***
His eyes, dark as lacquer, flickered with the fire's light, deep and chilling.
The young man's eyes were usually so clear, but now they seemed shrouded in a black mist.
After a long moment, he said in a low voice, "So it was a dead end all along."
A heavy silence fell, broken only by the CRACKLE of the fire.
"Little General," Amy clapped her hands lightly and smiled at him. "Weren't you going to serve the country with utmost loyalty, swearing to die for it? Why do you seem so afraid now?"
"If I had been born into a time of chaos, with no one but myself to account for, my death would mean little. But now, with our home and country in such peril, I fear that even if I die in service, I alone cannot prevent the nation's collapse."
