Burn Me Down

Aedan Finn was 10 years old when the Ridians to the north kicked down his door in a raid and killed his father in front of him. His father was Ronan Finn, one of the Thillian's greatest warriors. The Thillians and Ridians had been at war for years and shortly after the killing the war ended. Aedan is left to deal with the pain and soon discovers how difficult it is to live in times of peace when all he wants is a fight. Eventually he decides to leave home and travels north to the land of those he hates the most. He wants nothing more than to burn their cities to the ground and make them feel his pain. He's ready to start another war and end the peace that his father died fighting for.He eventually comes face to face with his enemy and discovers that things weren't quite how they had seemed. With some help from people he meets along the way and memories of what his father had taught him, he starts to discover that they might not be all that different from himself. When the bigger picture starts to reveal itself he finally gets a glimpse of what he's spent his whole life searching for. Excerpts: 1. "When they marched, the ground shook, dark clouds would roll in and block the sun. The men in our army would tremble with fear before them, but not my father. I imagined him running towards them, sprinting right past our front line, he was the only man unafraid. Roaring like a lion he’d pull back his sword and with one effortless swing he’d put an end to the first unfortunate Ridian in his path. Skillfully swinging and slicing, spinning and stabbing, he’d dismember them, every last one. My father would kill them all, and once they were all dead, lying in pieces on the ground, he’d return to me and he’d never leave again."2. "An archer slowly pulls an arrow and puts it in place, he’s completely blind to the fact that this very arrow was destined from the beginning of time to end a certain man’s life. A story that began years before with a soul being so carefully knit together in a young mother’s womb is about to come to an end on this jagged point. To the archer it’s just one of many, it doesn’t even warrant a second glance. To the man whose heart it finds, it stands alone as the final verdict, a death sentence handed down from heaven. To the man’s wife, it’s a fast approaching source of endless pain and suffering. To his two young children, it’s the thief who’s preparing to steal their father away forever. What will be released so easily and fly through the air so effortlessly will end its journey violently. It will land hard, sending a lightning bolt of pain through his body that will echo in the hearts of those who loved him for years to come."3. "There’s no doubt it would start another war. It would cost the lives of countless men. Wives would lose husbands, children would lose fathers; it would bring an end to this peace. Wretched peace, I have no peace, why should anyone else? How does a man find out what kind of man he is in times of peace? What separates the heroes, the courageous and the valiant from the cowards in times of peace? How do boys become men? How do I become a man? What can I possibly be remembered for? For being a good farmer? For being kind to my neighbors? “The great Aedan Finn, the amazing farmer and even better neighbor.” No, I will be forgotten. How can I live up to the name, the legacy of my father? I need war, every man needs war."