A Pair to End The War

The Beginning

"Papa, can you tell me a story?" 

"Of course. What do you want to hear?"

I didn't have anything specific I wanted him to tell me, so I just went with the good ol' answer of "I don't know."

My father smiled at me caringly "Let's do a dragon story," he said patting my head. 

"Ok," I said cheerfully, snuggling into bed, waiting for him to tuck me in. 

He stuffed the blankets under me, nice and tight, and leaned against the backboard of my bed, "Long ago, in a continent far across the ocean, dragons, humans, elves, and dwarves lived in harmony. Riders: a special army of elves, and dwarves who had bonded with dragons, kept peace in the world. They fought together fiercely against any who tried to break the peace, be it certain species trying to overthrow the power, magical forces, or even each other. That is until the Ancients, beings of pure magic, attacked the peaceful species. They all fought valiantly but alas it was too much for them to handle and the other riders died, one of them brutally wounded. They killed everyone, but two. An Eldritch dragon and a Heavenly dragon came here seeking refuge from their broken lives. They sought to find peace again amongst these foreign lands. Legend has it that they created a hidden world, one where they could hide and live in peace, where they didn't have to worry about being attacked, or raided, where they could live in peace, like they did in their old world,"

I looked at him with an amazed wonder "Wow, and is it true? Is there a hidden world where they live?"

My father paused for a moment, and looked at the wall solemnly, "No, it's not. I wish it was true, but it's only a story,"

"Aw, Dad what about the old world?" 

"That's just another story. There are no Ancients, or Heavenly dragons, or Eldritch dragons, or even the Old World. You must know that these are all stories, good night kiddo," 

I was a little disappointed that there wasn't anything out past the vast ocean, outside our continent; "Alright, goodnight, Dad," I said closing my eyes. 

"Alright, good night kiddo, I love you," He blew out the lantern and shut my door. 

Outside my door I could hear my mother and father talking as I drifted off to sleep, "Why are you telling him lies?"

"He can't know. I want to give him hope,"

"He'll never have hope if he doesn't know,"

"He'll never have hope if he searches for them forever too!"

There was a moment of silence before my mother sighed sadly, her voice was muffled by her tears, "Do you need to go back?"

"You know I do. This war won't end without my help. I know things that nobody else does,"

Another silence before I heard my mother crying softly, "Just promise me you'll come back,"

My father's voice was grave but hopeful, "I promise,"

That was the last time I heard from my father; he left early morning; drafted back into the war. My father Jacob was a captain in the war between the three main species, he'd recently been MIA but had been found roaming in a forest, so he was allowed home on temporary leave.

Shortly after he left that night he was killed in an ambush, by a nightshade dragon, he died a hero though, at least that's what I was told. My mother was devastated, she was so devastated that we moved out of our home and moved to a rural peace village, where elves, dwarves, and humans could live in harmony. At the time it was confusing to me, because I had been taught in school that dwarfs and elves were our enemies, but none of them were anything like what I was taught, they were just like me, except older, and smaller or bigger, depending on if they were dwarf or elf. They even helped us move into our home.

My mother and I lived there until I was about 7 when tragedy struck again, and our village was attacked by raiders. They burned our homes and killed my mother.

I hold onto those memories dearly, and they're what get me through my life every day."

"I just asked how you got in this troop dumbass, not your entire life's story!" Orico groaned.

"Oh right, well after the raid I was taken in by the army, and from there I was raised to be a spy, eventually I joined a troop, then moved into another troop, and finally I found myself in this troop after a couple of years,"

Lucas chuckled and stirred his potato soup, "And we're happy to have you, you've been a great asset and friend to us for the year you've been with us,"

Landon raised his fork, "Here's to luck!"

Terrance second his toast, "To luck!"

I raised my fork with a sarcastic eyeroll, "Luck!"

Orico finished eating his food and set his plate down, "I'm going to head to bed, we've got a lot of ground to cover,"

We all watched as the massive 6'5 300-pound man crawled into his tent. Orico had been with our group for 5 months, but he's proven to be a very strong member of our group, while he did have a rough exterior and a cold attitude, he was a very caring and soft person.

"I'm going to head to bed too," Landon said, setting his plate in the fire, along with Orico's. Landon was here when I arrived in the troop, he was a very skinny dorky looking kid, maybe 17, a year younger than me, long blonde hair in the front, but short brown hair on the sides of his head (where he had time to dye his hair I've got no clue,) and he was very knowledgeable in different animals and cultures, so when we were dealing with any kind of animal he was the one we went to. Landon had a similar mindset to me, he grew up in a peace town like me, and joined the military when he was 15, where he proved his worth by his knowledge.

"I guess that's me next," Lucas said with a chuckle. He tossed his food into the fire which immediately caught on fire. Lucas was a goofy white-haired man with an athletic build to him, he was older than all of us at 27 but was the more energetic than any of us. He was our archer and could hit a fly on a tree at 150 meters.

"Then there were two," I chuckled.

Lucas shook his head with a smile, "Then there were," Terrance was our captain, he was 25, with short black hair, a scar over his eye, and a contagious smile. Lucas was the base of all our operations, he was the strongest leader in the human military that wasn't acknowledged. He was a master with the dual blade and had extremely defined forearms from holding them all day. Lucas was like Landon and me; although he didn't live in a peace town, he only gained his urge for peace through meeting others of different armies on his adventures. He was shorter, at 5' 5, but the rest of his height was put into his intimidation factor.

"So, tell me more about yourself," Lucas said, shoveling the last of his soup into his mouth.

"What else is there to tell?"

"Any girls? Any friends?"

"Besides you guys? No, as for girls... I've been in the military for most my life, I didn't have time for girls,"

Lucas tossed his bowl into the fire, "There's always something more to know, what do you plan on doing after you're done with your active duty?"

"I don't know, probably apply to go on active duty again,"

Lucas shook his head, "Logan when you're old and rotting, you're going to look back on your life and wish you had done more,"

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"I'm saying that you should get a wife after you get done with active duty,"

I tossed my bowl in the fire, "No time. I'm heading to bed, wake me up when it's my turn for night watch,"

"Your tomorrow's night duty, not today; enjoy your rest,"

I waved good night to him one more time before I walked into my tent with Orico. He rolled over and looked at me, "Lucas is right stupid,"

I shook my head, "Maybe for you guys, but I don't have time for love, I'm a soldier, that's all I've ever known, and will ever know,"

Orico shrugged and rolled back over, "You'll find someone one day Logan, trust me,"

"I can't say I do, not on this topic at least," I crawled into my sleeping bag and closed my eyes. My body was tired and easily relaxed when I gave it the chance.