11-13

Part I: THOSE HUNG IN THE SKY

Snowflakes are scattered by the wind. They seem lost, having lost their way and order. In this forest, which becomes more desolate with each step I take, I am tasked with securing the borders of the city. As each snowflake reaches the ground, I feel that I have adapted to the weather conditions and embraced my duty. This desolate forest feels like a part of my body.

As I slowly advance with my horse Daisy on the snowy path, I hear the sound of another horse and notice the footsteps in the snow getting closer to me.

I slow down even more, turn around, and immediately dismount. The approaching figure is Commander Javed Black, the leader of the team I serve.

I give him a knight's salute. He also dismounts and returns the salute. Then he says, "You can return to the unit commander, Elva."

I look at him in confusion. "I need to be here until sunset," I insist, but he stops me. In a calm voice, he says, "A snowstorm is expected today, and the duty of the young knight Undeka ends here."

In response to my bewildered gaze, he smiled and pulls my hood over my head. I am aware that they try to protect me because I am the youngest knight among them. Besides, this is an order, and I cannot disobey my unit commander. So, I smile back at him and mount my horse. I am tense; the snowstorm he mentioned does not sit well with me. Before leaving, I turn around and look at him again. He has already mounted his horse and is moving away.

Being the youngest knight means there are always people protecting me. But there must be a reason why I was chosen as a knight at the age of 14 and why I am here. I am not weak. I can fight too; I can protect others too and I have already protected...

I start moving away from the forest with Daisy. I have been on duty here since the beginning of winter, and I can easily find my way by looking at the trees.

The density of the trees decreases, and I begin to leave the border region of the capital, Adoria. I arrive at the place where our unit commander is stationed.

After looking around a bit, I find him under a tree, looking at his pocket watch. He has probably finished his duty early and is waiting for the other winter knights to return. As soon as I dismount, I give him a knight's salute. Commander Valery seems surprised to see me alone. Usually, we perform our duties until sunset and return to the commander together.

I explain to him that Commander Knight Black sent me here. He nods, closes his pocket watch, and mounts his horse. I follow him towards the center of the capital.

"Let's go slowly against the snowstorm. The sun is about to set; others might catch up to us."

I nod. For a while, we move forward, listening only to the sound of the horses' footsteps in the snow. I look around and behind me, hoping the other winter knights will arrive soon. Commander Valery keeps checking his pocket watch. Suddenly, my eyes catch the time on his watch; at this hour, we should have already returned to the city and be warming ourselves by the fireplace. I anxiously look around again. No one has arrived yet.

Commander Valery turns to me, this time with concern. "They are delayed more than we planned. Something is wrong."

Despite the cold piercing my lungs, I take a deep breath. The snowfall intensifies with the wind. The snowstorm they mentioned must truly be coming.

"Yes, Glory's weather doesn't lie," he says and immediately closes his pocket watch.

"Go back and find the others, Elva. We will need support. I will coordinate with the summer knights on watch. Until then, do your best."

Despite the piercing cold, his demeanor is reassuring. I look around to find the right path to do as he says. The snowfall obstructs my vision, making it hard to see the trees, but I keep moving forward.

"I trust you, young knight."

This was the first serious and real task given to me, the young knight. After two and a half months, I had to perform this important duty well.

As Daisy moves as fast as possible, I realize I have lost my way. I must have confused the path because I can hardly see my surroundings. I slow down a bit. With the howling wind, I shield my eyes with my hand to see better. I carefully look at the trees, pick one, and head in that direction.

However, Daisy suddenly becomes restless and tries to go in another direction. I can't pull her back onto my path, lose control, and crash into the snow-covered branches of a tree. All the snow on the tree falls on me. Daisy becomes even more restless, rears up, and I falled on my back into the snow.

I tightly close my eyes in pain, and breathing becomes difficult. I feel like I am choking on my coughs. As I struggle to breathe in the cold air, I hear the sound of hooves, sometimes distant, sometimes close. Daisy, who has been with me since I was 8, seems to have gone mad, unable to keep up with the winter this time. While I can't open my eyes from the pain, I only hear Daisy's sounds. I pull at the scarf around my neck, trying to breathe. I push myself up from the ground and stand. Then my blurry eyes meet the redness on my hands.

I realized with horror that I am lying on a pile of blood-stained snow. In the distance, blood droplets increase, and I looked at my hands in fear. The cold air piercing my lungs is now mixed with the smell of blood. I am just realizing that Daisy might have been frightened by this. Shivering, I can only take a few steps towards her. The distant clashing of swords, the beating of my heart in my ears, I can only hear them faintly.

Then a figure in a black cloak appears before me. The sword swung at me makes me lose all balance. I am too weak to even collapse from fear. I am face to face with death, and I am too scared to do anything. My whole body is trembling, not from the cold but from fear. The person I am now has no connection to who I should be. I should be fearless, but I am the person I shouldn't be, weak. Because when death is in front of you, nothing else matters.

And now, death is in front of me.

I quickly draw my sword from its sheath. A sharp sound echoes through the forest. This sound is like an expression of my determination. I don't want to be afraid; I want to fight to the end. I refused to lose things that could never be restored—regrets were not an option. Instantly, I clash my sword with my enemy's. Now... I am face to face with my enemy, and I hide the fact that I am afraid under my feet, among the snowflakes. With each snowflake I step on, with each enemy's blood staining my sword, my fears disappear. Without thinking of anything, I choose only to fight.

We, the winter knights, wear white cloaks to camouflage in the snow. Our uniforms are also white with golden embroidery. We usually pull our hoods over our heads to protect ourselves from the cold. But our enemies, dressed in black, seem to strive to stand out in the middle of this winter. Their faces are covered with black cloth, leaving only their eyes exposed.

As the swords clash, I begin to be aware of my surroundings, to focus. I hear my surroundings better. My sword moves faster in my hand than ever before. I had suddenly changed from someone who could barely lift a sword during training with my father. The bodies of my enemies on the ground, the swords swung at me again, it's as if I have reemerged in a different dimension.

I can't avoid the sword swung at my cloak. I slow down a bit; it feels like my strength is fading. The sword almost cuts the string of my cloak, but I manage to escape at the last moment. The cloak quickly flies away with the wind and gets caught on a tree branch. Fighting seems to have warmed me up; I am not cold.

In a short time, I lost myself in this hell of battle. With the wind blowing my hair, it's as if I am lost. Now I am like those lost snowflakes I saw, having lost their way and order.

I move so involuntarily that I come to my senses a bit as the snowfall turns into a full-blown blizzard. I find myself again in this desolate forest. My face is wet with melting snowflakes, and I begin to stiffen and freeze in the cold air. I am just beginning to see my surroundings, as if the one who was swinging the sword just moments ago was not me...

I look around, at the sword in my hand, and at the blood dripping from my sword. It's as if the heavy snowfall is meant to cleanse my sword and me. I lift my head. The sky is terrifying. I sheathe my sword and run towards them, the knights, with the last of my strength.

I have escaped from one nightmare only to cling to another. The knights I have spent every day with for two and a half months... I refuse to believe that their bodies are now covered by snowflakes.

I touch their cold bodies. I take the sword from his hand. I check his pulse. I hold his hand. I call out to him in desperation.

"Can you hear me?"

I can't accept that I am left alone in this desolate forest. I expect them to answer me, to hold my hand tightly.

In this battlefield, my lost self is searching for hope in hell. I have lost all hope without even being able to say goodbye...

Breathless, I hold onto a tree. While preserving my helplessness against the losses, hell was only up to this point. The rest of the forest is again covered in pure white snow, and here the snow is falling red. I turn around and look at hell. The pure white cloaks are drenched in blood. The swords stuck in the ground, covered in blood, have fought to the end. The corpses of the enemies I look at with hatred are proof of this...

Amid the snowstorm, someone appears before me. He is walking with difficulty, limping. I run towards him as fast as one can run on a snowy path.

My hope in hell... It's you.

He collapses before I can reach him. When I see him covered in blood, my breath catches in my lungs. In fear, I shout, "Knight Black!"

My voice echoes in the desolate forest. I reach him with all my strength. He struggles to open his eyes in pain, and as soon as he sees me, he grabs my arm tightly.

With concern, he asks, "Are you hurt?" His voice is shaky and weak, and I am stunned by his question. He is the one who is injured...

There are a few scratches on my face, but what stands out is the blood, not mine, smeared all over me.

"I... I am fine."

My voice is almost inaudible, a trembling whisper.

The blood flowing from his right leg quickly spreads on the snow-covered ground. I pull the cloth that was holding my hair out. The strong wind blows my hair in all directions. I kneel and focus on Knight Black's injured leg. I tightly wrap the cloth just above where the blood is flowing rapidly. My hands tremble as I tighten the cloth again to ensure the bandage is secure.

In a weak voice, he says, "You are trembling. Where is your cloak?" Until he said this, I was unaware that my teeth were chattering from the cold.

The yellow cloth has already turned blood red, and I don't know how else to stop the bleeding. Each passing moment leaves me more helpless. The thought that this condition might make him never walk the same again... I am afraid to even think about it.

"Don't struggle in vain, get away from here quickly," he says.

I shake my head. With the pain in my heart, I cry out, "Everyone is dead!" This truth hits me like a thunderbolt.

His gaze is distant from life. He quickly removes his hand from my arm.

"I can't lose you too!" I shout. Knight Black was more like an older brother to me than just a commander, and seeing him like this devastates me.

Tears stream from his eyes as he looks at me with sorrow. "Ah, young knight..." he says. Perhaps he now realizes how heavy all this is for me.

As I struggle to stop the bleeding in his leg, his dropping his guard makes me cry too. When he can no longer keep his eyes open, I call out in concern, "Knight Black!" and hold his hand. When he lightly squeezes my hand, I can't hold back anymore and start crying.

He struggles to breathe. "Don't be afraid..." he murmurs.

The sound of many horses joins the howling wind, and I, in tears, lower my head to the ground, looking at Knight Black's hand. The blood seeps through my fingers and spreads to my wrist.

When I can do nothing else, I hear a voice saying, "The summer knights are here!" and I immediately lift my head.

The summer knights are searching the area one by one. I call out to them, and soon they find us. We are placed in a carriage, with two summer knights holding torches to warm us. They bring a cloak over me, and I stop trembling. As the carriage struggles to move forward on the snowy road, I look outside, at the sky.

The souls of heroes hung in the sky, with their regrets and unfinished stories, want to be reborn and this time reclaim what was lost. Unfortunately, we are now at a point of no return. When the time comes to say goodbye, what else can we do but complete their unfinished tasks, leave no regrets, and fight for them?

Today, the dark sky is hung with the souls of many knights filled with regrets. Those of us left behind will fight for their souls to freely depart from the sky. Their souls are hung in the sky, and as they wait for the news of victory from us, I also look at the sky where they are hung.

This loss feels like the sky is falling. Perhaps the sky can no longer bear so many heroes.