How painful is it?
How crushing, humiliating, and soul-rending is it… to be a leader?
To be that entity the soldiers take shelter behind, the wall they hide behind when death roars in their faces.
To be the one upon whom they hang all their hopes, trusting that you are invincible, and that your mere presence among them is a guarantee of their survival.
To make them believe, even if they are cowards trembling at their own shadows, that they will never die as long as you stand before them.
To have them see you as their savior ruler in the darkest hours of hell.
Then… you fail.
You fail utterly, catastrophically, and absolutely.
You watch them being torn apart before your eyes.
You hear them screaming your name, begging you with tears of blood, reaching their severed hands toward you for salvation that will never come.
