KeotsuEclipse
Active member
Awards
You must be registered for see links
The clack of feet, clad in steel, was the anthem of the day. Cobblestone stood steadfast under the pounding march of fifty and one men, their armor clad in the liquid of both rain and blood. The cobblestone would not yield, for these men had not.
The air was smoky, obscured by both the mid-day mist and the plumes of ash from the burning fields. The air smelt of ash, and iron.
Though a horse neighed in the far off reaches of this scarred land, not one voice of man was heard, none save but one, as the fifty and one men took up rank, four columns of twelve, with a central figure, a thirteenth man, standing alone, in front of each of the two columns. The fifty-and-first-man knelt down, in front of a sword whose hilt was turned skyward, the blade sheathed in the earth its wielder was being returned too.
The fifty-and-one men remained silent, as a member of the clergy began speaking.
“Today, you valiant warriors whom returned from the cusp of hell stand here, Kings amongst Heroes, and Gods amongst Men. Fifty-and-five you numbered today, when you first made your march into death’s maw, and now fifty-and-one of you stand before us. Four lives were lost to us, today. Three where lives not of the same steel that you here were wrought of, for they turned traitor and took up blades against you when the errants of Hell appeared. The steel you are made of, and the steel that supports you, those three men quickly tasted, and now their blood feeds this scarred soil. Only the passing and healing touches of Time and this gracious Earth can give their souls peace for the wretchedness they have brought…
But, one soul, today, we mourn above all others. This man, amongst this world of Kings…stood as a man. Strong and stalwart, firm, yet dexterous, was his handling of those around you today. If you all are men of steel, than this man was the stone that kept your blades in condition.
Today, we mourn the loss of a life taken from this earth in its prime…Ripped from the grasp of youth by those demons that crested the mountains.”
A low rumble sounded from the horizon, as if some beast were crying from the mountains….or, as if some legion of soldiers were saluting some fallen soul, as the fifty-and-one men stood up, bringing their right fist, balled, unto their bosom, clenching their ironclad grips o’er their hearts.
The cobblestone remained stalwart, refusing to yield under the immense presence of these men of steel. Yet, another drum could be heard in the distance, another clank of steel on stone. With this beat, the fifty men began bellowing in a low tone, their voices reverberating through the air like thunder….
“Today we lay to rest a man of a caliber we can only hope to aspire to in our dreams. Today, we return to the earth iron more precious than gold, for it flowed through the blood of a great man...”
The second column of men on both sides of the walkway began varying their pitch, and a somber tone was now recognizable amidst the low rumble of their voices; the sorrow of even the heavens was not contained, as its tears finally began to flow forth with a vigor not seen in months. The clap of thunder seemed reminiscent of both sobs, and as if that legion of fallen warriors were joining into this somber choir.
The clergyman continued his eulogy, and the fifty-and-first man drew the blade before him from its earthen scabbard, before stepping to his left, raising the blade skyward, watching as the tears of the heavens above washed the red iron from its gray body.
The steps that had thundered in the distance now stopped, taking rank over either sides of an earthen pit, and, grunting as they lowered a box crafted of white wood into its final resting place…
With a gentle crash, the box found it’s rest at the bottom of this hole. And the fifty and first man stepped once more before the pit.
With blade in hand, he stood resolute as earth was filled into the void, obscuring the white box. Only when naught but one foot remained to be filled, did the fifty-and-first man act. Taking the blade he had held towards the heaven, he let out a low tone, retching his back, and thrusting the blade into the earth.
There was a cracking noise, as the steel drove through the earth, and found its home in the white wood hidden from sight. Steel and master, reunited once more, with the thunderous cry of heaven.
Only as the tears of the soldiers above increased in intensity did the view become obscured.
Fifty-and-one men stood before the mound of their fallen King, mourning the loss of their leader.
Fifty-and-one men sang a somber tone to mourn the passing of a great man.
Fifty-and-one men were not alone in their tears today.
A kingdom would weep today, along with the heavens, their King graced with the highest honor of all…
The thunder boomed…
…a godsent lament.
