Unspoken Words

[NDak 0]

Silence. The unspoken sounds fill a room if you listen to them. The words not said become more powerful than those that pass between lips. Destorie Ma'Lyn Sheuiji N'Dak stood glancing at the bodies of the dead guardsmen.

 

His hand touched at the foot the bed. Loss. There were no words to describe accurately the word or the emotions it brought forth. True he'd lost men under his command before, and he would certainly lose men under his command in the future, perhaps in just a few hours, or minutes even. It didn't change how it made him feel. That gut wrenching pang in his heart. The stabs of ice-hot pokers in the back of his mind. The feeling his heart were being cut out. The shame that he'd not shared the fate of his men.

 

Biting down hard, his eyes closed and a silent, unspoken prayer to the Elements lingered in his mind but did nothing to the pain he felt. The guilt. How many times would we feel this way? How many times would he be the one staring at the dead. How many times should it have been him laying comatose and cold upon the table. He'd lost count.

 

So many brushes with death, so many close calls; yet somehow he survived. He endured. The eyes of the sullen Daise'Erei'Riov fluttered open and the traces of softness that had just been there melted away and his jaw clenched tight, jutting out proudly.

 

Now more than ever the men needed to see a leader. They needed courage to draw from, not a endless pit of despair to fall into. The three men fighting for their lives in critical care deserved better than a weepy leader.

 

In measured, assured steps Destorie turned and walked towards the still-living D'Heno in sickbay. It was for them he had to remain strong.

 

“They served the Empire with distinction,” he said finally. “May the Elements guide them to Vorta'Vor.”

 

Stopping at their bed-side, Destorie tipped his head slightly. “You men,” he said, his voice finding a strength that had seemed absent in the past. “You served the Empire and ship well. Khre'Riov t'Rexan and myself are truly proud of your performance. You have brought great honor to this ship, and to yourselves.”

 

Met by smiles and proud eyes, Destorie nodded. “When we return to Ch'Rihan, you all be given accommodations and I will see to it that your service to the Empire does not go unnoticed.”

 

“Hann'yyo,” one of the men said. “The honor is to serve aboard this ship, rehhkai.”

 

“Ie,” Destorie said. “It is a proud, honorable ship...”

 

He looked up as if addressing the ship for a moment, as if it could hear him. The ship had been in many ways both a blessing and a curse to him. His greatest accomplishments and also his greatest dishonors had been committed upon this very vessel. In some ways, it had shaped him more in the last years than anything else in his life. It had taught him more than how to be an officer. More than just how to be a security officer. It had taught him how to be a leader. How to be a Rihan. What it meant to be D'Era.

 

“Again, I thank you all for your service. Now I will take my leave of you, I am sure you all like to rest.”

 

The men gave respectful nods to the Daise'Erei'Riov as he walked past them, leaving them to rest comfortably in the care of t'Ksa. As the doors to the bay slid shut behind him, Destorie took a deep breath.

 

His lip trembled for an instant as he gave thought to inner daemons. If he'd been the one laying in that bay, would anyone have came to see him? Would anyone have cared he was dead? The thought passed and he put it away. Now was not the time to think about his own failings as a Rihan. He had lived another day. The elements continued to give him a chance. A chance at redemption.