The Divide, Chapter 3: The Evils That Live With US
The Divide
Chapter 3: The Evils That Live With Us
It was at this moment that I realized how quiet things were. The sounds of clanging armor and citizens screaming had now been replaced by the sound of the fireplace slowly dying along with my own breathing. Being able to trust anyone, much less someone I would only consider an acquaintance, was something that, while not realizing it, I had missed. Before my desertion, the only ones I felt I could trust were those around me in the war. But even those...
"What are you waiting on? You looked like you zoned out for a moment," Katie said as she now stood on the other side of her bar holding the kitchen door open. "Don't worry about the fireplace. It'll probably die out in a few hours." In my day-dream state, I'd not even realized Katie had gotten up from the table.
Startled, I spoke up. "Of course. Sorry, I was thinking about...nevermind," Right now was not the time as Katie had said and I'm not sure how it was relevant anyways.
I had never been behind the counter like this and I'm not exactly sure where Katie was taking me. Could I really trust her? Passing through the round door frame, Katie was already standing between two large barrels in the back of the room, holding a door built into the barrel on the left. The large cauldron on the fire in the middle of the room still had remnants of the soup she'd made for the night, though the fire had died seemingly hours before.
"It's a good thing those guards didn't find this. My whole operation would have been shut down," Katie chuckled. "Though, I'll admit it's been hard to keep the ale in stock at times." Her laughing made it seem as if Katie had shifted back to her normal ways. Either that or she could tell I was worried and she was trying to calm my nerves.
Knocking on the large cask on the left, Katie once again spoke up. "Make sure to keep your head down. I'd feel kinda bad if you ended up cracking your skull or getting a splinter in your ear," she laughed.
Taking her advice and lowering my head to enter, I said, "I'll assume that advice comes from experience with ears like yours," as I flicked the tip of her lowered ear and let out a chuckle myself.
"HEY! That hurt you ass," she yelled. "Maybe you forgot that those hoof tips are pretty solid."
Regret flushed over me because she was right. "Oh shit! I'm sorry Katie. It was something my old buddies and I did to annoy each other. Wasn't really thinking," I finished as she was already holding and rubbing the spot near the tip.
"It's alright. I've certainly experienced worse. Just caught me off guard you know?" she replied. I could tell there was a bit of restrained anger in her tone but also, a hint of remorse. She then turned and handed me a torch.
"Here. Carry this as you're taller. It'll help light things up a bit better. I'll focus on making sure you don't bang your head into the low ceilings in here. I don't think we've ever had anyone as tall as you come through here before."
After grabbing the torch and holding it steady while Katie set it ablaze, the room began to glow with a gentle light. "So this is what rabbit tunnels look like," I off-handedly thought to myself. As the flame sat prominently at the end of the torch, the shadows danced to and fro across the tans and browns of the earthen walls. My nostrils were filled with the smell of damp earth much like the scent of the freshly plowed fields over a Roger's farm yet much thicker.
As my mind continued taking in my surroundings, Katie once again brought me back. "We should be safe down here. The only entrances are at bar and the shed on the outside of Roger's place. And given that they're searching the whole town, we should get out there long before they get there. Just hope that girl is alright. Now that I think about it, Roger's late wife was the one who usually took care of the injured that came through. Not to knock Roger's abilities but his big ass hands never lent well to the healing arts."
Katie then motioned for me to follow as we started down the path. For such small creatures, the Lupids sure were good at this tunnel digging thing. "Yeah, I can understand that. During my service, nearly failed that part of the training. Luckily, on the battlefield, I was able to save a few of the others. Certainly didn't look pretty but they lived," I replied.
"Just how much do you know about Roger?" Katie questioned. "You've only been here for a few years so I don't suspect much."
"All I know is he pays me to do my job, which is meager to be fair, and that he's a real son-of-a-bitch at times. I'd put him on par with some of my old commanders with how he likes barking orders even when there's no rush to get things done. Besides that, nice enough guy I suppose." I replied. "Since things are coming out, I might as well be honest."
Katie let out a raucous laugh. "Well I suppose that is a fair assessment for someone like you. He does have a persona to keep up after all." Katie paused for a moment to collect herself before continuing. "Roger doesn't like for people to know this but he used to be kinda high ranking in the Canid army."
My mind reeled when Katie said this. Surely, she was joking.
"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "A Taurid? A commander in the Canid Army? That's a really hard pill to swallow. They'd never allow that in the Equid Army."
Katie glanced over her shoulder with a concerned look as we continued making our way towards our destination. "I didn't believe it at first either but after seeing his uniform, awards, and papers, besides the stories, oh so many stories....Yeah, its true. Probably the most convincing thing was the story of how he lost his leg."
For a brief moment, I began to feel as if my entire time here was a lie. Though I had never seen Roger's legs because he was always wearing thick jeans, the old Taurid didn't walk with a limp. "Wait, he's missing a leg too? The old man certainly doesn't show any signs of it."
"Like I said, he's got a persona to upkeep but regardless, he's really a sweetheart. Before his wife passed..." Katie paused for a brief moment seemingly collecting her thoughts before proceeding. "Ta'kom? What's your opinion on inter-species relationships?"
At saying this, Katie stopped in her tracks but continued facing the same direction we were heading. My mind suddenly became very aware of how thick, musty, and still the air was in this cavern. What kind of question was this? A wave of hotness washed over my whole body, not knowing really how to respond. How would she respond if I told her about...Jade? Just the thought of her brought a flood of old memories and feelings back to the foreground of my mind. What would Katie think if she knew the truth? It's why I ran from the battlefields. She was everything to....
Katie broke the awkward silence, "Ta'kom, I'm not going to lie to you but your silence is making me incredibly nervous," she said, still without turning around. "I'm afraid we're not going to be able to continue unless you give me an answer. And, hopefully, the right one."
"Katie, I don't think this is the right time...." I began but Katie whipped around to face me. Her voiced rose and echoed loudly throughout the chambers.
"NOW IS ABSOLUTELY THE RIGHT TIME!" she exclaimed. Her greenish black eyes began to water and her ears lowered as she continued in a quieter voice. "I may have already messed up just by bringing you down here. This is something we should have discussed before ever stepping into that barrel upstairs. I'll ask again. What is your opinion of inter-species relationships?"
The tears in her eyes slowly began to darken the gray fur under her eyes and her body language was that of fear but also sullen. As she awaited my reply, Katie took the sleeve of her tunic and began drying her face. "Ta'kom, believe me I want to trust you. You've never given me any trouble but this is a topic that doesn't come up very much in public," she continued. Katie then reached behind her and pulled out a small dagger.
I was taken aback at this sight. "Wait, what are you doing Katie?" I replied as this wasn't the Katie I knew.
A look of determination came over Katie, "Depending on how you answer my question Ta'kom, the situation can only go one of two ways. Either we continue going down this path or I'm going to fight you. You might be an ex-solider but I've been in a fair share of scraps in my time. Just the fact that you know this tunnel exists puts a lot of us in danger. And if you happen to kill me in the process and show up on the other side without me, there will be even more trouble for you."
"But what does this have to do with inter-species relationships?" I questioned.
Katie sighed, "You know the one thing the three kingdoms can agree on is inter-species relationships are punishable by death. How do I know that you're not working with one of the three kingdoms, sent here to break up our little operation?"
"Katie, I'm not working with anyone. I deserted for a reason." I replied.
"Yeah, I know that much but what if that was just a ruse to get close to us?" Katie responded. "And I still don't know the why of it."
I sighed and collected my thoughts. "Ok, fine. I think I understand where you and your 'operation' stand on the matter," I answered. "But just in case I'm wrong, I'm still not a spy or the like. Remember, you're the one who brought me along."
Katie's ears rose up and the hand with the knife dropped down a bit. "Yeah and it was a mistake. But I'm ready to hear what you've got to say so spit it out."
Taking in a deep breath and letting out an equally big sigh to collect my thoughts, it was time to admit out loud what really happened. "I...Katie, I deserted the Ta'alian Army because I fell in love with a Canid...," Stopping briefly, I continued. "I fell in love with a Canid whose family was murdered by my platoon." The wash of shame overcame my face and tears began to well up in my eyes as I attempted to speak but could only manage her name.
"Jade..."
At saying her name, I squatted down and warm tears began to flow from my face, the thoughts of what happened replaying in my mind. How could I have known? I was just following orders and Jade...she saved me. Would she have done the same if she had known what I did before that? It's certainly the reason she ran...
A loud metallic clang rang out in the cavern as Katie dropped her dagger to the ground. "That's not the response I was expecting to get. I'm so sorry Ta'kom," she stated. "We can talk about it more on the way if you want to."
The well of times long past and emotions began to calm a bit as I stood back up. It had been so long since I had really thought about what all happened. "Yeah let's do that. Maybe it'll help ease any fears that you still have," I replied as I wiped the tears from my own face. "Jade Copperpelt was her name and I'd do anything if I could see her again. After she learned of what my platoon and I had done to her family, she disappeared. I've not seen or heard anything from her in almost five years now."
Trying to continue, my own voice cracked a little, "We didn't just kill her family Katie. We tortured and starved them. Our platoon leader raped the other females of the house. And if Jade had been there when it all happened, the same would have happened to her. I was just following orders. That's what soldiers do but it weighed on me."
Katie took my hand and began to pull me along the way. "And you just sat back and watched?" she questioned.
"I did as I was ordered to do because that's what soldiers do. And no, I didn't participate in the rape but I can't say anything about the others. Knowing some of them, they probably did. Day in and day out we tortured her family for information. Supply lines, troop movements, and anything other intel we might be able to get out of them." The tears began to come once again. "I watched as one by one, they died from the abuse we inflicted on them. And what did we get out of it? Nothing. They knew jack shit about any military operations."
Katie gripped my hand harder as she replied. "War is full of awful things Ta'kom. I'm not blaming you for what happened but that's really messed up. Why didn't you do or say anything?"
Stooping a bit to pass under a low part of the ceiling, I replied, "They would have killed me Katie. And if they ever find me, they'll kill me for desertion. In the Ta'alian military, any insubordination is met with violence. You follow orders or you're severally punished. Had I tried to stop what was going on, they would have simply killed me and carried on. They caught me sneaking food to one of the Canid children while we were at the house and they did this..." I lifted my shirt to show her the burn mark left by the platoon leader's branding iron. "Luckily, this is my only mark but some of the others were covered with them for various reasons."
Katie gasped upon seeing the mark on my side. "I knew your kind were no nonsense but that's a bit overboard."
"That's just life for our species. You do what you're told or the punishment is harsh. It's not nearly as bad among civilians though." I replied, dropping my shirt back down. "Getting back to the question from earlier though. I want to admit that before Jade, I really looked down on all of the other species."
Katie let go of my hand and looked up with me with a questioning, concerned look. "What do you mean? Are you saying you hated other species?"
"I wouldn't say hate but I definitely had a sense of superiority. It was engrained into me as a child. Every child for that matter. We were told us Equids were the best, the brightest, and had no equals. Obviously, the war proved that wrong." I replied. "And because I was in the service of the crown at the time, I actually hated Canids and Felids. Still kinda hate Felids if we're being honest but I don't want to kill them like I did back then."
"Yeah, I can kinda understand you there. Of all the Felids I've met, ain't none of them ever been too friendly. Don't hate em though. Just wish they wouldn't have started the war." Katie stated. "So, what about this Jade girl? You said she saved you?"
Lifting my nose into the air, taking a deep breath, and staring at the ceiling, I replied, "Not only did she save my life, she changed who I was. I fell in love with her even though she was the enemy. She brought me back from the brink of death Katie. And the entire world was right...," I paused for a moment. "Guess since we're sharing, I'll tell you about her."