The Bloody Dawn

I lounged under a thick maple toying with a clover, as I watched the sun set over the hills. I sometimes wished I could go on an adventure and see the world past the hills. After I watched the last orange glow I hurried back to my home which was just outside the castle in a hamlet. My mother had the table set. The food looked splendid. Part of the deer my father had caught, lie steaming upon the table. I sat down across from my father. He was a stalwart middle aged man who was very fit and able to take down anything twice his size. On my right was my mother who was also middle aged like my father, she had a pretty face and worked hard to keep every crevice of our house tidy. My little sister sat at my left she was about two, she was still a baby, she just ate, slept, played and prattled endlessly.

After we had finished supper my father thanked my mother and he pulled me aside. He had a grave look on his face as he said, “Son, your 15 now and that’s old enough to become a squire. The king wants you to come join him at the castle, but you have to prove yourself worthy because the king won’t just take a little peasant boy.”

I said nothing, the castle meant feasts, stories, and carnivals. I thought the king must be urgent to find men because he usually doesn’t just allow 15 year old peasants into his domain to breathe his air.

I could barely sleep that night, I don’t know if it was excitement or horror that caused my deprivation of sleep. The next morning I awoke weary. I stumbled out of bed and saw my father waiting for me. I looked at him in dismay, he was wearing chainmail under his shirt and possessed a sword which I had never seen before. “Father what are you doing?” My voice was timid.

“Son, I too have to go to the castle.” He responded.

“Why?”

“Last night the king’s messenger came and said I would have to meet with 150 others in the castle courtyard and prepare for battle. He also said the other army we will face is much larger than ours.”

I was a bit relieved my father was going to be there, at the castle with me. When we arrived at the castle I saw about fifty other boys who I assumed were going to train to become squires. I said goodbye to my dad and headed over to them. I saw a few of my friends and chatted for a while until the superfluous king came out onto his balcony and the trumpeters played. The king bellowed in an authoritarian manner, “I have a battle tactic. Ahem, I am planning on sending all of you, even the young men into battle along with my soldiers. We will march today and fight just past the hills to prevent damage to this land. Prepare for battle!”

Almost all of the boys around me started to panic, some hyperventilated others just stood in shock. I was separated from my father and the other boys and I were taken and put in chain mail. All of us were handed short swords, iron shields, and helmets. Soon we headed out.

I hurried ahead and caught up to my dad, “Father do you think we have a chance?” I said.

“We have a chance, as all things do, but I am afraid for both of our lives, I love you son, and your sister and mother, if I don’t make it tell them,” answered my father gravely.

“No, dad we will make it, neither of us can die, you and I will make it through and be heroes,” I said in denial.

At this point a tear had come to my eye at the thought of my dad being stricken down and killed by an opposing soldier. That night we camped on the hill top. As I settled down there was a feeling of uneasiness around me. I eventually was able to drift off to sleep.

“EVERYONE UP, EVERYONE UP!” The watchman shouted.

I opened my eyes and saw men scrambling around for their weapons as flaming arrows landed about us. I picked up my sword and shield and stood with my squad ready to fight. The dawn was just breaking and the sun was starting to rise in the valley behind me. A man on horseback ordered us to charge the opposition so we did like obedient dogs, running down the hill into peril.

At the bottom of the hill we clashed with the other army. I ducked as five men around me were pierced by pikes. I discreetly ran under a few pikes and I stabbed a spearman in the leg, unnoticed, I hurried through their ranks taking out a few men’s legs here or there. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I was soon discovered and surrounded, I was done for, but then, incredibly, the cavalry rammed in, annihilating half the opposing men. Disorientated I scrambled back to the bulk of my army.

After I got reoriented I started to run to my father, who was now muddy and covered in scarlet blood that dripped from his blade. He swung his blade hacking, slicing, and stabbing, fighting off man after man, I tried to go and help him but I was knocked into a crimson colored puddle by a runaway horse. I lifted my head and saw my father fighting deftly against an opposing soldier, the clang of metal rang through my ears. I wanted so badly to get out of my blood bath and help fight at his side but a fear inside me held me back. Then, all too suddenly, my father was stabbed in the stomach, he fell and lie prostrate in the mud. I got up and tried to run to my father but I was quickly knocked down again by an attacking soldier’s shield. I lie there watching my father as the mud on my face was washed away by a steady flow of tears.
I had to watch my own father die. Ever since that bloody dawn I have rued my wish for adventure and to see the land past the hills.