Godfire: The Split Soul-Chapter 166: Eyes of the Past

At the front of the military headquarters, RedBull—the name every citizen of Westeros referred to the camp—Kai’s expression softened.

Just on the road where the truck had stopped, a lady with blue hair, similar to his mother, walked by, holding the hands of a small girl.

’Mama...’ Kai’s eyes closed as his mother’s face lanced through his thoughts.

"Get down!" a soldier with the name T.K inscribed on his badge whipped his hand in the air.

Everyone in the truck got down, but Kai remained still, tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Hey kid," T.K slammed his hand on the metal side of the truck.

Shockwaves waved through Kai’s bones. His eyes cracked open, yet his mother’s smiling face never faded.

After thirty minutes, the fifteen guys and ten ladies followed the man, their heels clicking on the graveled ground.

As soon as they moved past groups of soldiers, whispers clung to them like waves.

"Seems I remember that face," a guy with a white mustache pointed toward Kai’s direction, drawing the attention of the two men beside him.

"Maybe in your dreams, because he’s new to me or any other senior here," a bald man stated, then began laughing.

The white-mustache soldier kept his gaze locked on Kai until the new suicide squad exited from his sight.

Yes, that’s the name the soldier gave to all those who volunteered themselves to fight against the rising monsters.

’Isn’t that the same five-year-old boy the late Lieutenant Gray sent his document on years back?’ he kept his gaze locked on the ground, scratching his chin.

"Sign here," the man instructed all twenty-five squad members, letting them tie their signature on the life-and-death bond.

Kai hesitated, the blue pen rolling as he read through the passage. ’No privilege to family when dead?’

He shifted a confused gaze at the man, then back at the sheet. ’Well, I chose to do it.’

He signed, placed the pen at the side of the sheet, then joined the twenty squad members who had already signed.

The remaining five retreated, leaving the document unsigned.

"Follow me," the man instructed, opening a door beside Kai.

The glistening weapons—guns, small, heavy, and ones carried only by vehicles—and swords of all sorts hung on the walls.

"Sir, good day, sir." The man greeted the other man, who had his back facing the door the entire time Kai and the squad entered.

"They are in, sir," the man slammed his boot on the ground. "Twenty in number, sir."

’Lieutenant Wang?!’ Kai’s eyes widened, the bones in his body screaming to ignite flames. But he maintained his composure and watched until the soldier who brought them left.

"So, all of you are here to sacrifice your lives, right?" Wang turned, scanning each face with a squinted gaze.

A subtle smile appeared on his lips when he saw the kid he had once tried to kill standing at the front of the queue, then nodded.

Two guys behind Kai exchanged confused glances, then swallowed hard.

For an hour, Wang taught them the necessary details they needed to know, what they needed to do to survive the creature, then dismissed them.

"Not you." He gestured at Kai.

Kai stood there, watching the nineteen squad members leave the room, leaving him with the lieutenant.

"Well, well." Wang clapped, nearing the boy. "We’ve met again after a long time under disguise."

Kai remained still, one eye fixed on the fierce expression of Higris and one on the lieutenant. ’No, we need not do anything. Not now.’

After thirty minutes, Wang dismissed Kai, then ordered him to join the next group of soldiers the moment he hears the siren.

Just as Kai exited, he saw the squad he thought had left for the appointed room standing there, their arms folded on their chests.

"Boy, do you know that man?" Rockson, a guy Kai remembered seeing at Vamus College, asked, shock filling his face.

’Should I tell them, or just leave it?’ Kai kept his gaze on the grey glow around Rockson, then shook his head.

"Maybe he has seen me before. But I don’t actually know him."

A lady with a scar on her left cheek gave a secretive stare. "Are you sure of what you’re saying?"

"Yeah. I don’t know him from anywhere."

Before another word could lance through, a creaking sound echoed as the door they stood in front of pushed open.

"Let’s get going before he comes and calls another person inside," Rockson stated, moving to the front.

They walked out of the main instructors’ building, then entered a soldier’s bungalow.

Selina, the lady with the scar on her cheek, whirled around, joy filling her face. "I wish I could stay here forever."

Rockson smiled. "Only in your dreams, after you’re dead."

The other guys joined in the laughter. "Yeah. Have you forgotten the content of the document we signed?"

Selina sighed boldly. "It stated full-time missions, I know. Don’t come and lecture me here."

"Whoa...!"

Kai stood by the side, smiling, his gaze locked on the gold glow around Selina—the only distinct glow he had seen around the twenty squad members, aside from the other guy who left without signing the document.

That evening, while they all lay relaxed on their beds, sleeping, Kai sat at the center of his open window, staring at the sky that kept changing colors.

’Wang... so he’s one of the top soldiers in the central city, huh!’ Kai slammed his palm on the wall, then sighed.

From below the window, three soldiers with brown glows walked, their heads tilting sideways like thieves.

"What are they doing that they are moving like thieves?" Kai focused on them.

With the help of the short platform on the outside of the window, Kai stepped out of the room, laid down, his chest touching the ground.

He tuned his ears to them, then remained still, like a snake preparing to strike.

"Guy, let’s leave before that mad lieutenant sends us back to go and face the creatures again."

"Why, are you tired already?"

"Don’t mind him, he’s just thinking about his wife."

"Thinking about your wife, James?"

"Not that. Didn’t you see the number that went and the number that returned? I’m sure our dead bodies will come back in the next operation."

"James, James, have you forgotten why you’re a soldier? Bao Xiong, let’s refresh his mind if he had forgotten."

"Not that I have forgotten. I never knew it would get to this extent."

"You just don’t have the heart to be a soldier, that’s all."

Another footstep sound vibrated through the ground, causing the three soldiers to turn extremely quiet.

"Who is there?" Lieutenant Wang’s voice bounced in Leon’s ears like a poisoned dart. "I thought I heard some people speaking, or it’s just my mind playing tricks on me."

He placed his arms at his waist, then inhaled sharply, closing his eyes.

"I have to make sure that boy joins the early morning operation that will be conducted closer to where the second Titanaboa was seen." He covered his yawn, then walked back inside the office he had exited from.

The voices of the three soldiers echoed again in a whispering tone.

"We nearly got caught by that mad lieutenant."

"Did you guys hear what he said? It seems I heard him saying to let a boy join the morning operation."

"Yeah, I’m sure whoever that boy is, Lieutenant Wang has his name crossed off on his death list."

"You are delusional about the lieutenant having the names of people on a death list, James."

"Have you forgotten the news about the other lieutenant who died?"

Before Kai could hear the full detail, a snarling sound echoed from behind him. "Shit!" he cursed under his breath, then rushed back inside.

"Did you go out?" the corporal, whom Kai and Rockson came to meet in the room, asked, scrubbing his eyes with the back of his left palm.

"I was just by the window catching some fresh air," Kai answered, laying on the bed allocated to him, then closed his eyes.

That night, as every soldier went back inside, leaving only the patrolling ones, a thunderous sound lanced through the sky.

In the sky above the nurses’ estate, Lena stood by the window of her room, her arms pressed on her chest.

"Did I do the right thing?" she held onto a necklace that had both hers and Lieutenant Gray’s photos fixed in.

"Give me a sign indicating I’ve made the right choice." She neared the window, pressed her palms on the glass, then closed her eyes.

In the darkness under her eyelids, Gray’s smiling face shimmered in her thoughts, followed by his playful laughter.

"You’re always right with your decision, my amore."

Lieutenant Gray’s calming words sent shivers down Lena’s spine. Tears seeped out of her eyes as she cracked them open, staring at the hazy sky.

Speeding wind blew on her face as she slid the window open.