There were still signs of battle all over the place, but Leon did his best to ignore it. The battle, which had ended a few hours ago, had taken a couple of days, but they had Mathias' superior strategic knowledge on their side. The tactician had mentioned something about the enemy having someone skilled with strategy with them, but that did not make a difference in the end. Their company was simply stronger, and someone skilled with strategy simply wasn't enough when the company had Mathias.

The large village they were in had been occupied by the enemy for over half a year. Most people had fled from their homes, and the enemy had then used the town as a base. Well, there would be no more of that; that was why the company had taken back the town, and they intended to keep things that way.

The knight shook his head at the sight of some burned buildings. If people were to return to their homes, they would have some rebuilding to do. War was hard on the common people, he knew that much; he usually did his best to help people if he just could.

He continued to another half-destroyed building and stopped to look at it. It was larger and taller than the other houses around, and though the roof was half-collapsed, there was something familiar about the structure of the building. Leon stared at it for a moment before he realized the village had a church. Or well, what was left of a church, after the enemy had destroyed most of it.

He entered cautiously, not sure about the building's condition. The interior seemed to be fine though, if not for the fact that there were no benches - and the fact that there was hay and dirt all over. A couple of chickens were wandering around on the side of the hall.

Leon frowned. He had heard of the enemy robbing churches and turning them into who knew what, but seeing a holy place in such condition made him feel angry, yet at the same time, somewhat weak. He was a holy knight; this should not have happened.

"Leon?" A familiar voice called from the outside. The knight turned to look, and saw Mathias enter the building. The strategist glanced around, but didn't seem affected by the condition of the place.

"Mathias. Were you looking for me?" Leon walked over to his friend.

"I was told you went to take a look around, and came to find you," Mathias replied. "There are some details we need to check."

"Mmm," the younger man muttered and turned to look at the side of the church. "Mathias," he then said. "Why... why would someone do something like this? Have they no respect?"

The strategist stepped closer. "Seeing that they are heathens, why would they? This place is not holy for them. It's just a building where they can rob some gold and silver from."

"That's still wrong in the eyes of God!" Leon exclaimed all of a sudden, spinning around and looking at his friend. Mathias didn't flinch. "This is just... inexcusable! Those people don't care at all. How can they not? What makes them so blind? Don't they realize that God will punish them for it?"

Mathias looked at his friend calmly. "Leon."

"Forget it." The blond took a few steps towards the entrance. "I'm going to get some men and a priest. Someone needs to clean this mess..."

He didn't get too far; Mathias grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around so they were facing each other. The strategist's hold was firm, and Leon glared at him shortly, and then looked down. They stood still for a long while before Mathias asked, "Better now?"

"I'm sorry," Leon mumbled. "I shouldn't be so upset about it."

"Quite true. Also," the strategist nodded towards the exit. "You don't want to raise your voice like that. Never when your men could hear you."

Leon blinked, glanced at the entrance to the building, and then realized Mathias was not alone. Of course he wasn't; it hadn't been that long since the battle had ended and there was a chance of someone hiding around the village, possibly willing to commit suicide if they were able to kill the enemy strategist.

"Looks like you could use some rest," Mathias said, finally releasing his hold on the other man and taking a step back. He shook his head a little and gave his friend a hint of a smile. "You could also use a bath. You have blood all over you."

The blond knight gave him an innocent grin. "I... uh, forgot I was supposed to go do clean up."

"Go." The strategist nodded to the other man. "I'll be right behind you. I did tell you we need to go over something, after all. It'll have to wait until you're cleaned up, though."

Leon glanced around, but there didn't seem to be anything he should be worried about when it came to Mathias' safety. "Well, all right. See you later then." With that, he headed out.

There were indeed two knights outside waiting for them; one of them went inside to check on the strategist while the other followed Leon. The former stopped by the door, watching curiously as the dark-haired man walked to the back of the hall and looked around.

Mathias stopped where the remains of the altar were, and then circled around it. He noted that there had been a cross here, but it had apparently been metal and had been taken away; only the dais remained. There was nothing to see here, really. He was about to leave but something caught his eye, and he moved closer to the wall to see what it was.

In the back wall, someone had carved the shape of a cross. The carving was rather crude, but it was clear enough. It was partly hidden, like someone had been trying to keep it out of sight, and had been in a hurry when doing it. Still, it was a cross, left as a clear reminder of what this place was.

The strategist smiled to himself before he turned and headed out. Maybe the building wasn't so unholy after all.

Author's notes:

Another one for the CV fanfic LJ community.

- Elmina (November, 2006)