The Sound of Fire

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley, if you had told me two months ago we would all combine our might to battle not one but four dragons I would have called you an idiot. Then I'd likely start a brawl with you for being an idiot.” The tall man says as he finishes relieving himself against a tree, he pulls up his breeches then ties the laces together. He turns around to look at his young companion who is looking into the deep dark forest watching for any sudden movement. The torch he is holding is freshly lit, the flame reaches above the young man’s head illuminating more than half of his body. His brown shoulder length hair shines as bright as his chainmail shirt when the fire moves.

“But here we are, two everyday men conscripted by a king we have never met to fight an unwinnable fight, sounds about right.” The man jokes.

The tall man takes one last look into the forest, the night sky makes it appear endless.

“Alright, I'm finished here. Come on Richard lets grab some food.” The man says as he walks in the opposite direction away from the endless forest and towards a military camp site seen through the shrubbery and trees.

Richard quickens his pace to catch up to the tall man. If it wasn’t for the torch he would blend into the night sky, his shoulder length hair and groomed beard are black making it hard to spot without the torch shine.

“What do you mean, unwinnable?” Richard asks as he gets his boot stuck in the mud.

“Tell me, how many dragons have you killed?” The man asks.

“None.” Richard answers while struggling to get his boot out.

“Neither have I, until recent I have never seen a dragon and we were told on the other side of this forest there is a fort and inside this fort is a man controlling these dragons. Guess what is between the fort and the forest.” The man quizzes.

“I don’t know.” Richard replies focusing on his boot.

“You're stuck in it. A field of crap and mud, the almighty king wants us to run up to the fort with sieging weapons.” The man walks over to Richard and helps him get unstuck.

“Thank you, Robert.” Richard says.

“You're Welcome. Now how do suppose we outrun dragon fire in mud while moving sieging equipment?” Robert asks.

“I don’t know.” Richard admits.

“Same, but who am I to question a king's command. All Hail the Almighty!” Robert mocks as he continues forward to the camps.

Cheers can be heard coming from the campsite, the mud beneath their feet blends away turning into grass and dirt. Along the outskirts of the camp, guards are put on patrol. One guard dressed in a light weight plate armor. The guard raises his torch away from his head trying to remove the light blindness to see whom is approaching.

“You sure took your time.” The guard remarks.

“I get a little nervous when I walk into the dark and present myself, never know what's out there or who is watching, but if they like I can put on a show.” Robert jokes as he and Richard walk past the guards. Tents in all sizes cover the ground for what appears to be miles. Torches placed on poles light up the area. As the two enter the camp the cheering they heard before has become louder. A group of orcs and dwarves are huddled together to cheer on the two in a brawl. One is a seven-foot orc, skin as green as the swamp, scars all over his body and a mighty long black beard fighting against a four-foot male dwarf. The dwarf is wearing full plate armor except for a helmet, his flame red hair is looking like a broken bird's nest reaching down to his back, his red beard is braided down to his waist line. The two are trading blows here and there, a fist to the gut thrown by the orc then a kick to the shins by the dwarf.

Robert and Richard stop to watch the brawl. Robert notices that a one armed orc is collecting bets.

“Over here!” Robert waves to the orc.

The orc walks over to Robert with his wooden money box in hand, before he says anything the one-armed orc spits on the ground infront of him.

“You.” he growls.

“How's the arm?” Robert jokes.

The one-armed orc stares at him for a moment then proceeds to laugh. He places the box on the ground and gives Robert a brotherly hug with his one arm.

“Gorzug! My big green ugly friend, ready to kill some dragons?” Robert cheerfully asks.

Gorzug laughs louder “I have always wanted to kill one, now I get four more chances to do so.”

“Good to hear, Gorzug this is Richard we are from the same village.” Robert says

Gorzug nods his head.

“Say, how about thirty silvers on the dwarf over there?” Robert wages.

“You would go against my kin?” Gorzug questions.

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.” Robert says looking at his missing arm.

Gorzug chuckles to himself.

“You are a dangerous man saying that here Robert, add your silvers. What about you? you go against my kin?” Gorzug turns and asks Richard.

Richard stiffens up. “Me? No, I'll match Robert and put thirty on the orc.”

Gorzug laughs to himself as Richard puts his coins in Gorzug’s box.

“Good Luck.” Gorzug wishes as he moves on to the next patrons placing their bets.

“You should have put money on the dwarf.” Robert says.

“Why?” Richard questions.

“Because, as tall as the orc is he is slow and tired. The dwarf has been running circles around him this whole fight, plus now Gorzug thinks you’re a kiss ass for picking his side.” Robert jests.

“How do you even know that orc?” Richard asks.

“I'm the one to chop off his arm.” Robert states.

“And you two are still friends?” Richard questions.

“We were boys back then when it happened not adults. We were thrown into a battle that wasn’t of our making. We met on the field, I chopped his arm off and I felt bad for the beast cause I realized he is like me, we didn’t want to fight but we had to. After the battle I gave his arm back. Orcs respect two things, great fighters and people who honor their traditions without his arm being cremated by his kin he can never be whole on the other side. From then onward we kept in touch, we drank a few times together but never fought against each other.” Robert recollects.

The dwarf punches the orc in the gut forcing him bend over, while vulnerable he kicks the orc in the jaw making the orc fall unconscious to the ground. All the dwarves in the crowd erupt in a loud cheer, they all celebrate by downing their drinks. Robert joins in the cheer while he looks over to Richard to indicate he should have listened.

“I’ll be back in a second, there is an orc who owes me money.” Robert says to Richard as he wonders off into the crowd. Richard stays put and observes his surroundings, he notices that some of the orcs are collecting their winnings from Gorzug while the ones that lost are quickly leaving the camp or returning to their tents. There are other humans around the camp watching and participating in the victory with the dwarves. He feels a hand on his right leg.

“Move out of the way laddie.” An elderly dwarf says as he shuffles past the crowd to reach the champion fighter. He watches as the elderly dwarf walks up to the champion and embraces him into his arms.

Robert returns with a sack full of silver.

“I told you.” He jests at Richard “Gorzug also thinks you’re a kiss ass by the way.” Robert adds.

Richard just rolls his eyes and proceeds to head further into the camp.

Richard is walking further into the military camp, he passes some men sitting by a campfire trading story of past battles won. Robert is taking his time to catch up to Richard.

“Where are you going?” Robert calls out to Richard.

“To bed!” Richard yells back as he accidently bumps into a couple of elves passing by.

Robert jogs up to Richard apologizing to the elves for his clumsiness.

“Why go to bed? The night is dark and full of entertainment. You should come with me play a drinking game with some dwarves.” Robert suggests.

“We are at war.” Richard says as he stops and face Robert.

“Yes, we are and tomorrow I might not be alive. You have seen the size of me, a big bear of a man I'm a large target for whatever is at the fort so tell me what good is a bag of silver to a deadman?” Robert asks.

Richard is stumped and he doesn’t have an answer to reply back.

“I get it, you're young and you have something to fight for. If you want to rest and prepare for the battle then be my guest, I won't stop you. I tend to think this be my last day so I will spend it drinking and with a couple of camp followers in my tent.” Robert says.

“I’m going to get some rest.” Richard says.

“I’ll walk with you.” Robert accompanies.

As the pair walk towards their own tents, they notice a crowd has gathered around the large tent in the center of the camp. Intrigued by this gathering Robert grabs Richard by the sleeve and guides him towards the crowd. The two blend right in, Robert pushes some people out of his way only to end up behind a couple of tall elves. Two guardsmen are standing outside the tent both holding onto torches and spears. The tent flap opens up and the human king exits out, the crowd cheers some people yell out all hail the almighty, the almighty king waves back to the crowd. His brownish red hair glows bright in the light of the torches so does his red beard which he has been growing since his departure to war. The full plate armor he wears is shiny and clean not a speck of damage on it so too is his cape. The old dwarvish king exits out the tent followed closely by the elvish queen then an orcish warlord.

Robert grabs Richard's sleeve and drags him away from the tent.

“let's go before they make an uplifting speech.” Robert says sarcastically as he forces his way out of the crowd.

“What's your problem?” Richard says trying to keep pace with Robert.

Robert stops and turns to face Richard.

“My problem? Oh no big deal, it's just I'm fighting in the mud, piss and shit while people around me get their guts cut open or worse get set a fire for what? A king I have never met? He most likely has someone wiping his ass the way he looks.” Robert says with fury.

“Robert” Richard says as he gets interrupted.

“And what will they do?” Robert points towards the middle camp “Make speeches, convince young men to risk their lives for glory, there is no glory in dying in mud. Worst is if we win, they will claim the victory was all part of their plan they will celebrate while men drown in puddles.” Robert lashes out.

Richard just stands still unsure how to answer.

Robert calms down and looks at Richard.

“I'm sorry, you have never been in a battle before you haven't seen the worst of it.” Robert apologizes.

Robert pats Richard's shoulder.

“I need some time, I'll be at my tent if you need me, I’ll save you some breakfast.” Robert says as he walks towards some tents. Richard takes his time walking towards his tent, he spots a makeshift kitchen with a cook handing out a hot meal. He joins the line standing behind a female elf. Her white blonde hair tied into a bun just above her pointed ears, her skin almost pale as snow.

The elf receives what looks to be some sort of slop and soup combination in a wooden bowl. The elf wonders off to eat by herself. Richard moves up the line and he too receives the same meal. As he looks for a place to sit, he hears a lute player beginning to play a song. The lute player is a human, he is sitting next to a camp fire, Richard wonders over and sits on a log to listen to what the musician has to play. The elf that was in line comes and joins the camp fire sitting on a log near Richard.

“First battle?” she asks as she sips her soup.

“Yeah, how can you tell?” Richard asks.

“The veterans are either asleep or drunk, those green to a battle often keep to themselves.” The elf replies.

“What does that make you?” Richard questions.

“Somewhere in between I suppose, I'm not green I'd say maybe yellow.”

Richard sips the soup from his spoon. “Have you killed a dragon?” he asks

“No, but I have seen one die. It fell out of the sky when my kin set its wings on fire.” The elf remembers.

Richard just continues to sip on his soup.

“My name is Ira.” Ira greets.

“Richard.” returns the gesture.

The tune from the lute player and the warmth of the fire gathers more people around.

The song is about a slave becoming free only to die two days later.

“Any regrets?” Ira asks Richard as she watches the fire.

“Some, you?” Richard asks.

Ira pauses for a moment “Some, if I live tomorrow, I want to give up this life and start anew.”

“Never thought I would miss shoveling crap form the stables.” Richard says

“Yet we are here.” Ira states.

For a slight second the moonlight disappeared and all that was lighting up the camp was the torches placed around it. Richard thought nothing of it perhaps a small cloud. The horses tied up nearby start to gallop on the spot out of fear, they neigh so loud they wake some soldiers up from their tents. The lute player stops playing to watch what the fuss is all about. Richard stands up and notices that all the animals in the camp are panicked, dogs are hiding, birds are flying away. Richard turns around and looks at the forest. A small orange light is in the distance and with every second staring at it, it grows in size. Then the silence is broken by a loud demonic like roar echoing from the forest.

“Dragons!” a man yells out. The bells start to be rung as loud as possible waking up the camp. People are rushing to put on their armor on and gather their weapons. Richard looks up at the sky and he spots a dragon as dark as night and as large as four town homes hovering above the camp. The beast opens its mouth and fire emerges all over camp setting tents and people on fire. Many have vaporized into ash while others are screaming in pain melting in their armor. Richard looks to the forest once again and the orange light has grown thrice over, he realizes that it's not a light it is fire.

Ira quickly grabs onto Richard’s sleeve

“Run!” she shouts out. Processing the events around him Richard can only think of one thing.

“Robert.” Richard mumbles to himself.

Ira tries to make Richard move but he stands still. she quickly gives up and starts to flee into the forest along with several others that were sitting by the camp fire.

The smoke from the fire quickly fills the air making it hard to see, Richard starts to walk towards the burning tents.

“Robert!” he yells out as he walks over burnt corpses and ash. People are crawling out of their tents suffocating, others seem to be lost among the smoke trying to find a way out. The dragon that was hovering above can no longer be seen but the calls and cries of people yelling dragon can be heard throughout the camp.

“Robert!” Richard yells out once more as he moves closer toward his tent. The fire is spreading from one tent to another trapping some inside their own beds. Some people have stayed behind to try to take out the flames with whatever water is nearby but the water quickly evaporates once it touches the flames. Cries for help can be heard all around, people screaming in pain, others are hiding in a corner crying some are praying to whichever god they believe in. Richard is choosing to ignore anyone in his path asking for help until he sees a knight melting inside his own armor struggling to take it off. Richard quickly looks away not wanting to see the end result but instead remains determined to head towards Robert’s tent.

“Robert!” He yells out desperately as he nears the tent coughing as he breathes in the smoke. On the ground Infront of Robert’s tent Robert lays still face down, his tent is on fire. Richard sprints over to his body, kneels down and flips him onto his back onto to see that Robert has burnt skin all over the left side of his head and body, patches of hair have burnt off. Richard stands back up but doesn’t move away he just stands looking at his friends burnt face. The heat of the flame around him doesn’t bother him, the screams of people around him are silent. Richard doesn’t seem to notice the giant green hand grabbing a hold of him and being placed on a shoulder getting further and further away from Robert’s body until he can only see smoke and trees then darkness as he closes his eyes.