Bloodshed – Chapter 14: An Apology
The war did not end.
It never does.
It only changes names.
Changes places.
Changes the people who suffer.
But it never truly ends.
King stood on a quiet hill overlooking another battlefield.
Smoke rose in the distance.
The sound of gunfire echoed faintly, like a reminder that somewhere, at this very moment—
someone was dying.
The wind moved gently, brushing against his face.
For once, there were no screams near him.
No orders.
No chaos.
Just silence.
The same silence he had come to know so well.
The same silence he once hated.
The same silence he once blamed.
King looked down at his hands.
They carried weight.
Not visible—
but undeniable.
Lives he saved.
Lives he couldn't.
Lives he ended.
All of it stayed.
All of it remained.
He exhaled slowly.
"If God exists…"
The words came naturally now.
Not out of anger.
Not out of defiance.
But out of something quieter.
Something heavier.
"…then I understand a little more."
He lifted his gaze toward the sky.
It was the same as always.
Empty.
Silent.
Unchanging.
"I used to think You were cruel."
His voice didn't shake.
"I thought… if You were real, then everything here—"
He gestured faintly toward the battlefield in the distance.
"—was Your fault."
The wind passed through again, carrying no answer.
King gave a small, almost tired smile.
"Maybe I was wrong."
He paused.
"Or maybe I wasn't."
The honesty in his voice remained.
Because the truth hadn't become simple.
It hadn't become clear.
If anything—
It became harder.
"I've seen what people do," he continued quietly.
"I've seen what we choose."
Villages burned.
Children crying.
Soldiers pulling triggers without hesitation.
"I know now… that not everything can be blamed on You."
His grip tightened slightly.
"But that doesn't mean You're free from it either."
The wind stilled.
For a moment—
everything felt completely still.
King's eyes didn't leave the sky.
"If You gave us freedom… then You knew what it would become."
His voice lowered.
"You knew we could become this."
The battlefield in the distance erupted faintly again—
a reminder.
A confirmation.
"And You still let it happen."
Silence answered him.
Just like always.
King closed his eyes briefly.
Not in prayer.
Not in hope.
Just… in thought.
"I've acted," he said.
"I've saved who I could."
"I've carried what I couldn't."
His chest rose slowly.
"And it's still not enough."
When he opened his eyes again, there was no anger left.
Only something steady.
Something real.
"If You exist…"
He took a step forward.
"…then I don't need answers anymore."
Another step.
"I don't need justice from You."
Another.
"I don't even need You to explain anything."
He stopped.
The wind returned, soft and quiet.
"But…"
For the first time—
his voice carried weight that didn't come from anger, but from everything he had lived through.
"…I think everyone deserves an apology."
The words didn't echo.
They didn't shake the sky.
They didn't change anything.
But they stayed.
Firm.
Unmoving.
Not as a demand.
Not as a plea.
But as a truth he chose to carry.
King lowered his gaze.
The battlefield was still there.
The war was still happening.
Nothing had changed.
And yet—
something had.
He turned away from the hill.
Not because he had found answers.
Not because the world had become better.
But because he understood something now—
that even without answers…
even without justice…
even without an apology…
he would still walk forward.
He would still choose.
He would still act.
Because in the end—
that was all that remained.
King stepped forward, leaving the silence behind him.
The war continued.
The world remained cruel.
And the sky—
remained silent.
End.