‘I… killed someone,‘ Faust thought, his right hand still on the knife he had lodged into the dwarf’s throat. He was dead.

Faust tore his eyes from the corpse under his body, looking at Titus, who had already taken care of his dwarf.

He huffed, looked up, and grinned at Faust. He grinned. Then he started laughing exhaustedly.

“Those bastards thought they could take us on! They didn’t expect this!” he jumped up, grabbing his weapon.

Faust followed suit. When he looked to the other side of the road he could see that their four friends had taken care of the rest and were coming towards them. None of them seemed to have a major injury.

Faust heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Leona walking towards him unhurt. Faust couldn’t help but relish in the feeling of victory that flushed through him and grinned back at Titus who approached Faust and jovially put an arm around him.

“My man. Your skills are incredible!” he hit Faust’s back like Bronn loved to do and Faust couldn’t help but grin like a fool. He was too overwhelmed by the situation. His head felt light, but his body felt as fresh as ever, even when the adrenaline rush died down.

Titus said a few more things to him, but Faust couldn’t hear him. His eyes had found the body of the dwarf he had wrestled and killed with his knife. It was still stuck in his throat.

Titus took a few seconds to notice the young soldier’s gaze and sighed, releasing him from his grasp. Faust just stood there, staring at the corpse.

‘I… that was me.’ He looked down at his hands and only now noticed that they were covered in dark dwarf blood. In fact, most of his upper body was and he could feel it in his face. He looked at his hands and then at the dwarf.

He shook his head briefly and clenched his fists. Before he could think further Ronan’s voice interrupted him as the tall man dislodged Faust’s polearm from the other dwarf’s neck with considerable effort.

“They got a worthy death. It is what they wanted.”

Faust looked at the man doubtfully.

“Oh yeah?” sarcasm laced his voice.

“Yeah. Dwarves believe that the only honorable way to die is to fall in battle,” he sighed and approached them.

“I believe their endless wars under the earth have molded their culture into what it is today… and these mercenaries… are all those dwarves that have surrendered from their enemies or fled the battlefield.” He looked down at the battlefield.

Titus sighed.

“Honor holds an incredible value to them. They have lost their honor and were exiled from their realms.” He walked over to one of those he had killed.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“And the only way for them to reclaim their honor and to reunite with their ancestors is to seek death on the battlefield. That is why dwarven mercenaries are so fearsome.”

Faust gulped and finally understood. He looked over the dozen corpses.

‘So this is what peace looks like to you?’ his eyes centered on the last he had killed once more and walked over. He knelt down and watched the now calm features of the man he had killed.

He grabbed his knife and pulled it out, leaving a gaping hole in the corpse’s throat. Faust sighed, wiped the knife on his cape which was a bloody mess anyway, and sheathed it. He was about to stand up when he noticed a necklace on the dwarf’s throat.

Faust pulled it out to look at it. It was a beautiful piece of stone, flat, dark blue with small black lines on it. It shimmered.

‘Why do I… feel a faint attraction to this stone?’ he asked himself as he felt weird just holding it. It was a beautifully carved piece of jewelry in the form of a tooth while it obviously wasn’t. It was made of stone.

‘Can I… take this with me?’ he gulped, looking at the dwarf.

He remembered how Ronan told him about the dwarves' culture and how they were mercenaries to supposedly regain their honor.

“I hope you are with your ancestors as you wished. I am not angry.” Faust whispered and smiled briefly and closed the dwarf’s eyes with his fingers. Then he took the necklace off his body and gently put it around his own neck, sliding it underneath his armor.

“Let me give you and your kin a proper burial.” He felt someone kneeling next to him and in the next moment he felt Leona hug him.

“Are you alright?” she asked softly, concerned for her partner.

He reached for her hands and pressed them softly.

“I am unhurt.”

“That’s not what I meant… and you know that…” she whispered and he sighed.

“I think I have come to terms with it… I have to. I fear there will be more killing in the future.” He replied and felt her hug tightening briefly before letting go.

“Are you fine Leona?” he turned around to look at her, but she smiled softly. In her eyes, he could see that she had pushed it aside, but not overcome it.

‘I will talk with her when we are alone…’ he sighed. Aquila coughed. He looked roughened up but had a sad smile on his face. The young man looked at Titus.

“What should we do with their bodies?”

The commander looked at the twelve corpses.

“We will put them into the forest and leave them be. Burying them would take long and-“Before he could continue Faust interrupted him.

“No. We need to bury them.” His voice was determined, yet soft. Titus looked at Faust, seeing the look in his eyes, then looked over at the dwarf with the gaping hole in his throat. Then sighed and nodded. They didn’t really have a reason not to bury them except that Titus considered it a waste of time.

“Then… let us bury them.” He sighed and nodded. They had tools on the wagon to dig.

The group took the armor and weapons from the dwarves to sell in the city. It took them several hours to bury the bodies and remove the tree from the road. Except for Faust everyone was exhausted from the work. It was getting dark, and they still had a few kilometers before them.

Faust sat on his horse and gently petted its mane. He was still smeared full of blood as were his companions. There was no water flow around to clean them off. Titus, who was used to the battlefield did not take long to overcome the awkwardness after the battle, but between the young soldiers, there was still a certain bitter taste left in their mouths.

They hadn’t spoken much either over the last hours. Faust took out the necklace to look at it once more. The beautiful and soft blue shine and silvery chain gave it an incredibly expensive look. Faust closed his fist around it. He would never sell it. He thought of the young dwarf and sighed.

‘May it give me courage in the face of death. Courage worthy of a dwarf.’ He looked at the stars, closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath, and hid the necklace away again.

It was still a long way to the next town.