Short Story: Battle Worn.
There I was, in the middle of a battle raging around me. Fighting back the endless bombardment of my enemy’s advancements. On every side, my attackers pressed in. Their eyes blood thirsty & faces distorted in rage, they had taken on the advantage in the battle. I was surrounded on every side, the victim of their endless bombardment of advances. Singled out, surrounded and losing my strength, I tried to beat back each attack in vain. Their intimidation tactics threw me off balance and had me looking too many ways all at once. There were just too many of them.
Was I the only one losing this fight?
I looked around for my fellow warriors and saw them equally overtaken. We didn’t expect the battle to come but into the battle we still went. It felt like only just yesterday we awoke thinking there was peace. The fight had come so suddenly that by evening war had broken out. They surrounded our towns and homes almost instantaneously—like they had been planning it all along. They blew their horn of war so off to battle we decided to go, unprepared & unsuspecting. We rode hard and fast but the closer we approached to battle, some began to lose heart and give up. They stopped and turned around, leaving only a remnant to continue on. Those of us remaining rode into war fiercely and bravely, keen on protecting our homes, families and livelihoods. But soon we were overtaken by their strategic attack and sheer numbers.
So here I stood, all that a distant memory as the battle was seemingly over. My enemies encircled me and took turns jabbing at my slowly waning defenses. My shield began to fall and my arms grew weary but the attacks kept coming. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to escape. Just to go down fighting. A sword slashed at my heels and cut me deep, knocking me to my knees. A blow hit my head, causing the world to spin as I knew I was done for. I was hopeless fighting this battle alone. I raised up my sword to deflect one more attack on my left but doing so gave room for another sword to pierce my leg. My strength was failing me as I knew this was the end. I was defeated.
It was then that I heard another sound – not one of swords and defeat, but one of hope. I heard another horn blow, one blown to announce victory. Confused by the sound, my enemies paused, looking up to find out who had the audacity to declare victory upon them, as they clearly had this battle close to won.
All our eyes caught at the same moment a knight in shining armor riding in on a white horse. His horse broke through the enemy’s defenses easily as He began to fight back the enemy Himself, as if their attacks and swords had no effect on Him. Behind Him, He led in an army. They came swift and mightily, charging in carrying a banner over them that declared “CONQUERORS.”
This sudden change aggravated the enemy as they began to descend on the reinforcements. My attackers turned back to me, considering me an easy enough target to finish off with my sustained injuries. They closed in on me for the final blow as I gave one last cry accepting my defeat.
In that moment, He broke through my attackers circle, my knight in shining armor. With one sweep of His sword, He took them all down, pulling me up onto His horse with Him.
I was in shock, who was this Man who led His army into battle declaring victory before He even raised a sword? Who was this Man who with such strength, defeated all. Briefly, the knight in shining armor stopped His horse and pulled up a sword from the battlefield, handing it to me. “You can fight,” He said, “help me fight and win.” I looked down at the sword He gave. As it passed from His hand to mine, I felt a power fill my body. This was no ordinary sword but it felt only that way because of whose hand it had come from.
Turning back into battle, He rode on, sweeping down his enemies aside as I joined Him. Now it was my turn to fight back—this time from behind the protection of the knight in shining armor.
He lapped the battlefield calling my fellow warriors back to Him, reassembling what the enemy thought they had torn down. Soon the defeated lines of our attack stood again as our ranks only grew with the reinforcements He had brought. With new found hope, we charged back into battle, this time towards a crippled and defeated enemy. And there I rode behind my victorious knight – the one who had charged in and turned it all around. So easily I fought behind Him, safe and secure on his mount and strong and confident with the sword He had given me. There was no enemy who could defeat me now!
Victory was swift and sure with the knight in shining armor at the helm. He rode on in ahead and the rest of the army was left to follow, easily finishing up the remainder of what He chose to leave behind.
And He didn’t stop until every last one of them was defeated. He cleared out the battlefield, bringing me along as we rode from end to end until He was sure they all had fallen. “Victory!” He declared, raising up high His sword. And with a great shout, the army around Him raised their voices in a mighty victory cry. So shortly ago they were facing imminent death and now only celebration resounded throughout the battlefield as we all were left astounded.
He had turned it all around, the knight in shining armor. His army had come conquering and conquered. He turned my defeat into victory, wiping the enemy completely out like a powerful crashing wave.
He turned back once again to me – this time offering a hand to help me off His horse. “You can lead them from here?” He asked me, but it didn’t feel too much like a question. I looked down at the sword He had given me and across the battlefield where every last one of my enemies lay fallen. I slowly nodded.
“I am here for whenever you may need me. My army and I are just a signal away. Remember, you never fight alone and you never will. Never forget this battle and never forget, in the end, I always win. ”
He turned to ride off, surely towards another battle and to defeat another enemy. But I was no longer afraid. I knew my knight in shining armor would ride in once again the moment I may need Him.
