The Battle of Words

The Battle of Words
by Saw Yi on Friday, 30 April 2010 at 12:32 ·

(TAKEN FROM MY FB NOTES)

'Ready or not, here they come.' Commander Dirk said while pointing to the north. I followed his gaze.

Blotting out the horizon, I spied rows after rows of soldiers, all in their splendid armour and glory, with flags bearing the bloody letter 'E'.

'Prepare for battle, men!' I shouted. 'Blow the horn!' The horns bellowed a challenging cry to the mass in front of us as the drums raised the courage of my men.. and also their fears - my fears. We are facing the unknown here. All the battle strategies planned nights after nights may all come to nought.

After awhile the enemy sent a challenging cry in return - the game is on!

'Commander, see to the vanguard. Do not let them pass. I shall lead the charge.'

'Aye, general.' Reeling his horse around, he left, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

I turned to face my soldiers. I can see them feeling jittery, nervous and anxious, wondering how the hell did they ended up in this place. I feel no different. Their battle drills, as well as my strategies, are going to be tested in battle soon and, for certain, there will be no master-of-arms to help out when things get bloody. All of them are young men, leaving their farms and boats to serve their country and there is no turning back. I must do what I can to let them feel energized and brave.

'Men, this is THE chance to prove yourselves. Blood will be split. Tears will be shed. But never, never give up! Show them our courage, our persistence, show them our battle techniques, show them our power and intellect! Leave no man standing!'

My people roared. Swords and pikes filled the air alongside the cheer. I nodded at them and turned back to face the massing enemy.

'We are overnumbered.' I thought dreadfully, 'But we will give them a fight that they will never forget. A fight that our future generation will remember us by.'

The enemy general rode out front on his white mare. He's leading the charge as well. I look forward to meeting him in battle.

Another horn blared and the enemy charged.

'Charge!!!!' I cried, spurring my chestnut-coloured horse forward. Battle shouts and cries rose from my flanks. Our forward clashed mightily with theirs. Sounds of shields crashing into shields as well as the sound of steel against steel rang noisily over the chaos.

With my lance, I speared 3 enemies in one blow but a pikeman drove his pike right through the neck of my horse, missing my throat by inches. I threw the lance down and drew out my sword. The pikeman went down with a quick swish of my sword. Blood spilled over my tunic and helm but I continued charging on. Faceless enemies after enemies surrounded me and I took their heads off with a mighty slash of the sword. Bodies lay around me. The metallic stench of blood made almost made me retched but I still plough on. I must not give up.

Time flew by so slow. I moved with a slow-mo style, cutting down enemies left and right of me. By now, I had suffered a deep cut to my left shoulder and a few minor cuts on my chest, arms and back. My ruined helm was gone as well. My only defense against the madness of battle was covered in red-brownish stains - my tunic was drenched in red-brownish stains. I do not know how well did our vanguard did against their vanguard but all around me I see corpses of my men as well as the enemies.

'Have we lost the battle?' I thought. A few men from my company rallied around me. We were fighting the incoming enemies back to back.

All of a sudden, a horn blared... thrice. It's not our horn though.

It seemed that the enemy general has fallen. My men cheered, pumping their fists into the air, as the enemies dropped their weapons and ran with their tailed tucked between their legs. We gave pursuit but we've soon lost them in the thick jungles beyond the battlefield.

~

I laughed softly as I kept my stationaries into my pencil box.

A battle I have fought but not a battle of flesh and blood - instead, it was a battle of words. I, with my words, my knowledge, my facts, have entered the battlefield and had managed to leave it unscathed, save for a couple of blows (questions that I don't know how to answer, questions that I don't understand etc). And now, I'm waiting for the outcome....