Youth in the Flames of War

he lower part of the tree in bewilderment and, in a moment, lost interest and buried its head in a nibble

d, and Windsor swept her eye

affect the hand that held the gun. With eyes as steady as her breath, the woman who carried out the mil

too dirty to see the color of the curtains hang within the frames of the windows with peeling paint, rusted iron bars are

er the dirty, smelly, messy surroundings, blurring everything. Shots rang out from time to time from the tumbled rui

to her was a young soldier, his grip on the gun a novice, his nervous face eager to take risks and make a difference. She'd

of the city and a giant dump

ert with the drenched uniform plastered to her body, the cold an

turned fire, and after a fierce exchange of fire, the infiltrator who had exposed his hiding place fled in a heavy rain of bullets. One of the soldiers chased after him, but withi

d field of vision and unguarded cold shots split the squad in all directions. The young soldie

en or eighteen-year-old boy dragged the wounded captive to the end of the alley, and two or three others jumped down from the wall to assist, one of

rd to help, only to see a blood-stained stone on the ground; he just raised his head, and another piece of stone flew thr

been knocked down; a uniformed figure stood aside, and he immediately raised his gun, not waiting to pull the t

poked along the end of the alley and heard a suppre

or guests and the inner room for sleeping quarters, and the teenager was cautious enough to place

mation about the army, stabbing and poking the captive in the shoulder for a slightly s

at the right hand of her enemy's gun, assessed the situation of the wounded man, and finally picke

close at hand sta

r to discreetly check it out. The window was quietly opened a hair's bread

n his dim vision; without time to wonder where it had come from, he looked r

patiently for a few moments, soon hearing a sharp gunshot, and afte

gun had fallen out of his hand, and the excessive loss of blood, co

aggedly, blood oozing from his drenched ribs, his trembling ha

shly minted child, and Windsor didn't want to shoot. "I have no in

pale lips, the teenager's dripping blood pooled into a small

d dress the wound.

s not that easy to get me killed; I even hit a nobleman in the leg with a Molotov cocktail this morning; he was so ridiculously on fire that he was

the blood kept flowing, he was shaking more and more, and in a w

also lost blood badly, if she dragged

o die, but I don't want to

ling up with contempt. "How could the army h

ot-" With a show of weakne

he was just about to fire when she l

ed captive and, in the process, tore a she

, lowlife-" the

ut indulging, stuffing the teenager so close to being breath

ed; Windsor pressed the bandage tightly, raised her eyes to see the bundled-up boy staring very oddly as

ealize a man was behi

her opponent also drew a short knife, the scene was suddenly dangerous. Cold blade wit

away. When encountering such an oppo

e other side deflected and moved, and the knife fell through, embedded in the wooden door can not be pulled out, she knew that she was fooled and immediately disc

to float in a void, for a long time sudd

to a half-collapsed ruined house, pain coming from her neck at the slightest movemen

ddenly came from the dark corner. "You know this

emy was creepy, and Windsor's undershir

ved me?

k me for not killing you?" The ma

to rescue someone from the rebels." Windsor misdirecte

id lightly. "I thought the army was full of

self steady against the wall. "I appreciate it, but military d

k you can

ly won't be able to return the favor to Your Excellency." Hazily p

d face, the corners of his mouth lined in what looked like a sarcastic grin, and the ma

and Windsor stifled a choking cough, the neck injury caus

ece of iron coated with phosphorus powder that glowed faintly fluorescent in the dark. "Pin it to your left arm, count it as an