There are many long tables lined up in disorderly rows lit only by two huge fires in stilted braziers. Amounts of food that would make any man drool adorn each table. Hundreds of young men and old warriors eating and drinking while paying close attention to a large stage. Many bright stars shine on the group. While they were ignorant to their beautiful appearance above. The purpose of such a meeting, to encourage war. The Lord had challenged a foe.

On the stage a hulking warrior, explaining his great feats over his campaigns. When the hulking warrior explained how he killed three men with one slash of his sword all of the young men cheered loudly in excitement. Their eyes show excitement and great expectation.

In the crowd sitting alone a man eats only a simple bread and drinks only clear water. This Man has long gray hair contrary to his age tied up signifying his status as a warrior. The Warrior has no emotion on his face and his eyes are listless in behavior. The Warrior pays no special attention to the warriors sharing their stories on stage. He merely sits, eats, and occasionally looks up to the sky after which he sighs his breath misting and rising.

Silence eventually fits the crowd and they turn to face the Warrior. The Warrior recognizes his turn for stories of conquest and slowly stands. He gets to the stage slowly in no particular rush for anything. Rumors fill the crowd as words of aversion spread. This warrior had done his due share in wars, however he was usually dispirited and silent.

“I am Warrior Gunnar, I do not share stories of glory or fame… War is not just taking from the enemy, and receiving your laurels.” The listless attitude with no nervousness or energy draws the ire of the young boys.

“You only hear of the war of conquest, however the lives of warriors should not be taken lightly.” His words, though emotionless, had a sense of authority to them. None of the crowd dared to speak in opposition.

Warrior Gunnar begins his story.

Five years ago I had talked to the young men of the village much like the current standing. My words had little effect on the warriors and they fought with their own perceived notions. For the second time I lined up in front of the village's mirror. When my turn came I looked at the mirror. My face had no gentleness, it was only scruffy with no cleanliness covered in small cuts and scars. Much different from my handsome appearance I had before the first war.

My turn passes and eventually the young men go and become warriors. One of the lord's knights presides over the ceremony. An honor to the men to become warriors. After the young men look in the mirror they kneel to the knight and receive their tie. Then a veteran warrior goes to tie the born warrior's hair. My turn comes and I walk to the young warrior, he finds it unpleasant for me to tie his hair, but it could not damper his frenzied spirit.

Three months later we were near the front of the war. Unlike my previous war the conditions were not good. There was barely enough food and less equipment. Many had to sleep on the ground or hastily made beds. The new warriors' spirits were down and their bodies were growing tired. During short periods of time after marching I would practice with a sword and a spear. Days slowly became more repetitive and many people wanted something thrilling. The younger generation started to gamble and drink with the older warriors. I abstained from such behavior. Eventually many younger warriors stopped any practice at all.

It was unfortunate for them that we would soon encounter battle. We made it to a small town under the Lord's care. We were welcomed with a feast and quartered in comfortable beds. In the night a horn blew, waking all the warriors. We quickly gathered, already equipped with our tools of war. Fate would show that an enemy troop is attacking us. We quickly gathered in no trained formation with shields and spears serving in front. We waited for a long period of time without moving an inch. Suddenly out of the sparse woods many enemy soldiers ran toward, screaming. With the lack of tactics from the enemy side our defensive position served better. There were many enemy bodies stacked in front of our shield line. Our leader gave an order

To retreat two steps. The commander’s strategy served well. Now our enemies had to crawl or jump over their comrades' bodies.

A yell from the other side “FLY” sparked energy into our veterans. Luckily as I was using a spear and took cover behind a shieldman. The sound of arrows flying in the air was clear yet it was too dark to see. Many hollow thunk sounds were heard as arrows dived into wooden shields and human flesh. The sounds of people hitting the ground was unpleasant.

Our commander ordered a charge. All the warriors yelled like beasts in a human form and charged. We were unable to see the enemy entirely but soon we got to a very lowly lit area. The shadows of men could be seen, and that was all we needed to kill. A small shield line did not hold very long with our momentum. Our troops quickly killed the enemy's shields and continued to charge. I stay behind the shields and use my spear to easily pick on enemies. I had killed dozens of enemies but it did not matter to me. The previous war had sullied my spirit for such things.

Many soldiers rushed past the shields and began to engage in combat. I stood still seeing people die with little emotion. Both sides lost many soldiers and I was still untouched. Once the battle had raged on and half the enemy force had been killed I decided to start my part. I picked up a shield and easily ran through the smaller battles, making my way to the enemies back line. Behind the enemy's main force there were several dozen archers. I charged towards them with my long shield in between us. A few were able to release arrows in time but they only sunk into the shield. When in range of my sword I slashed easily and killed three of them. Luckily archers have little armor and these archers in particular were not well versed in melee combat. I had caught the attention of all the archers and knew it would be a tough battle. I rushed to the next group of archers and used their bodies as a shield. The group of three archers struggled with their bows and dropped them in favor of short swords. Unfortunately for them the range difference with my specifically chosen cavalry sword was too great. They all charged at me from my front and I quickly slashed one's neck. He fell to the ground dead. The other two thrust their swords forward. In the midst of the impact I turned my shield away and slashed another's neck. Suddenly I could feel a dozen arrows coming for me. I prepared my shield as quickly as possible but still caught one in the arm. The last enemy of the three fell to the ground with arrows in his back. Ruthless.

I ran quickly behind a closeby tree to take cover. I peeked around the tree and saw an approaching swordsman with three archers wielding shortswords following behind. Because of the armor the arrow had only made a superficial wound, so I quickly yanked the arrow out. I then calmed my breathing and readied my shield and spear. At the last second I spun around the tree and stabbed at the swordsman. He easily dodged my spear, spun, and swung his sword towards my neck. Expecting this I ducked and his sword hit the tree. I slammed my shield into him and he flew back several feet landing on his back. I took this opportunity to charge the archers. I easily killed one with my spear and hid behind my shield while the two attacked. I noticed the Swordsman quickly jump to his feet and charge. When in range I thrust the back of my spear back. He deflected with his sword halting his own attack. I used the momentum from the deflection to spin and whip the front end of my spear toward him. He could only raise his arm in defense, and my spear cut through his hand.

I was charged from behind by the two archers. Luckily they were untrained and had predictable technique. Then I spun around again, grabbing one of the archers' wrist and pulling him in front of the other archers' attack. Doing this I used the spins momentum to kick the swordsman back. A yelp of pain came from the archer as he was stabbed. I quickly dropped my spear, grabbed my sword and sliced his neck. His body fell to the ground and I was left face to face with the last archer. He fell backwards onto his back, and I could see a light mist rise from his pants. He called no repeatedly, but it only made it easier to kill him. I turned to the Swordsman once again, he tied off his lump of a hand and held a shortsword with the other. His eyes had a desperate look however I had no sympathy. With my swords reach and his weakness from loss of blood I easily overpowered him, leading to the swordsman's decapitation. The rest of the battle went easily, we had won with few losses. I was honored as a key warrior in the battle, and celebrated. That night everyone but me partied as hard as they could. The next morning among the drunk we cleaned the battlefield. Scavenging from the enemy we got better supplies, and more food. However several dozen men had died, all young men. Some young men were in grief over lost friends or brothers. However from that battle there were many more people training in their free time.

Eventually our troop got to the main battlefront. There we got to sleep some protected nights. In my free time between training I talked to some of the generals and strategists. It came upon me that I wanted to know what I fought for. What the Lord had us fighting for. Eventually I found out that the enemy noble had always been aiming for our lands. This war was what it had devolved to. This reason sat well with me, we were at least fighting to protect. Fortunately I also learned more about strategy from them. Though not entirely useful among many learned people, it was good to know.

However it was because I learned strategy that I knew that what we had to do next was horrible. Our troop was assigned to besiege a castle.

We marched through a deep forest, and I noticed that we were not carrying anything new. We kept the same pace for several days. Just outside the woods was the castle we would besiege. It was made out of hard stones and was taller than six men. How would our troops take this castle?

I knew that this was a suicide mission. We had low food, no besieging equipment, and lacked enough men. We were likely to be sent only to keep the enemy occupied. Thoughts filled my mind on survival.

I was handed an axe and ordered to cut down trees. I obediently complied and began to swing. The trees were very thick and would take many swings to fall. Soon after a horn sounded, the enemy had noticed us. The commander ordered us to continue cutting while our archers would fire. I positioned myself behind the tree so I would have no risk of being hit by an arrow. I continued to chunk away at the tree in front of me. Eventually I managed to cut it down. It fell providing potential coverage from the enemy. I hid behind the stump covering my head with a shield.

Soon many others had managed to cut their own trees down and now dozens of tree’s layed on the ground. Our commander ordered us to take cover behind the trees and to start pushing them closer to the castle. I obeyed and joined a dozen other men to push my own tree forward. Arrows continued to fly towards both sides, injuring many. We got about thirty paces from the walls of the castle and were ordered to stop. I pieced together the strategy, we would try to wait for the enemy to charge out of the castle.

Soon enough the enemy would stop firing, and our commander ordered our archers to do the same. However our enemy did not charge out through any gate. The combat suddenly ended, we waited for many hours and the sun had set before we were ordered to retreat. We were able to eat well that day at least.

The next day before the sun had risen we sneaked back to the tree’s. As we were ordered we let out a large yell and continued to hide. We heard the sound of many feet and heard the enemy orders. FIRE AT WILL. Arrows flew everywhere, every warrior hid down as close to the trees as possible. Only by kneeling or laying down could you avoid fire. Eventually the enemy fire stopped and so did ours. Every now and then we would yell and the arrows would fly again. At night we once again retreat and are able to eat, except now our meals are not whole. We had started to ration our food.

The next day we continued fighting. The same as the day before. That night we had little food. I sneaked out at night to try to hunt deeper in the forest. I failed to catch anything, but set up several traps.

The next day was the same as the last, except casualties were starting to rack up. A dozen of our limited archers were injured and several were dead. Twenty of our soldiers were injured and seven were dead. Their bodies lay behind the fallen trees waiting for nothing. This night we were given even less to eat, merely a small piece of simple bread. We had no problems with water but our food was running low. At night several men including myself went out to hunt. My traps had caught two rabbits. I tried to run a small fire to avoid revealing my location. Two of the other men found me because of this. One had also caught a rabbit so we decided to split evenly.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The next day many of our men were tired, but it went mainly the same. We were running out of energy, but the enemy still had not decided to commit to melee battles. Luckily today there were no injuries or deaths. However that night only half the men got even a scrap of bread. We were officially out of food. That night my traps did well and caught two rabbits and a turkey. At my secret campfire two more men had discovered it. I suggested splitting the food and they were thankful. We chatted a little bit about what we would do when we got back home.

The next day started the same, we snuck out before dawn and yelled. The enemy would then gather and shoot arrows. It was midday when terror came over our troops. Our commander had been hit and killed by an arrow. There was no one qualified to take his position. We continued with the same strategy as before but it was much less effective. We were not a force together, but several dozen men each fighting their own. After sunfall we each retreated on our own.

We gathered in our tent and had a discussion. There was a little food left for the commander but it was only enough to feed several men. I argued to give it to the seriously injured however few listened. Eventually it was decided that the food would be split among the archers. It was decided that we would continue with the previous plan and an archer would call out any orders appropriately. Retreat was never even in our mind. At this point many men decided to go hunting as quietly as possible. I had set more traps the previous nights and caught a great score. Three more men found our fire, so I fed three more men.

The next day we fought with the same strategy yet again. Though every warrior's spirits were dampened by the situation we fought with our all. There were five deaths that day, three archers and two warriors. One of the casualties was our new leader. At the guise of night we retreated once again. We were arguing in our tent, there were three people who wanted to become the new leader. They argued back and forth coming up with no solution. Eventually they figured it out with a fistfight. No one argued.

The next day hunger was truly, getting to our soldiers. Some layed down behind the tree’s and didn’t yell. When we retreated at nightfall the hunger also started to affect their minds. Many tried to eat bark but the tree’s weren’t suited to it. Some ate random plants or hunted for animals. That night I fed a total of twelve warriors.

The next day, we walked calmly out behind the tree’s while we trusted the cover of night. The day went the same as many before it, nothing special. However that night people came back at different times.

The next day on the battlefield I noticed that some of our troops' corpses were missing. A fear came to me, around me who? Suspicions filled my mind. However, flying arrows caught me back. By now there were hundreds of arrows stuck in the tree’s and ground. Even though we had been collecting the arrows for the archers the enemy overwhelmed us. We retreated in the night and we were relaxed. The war had become repetitive, which relaxed our minds. When we returned many came slowly again. I yelled forcing myself into the leader position. With the support of the dozen warriors I fed, none refused. I told the men the new strategy I had prepared. I could not accept any atrocities from people. I told the men that I would feed them, and not to take the worst option.

The next day only two dozen men hid behind the trees. Instead of yelling they would quickly show their heads and then hide. Meanwhile all the other warriors would hunt in the woods. This plan turned out pretty well. We got enough food for everyone to scrape by. That was my main priority, the opposite would be truly horrifying.

The next day, we changed our strategy. We showed no sign of our presence. We all hid behind trees without letting out any more sound than a breath. Without our usual loud presence the enemy became suspicious. Around midday they sent out several men. The second they tried to look around a tree they were quickly dispatched. The arrows continued to rain and we retreated back at night. We had little remaining food so I sent a group of warriors to hunt at night. The hunger grew and our sanity slowly dropped.

I asked myself the essential question.

What was our job? Our job was to siege the castle.

Why were we ordered to siege the castle? To draw their attention.

How long do we need to draw their attention?

Until we die?

Where do we get enough food?

Who is eating?

What are they eating?

My mind slowly lost focus and horror filled my bones. Suspicion of the men around me. Why?

The next day we did not go to the front and hunted. The animals were hiding, and we only got half of what we needed for the day. Many men complained and morale dropped. I tried to calm the nerves and spoke of war and the cause of our lord. This calmed them down for the most part, but at night some disappeared. Hoping to find something at night, or else…

The next day we all hid behind the trees and waited in complete silence. Once again around midday a dozen heavily armored soldiers were sent out. They were in a heavy formation and would be prepared for an ambush. However we outnumbered them too greatly. They were quickly overwhelmed by dozens of warriors. Their dead bodies lay on the ground quickly forgotten with the next words.

CHARGE.

I yelled with fury. I didn’t know anything at that moment. I didn’t know how many would die. I didn’t know how long we would have to wait. I didn’t know how many of the people around me would turn into monsters by then. My knowledge was greatly lacking however I knew one thing, the gates were open. A battlecry sounded throughout all the warriors. We all made a sea of wood above our heads. The sounds of dozens of arrows sinking or bouncing off our shields could not be heard. They tried to close the gate, but we made it first. Five men made it through the gate before it was almost closed. They killed those on the other side and forced open the gate. On the other side of the gate were a dozen warriors waiting in formation. Our sea of men did not hesitate. This was our battle for life. Our entire lives relied on these moments. If you live you would have food and shelter, when you return home glory and fame. Die a warrior, live a hero, only fearing failure. Arrows rained on us from above luckily we still had our shields up. We continued our stampede and clashed with the dozen warriors. Eight men were spent before the enemy lay dead. I quickly ordered our group to split in two. One group would take down the archers, while the other would find the armory and prevent further warriors from equipping. The archers were easily taken down with only two losses. They had little armor and no practice in melee combat. The group protecting the armory easily killed the unequipped men numbering in the tens. We had nearly conquered the castle. Fame had nearly reached our names.

The inside of the castle was smaller, a small courtyard with dead soldiers. A big door stands before us. The only thing left between ourselves and victory. I ordered the group back in formation, and cautiously opened the door. A giant hallway with six armed guards lay before us. The room broke out into two rooms on each side and one huge door at the end. Our numbers quickly laid waste to the guards. We then split into four groups and each took one of the small rooms. Nothing too important to mention, a kitchen, maid quarters, rooms of the like, filled only with women. We regrouped for the final battle, and slowly opened the door.

Inside were four dozen equipped soldiers and a fat man hiding behind a well dressed warrior. We immediately ran, giving no readiness to our opponents. Our numbers having been chipped away were slightly less than theirs. I started a battlecry that was picked up by all the warriors. Our voices had an unstoppable rage. Soon the enemy also let out a yell trying to fight back. The initial clash was hard and no side had gained an advantage. One by one both sides began to fall dead. The fight was very even, however the fancily dressed warrior made no move. But then again neither had I. I charged into battle killing several men while making my way through. Hopefully that would turn the battle in our favor, but those thoughts were quickly forgotten once I got past the battle. Now in my mind only the fancily dressed warrior, the enemy lord, and myself existed. I slowly approached the warrior and he drew his weapon, a thin sword. His weapon was weird and looked like a long needle. I decided not to underestimate the enemy warrior. We eventually got into combat distance just a step away from the first round. On closer inspection he had a weird stance. I then knew he would have an unusual fighting style. I raised my shield and sword and dashed forward swinging my sword. The enemy quickly stepped back dodging my blow. I continued swinging however he kept dodging. His simple step back was skilled, practiced many times. I deliberately made a flaw in my strike, he took this opportunity and pierced forward. He combined the thrust with his weird footwork and bursted forward and striked. His speed was almost immediate, as fast as light. If I hadn’t prepared and blocked with my shield I might have lost an arm or worse. I quickly swung again, and he stepped back. I dropped my sword and swung out my spear. He might be faster but I would have the reach. I thrust forward and he moved his upper body away, dodging. I targeted his legs and he jumped out of the way. I had no way to hit him, so I must persevere.

The battle went on between us back and forth, if he didn’t fight defensively then I might have lost. The turning point of the battle came when I made a mistake. My breath was running low, I swung out and he dodged to the side and thrust at my leg. The wound wasn’t enough to disable the leg, but it definitely wouldn’t be the same. Blood leaked out of my leg and stained my pants, the pain heavy. However I was more focused on not letting him take advantage. He suddenly went on the offensive, his strikes fast as lightning kept coming. I blocked many strikes with my shield and the noise was like a song, with a constant pace. I was able to notice his pace and the fight became easier. I defensively fought and blocked every one of his strikes until he went out of tempo. He stung my arm with his hot iron needle. Blood flowed from my arm too, and the pain doubled. One leg and one arm were harder to move, like a weight was tied to them. He took advantage of my state and stung my other leg. I fell to the ground on my back with a thud. He stood above with his sword to my neck. I was afraid.

I was not afraid of death, but of failure. My life gone, I would return to innocence. Death and innocence suddenly became connected in my mind. They were not that different from each other. Like a child.

Why?

Why me?

WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO DIE?

WHY NOT THOSE MONSTERS?

Those who eat others' flesh. Those who kill each other for less than a purpose. Those who will take from others merely for their stomach, for their greed.

I die when those monsters live.

My life, my friends lives. Gone like sand in the wind. Nobody will know what happened to me or to my friends. We will be truly dead.

NO

I came back to my senses. I could not die, I haven’t lived yet. The Warrior with his needle to my neck was the only thing standing in my way. I faster than I ever moved in my life swung both my spear and shield together. He flinched in reaction, but was not fast enough to act. His needle-like sword was caught in between and snapped. Reacting, he quickly drew a dagger and stabbed towards my neck. Fortunately he was not fast enough. I deflected his dagger with my shield and stabbed with a dagger I had prepared. It went through his neck and in seconds he was dead.

A roar filled the room, there were about twenty warriors left. All hailed from our forces. They had seen our duel and my victory brought glory to all there. I bathed in the glory but felt nothing. I slowly raised to my feet and started to limp. I grabbed my sword and climbed to the corner of the room. Crouching there was a short fat man, the enemy lord. He started crying and asked me to spare him. I grabbed him by the hair and swung my sword. I turned to the crowd of warriors, raised the head high and yelled.

CHANGE THE FLAGS. THIS PLACE BELONGS TO THE VICTORS.

Warrior Gunnar’s story was quite entertaining, and held the audience's attention. Warrior Gunnar’s face did not change the entire time and his words were dull but descriptive. As the story ended, a loud cheer came out through the crowd. Many words of praise were spread, but the Warrior remained unmoved.

“Many may consider this story glorious… However war is terror. It is more important to learn from my story than to cheer for me.” Warrior Gunnar’s statement cooled the crowd's excitement. Many were disappointed with the cold water thrown over them.

“War shaves your sanity; you lose yourself to instinct or feeling. It makes you do things you would never do with a sane mind. Hunger is much the same.” There were two reactions to Warrior Gunnar’s words. One reaction was one of realization, the other of innocent curiosity.

“When war shaves off too much and you lose control, you can become a monster. Once you cross that line you are no longer a human. Hunger is much the same.” The repetition of his words helped some realize and let it sink deeper into others. In his story some had crossed that line that SIN, hunger, had made them do something inhuman.

“I can no longer taste anything, the trauma of that ‘SIN’ still lay within me.”

“Do not let war control you… Do not lose your hearts to glory. Do not give in to terror. Live, win, and return human… Respect human life, some of my comrades' bodies could not be returned because of that ‘SIN’. Their families could not honor them... They are dead, they died for us, and what did we give them?” Warrior Gunnar’s words resolved around the many tables. This time they were taken seriously. Many faces in deep consideration.

“All these dead men, their stories don’t belong to them alone. Their stories are the proof of our lives as humans. Remember them with not only your minds, but your hearts.” Warrior Gunnar’s words shocked every young boy and old man present. His words held a deep message that they somehow understood.

“Remember and you will stay human.”