“HOLD THE LINE!” I shouted from horseback with sword raised, the sun glinting off the newly forged steel. Lord Horace Lorent’s army was beginning to beat back my right flank and I had come to shore it up. From horseback I could see the black of Lorent’s army pushing through at various places in my army, dressed in red. The black and red intermixed with each other twisting through the field resembled a great snake. If Lorent broke through my line, he could crash in on my army from behind and the battle would be lost. I made it to the thinnest part of my line and leapt from my horse into the fray.

The clash of swords and shields mixed with the wails of dying men was deafening. Once in the thick of the fighting, the ground was soaked with blood and a few unlucky men died slipping in it and fell defenselessly to the ground, allowing their opponents to deliver killing blows.

“FOR LORD HORACE!!” I heard above the sounds of battle. With sword and shield in hand, I turned toward the voice. A young boy, probably barely fifteen, was charging at me with sword raised. All he had for protection was a light mail and half helm. The boy brought his sword down, trying to end the war with a single blow. I easily parried the strike with my shield, knocking the sword from the young soldier’s hand and sending him stumbling back. With his side to me, I ran my broadsword through the hole in his mail under his arm. He fell to the ground and did not move.

Poor child, I thought.

Horace and I had fought side by side in countless battles, each of us becoming legends in our own right by slaying the former King’s guards when we seized the capitol before killing the king himself. He’d helped me win the throne, but now was recruiting boys to fight against me, no doubt promising them riches and glory.

“SHIELDS!” One of my men shouted. I looked across the field where Lorent’s arches were lined up, and saw a thousand black specks flying high into the sky. I threw my shield up as the arrows came down. Screams rose as the arrows fell as indiscriminately as a spring rain, killing my men and Lorent’s men alike. I caught a few in my upraised shield, one breaking through and nearly piercing my hand.

“CAVALRY!” I heard from behind me. From behind Lorent’s men on a hill charged fifty men on black geldings, each rider clad entirely in black armor from head to toe. I spotted Lord Horace as the one leading them by the plume of golden feathers adorning the top of his helmet from the back to the front, and his pitch black long sword, Lighteater, he held to the sky.

I cut down three more of Florent’s men by the time he and his cavalry slammed into my line in three different places, leaving piles of dead bodies in their wakes. I was fighting my way to my right where Horace was slaughtering some of my best men as if they were nothing more than children swinging at him with sticks, the sun flashing off his dark blade with every swing.

Florent turned his head up towards me, saw me through the chaos of battle, and kicked his horse into a gallop. I knew I’d have to get Horace off his horse, he was unbeatable up there. I looked around me, trying to think of a way to unhorse Florent while his men charged me on all sides. Florent was quickly closing the distance between us as I fought off other enemies, quickly running out of time. As I cut down the last Florent foot soldier attacking me, I saw he fell down in a pile next to a dead standard-bearer who still held the pole loosely in his lifeless fingers.

The charging horse’s hoofbeats were audible now, and Lighteater’s nasty blade was getting closer and closer. I threw down my sword and shield, prying the pole from the dead soldier. Lifting the shaft the fabric displaying my sigil unfurled, covered in mud and blood. The pole ended in a sharp-enough point just above the flag. The hoofbeats grew louder behind me, and I quickly turned around and planted the blunt end into the ground while pointing the sharp end up towards where I expected the horse to be, bracing and hoping for impact.

I got it.

My makeshift spear found its mark between the horses two front legs, just beneath the base of its throat. The horse cried in agony as blood spurted all over me, the impact splintering my spear. Lorent went head over feet, somersaulting through the air and onto the ground, his armor rattling as he tried to gain control of himself.

I picked my sword back up from the ground and charged at Lorent where he fell. I stabbed down at him as hard as I could, but he looked up and rolled to my right and away from my blade which sunk deep into the ground. Lorent staggered to his feet with Lighteater in hand as I tried to wretch my sword from the dirt. I narrowly ducked the swing he took at my throat. The force of the slash sent Lorent staggering a bit, giving me the opportunity to pick up a fallen soldier’s shield and parry his next blow, keeping one hand on the hilt of my sword to pry it from the ground.

I freed my sword and advanced on Lorent. Every strike I threw at him was blocked with either blade or shield as we performed a symphony of steel. Where most men fought back to back with enemies and foes, the battlefield opened up around us as if our fighting men agreed to give us our space, free from any interference.

I blocked a slash went to counter with a stab. With unmatched grace, Lorent knocked my sword aside and got ahold of my arm, twisted it around to disarm me and sent an iron-plated elbow right up into my nose. I managed to hang on to my shield as I went spiraling to the ground. I laid on my back with my nose broken, desperately trying to see through my watery eyes. I blinked for a moment and barely made out Lorent standing over me with Lighteater clasped in both hands getting ready to stake me through my chest and into the ground.

I threw my shield upwards, back and over my head, barely managing to deflect the stab. With all of his weight behind it, Lorent fell hard right on top of me and managed to close his hands around my throat.

Lorent opened his mouth, exposing gritted teeth. “Now I’ve -“ he started, but coughed up blood all over my face. I could’ve sworn a gasp went up from a nearby soldier. I twisted the short sword I’d managed to get from Lorent’s belt after he fell on top of me which was now buried in him up to the hilt.

His hands loosened around my throat and went to his side where the wound was as he rolled off me onto the ground, writhing in agony. After a moment, he went silent.

I still laid coughing on the ground in a puddle of blood when I suddenly realized the battle had grown deadly quiet. I staggered to my feet to meet my next assailant. When I looked around, all the men nearby, mine and Florent’s alike, were on bended knee, heads dipped and swords laid in front of them.