.  Feeling awake and unable to sleep at this point, Silus got up and realized his armor had been removed.  He was in his old officer’s uniform, though it had been repaired and recolored.  Now it was a deep green, but the frilly golden shoulder pads remained.  Silus liked the new look and set off to explore the castle while the Guard remained on watch at his doorway.

Though he nearly became lost in the labyrinth of corridors, he finally reached the atrium.  The Queen was not sitting upon her throne, so Silus approached it.  It was quite a tall seat for Her Highness.  The bulk of the throne was composed of polished, glistening obsidian, and the cushions were made of beautiful bright red velvet.  For the briefest of moments, Silus considered taking a seat in it, but he swiftly dismissed the thought.

Losing interest in the throne, Silus walked down the red carpet leading from the throne to the castle’s main doors.  The throne was on a raised position, and Silus had to go down a few steps to reach the floor.  As soon as he reached the floor, he noticed the statues on each side of the carpet again.  Previously, he had only noticed that each one appeared unique, and that male statues were on the left while females resided on the right.  All of the statues had one thing in common: they were all taller than the city Changelings and had crowns.  Each male statue was directly across from a female statue, all except for the one closest to the throne, which was of Queen Chrysalis.

“They are the line of rulers since the dawn of the Changeling Empire,” Chrysalis whispered directly into Silus’ ear.

Silus shivered and froze.

“And I saw you took interest in my throne, no?  I do not blame you.  It is as comfortable as it looks,” she said with a slight giggle at the end.

Silus remained still and stared ahead as Chrysalis walked around to face him directly.

“Oh come, now.  You may speak freely, Lord Silus.”

Exhaling slowly, Silus managed to free himself from his paralysis to ask her a question.

“My Queen, might I ask why there is no statue across from yours?”

A lock of Chrysalis’ blue mane fell over one of her eyes and she pulled it back over her ear.

“Surely you can do the math yourself, dear savior.”

Silus’ heartbeat sped up at hearing her call him such a thing.  He figured he knew the reason why there was no statue, but he didn’t want to say it.  She was staring intently at him, awaiting an answer.

“I…would assume because you rule without a King at your side?” he managed to say.

“And you would assume correctly in saying so.  Now may I ask you a question?”

Silus’ heart was on fire as it beat without pause.

“Of course, My Queen.  Anything,” he replied.

“Tell me, why did you feel the need to send a shout echoing through the castle, particularly through my bedchambers?” she smirked as she raised her eyebrow.

Silus’ face instantly flushed red.  He wasn’t aware of how loud he had been.

“I…uh…I apologize, My Queen, for…” he stuttered in embarrassment.

“Very well then, let me ask you this.  Why do you behave in such a manner?  Why do you serve my nation and I so blindly?” she spoke sternly as her face came closer to his.  She continued before he could answer, “Why do you fight for us so humbly?  What is going on in that strange mind of yours?  And why do you become so nervous in my presence?” she pressed closer.

“I…had a nightmare, My Queen…about my old home…perhaps if I explain my past…you will understand…” he mumbled quietly as he lowered his head.

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“Glad to see you again, Lieutenant Silus!” a corporal shouted over the volley of gunfire.

“Can’t say I’m glad to be here myself, soldier, but I’m glad to see you gentlemen again,” Silus shouted back.

Silus crouched in the seemingly unending trench.  To his left and his right, as far as his eyes could see, his nation’s infantry filled the trench, frequently popping up to fire a volley of rounds at the enemy before crouching again to reload their muskets.  Silus himself occasionally stood up to fire his flintlock pistol or direct the infantry’s fire with a wave of his saber.

Hundreds of yards in front of the trench were millions of enemy soldiers firing their own muskets as they marched forward.  The vast expanse of troops covered the hills, and Silus could make out dozens of differently-colored uniforms.

Over the years he had served his nation’s army, he had been sent to countless other countries to wage war.  Though he never fully understood why he was killing the people of those nations, he obeyed loyally like every soldier under his command did.  On a few rare occasions, he had asked what the purposes of the wars were.  It bothered him to have found out that they were there to “liberate” the resources of the lands.  But his pride and loyalty prevented him from seeing how horribly his nation was making the world suffer.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was a battle in a small town in a forested area.  The residents had resisted Silus’ forces for days and showed no signs of giving in.  Silus was prepared to continue fighting until the residents surrendered, but his leaders had grown impatient and ordered him to annihilate the town from the map and leave no survivors.  Silus had made many brutal decisions before, but this was the worst yet, and he began to question his loyalty to such a cold, greed-driven government.  He pleaded for more time, but his leaders refused and ordered that he wipe out the town under threat of a court martial.

Though it pained him to do so, he ordered a full assault with no holds barred.  The population was massacred and their town burned to ashes.  Those who attempted to surrender were executed on the spot.  It took days for Silus to wash the blood out of his uniform.

But as the years slowly went by, the world came to hate Silus’ nation with a vengeful passion.  Soon, an alliance was formed out of over a dozen massive nations, all victims of war with Silus’ nation.  Nothing could be done.  Millions of soldiers from every nation in the alliance struck Silus’ homeland from every direction.  The cities fell rapidly under the endless flood of troops, and not a single life was spared.  Silus wanted desperately to be transferred to the city where he was born, the city where his parents and brother resided.  He didn’t care if it meant his death; he wanted to die defending what he loved most in the world.  His leaders refused to transfer him, and instead had him transferred to the capital while they hid in a small safehouse far from the flames of the war.

Silus finally snapped and refused to serve such leaders.  He was then dragged away to the capital: the last line of defense.  His hope had burned away like the cities of his once-proud nation.  He was not so naïve as to think his loved ones had survived.  He had nothing left to live for but his men.  And he would valiantly lead them for as long as he could.

“Sir!  The entire left flank has fallen!  The 31st and 92nd Platoons are no longer combat effective!  We need your orders!” a sergeant yelled to Silus.

“Have the 103rd move to support the center!  We can’t lose any more ground!” he yelled back, firing his pistol into the approaching crowd.  Silus shuddered as he felt a sudden pain in his chest.  Time slowed down as a crimson rose blossomed from his vest.  He stared at it, awestruck at the stinging pain and beauty.  Just as it reached a full blossom, it quickly wilted and spilled onto his stomach.  Time sped back to its true state and Silus fell to his knees, clenching the bleeding hole where a musket ball had pierced him.

“The Lieutenant is hit!  Medic!  Med—!” a private screamed before a musket ball whizzed through his neck.

Silus stared at the now-dead private.  The lad couldn’t have been more than seventeen.  Silus fought the pain and struggled to stand.  His eyes grew tired at the sight of the wall of soldiers.  Volley after volley of rounds had been unleashed into the horde, yet no visible dent had been made.  Another burst of pain ripped through Silus’ shoulder.  He gasped for air and grabbed his shoulder tightly.  The agony overtook him, and he fell onto his back.

“Lieutenant!  The enemy is only fifty yards and closing!  What do we do?” Silus heard a voice shout near him.

Before Silus could say anything, enemy infantry began pouring into the trench.  Silus’ men stabbed and swung their bayonets furiously, sending hundreds of the enemy soldiers crumpling to the ground.  One of the enemy soldiers ran screaming towards Silus with his bayonet raised over his head, ready to plunge it into the fallen lieutenant.

Silus quickly swung his saber upward and stopped the bayonet, but the soldier merely screamed louder as he pressed harder with the bayonet.  Silus grunted as he shakily raised his pistol with his other hand.  A look of fear and appeared in the eyes of the soldier a split-second before the pistol sent a musket ball flying through his heart.  With a gasp of surprise, the soldier collapsed onto Silus, who fought to shove away the body.

As he stood and staggered, Silus saw that the right flank had now fallen.  His men were fighting with everything they had, using rocks and even their bare fists to slay their enemies.  Another soldier jumped down into the trench, but Silus sent his saber through the man’s stomach before he hit the ground.  All around him, bodies filled the trench, and he had difficulty trying not to stumble over them.  A sting ran along his back, and he swung around to see an enemy officer swinging his saber at Silus.  The officer swung again, vertically now.  Silus jumped to the left and deflected the blade off to the right with his own saber.  Retaliating, the hostile officer flourished his blade around Silus’ and swung at his face.  Silus did his best to try and dodge or deflect, but his efforts merely lessened his injury.  The officer’s blade slashed a curve along the side of Silus’ face.  Silus ducked before the officer could swing again and brought his blade down across the man’s knees.  The officer howled in pain and fell to the ground, moments before Silus thrust his blade through the man’s chest.

Then it hit Silus; it had become significantly quieter than it had a minute ago.  He rotated in place.  All of his men had fallen to the enemy, and he was all that remained.  He had been encircled by a wall of enemy troops who glared at him, probably deciding on whether or not to torture him until he died or just put a musket ball through the back of his head.  The blood loss caused by Silus’ wounds caused him to lose his grip, dropping his flintlock pistol and saber.  He turned to face the capital city behind him.  Already, the enemy soldiers had flooded in and were tossing torches into every window as the citizens shrieked.

All was lost.

But then Silus began to emit a green glow and his body tingled.  The soldiers surrounding Silus gasped and looked at him in confusion.  He slowly levitated off the ground, blood dripping into the trench.  One of the soldiers screamed and charged forward with his blade raised.  Just before it made contact with Silus, he was blinded by brilliant green lights and appeared in the atrium of a castle, surrounded by strange creatures.

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“That…that was quite a tale…” Chrysalis said with a look of awe and wonder in her eyes.

Silus’ remained quiet with his head bowed.

“I am under the impression that you serve me so loyally and graciously because…I saved your life?” she said quietly.

Silus knelt and slowly lifted his head to look at her bewildered, glowing green eyes.

“Ever so partially because of that, My Queen…”

She looked terribly confused now.

“Then why, Lord Silus?  Why do you serve my Empire?  Why do you serve me?”

Silus delicately reached for her hoof and lifted it to his lips.

With a light kiss, he answered, “You have given me a new home.  A new purpose in life…”

He paused for a moment before finishing, “…a new love to protect…”

Chrysalis covered her mouth with her other hoof, her eyes wider than ever before.

In the shadows, a pair of hazel eyes watched and listened silently from the rafters high above the throne…