Day breaks, the sky was breaking a beautiful orange hue. The air was dry with the smell of shrivelled grass and rich earth. Milorad staggered, with the assistance of Rufus, towards north, were they agreed to meet, in a town not far from where the beast should end up in. It was going to be a long walk from where they were to their destination, but this marathon length walks was what the platoon was accustomed to for they were required to run the circumference of the Empire for the practice of readiness, in case of an invasion by neighbouring tyrant ruled countries.

The nights rest has freshened Milorad. He limped forwards with Rufus. After what seemed as ages, in the far north, they saw something; something odd protruding out of the sands plains. Upon closer inspection, it was a ghost town. Dilapidated shells of once lively buildings emit an ominous aura from within. Modern Izbonian architecture lined the strip of flat earth, with not a single soul to be found, but the structural integrity of the buildings were in shambles. Evidence of violence tainted the streets.

“This is what was left behind the Great War, it seems. They don’t even spare settlers”, Rufus was shocked by the scene. Vivid splashes of darkened blood coated the walls; the colours did not match the walls. “I don’t think I can describe this as painting the town red”, Milorad looked around, reliving the scenes of the Great War. Bold, hungry, restless vulture starts to gather the area.

Taking in a deep breath, Milorad inhaled a mouthful of foul history. He peered back and forth and saw a well sitting awkwardly in the corner of the settlement. He staggered to it to refill his half emptied bottles. The roof of the well was made of scrappy and browning metal sheets. The base of the well was lined with stones. Attached to the side of the well was a thick but visibly used rope. At the end of the rope lay a bucket. Milorad threw down the bucket.

“Splash”, reverberated the well

It was a deep well, rather odd for a well to be such manner.

Without as second thought, Milorad pulled up the rope. However, he paused upon seeing the content. There in the bucket floated a large bone, the content of the water was black with a tinge of green. What hit him the most was how odourless the water smelled. Milorad threw down the bucket, stepping a few steps and few on to his knees. He could barely hold in the contents of his stomach. Even as a battle hardened soldier as himself, he never expected this. Such inhumanity. Such horror. Such disturbance. The people responsible for this was sick to the core, thought Milorad.

Rufus walked towards to the dumbfounded Milorad and picked him up. Milorad had weak legs, upon walking a few steps, he fell over. Milorad lay flat on the floor, in a sprawl. Like a ragdoll, Milorad looked blankly upwards. His mind was disgusted by the genocide that has occurred. Under the hot sun, his head spun. Words starts echoing in his mind, colours start flashing against his eye lids. Rufus bent over and picked him up. Milorad ‘s head flopped backwards.

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There, in the distance, glistened an emblem. It was on a mug. He Milorad squinted his eyes. A lion surrounded by patterns of flames. “It seems so familiar, where have I seen it?” he mumbled

“Come on Milorad, we have to make it before the night sets” Rufus grunted. It was a terrible place to be in, out in the middle of no man’s land, on a hot plate. They were merely a quarter into their journey, but they only have half a day remaining. Milorad mustered all his strength. With the support of Rufus, his quickened his pace.

“I saw an emblem in the bar, it looks like a burning lion” Milorad opened his mouth.

Rufus stared at Milorad for a second and forced a chuckle “You must be insane, that is the emblem of the royal guards of Izbonia, what is a royal guard doing in a deserted town like this?”

Milorad nodded in acknowledgement, he gave it some thought. Why would the guards that serve under the royal family of Izbonia be doing in this worthless town, this town has nothing going for it. Its position in the middle of nowhere makes it literally worthless to visit. This town just hosts travelling merchants. It borders two countries, which makes it a great town to be placed to serve there merchants.

Milorad frowned upon this realisation. He was now concerned about the leadership in Izbonia. Which beast would sacrifice his people for his troops to be in a better strategical position?

Both soldiers trotted slowly to their destination.

On the literal beast, the members of the troop or now nearing the northern hemisphere. The beast is slowing down. It could barely keep up with the member’s constant switching position. With the addition to the fact that the atmosphere is gradually cooling down even in the day, the beast was uncomfortable with the new environment.

Boza looked up, using one arm to shield the glare from the sun. “It is about three quarter to night time”, he noted to himself. The squad has been running for almost the whole day. They were exhausted, with the fact that their declining rations, they have to succeed more than ever now.

Lucretius, who was preparing for his turn to relay the beast, suggested, “Once we see the first sign of frost, find a water source. So that we can lead the beast to it and force it in to the water body it should take care of it.”

“We are very close by to the freezing zone, I will scout for the water body” volunteered Fabricia, the rest of the troop nodded. “Once you found the lake, use your whistle so that we could go in the general direction”, Boza said.

With this Fabricia set off on her way to find the water body.

The beast was still obediently following Garyald. Garyald look forwards, at the corner of his eye, he saw Lucretius standing by. Garyald took the chance and dashed towards Lucretius. Lucretius took a long deep breath and prepared himself.

Suddenly, he raised his ears. A howling sound is heard in the area, a strong wind is blowing into the direction of Lucretius. Snow that felt like razors grazed skins of the troops. It seems the end is closing in. There is not much time left to finish the operation. The sun is slowly crawling into the depths of the void over the mountains.