First day in the forge

Hundreds of men stood before me, but I didn't cower. Behind them a foggy field green with grass but stained with blood. The ruins of a castle sat in it serving only as a home for moss. A gray sky set above the clouds blocking out the sun. My men had fallen and I was all that remained. I was the only thing standing between an army of pillaging murders and my home. As I gazed out upon my foes the army split down the middle and two figures on black horse trotted to the front. When they came into my view I got a better look at the two. One was clearly the leader of the misfits, wearing black plate armor trimmed in gold and an extravagant crown. The other wore all black plate mail with no helmet. He was an overly large man. He seemed to stand well over six and a half feet tall, but he wasn't lanky, he was as muscular as a tiger, and he looked ready to pounce. He must've been the general or commander under the leader because he had some sort of identifying patch on his chest. I couldn't quite make out what it was but none of the other soldiers​ bore the patch. No matter how hard I focused I could quite see their faces. They were just a blur and the harder I looked the blurrier they got. The man in Black plate steeped of his magnificent warhorse. And drew a great two handed axe. The one with the crown began to speak.
"You can not hope to defeat our entire army" he had a haughty accent and spoke with his chin lifted high. "You can't even hope to defeat their commander." He said as he gestured to the man in Black plate. The man grunted in response. Before I could answer the commander charged at me raising his battle axe high above his head. Time seemed to slow down as it always did when I was in combat and the commander seemed to be moving ever so slowly. He started to bring down his axe attempting to cleave me in two. When it was inches from hitting I redirected his swing with my short sword in my left hand and with the hand and a half sword in my right I brought the blade across his abdomen. Time continued at it's normal pace and I stepped past the man in Black plate.
"You were saying?" I said pointing my longsword at the leader. The commander fell over behind me, first the top half then the bottom.
"K..k...kill him!" Stuttered the leader racing toward the back of the army.
The men stared at me with fright not knowing if they should attack or run. Some made up their mind threw their weapons and ran for the hills. The others that remained seemed even more skeptical now but all in unison the let out a Savage war cry and charged me. I ran forward slicing and stabbing anyone in reach. I marched in a straight line fighting any that got in my way with no fear. Without realizing I ended up right in front of the leader. The man fumbled to unsheathe his sword and he shakily held the point toward me. I batted his sword away with my longsword and it flew across the field sticking into the blood soaked earth.
"Mercy!" The leader exclaimed his voice becoming very frightened.
I glanced around seeing the bodies of my brothers in arms. Then I looked up at him and spoke.
"You deserve no mercy, and you'll have none from me."
He screamed out but there was no one to help him. He fell from his horse to the ground having death throws and then he was still. I let out a might war cry and thrust my sword into the sky.

Then I opened my eyes to see my same old bedroom with the same old window and the morning sun was pouring through the window. Another dream of being a hero on the battlefield. I only wish I could be a hero in my the real world as well. I sat up from my straw bed and I could feel the warmth of the sun on my cheeks and the smell of the spring air accompanied by the smell of food and it smelled great. I sprang out of bed and dressed quickly in an old tunic, washed my face in the basin under my mirror and hurried out my door as I left my room my younger foster brother Dritre ran up to me, (he's only 16 and I 17 but i still tease him over being younger.) I put my arm around his shoulders and ruffled his hair and said "Morning Little brother" with a loving smile. He pushed away from me and said "Not the hair big brother!" I chuckled and continued on down the stairs as he fixed his hair. I found my foster mother and father in the kitchen cooking eggs and chicken over the fire for breakfast. It smelled delicious and i was ready to eat. "Is it almost done mother?"
"Almost Gael, you seem of high spirits this morning?" She replied.
"Yep, today's the day father starts teaching me in the forge! I'm rather excited." Father laughed and said
"Well then you better eat all your breakfast. It's going to be a hard first day, and you'll need your strength!"
"Yes ,father. What orders do we have today?"
"Oh, this and that you'll see once we get to it."
Dritre finally made it down stairs and to the table. He seemed to be in good spirits as well but I couldn't tell why. Finally mother put food on all our plates, and we ate but Dritre scarfed his food down especially fast and asked to be excused really quickly.
"Very well" mother said "You seem really excited, just be back before dark!"
"I will thanks mother" replied Dritre as he left the table and went outside.
I began to look around the kitchen while I ate. It was same kitchen father built with his two hands, great cobblestone walls with a wooden frame and a shingled roof. Our house was two stories tall and Dritre's and my rooms were up stairs while father and mother's room were in the ground floor. Along with the kitchen and sitting room. We had nice oak furniture and soft woolen rugs. The house was really nice that was to be expected Father being the best blacksmith in town. After father and I finished eating we went out to the forge that was attached to our house. It was really hot outside for a spring day and the forges made it even hotter. By the time I was dressed in my apron I was already sweating. The forge smelled of fresh molten iron when we began to work. My job was to watch Father today and gather things he needed for his work. I found the work soothing and it gave me time to think about things like who my real parents were and that always made me think of the fact Mother couldn't have children so they adopted Dritre and I from the local orphanage, and that was the best day of our lives. I was only 5 and Dritre 4 when we first met mother and father but it changed our lives forever.
Father had me working in the forge for hours heating metal, moving materials, and writing orders in his business ledger. Finally the sun was getting low in the sky and Father said "That's enough for today son, you've done alot of work and learned alot. Go wash up and go into town with your friends."
"Will we continue tomorrow?" I asked him.
"Yes bright and early right after breakfast. Be back for dinner." He said and I went cleaned up and dressed in some clean clothes. I kissed mother on the cheek on my way out and left off towards town. I saw many of my friends in our little cobblestone town that was surrounded by walls 50 feet tall made of solid bricks and had guard towers in intervals down the wall. All of that to guard the castle atop The hill in the center if our town. New Parun they called and it's said amongst the guards to be nigh impregnable. Even though our town was beautiful, I was looking for someone specifically. My best friend Delilah. We had grown up together ever since I was adopted. We were both 17 now and we've been through alot to make our friendship strong. Thinking about her I can picture exactly how she looks in my head. She has long brunette hair that goes straight down her back and beautiful brown eyes and a perfect smile accompanied by the gentlest of facial features except for her cheek bones which were very prominent but despite all her beauty she and I are just friends although I'm sure our parents would like to see us wed. Our companionship is worth more than pleasing our parents though.
Just then I spotted her going into an alley way and a smile crept across my face. I'm going to scare the living hell out of her. When she was far enough in to the alley way I snuck in from behind and started to look for her. I spotted her down the alley walking quickly and then all the sudden she cried out and fell into another alley way. Now I was worried and I was sprinting full speed and just as I came to the alley she fell in to something jumped out and tackled me to the ground. After I got to the ground Delilah was sitting on top of me pinning my arms down and grinning.
"You're as loud as an ox" she said laughing. I reversed our position so I was on top and said "You don't need to be quiet when you're as strong as an ox as well." I said laughing with her.
"Well if you're so strong then help me up." She said still smiling. So I did and we embraced as we always do when we see each other she stood on her toes to hug me around my neck because she was alot shorter than me. I was about 5' 11 and she was probably around 5' 5. Her hair brushed against my face and it felt as smooth as silk and smelt of honeysuckle and her skin was soft to the touch and she was wearing a little red dress I had given her for her birthday this year.
"What are we to do today?" I asked her.
"It's a surprise." She said "Come on this way!"
I followed her through The alley way and out onto the street. She took my hand and led me through rows of buildings ducking in and out of crowds of people in the marketplace all sorts of sounds were going on, people trying to sell their goods and others haggling for better prices. The market had a variety of smells jumping about it anywhere from fish to exotic spices to Dusty rugs. The marketplace in New Parun was one of the most diverse in all of the realm one of my favorite market vendors named Baudric would always tell me. As we exited the marketplace we arrived at the Eastern gate which faced Fenris River. The river was about a mile from the gate and it encircled the entire Eastern wall. The city itself was made up of eight walls each pointing to a direction on the compass north, north-east and so on.
"We have to go out the gate to get to your surprise Gael" she explained.
"Alright, lead the way." I said as she took my hand again and led us through the gate. On our way out the guard told us to be back before dark or we'd be locked out. We nodded and continued on. She lead us atop a tall hill with a cliffside facing the river and sprawled out on the cliff was a blanket and bread and cheese and meats of all kinds.
"You didn't have to do this for me." I said staring at the picnic.
"Yes I did it's in celebration of your first day in the forge!" She said smile wide on her face.
"Thanks" I said blushing and kicking a rock "Can we eat?"
"Of course I made it for you!" Then we sat on the blanket and began eating and talking and laughing. Of all the people in this realm there was no one I thought that could be better company. We stayed like that for an hour or two just enjoying each other's company and once the bottom of the sun hit the horizon we started to pack everything up and make our way back to the gate. When we arrived at the gate the guard said
"Ah, just the two I was waiting on. See anyone else wandering this way?"
"No Sir we're the last I think." Delilah said.
"Alright then hurry inside were shutting her down."
We did as he said and we heard the portcullis shut behind us. We made our way back through the streets and I walked Delilah to her house.
"Thanks, for everything Delilah it really means a lot."
"You'd do the same for me" she said hugging me. " Be careful walking home." And with that she turned and walked into her house. Her big oak door closing behind her. She lived in a two story house as well but her's was one of the few wooden houses left in town, but only because her grandfather's father built it before the town even had walls. It was a piece of history. The walls were beautifully carved and each window was trimmed with artistic carvings of animals in the wilderness. Her family have always been amongst the richest in New Parun. Which is probably why my mother is so keen on us getting married. After studying her house for a moment i saw Delilah wave to me from one of the windows. I waved back and then I set off on my way.

Reviews

[Ian Reeve]

I liked this, it's just the kind of medieval action I like to read. I spotted a few simple errors (an army of pillaging murders should me an army of pillaging murderers, I'm guessing) but these can be easily fixed with a bit more proof reading. Keep it up and you'll have something well worth reading here.