One World One Man

Part 1:

Never forgive, never forget.

Vaku could never forget those words, as they were the last words his sis told him before she was brutally murdered. She was the only woman in Vaku's life, the only family he ever had. His mother died after giving birth to him, his dad was long gone already. It was only Vaku and his sister in this dark world, alas she was gone...

He should've never left his sister alone, he should've never joined the war. His sister warned her, she begged. Yet Vaku was too young to listen, to stupid to understand. He joined the crusader army of Solecia, left her sister alone against the world...

Vaku hated the imperial race. They were all pieces of scum in his young, corrupted eyes. Vaku killed many, including woman and children. As time passed he was promoted to a general. The maker Andastre gave him his punishment, he killed his sister. She was gone. Now Vaku was all alone in the dark...

Vaku left everything, his house, his job, everything. He sold his house and bought a horse. She was a beautiful one, as black as the sky during an eclipse. There were even some rumors about this horse. Some say it was blessed, some say it belonged to the emperor, some even say that she is a pegasus. But the horse was old now, the owner just wanted her off his hands. He would just give it away for free if someone was willing. Vaku had a decent amount of money, he could easily buy any horse there. But he chose this horse, the old black horse. The owner of the stable was aware of Vaku's desire to buy that horse, he was willing to abuse this desire:

-I will sell you this horse for one hundred denarii's!

It was a lot of money, in fact, it was all the money Vaku had. He knew it would be meaningless to waste all his money on just an old horse. But this horse was different, he had something that pulled Vaku towards him...

Vaku left the city, it was just his horse and him. Solecian's had betrayed him. He knew he could not stay here anymore. He had to find a new house for himself. Somewhere where he could be safe. Maybe a big city? No, they could still find him... He knew the power of the Emperor, he had no chance in Solecian borders...

He had to leave, it was the only way...

The path was narrow and cold. He was actually quite use to this type of weather but he felt cold. Maybe not because of the climate...

But the cold wasn't what made Vaku worried, it was the constant Solecian patrols. If he were to be spotted, he would be executed that moment...

Vaku was amazed by the great amount of animals in the area. But one animal was rather different, an amazing deer with shiny fur and huge antlers. Vaku felt pity for this animal. The Solecian uniform was mostly made of deer skin, which meant that a lot of deers were butchered every year, just so that a few soldiers can keep warm and well fed...

Vaku stopped, started following the deer. It was just beautiful. It didn't have any sins, nor any mistakes. Vaku observed this deer for a while as this deer searched for food until he heard someone yelling with all his might:

-Long live the Empire!

It was possibly a shout from an empirist soldier. He had to make a choice, to follow the voice or to walk away?

He did what he felt was right, he followed the voice. There was a battle between two sides, Solecians and the Imperials...

Maybe it was time...

Maybe this was Andastre's call for redemption.

Vaku had to fight now, there was no way back now...

Vaku got off from his old horse...

Vaku drew his old sword and ran towards the fighting soldiers...

Never forgive, never forget...

Part 2:

Vaku was ready, no more forgiving, no more mercy.Now there would be blood, there would be revenge, there would be death...

Vaku stabbed the sword to a Solecian soldier who didn't notice him. Well, until it was too late...

Vaku killed someone from his own race. Andraste frowned upon those who did this. It was against the books as well. But there was no way back now...

Vaku took a deap breath, he took another Solecians life, but this time, without any doubts. After all those years of killing, he could still kill without a doubt. Vaku always saw himself as a monster, a blood thirsty monster who never felt anything in his life.

Vaku was great with his sword and he continued attacking Solecian soldiers, but there were too many of them. And eventually Vaku was taken down by a Solecian soldier who stabbed him from the back. Vaku felt severe pain. He fell on a dead Solecian soldiers body. He used all of his energy to speak his last words:

-Sister! I am coming to you! Wait for me!

Vaku closed his eyes. He waited for the angel to come and take him...

Vaku opened his eyes. This place was certainly not heaven. Not that he would go to heaven if he were to die...

Vaku was in a huge tent. He tried to get up, but failed terribly. His injury was bandaged and his clothes and sword was taken from him. Vaku started crying, crying like a little baby whose candy was taken. Crying like a wife who lost his husband at war. His sister was waiting for him up in the sky, yet he was here, in a dark tent, awake and alive...

It was as if Andraste was constantly punishing him...

Later on an old man came in the tent. He had few hair, but a huge beard. Almost as if the hair on his head got scared of something and became a beard. He had blue eyes, almost as if he drained the blue seas with his eyes. And one more noticeable thing was that he had two scars on his face, one below his left eye, and one on his right cheek.

This old man began to speak with a very deep voice as he was playing with his huge white beard:

-You were stabbed from the back by a Solecian soldier. You will get better, but you need to rest a bit, commander Vaku.

This old man knew who Vaku was, yet he was still alive...

-Don't worry, nobody needs to know who you are. My name is Warlick. I am the medic of this camp. Right now you are in Imperial land, which means you are safe, unless you let people know who you are.

Warlick laughed for a long time, as if he wanted Vaku to laugh with him as well. But Vaku was dead serious.

-How is my horse?

Vaku trusted this doctor for some reason...

-She is just fine. You can find her at the stables, but don't get up yet!

Vaku thanked the maker:

-Oh, thank...

He knew that the Imperial's didn't believe in Andraste, instead they believed in a different god. Vaku didn't finish his sentence.

-Listen Vaku, I ask one thing from you. I want you to stay at this camp until you are ready to move on. We need people like you in this camp. Besides, you don't have much of a choice.

Vaku felt betrayed. This old man wanted him to stay at an Imperial camp, for a long time. He checked his injury. It would take months for him to heal.

-A question to you old man. Aren't you afraid of me? Don't you hate me? How can you help a monster like me so easily?

-I don't care what you did at the past. Only the current time matters. I wish the Emperor thought so as well...

He was right, the emperors always looked at the past. Maybe that was why this war never stops...

Vaku took a deep breath. A new era was beginning...

Vaku got up with the help of Warlick. Then they both left the tent. This camp was amazing. Thousands of soldiers were running around with their horses, possibly preparing for a crusade. Vaku was fascinated. How could the İmperial's build such and amazing camp? They were in war for years, they lost so many people, where were all these soldiers from? But that wasn't important right now. He only wanted to see his horse.

They were finally at the stable. İmperial's are known to raise huge, powerful horses. But such horses were necessary. They needed horses which could climb huge mountains without any problems. They needed war horses which could run faster than a leopard...

Vaku checked a few of the horses there, until he noticed his horse. He petted her, fed her.

Warlick was curious. There was a strange bond between the two of them:

-We will keep her at the stable for a while, at least until you get better Vaku. You should go to bed now. Tomorrow we have a lot to do! Tomorrow we will test you to see how good you are with a bow and arrow!

Vaku didn't want to do this. He was tired of the life he is living. Sure, he was good with weapons but he didn't want more blood on his hands...

Warlick helped Vaku go back into the tent. He spoke with his serious voice:

-Good night! If you need something, go get it yourself!

Warlick started laughing again. But Vaku was once again dead serious. This wasn't good at all. Vaku had to find a way out of here, but how?

To Be Continued...