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The Trappings of War: Volume XVII
An UnOrthOdOx View of the Glory of War
I opened my eyes to find myself alone. Startled, I scrambled in an attempt to get to my feet when my hand brushed up against a familiar object. Glancing down, I noticed my flail. How had it gotten here? I thought I had left it on the boat? Staring out into the darkness I could not make out my surroundings, only the hardness of the ground beneath me. I staggered to my feet and lightening split the sky illuminating the area for a brief moment. I was in the middle of a vast wasteland, no markings to be had. A horse brayed nervously somewhere behind me, but as I turned to see, a torment of wind and rain suddenly arose, blinding my eyes and forcing me to turn from its wrath.
A shiver ran up my spine. This was all too familiar. Glancing down, another lightning bolt illuminated the ground and I could see I was once again wearing a strange suit of armor. My heart was racing, the fear welling inside of me. I took off running, from what I did not know, but I had to escape. In my haste I stumbled and fell to the ground.
I could feel a presence behind me, the feeling of a hundred eyes gazing upon you. Not wanting to look, yet unable to resist, I saw my friends standing there, horrified, unable to look upon me for the disgust of what they saw. A single ray of sun broke through the clouds and I could see the bright red upon the ground around me, and new without looking that I myself was covered. I could smell it upon me, I could feel the warm wetness of it becoming sticky as it dried upon my hands. I knew what lay behind me, and I had no desire to face it again, yet could not help but turn to make sure.
There was my dragon. I could hear his labored breathing, could see as the life slowly pumped from the wound which I had given him, could see the pain reflected in those eyes. The eyes that seemed to question the purpose of such violence, that reached out and held me captive. The eyes that paralyzed my entire body. As I sat there in their grip, I could feel the dragons pain, or rather could feel it as his pain became my own. Each of his breaths became my own, his life blood pouring upon the ground became my own. I could feel it pumping out from me, could feel it’s warmth run down my body, and all the while I could not escaped from those eyes until I almost wished to not escape, to simply lie down and become a part of the dragon if for only that split moment before my inevitable death…
“UnOrthOdOx!!!” A voice rang out and I was startled back from my grave by a violent shaking.
“Wha? What the hell!” I yelled as I pulled myself free from the grasp.
“Are you alright? You appeared to be at death’s door just there. What happened?”
It was zeit, I now knew. Glancing around I saw that I was still within the oasis, and that we were preparing to once again move out, yet the moon still shown brightly across the pool. “When you find out what happened, you tell ME, ok? It seems that when I killed that dragon, I have been cursed to be haunted by it’s spirit for the remainder of my days.” I stated shortly.
“You? You killed a dragon? How? When?” His eyes were wide with interest.
“Believe me, THAT is a long story. Perhaps one day I will even put it in writing in order to share it with the future, but not today!” I laughed, not wanting to think of it more.
We were quickly mounted and once more the hood was placed upon my head and we were off. It did not take long before I could hear the sounds of civilization in the distance. Carts traveling, peasants murmuring at the strange sight of a hooded man riding in the custody of the military. We were clearly on the outskirts of some town, or at the least on a road. I only had a moment to wonder at the sounds of everything when zeit reached over and removed the hood.
I had never before seen such a large city. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be people rushing off to tend to their business. At once, though, the very sight made me long for the quiet of my own little town of Camulodunum. I was brought before some large building and told that I could find a hot meal and a bath there to prepare for the meeting that evening and told I would be sent for when it was time.
“Greetings good sir! Come from Glory of War, do you?”
Seeking the source of the voice, I could find no sign of where it may have come from.
“Down here, good sir!” I looked down and only saw a small dog who had apparently bee branded with some sort of shield in the center of his forehead. Perhaps the trip was longer than I thought, for now I was obviously hallucinating. I sat down and began to wonder where I could find some water with which to clear my head.
“Forgive me, how rude of me. Introductions should come first. My name is Shiber, and I shall be your guide to the city.” The dog held out a single paw, apparently waiting for a handshake.
First giant chickens, now talking dogs? What sort of strange land WAS this? What did I have to lose, though? Accepting the paw, I shook his hand. “Shiber, pleased to meet you, I am UnOrthOdOx, King of Camulodunum, and ambassador to Gathering Storm on behalf of the Glory of War.”
“Very pleased to meet you, now, what would you like to see?” Shiber answered with what was either a snarl or a smile.
“Um, actually, I really need to get to work and get organized for tonight’s meeting, if you could just point me towards some parchment and writing…”
“Books! Books, you want books!? I’ll take you to books, right this way, come on, come on!! Books are this way!” He blurted out as he jumped excitedly.
It looked like I was going to have a tour one way or the other. Why then did I have a sinking feeling that this tour would include every tree in the city?
An UnOrthOdOx View of the Glory of War
I opened my eyes to find myself alone. Startled, I scrambled in an attempt to get to my feet when my hand brushed up against a familiar object. Glancing down, I noticed my flail. How had it gotten here? I thought I had left it on the boat? Staring out into the darkness I could not make out my surroundings, only the hardness of the ground beneath me. I staggered to my feet and lightening split the sky illuminating the area for a brief moment. I was in the middle of a vast wasteland, no markings to be had. A horse brayed nervously somewhere behind me, but as I turned to see, a torment of wind and rain suddenly arose, blinding my eyes and forcing me to turn from its wrath.
A shiver ran up my spine. This was all too familiar. Glancing down, another lightning bolt illuminated the ground and I could see I was once again wearing a strange suit of armor. My heart was racing, the fear welling inside of me. I took off running, from what I did not know, but I had to escape. In my haste I stumbled and fell to the ground.
I could feel a presence behind me, the feeling of a hundred eyes gazing upon you. Not wanting to look, yet unable to resist, I saw my friends standing there, horrified, unable to look upon me for the disgust of what they saw. A single ray of sun broke through the clouds and I could see the bright red upon the ground around me, and new without looking that I myself was covered. I could smell it upon me, I could feel the warm wetness of it becoming sticky as it dried upon my hands. I knew what lay behind me, and I had no desire to face it again, yet could not help but turn to make sure.
There was my dragon. I could hear his labored breathing, could see as the life slowly pumped from the wound which I had given him, could see the pain reflected in those eyes. The eyes that seemed to question the purpose of such violence, that reached out and held me captive. The eyes that paralyzed my entire body. As I sat there in their grip, I could feel the dragons pain, or rather could feel it as his pain became my own. Each of his breaths became my own, his life blood pouring upon the ground became my own. I could feel it pumping out from me, could feel it’s warmth run down my body, and all the while I could not escaped from those eyes until I almost wished to not escape, to simply lie down and become a part of the dragon if for only that split moment before my inevitable death…
“UnOrthOdOx!!!” A voice rang out and I was startled back from my grave by a violent shaking.
“Wha? What the hell!” I yelled as I pulled myself free from the grasp.
“Are you alright? You appeared to be at death’s door just there. What happened?”
It was zeit, I now knew. Glancing around I saw that I was still within the oasis, and that we were preparing to once again move out, yet the moon still shown brightly across the pool. “When you find out what happened, you tell ME, ok? It seems that when I killed that dragon, I have been cursed to be haunted by it’s spirit for the remainder of my days.” I stated shortly.
“You? You killed a dragon? How? When?” His eyes were wide with interest.
“Believe me, THAT is a long story. Perhaps one day I will even put it in writing in order to share it with the future, but not today!” I laughed, not wanting to think of it more.
We were quickly mounted and once more the hood was placed upon my head and we were off. It did not take long before I could hear the sounds of civilization in the distance. Carts traveling, peasants murmuring at the strange sight of a hooded man riding in the custody of the military. We were clearly on the outskirts of some town, or at the least on a road. I only had a moment to wonder at the sounds of everything when zeit reached over and removed the hood.
I had never before seen such a large city. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be people rushing off to tend to their business. At once, though, the very sight made me long for the quiet of my own little town of Camulodunum. I was brought before some large building and told that I could find a hot meal and a bath there to prepare for the meeting that evening and told I would be sent for when it was time.
“Greetings good sir! Come from Glory of War, do you?”
Seeking the source of the voice, I could find no sign of where it may have come from.
“Down here, good sir!” I looked down and only saw a small dog who had apparently bee branded with some sort of shield in the center of his forehead. Perhaps the trip was longer than I thought, for now I was obviously hallucinating. I sat down and began to wonder where I could find some water with which to clear my head.
“Forgive me, how rude of me. Introductions should come first. My name is Shiber, and I shall be your guide to the city.” The dog held out a single paw, apparently waiting for a handshake.
First giant chickens, now talking dogs? What sort of strange land WAS this? What did I have to lose, though? Accepting the paw, I shook his hand. “Shiber, pleased to meet you, I am UnOrthOdOx, King of Camulodunum, and ambassador to Gathering Storm on behalf of the Glory of War.”
“Very pleased to meet you, now, what would you like to see?” Shiber answered with what was either a snarl or a smile.
“Um, actually, I really need to get to work and get organized for tonight’s meeting, if you could just point me towards some parchment and writing…”
“Books! Books, you want books!? I’ll take you to books, right this way, come on, come on!! Books are this way!” He blurted out as he jumped excitedly.
It looked like I was going to have a tour one way or the other. Why then did I have a sinking feeling that this tour would include every tree in the city?
, maybe it should be reported to apolyton news , .... 
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