Honor

A light rain spattered down to the earth from the black clouds that hung over the hill the two men sat upon, an old rotting bench bearing their weight for one last time. Puddles formed in the streets while a cold dampness sank into the wooden homes of the small village. There was no wood left to burn in the fireplaces to stave off the cold of the night, nor the bone chill the rain brought.

Torches became visible in the thick forest at the bottom of the hill as a murderous enemy marched upon them, the chants of war and screams of insanity echoing up to meet them. The two men could hear the shouts of the town’s folk, some preparing to flee while others knew it was useless to do so, choosing to stay in their homes until the end. What men were left had taken up pitch forks and hammers to draw a line at the towns edge, to make their last stand, to enter the afterlife with their dignity.

“It would appear we are outnumbered” Brier stated, leaning back a bit as he looked to his friend.

‘It would appear that way, maybe they’ll miss the village completely, you can barely see it from the forest” Conrad responded with a chuckle.

Brier looked around, down the line of men preparing to give their lives in the defense of their home, they would die as he and Conrad would. More than a thousand of the great enemy trudged through the forest as they sat and waited for them without the support of knights or horses, they sat in a small village that was about to be wiped off the earth like a cook cleaning grime off a pan.

“Are you glad you left the farm?” Conrad questioned reluctantly.

“To die in the mud of a village nobody will ever know the name of” Brier spoke softly, “No... I would have liked to marry and raise a few cattle, some children even”.

Conrad saw the pain in his friend’s eyes as the last words came out of his mouth, they both no doubt had children in towns and cities across the kingdom that they would never get to meet now. War had taken its tole on both of them, and while Conrad wished the same, he knew how heavy his brother’s heart was.

“We have our honor, and that will be worth something when we enter the afterlife” Conrad stated.

“A life wasted for a handful of honor that could have been acquired in a thousand other ways” Brier stated, “There will be no honor in this fight, just death and regret”.

“I suppose you are right” Conrad replied, “Well no use in going out with a muddy conscience”

The rain began to come down harder, soaking the land while it pinged off the armor of the two warriors who now stood. Hundreds of torches were accompanied by the deafening chants of war and boots cracking against mud and branches as the enemy emerged clad in the black armor and red banners of hell itself. It would not be long now before they charged, there were no defenses to break, nor walls to climb, they would flood the village more savagely than the water that poured down upon it.

“I was sold into this, my parents had five children raised on the salted lands of the last great war” Conrad stated, “I have nothing to go home to, nor do I have a reason to dream of starting a family of my own, I am war, I am death”.

“Let us make war one last time then” Brier spoke as he unsheathed his sword and gazed upon the shiny blade that had taken nearly a hundred lives.

He raised the weapon high and shouted out, unheard by the mass of men charging towards them, but heard by the peasants that stood with them. They would be warriors for the blink of an eye before they were chopped down. That would be real honor, real bravery, farmers using tools to fight off an enemy that could not be defeated next to two of the king’s knights that did not even want to be there. The greatest of battles are not fought on the walls of castles for men that buy children and slaves to serve them, but by a man fighting to the death for his family and his home.