Pulling her close, he felt the tears roll from his face and onto her matted hair, he brushed away some of the dirt from her lifeless cheek and whispered ‘I am sorry’. He found his mind going back to his own two children at this age, the joy and innocence that surrounded them, the protection he swore to give them. Just as this child’s father had sworn to her, he imagined his eyes meeting hers at birth and the pride and utter awe she had placed in the man. The gun fire was coming closer to him, pulling himself from the mud and he moved towards the only other body nearby, he saw the drag marks in the dirt, he had tried with all his might to get to her, to her. He saw the dry tear marks and felt the dryness in his own throat as the father had tried to be there for her, for the father who had fought against everything to not let her die alone, to die without that embrace one last time.
Kneeling down he placed her into his arms, a good father, a strong father, who would have felt as if he had failed, “you did it’ he said to the dead man before touching her head ‘your dad has you now’. Slowly standing he felt it rising up within him, the pain turning to anger, he had seen so much war in his life, so much pain and struggle, he looked down at them one last time, ‘I am sorry, I should have stopped this, you were both so strong, so much love, I can see that you would have changed this world and shined so bright.’ Turning he began walking away from the burning village towards the sounds of battle.
No father should be made to watch their child die, made to fight to save her when he had no chance. Walking directly past all the troops under his command, they were silently waiting for their commands, but none were found, the rain and mud had pulled them down into the ground, tired and weak from the months of battle, they found themselves six miles from the command line, each push was pushed back, each attack was met with a fiercer attack, each move had resulted in the enemy targeting the local villagers and killing more innocence, this was their response, trying to break them up killing those that his meant were sworn to protect, he had watched them burn this world just to win.
Moving through the ranks till he was at the front, he continued to say nothing as he pulled himself onto the ladder and out of the trench, the men behind him began to scream, as bullets flew past him, slamming into the ground, but still he walked, tears dropping from his eyes, they watched in awe as he continued to move forward, the air of anger seemed to keep the bullets from making contact, he was closer now, much closer than they had ever been and that’s when it escaped his lips, the hollow scream of sadness, all the years of pain, death, and blood, pouring out covering the ground between him and them, the gun fire stopped, for a moment as he fell to his knees, the scream continuing as he looked up into the darkened sky, it mimicked what was inside now. His head snapped down, looking directly in front of him, where they all stood, his eyes darkened with tears ‘I will kill you all’ and in a blink, he vanished.
Before they knew what had happened he stood amongst them in their trench, his speed was only picked up by the sprays of blood that followed, the screams filled the gap between the lines, for three hours he killed them, his speed tearing at his own existence, he spared none of them, the trench was now just a mix of blood and fear, he moved forward towards the command center, they would all die, they would all know the pain that father felt when he reached for her, when his fingers were not long enough, when he was not strong enough, but he fought, he tried, he screamed, he begged them and they did nothing, they let her die in front of him. They would know what it would feel like to be so powerless, to face death in the face and not know what to do and they did, he tore into the room, blackness entered his mind, he did not want to be clinical, he did not want to have an exit he did not want to plan, he wanted to kill them and kill them he did, there was no description for what Sovereign Son had done, even heroes can break and he was no hero. Walking out he found a wall to sit next to, just to sit and not think, to sit and…..a ring brought his mind back into the world. Looking at the holo display it showed her name, he needed to be with her and the kids, to hold them, to just get away from this endless war he always found himself in.
Fighting back the tears and pain he answered ‘“Wats up babe?” several of his own men had moved behind him, they looked at him with shock in their eyes, “Hon, were needed”. Her face said it all and he knew in that moment that he would have to keep fighting, to never lay down his weapons, for they would always be needed, for something, he had to be strong, he had to try, to fight when he could not, he had to be like the father or what else was he “I’ll be there as soon as I can, location?” waiting for a reply ‘Stonehenge’.
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