“Do you hear that scream? The one from the soldier still burning over there? And that gurgling death cry from the one impaled?

  Isn’t it beautiful? I can’t help but feel something… stirring inside me. You know that, don’t you?”

  Beside Captain Alex, the sorceress Leixiao whispered with dreamy ecstasy in her voice.

  She removed her hood, letting her long black hair cascade down. Her amber eyes locked onto his, glinting like twin lanterns in the dusk. Even wrapped in bloodstained battle cloths, her presence exuded a twisted sensuality, underscored by the faint scent of herbs clinging to her skin.

  Alex, 23 years old, tall and broad-shouldered, bore the gray eyes and sun-weathered skin of a seasoned commander. Though famed for his tactical brilliance and rapid rise through the imperial ranks, there was no triumph in his expression now—only a shadow that wouldn’t leave.

  (Even the children… did we really have to kill them too?)

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The doctrines of the Gurgaon Empire allowed for ruthless efficiency, but Alex could never get used to the slaughter of the defenseless.

  “Sound the horn,” he ordered his lieutenant coldly. “Prepare the feast. Make it quick.”

  The border city of Toruon, a small academic haven within the Theocracy of Yhael, now lay in ruin. Smoke twisted from shattered buildings. The only ones laughing in the silence were the Empire’s warriors.

  Women were bound. Men lay broken and groaning in pools of ash and blood. The faithful prayed; others simply stared into the sky, empty.

  And yet, amid this devastation, the imperial soldiers worked efficiently—laying steel plates, unpacking barrels of wine, preparing food. The “feast” was as much part of the conquest as the battle itself.

  “You should be happier,” Leixiao said, her smile disarmingly sweet. “It was your strategy that brought us victory.”

  Alex let a faint smile flicker across his face. “Your magic played no small part either. Well done.”

  “Thank you,” she beamed. “Now it’s time for the feast. Shall we enjoy the… music together?”

  She trailed off, laughing softly, her eyes aglow with a madness only he seemed to notice.

  “We will,” he said. “We’ll listen… together.”

  Leixiao bowed slightly and walked off toward the yurts, her silhouette vanishing into the smoky twilight.

  Alex watched her go, a chill creeping up his spine.

  Something about tonight felt wrong.

  Very wrong.