A nightmare

"Rush--", with this roar, I took the lead and slaughtered the enemy's camp, followed by countless warriors of my clan. This battle is a decisive battle between our people and the Lais, and as long as we win, our long-cherished wish will be fulfilled. Let's fight! Blood is boiling feverishly!

At sunset, the last of the Lais finally fell at my feet, and I could no longer suppress the ecstasy in my heart, so I raised my sword and roared to the sky. But before I could fully release my joy, the whole battlefield changed dramatically. In just an instant, the battlefield turned into a purgatory—the earth trembled, torn apart, and magma gushed out of the ground; The sky was stained blood-red, and huge stones continued to fall from the sky with fire, and the rain of fire covered the entire continent.

Suddenly, the continent beneath my feet cracked, and I rolled to the side, but before I could breathe, a boulder fell head-on......

"Ahh I sat up abruptly from the bed, looked around, and was relieved to make sure I was in the room. After a while, the rapid breathing finally became calm, but the scenes from the dream still flashed in my mind, so real, so suffocating to me.

"It's another damn nightmare." I complained, to be honest, this nightmare has been haunting me for a while now, and its appearance has made me feel uncomfortable with my current life. At first I thought I was too nervous, but it grew so strong that I really started to wonder if my life was normal.

When it was dawn, I got up quickly. Even if I don't sleep well at night, I still don't dare to slack off on my work during the day. On the school field, my light cavalry was already in formation, so I immediately started the day's training. The time passed quickly, and seeing that it was almost noon, I called the cavalry to take a lunch break, and just as I was about to go back to the house to rest, one of the close attendants of my clan elder stopped me.

"Commander Briga, Elder, please hurry to the temple now, he has something important to announce."

I hurried to the temple, but as I reached the steps of the temple, I unconsciously stopped, and gazed at the temple, and suddenly felt that it was so strange, that the old reverence was gone, and that there was only a strange feeling, but this feeling was fleeting, and the next moment I started and walked up the steps.

In the temple, the entire Gorikor clan has arrived, waiting for the elders to announce the news. I thought to myself, "It seems that the announcement this time is very important, otherwise even the three commanders stationed on the border would have been ordered back." If they were busy with affairs on weekdays, and the instructions of the elders were passed down to them by the messengers, this time they were required to attend in person, perhaps it had something to do with the war on the frontier. "Just as I was thinking, the elder came.

The elder with the scepter in hand slowly walked up to the altar and said in his somewhat hoarse voice: "It has been three years since the last decisive battle with the Lais, and in the past three years, our people have been recuperating and recuperating and growing their power all the time, hoping that one day we can annihilate the Lais and avenge our ancestors. At this, the Elder's eyes burst out with two formidable rays of light, and he shouted at us in an almost crazy voice, "Now, I tell you, that day is coming!" ”

Next, the Elder announced his battle plan for this time: "It is well known that Mackison is a strategic location, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the Lais know its value, and have sent a large number of men to garrison the mountain. I think back then, how many times our clan pursued by victory, the offensive was blocked at McKeyson, and our territory could only expand to the foot of McKisson Mountain. It is because of the barrier of Mount McKison that the people of Laiss have survived to this day. But now it's different, we already have enough forces to storm McKison, and if we take McKison, victory will be in our hands. With that, the elder looked around at each of us before continuing, "Now I'm going to tell you how we're going to fight this battle. This time we were going to encircle McKison from three sides, and my intention was to have the front team send a tenth of their forces to feint and draw the attention of McKison's defenders, while the fighters deployed on both flanks were to penetrate into the enemy's belly as fast as possible and inflict heavy damage on them while they were unprepared. A single hit is the best, but if the first blow misses, or if the Lais see our intentions early, the front team will become a feint, while the flanks will engage in positional warfare, remember, we are far less familiar with McKison than the Lais, so don't fight them in the field. As long as we take it one step at a time, we will eventually eat them one by one. ”

I was a little surprised to hear this: according to the Elder's arrangement, he sent almost all the warriors of his clan to the front, but only my cavalry was not assigned to the task. While I was confused, the elder looked at me and said, "Briga, your mission is special this time, so I'll put it at the end." As you can see, this time our people are making an unreserved blow, and in order to make it easier for us to take McKison, I have decided that Briggard will lead his 200 light horsemen around the Krissi Gobi to cut off the supply of the Lais to McKison. As soon as these words came out, the commanders present were immediately surprised. The climate of Krissi is harsh, and it is an extremely difficult to cross the Gobi, and after crossing the Gobi, it will lose contact with its own people and become a completely isolated army. Not only did the grain and grass have to be snatched from the Lais, but once they are discovered, they may be besieged and killed at any time, so even if the Laiis are not fortified there, our people have not sent troops through the Krissi Gobi all these years. Now that the decisive battle is imminent, it is necessary to send the elite to the death, which will of course cause controversy among the commanders. The elder waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then he said: "I understand that this is a risky move, if in normal times, I would never go, but this time we will attack McKison with all the strength of our clan, and the Lais will definitely send all their forces to McIson to defend, as long as we can put enough pressure on the Laiss so that they don't have time to take care of the rear, then it is not impossible for their supply lines to be cut off by Briga's cavalry." ”

The temple became very quiet, and no one was making an opinion.

Finally, I broke the silence: "This plan of the elder is indeed worth trying, in order to fulfill the long-cherished wish of my clan, Bu Lijia is willing to lead the army to attack. ”

The elder nodded, "In that case, tomorrow the warriors of our clan will begin to advance towards Mount McKison in preparation for a decisive battle. May the ancestors bless Goikol. ”

After saying that, he bowed down to a parchment that was enshrined in the temple, and everyone in the temple bowed down with him. This parchment scroll is a sacred relic of our people, and it contains a record of the persecution of our ancestors by the Laiss in blood. For the sake of shame, those of us who are descendants are fighting tirelessly to make the Lais disappear from this land once and for all. This is also the reason why our people and the Laiis cannot coexist.

The elders stood up, turned to us and shouted, "Brave children, go and fight!" Let the people of Laiss see how powerful we are! ”

"Hah!" The sound of response echoed through the temple.

Second, wake up from a dream

It was night, and I lay in my bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. It was the first time I had lost sleep before the war, maybe I was afraid of dreaming of that hellish scene again, or maybe something else was pulling me. His mind wandered aimlessly, as if he had grasped something, and began to drag it in a certain direction......

I was standing in front of the mirror, and there was a me in the mirror, but he wasn't my mirror, because he actually said to me, "What are you doing here?" ”

"I don't know." I replied, "I don't even know how I got here." Also, what is this place? Who are you? Why is it here? ”

"This is the deepest part of your heart. I am the combination of your doubts, your incomprehensions, all your memories that you want to escape, like forgetting. Your presence has made me wonder what gives you the courage to face me. ”

I was a little flustered. "No, I didn't, I didn't want to be here."

"If you're here, why make excuses. If you hadn't wanted to come, you wouldn't have been here. Now, let me open the dusty door and help you recover your forgotten memories. ”

A vortex appeared in front of me, and it grew larger, gradually sucking me into its center......

When I opened my eyes, I saw familiar sights all around me. Suddenly, I heard someone talking nearby, so I listened carefully to what they were talking about as I moved in the direction from which the sound came.

"Master, I feel that our life is a little abnormal."

"Oh? How do you have this kind of thought, what's not right? ”

"You look at the people around us, they hardly do anything other than practice the art of killing. Isn't this normal? ”

"It's not surprising children, we live in a war years, and everyone has a blood feud, so we have to live like this to survive."

"But ......"

"Nothing, kid, you shouldn't be so cranky, it will distract you from practicing. Okay, let's go and practice the knife now, so that you forget about these weird thoughts. ”

I could finally see the person I was talking to, but only two backs, one tall and one short. I suddenly had a very familiar feeling, as if I had seen the same scene and heard the same conversation somewhere. But before I could think clearly, the scene in front of me changed, and I came to another place—a dimly lit room. After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized that I was not alone in the room, the man was sitting at the table, and his face could not be seen clearly. Just as I was about to get close to it, he suddenly got up, walked to the window, and shouted outside, "Why are you locking me up, am I not right?" We can build sharp weapons, but we can't even make wooden tables and chairs; We can domesticate good horses, but we don't know how to raise livestock. Is it normal that everything we are good at can only be used in war? Don't you be surprised? Stop telling me it's because we lived in a war years, I've heard enough of this nonsense! Even if we are in a special environment and do not have time to care about things other than war, what about our ancestors? How did they live before the war? Why hasn't any record been handed down? The only parchment scroll that has survived only states the reason for the war. Did our ancestors really exist? Can you be sure that our current life is not a hoax......"

The man was still shouting hysterically, but I had a strange feeling in my heart, the scene before me felt extremely familiar, and his words even resonated with me. Just as I was at a loss, the door opened, and a man in a robe with a scepter in hand walked in. "Ah, Elder?!" I exclaimed, but the other two didn't seem to hear me. I took two more steps forward, and it became clear that the person who had come in was just a resemblance to the Elder, who was younger than the Elder, but they were wearing the same clothes, which led me to misunderstand. But who do you know? I'm really curious.

The imprisoned man fell silent the moment he saw the comer, and looked at him with a very complicated gaze, and when the comer came up to him, he said to the comer in a cold tone, "You are here." ”

The visitor said, "Yes, I came to see you." ”

"What do you see, do you want to see my miserable condition when you deceived me?"

"No," replied the comer, "I have come here to show you that I have not deceived you. ”

"Never deceived? Then you tell me who told me back then that I was different and destined to take an unusual path. ”

"It's me."

"And who told everyone that I was crazy, told everyone not to believe me, and ordered me to be locked up when I was skeptical about the status quo."

"It's me, too."

"Isn't that a deception?"

"Listen to me, I have a reason for doing so. I'm for your good. ”

"Joke, that's good for me, I'd love to hear your reasoning, or maybe it's just an excuse."

"Well, you hear clearly, it's not just you who have doubts about our lives, I've had them, but I've never mentioned them to anyone."

"Have you too? Then why don't you say it? ”

"Because I think more than you think, we may be able to perceive the discomfort around us, and even find out what seems very unreasonable to us, but what else can we do after that? Do we go around preaching our opinions, what do we use to convince others, even we ourselves don't know the cause of all this, do we tell them that it's just our feelings? Without evidence, most people would still insist that their lives are normal. ”

"But after all, there will still be people who agree with us and join us."

"Here's the problem," said the comer, who was a little agitated, "those who identify with us will shake their original beliefs and will have differences with other people." You know, the ideological disunity will inevitably lead to a split in the Goikol, and those who doubt the status quo will no longer participate in the battle, in which case the Goikol will be weakened, and the Rais, who are eyeing the enemy, will take the opportunity to attack and annihilate our people. Now you understand, until you know the truth, your actions will undoubtedly bring devastating disaster to your people. That's why I'm blocking you. ”

The imprisoned man was silent, as if pondering the words of the comer.

"So, unless we have the ability to know the truth, we must not spread our opinion to our people, and we will continue this war that we are tired of until one side is dead. I have a bad feeling that once the war reaches this point, our future is unimaginable. ”

"So what else can I do now?" The imprisoned man asked.

"I still say the same thing, son, maybe one day you can go out of a different way and bring a new future to this continent. But now is really not the time, the only thing we can do is wait. The visitor sighed.

"But endless waiting will drive me crazy, who can expect an invisible target to live."

"I've been under more pressure than you might think over the years, but I'm still standing here. I'm really tired, though, and maybe it's time for me to get out. If you really can't bear this torture, I will sacrifice my mind to keep this memory of yours in the deepest part of your heart, so that you can live the same life as the people outside, until one day in the future you may be touched by something and remember everything you are now. Hopefully, then you'll have a chance to uncover the truth. ”

"What if that day doesn't come?"

"Then you and I, like other clansmen, will fight on the battlefield, or return triumphantly, or die on the battlefield."

“……”

"How's it going, have you figured it out? This is a bet on the future, do you want to fight once, or continue to shrink into this room, escape from reality, and endure the merciless torment of the years? ”

After a long time, the imprisoned man raised his head and said with a look of firmness in his eyes: "I have thought about it, Elder, and I have decided to take a gamble. ”

"Alright, Briga, then I'll start sealing now."

All that was left in the room was a whisper of chanting, but my heart was terribly uneasy because of their last two words. "Elder?! Brigae?! I was confused, "Is that person me?" If that were the case, it would explain why his words shocked me so much. ”

At this time, the chanting was nearing its end, but the scenes of the past were becoming clearer and clearer in my mind, countless fragments connected into images. yes, I remembered it all, it had happened to me, and after my mind had been dusted away, I went into battle to kill the enemy like the rest of my people; I won the respect of my people with my bravery, and became the commander of the cavalry; At the time, I thought it would be like this for the rest of my life. But the day has finally come, I have been reborn, and I have to face reality and do what I have to do. The scene around me began to distort again, forming a vortex that sucked me into its center again. The moment I entered the maelstrom, I heard the voice of the elder: "I hope you don't wake up too late, and I want to see our future in my lifetime." ”

I went back to the mirror, and the person in the mirror looked at me, and then he asked me, "Have you picked it all up?" ”

"Yes," I replied, "everything has been recovered." ”

"Then my mission is complete, and it's time for me to leave." With that, the mirror cracked in front of me, shattering into pieces until the last trace was gone.

"I should go back," I said to myself, "destined to take a different path." ”

The next day, the sun shone on my face, and I greeted the day with more enthusiasm than I had ever seen. Now I have a huge mission on my shoulder, and I have to spend every day with more energy than ever before. I could die at any time in battle, but I hope I can witness the truth before the three feet of loess are added and bring a new future to this continent.

On the training ground, the cavalry was ready to go, and their eyes were full of disregard for life and fanaticism for war. I was the same after my amnesia, and now that I think about it, I'm really scared that if I die sooner, I'll never be able to complete my mission. While I was thinking about it, my deputy, Tengge, walked up to me, looked at my face, and said to me, "I can't tell you why, I don't think you're the same today as usual." I said, "Yes?" There may be a decisive battle, so the state will naturally be different. "Tenger is my comrade-in-arms, and I have been with me since I became the leader of the cavalry, and we are friends of life and death, and we have nothing to say, but at this moment, I feel sad - there is an insurmountable chasm between my closest brother and me, and I think there will never be anything more heart-wrenching. But these years have made me strong and sensible, and I know that I am no longer able to take care of this feeling, and that in order to accomplish my mission, there are some things that must be abandoned.

At noon, the elders came to the training ground to give us their pre-departure blessings. When the elder came to me, I got down on one knee, and the elder put his scepter on my left shoulder, and then recited the message, and finally, he leaned down and said, "It's all up to you." I looked up and saw the familiar look in his eyes, so I nodded heavily and said loudly, "Yes, I will live up to the expectations of the elders." ”

Three encounters

Three days later, my team marched through the Gobi.

When we set up camp that night, Tenger said to me, "In two days at the most, we can cross this Gobi and go around behind McKison." The battle on the front lines is probably tight now, and I don't think the Lais have the extra forces to defend their supply lines, and they wouldn't have expected our troops to appear here. If we can succeed in one fell swoop, it will be a great help to the people on the front line. "I dealt with him casually, and I didn't really want the war to end, no, I should say I didn't want to destroy the Lais, because I had a bad feeling that there would be no real winner in this war. However, even if he held higher power, if he disobeyed his people, he would be considered a traitor and put to death. I'm not afraid of death, but I can't, so even if I don't want to, I still have to lead the team to fight in person. Now I am afraid that I can already understand the helplessness and contradiction of the elders. Tengge saw that I was absent-minded, so he didn't say anything more, and went to the side to direct the cavalry to set up camp.

In the middle of the night, the horses came back with the astonishing news that the Lais had been found thirty miles ahead. I was amazed at how the enemy could have appeared so close to our camp. Could it be that his whereabouts have been discovered? While I was thinking about it, Tengge came to my barracks to discuss countermeasures with me.

"I didn't expect to come into contact with the Laiis so soon." He said.

"Yes, it was indeed unexpected, if it wasn't for the troops who came to encircle and suppress us, it might have been the sentry set up here by the Lais." I said casually.

"Probably neither, according to the spies, there are very few people there at the moment, and the military facilities are not very complete, in this case, it is more like a new supply depot for the Lais."

"What do you decide to do next?" I asked.

"If it's really a supply depot, it means that McKison must be fighting fiercely right now, so we need to act hard to help the front line. I suggest that we prepare our cavalry tonight, and that the small station in front be eliminated in the early hours of tomorrow morning. Tenger said.

I would have immediately agreed with his idea before, but now I am no longer accustomed to such killings, and I have no good reason to reject his proposal, so I finally say to him, "Very well, just do as you say!" ”

After hearing this, Tengge did not immediately carry out the order as usual, but asked me: "Are you okay, I always feel that something is not quite right with you, you must say something, you must know that we are brothers, and I will do my best to help you." ”

I said, "I know, it's really fine, maybe it's a tiring march, and it will be fine in a few days." Seeing that he was still skeptical, I quipped, "Why, you still don't believe me?" Hurry up and make arrangements, the big things are important. When he heard this, he ran out of the barracks to prepare.

Under the cover of night, my cavalry arrived before dawn two miles from the small station of Lais. Convinced that this was not a trap, I led my cavalry to the charge. The Lais did not expect our army to appear here, and they fell to the swords of our warriors in a hurry. The battle ended almost instantly, and only one black-clad knight with a gun was still resisting, trying to break out. His marksmanship was so fine that none of my cavalry could get within five paces of him. I suddenly had the idea of confronting him, so without thinking, I stepped forward and shouted, "Stand down and let me come." As soon as the words fell, the distance between me and the black knight was no more than thirty paces, and the cavalry surrounding the black horse flashed to the side when they heard the sound, and waited quietly to watch the battle between me and the black horseman. The next moment, the distance shrunk to ten steps, my knife was ready to go, and the other party relied on the advantage of weapons, the tip of the gun had been pointed at me, I flashed sideways, in the moment when the two horses staggered, twisted and waved the knife, the black horse shot missed, immediately closed the gun to block the way of my knife, my knife was naturally in vain. At the end of one round, neither side had the upper hand. I turned my horse's head and scrambled to launch a second attack, so after a few rounds of back and forth, I realized that the black horseman's marksmanship was tricky, but he didn't have enough strength to fully unleash his gun. So when his gun stabbed me again, I didn't dodge, but forced his gun off, and then the blade slid down the shaft of his gun. The Black Rider apparently didn't expect me to do this, and was so shocked that he gave up his gun. When I saw that his weapon was out of my hand, and I had no intention of taking his life, I struck him down from his horse with the back of my sword. He slammed to the ground, his helmet flung out by inertia, and his long thick hair poured down like a waterfall. She's a girl! What surprised me even more was that when she looked back at me, she looked at me with a look of affection. So I subconsciously said, "Take her back to the camp and lock her up first." "No one moved for a long time, and when I noticed something was wrong, all eyes were already on me, and then I remembered that since the beginning of the war, there has never been a precedent for imprisoning the enemy, and every one of the people wants to kill the enemy first and then quickly, and all the enemies have never begged for mercy, even if only one finger can move, they will continue to fight until death. The same is true of our warriors. It was beyond everyone's expectation that he did not struggle again after falling off his horse, and my words caused quite a stir in the army. After looking around for a week, I thought I had to say something to explain my behavior. So I cleared my throat and said loudly, "This battle is very important, and I need to get some information from the mouths of the Lais to decide on our future deployment." After hearing my words, most of the people's faces showed convincing expressions, but Tengge still looked at me thoughtfully.

"Now is the best chance," I thought to myself, "and if anyone questions me, I'm afraid the situation will be out of control." So I ordered that the prisoners be taken back to the camp at once.

On this day, I put the whole army on standby on the pretext of refurbishing armaments. For this reason, Tengge came to me and asked me why I did this. I said to him, "After these days, plus the battle in the early hours of this morning, the clansmen are tired, so why not rest for a day." ”

"But we don't have so much time to rest, the front line is at a critical juncture, how can we delay the fighter plane for the sake of rest." Tengge was a little angry.

"It's not called delaying the fighter, rest is necessary." I continued unhurriedly, "We can't send tired fighters into battle, every time we lose a soldier we weaken our strength by one point, the danger increases by one point, and no one can help us, so we must be careful and strive to make every soldier go into battle in the best condition." ”

Tengge looked at me and said to me very seriously: "You have really changed, but the decisions you have made in the past have been right, so I will follow your instructions this time, I hope you are right." ”

Sending Tengge away, I decided to go see the Laiz girl.

When I came to the barracks where she was being held, the two men in charge of guarding the door hurriedly saluted me, and I waved my hand to signal them to leave, and then strode into the barracks. I saw the girl squatting in the middle of the barracks, her head bowed, thoughtful, as if she had not noticed my coming. I walked up to her, sat down three paces away from her, and then I asked her, "Who are you?" What is it called? I was answered by a long silence, which I expected, and then I asked her a few other questions, such as what Rais's current forces were at McKison and how they were deployed. She still sat like a stone statue, not moving. Finally, I decided to ask the question I wanted to ask the most, and although I was afraid that the outcome would not be what I expected, I didn't want to miss this opportunity, and maybe I could really find a companion. So I asked in a very soft, just audible voice, "Have you ever had the same nightmare over and over again?" Noticeably, her body trembled a little, and then, at a very slow pace, she looked up at my face very formally for the first time, with surprise and confusion in her eyes. It seems that she is not sure whether to answer my question yet, and all I can do is wait. After a long time, she asked, "How do you know?" My heart was so excited that I didn't answer her question, but went on to ask her, "Is there a rain of fire and a cracked earth in your dreams?" ”

"Nope." She said.

The last moment, I seemed to be still on the top of the mountain, and I immediately fell to the bottom, and I didn't give up, and asked again: "Then what is your dream like?" She was stunned for a moment when I asked, and then, as if she had seen something terrible, she shrunk into a ball and said incoherently, "Terrible...... Dream...... Don't think about ......" I stood up, looked at the sudden situation in front of me, and considered how to comfort her. But I never comforted anyone, I had no choice but to go up and hold her in my arms in the hope of calming her down, as my mother would do when I cried when I was a child, so in a hurry, this was the only way I could think of. She quieted down in her arms, and just as I was secretly glad that it worked, she jerked me away, and I instinctively drew the knife, but seeing that she didn't make any further movements, my hand let go of the handle again.

"What are you doing?" I asked her, "I just wanted to comfort you." ”

"Who wants you to comfort me, and why do you comfort me?"

"I ......" The series of actions just now was completely subconscious, and now I really can't say why I just did that.

Seeing that I was a little hesitant, she said aggressively: "What's the matter, my heart is empty, I was speechless when I said it." ”

As soon as I saw this posture, I had to tell the truth: "I have a sense of intimacy when I see you, so I can't help but do that just now." ”

"Kind? Still involuntary? She sneered coldly. Are you my little kid? ”

"It's true, I don't lie to you. At first I even thought you would be my companion. ”

"Don't make me sick, how could I be a companion to you shameless aggressors."

I listened very strangely: "Invaders? Are you talking about us? ”

"Of course, you Gauikol, who have robbed us of our land, persecuted our ancestors, broken the peaceful life of our people, and forced our people to live in the back of Mount McKeyon. Our people have wanted to regain our land for generations, but they have no choice but to be inferior to yours in strength, otherwise they will be slaughtered. ”

She gritted her teeth, not like she was lying. This surprised me even more.

"My people have killed your ancestors? Who are you listening to? ”

"There is a stone tablet left by our ancestors in the sacred place of our people, on which this history is clearly recorded."

"The stele? When was there one? I asked.

"I don't know, it's been in the Holy Land since I can remember, and the adults only know that the monument existed a long time ago. You're such a weird person, what are you doing asking these for? ”

It was there very early, but no one knows exactly when it appeared, and only one reason for war remained, which is very similar to the situation of our parchment rolls.

I asked her again, "Then can you take me to your holy place?" ”

As soon as she heard this, she became alarmed. "I knew you were here to trick me, don't think I'm trying to lie to me when I'm young, don't you just want to know the way to my village, I won't say it."

It seems that she is still hostile to me, and it is very difficult to get her to help me, but this is a clue after all, and I may find out the truth because of this, so I must try to get her support, but ordinary persuasion does not seem to have any results, and from the temptation just now, she does not seem to have the same thoughts as me, so I cannot tell her what I really think. Eventually, I took what seemed to me to be the most effective method - threatening to kill her. Probably aware that I didn't want to kill her in the first place, she shrugged off my threats. With nothing to do, I saw that this glimmer of hope that had just appeared was so dashed, and I couldn't bear it anymore, and finally broke out.

"You don't say it, do you? You just want to see that I'm in a hurry, right? So you can sit on the sidelines and gloat. Do you know how important this is to me, you don't understand what it's like to live in uneasiness every day, I just want to get rid of it, why do you all have to stop me. And I thought you would understand me at first, but it seems that I was wrong. With that, I turned around and left. As I was about to reach the door, her voice came from behind me: "Wait a minute. I jerked my head to see if she had changed her mind and decided to help me. But she said, "I also grew up in doubt and anxiety, and I can understand your feelings somewhat." Since I was a child, I have been having the same nightmare, waking up from the dream again and again, when I tell people about it, at first they comfort me, and after a long time, everyone is not surprised, and they laugh at me for being cowardly. So I stopped telling people about my dreams, but the dreams became more and more real, more and more terrifying, I was afraid, I was really afraid, I felt that I was so helpless, everything around me became false in my eyes, no one could help me, I had to rely on myself. I'm constantly training to make myself stronger, so that I can feel a little bit safer. But today, when you knocked me off the horse, I was almost in despair, and all these years of hard training were all in vain. At that time, I had already decided to close my eyes and wait for death, but the ghost sent the gods, I still looked up, I didn't expect you to kill me, I thought maybe I really shouldn't die. In fact, at that moment, I began to pay attention to you, your eyes were different, and I guessed that you would come, but I couldn't fully trust you yet, so I also wanted to test you, not cooperating with you, and deliberately making things difficult, just to force you to tell your true intentions. Now that I know, I believe in you, and I'm willing to help you, why don't I want to get rid of the nightmare. ”

After listening to her words, I woke up like a dream, ran to her in a few steps, and said excitedly: "What you said is true? Oh, my God! You're so calm. Without further ado, we'll leave tonight, and I'll take you away as soon as it gets dark. And, one last question. ”

"What?"

"Your name?"

"Iriel, my name is Iriel, and I am the daughter of the Patriarch of Rais."

Four escaped

Back at my barracks, I simply packed some bags, and Tengge walked in, saw me like this, and asked, "What are you ......?" I said, "Oh, I've been busy on the road lately, and I don't have time to rest, so I'll pack up what I'm going to take with me when I have time today." By the way, what are you looking for from me? ”

"I want to ask you what time you leave tomorrow."

"Let's have a good rest tonight, and we'll continue on our way tomorrow morning."

"I see." With that, Tengge turned and walked out of my barracks. I was slightly surprised that he didn't ask much this time, but that feeling was quickly put behind me.

As night fell, I went again to the barracks where she was being held, and took her out of the camp quietly by the guards, and I decided to abandon my horse and walk so as not to alarm anyone, and anyway they would not be able to catch us up when they found out that I was missing to-morrow. It's a pity that I miscalculated, and before we could run more than ten miles, the sound of the hoofs of the pursuing soldiers sounded behind us, and the Gobi was barren and had nowhere to hide, so we could only continue to run forward. Suddenly, there was the sound of sharp arrows breaking through the air behind me, and I turned to draw my knife, and shot down the one that was shooting at Iriel, and then slashed the second one that was coming straight for me, but the severed arrow still pierced my left shoulder blade. The sound of horses' hooves was much closer, and it could be seen that the comer was three horsemen, led by Tengge, and behind were his two personal soldiers. My heart suddenly fell into an ice cave, if in normal times, although I have no certainty of victory against the three of them, I can also wait for the opportunity to seize the horse to break out of the encirclement, but now, I am not only injured, but also have to protect a gun in his hand, almost no combat effectiveness, the situation can be imagined, for this moment, I have to brake quietly. So I stood with my sword in my hand, and waited for them to catch up.

The three riders stopped fifty paces from us, and Tengge shouted at me, "Briga, are you crazy? Are you going to abandon us brothers for the sake of this woman? Do you know that your actions constitute treason, which is a capital offense. Now you kill this woman immediately, and then follow me back to the army and lead my brothers to complete this mission, so that the elders will be able to open up for the sake of their military exploits. ”

I responded to him with the same loud voice: "Things are not what you think, I know exactly what I am doing, and there are reasons why I have to do it, so I'm sorry, Tengge, I can't go back with you." ”

"Joke," he said, "what kind of reason can make you betray your brother and your race, you give me a satisfactory answer." ”

His two soldiers glanced at each other, their eyes full of doubt and surprise, and everyone could understand the meaning of Tengge's words.

A glimmer of hope burned in my heart, so I told him all about my doubts about life and what I was going to do.

Tenger listened carefully, and he was still pondering after I had finished.

"Deputy Commander......" one of his own soldiers reminded him.

"I know." With a wave of his hand, Tengge stopped what the soldier was about to say, then looked at me and said, "What you said is so ridiculous, I can't accept it, this can't be considered a satisfactory answer." ”

"You may not understand, but you should trust me."

"That's enough, don't say it again, you go back with me, I don't want to meet you in battle."

"I told you that I won't go back."

"Don't force me to enforce the rules." Tengge's tone was devoid of emotion.

"Even if I die here now, I will never go back."

The atmosphere gradually became tense, and the murderous aura permeated the surroundings. Tengge closed his eyes and said, "Kill!" ”

Two of his own soldiers swung their swords at me on horseback, and Tengge opened his eyes sharply and rushed after me. His horses are a little better than the other two, and he has a tendency to be the last to come.

I'm a little desperate, the three-horse charging formation has been formed, and I have no chance of surviving under this blow. "Is that really the end of it?" I simply closed my eyes and swung the knife out of my hand vigorously.

The knife slashed through the air.

I felt the galloping horses leap over my head with a strong wind, and the smell of blood filled the air. When I opened my eyes, I was shocked by what I saw: two of Tengge's own soldiers were already in different places, and he himself was immediately behind me, and the scarlet blood on the knife was still dripping down the blade.

"Tengge, you ......"

"I had decided to persuade you to go back," said Tenge, dismounting and walking towards me, "but I have changed my mind after hearing your words, and I think it should be a satisfactory answer to me." Although I have the same doubts in my mind and have the same discomfort with the current life, I don't have the courage to find answers like you, so the only thing I can do is help you clear the obstacles in front of you. ”

"Don't you ...... too," I wondered.

Tengge smiled and nodded.

"Then you come with us, let's go together to find the truth and solve the doubts in our hearts." I said to him.

Tengge shook his head again. "As I said just now, I don't have your courage, and there are still many things in the clan that I can't let go, so ......"

I patted Tengger on the shoulder and sighed, "Needless to say, I understand." ”

"Alright, get on these two horses and do what you want. I will say to my brothers that you were swept away by a sandstorm in pursuit of the fugitives from Rais, and you are buried in Chrissy forever. ”

"Thank you, Tenge." I say.

"Hurry up and get out of here, I should go back too, the tasks assigned by the clan always have to be completed." With that, Tengge turned around to lead the horse. He reminded me of something, so I stopped him.

"Is there anything else?" He asked.

"I ......" I hesitated.

"Say, it's not like your style."

"I mean, if you can, you can lead everyone out of this fight. Now that the situation is clear, the Lais can only rely on a steady supply to defend McKison and fight against our people, hoping to drag our people down and force our people to retreat by virtue of their geographical advantages. Suffice it to say, if you lead your team to inflict even a small amount of damage on the supply lines behind Lais, it could crumble McKison's current defense. Within three days of this, the land of the Laiis would be filled with my warriors of Goikol. ”

"That's right, isn't this what my clan has been wishing for many years, I don't understand, why did you ......"

"Listen to me, I have a hunch that there will be no winners in this war, no matter which side wins, it will only bring us destruction, and the reason why I chose to leave at this critical juncture is because there is not much time."

"How so?"

Tengge then fell silent. I know it's hard to get him to leave, but I don't have a choice, so I have to make it clear.

After a while, Tengge spoke: "Maybe your hunch is right, but I am a warrior of Goicol after all, and I can't do such a thing as quitting the war." ”

"I see," I sighed, "this kind of thing can't be forced, all right, let's go, take care." ”

"Take care."

After saying this, Tengge mounted his horse and ran in the direction of the camp, and his figure soon disappeared into the night.

I took the broken arrow out of my shoulder, bandaged it briefly, and woke up Iriel, who had been stunned by the oncoming arrow. The first thing Eliel did when she opened her eyes was to look around, and when she saw the two corpses on the side, she subconsciously shrank into my arms and asked, "You killed you?" ”

"No, it's my brother, the one who was going to take me back just now."

Iliel looked surprised and puzzled, "He's crazy?" "I didn't want to waste time explaining to her and urging her to get on the horse and hurry. Seeing that I didn't answer her, she said to herself: "It seems that he is a person who values love and righteousness, and it is your blessing to have such a brother." I was stunned, turned my head, and saw her envious and somewhat sad expression, and I understood. So I said to her, "You are not alone now, do you have a companion like me who can understand you and be by your side from time to time?" She looked up and looked me in the eye when she heard that, and I looked at her, and she smiled. Yes, we are companions. ”

The two of us rode on horseback and continued our march towards the sacred site of the Rais. On the way, I asked her, "Are you a warrior who is stunned by flying arrows?" When she heard this, she immediately straightened her face, but thinking that there was nothing to refute, she played a petty role, saying that if I said it again, she would not take me to the Holy Land. I thought: after all, he is still a child, but he is strong on the outside. So I changed the subject: "Why did your father send you into battle?" She turned her face to me and said, "It's not that you are menacing, in order to defend McKeyon, our clan has sent all the people of the clan who can participate in the war to McKeyon, and finally stopped the progress of your clan. Now the two clans are facing off against each other in McKeyon. Seeing that I was short on manpower, I offered to escort supplies to McKeyon, and you will know what happened next. ”

The war was indeed at a stalemate at the moment, but when I thought of the two hundred cavalry that were like sharp knives stuck in the heart of Rais, I couldn't help but sigh: "Alas, hope is in time. ”

Five truths

Thanks to the help of the horses, we reached our destination in just two days. I never thought that the village of the Lais would be built in such a remote and secluded place, and if there was no one to lead the way, I was afraid that outsiders would not be able to find this place. When I think about it, I'm less worried. Then I changed into the clothes of the Laiss and hid in the stables, and now I could not see the light, and anyone in the village could see that I was a foreigner, and that I had only one end - dead without a body. So I had to wait here for the night to fall, but luckily it was already dusk when I came, so I just had to hold on. As for Iliel, she went to check the surroundings of the Holy Land, and in the evening she would come back to meet me and take me into the Holy Land.

While I was wasting my time in the stable, two Laiss men came in, apparently leading their horses, and I hastened behind the haystack, only to hear one of them say, "What new news have you brought back from the front this time?" The other said, "Nothing has changed, it's still the same, and as long as we can keep going like this, the bastards of Gauikor will be in vain this time." But there was an accident the day before yesterday, and it was really dangerous. When the one who spoke before heard this, he was anxious and urged: "What, tell me quickly." ”

"It happened at noon the day before yesterday, and our people had just repelled another attack by the Gauikol, and suddenly, a cavalry of the Gauikol clan was killed behind McKison."

"What? Do you mean behind McQuison? ”

"That's right, it's the rear. The cavalry launched a suicidal charge towards McKeyon, and at first McKeyon's defenders were taken by surprise, but they were quickly held down with bows and arrows, and then they were divided and surrounded, and all the 200 or so cavalry were annihilated. ”

"It's a beautiful fight."

"No, our casualties in this battle are only a lot more than theirs, and in order to prevent another surprise attack by Gao Ikol, McKison had to divide his troops and set up two sentry posts in the rear. Our patriarch was also extremely shocked when he heard the news, and ordered all the teams transporting supplies to change from the original one to four routes when transporting, so that even if one of them was attacked, the other three routes could be transported smoothly and the losses would be minimized......"

I could no longer hear what they said afterwards, tears ran down my face, and the grief almost crushed me, and I even fell into a deep self-reproach - did I force Tenger to death, he wanted to help me, but he could not behave in a disloyal manner, and he was in a dilemma......

Everything is irretrievable, I have lost my best brother.

My mind went blank, I couldn't think about anything anymore, so I just sat in the stable, in a daze.

I don't know how long it was, and I don't know when, Iliel appeared in front of me.

"You know everything?" Looking at me with red eyes and a glazed gaze, she continued: "I'm sad too, this is something that no one wants to happen, but you must cheer up." ”

"Cheer up and do something, I betrayed my people, I killed my best friend, I lost everything, I began to wonder if my choice was wrong from the beginning......"

Syllable! Neat. Iliel gave me a slap in the face.

"You bastard, are you worthy of Tengge for these words? Who is he doing this for, not to buy you more time, if you give up now, isn't he sacrificing in vain? Also, I'm not allowed to say things like 'lose everything' in the future, and you still have me as a companion, that's what you told me, didn't you? ”

I looked up at her face, which was slightly flushed with excitement, and for a moment, I thought I knew what to do in the future. I have lost a brother, and I cannot afford to lose another companion. I hugged her and whispered to her, "I'm sorry, I was wrong, and thank you." ”

The tears in her eyes finally dripped down and wet the placket of my chest.

That night, I sneaked into the Holy Land under the leadership of Iriel, and came to the stone monument that the Laiis had worshipped for generations. I read through the inscription carefully, and then I smiled, and my smile was full of bitterness.

"Scammed, it's a scam, and all of us are caught up in it." I pointed to the inscription and asked Iriel, "Do you see, these words, do you think they are really left by your ancestors?" ”

"That's what everyone in the clan says!"

"To tell you the truth, the content of this inscription, except for the reversal of the names of our two tribes, is exactly the same as the content on the parchment scroll that has been passed down from generation to generation of our tribe."

"What, is this true? Are you not mistaken? Iliel asked me rhetorically.

"Of course not, every Colex knows by heart what is on the parchment, I am 100% sure."

"How so?" Iliel sat down on the ground at once. More than ten years of faith collapsed in an instant, which is not something that ordinary people can bear.

"I think maybe someone did this on purpose in the hope of seeing our two races continue to fight."

"Who would do that? Why? Iliel still wasn't convinced.

"I don't know, I don't have any clues right now, but maybe there's a way to find some clues, but ......" I hesitated.

"What do you have to say?" Iliel asked.

"I need to know your dreams."

Panic began to appear in Iliel's eyes again, and I took her hand and said to her, "This time you have to be strong no matter what, and whether or not you can solve the final truth depends on you." ”

Iliel closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then spoke of her dream with a trembling voice: "I dreamed that I was standing in the center of the battlefield, surrounded by a crowd of fighting people, and the earth was stained red with blood, and my hands held a stone slab on my chest, and there were many humanoid stones on the stone slab, divided into two colors. Whenever a person falls on the battlefield, a stone figure disappears from the slate. When the rest of the stone figures on the stone slab were all the same color, the stone slab shattered with a 'snap', and all the stone figures fell to the blood-red earth, and the blood seeped out of the earth, and it didn't go past the earth, the stone people, and my head, and finally there was only darkness and thick blood around me, and they slowly twisted around my neck, and I felt suffocated, confused, and then ......, "Iliel has reached her limit, and I probably understood, and after comforting her, I began to think on my own."

It wasn't until the first rays of light came from the horizon that I stood up, walked over to Iliel, and said to her, "I think I've found the truth of the matter." When Iliel heard this, she immediately came to her senses and asked me, "Really, then you can tell me quickly." ”

I said, "It's not good news, you have to be prepared." ”

Iliel was stunned for a moment, but still nodded, "Say it." ”

So I began to recount my reasoning: "Our dreams have one thing in common, that is, when the war is over, or if any race is destroyed, our world will be destroyed." And your dream gave me another revelation, if the stone man represents us, then the stone slab represents our world, and the stone slab and the stone man remind me of a thing - chess, if this conjecture is true, do you know what it means? ”

Iliel thought for a moment, and suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes full of disbelief.

"See, we are those chess pieces, some kind of force uses us to divide the winners and losers for them, so we have to keep fighting until one side wins, and then it means that they get the answer they want, so we lose the value of our existence, and we will be destroyed by them. This is what our dreams tell us. ”

"No, it's not true, I don't believe it, what do you use to prove that your words are right?" Iliel was a little excited.

"If, as I said, this continent is the slab, then it must have impassable borders, and if we can find them, we will prove my point of view."

"But where are we going to find it?"

"I ask you, have you been outside of the Holy Land?"

"No, no one has ever wanted to go to the other side of the Holy Land."

"It should be there, let's go."

Six final chapters

At dusk of the same day, on the edge of the Holy Land.

Iliel sat on a rock, she had been crying for a long time, and the desperate truth had made her almost lose all courage to live. The sun will eventually go down and darkness is coming. I walked over and patted Iliel on the shoulder and said, "Don't cry, I think our future will turn around." Hearing this, Iliel raised her head, looked at me and said, "What else can we do now?" I said, "They want to see the outcome of this war decide their success or failure, and if we can stop this war and let the two races coexist forever, never winning or losing, maybe we can find a way to build our future." ”

"So how do we do that?"

"I don't know, take one step at a time, it's going to be a bet on our future, we can't lose, we can't afford to lose. Come on, after all, there is still hope, and one day we will take the future into our own hands. ”

At sunset, two long shadows walked away with each other's arms.

A mocking voice came from far away in the sky: "Ignorant fools, who think they have insight into the truth, do not know that they are also pawns arranged on the chessboard. ”

"Hey, guys over there, do you still insist that the war ends in the form of one side being annihilated? Things are going to work in my favor now. Another voice came.

He responded: "Don't be so confident, your seeds of victory may die before they germinate, and the war will definitely not end with the two clans declaring their coexistence." ”

"Forget it, I won't have a war of words with you, just watch quietly, win or lose sooner or later."

"That's right, but there's at least one thing we can agree on at the moment."

"What is it?"

"Chess pieces don't have a future."

"Hahahaha......"

The shrill laughter echoed over the fragile continent, making people feel a chill.

Return to Nothing2006.2.20