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The entrance into the town is nothing more than the signs of a sleepy town as we first approach. Scattered individuals move humbly across the streets, paying their only attention to what each has to do by the end of the day. The sun creeps slowly behind a short mountain range, leaving its orange and purple hue across the thinly clouded sky.
One villager stops for a moment and notices our approach. He is a young man, no more than ten or eleven. He freezes in his steps and watches my little band of soldiers, and now friends, approach with an almost triumphant presence. In a flash, the boy is gone, shouting to all the villagers, "The warriors are home! The warriors are home!"
Warriors...we haven't even engaged in so much as a serious firefight, but to the boy and to the now crowding villagers, we are more than that....we are heroes. The mere sight of men, brave and willing to offer their lives to the cause of freedom and protection of rights is worthy of medals of honor to these humble citizens.
Cheers explode from the now large multitude of souls as we enter through the front gates of the small village. Wives, children, brothers, sisters...family, all rush to their prospective loved ones as they drop their weapons with pure joy and embrace those they love and missed so dear. I grit my teeth to hold back a few tears from the feeling of tugged heart strings as I witness the sight. These men, once almost complete outcasts, are now the biggest and seemingly best thing to happen to this minute community.
I glance at the crowd almost in a non-chalaunt way, trying not to look like I am actually looking for something, or someone. Then, she catches my eye between two villagers towards the rear of a cluster of people. Her eyes glitter in the evening light and she simply looks to me, gives a half-smile, and disappears into the multitude.
"Thomas," I shout over the villagers' praise, "Take your leave for three days. I will see you in the evening three days from now. Take care that you put everything in order with your family and friends, for I feel that we will not be back for a long time. Understood?"
"Yes sir," Thomas replies with a salute.
"Excellent, tell the others, and I will see you in three days."