Nameless

A story for a gal I fancy.

     I can’t recall the last time I actually got any sleep. The smoke still burns my lungs and it seems like I’ve been ousted. Would my family be proud of me for the decisions I’ve made? The many lives that fell because of my rash calls. I can lie in bed lost and lonely in my thoughts. What can I do to know what I’m doing is right or wrong. The haunting screams follow me everywhere I go. Seeing their lifeless faces as I walk over them, doing my best to keep my head up. I take a deep breath and almost as if I lose all control, I blink and I’m back on my horse.

The thunder of my troops roar from all sides of me. My lieutenants stay close to their squads but what if I’m leading them to their deaths. The frightened faces of my soldiers as they look towards me for confidence. What do they see, a cold heartless killer or a confident leader who does all he can to ensure their safety. I nod to those that I see and hope the rest that I can’t also take this as reassurance. We march on the last stronghold that the heretics hold and even with a much formidable and prestigious army, I still feel doubt.

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves as their walls come into sight. My troops taking their places, archers to the front footmen to the back. Our catapults set up and ready to go by nightfall. I stalk the grounds watching as some manage to sleep while others attempt to laugh away their fear. Some of their armor doesn’t even match considering the number of divisions we’ve adopted. They don’t see my sleep to hopefully encourage them to fight stronger and better than before. Unknowing that the ghosts that follow me always haunt me.

The dawn of the next day is filled with tension and eagerness. My troops ready to die at command and the enemy ready outside their gates. They have to attack or else they risk losing the lives of their citizens. My diplomats return with no reassuring news of surrender. I give my lieutenants the go ahead and our troops march forward.

Their commanding general rides forward as do I. My last attempt to reason with them. No more men have to die.

I dismount my horse and approach him, “Gregory,” I say calmly, “this doesn’t have to result in conflict.”

“It is far too long to allow a surrender. We will fight to the last man.”

“Let us resolve this, the traditional way.”

Gregory unsheathes his sword, “I would rather kill you now and watch your army get destroyed.”

“Then your flesh belongs to me.”

He throws his sword with a fierce vengeance, but I parry it. I remain sturdy and stable while he is fueled by rage and anger. He is off balance and negligent. I breath almost like that of a corpse while I watch his movements. Our swords spark from time to time and he is wearing out. There, my time to strike, bad footing and falling forward.

I plunge my sword deep into his stomach blood and residual gore sprays out of his back.

“Your army… never had a chance,” I say into his ear as he struggles to grab me. I twist my sword and rip it from his armor and with one last movement, his head hits the ground before his body does. The clean steel of my sword is set back into place as I mount my horse.

“Here they come,” I say to myself as the encroaching army rapidly approaches. I stand my ground and as they get within a hundred yards of me, a volley of arrows rip through their lines. My hands are shaking so I grab the reigns of my horse tighter. I feel my horse grunt in exasperation as their soldiers got closer.

“Yah,” I yell as my horse charges toward the troops. A loose grouped formation allowed for easy passage for me as my own cavalry roared mere feet behind me. The first soldiers I ran into hesitated and for that their blood sprayed the metal of my horses armor. They were smart for sending their spearmen first but they failed when they faulted on my charge. Their now dead leader crushed their morale but they stood with loyalty.

As my cavalry thrashed through their soldiers, we ran past into the oncoming heavy soldiers who had just enough time to strengthen their ranks. With a quick snap of my heels, my horse along with the rest of my cavalry leapt forward and over their first line only to meet a mass of troops. I withdrew my spear from its sheath on my saddle and still with the force of my horse, was able to push through several layers of the clumped enemy troops. I speared the closest enemies to me that I could while their swords bounced of my armor along with that of my horses. Their archers were hesitant to fire with the fear of killing their own, but loosed their first volley of arrows.

“Shields up,” I yelled as several arrows tried to rip into my shield but either broke or ricocheted off. Several horsemen and infantry on both sides fell to the volley of arrows before we broke through the backside of their heavy infantry. One final push for the cavalry to take out their archers and just in time to avoid friendly archer fire. The heavy infantry roared with rage and terror as they charged after us.

Their tunnel vision blanked out the infantry they were running away from and the volley of arrows they were running into. Again another chunk of their forces fell while their own archers were being slaughtered. I rested my spear back into its sheath as I turned my head to see the fractured force charging for us. Sky lit up with fire as our catapults shot for their remaining force on the walls of their city. I couldn’t help but keep my eyes trained on them as they got further and further away before exploding in clouds of fire and dust.

As the dust settled, we reinforced our lines and watched as the city threw the white flags. A victory in name of the Emperor. The catapults ceased their fire and the groans and cries of wounded archers along with their infantry was faint inside my helmet. I regrouped with my lieutenants.

“Lieutenants, tend to your forces. Kill their maimed, and fallback on me.” My lieutenants left to their respective platoons and followed my orders.

“Sir, there are three approaching,” a horseman sergeant said to me pointing to three men on horseback. I saw them and nodded to the Sergeant.

“Let the diplomacy begin…”

Author's Note

This was a couple day project of mine. Any and all criticism is appreciated.

Reviews

[Black40]

I actually just clicked on it and started reading since I just signed up. I like the approach and detail that overlaid the story. I also like the military aspect of it. Good writing man. Stay focused.

[Smiter19]

Hey thank you! Yeah, I'm trying to stay focused on Capital Vanguard, but I have terrible writers block. Almost ten years now.