Memories swirl deep within you.
Thoughts of hell.
You've been calling The War hell for the longest time. So much of your focus was captured by the death and destruction. Rightfully so.
But there's a silver lining in hell. There's more than just the pain.
You had comrades-in-arms. You had constant excitement, for better or worse. You had a strong purpose. You had people to protect, lives to save. Even if you were forced to sacrifice so many.
But tonight is not the night for such self-reflection.
There's a war to fight come morning.
Next
Atop Aurora, you ride forward through the jungle trail.
Everywhere you look, the endless, verdant jungle appears the same. But today, a pit of dread sits deep in your gut. In only a few hours, you're going to make contact with the enemy.
Riding beside you, Obren says, "I had a… disturbing thought."
Eager for a distraction, you reply, "Pray tell."
"The prince. You think he's still here? Rade might have brought him. Or he killed him."
Obren looks over at you, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "For Her Majesty's sake, we'd better hope he's still alive."
"Why is the thought disturbing?" you ask.
Obren hesitates, sighs, and then says, "Truthfully… I don't want to see him get killed."
You raise an eyebrow.
He continues, "Vedran and I were good friends once. Practically brothers. I was appointed his bodyguard by Sobik. The old king was getting… more paranoid in his old age." Obren chuckles darkly. "Bloody good it did him, aye?"
"You said 'once.' As in…" You trail off, gesturing for Obren to continue.
He says, "As in we had a… falling out. It wasn't some dramatic betrayal, neither. Just the passin' of time. He slowly chipped away at my trust and my patience until I couldn't call him a friend anymore."
Obren shrugs. "I don't hold it against him. We were barely more than kids at the time."