The fight had finished, but the battle was far from being.
The blood was sticking to my boots, while this disgusting liquid was flowing down from all the gaps of my armor. Some of it even managed to splash inside my helmet, and the metallic smell was attacking my mind.
The soil, the twigs, the leaves, the roots, the trees, the foliages. Everything was now red, with filthy body parts that could be found all over the area, in between the countless bodies lying on their blood.
The noise of the battle was still echoing a bit away, as the 2nd Company and the other ones were still fighting for their lives.
I couldn't anymore. My breath was scuffed, and my energy was nowhere to be found.
Exhaustion was taking apart each of my limbs, and my swords were weighing tones in my shaking hands. But still, we needed to go.
I walk toward the other soldiers, splashing on the blood, walking on the bodies of my once brothers who had fallen in this battle, bumping into guts or limbs standing in my way.
The battle was far from being over.
"Jean, you have my back. Pierce these bastards while I slash them."
"Yes, corporal!" The man with his blond hair falling from his helmet answered with a rare serious tone.
"Jimmy, you got the rear. hit as many as you can"
"Yes, corporal!" The young boy with his naive eyes breathed out loud, ready for the next battle.
"Anis you'll play with them. Cut off their wrist while you are there."
"Yes, corporal!" The bloody man answered with an exhausted yet excited smile while playing with his daggers.
"Dereck you protect Jimmy. And if something wrong appears, do what you want."
"Yes, corporal!" The large man with countless injuries on his body answered with a loud voice.
They were my guys, my team. All of them were as bloody, as exhausted, as tired as me. But still, we moved on.
But we weren't the only ones. More than a hundred soldiers were moving with us, walking in the same direction. Now that the 1st Company was saved, it was time to continue. Without any rest, without pause.
Some of us had lost friends, comrades. Some of us were injured. Some of us were tired of all this blood. Some of us wanted to throw up. Some of us didn't want to kill anymore.
But with serious faces, while holding our weapons, we moved forward.
Then, a loud voice burst in my right, giving the order. It was what we were waiting for.
"Charge!" Answering this thundering order, we all put aside all our worries away. We weren't human anymore, we were soldiers.
""Charge!""
Not even a few seconds later, the next battlefield appeared in front of my eyes, showing me once again the cruelty that we could find in it. But I didn't care anymore, my mind was already numbed from all this day.
We tumbled in the back of the enemies that were still fighting against the 2nd Company. But we were now much more numerous than them, and my blades slashed once again at the enemies' flesh.
I cut in the left, chopped at the right, kicked in the front, and again! I danced in this field of death, while the blade of a spear materialized around me from time to time to stop a blade or pierce an enemy.
The battle continued as we crushed our enemies one by one. Some of them were starting to flee, and it was only a question of time before the enemy army would know what was happening.
Before they prepared themselves, it was necessary to move faster, to cut faster, to kill faster. So we swept through the whole battlefield. In no time, the 2nd Company was saved, with almost two hundred soldiers, we charged toward the next one.
The same show again, the same movement. Some archers shoot the enemies before our blades cut through the flesh. Some axes tore the armor in a gruesome way, and maces broke the bones of the enemies. These guys were from the 5th Company.
Fighting like barbarians, without a uniformed weapon. But in these kinds of fights, it was without a doubt an advantage. As the 1st and 2nd companies were made of melee fighters, the battles were much easier, but as we approached the 4th Company, hell welcomed us.
Sometimes, the officers needed to choose these kinds of battles. These choices were never easy ones and even more so when they must be taken in a short lapse of time. It was hard to judge, but a pinch still make my heart miss a beat.
The fourth company was a company formed of archers.
The fight was almost at the end, and only a small group of soldiers were fighting for their lives, as prey defending themselves from the predators. They were injured everywhere.
One of them, an arm missing, was fighting with his short sword against an enemy, but he couldn't fight for long. He was too far away from us. We were running like mad lads, more than two hundred soldiers shouting toward the sky and cursing these bastards as we used everything we had.
But it wasn't enough, the man with an arm missing died with a sword piercing through his body. Another one fell on the floor as a blade cut his throat. A third one died while taking with him his opponent in the dead world.
At this moment, we cut through the enemies and crashed into them like a powerful tsunami. In only a few minutes, the enemies were repealed, but only ten guys from the 4th Company were still alive.
All the others were dead, all around. It was at this moment that it came to my mind. As it came to our minds at all. The battle was over.
We stood there with an ashen face. My legs were ready to give up under me, but I was too tired to even sit down.
No one was talking. We were all panting there. A voice burst out suddenly, waking up everyone.
The battle was over, but the clean-up had begun.