Ch. 2

It was a cold winter’s morning. The sun had just risen, but it was covered by a large accumulation of clouds. A light dusting of snow was slowly making its way down to cold, dampened earth.

I was startled awake by the loud chirping of birds in the distance. I laid back down for a few moments and tried to compose myself. I knew that it was still early, but the smell of something roasting on a fire and the grumbling of my stomach wouldn’t allow me to go back to sleep.

I reluctantly got off of my cot and made my way for the opening of the tent. The tent I was in was a fair size, and so I had to be careful and step over the other men who were sleeping. I didn’t know the exact amount, but with limited tents and a large group of troops we had to put several men in the same quarters every night.

As I stepped out into the open I looked around at the sea of tents of men that spread across the valley. Only a few men were out and about at the moment. We usually slept in until sunlight, but with winter approaching it was getting harder and harder to see any hint of sunlight. The only men who had to be up at this time was our night-patrol, but they were getting ready to switch off sometime soon; probably sometime within the hour.

Yawning, I stumbled over to an adjacent campfire and sat next to an old friend of mine.

“Morning,” he said.

I gave another great yawn. “Hey Sam. How’s your morning going?”

He gave a slight chuckle. This was the same routine that we had going for several months by then. His answer to my question happened to be the same answer he gave anytime I asked him how his morning was going.

“Oh…it’s going.”

I laid on my stomach and looked at the fire. Sam was already busy cooking up fried strips, which meant that he had already worked his way through a batch of eggs. This was yet another routine that he had had going on over the past few months.

I then sat up and stretched, my earlier attempt at waking up now proving to be irrelevant. I looked around at the mountains to the north and the swirling mist that engulfed one of the higher peaks. Looking at the mountains to the south I saw no mist at all. In fact, as I turned to look back at the northern set of mountains, I soon realized that the mist was rather dark and was moving upwards.

Samuel, curious as to why I kept looking around so much, joined me in looking at the mountains that surrounded us. He didn’t say a word, but for the slightest second I could have sworn a look of concern crossed his face. I knew he must have seen what I had seen…or thought I was seeing at least.

“Sam, do we have any units that are stationed around here? Preferably to the north?”

He just shook his head. “None that I’m aware of.”

Trying to pry out more information, I asked, “and what about enemy battalions? Are there any fortresses or units that are stationed around here?”

He slowly nodded, his gaze still fixed on the frying meet that continued to prod at. “There’s no fortresses or anything else that I am aware of, but it is said that the Dark Phoenix and his men often come to this area to disrupt our food transports that cross this valley.”

The Dark Phoenix? I knew him; or at least had heard a little about him. Heck; almost everyone in our land knew of him by now.

It was said that the Dark Phoenix was an invincible warrior. Driven to madness by the loss of someone he once loved, he joined Saul with the promise that he would get her back someday. With no sanity left about him to sedate his fury, the Dark Phoenix had quickly become a renowned warrior and Saul’s right-hand man.

I couldn’t help but wonder if the rumors were true. A warrior who has lost all sanity would certainly be fearless, and therefore quite dangerous and unpredictable. There might be no rhyme or reason to the things he would do, and things such as mercy and kindness would not likely be something that he would be willing to give to those he and his men capture.

Even though I didn’t believe he was invincible, I certainly believed that he was also quite talented at killing. With such a vast and powerful army at his will, it would be hard to gain Saul’s attention and become his right-hand man. Indeed, he would have to have some incredible skill at his disposal.

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Within the hour everyone had got the call to line up in formation. I quickly scurried to the back of the line, tightening my shoulder strap as I went along. As soon as I had finished meddling with the strap, I stood straight up and looked forward, my face as stern as I could manage at the time.

I’ve always been fairly tall, so seeing over my fellow comrades wasn’t too hard for me. Unfortunately for my dear friend, Sam, he was about dead even with most of the other men and couldn’t really see in front of him. It wasn’t too much of a problem though; due to their paranoia, the captains always told us to listen intently and look at a slightly upward angle. Anyone who looked a captain in the eye got a stern look and immediately pulled away, the captains cold stare harsher than any amount of words could be.

All of us were all decked out in our full body gear with weapons sheathed at our side. We wore long, black tabards on top of our chainmail shirts. On the edges of the tabard was a silver outlining, and in the middle of our tabard was the picture of a white lion, the symbol of our country.

Our whole bottom halves were made of silver plated armor. They came in two sections; one part covered the thighs and the rest were our boots that came all the way up to our knees. With our tabards being as long as they were, though, it was sometimes hard to see anything above the knees.

We also wore small, metal caps on our heads as helmets. They covered the whole top and back of heads, coming down to a thin, rectangular strip that went down the center of our heads to somewhere around our noses. They were fairly light and didn’t likely prove effective against most blows, but they were okay against small strikes to the top and back of our heads. It was also good that they didn’t hinder our vision very much while fighting.

From the corner of my eye I saw our general approaching. His name was General Darius.  The leader of our Western forces, he was well known and respected throughout our lands.

He was an older gentleman, but he was certainly not lacking the intimidating presence that he had had from earlier years. I guessed that he was around forty-five years old at the time, but he was still quite stocky and well muscled for his age. But, more than anything, the scar just above his left eye and his shaved head gave him a very rugged look.

The rest of the troops and I looked up as the general finally came to a stop. He didn’t say anything at first, his eyes averting from one soldier to the other for several seconds. But then, after a few moments, a very fierce look came upon his face.

“Men,” he barked. “Our country has called upon us. We are in the midst of a gruesome fight that has now lasted over three decades. Saul and his men have ravaged our lands, slaying men, women, and children alike.”

He looked down and paused for a few seconds to let the words sink in before continuing.

“His right hand man is not far from us. The Dark Phoenix is said to have single-handedly kept our trade and supply routes about this area at bay.”

It seemed as if everyone was starting to shift uncomfortably at these words, but no one spoke or went out of formation. All that could be heard was the hard wind blowing around us and the chirping of some birds that were off in the distance.

Darius then moved his right hand slowly and pointed from east to west. “This area is our biggest trade route. If Saul can stop us here, then it would be easy game for him to finish us off.

Darius couldn’t have  been more right. This was the only route to our capital, and without our capital to give orders how could we possibly fight? It is well known that wars are ended soon after the main stronghold is gone, and with good reasoning.

The worst part about this war though, was that we weren’t just fighting against men. The threat of starvation and medical supplies was quickly destroying our country. It’s one thing to fight a war against people; it another to fight a war of attrition.

Darius continued. “It will be up to us to defend this land. It is here that the fate of our country will be decided.” He shook his head. “Saul knows this all too well. It is said that he sent some of his best men here to finish us off.”

Many men didn’t even bother hiding their nervousness. Many of them moved in place or sighed openly. Such was not usual for men of discipline, but these we darker times than any of us had imagined.

Darius waited a few seconds to let his words sink in. “If what we heard is true, then this will be a deciding factor in the war. If Saul has truly sent all of his best men, then this could be a serious blow to him as well if he is stopped.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I never would have thought the war could be over so soon. It had been going on for a long time now; well before I was born. The thought of it possibly ending was beyond my comprehension.

“We are to march north and join the second battalion by nightfall. Everyone needs to pack up their belongings and prepare to go as soon as possible. We will be leaving within the hour.” He bowed his head. “Dismissed.”

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As order, we were all ready within the hour. We all lined up in single-file formation and began to move out. As was tradition in my kingdom, the line was lead by the general. From then on we went down in line by rank.

Being just an average cadet at the time, I was somewhere near the back. I had been in a few small skirmishes prior to this particular day, but I was still considered fairly new to the military at the time.

Our system for entering the military is different than most. In order to slowly integrate us into the army we had to start at smaller posts before we could enter the battlefield. Usually a recruit would start off as a town guard for several months after getting out of the military training camp.

As for me, I was fortunate and got to watch over several of our public officials. Most days I would simply escort an official throughout the town both to and from their homes. However, whenever there was a big gathering of government officials I would get to stand guard in the chamber as they would go over bills and debate about the latest issues. Eventually I ended up having my guard position for nearly four months before I got to be on the front lines.

A loud crackle startled me back from my drifting mind. We were walking through a dense forest in a single line, the trouncing of branches and leaves being the only sound about us. Many men had their heads down as they marched, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they all thinking the same thing; that this was nothing less than a suicide mission. Even if we met up with our other forces in time, we were going against one of the strongest armies the world had ever seen.

Saul, since a time well before I was born, had been warring with our small nation. Having come from a small country to the east, he started with a very small army. Somehow, though, his small band of soldiers had fought and taken over many small cities, one after the other. With these small cities he gradually gained more troops and started going for larger territories. In time he would come to what was once the greatest nation in the entire western hemisphere; the great country of Judahn.

Judahn was considered a great country for many reasons. It was very a large, rich, and powerful country. Or, should I say, it was considered great until the day Saul started to attack our borders.

All of our power and might couldn’t withstand Saul’s incredible fury. It is said that he raised his army from the depths of Hell itself. Even when critically outnumber, Saul has only lost a handful of battles over the years. Rumor is that he controls the most powerful mages in the world, their immense power always giving his army the edge over any enemy.

But, no matter what we were about to face, I decided that it was not worth worrying about.  Little did I know that my life would have an effect on many others that day…

And so it was over four hours later that I found myself stumbling over countless twigs and branches that covered our beaten path. We were now deep within a forest, the troves of trees and bushes making it hard to see anything to the right side of the small road that we were traveling on. To our left was a small river that was crystal clear in the small patches of sun that shown upon it.

As we continued on I heard the chirping of birds, the snapping of branches and leaves, and the gentle flowing of the river. Despite the long hours of walking in our full armor sets and the threat of having a battle at a moment’s notice, I was still enjoying this peaceful day. Most of the clouds from the earlier morning had cleared up, and the mixture of the forest and river’s natural beauty made the trip seem shorter than it really was. From the many times I had traveled before this point I knew that a positive attitude would make long journeys better than they would otherwise be.

I kept on walking, the dull pounding of my feet keeping my mind in a rhythmic trance that would have continued until we reached our destination. However, the line in front of me came to a slow stop. I lifted my head to see what was going on. Sam was just in front of me, his head leaning to the right to see what was going on towards the front of the line.

Suddenly a gruff voice from ahead shouted, “make haste! We will be arriving at their camp shortly.”

I could tell that it was Darius. Even if I didn’t recognize the voice I knew that only he could shout from so far and be heard so well.

The line slowly started to move forward, the speed quickly picking up with each step.

Within a half hour or so I could see smoke forming above the trees. I wasn’t positive, but something told me that this was probably the smoke that I had seen earlier that morning. I knew that it had to be within a few miles of the one I had seen earlier that morning at least.

And as continued looking forward, I could see the very top of what looked like a large tent just ahead of us. If I was right, then I could rest assured knowing that it was our troops. Or at least what I thought until we entered the camp.

Something was burning. I was pretty sure that it wasn’t the cooking of meat, either. No, it definitely wasn’t meat. It smelled more like…leather. Burning leather.

We entered the camp one man at a time. As we began to file in, the small trail that we had been traveling expanded into a more open area where a large path of trees had been cut down. We spread ourselves out as we began to make a large circle around the encampment.

It took several minutes for all of us to enter, but we finally made it in. As I looked around I began to wonder if I was right about them not cooking any meat. Still, even though I was closer now, I didn’t think that it smelled like any meat that I had encountered before.

Looking to the middle of the camp I could see a fire. Man, this fire was huge! They could have cooked food for the whole unit in that thing. It was a good thing that the tents were spread out as much as they were; the fire sometimes threatened to spread, but never quite got big enough to grow any more.

I then started to look deeper into the fire. What in the world could they have been cooking? It was a little bit after lunch by now, so it definitely wasn’t a meal or anything.

Around me I began to hear whispering and gasping. I tried to hear what they said, but was unsuccessful. I then turned to Sam, but gaze locked onto the fire, his eyes wide open.

And then my question was answered by a strong wind. I began to get a better smell for what was really in the fire, and disgust immediately ran through my whole body. I was positive about what it was now, and let me assure you; it was not a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, my guess proved right. It was not meat or anything of the sort. Or, should I say, it wasn’t animal meat burning in the fire. I still couldn’t see what was in the fire, but having been in a few skirmishes previous gave me a good idea of what it was.

Just a few men down on my left, someone stepped forward and yelled, with a hand covering his nose, “what on God’s green Earth is that smell?”

‘Trust me, brother; you don’t want to know’, I thought to myself.

The man looked around, but all was silent. He then walked over to fire, his sword out in hand.

At first he looked at the fire and tried to see what it was, but he couldn’t see anything very clearly due to the smoke and dark lighting from the trees. After a few seconds of circling the fire he prodded his sword into the fire in an attempt to pull something out.

A loud thud filled the quiet camp as a large, circular object fell out. A nauseous look contorted the soldiers face as he realized what he had just pulled out. I didn’t see what it was very well from where I was standing, but I didn’t need to. Inside the fire was the remains of dozens of human corpses, and the thing that just fell out of it was the remains of a charred human head.

Whispers and outbursts alike fill the camp. A few men bent over in an effort to keep from losing their last meal. All I could think to do was shake my head, my mind filled with thoughts of disgust and sadness.

I wasn’t sure how many men were thrown into the fire, but the general said that there were at least a few hundred men at this camp. As it was, I could only imagine fitting a few dozen bodies in the bonfire, meaning that the rest were either taken prisoner, escaped, or died out somewhere in the woods.

General Darius made his way to the fire, a stern yet apathetic look on his face. He studied the head for a few moments, then looked deep into the fire. Clearly dead bodies, even when they were well charred, didn’t bother him too much.

He then took a deep breath and looked around at everyone else. He saw the disgust, sadness, and confusion that filled their faces. Many of them stood straight up and composed themselves as the general’s eyes passed over them, the fear of his gaze apparently more alarming than the images they had just seen.

Darius then spoke in a very soft, yet serious tone. “As you may all have guessed, these are the remains of the unit that we were to meet up with earlier today. I’m not sure if this is the work of the Dark Phoenix himself, but they were more than a match for the seven-hundred strong that were encamped here.”

He shook his head and looked around at the other soldiers again to see what their reaction was. Everyone was standing straight up now, their eyes intently watching the general as he readied himself to give orders.

“The enemy is likely gone by now, but I still don’t want to risk sharing our brethren’s fate.” Darius took a deep breath and sighed, weariness now begging to show in his voice. “We will look around in the forest just outside the camp to find any survivors. Once we are done with that we will immediately head out. I am expecting us to be done in a couple hours. Let us make haste, though; I do not wish to remain here any longer than is necessary.”

Darius let his orders sink in for a moment, then waved his hand in dismissal. Everyone slowly composed themselves and began to make their way to the surrounding forest, a tense atmosphere now coming down upon us all.

I reluctantly turned around and began to make my way to the eastern edge of the forest. The sun was now getting lower now, an unwelcome reassurance that it would be dark within the next few hours. I began to wonder how much sense it made to be searching on a cold, winter night that was sure to bring us few, if any, fortunate survivors.

Sam followed me closely. The sound of his footsteps behind me kept me from lagging or slowing down any; something that I very much didn’t want at that particular moment. It had been a long day’s march, and the mix or dehydration and sunlight was beginning to wear down on me.

Sam, with his innate ability to know how I was feeling at any given moment, picked up his pace and caught up with me to walk at my side. He then cleared his throat and asked, “So how are you?”

My instant reply was a grunt and a shrug, but then I replied, “Tired.”

Sam gave a big smile. “Tired? Why would you be tired? We’ve only been walking all day with two or three breaks in between.”

I couldn’t help but give a small laugh. Even when I was exhausted, something about the way he talked made his sarcastic comments irresistibly funny to me.

As we began to enter a small clearing into the forest I asked, “So…do you really think that we’ll find anyone?”

Continuing to walk at a slightly slower pace, Sam just shrugged. “I’m not sure. We might. I’m fairly certain that a few escaped the initial attack, but odds aren’t good that any of them would have gotten far if they were pursued.”

I slowly nodded. I had the same feeling. Anyone who was trying to escape would most likely be on foot, and it was well known that Saul always had a small band of cavalry in his units. If that held true today then their odds were slim to none.

I hadn’t given up yet, though. It was rare that I would lose all hope in any given situation, no matter how bad it was. Even though I was thinking the odds weren’t good, I had a nagging feeling that we would find at least one person.

Within the hour it had grown substantially darker. In the distance I could hear the sounding of a horn; a signal that we needed to be heading back. Though there was no one was around us that we could see, I heard the rustling of men on their way back from every direction from where I was standing.

Samuel and I stood in our place for a moment, the ending of our search not being nearly as pleasing as I had thought. I didn’t expect to find anyone, but something told me that we needed to stay out a little longer. I wanted so badly to find even the slightest glimmer of hope on that dark day.

“Ready?” Sam asked.

I didn’t reply at first. I knew that the second we headed back would be the same second that I had given up on our search, and I didn’t want to do that just yet.

I looked around one last time before I said anything. Then, knowing that no one else was to be found, I replied, “Yeah…might as well.”

Sam and I turned and began to make our way back to the camp. I slowly put one foot in front of the other as we went down, the crumbling of leaves complementing the rhythmic pounding of our feet. Even though I was done with my hope of finding any survivors, the thought of having to do another march made me want to buy as much time as I could before reaching camp.

And then, to my surprise, the trumpet sounded once more. Sam and I stopped dead in our tracks. We both knew what this meant; one trumpet meant to make our way back to a particular position point, two meant that there was about to be a battle.

I looked over at Sam. The look on his face showed that we were on the same page. We needed to get back to camp, and quick…

Without a word we both took off at a full sprint down towards the camp. Trampling through bushes and navigating around trees, it was several minutes before I could see the edge of the camp. As we got closer we began to slow our pace; we knew that we had to be cautious if this was an ambush.

I peered around the tree that was before me to get a quick assessment of the situation. Behind me I could hear Sam; he was leaning against the tree in an attempt to catch his breath. Finding it hard to keep my own breathing to a reasonable decimal, I cut my look around the corner short without getting a good look first.

I pressed my back against the tree. Taking one deep breath after another, I tried to calm myself and listen to what was going on. My eyes were shut, but I could still feel Sam’s eyes burning straight through me.
I concentrated and listened as best I could to my surroundings. From behind me, towards the camp, I could hear captains yelling out orders to their troops. General Darius’ rash voice could be heard over them all.

I took one last deep breath and looked over. As I had suspected, Darius and his captains were getting the troops in order. I didn’t see any enemy, but it was fairly obvious to me that the enemy was near.

I turned back to Samuel. “We need to go.”

Without a word, we both moved out from the forest edge and sprinted towards the camp. As I continued forward I could see that everyone was beginning to form a line. Sam and I had apparently gone deeper into the forest than most the others; we ended up being some of the last to line up.

Darius stood and faced us, his face as stern as I had ever seen. To my surprise, he showed no sign of fear. I could hear large movements in the forest edge that was before us, and yet Darius seemed even more calm than usual. It was on this day that I began to believe that some people were born for battle, and that he was one of those men.

As Darius and his captians barked orders, I tried to look around at the forest edge ahead and see if there was any movement. I was starting to feel uneasy knowing that there could be an army just outside the camp. There was no way of telling how many of them there were, but I had a bad feeling that it was full enemy unit; the same one that had taken out our fellow men before we came upon the encampment.

Minutes felt like hours. Adrenaline still coursed through us, and yet there was no visible enemy in sight. I wanted this to be over with, whatever the word “this” was referring to at the time.

I definitely didn’t want a battle, but waiting for one somehow seemed much worse. By now the sun had passed and it had been almost an hour since we had heard something in the woods. Everyone was more relaxed, but the lingering thought of an impending battle still remained in the air.

Darius was no longer giving orders. He had a small group of men surround the camp to keep an eye out while the rest of us stayed in the center and relaxed. Many of us who were not on guard were just sitting down, our gear still on and swords by our side. We all knew that a battle was coming; the only question was when it would occur.

The night continued to move at a dreadfully slow pace. Many of the men who were not on guard duty were now sound asleep. I, myself, was now beginning to nod-off. The air was still slightly tense, but our adrenaline was now working against us and putting us to sleep.

The only man who chose to keep standing was the general himself. His arms were crossed as he sternly surveyed the surrounding. It seemed liked he never even blinked as his eyes as they constantly moved from side to side.

And suddenly, without warning, an arrow landed just outside the camp’s perimeter. The guard who was closest to it jumped back, his hand quickly stumbling for his sheathed sword. His eyes were wide with fright as he turned and yelled to wake up everyone in the camp.

I shook my head as I was jutted awake. Sam was standing over me, his sword already out in his hand. I could tell from the expression on his face that this was no joke.

Before another arrow could land Darius was shouting out orders. The camp suddenly went to chaos as everyone ran to get into formation. I barely had time to unsheathe my sword as I sprinted to get in line.

The outside perimeter of the camp was now circled with dozens of arrows, each of which was lighted with fire at their tip. The rustling of leaves and the snapping of twigs could now be heard, but the enemy could still not be seen. And, now that we were surrounded by a fiery circle, there was no way that we were going to start charging the woods.

The lot of us just kept on staring into the woods. There was rustling coming from virtually every side, and so the sources remained indistinguishable. Clearly our first set of defense, otherwise known as plan A, was not working for us.

Darius then barked a few orders that were unintelligible to me, his being back in the middle of the camp and me being at the far southern edge of the forest line. I didn’t need to hear him to know what was about to happen, though. Plan B was about to take full effect.

Next to our leader was a small group of arch-mages. They numbered around a dozen or so in all. Though they looked like typical archers, they were anything but ordinary. They were all magi whom were trained to combine a mix of magic and archery. Using the bows and arrows as a source to send out their spells, they manipulated their weapons to do an amazing array of precise, destructive damage to the enemy from a distance.

Darius raised his hand, the arch-mages already beginning to pull up their bows. Quickly dropping his hand, he yelled, “Fire!”

The mages let lose their arrows. These were no ordinary arrows, though; they were arrows enchanted with a spell that made them shine with a light almost as bright as the moon during a clear winters night. Spreading themselves out to shoot at different sections of the forest, the archers took aim and let loose their luminous arrows.

It was an amazing sight. One after another the arrows shot into the forest. They would light up the areas that they were traveling though, giving us sight of any nearby enemy. After a few seconds the light would burn out, immediately followed by an small explosion.

To many people’s surprise, and to my dismay, not one arrows hit. Even worse, not one enemy was to be seen when the arrows were lighting up the forest. And, after all of the explosions and fallen trees, not even one scream from an enemy was heard.

It didn’t take any brains to figure out that we had been outsmarted and were in way over our heads. Many had said that Saul’s spellcasters could create illusions, and I was now beginning to believe them. All we could do now was hope that our mages could somehow break through and find a way to show us the enemy.

Plan B was proving ineffective and general Darius, for the first time that I had seen, was now beginning to show his frustration. An angry look was contorted on his face as several beads of sweat began dripping from his arched brows. He panted heavily, his big chest heaving as he took one deep, exaggerated breath after another.

We just stood there holding our weapons tightly in hand. The rustling that we heard before we shot into the forest was now gone. In fact, there was no sound to be heard at all.

Not being able to see was a disadvantage, but not being able to hear them was truly disheartening. How could we fight something that we couldn’t see or hear? I didn’t know the answer, but I wasn’t eager to find out.

As seconds began to pass, questioning thoughts began to enter our minds. If there were any enemy out there, how in the world could they move without being seen? Was it truly possible that Saul’s mages had found a way to sneak soldiers upon their enemy without warning?

Anyone who was asking themselves such questions soon got their answer. The fire behind us burned out, leaving the fire-arrows on the outside perimeter as our only source of light. All I could hear now was the heavy breathing of fellow soldiers.

After several long seconds, the fire in the camp came back with an explosion. Immediately I could hear screaming and the clashing of metal as my eyes squinted to adjust the lighting. There was no one in front of me, so I turned around to see if they had come from behind.

Several fellow soldiers had already been slain. In the few seconds that the fire had been out a small band of soldiers had snuck up on us. While we were busy looking to the forest that was to the north, south and east, they had come from the road that was west of us.

Had I had time to think about things, I would have realize the sounds that came from the forest, whether by a small band of men or some other trickery, was only meant as a means for distraction. The real army was on the opposite side, silently making their way behind us as we busied ourselves elsewhere. Surely their leader, whether it was Saul or someone else, was a rather crafty tactician.

Samuel, whom was by my side just seconds before, was already locked deep in battle with an enemy soldier. The stranger wore black, plated armor that went from head to toe and carried a long broadsword. He had a helmet that covered the top of his head down to the tip of his chin, the bottom piece of the helmet sloping on both sides and going inward to make a v-type shape.

On his chest plate was a silver phoenix, the marking of a soldier who was lead by one of Saul’s fiercest generals; the one they called the Dark Phoenix. It was said that the Dark Phoenix always lead his army into battle, and so I looked around to see if any of the foreign soldiers had something to distinguish themselves from the others. If I could find him then I could end the battle…or die trying.

I quickly surveyed my surroundings, but there was too much movement for me to see around anyone. It didn’t matter in the end, though. In the end it was He who found me.

I sprinted towards Sam to give him aid. He was still fighting the same opponent, but there was another enemy who was on their way to jump in. Since Sam was focused on the first enemy I decided to take out the other one first.

He was coming up fast on Samuel’s right side. Having come from behind Sam on his left side, I had to book it to get there first. Thankfully I’ve always been a fast runner, so I made it just in time.

I parried his blow as he made a chop at Sams’ head. Quickly making a swipe of my own, I nearly caught him off guard before he jumped back. I immediately leaped after him and feigned a horizontal slash to my right. Then, turning my sword to make an attack to his right side, I brought my sword up and took yet another stroke. Being completely off guard, my opponent didn’t even have time to yell as I came down and sliced straight through his neck, knocking his head clear off.

Turning back towards Sam, I jabbed forward at his opponent. He focused on me for a split second to defend my attack, but that was all my Sam needed to thrust his sword straight through him. The rival fell on his back, nearly pulling Sam down as he tried to hold on to his sword.

Putting his foot on the dead man’s chest as a mean of leverage, Samuel pulled out his sword from his dead adversary. He looked towards me and gave a thankful nod. I wanted to nod in turn, but I knew that I had more pressing matters at hand.

And suddenly I was startled by a scream to my right. Startled, I turned to see one of my comrades fall to the ground. His killer stood above him and shook his head. Clearly he didn’t get the challenge he was looking for.

I couldn’t help but stare at the dark figure. He was definitely different from the others. His helmet completely covered his face instead of forming into a v-shape at the top of his chin. Also, his armor looked much lighter and thinner than all of the others.

It was his weapons, though, that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of. On each of his arms he had a long blade that connected to a gauntlet. These blades extended about half a foot or so off of his arms and came to form a sharp tip at the end.

He stared back at me with burning red eyes. I couldn’t help but feel powerless to the ferocity that his eyes showed me. Never before had I seen anyone whose eyes actually glowed. I I could only return his intimidating look with a mix of fear and awe upon my face.

I shook my head and broke his gaze. Turning to my left I looked over at Sam, who was already looking back in turn. Tightening the grip on my two-handed sword, I nodded at my friend and turned back to face the enemy leader.

Sam knew what my gesture meant without as much as a word; I was about to make a charge. Leaping forward as fast as I could, I drew my weapon up and quickly closed the distance between me and my challenger. Then, just a few feet away from him, I jumped up and swung my sword horizontally to where his neck was.

I hadn’t even fully taken a swing before the enemy ducked and came up behind me. I tried to land at once and roll to the side, but I knew that he would have gotten me before then. As I came down my only hope that Sam had followed me and had distracted him.

I was very grateful when I had landed. Listening to what was going on behind me, I knew that my teammate had already taken a swing at our rival while I was in mid-air. Unfortunately for me, though, all it had done was by me a little more time.

I promptly spun around to see Samuel taking step to his left and make yet another swing. The adversary lowered his head and moved in closer as the strike came in. Sam missed him just a few inches.

I knew that my good friend was in deep trouble, but I couldn’t move fast enough to save him. Just as he was pulling his sword back in, the enemy general had stabbed at Sam with the weapon on his right arm. Sam was already trying to move to his right, and so the first strike missed. But, almost as if he had been anticipating Sam’s move, the adversary quickly sliced at him with his left arm-blade.

I stopped in my tracks as I watched Amos fall to the ground. He was gripping at his throat, a steady stream of blood now gushing out onto his hands. His throat had been cut open, and so all I could do now was watch as my best friend died right in front of me.

Shock had stopped me in my tracks for the moment. I had seen many people die by this point in my life, but none of them were as close to me as Sam. Having had a few years of war under his belt before I had joined, he was the one who showed me the ropes and helped me transition into a soldier.

Gradually, all of the fear and sorrow that I was feeling turned into rage. My blood boiled, anger now filling the void that I felt over my friends’ death. No one else was going to die today except the man across from me.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself to charge. The challenger across from me just stared, his head cocked to the side as if he was more amused than frightened that I was about to make an attack. Apparently killing was just a sport to this guy, and I hoped to send him on an early retirement.

With a loud battle-cry I lunged forward, my sword low at my side so as to not hinder my speed.  Jumping proved to be a big mistake the last time I tried it against him, so I decided to keep it on the ground this time. Sam couldn’t save me this time if anything were to go wrong, so I had to play it smart.

As soon as I got within swords’ reach of my enemy I let loose a quick strike that went down in a vertical motion. He effortlessly took a step to the left and knocked my swing to the side. Knowing that he was too fast for me to get in another swing, I mirrored my opponent and stepped to the right to keep him from closing in.

My attempt to keep him at a distance soon fell apart.  Before I could even get my sword up and in front of me again, my adversary had already lowered himself and juked to his left. He then went straight at me, his deadly blades almost within striking range.

Not wanting to let him use his speed to his advantage anymore, I leaped backwards and made a horizontal swing at his midsection. He quickly spun, jumped to his right, and continued forward. I then moved to the left, yet again trying to copy his movement and keep a distance.

Within milliseconds he had already closed in. I stepped forward just as he got into my striking range and took a quick shot at his right leg. He quickly rolled forward, easily dodging my attack. My sword banged against the ground, the shock of the blow nearly knocking the weapon from my hands.

And so, for the smallest fraction of a second, I lay wide open. My arms were extended to keep control of my weapon; the rest of my body wide open for an attack. Being just a few inches from me, I knew that I was going to be an easy kill.

Without delay, my enemy quickly took advantage of the situation. In the quick second or so that I was left open, he swiftly rolled into a low, standing position and looked up at me. My left leg being right in front of him, he took his left arm and did an upper-cut type motion under my leg, driving the blade straight through my thigh.

The searing pain made me instantly drop my weapon. I reached over with both hands to grab my thigh, inadvertently leaving myself open once again for another strike. Abruptly pulling the blade out of my leg, my adversary used my momentary distraction to step up behind me.

By this time I knew it was over. My leg was severely damaged, my sword was on the ground, and I was now too overcome with pain to respond to the enemy general as he snuck up behind me. I could only hope that he would make it a quick ending.

Thankfully, it seemed that I wasn’t the only one who wanted to make it quick. Without hesitation, he grabbed my hair with his left arm. Then, with his right arm pulled back, he quickly jerked my head towards him and stabbed the blade through my exposed neck.

To this day I cannot find the words to explain just how painful the next few seconds were. All the my air instantly left me, the blade cleanly driving through my throat. Gasping for breath, I couldn’t even cry out in pain as the blade burned through me.

He let the blade remain for a few seconds before pulling out. His left arm being the only thing that was keeping me standing, I promptly fell as soon as he let go. I just lay on the ground, my feeble attempts to breathe rapidly coming to a halt.

I guess he didn’t stay to watch as I died. From what I heard, he continued to slaughter what was left of my kinsman after he was through with me. Unfortunately, none of the others escaped. It was a complete massacre.

I wouldn’t have asked for a better way to die, though. As painful as it was, it was still a quick and honorable death; at least it would have been, had I not somehow come to survive.

By all means, I did, in fact, die. Many asked me if I saw what the afterlife was like, but I don’t think I was dead long enough to see very much. All I can remember is seeing a light, and that I felt a warm, comforting feeling that I have never come close to feeling when alive.

The question that I get asked the most, though, is how I came back. Not only did my lungs collapse when I was hit, but many of the nerves in the back of my neck were cut in the process. No amount of known magic or science could have saved me; nor can they explain just how I came to live after having died on the battlefield.

All I can remember after hitting the ground is waking up. I was standing on my feet once again, the remains of dozens of dead enemy all around me. As I looked upon the corpses I noticed that not one of them happened to be a fellow soldier. All my brethren were alive and well, looking up at me as if they had just woken up from a short sleep. I looked back at them, the same exact question plaguing all of our minds.

Am I really alive…or is this just a dream?