Oh, Come On Now, Still Tripping Again ?!
1474 Words
"MACLEOD... MACLEOD... MACLEOD... FOR THE BLOOD OF MACLEOD... FOR PEACE AND HONOUR... FOR MY FAMILY...!!"
I hollered out until my voice was hoarse as I rally the spirits of the men who would still be fit to fight with me. To me, this was all a dream and I know at some point in time, I won't be affected is I got an arrow to my skull...!
I brandished the twin daggers in my hand as I stumbled forward towards the last cannon emplacement and what I wanted to do was strung these gnomes high in the air and disembowel them.
I had disposed the arrow and when I made my warcry, the remaining men heard me and also abandoned their bows and arrows and brandished their swords and other melee weapons as they surged forward, towards the enemy lines.
"HHUUAARRGGHH...!" I screamed aloud as I blocked all the oncoming arrows that were trained at me one after another and the sight of a lone 'Black Knight' walking unsteadily on his feet as he slashes left and right with the curved dagger, breaking the trajectory of the arrows.
The gnomes archers were stupefied when they saw what I was doing as they frantically shot their arrows at me on half drawn as this would be the quickest way to unleash a rain of arrows in spite its full deadly effect.
A few arrows glanced off my plated armour and when I had reached the cannon emplacement, I simply started to s***h my way at the three gnomes manning it.
They were lightly armoured and the sharp daggers simply tore at their short bodies and finally snuffed their lives out.
When I had stained the ground amber with their blood as pinkish bones protrude from their bodies where it was forced disembowelled by the twin daggers, did I feel satisfied as I place a foot on the cannon emplacement and raised the daggers high in the air...!
"MACLEOD... FOR DUTY... HONOUR... COUNTRY...!!! VICTORY IS OURS...!!!"
The fight was over for now. Was it a dream? Is the blood-stained on the ground real? Why was it we have not heard about the gnomes in our territory before?
But the feeling of the daggers that sliced through this sorry gnomes was real. Every ounce of strength that I had exerted was real. The feel of the arrow that I had unleashed and blasted the cannon earlier was real.
The concussion that I had experienced that lead to Clayton's demise was real too.
The tired men all hollered their victory cries as they trampled on the remaining gnomes who tried futilely to hold their ground and defences but were soon overrun by the other infantrymen.
As they gathered around me after finishing their jobs, I gave an instruction to carry the dead and special attention was to be made to Clayton Chadwell that had just been listed as Killed In Action.
I tried to recollect back memories of the parting of my twins and wife but I cannot find any. This was definitely part of a dream but why didn't the dark looming figure appear right here and now?
Are there some more episodes of what was to come thereafter?
I shrugged it off and went to the last mantlet that had been blown apart and knelt before the body of Clayton.
His eyes were still wide open as if he still wanted to see the aftermath of this battle. His mouth was slightly agape and he too seemed to have some last words to say before he breathes his last, I suppose.
Either way, I reached out and closed his eyes and mouth as I placed both of his hands over his chest as if he was in a deep sleep.
I asked for Eagle and he came forward and from the looks of him, he too had aged tremendously. "You look like an old man, Eagle." I remarked subconsciously while he laughed and replied, "You don't look too good yourself, Your Majesty."
"Come on, let's head back now. We have the wounded to be treated and the dead to be cremated. Do you want any special service for your right hand man, Your Majesty?" Eagle asked as he pouted his lips as a sign to point instead of using his fingers.
I find it quite weird or rude whatsoever since I felt Eagle regarded the dead as... Dead. I mean would the dead required some special attention or was this not the first battle that Eagle and the rest had organised.
"When did the twins and Her Majesty perish?" I asked and I was once again met with a funny look from Eagle. It was as if the incident had never occurred in my life — which actually never did...!
Eagle didn't answer the question immediately as he had asked for someone to carry Clayton's body to bring back to town for a proper sending off ceremony. The rest of the bodies, I had seen, was simply piled on a handcart and was wheeled away.
As we entered the gates after traversing through the easternmost entrance, Eagle finally spoke up. "Saturday, 14th May 1453. It was the end of the Hundred Years War. We were overrun by these gnomes that had been docile, as we thought, and was blasted through when they appeared right from underground, appearing in the centre of the town."
I looked around me as we entered the gates and discovered that all the semi-detached duplex homes had been fully occupied as I saw many laundries fluttering on the rooftop access.
The residents came out to greet the marching army while others were feeling jubilant at our victories while some began to wail when they saw that their loved ones were not marching along with the rest of the army.
This was the ugliest truth, for no one would want to entangle themselves in a war. To stop a war, a war had to be created. I myself had not heard about the gnomes being so aggressive and I had no other choice but to find out as much as possible from Eagle.
"Why did the gnomes turn aggressive against mankind? I thought they would not mind other people as they deal almost with alchemy and studies? Who invoked them to start a war against us?"
I asked as we trudged on. I wonder why we were not using any rides like the Dandy Horse or The Patrol but was forced to march from the battlefield back into town.
"When the Hundred Years War ended, the obscure whereabouts of these gnomes, dwarfs, goblins, elves, imps, golems, orcs, kobolds et cetera suddenly popped out and started to wage their own war against the human race."
"Please pardon us for our incompetence, Your Majesty. Her Majesty, His and Her Royal Highness shouldn't have perished that night. It was fully unexpected why they were being targeted that night." Eagle hung his head low as he apologises for not being able to protect the Royal Family yet again.
"But I am here with you right now. There nothing wrong with me, not even a scratch. Why didn't I perish along with them?" I asked since I was curious as I was breathing and talking fine right now.
It was as if I was some kind of immortal and would not be affected by any of the calamities...!
"I myself cannot account for that, Your Majesty. By the way, are you alright? It had been some months since that incident had happened. You seemed rather off today, would you put off another search for the gnomes hideout or establishment?"
Eagle asked with concern and when I entered the town square, I saw that the domain was literally torn into two from the side of the building onwards. It was as if a huge lightning bolt had crashed down on where our bedroom and the twins' room was and split them into two...!
I stopped for a while and half expectedly to see my twins and Heather laughing as they walked out to greet me. But instead, there was none of it.
No repairs were done on the domain and a makeshift tent was erected before the elevated platform. My two-seater bamboo throne was nowhere to be seen and from the looks around it, a lot of buildings were hit similarly as well.
However, the residential and crop fields were unscathed and it seems that the attack was premeditated as I believed that the attacks on that evening had been well-planned and executed.
Besides, I believe they may have some insiders or moles that enabled them to execute a perfect hit on most of the essential service buildings in town.
"God damn bastards..." that's all I could murmur as I clenched my fist rightly until my knuckles turned white.
- Writer
