The Raven and the Soldier

A lone raven and a young soldier share a moment.

The Raven and the Soldier
 The raven soars far above the battlefield, his watchful eyes searching the plains, his murder has already touched down to pick at the remains of a fallen soldier, but his eye has been caught by something else.
 With a flap of his sleek onyx wings he is carried closer to the sight which has affixed his gaze, a young soldier kneeling in the middle of the chaos, clad in his battered uniform, blood flowing from a bullet wound in his chest, his hands clutching another in his side.
 He looks up as a tear rolls down the side of his face, the battle seems to rage in slow motion as a half of a man flies past him, thrown by a cannon ball, he recognizes the face of the torn corpse, he had spoken with the man only moments before the battle.
 His thoughts are broken by an anguished scream as a figure runs past him, his face all but gone.
 He looks down at the wound in his chest his vision starting to blur, he cries out, but not in pain, he barely feels the pain now, he cries out in sadness and confusion.
 Sadness as he thinks of the wife and child he left behind who's picture he clutches in his hand, and confusion as the reality of what he will die for sets in.
 This war was nothing to him, he barely even knew it started when he received the summons, his wife had cried, his child was to young to know what was happening, but had felt a sense of pride, he was going to serve his country after all, and maybe he would win glory and fame, after all that's what the books and tales had spoke of.
 But as he flashed back to reality he realized that there was no glory in war, only death and destruction, screams of pain and agony, young men calling out for their mothers or lovers, some cursing god, some begging him for their soul.
 Suddenly he is thrown to the side as an explosion goes off next to him.
 Meanwhile, the raven swoops to pick on the flesh of the cleaved corpse, but as he dives an explosion rocks the earth and a shard finds itself embedded in the ravens heart, he falls from the sky as his wings lose momentum, landing only inches away from the face of the young soldier he had gazed upon only moments before.
 The pairs eyes lock and they stare, somehow finding peace in the foreign sight of each others eyes.
 Their blood flows into one pool, their breathing seems to be in unison as they feel their lives fading.
 They take their last breath as their eyes close for the final time, the breathing stops but the blood still flows, as they leave behind this cruel world of bloodshed, hatred and war and travel into the unknown.