KIERAN POV
The first arrow hit the soldier next to me.
He dropped without a sound, dead before he hit the ground. I stared at him, my brain refusing to understand what just happened.
"SHIELDS UP!" Davos roared. "Move forward! NOW!"
We charged down the hillside toward the orc village. My legs moved automatically, carrying me toward the screaming and fire below. This couldn't be real. This had to be a nightmare.
But the heat from burning homes hit my face. The smoke choked my lungs. The screams were too real to be dreams.
"Remember your training!" Davos shouted beside me. "These are monsters! Show no mercy!"
An orc warrior appeared in front of me, swinging an axe. Training took over. I raised my sword, blocked, countered. My blade found his side. He fell.
I'd just killed someone.
My hands shook so hard I nearly dropped my sword. The orc lay at my feet, blood pooling around him. His eyes stared at nothing.
"Keep moving, Ashfeld!" A sergeant shoved me forward. "Front line doesn't stop!"
More orcs rushed at us. More fighting. Everything blurred together—steel clashing, people screaming, smoke burning my throat.
Then I saw them.
Old orcs trying to run. Children crying. Women grabbing babies and fleeing toward the far side of the village.
These weren't warriors. They were families.
"Kill them all!" Commander Voss's voice boomed across the battle. "No prisoners! Every orc dies today!"
A soldier near me cut down an old orc man who could barely walk. Another chased a young orc carrying a baby.
This wasn't a battle. This was murder.
"Sir Davos?" My voice cracked. "Why are we killing the children? The Commander said orcs were attacking us, but this village was just... living here. They weren't attacking anyone."
Davos's face was covered in blood and ash. He looked like a stranger. "Stop asking questions, boy. War isn't pretty. You'll understand when you're older."
But I was old enough to know murder when I saw it.
I stumbled through the burning village, trying to stay with my unit but feeling like I was walking through someone else's nightmare. Bodies lay everywhere. Orc bodies. Young and old.
Then I heard it.
Singing.
Soft and sad, coming from a half-collapsed house to my left.
I should have kept walking. Should have stayed with Davos and the others.
But my feet carried me toward that song.
Inside the ruined house, I found her.
An orc woman, gray-skinned with silver hair turning red from blood. A deep wound in her side bled freely. She held a baby against her chest, rocking slowly, singing through tears.
The lullaby was in a language I didn't know. But I recognized it anyway.
My mother used to sing the same melody to my baby sister. Different words, same tune. Same love.
The orc woman saw me. Her amber eyes went wide with terror. She clutched the baby tighter.
"Please," she whispered in broken human speech. "Please. Baby. Please."
My sword hung in my hand, suddenly weighing a thousand pounds.
"Kill them!" Davos appeared behind me. "What are you waiting for, Ashfeld?"
"She's wounded. Not fighting. Just—"
"She's an orc." Davos pushed past me, raising his sword. "They're all the same. Animals that look like people."
"She's singing to her baby!" The words exploded out of me. "You said orcs don't love their children! But listen to her! That's the same song my mother sang!"
Davos hesitated. For just a second, doubt crossed his face.
Then it hardened again. "Your mother was human. This thing is not. First kill is always hard, brother. But they're not like us. Trust me. You're being kind, ending it quick."
He raised his sword.
I grabbed his arm. "Don't."
"Let go, Ashfeld."
"She's not attacking anyone. She's just—"
"She's an orc!" Davos shook me off. "And you're a soldier! Act like one!"
His sword came down.
The orc woman screamed. The baby cried.
Then both went silent.
I stood frozen, watching blood spread across the floor. The woman's amber eyes stared at me, accusing. Asking why I didn't stop it.
Why didn't I stop it?
"Come on." Davos wiped his blade clean. "Village is almost cleared. We regroup at the center."
He walked out like nothing happened. Like he'd just chopped wood instead of killing a mother and child.
I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
That song kept playing in my head. The same melody Mother sang. The same love in every note.
"Move, soldier!" A sergeant grabbed my arm. "You're falling behind!"
He dragged me outside. The battle was ending. Our soldiers stood in groups, laughing, congratulating each other. Some looted the orc homes. Others kicked the bodies.
This was victory?
"Ashfeld!" Finn stumbled toward me, his face pale and streaked with tears. "Did you... did you have to kill any of them?"
"No." The lie came automatically. "I just... watched."
But I had killed. That first warrior. And I'd failed to save the woman and baby.
Their blood was on my hands either way.
"Everyone gather!" Commander Voss stood at the village center, his golden armor barely touched by the fighting. "Well done, men! Today you struck the first blow against the orc menace!"
Cheers erupted around me. Soldiers banged swords against shields.
"Bring the prisoners!" Voss ordered.
My stomach dropped. Prisoners? He'd said no prisoners.
Three soldiers dragged forward a badly wounded orc woman. Silver hair. Gray skin covered in blood. She could barely stand.
I recognized her. She'd been fighting near where I saw the knight kill that young orc boy.
"This one's a warrior," a soldier reported. "Killed five of ours before we took her down. Commander, she's probably got information about other villages."
Voss studied her like she was an interesting bug. "Can you speak human, orc?"
The woman raised her head. Hatred burned in her amber eyes. She spat at Voss's feet.
He laughed. "Spirit. I like that. We'll break it soon enough." He turned to his men. "Interrogate her. Find out where the other villages are. Then execute her with the rest."
"The rest?" I whispered to Finn.
He pointed to a line of orc prisoners—wounded, terrified, mostly elderly and young.
"They're going to kill all of them," Finn said quietly. "I heard the officers talking. Can't leave witnesses to our... to what we did here."
"But that's murder."
"That's war." Davos appeared beside us. "Get used to it, boys. Or get dead. Those are your choices."
The soldiers started dragging prisoners away. The wounded silver-haired warrior fought despite her injuries, snarling curses in orc language.
"Feisty one," Voss observed. "Ser Davos, pick two men and search the village thoroughly. I want any documents, maps, anything that shows where other orc settlements are."
"Yes, sir." Davos pointed at me. "Ashfeld, you're with me. And you—" He grabbed Finn. "Red. Come on."
We followed Davos through the ruined village, stepping over bodies. My stomach churned with every step.
"Here." Davos kicked open a larger building. "Looks like some kind of meeting hall. Search for anything useful."
Inside, I found tables covered with papers. Maps. Lists written in orcish script I couldn't read.
But I could read the symbols on some of the supply crates stacked in the corner.
Church seals. Just like the ones I'd seen before.
And dates. The stamps showed these supplies were delivered three weeks ago.
Before the war started.
Why would the Church have supply crates in an orc village before any attacks happened?
"Find something?" Davos asked.
I quickly shuffled papers over the crates. "No, sir. Just orc writing."
"Keep looking."
While Davos searched the other side of the room, I carefully opened one crate.
Inside were weapons. Human weapons. Brand new swords with Church maker's marks.
My hands went numb.
The Church gave orcs weapons. Before the war. Why would they—
"Everyone out!" A soldier burst through the door. "Commander's orders! Burn everything! No evidence left behind!"
"Evidence of what?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.
The soldier's eyes narrowed. "Evidence that orcs lived here, fresh meat. What else? Now move!"
Davos grabbed my arm and pulled me outside. Behind us, soldiers threw torches into every building.
Within minutes, the entire village was an inferno. The bodies. The homes. The supply crates with Church seals.
All of it burning.
Destroying evidence.
"Form up!" Voss commanded. "We march to the next village within the hour!"
"Next village?" Finn whispered beside me. "There's more?"
"Five more," a passing soldier said cheerfully. "We're clearing the whole valley by week's end."
Five more villages. Five more massacres.
And I'd just found proof that the Church was somehow involved with orcs before the war even started.
I looked back at the burning village. At the line of prisoners waiting to be executed. At Commander Voss giving orders like he was planning a parade instead of genocide.
Then I saw her again. The silver-haired warrior woman. Guards were dragging her toward the execution area.
For just a second, our eyes met.
In that moment, I made a choice that would change everything.
Tonight, I was going to save her.
Even if it cost me everything.