The Upside Down Tale of a Warrior

Chapter 8

The days passed and eventually they turned to months. I grew closer with all of my friends, even Simon. We all had this unbreakable bond now. I was excelling so much now in training that I had moved to archery and horseback riding with weapons. Thunk! I loved the sound of the arrow hitting the target in the exact place I aimed. After my 20th bullseye in a row I heard a sound I never thought I would hear. The warning bell was ringing, a death knell that sent shivers down my spine. The enemy would be attacking soon. I rushed back to my tent, pushing against the thousands of bodies trying to go in different directions. When I finally did make it, I realized I had never picked up my armor from the blacksmith. Since I didn't want to have to be taking care of it for no reason. After all, we had never heard the three gongs that meant war in three months. So Renald and I had asked the blacksmith to hold it until I came for it.
I was running harder now, barreling through bodies. Once people recognized it was me they parted like the Red Sea. I had grown quite the reputation of being the greatest soldier in the Greek army, no one had ever been so good at something they went and tried the other classes too.
"I need the armor I put on hold!" I shouted as soon as I entered the blacksmith's tent. His name was Gregory and we had become good friends over time. He understood my emergency today though so he quickly beckoned me back further into the tent. Everyone else was in the second tent, grabbing weapons.
I gasped. The armor was gorgeous, black as night with silver lining the edges and whirling into the middle to form a silver tree. Seemingly delicate, really strong, and capable of anything.
"It is beautiful Gregory," I whispered in awe. He shrugged.
"I had time." Is the only thing he says. I take a deep breath. Was I really getting ready for war? Yes, I thought firmly, I was going to protect the land my friends grew up on and lived in. I took the armor off the stand determinedly and started to put it on. My fingers seemed to know exactly what they were doing even though I had never donned armor before. As soon as it was on I felt invincible. Nothing could touch me. It wasn't just the armor but all of the things I had to fight for, my newfound family here. I was surrounded by people who cared about me and I would fight every day of my life for them.
"Here," Gregory offers me a beautiful, simple sword that matches my armor. There were silver threads dancing and twirling down the blade. The handle was black with silver dots. Tears came to my eyes when I realized he had incorporated my love of stars. Ever since I was able to see the billions upon billions of stars I had become infatuated with them.
"Thank you Gergory," I say with complete sincerity coating my voice.
"Thank you for giving this old blacksmith a friend," Gregory says then ushers me along. That is when I hear the start-getting-into-your-lines bell thunder through the camp. I suck in a deep breath and head to war.
I was right next to Simon in our lines. The archers were in the back, the swordsmen were right in front of the archers, the armed horseback riders were in front of the swordsmen, and the shields were in the front. I was a swordsman, or woman I guess. No one has discovered my true gender yet, though there were times when they might have suspected.
"Are you ready for this?" Simon asks me. I ponder for a moment before nodding my head, yes.
"Let's do this," Simon says while pulling the visor of his helmet down. I did too and that is when the horn to attack blasted through the army. I definitely felt fear, more than anything though, I felt adrenaline and I felt alive.
The enemy hit the shields first,(obviously) anyone who got through was taken out by the horseback riders. We started to push forward more and more. When the horseback riders weren't able to take care of the enemy the job fell on the swordsmen. I took my first life that day. I was left in shock for a moment when I saw a sword coming for my head. Another sword met it half way there and I watched as Simon struggled to beat him in strength as the swords crossed. When Simon started slipping I stepped in. Quite literally, I stepped in and stabbed the Roman. Simon took a moment and nodded at me. I nodded back and we continued fighting. Except this time we were fighting back to back, whenever I was in danger Simon stepped in and helped me and vice versa.
Our friendship grew as we continued to fight side by side, back to back. Eventually the enemy numbers dwindled till they made the retreat call. I knew exactly how many I had killed, even though we had fought for hours upon hours. I turned to Simon to celebrate our victory when I froze. There was an arrow in his chest.