The beast strikes at you with a ferocity that hasn’t yet been seen. This strike makes you worried, but you both know the end is near. You’ve wounded it too many times. Struck it in the belly, legs, and shoulders. It’s bleeding. It’s dying.
As the strike comes flinging forward you dodge easily and bring the sword down on the beast’s neck. Severing it.
As the creature dies at your feet you let out a long, exhausted sigh. With that stroke of the sword, this campaign has finally ended.
Looking at your disgusting body, worn from the fight, you heft your sword and begin to walk.
Trudging forward, sword in hand, you await your next battle. Your next set of orders. Your next direction.
You’ve been at this a long time, though not as long as others. But certainly longer than some.
You’ve had your fair share of all sides of this vicious war. You’ve seen absolute victories. But you’ve also seen glaring defeat. You’ve seen friends become enemies. Hindrances. Obstacles. Painful things that you have to face. At the same time you’ve seen enemies become friends. Powerful soldiers in arms. Just as ready to die for you as you are for them. Warriors in the good fight.
Seeing a pause in your fight, you stab your sword into the ground. Shrug off your armor. You’re weak from the fight so far. Your last bout nearly took you. The enemy was stronger and more clever than you expected. Because of this you’ve seemingly been granted a rest.
Arrows zoom past. Battle cries sound all around you. You hear your comrades pitched in combat. Cries of victory. Cries of anguish. Sometimes just plain crying.
Standing now you begin to take in the field. For the first time in a while you’ve come out of the fray and can survey the expansive war before you. Looking about sends waves of emotion through you.
In the back of the field you see the newcomers. Recent converts to the cause. They’ve been through their training. They’ve been shown how to wield their weapons. They know what’s at stake. They’ve been given their directive. Each of them brings different skills and abilities to the war. Some know exactly what they should do already. Others will learn through time. All will come to know the fight in some form or another.
They are young and old. Short and tall. Big and small. The General has no specifics. No favorites. In fact, He usually prefers if you have no formal training at all. All He asks is that you answer the call.
Some look eager. Even downright hungry for the fight. Excited for their chance to fight for their Kingdom. They sprint forward into the field. Weapons raised high. They have no fear. They would gladly take pain and suffering for their cause. Others don’t seem so sure.
They listened to the call. They joined the ranks. But they weren’t nearly as ready for it as their fellow soldiers were. Some will grow out of this. They’ll come out of their fear and join the fight with renewed vigor.
But some will stay right where they are. Never going anywhere. Saying they are part of the fight. Part of the movement. But never doing anything. They will mill around far away from enemy lines. Some will fall prey to the enemy here. Others will simply forget that a fight was going on in the first place. You badly want to be angry at these people. Want to shake them into action. Do whatever is necessary. But you know you can’t. You can’t will them into the fight. They have to choose it on their own. It’s frustrating. It’s tough. But it’s simply the nature of the war.
You can see them now. Some attacking the enemy outright. Boldly, if not a little stupidly. They don’t yet understand tact. Technique.
For some it comes quickly, but for others they are beaten back. Some almost killed before they can even really get started. You want to go to them, but you know there are others that will help them. Lead them. Shepard them where they need to be. Hopefully one day soon they will be further afield. Fighting the good fight.
But that is far, far back in the field. Where it all began. You started out there yourself many years ago. And here you are now. Far afield. Weary and beaten. Wounded by experiences and beaten down by the toll the war takes. But you still have a respite. A brief pocket where the war won’t currently reach you. So you throw your eyes forward to the front lines. Where the war is at its most vicious.
Here is where you witness the true champions of the fight. The ones that have sent the enemy back time and time again. There are many in the forward army’s ranks. The field commanders lead this charge. You can hear their loud, powerful voices from anywhere. Front, back, middle. They’ve been tasked by the General to lead the armies into battle with the enemy. Equipping and urging them. Spurring them on and driving them forward. They’ve been through the army and fought the enemy first hand. They know its ways. What the opposition throws at us all. That’s why they lead so well.
Like a chessboard they put their leadership in place. The lieutenants and sergeants. They listen to the field commander’s instructions and put them into effect. The people who fight under the field commanders move as a unit. They move as a family. A community. Together they strike at the enemy’s advances. Together they take the field.
Other field commanders come from these communities. These commanders began their own communities to fill in the gaps. To bring more into the fight and energize the ones that sit on the back lines. In this way more and more are being brought to the front lines to fight. To conquer. To establish the victory the whole military has been assured you have.
Among these roving armies you can see something else. Individuals. Sometimes one. Sometimes a few. But never as many as the roving armies. These are people who answer the Generals call to the letter. Not better than the field commanders, but simply enacting a different call. They charge headlong into enemy territory. Fighting from the inside and working to occupy the territory for the General. They’re spread far and wide. Sometimes support comes and they take the region. Sometimes it doesn’t and they fight tirelessly for years. They never lose hope. Never surrender.
Looking at these champions, these warriors for the cause you can’t help but be filled with pride. Filled with a sense of duty. But then quickly surveying the field a pang of sadness washes over you. Ahead you see people falling. Fellow soldiers crushed by the enemy. Reduced to shells of their former selves. The enemy employs several weapons. Several minions to accomplish this end. Sometimes he even uses soldiers for the cause against themselves. Bloody, brutal infighting. Families torn apart. Unbridgeable gaps created. These are only a few of his tactics. Not everyone falls the same way. But the enemy is experienced. Well versed in his cruel ways.
You see field commanders, warriors, even friends and family fall around you. Some return to the field. Some quickly. Some take longer. More likely than not the General gets them battle ready once again. Sometimes they come back fiercer than ever.
Thinking this, you find some heart again. More will to press on. But still the fight rages around you, yet leaves you be. You have found a lull. A brief reprieve.
Slowly you notice an abomination with two mouths and an axe raised high come sprinting towards you. It’s angry. One of the angrier you’ve ever seen. It seems to embody the emotion. It’s spitting out obscenities from one mouth and roaring from the other.
You’ve been caught unawares. It knows it has the drop on you.
Quickly you fumble with your sword, trying to rip it from the earth to shove into the monster’s chest. But you know you won’t quite be quick enough. You may not come out of this one.
Suddenly two arrows and a spear seem to grow out of the creatures body.
It looks as shocked as you are. It’s even managed to quit screaming. Almost stopped in its tracks. It stumbles forward.
As it comes to grips with the situation, it starts to raise its axe when one of your comrades brings a hammer down on its head.
Once. Twice. By the third strike the creature is finally dead. Cut down mere feet from where you rest.
You look up at your fellow soldiers. The ones that just saved your life. They look back and nod. It’s a small gesture, but you know how much weight it carries. They’ve been where you are. They know you would do the same for them.
You nod back. After this brief exchange they run off into the field, seeking another monster to fight. Another evil to bring down. They have plenty of fight left.
Everything happened so fast, but it leaves you thinking deeply about those that are on the field around you.
They are much like yourself. No strangers to the cause. Fighters to the end. Like you, they have chosen to be a part of this special mission. A fight to the further reaches of the field. You all have the will, but you haven’t amassed the experience. That’s what this mission is for.
Looking to your left and right you see that not only you and your immediate comrades have joined this fight. Hundreds of thousands are by your side. People you haven’t yet met. Soldiers with that same zeal and passion that you have. You’ve all learned the heft of your weapons. You learned well how to use them. Now you have to just be pointed in the right direction. The General will make sure you head where you’re supposed to. He always has. Whether the battle plan made sense to you or not.
These people are warriors. Some are loud. Some speak softly. Some fight without fear. Others heal and support. Some will become field commanders. Others will be equippers, sending the new and fresh into the fray. Others still will be troopers who rush into enemy territory. Weapons flying, willing to give it all to the cause. You love and respect them. You know they have your back, no matter what happens.
Looking at them now you can see the war has had a toll on them. Like you they haven’t been fighting on the lines for long, but it takes its toll nonetheless. You’re all weary. You’ve been beaten. Slashed, stabbed, struck, and smashed. The enemy has gone after you with vigor. He doesn’t want the next generation of front line fighters to reach their destination. He’s thrown some of his best at you. His soldiers don’t fight fair. They use deceit and trickery. Lies and loneliness. They turn friends against each other. They are formidable. But you fight anyway. You all fight.
Looking at your sword you see it has been chipped. Blunted. Stained from the blood of your enemies. Worn from all of the action it has seen. Looking at your arms you see they’ve been scarred. Bruised and bloody. The rest of you looks the same.
You are tired.
You lose sight of the fight.
You want to stop.
Want to rest.
You wonder if the cause is worth it.
You don’t want to spur on those around you.
Don’t want to rally.
You want to stay where you are.
You aren’t the only one.
You consider giving up.
Then you hear it.
You hear that voice. That still small voice that could only come from one place.
The General.
He is telling you what to do. He’s telling you where to go. He’s telling you how strong you are. He’s telling you that the fight is worth it. He’s telling you to pick yourself. He’s telling you to hold your sword tightly. He’s telling you to band with your comrades. You can tell that He’s telling them the same thing. You all look at each other. You know what you must do.
With a wild shout you jump to your feet. You grab your sword and thrust it into the air. All around you fellow soldiers scream, cry, and bellow the same.
The General has reignited your fire. More than that, He has given you an objective to fight for. Not all of your comrades share in your objective, the General calls different soldiers to different places.
It is time. Time to turn the tide. Time to send the enemy back to where he crawled out of. Time to take back the lines. Time to answer the General’s commands.
It’s time to fight.
You’re running now. All around you your friends are doing the same. They’ve hefted their weapons. They have a new fire in their eyes. A glint in their eyes that makes them look even more dangerous than before. Together you will see this thing to the end.
As you run you see your first opponent. Even this far away you can tell it’s bigger than you are. It’s terrifying. A monster with no morals. A creature devised only to bring pain. It seeks to split you apart. Separate you from your friends. It wants to destroy the roving armies of the front lines.
You will enjoy bringing it down.
You can see that your friends have already engaged the enemy. Some fight beasts covered in chains. Beasts wanting to snare them with those chains. Some fight monsters with giant mouths, speaking lies and foul things. Others fight brutes with enormous claws, whose only purpose is to wear you down. Slash you to bits. Put you off the road you’re on.
There are many enemies. Many types. But your comrades are brave. They are strong. They fight with gusto. They battle without fear. You will help them when they need it. But now is not that time.
You have finally reached your monster. The colossus that seeks to kill you. Bring you down. For the briefest of moments you hesitate. What if it’s too big? How can I do this on my own?
Then you hear it again. That still small voice of the General. He says He will be helping you. He will be fighting at your side. With His help you can do anything.
You smile because you know it’s true.
Then you raise your sword.
Then the fight begins again.
