Chapter 1 - Fallen Kingdom
Ravenna Bloodmoon stood alone among the broken pieces of her once great kingdom. The ruins around her showed the harsh reality of power and war.
Before her was a battlefield covered with the remains of a fierce fight. Thousands of soldiers had fallen, their bodies forming a river on the ground filled with blood. The green earth had turned red with the blood of those who had died, forming a bloody river.
The sounds of brave soldiers seemed to linger around the broken pieces. Bodies were spread out on the damaged ground, stuck in their last moments of the fight.
Some soldiers were still kneeling, holding their weapons firmly, as though their souls wouldn't let go of their final defense.
Tears shone on the faces of the dead warriors, showing their resolve and willingness to protect everything they dear. Time had passed, but their tears were still wet, each one showing the pain of lives lost too soon.
Among the fallen were those who had died protecting innocent people. Their bodies lay as a last shield against the violence of war. Their sacrifice was clear in their final position, as if their last effort was to guard those who couldn't protect themselves.
As the sun started to set, the smoke and sadness hid its normal warmth and light. The sky, which used to be calm and blue, now had lines of gray and red.
These colors showed the harshness that rulers wanting more land had brought to the place. The changing colors made a sad picture of the kingdom's pain, showing the cost in human lives.
The ground beneath their feet appeared to bleed, its soil transformed into crimson as if mourning for the fallen children who would never rise again.
Every footstep on this blood-soaked terrain reverberated with a somber reminder - a cost of war not merely quantified by territorial gains or losses, but by the shattered aspirations and lifeless forms of those who had fought and perished.
The sky, once calm, now looked red from the cries of helpless people and the fires burning their houses.
Spears and swords were like dark guards, stuck in the bodies of soldiers who had just fought bravely. The air was heavy with the sharp smell of smoke from the houses on fire across the land. Fire ate away at what used to be busy market stalls, now just burnt pieces of what people used to live by.
As Ravenna walked amidst the devastation, every step was a painful reminder of what had been lost. Broken houses smoldered around her, their roofs collapsed and walls crumbling.
Desperate mothers clung to their fallen sons, their faces frozen in expressions of grief and disbelief. Some lay lifeless, their bodies still held in the tight embrace of a love that could not protect them from the brutality of war.
The marketplace, once bustling with merchants selling goods from far-off lands, now lay in ruins. Burnt remnants of fabrics, food, and various wares littered the ground, emitting a pungent odor of charred wood and scorched flesh.
Ravenna gazed out over the field, her heart heavy with sorrow. Her eyes, usually bright with love, were now clouded with tears that traced silent paths down her cheeks.
She lifted her gaze to the horizon, where the sun struggled to pierce through the haze of smoke and ash.
"This," she whispered, her voice barely audible above the crackling of flames and distant cries, "this is the cost of ambition, of greed for power. This is what they have done to us."
"I could not stop myself from laughing," Ravenna murmured bitterly, her voice echoing softly through the desolation. Her eyes, shimmering with unshed tears, traced the broken arches and crumbled walls that surrounded her.
"Why, you ask?" Her voice wavered with a mix of sadness and disbelief. "Because in this world of kings and queens, what is it all for? A powerful king wages war on a weaker kingdom, all for what?"
She gestured around at the devastation, her hand trembling slightly. "For a piece of land," she continued, her voice thick with sorrow. "And at what cost?"
Ravenna paused, her gaze fixed on the horizon where smoke still billowed from distant battlefields. "Lives," she whispered, the word heavy with anguish. "Countless lives of soldiers, of citizens... all sacrificed for the greed of a king."
Her eyes glistened with tears now freely falling down her cheeks, tracing paths through the dust on her face. She wiped them away with a trembling hand, her sorrow palpable in the air.
"A ruthless king," she declared, her voice steadying with resolve, "who thrives on war, who sees people as pawns and land as trophies. Is such a war worth it?"
She turned to face an unseen presence, her expression a mix of defiance and sorrow. "No," she answered softly, her voice breaking. "No war that ravages lives and kingdoms is ever worth it."