War and the Wasteland: Ares' Revenge

It was not the first time I had seen a man die. Not even the tenth. It was one of the perks of being elected Emperor at a young age. You see, during my reign as Lord of Terra, I have led my armies to war. And when you lead an army to war, you get to see your enemies kill your allies. Some of them kill themselves with the sheer thought of defeat. Others...

The fallen star on the horizon grew in size as we pressed onward through the sands, our pace unbearably slow. The sun was setting and there was no way of knowing if we would reach our destination before it went dark. All we knew is that this old man was dying, and if we did not save him, his last moments would be spent in agony on a foreign planet that none of us could call home.

It was Ares who had found him three days ago, shuddering under a rock at the base of a massive canyon wall. He carried him back to our camp and from then on, he cared for him as if he were his own father. Every day Ares would go out and hunt for food and water, keeping me from having to do it myself. Eventually he found himself delving into the realms of sorcery, hoping that he could somehow magically heal this old man who suffered from a crippling disease that had twisted his muscles and turned his skin yellowed and pale.

As we approached what appeared to be an ancient building amidst all this sand, Ares suddenly stopped in his tracks and placed a hand on my shoulder to signal me to stop as well. I looked over at him and saw that he was crouching behind a rock with one finger placed against his lips while looking around curiously with wide eyes, like an innocent child standing before the gates of Disneyland for the first time. He crawled over towards me and whispered: “I think I saw something move inside those ruins!”

My impatient eyes scanned the long-forgotten buildings for any signs of life but found none. “I don’t see anything Ares”

He looked at me as if I insulted him personally. “But-”

“We need to keep moving lest we lose daylight” I interrupted him and started walking again without giving him any chance to reply. We pressed onwards and in no time we stood before what looked like an ancient doorway that reached up high into the sky like an ominous archway leading us straight into madness itself. As we walked underneath it I felt its weight pressing down on me like an unwelcome guest that just wouldn’t leave, its oppressive presence hanging over our heads like a dark shadow darting across a full moon night sky.

Ares stepped forward fearlessly into the gloom beyond the doorframe but I pulled him back by his arm before he got too far ahead of me, just in case someone or something tried taking advantage of how exposed he made himself by charging ahead like that. We both held our breaths as we waited for something (anything!) to happen but after ten seconds passed without incident we exhaled at the same time and proceeded further into what appeared to be an empty circular room with a large column blocking most people from seeing what laid beyond it because it stood directly in front of its only exit which seemed unable to move or break despite how many years must have passed since it last supported anything heavier than dust around here.

I walked slowly around it while being careful not to touch anything until I reached its other side where I found myself looking down onto another floor some five meters lower than where I stood now because it sloped downwards toward what looked like another doorway carved into the stone wall across from me... But something else caught my eye first: A human figure laying on its stomach right next to that doorway covered head-to-toe in black clothing so dark they blended in perfectly with the floor they lay upon while holding their hands together in front of their face in what looked like prayer... No... It wasn’t prayer... It couldn’t be prayer... Because whoever was doing this wasn’t sincere about it... They were lying about everything they said... Their words were lies... Their promises were lies... Everything about them wasn’t real... They were fake... Fake! FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! FAKE!