Turned Table of the Phoenix

Bleeding Sunlight

I didn't know how to respond to Katsuro. I didn't know if I loved him or not. I just looked at him, smiling after he kissed me. I didn't know if the smile was real or not and that's what shocked me even more. Before he could lay his lips on me again I held up my hand stopping him in his moment.

"Let's go to bed... there's a war we need to finish. The sooner the better".

He seemed disappointed as he stepped away from me, bowing and then placing himself on the floor. He laid down and turned his back to me as I became ready for bed. He wouldn't speak another word to me, even as I said goodnight.

The next morning I felt stronger than before. Katsuro had given me the strength I needed to face my fears.
My fear of dying, of failing, of losing everything I wanted to build. Katsuro places my armor on me and watched as I left the tent to enter the battlefield. My men were up and ready to fight. I glanced around me and felt as nervous as I was the previous day perhaps even more nervous. More nervous because being alive at this moment may not last too long when anything is possible.

I breathed heavily under the armor that weighed me down. There was a light chill in the air, enough to where I could see my breath before my eyes. The horse shook its head from side to side, stomping its feet as it was ready for another war.

Silence. There was only silence. The men looked at one another waiting for their generals to arrive. Where were they? I looked around also, I tried to not show concern or worry as I looked for the others. The better question was- where is the enemy?

I turned towards a soldier and said in the calmest tone I could manage, "I need you to scout the area, grab two others to accompany you".

The soldier grabbed another men and a younger boy. He looked to be in his late teens. I watched them make their way towards the enemies territory and finally out of sight.

Time seems to stop when you're in moments of despair and panic. I could do nothing to make time go faster or to see the end results that lie ahead.

The grass rustled in the wind, but from somewhere I could hear a faint whistle. Or should I say whistles... what had originally, started as one, grew into an abundance.

"Shields! Raise your shields"!

Many men raised their shields, but few were able to raise them above ear heads in time. I held my shield above me and heard the sound of metal clashing against metal. After the shower of arrows, I managed to look off in the distance where the men walked from the thick blanket of fog. One after another, men joined and wielded their weapons. Their leader lead the men, he seemed to be calm as he walked towards the center of the field. He looked to his left then his right and used his pointer finger to indicate he wanted something to be brought forward.

A man cried from somewhere within the ranks, "What are we waiting for"?!

Some men nodded and started to stumble forward until I held out my hand for them to stop.
Two men cam from behind, ropes were dangling in their hands as something followed. The two men yanked the ropes and two other men followed, their heads were wrapped in cloth.

"It can't be..." I whispered.

The cloth was unfolded as the two men were sat on their knees.

The leader chuckled as he cried out, "tell the princess the news"!

He two men would not look from the ground.

"I said tell the princess the news"!

The men who held the ropes held a blade to their throats, grabbing them by the hair of their heads. They looked up, I had recognized the one man by the one who I had originally asked to go scouting and the other as the man he asked to accompany him.

"You are surround princess, there is no way out"!

The other man then said, "You're not safe! No help comes! It's death arriving"!

All the men around me frantically looked at their surroundings.

"You blubbering fool," the leader hissed at the second captured man.

"There is no hope princess," the leader said as he turned his focus back to the princess, "we have killed your precious generals"!

How close was this enemy really...

I looked around me... there was no hope.

"We will take care of these traitors for you"!

As the leaders assistants moved I looked away, because I knew what was to come. Once I looked back the men laid on the ground lifeless.

Some of the men tossed their weapons to the side.

"You can die either trying to fend for yourself! Or you can die as a traitor to your country! Or die by the hands of your enemies that you walk to! But if you look into the eyes of your wife, daughter, or son again, remember who you want to be known as".

I looked up to the heaves and said a prayer in my heart that I would be strong. I choked on tears and raised my sword.

"For the king, for our homeland, and for our nation"!

The men cried out and lifted their weapons high into the air as they followed me into the jaws of death.

The horse galloped across the field, my hair flew out of its tie and ruffled in the wind. I headed straight for the leader of the other army. Yards... feet... inches...

Life flashes right before you when you feel the fingers of death touch your heart, mind, and body. Or perhaps it was the blades light that shimmered before me in the bleeding sunlight...