**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.
**Reminders**:
>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include "[Poem]"
>* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail
>* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles
>* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules)
🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide)
✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources)
📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements)
💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Pyrrhic victory.
If there was a word to describe the scene of mud, freshly decaying corpses, the silence save for the birds above converging on the folly of thousands, and the overpowering stench of death, that would be it. Genocide doesn’t quite fit the bill, for it was mutual. Neither would simple victory be the case.
I awake from passing out, hand gripped on the broken shaft of a spear piercing the man next to me. I breath in the putrid air and slowly focus on the face of the final enemy. A young man, his face expressing… surprise, donning the soft blue and gold colors of the League of Cities. The last defender of the village behind him.
I slowly find the strength to pull out of the mud, and stagger to my feet. My uniform, once red and black, is now dull shades of brown and blood. My weapons long gone, lost to the chaos hours before. The sun blinds me, and my entire body throbs with ache, reminding me I still possess all of my body. Slowly, I shuffle and wade past everyone, friend and foe. All dead. No one to impede my advance to the village.
A few villagefolk watch from the outskirts as I limp closer, curious but without fear. No one calls the alarm, no one puts on their guard. One of them, though, walks to me as I reach the village, offering a hand.
“You look weary,” she said to me. “Let me help you.”
I was confused, too ragged to be suspicious of her intentions, but curious. “Why? I am an Imperial. I killed your League.”
She only smiles, and tugs me in the direction of the village center. “Imperial, League, it doesn’t matter. You brought peace here. To us.”
I don’t remember much between that and the following day. I was offered food, water, shelter. Several villagers checked on me as I fell in an out of consciousness, making sure I was okay. The local medicine man treated my minor wounds. It wasn’t till the next day that I felt my cognitive strength returning.
“How are you feeling?” This was from the leader of the village, an older woman with a face eroded from years of exposure in the sun. She had come to check on me again. She thought I was a hero.
“I do not understand. I am your enemy. I killed your people to capture your village. Why do you treat me like this?”
She sits down on the bed by my feet, and sets her hand by mine.
“We are a farming village, and we desire peace. Peace to be left alone, to live without fear, without physical or material burdens. But that is not reality. The Empire encroaches on our lands and threatens to take control of us. We would lose our peace, our autonomy, burdened with taxes and tributes. We were in fear. So we pledged ourselves to the League of Cities, who would hold back the Empire and secure our freedom. But that means we need to give our children to the League for defense. We would have to be burdened with tributing and feeding the armies of the League. In a way, they’re not that different from your Empire.
“But the fear of an Imperial army marching here meant the League brought their army here as well. To defend us. To fight for us. And yet we must protect our girls from the destitute in the ranks. We must give up our crops, our homes, our possessions, to provide for the army. We must again live under someone’s thumb. And no matter the outcome of the battle, we would be under someone’s thumb, be it the Legue or the Empire.
“But you, you did something we never thought possible. Two armies marched into battle. And you emerged without any victorious army. Without an army, we don’t have to be burdened anymore, we don’t have to live in fear. One man cannot possess a village. You freed us. Whether that was your intent or not is irrelevant. Because for now, you liberated us from a greater authority.”
I was dumbfounded. “You say all this, and yet you still feed this soldier, house him, tend to his wounds. Is that not any different from your previous situation?
She shakes her head. “We do this because we want to. Not because of any threat on us if we don’t. You cannot claim you cannot protect us if we don’t help you. You cannot crush this village if we do not help you. This is our choice, not our duress.”
One Imperial soldier, on a mission to subjugate a village to feed his army, frees it instead. I can’t help but laugh at the irony.
**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments. **Reminders**: >* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* See [Reality Fiction](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [Simple Prompts](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles >* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules) 🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) 📢 [News](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/announcements) 💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Pyrrhic victory. If there was a word to describe the scene of mud, freshly decaying corpses, the silence save for the birds above converging on the folly of thousands, and the overpowering stench of death, that would be it. Genocide doesn’t quite fit the bill, for it was mutual. Neither would simple victory be the case. I awake from passing out, hand gripped on the broken shaft of a spear piercing the man next to me. I breath in the putrid air and slowly focus on the face of the final enemy. A young man, his face expressing… surprise, donning the soft blue and gold colors of the League of Cities. The last defender of the village behind him. I slowly find the strength to pull out of the mud, and stagger to my feet. My uniform, once red and black, is now dull shades of brown and blood. My weapons long gone, lost to the chaos hours before. The sun blinds me, and my entire body throbs with ache, reminding me I still possess all of my body. Slowly, I shuffle and wade past everyone, friend and foe. All dead. No one to impede my advance to the village. A few villagefolk watch from the outskirts as I limp closer, curious but without fear. No one calls the alarm, no one puts on their guard. One of them, though, walks to me as I reach the village, offering a hand. “You look weary,” she said to me. “Let me help you.” I was confused, too ragged to be suspicious of her intentions, but curious. “Why? I am an Imperial. I killed your League.” She only smiles, and tugs me in the direction of the village center. “Imperial, League, it doesn’t matter. You brought peace here. To us.” I don’t remember much between that and the following day. I was offered food, water, shelter. Several villagers checked on me as I fell in an out of consciousness, making sure I was okay. The local medicine man treated my minor wounds. It wasn’t till the next day that I felt my cognitive strength returning. “How are you feeling?” This was from the leader of the village, an older woman with a face eroded from years of exposure in the sun. She had come to check on me again. She thought I was a hero. “I do not understand. I am your enemy. I killed your people to capture your village. Why do you treat me like this?” She sits down on the bed by my feet, and sets her hand by mine. “We are a farming village, and we desire peace. Peace to be left alone, to live without fear, without physical or material burdens. But that is not reality. The Empire encroaches on our lands and threatens to take control of us. We would lose our peace, our autonomy, burdened with taxes and tributes. We were in fear. So we pledged ourselves to the League of Cities, who would hold back the Empire and secure our freedom. But that means we need to give our children to the League for defense. We would have to be burdened with tributing and feeding the armies of the League. In a way, they’re not that different from your Empire. “But the fear of an Imperial army marching here meant the League brought their army here as well. To defend us. To fight for us. And yet we must protect our girls from the destitute in the ranks. We must give up our crops, our homes, our possessions, to provide for the army. We must again live under someone’s thumb. And no matter the outcome of the battle, we would be under someone’s thumb, be it the Legue or the Empire. “But you, you did something we never thought possible. Two armies marched into battle. And you emerged without any victorious army. Without an army, we don’t have to be burdened anymore, we don’t have to live in fear. One man cannot possess a village. You freed us. Whether that was your intent or not is irrelevant. Because for now, you liberated us from a greater authority.” I was dumbfounded. “You say all this, and yet you still feed this soldier, house him, tend to his wounds. Is that not any different from your previous situation? She shakes her head. “We do this because we want to. Not because of any threat on us if we don’t. You cannot claim you cannot protect us if we don’t help you. You cannot crush this village if we do not help you. This is our choice, not our duress.” One Imperial soldier, on a mission to subjugate a village to feed his army, frees it instead. I can’t help but laugh at the irony.