Bloody Blades

Chapter 1: Harsh Awakening

"Fight till the death", these words echoed through a war-torn mind. The screams of war bounced off the walls inside his head, he stirred and shook. His body jumped as if being electrocuted, his eyes opening quickly as his breathing turned sharp. His chest moved up and down with every breath, his face was a pale white and his body was a torn wreck. Bruises, cuts, and scrapes represented a battle-hardened veteran who had been through the hell that is called war. He barely managed to sit up straight, grunting in pain as he felt his chest crack, his muscles, and joints stiff from being still for however long he had been unconscious for.

He stared in horror, blinking in disbelief at what he saw, bodies thrown across an open field with blood staining the fresh green grass. Axes, swords, spears, every kind of weapon sticking out of the ground and pierced into bodies, leaving horrified looks on befallen soldiers' faces. He felt his stomach groan and he looked to the side, coughing and throwing up contents that looked similar to his ground up breakfast that he had last eaten. He stared down at his stomach, gingerly touching his side, flinching when he found a large gash across his waist, a wound that looked as if it had come from a sword that attempted to cut him down. 

He looked around and saw a somewhat torn tunic of a fallen soldier, although bloodied, it would have to do for a makeshift bandage. He grabbed the tunic and tore it off the dead body, tearing it up and dressing the wound the best he could. He was no expert in treating wounds but knew how to look after himself. He attempted to stand up, wanting to move once again, his legs shook, wanting to give out on him and collapse once more. He forced himself to stand up and he looked around the war-torn battlefield, looking for a weapon that could possibly suit him in case he was attacked. A glint from a nearby halberd caught his attention and he hobbled over towards it, the halberd's blade was lodged into the skull of a soldier, his head split wide open by the halberd.

He grabbed the halberd and ripped it out with great force, the skull ripping off the body and falling off of the halberd, clattering to the ground. The halberd's blade was drenched and dripping with blood, stained with guts from other soldiers. He looks around, trying to see if he recognized any faces at all, even if they were dead. He soon saw a banner, a green banner with a white stag, his hands twitched and he started to remember things.

He remembered being lined up in a town, fellow soldiers beside him with their weapons in hand as the commander gave a rousing speech, trying to keep the soldiers proud and strong. "This fight may be your last, but we will fight until this war is over. Fight to the death". He sighed and shook his head, his brain running with multiple ideas and thoughts. "If only..." he murmured to himself, thinking about what would have happened if more soldiers had of lived. He looked all around him, trying to find any signs of life, whether it be a city, castle or even a small village. Small smoke stacks raised up into the air, they were thick and black, similar to that which came from fire, this made the soldier grimace and ponder whether or not to head in that direction.

"Well....I'm dead if I stay here anyway...no way I can live out here on my own" he mutters to himself and slowly makes his way towards the smoke, hobbling the whole way there due to his injury. He would only hope that he would not arrive too late and that he could find answers for his reason to be unconscious in an open field, with bodies dead all around him.