War and Light 

Written by Eljay Hicks

I am a soldier. I fight for a cause that has no meaning, no justification. We fight in a land that has no name, the land is cold, and cruel, heartless; it is no home to us, but it is home for them, the enemy. The enemy fights for a cause that's just as meaningless, just as unjustifiable. But we fight anyway. We fight for men who know not of suffering, know not of conflict, know nothing of war. But we fight for them anyway because we believe that they are right, that they are our masters, that they are the word of God. The enemy fights for the same men, but these men are only different in name, these men hide behind a banner of Red - that is their only difference. The war we fight has been fought for years, centuries even, a never-ending conflict, a conflict that knows no end, knows no mercy, knows no kindness. This is the fight we fight, and we fight it proudly, no matter the cost.

We fight in a snow-covered land, a land that has no end, a land that holds no life. Everyday, we meet the enemy on the field of battle with our weapons ready, and they meet us with their's. We know we're to die, but we do not care, and neither do they. We only care for bloodshed, we only care for war. We fight until there's nothing left of ourselves, until  we are nothing but souls lost on a cold night. When the fighting stops, we retreat to our home, and they to theirs, we heal our wounds, we ready our weapons, we convince those who would rather run to stay and fight again, even though we are to lose. And the enemy does the same. We do this again and again and again, until the end of our existence.

We face the enemy on an empty field in a nameless land, we prepare ourselves for the fight, like we have thousands of times, and they do the same, they prepare for death, and we do the same. The sun peeks in the cold sky, like a beacon of hope, but it is false, there is no hope for our lives. We know this, but we do not care, we only care about one thing. We stand ready, and they do the same, we wait to see who will move first, who will charge into the fray first, who will be the first to die. I cannot remember who attacked first, but in the sea of endless conflict, it matters little. As we charge forward, with our guns and knives and lives ready, something happens. A flash of light, a flash so bright that it blinds all who look upon it; I close my eyes to it, but it continues to blind me; I raise my hand to it; but it does nothing to stem the light. Then, we hear a noise, no, a voice, a voice so loud that it shatters our eardrums, but even then, we can still hear it - a voice so powerful and mighty that even the largest of trees bends to its will, a voice of a God, and a voice full of rage. As I stand with my comrades, awestruck by the raw power of this being, I question to myself, is this God? Is this the wrath of The Almighty? The infinite power of the Lord himself? I cannot say, but then I ask, but why? Why would God do this to his creations? Surely we have done what he has intended for us to do? But then, a sudden, horror befalls me, but not just me, my comrades as well, and even the enemy. We have not done what God intended for us to do; we instead followed the commands of men; we blindly followed the word of Men claiming to carry the word of God. And by doing so, we have invited the wrath of God to our world.

We stand in fear, for the first time we fear for our lives, for our souls. In that moment, a wave of heavenly fire washes over us all, like a great wave in the story of Noah. We wish to run, but we cannot, we are too taken by fear to move. The wave carves across the landscape, melting away snow and ice as it moves towards us, some fall to there knees, begging for God's mercy, others stand ready, awaiting God's judgment. As the wave of heavenly fire cascades over us; I feel a pain that I've never felt before, a pain that strikes every nerve and every cell of my body, an unbearable kind of pain, but I bear it nonetheless. But then, just as quickly as it started, the pain ends. I only feel a warm sensation around me. I still see the light, but I'm no longer blinded by it. I still hear the voice, but it no longer sounds angry, more calm, and peaceful. My fear begins to burn away, and as it begins to, I feel my body do the same. My skin, my bones, my muscles and all, burn away and are thrown into the infinite of creation. I look around and see that the same is happening to all on the battlefield, soon my eyes burn away and the only thing remaining is my soul. I no longer feel afraid, I no longer remorse, or anger, or wrath, only peace. This is not God's wrath, but God's mercy instead.