Death and Dissension

I sighed.

"We will all die." Haig said hopelessly, running his shaking fingers through his thick, dark hair. "We cannot fight against a force like that."

Haig Corbin was a good man, one of my top Generals, and he knew, as well as I did, that the decree had gone forth from the mouths of Maikin queens to rid the earth of all remaining human presence. From the mountains of the north, to the sea in the east, to the deserts and canyons of the west; we were all to be exterminated. And the Maikin would follow that order with every breath; their collective will swarmed like enraged hornets around the hives, their queens.

With a heavy sigh, the kind that leaves your chest feeling empty and sore, I turned from the scene and mounted my horse.

"Let's go." I said softly to Haig as he continued watching the field as though expecting our men - our friends - to rise to their feet, shake off the arrows, and run up to join us.

"What for?" He said in a half-whisper so soft I was nearly unable to make it out. He turned to me and I saw that his eyes were moist and the skin all around them turning pink. ""Can we really lead another force of men to their deaths?"

"Haig!" I screamed at him. I was suddenly furious. I didn't know why, but all that I wanted was to get out of there. I felt tortured there as if the dead were all staring at me, looking with blind eyes toward the man who had let them run forward to their deaths. I could almost hear them calling for me, begging me to let them stay. I should have been one of them. Why had I been up here? Because I was watching - observing the maneuvers of the captains. I should have been there. My armor ought to have been pierced, by blood pooling in the lowest recesses of my body, me eyes rolled back, sinking in. "Get over here!" I screamed again, realizing that he had ignored me the first time.