'Mercy…'
Mercy.
Mercy…
How ironic.
So, so very ironic.
Moments ago, Quies had unsheathed his blade in hopes to stop Valerie from killing a guard of Etris to fulfill her mission. Now, here he was, standing above a guard himself, his blade still embedded into the rough soil.
"Mercy…"
The guard whispered into the damp air.
Quies stood opposing the man, staring into his green tinted eyes. He could see them tremble. The guard's black hair was disheveled, and blood poured from a cut on his cheek.
He recalled hearing what Valerie said. He could hear it clearly.
'Mercy has no value in this world…'
Mercy has no value…
But was there value in killing the man either?
Was there value in taking the life of an innocent man?
Back then, he would have said no. There was no value in taking the life of a guard.
Quies knew nothing of this Etrean guard. Who knows what his life was like other than being part of the Etrean soldierly?
He might have a person waiting for him back home. He might have multiple people waiting for him. Maybe he even had a special person, one who he cherished as if the person were his other half. Someone who he loved. Someone who loved him.
Maybe he could have a son. Maybe he could have a daughter. Forced to join the Etrean soldiery, he could barely get enough food on the table for his family. If Quies took his life, here and now, who would be there to come home to those poor children.
Who would be there to come home to a warm embrace. Who would be there to come home to a mother's love.
They would be left waiting. Waiting eternally.
Maybe he was a father.
Maybe he was a friend.
Maybe he was a husband.
And yes, he was a son.
He was human.
Would Quies be the one to take that humanity away?
Then again, if Quies kept him alive, that would cause a whole world of troubles for him. First off, he would once again get another target on his head, this time by a faction who actually had the means to track him down and kill him.
It wasn't like the Vigils, who could care less about someone beating up a trainee who was misbehaving and a horrible person either way. Quies had driven two men of the Etrean soldiers close to death, close to drowning. That was inexcusable.
Even if he stepped foot off the grounds of Etris, even if he were to travel to another luminant, he wasn't sure he could live in peace. In the back of his mind, there would always be a lingering fear that he could be ambushed at any moment.. He could be walking down a quiet street in a secluded town on the other side of Lumen, and still worry that a bystander could stab him in the back and kill him.
On top of that, the guards knew about his bloodrend. He already knew how the people of lumen… the factions of lumen viewed bloodrend. The people knew nothing. However, if the knowledge of a newfound bloodrender were to be exposed to the public and greater factions…
Quies couldn't even imagine how life would look for him. By letting this man live, Quies would be dooming himself.
But to save himself, he not only had to kill a guard…
He might have to kill a father.
He might have to kill a friend.
He might have to kill a husband.
He has to kill a son.
Quies has to take his humanity away, rending it to fragments. Fragments which those people have to bow down and pick up, unable to form them back into one.
The rain poured down harder. From a light drizzle, it weighed into a storm. Darkness and fog shrouded the resting city of Etris, the wind shredded across fields of grass and blunt stone.
What was red, what was crimson, was no more.
Droplets of water trickling down his injured face, Quies held his blade a hair's breadth away from the neck of the spear guard.
What would the death of this man mean?
What would the death of this man mean to Quies?
Behind trembling eyes, Quies knew the answer.
'It would mean nothing.'
There was no value in taking the life of a guard. It meant nothing.
The guard knelt in front of Quies. He, too, trembled.
"Mercy has no value in this world. It has no value to you either. It condemns the tortured and uplifts the profane. It eats away at one's mind, toppling its very foundations of logic and structure. It questions your humanity, and splits it into good and bad when in truth, both are inherent natures of the mind.
Mercy has no value in this world, and its lies weigh naught on my shoulders."
The guard's eyes widened at his statement. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words were spoken. Even if they were, they would be meaningless.
Quies raised his crimson blade. Droplets of rain landed on its edge, splitting into two. The lusterless surface reflected none of anything, not even the tears forming in the eyes of the two men.
Or maybe, they were water droplets.
Yes, it was just water.
Just water, nothing else.
The droplets slid off the keen edge of the blade as it sliced through the neck of the guard. Blood stained the slick grass once more.
And at that moment, Quies understood with every ounce of his being.
A father will not come home to his children.
A man will never share drinks with his friends anymore.
A husband will never kiss his wife again.
A son will never feel the warm embrace of his mother.
Droplets of water trickled down his face.
Water… Was it water?
No, it was tears.