A sea of golden wheat, rustling in the gentle breeze rolling like waves in the sea. Children ran across the wheat field whilst men and women reaped the grain that kept them and the village alive. Woodsmoke rose lazily from homes spireling and fading into the sky . On top of a small hill overlooking the village, I sighed in bliss as I put down the sword and oval shield that i had been practicing with, the chainmail and leather armour i was wearing groaned and clicked as a sat heavily on the grassy hillside, the chainmail i wore was pure steel, which was rare in this village and in the county, the chainmail was so expensive, my father had to spend nearly all of his savings to buy me just a tunic which left our family almost dead broke.
Two other boys came up to me, Kai was a tall and skinny youth with a knack for nimble sword arts, he was an irritating warrior to face weaving in and out of enemy movements. The other boy was Tom, a short, well built teen his low center of gravity made him hard to unbalance, so when he set himself in a shield defence position he acted like a brick wall. Tom smiled as he handed me a waterskin "here drink up, that chainmail must surely be heavy", taking a gulp of the liquid I felt rejuvenated and slightly buzzed.
"Did you add some elderberry into this water?" Tom laughed heartily as he said "caught me red handed". As I continued to drink I saw Kai's eyes move to a figure in the field.
" looking at her again?" Tom said knowingly " I swear everytime i catch you looking at her, it seems as though you just want to hump her loins like a feral rabbit" at this vivid description, Kai stammered a rejection of such a proposturus idea, yet the lopsided tent growing in his pants pointed to a different answer. Seeing this reaction, I snickered and said "i would just stop ever hoping, my brother has already taken her. Just a few days ago when she came to visit, all i heard was creaking and moaning as he laid with her. Hell, they kept at it so long I thought she might never walk right again."
A dejected frown spread on Kai's face as he heard this, then he quickly became flushed with envy " I'll kill im', fecker does not deserve an angel like her!! " he growled. The other boys roared in laughter as they heard his statement.
one shouted "if you can beat him in melee combat i'll eat my tunic!"
Another chimed in " He is the best swordsman this village has seen for decades, he would kill you in his sleep". As they continued to laugh, a deep tremble shook the tree at the top of the hill. A deep rhythmic roar sounded behind us. The 50 or so warriors snapped their heads back, there was a large whirlwind of dust trailing behind about 30 riders racing towards us.
As they drew closer, one boy with keen eyes made out the flag they flew, his eyes widened as he shouted " it's the Marlian legion Vanguard! They have invaded again!". The militia commander, a middle aged man with a long scar along his face, roared for us to enter the anti cavalry formation. The 30 spearmen lined up at the front whilst the other swordsmen like me took up a loose defensive formation. Raising my shield and holding my sword close, i let out a rattling breath as a waited for a horse to come close enough for me to strike at its knees.The riders in their plate armour roared as the smashed passed the spear line, 10 of them are killed as the momentum skewered them on the tip of the spears. One of the riders, swiftly passed by the wall of sharp iron spears and reached me bracing my legs for the overbearing force of an ironclad knight on the back of a large steed. Just as the tip of his lance is about to strike my head I raise my shield, causing the lance to glance off, the force of the impact causes a jolt of lightning pain to shoot up my arm, numbing it.
Gritting my teeth I ignore the pain and slash at the horse's leg joint with all of my power, the sheer momentum causes the joint to be nearly severed. The horse lets out a shrill whinny out of pain, crashing to the ground i swiftly slashed at the knight trapped under the horse killing him. The blood gushed from his mouth as he slowly died, turning away, I fought to keep my breakfast down. At that moment, just when we thought that the danger had passed, we heard the loud rush of soldiers. They had used the cavalry as a distraction whilst the main force swept around to attack the village.
Seeing that the village is being overrun, me and the other militiamen charged down the 100 foot soldiers. In a desperate attempt to save the settlement, my brother and the militia commander rushed into the group slashing down dozens. I quickly attempt to back them up, narrowly avoiding certain death and dealing my own precise strikes at the warriors killing 6 in a bloody blurry fury. However, it was too late. I hear bloodthirsty roars as my brother and commander are both surrounded and slain.
Holding back my grief, I took charge of the situation. Looking around I knew that it was too late to wrest control of the village back, the looting had already begun. The only option was to flee and find help from the count's army. There was a thick forest behind the village to the southwest, it would be hard for them to track us there, they were invaders with little knowledge of the land, it was our only hope.
" EVERYONE GET TO THE FOREST, WE WILL LOSE THEM THERE!!! WARRIORS GUARD THE VILLAGERS AS THEY FLEE!!" I scream out, hoping that everyone hears me over the din of battle. The militiamen raise their shields and retreat, covering the fleeing village folk. I see dozens of petrified faces covered in the blood of their kin, grab anything of value they could take and sprinting into the forest. Pudgy little hands of children grope the air as their parents dash into the shrubbery. Fortunately, the soldiers were more preoccupied with looting to try to chase the villagers.
After everyone who survived managed to get into the forest, a small camp was built deep in the heart of the forest. As I lay on a bedroll, attempting to recover from the chaotic battle. I hear screams of mothers and fathers as they hear of their children's demise and I hear the deep breaths of fatigued militiamen who ,only a few hours ago, were initiated in the brutality of war.
At that moment the grief and pain welled inside me burst forth and I cried. I cried until I felt a headache setting in. Mum, dad and Max, my brother all of them passed on to the hereafter. While an orphaned 16 year old boy was baptized in fire and blood, destined to sow death for many years to come.
( thanks for reading! I am a novice writer and would like to improve so please leave any feedback in the comments )