la Legion d'Abraham - The Secret Weapon

Everything is cold and quiet, and the smog lies thick over the city. It’s like just before a storm, when you can feel the tension growing, until it suddenly erupts and all hell breaks loose. Only question is what the storm brings this time. Last time we barely managed to withstand, one more day and we’d all be goners. It feels the same now. Christ! How did it come to this? Mallarken was supposed to change it. He and his secret weapon.

 

- The secret weapon died.

- What?

- I said the secret weapon died, you know you talk aloud when you write. I’ve basically read your entire diary, at least the last couple of days. It isn’t really Shakespeare but it isn’t crap either. But you should try writing more uplifting s**t, man, God knows we’d need it.

- The weapon was a person?

- Of course it was, jeez, they talked about it for weeks, Mallarken even displayed him after the Tiber Fork victory. Small boy, aged around eleven or somethin’ he was called the Dreamer, ring any bells?

- No, not really.

- No? S**t, where have you been the last couple of months?

- The infirmary.

- Oh… S**t, sorry man. This freakin’ war…

- It’s okay, so the weapon was a boy?

- Yeah, scrawny little kid, died close to a month ago. Not too far from here in fact. Was hit by a crossbow dart in the side, not a fatal wound for grown guys like us, but the poor kid didn’t have a chance. Died before the med could get to him. But for a couple of month the tide changed, man. Had this boy been alive we’d be chasing those daemonic f***s back to the pits from where they came.

- What did the boy do?

- Well, stories have it that he could see things, dream things before they even happened. At first I was as skeptic as I see you are now, but when we started to win it was hard to dismiss. You’ve heard the story about Falco, right?

- Of course.

- This boy was just like him, same gift and all. Some people even thought it was Falco reincarnated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those, but I believe he shared his gift.

- Must have been great.

- What?

- Feeling hope n’ all. I can’t even remember having such a feeling. This damn war has been one major uphill.

- True that. So what battle sent you to the infirmary?

- The Aegean.

- Oh s**t, I heard it was a hellstorm. Had a friend who fought there, said it was the worst thing he’d ever seen, and he’s a med. What company?

- Eleventh.

- The Bermudans, s**t, you’ve must seen a lot… how come you’re stationed here, man, shouldn’t you be around more… eh… heroic guys.

- Can’t. They say I’m too dangerous.

- Heh! Are you kidding me? You’re a soldier, that’s what we’re supposed to be.

- Too dangerous for them… First grade delusional disorder they called it. Sometimes I see things, clear as sky, that isn’t there.

- …

- Don’t worry, I’ve got pills for it.

- Yeah… good. I’ll leave you to your diary now, need to go empty the bladder.

- Sure… hey, what’s your name?

- Ortiz, Richardo Ortiz. People call me Oz.

- I’m Rupert Haiden. Keep your head down, Oz, things may explode any minute.

- Yeah, thanks, I’ll do that. Need to go now.

 

People all react differently to fear, some just freeze with their minds going blank, others starts to jabber in an ongoing stream of nonsense, while others keep their calm since they’ve all been there before, they know fear in its purest form and they know how to deal with it. I had a brief conversation with Oz, a local boy stationed here, and as I introduced myself I saw the all too recognizable patterns, thank God he didn’t start to jabber. Before I had him running away we had engaged in a conversation, he told me that the secret weapon was a boy who could dream about the future. But he died, and the small speck of hope with him. F**k! When will we see a new dreamer, I want to feel hope again.

 

Author's Note

Just practicing writing dialogue.

Reviews

[C. Rose]

This is a wonderful seed, I can tell already. I actually got a little excited...but I don't think it was the hopelessness ;) Promise of something great here! ~Rose