The old man hobbled back toward the village, his cane striking the ground with each step.
Thud—thud
The rhythmic sound carried through the silence as Alpheo followed closely behind, flanked by Jarza and the thirty men under his command.
The farms they passed were eerily still. No workers toiling in the fields, no grain swaying in the breeze, only empty stretches of land, stripped bare of their harvest.
So, they've already stored it away.
That meant the village warehouse must be filled to the brim with food, a comforting thought. At least we won't be starving anytime soon whatever happens now.
But even with this minor victory, caution still whispered at the back of his mind. There were pursuers on their heels, after all, and the road was everything but certain. His head turned slightly, catching sight of his men.
They walked with restless energy, fingers twitching at their belts, eyes darting toward the village huts.
Alpheo knew that look.
Frustration. A deep, gnawing desire. Not just for food or loot, but for release.
Years of deprivation, of being at the mercy of others, had made beasts out of them. And now that they finally had power, they ached to use it. To take. To crush. To remind the world that they were no longer the ones cowering in the dirt.To finally hold a woman , be with her willing or not
And Alpheo?
He felt it too. The thrill. The intoxicating rush of knowing that, for once, he held the leash instead of wearing it.
But he knew better than to act on impulse.
A man's desires were like a rabid dog straining against a leash, thrashing, snapping, desperate to be set loose. But a fool let the beast run wild. The smart man knew when to feed it, when to hold it back. Otherwise, his own strength would destroy him.
Alpheo was thankful he hadn't brought the entire force inside the village. One unruly fool could have turned this into a bloodbath, and that was the last thing he needed. Not out of kindness, the years had stripped him of that, but because drawing the wrath of the local lords was a mistake he couldn't afford.
He wanted to get what he wanted and be out, the faster the merrier.
"Now is not the time to make more enemies."
Voltaire had supposedly said that on his deathbed when asked to renounce the devil. A final, clever jest from a man whose wit never dulled.
Alpheo had always found it amusing.
Once, long ago, he had been a man people trusted, a good neighbor, a helping hand. That man was dead. Beaten and whipped out of existence.
In his second life, kindness was just another weakness waiting to be exploited.
And he had no intention of being a tool ever again.
The old man turned suddenly to Jarza, muttering something in his rough tongue. Jarva listened, thought about it for a bit before translating.
"He says we are to wait here as they bring everything we bought"
Alpheo nodded, his gaze drifting past the village to the green stretch of land beyond.
The sight of vegetation was almost foreign after days spent marching through barren, sun-bleached terrain. Where there was green, there was water. Where there was water, there was life. If he sent men to forage, they'd likely find something. But Alpheo dismissed the thought, it wasnot worth the effort. Time and energy were better spent elsewhere, like on the mvoe away from there.
As the old man hobbled into the village, disappearing behind mud-bricked homes, Alpheo felt Jarza's presence looming closer
"So, what's next?"
Alpheo turned to the towering man. "Whaft doyou mean?"
Jarza spread his arms, gesturing toward the village, the rolling fields, the road ahead. "After this...Why do you want us to march as mercenaries when we have enough gold to live without hunger? We could find wives, build homes, raise families, many of us, for the second time."
Alpheo arched an eyebrow, amused. "Why the sudden interest? Getting cold feet all of a sudden?"
"I've refrained from asking until now, you know some questions are better asked alone" Jarza admitted with a shrug. "But I've made my choice, whether you answer or not. Still, I'd like to understand. Why risk your life fighting other men's wars?"
Alpheo chuckled catching even Jarza off guard.
"Other men's wars?" he echoed. "You think men fight their own wars? Nah , wars belong to those in power. The rest of us? We're just shit they throw at each other
Jarza listened in silence, accustomed to Alpheo's darker musings. There was always something unsettling about the way that he spoke, as if he had glimpsed the world from above and found it lacking to his taste.
"Have you ever wondered why war exists?" Alpheo's eyes lifted toward the sky, as if questioning the gods themselves."Do men with crowns and fine clothes get hard at the thought of expanding lands they'll never work? Or does the sight of spilled blood make them feel alive?" He let out a breath, shaking his head."Or maybe it's the simpler thrill of domination, the sheer ecstasy of bending another to your will. The primal desire to overpower others...."
Jarza said nothing. He knew better than to interrupt when Alpheo slipped into these moods.
Alpheo's gaze snapped back to him
"You asked why I would want to go willing to war, when I could choose peace?" His voice was quiet but laced with something dangerous. "Because I want more than I was given."
He stepped closer,so that only he could hear.
"I was wasted as a slave," he murmured. "Just as I would be wasted on a farm. No, there's something inside me that compels me to do better, to be better. I can do it, so why shouldn't I?"
His voice deepened, as he decided to throw his card. " I have ideas, Jarza. Ideas that could change this world." His fists clenched. "It's hard to explain, easier to show but still hard on that. But for it, I need men who trust me and that I can show my back to. That's why I did all that I have done.
That's why you followed me and follow me still. And I meant every word I had uttered in those cold nights."
Alpheo exhaled, steadying himself. Then, his voice turned softer
"I want to sit on a throne and move armies with a flick of my hand. I want to set my enemies ablaze and carve a dynasty bearing my name and blood. I want it whispered across the world, so that all may know of me.
I want to eat good every day and get fatter and fatter the older I become."
Then, he paused.
His expression softened as he tilted his head to his companion.
"That is what I want. A mad dream, perhaps, like a worm daring to reach the sky."A smirk flickered across his lips. "But you asked, and I answered. Still I believe I have nerver asked, what is it you desire?"
At the question Jarza's expression shifted.
Years of enduring life's hardships, of being treated as little more than a beast of burden, had stripped him of the luxury of contemplating desires. Who asks a mule what it desires, other than food and water? No one.
"I don't know," he confessed at last , his voice almost a whisper, betraying the vulnerability he rarely allowed to surface.
Alpheo cocked an eyebrow, his gaze sharpening.
"I don't know what to do with my life," Jarza said, the words tumbling out. "I expected to die where I was, eventually, just another whip to the back being the blade to send me to the other side.
I never thought we'd make it this far. I thought the escape was just another way to get our necks closer to the noose, I never really believed we could do it'' He looks abashed as he admitted his secret.
''I was tired of it all and just wanted it to end… and now, I'm lost. Lost by the weight of the possibilities ahead, I have nowhere to turn back to or to aspire to. I don't know what to choose to with the freedom I now have." His voice trailed off. "And yet if I were to say the closest thing to a desire it would be… that I'm curious."
"Curious?''
He nodded ''About you''
In response Alpheo sighed ''You're wondering If the worm dreaming of becoming a butterfly won't get eaten by the frog on its mad journey?" His tone was teasing, but there was an edge to it.
Jarza blinked. "Seems like you already know...''
Alpheo threw his head back and laughed "Hardly something to be surprised about. I know already about how mad I must sound," he said, his tone almost casual. "Which really makes it all the more endearing to know that I have your trust. ''
He met Jarza's gaze, the intensity of his words like a spark igniting something inside him. "Stick with me my friend, and I'll show you the masterpiece that our life will become. I do not know what fate has in store for us, but I know that we now have the possibility to achieve what we wouldn't have ever dream about during those cold nights..."
Jarva shook his head, a half-smile tugging at his lips. "It is good to know that you are aware of how crazy you sound.Still it must be one of your virtues, to make the rest of us look sane in comparison.''
"The entire world is mad. What's the use in making such abstract distinction?"