As the soldiers began their slaughter, Qadan grabbed Zuni and Ewa's hands and pulled the two young women behind him as the soldiers rushed in.
Three palace guards wrestled with the wounded Qadan, who blocked their swords with his body to shield Zuni and Ewa from harm. He knew that if he continued to defend himself by using his body as a shield without killing the guards, their lives and his would end there. The Bayarmaa had once broken their promise with Chief Keme, and he didn't want to break his promise with Chief Keme again. So, he took his sword and began killing the palace guards who were trying to attack him.
Just as Qadan killed another palace guard, two arrows shot directly at Zuni and Ewa, who stood beside him. He quickly hugged the two women in his arms, and the two arrows struck his back.
"Brother Qadan…" Zuni cried, tears streaming down her face.
"Ah!" Ewa screamed in pain. The arrow on the right had penetrated Qadan's flesh and completely destroyed Ewa's right ear.
Two more soldiers advanced on Qadan, raising their swords to stab Zuni and Ewa. Qadan quickly knocked their swords away and roared, "What are you two doing? We swear to Heaven, the reason we became soldiers is to protect our country and innocent people! Why are you killing women and children?"
A soldier, tears welling in his eyes, stammered, "General Qadan, we don't want to do it, but His Majesty has orders!"
Qadan helped Ewa up, his gaze sweeping over the two soldiers. "Listen to the cries of the innocent begging the soldiers. What if it's your parents, sisters, brothers, wives, daughters…? How does it feel...?"
The soldiers started looking around and found that many of the wounded and dead were women, children, and old people.
Qadan coughed, each cough sending a jolt of pain through his wounds. "That's not what we soldiers represent. We're supposed to be the iron wall that protects them from those who want to harm them, but look at us now, we are slaughtering innocent people like animals… How will we face our fallen brothers? Because the ones we are going to kill now are the ones our fallen brothers sacrificed their lives to protect… Now, at this moment, we have a choice." He dropped the two swords in his hands to the ground. "We can choose not to kill innocents and not be written in history as barbaric. We can choose to lay down our arms and save innocent lives."
The soldiers looked around and saw mothers with dead children in their arms, fathers who died protecting their families, and husbands who had sacrificed their last breath for their wives and children. They began to drop their weapons and kneel, knowing that the blood staining their hands today was the blood of innocents.
"Your Majesty, please spare these innocent lives!" they began to repeat, one by one, dropping their swords and kneeling.
"Your Majesty, please spare these innocent lives!"
Qadan turned to Ewa and gently examined her ear. He managed a pained smile. "You are still beautiful without an ear…" He coughed again, the effort agonizing. "Help me to His Majesty…"
Qadan went to Haneul and knelt before him, despite his pain. "Your Majesty, I don't know what you heard, but Cousin Sukh is not here…"
"We personally captured a Kakungga assassin," Haneul stated, his voice cold, "who admitted that Keme and his mages captured Sukh."
Qadan pressed on, desperate. "Has it ever occurred to Your Majesty that someone might deceive Your Majesty into believing that Chief Keme killed Cousin Sukh? Every single minister in the court knows that Your Majesty has two of the most powerful people around you right now: one is Chief Keme and his mages, and the other is the Bayarmaa family. If one of these two powerful supporters is eliminated, Your Majesty will be like a man with only one arm. Your Majesty must look at the bigger picture."
"We only need one person by our side," Haneul retorted furiously, "and that is Sukh and the Bayarmaa family!"
Duri was suddenly thrown at Haneul's feet. Duri grabbed Haneul's foot and snorted, desperately pleading, "Your Majesty… please save me!"
Chief Keme looked at Qadan and his two daughters, then surveyed the many dead Kakungga around him. He saw exactly what his grandfather had told him before he died. He looked at Haneul, his eyes burning with accusation. "I shouldn't have promised Sukh to help you… I should have let you die back then."
"You shouldn't have crossed the line in the first place," Haneul snarled. "You have two choices. One is to die with your people, or…" He looked at the mages behind Chief Keme. "You sacrifice your mages." He then looked down at Duri. "Guard Choi, kill one Kakungga for every ten counts until Chief Keme makes up his mind."
Chief Keme looked at Haneul, his voice filled with righteous fury. "Heaven has eyes! Killing innocent people indiscriminately today will bring great grief to the people of Tanzang!" He looked back at the four hundred mages, and then returned his gaze to Haneul. "Evil King of Tanzang, today the mages will sacrifice themselves for the lives of the innocent Kakungga, but remember my words, in the future, their spirit will hunt you down for the rest of your life!"
The four hundred mages walked to the small river they had created to protect Tanzang and continued walking into the river until all four hundred disappeared at the bottom.
Haneul ordered his soldiers to throw all the dead Kakungga into the river. Chief Keme stood on the bank of the river, looking at the bodies of the elders, men, women, and children floating next to each other in the water. His heart ached with guilt. Then his heart was completely shattered when he saw the corpses of the four hundred mages appearing beside the many dead Kakungga.
Chief Keme looked at Qadan. "General Qadan, do you have a lover?"
"No," Qadan replied.
Chief Keme looked at his two daughters, then at Qadan. "Would you marry my daughters, love them, and never betray them?" He looked at Zuni and Ewa with tears in his eyes.
"I promised to take care of them," Qadan said, his voice firm despite his pain, "and I will keep my promise."
Chief Keme picked up a dead child and began walking towards the riverbank. "Well, even if one Bayarmaa breaks his promise to me, the other Bayarmaa will keep his promise to me." He smiled, a desolate expression, and continued walking into the river.
"Father, please come back!" Zuni and Ewa screamed, clutching each other.
Qadan hugged the two women. "He has already made up his mind," he whispered. "A true warrior would rather die alongside his soldiers than live meaninglessly."
Chief Keme dropped the dead child into the river and drew his knife. He put the knife against his left chest, slowly pushed the blade into his flesh, and then fell back into the river.
Zuni and Ewa buried their faces in Qadan's chest, sobbing uncontrollably. "I promise Chief Keme that I will take care of you both," Qadan said, his voice weak. "If you don't want to be my wife, we can be brothers and sisters."
"We will obey our father's last wishes," Zuni choked out. "We will marry you."
Qadan looked at the river, now full of dead bodies. "Chief Keme, don't worry about Zuni and Ewa. If I'm still breathing, I won't abandon them." His vision blurred, and he slowly fell back into Zuni and Ewa's arms.
"Brother Qadan…" Zuni and Ewa cried, trying to hold him.
Several soldiers hurried forward. "General Qadan may have lost blood and passed out," one said. "Let's go back to camp."
The soldiers helped carry Qadan to the camp, with Zuni and Ewa following, their faces streaked with tears.
Just as the sun started to set over the horizon, Sukh's horse approached the area where Chief Keme had told him the Kakungga tribe would build their new home. There was a dead silence, no sound at all. As his horse drew closer, he began to see dried blood on the ground, and the closer he got to the river, the more blood he saw. Approaching the riverbank, the soil was stained red. His heart pounded as if it wanted to escape from his chest. He continued to walk toward the river, following the trail of blood, and the moment he saw the corpses floating in the small river, his heart couldn't feel anything anymore. He fell to his knees.
Sukh didn't know how long he had knelt by the river. The lower part of his clothes had been stained red by the blood of the Kakungga people. He looked up to see Chief Keme's body floating in front of him. He got up quickly and walked into the river towards Chief Keme.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry," Sukh cried, tears streaming down his face. "If I hadn't begged you to help me, you and your clan would not have ended up in such a tragic end." He continued sobbing as he saw the dead bodies floating around him. "We started with a simple hello, but ended with a complicated goodbye, but as good friends let us not say goodbye, but simply say 'see you soon'." He pulled out the sword from Chief Keme's chest and stared at the bloodied blade, his tears mingling with the flowing water.