Aether's POV
There was a saying in this world... In war, the ones who truly get hurt are never the rulers, never the ones who command from above.
It is always the innocent!
No matter what name that war carries; Protection, Revenge, Reclamation, Salvation, Justice... whatever noble mask it wears, war itself never truly needs a reason.
All it needs is a path.
A path carved by ambition.
A path paved by greed.
And along that path, the ones trampled beneath are those who had nothing to do with any of it.
They break... They cry... They run without direction, without protection, reduced to meat shields, to toys, to disposable pieces in a game they never agreed to play.
In the eyes of war, they are not even considered human.
Their laughter turns into screams in a single second... Their warm homes collapse in a single snap... Their love, their future, their promises are severed by a single blade.
Everything shatters because of just one thing... one fucking war.
