While Ella was still on her journey to Elysara, Tristan prepared to leave as well. Ella had salvaged the armor he was wearing from the river after she took them off, but Tristan decided to abandon them in the end. 

Firstly, it wasn’t his personal armor, just a standard one he grabbed from the supplies in a hurry. His real one was apparently acting as a coffin for a bloated corpse all this time, and he doesn’t particularly want to wear that anymore.

Secondly, he was still in enemy territory and the armor was a dead give away that he was from the Northern Army. The steel forged by Cartia was more advanced, which makes it more obvious about his origin. 

Currently, he had no money, no proof of his identity besides his jeweled eyes, and no way of communication home. However, one thing he did have was a great sense of direction and a great memory. Since he knew that he was a few miles downstream from the last battle from what Ella told him, he deduced his location and the direction he would have to head in to travel home. Using the stars as guidance, he packed up his supplies and started walking on foot.

Sure enough, Ella’s gift came in handy. After an entire day of slow traveling, Tristan finally reached a town where he bought a horse. After that, traveling was smoother, although food was still scarce. While townsfolk were slightly suspicious of outsiders, which makes sense as they were in a time of war, no one seemed to realize Tristan was a Terravalen soldier. Or perhaps they were used to seeing refugees from all other kingdoms coming and going. 

Elysara set an official law that forbade one from attacking unarmed refugees based on where they came from, even if they are from an enemy kingdom. In addition, there was another law that states that one cannot disguise themselves as refugees to spy on their enemy kingdoms. Tristan cannot help but wonder if the latter was set on an actual event. Who would do something so unscrupulous? Either way, Elysara holds the highest authority in Mythina, and no one dared to disobey at the risk of potentially angering those that represent the gods.

Tristan arrived at Terravale before long, due to the fact that he was already close to the borders. He snuck across to Terravale in an area where he knew the Etherian patrol group’s presence was weaker. He didn’t want to get caught by them and be kept as a prisoner of war now after surviving everything that he did. 

When he encountered the Terravalen border soldiers shortly after crossing into Terravale, the look of absolute shock on their faces was something he would never forget. Several of them let out high-pitched screams.

Although it was impossible for Tristan to remember every single one of his men, he dimly recognized them somewhat. From the look of it, they also remembered him, a little too well.

“C-Commander?” one of them finally stammered. “But- but- How?”

Another soldier grabbed his arm as he ducked behind the first soldier. “He’s a ghost! He must have died with so much resentment that the gods wouldn’t let him pass into the afterlife!”

The first soldier smacked the second one. “Don’t be ridiculous! He’s clearly alive!”

They all turned to him expectantly, waiting to hear him, their faces still pale.

Tristan only grinned at them in response. “Let’s just say that the rumors of my death were… greatly exaggerated. Take me back to the station first, then I’ll explain what happened to me over some food. Oh, and send a message to my parents to let them know I’m still alive.”

Although wary of the fact that he might be an imposter at first, they were convinced when they saw his eyes for it was impossible to fake a god’s blessing. So, immediately upon arriving at the station, where Tristan found soldiers higher up in the chain of command, Tristan started to explain how someone stole his armor before the battle, leading to much confusion during the fight and the misunderstanding afterward, his men completely relaxed in relief.

“So that’s what happened!” One of them chuckled and slapped Tristan’s shoulder. He was someone from the main army, being one of the several soldiers who had been dispatched to the border while the main army was still at standby, thus, he was one of the few people who actually experienced the infamous battle. “We thought Ralfe was raving nonsense when he said the body couldn’t be yours.”

“Ralfe survived?” Tristan asked, pleased to hear that.

“Yup, Ralfe and most of the men he was already leading away on retreat. They managed to get out of the danger zone just in time before the mudslide.”

So he made a good decision back then. The choice to retreat had saved more lives than expected. Tristan made a mental note to himself to thank Ralfe for his work later.

“I heard there were still a lot of casualties, though.” Tristan pointed out as he bit into a bread from someone’s ration. The soldiers were more than willing to sacrifice their rations for their hero, who had seemingly returned from the dead.

“Yes, but we were still lucky. The Eastern Alliance had surrendered several days ago, have you heard that?”

“Yes, I have.” 

Ella had told him not too long ago. Speaking of Ella, has she arrived safely in Elysara yet? Tristan fought the impulse to send some men to Elysara to check for sure. He felt like he couldn’t rest easy unless he knew for sure that she was safe.

“By the way, Commander, what happened after you survived the mudslide? I still can’t believe you managed to survive it! Were you blessed with immortality?”

Tristan jokingly smacked the soldier who spoke on the head. “Don’t say something like that. I only survived because I was washed ashore close to a girl who was kind enough to take care of me.”

That gave his men some pause. “A girl from an enemy kingdom?” someone asked.

“Yes. I gave her my dagger as proof that I’m indebted to her, so please spread the words to the other soldiers: if you ever see someone present my dagger and ask for help, please help her on my behalf.”

His men nodded fervently. “Of course! A benefactor of our commander is a benefactor of ours!”

They didn’t seem too reluctant about the fact that the benefactor is most likely someone from Etheria. Tristan was glad that his men still maintain their morals, even at a time like this.

“Also, please don’t tell her my identity. She thinks I’m a Terravalen noble who’s also a new recruit in the army. She doesn’t know that I’m Prince Tristan of Terravale.”

His men were dumbstruck. “What? Why didn’t you clarify it to her?”

Tristan wasn’t sure either. “I just didn’t want to be treated differently,” he answered as he took a sip of his drink. “So, what is the current state of things? The Eastern army has surrendered, and both the Northern army and the Southwest army are at standby for now?”

“Yes,” a patrol leader confirmed. “We don’t know if anything will change in the Southwest army, but should we start planning out our next battle?”

Tristan frowned. “We don’t know if they also plan to surrender or not. Perhaps reconnaissance is enough for now.”

Another person pointed out. “The Southwest army thinks you’re dead, Commander. Do you want to take advantage of that and keep the news of your survival hidden?”

He was elbowed by someone beside him. “Don’t you know Commander’s reputation does half the fighting for him? It’s best to announce his return as soon as possible.”

As they continued to bicker about war, Tristan could feel his contentment fading. Now that his brief vacation was over, he had to start preparing himself for the act of returning to war. 

Suddenly, Ella’s words came back to his mind. “Don’t sacrifice your life fighting this pointless war. You’re better than that.”

If he goes back to his old routines, going through the usual war motions again, would that be a life worth living? A lifetime on the battlefield, killing and fighting others? In his mind, the harsher memories of the war were overwhelming the good memories. Instead of remembering all the times he and his men celebrated a victory or had a bonding moment together, all he could remember was blood and violence. 

Suddenly, Tristan couldn’t even remember why he joined the war in the first place. He abruptly stood up from his seat, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “Have you already sent a message about me to my parents?” he asked, dusting off his pants.

“Yes,” the patrol leader answered. As the highest ranking man in the patrol group, it fell mainly on him to do the most important mission.

“Good,” Tristan replied. “Prepare a horse for me. I want to see them as soon as possible.”