Her deep sapphire blue eyes look intently into my soul. ‘I must be dreaming’ I think to myself. The woman whose eyes I am enchanted by, had not been in the city for months now and no news had reached me from the outside world. Nevertheless, here she is. I begin to speak, but she silences me with her lips. We intertwine ourselves into one flesh. Jennifer is the first to break the bond between our lips. We return to searching each other’s souls and remain that way for an eternity. Her lips move, but I cannot focus on the words. Then she is lost in a swirl of light and sound.
Dawn had just broken when I opened my eyes. Blinding sunlight danced through the siege towers in the distance. The sight could almost be considered beautiful… if you replaced the towers with trees and restored the buildings to their former glory. My mind returns to the dream I had woken from. It was not only a dream… it was a memory. The moonlight had danced off Jennifer's hair as we wandered through her father’s orchards. I had taken her hand. I proposed her that night and we made love under the apple tree, stars and moon. But that was a year ago. I must focus on the now.
The city is under attack and I must do my duty to it. I don my heavy steel armour and trudge out into the street. Debris litters the ever changing road as boulders, flung by catapults, smash into structures. A tiny grey hand sticks out from a fresh pile of stones. It is small, perhaps that of a child and lies limp, the rest of the body buried under the rubble. I utter a prayer for the dead.
A horn blasts from theouter wall. Although I can’t see it, I know that the siege towers are on the move. The throng thickens as women and children flee to the city centre and men rush to the battlements. I push my way through the crowd to get to my position.
Finally at my spot on the wall, I look out over the mass of ant like people pushing towers and drawing weapons. I ready my sword as a commander gives what he thinks is an inspirational speech. Trebuchets groan. Towers get hit and fall. Arrows rain from the sky both on the ants and us. A tower finally reaches the wall. Its drawbridge drops, revealing small men in light armour that throw themselves into our midst. Fodder, we call them… they are cut down without problem and I christen my blade in the blood of one of these whelps. Then the armour starts rolling in.
Massive brutes in heavy full body armour that must weigh a ton, wielding broadswords and battle axes make quick work of our men. One reaches me. In one hand he wields a bloody battle axe and in the other hand, a heavy bludgeon. He swings with the bludgeon and I jump back. It narrowly misses my face, but there is no time to think as he follows up with his axe. I lift my shield just in time to preserve my life. The blow knocks me off balance and the axe completes its arch by cleaving the head from my comrade’s shoulders.
Then it hits me. The bludgeon had swung up, under my shield and destroyed my ribs. I stagger back and he lifts his battle axe. I see an opening and dart in with my short sword. It catches him in the gut and I push it up into hischest to the hilt. He drops his weapons and grabs me by the shoulders in his clawed gauntlets. The small blades pierce the thin armour and hit bone underneath. He swings his head and as it collides with mine, blood spatters my face from under his helmet. He sways and then his left leg buckles, pitching us over the wall.
We tumble, spinning uncontrollably into a sea of spikes. He is impaled on one of the thousands of pikes but I am wrenched out of his death grip and land head first on the ground. I hear the sickening snap of my neck as I land and then my soul leaves its destroyed wreck of a body. I am seeing myself in the third person. What a mess I am…
Then I hear a voice. It is the sweetest music and I recognise it instantly. I turn towards the sound and see my wife, Jennifer, descending from the sun. Her arms are outstretched to embrace me and I move into them. “You are safe now, my love,” she whispers to you. “We will be in Valhalla together before noon.”
Evacuate soul in… 3…2… … 1…
Dawn had just broken when I opened my eyes. Blinding sunlight danced through the siege towers in the distance. The sight could almost be considered beautiful… if you replaced the towers with trees and restored the buildings to their former glory. My mind returns to the dream I had woken from. It was not only a dream… it was a memory. The moonlight had danced off Jennifer's hair as we wandered through her father’s orchards. I had taken her hand. I proposed her that night and we made love under the apple tree, stars and moon. But that was a year ago. I must focus on the now.
The city is under attack and I must do my duty to it. I don my heavy steel armour and trudge out into the street. Debris litters the ever changing road as boulders, flung by catapults, smash into structures. A tiny grey hand sticks out from a fresh pile of stones. It is small, perhaps that of a child and lies limp, the rest of the body buried under the rubble. I utter a prayer for the dead.
A horn blasts from theouter wall. Although I can’t see it, I know that the siege towers are on the move. The throng thickens as women and children flee to the city centre and men rush to the battlements. I push my way through the crowd to get to my position.
Finally at my spot on the wall, I look out over the mass of ant like people pushing towers and drawing weapons. I ready my sword as a commander gives what he thinks is an inspirational speech. Trebuchets groan. Towers get hit and fall. Arrows rain from the sky both on the ants and us. A tower finally reaches the wall. Its drawbridge drops, revealing small men in light armour that throw themselves into our midst. Fodder, we call them… they are cut down without problem and I christen my blade in the blood of one of these whelps. Then the armour starts rolling in.
Massive brutes in heavy full body armour that must weigh a ton, wielding broadswords and battle axes make quick work of our men. One reaches me. In one hand he wields a bloody battle axe and in the other hand, a heavy bludgeon. He swings with the bludgeon and I jump back. It narrowly misses my face, but there is no time to think as he follows up with his axe. I lift my shield just in time to preserve my life. The blow knocks me off balance and the axe completes its arch by cleaving the head from my comrade’s shoulders.
Then it hits me. The bludgeon had swung up, under my shield and destroyed my ribs. I stagger back and he lifts his battle axe. I see an opening and dart in with my short sword. It catches him in the gut and I push it up into hischest to the hilt. He drops his weapons and grabs me by the shoulders in his clawed gauntlets. The small blades pierce the thin armour and hit bone underneath. He swings his head and as it collides with mine, blood spatters my face from under his helmet. He sways and then his left leg buckles, pitching us over the wall.
We tumble, spinning uncontrollably into a sea of spikes. He is impaled on one of the thousands of pikes but I am wrenched out of his death grip and land head first on the ground. I hear the sickening snap of my neck as I land and then my soul leaves its destroyed wreck of a body. I am seeing myself in the third person. What a mess I am…
Then I hear a voice. It is the sweetest music and I recognise it instantly. I turn towards the sound and see my wife, Jennifer, descending from the sun. Her arms are outstretched to embrace me and I move into them. “You are safe now, my love,” she whispers to you. “We will be in Valhalla together before noon.”
Evacuate soul in… 3…2… … 1…
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