THE SKY SWORD

Discussion in 'Other KaW Discussion' started by AshesOfEden, Nov 17, 2015.

  1. A.D 732

    An armoured knight trudged his horse slowly against the chilly autumn twilight along a hastily harvested field.

    His horse was straining from the weight of the armour that the knight wore.

    Unlike the enemy, who had brought tens of thousands of the armoured cavalry up the peninsula, his army was still primarily consisted of men who moved and fought on foot. The scouting party barely had enough horses to assess the damage the enemy had done.

    Waves of swift flowing armoured cavalry charges had swept his neighbouring lands and their armies and had now reached their doorstep.

    The knight looked wearily up the gentle river that was flowing beside him and his eyes, bearing tremendous sorrow, gazed upon the the amber flames of the city that had been ransacked just the day before.

    "We... must make a stand.." Charles whispered to himself..

    ****************************************************

    Twilight had started to darken and his other knights in the scouting party joined him in their return.

    "Now that they have the loot to cart around, do you think they will continue pressing with winter setting in?".. One of the Knights quipped..

    "Oh they will press on brother"... Charles paused..

    "They came to smash us all down this time"..

    His eyes still trained on the terrain along the river that has now silhouetted more pronouncedly..

    "Well then.. Where do you intend to wedge us between the next town, which I can only assume is the one further west down the river.. And those hordes?" A knight asked.

    "Atleast try to put us on a hill eh".. A voice broke out from the ranks of knights..

    "I'm too lazy to chase those horses around in my armour".. The voice continued.. Followed by laughter among the knights..

    A thin smile broke along Charle's bearded face.. And as he scanned the silhouette of his beloved countryside, the land where his people farmed and hunted, he saw a faint rise in the land with a cluster of trees..

    "There... There is our hill.. We've even got some trees to give us some shade while we fight!.." Charles replied and was met with another laughter from his band of knights.

    One of his trusted knights pulled his horse closer to Charles and raised his voice..

    "No army in these parts of the land have repelled these armoured cavalry charges.. Your little bump of a land will not matter when our phalanxes get plowed in.."

    Charles wearily replied.. "I don't know if we will win.." He scanned his knights..

    "All I know is we are ready.. "..

    "Are we?" Came the icy retort from his trusted knight..

    A deadly silent fell among the knights.. This is it.. Charles thought.. The battle before the battle..

    The battle of the will of men.. He was ready.. But his men needed something more than his leadership..

    He secretly wished for a sign and a booming flash startled the scouting party of the knights..

    A thunderous bolt of light streaked across the sky and impacted with a clash in the close by field to where the knights gathered..

    "A shooting star!!" Voices exclaimed..

    "Well there is your sign Charles".. His trusted knight relented..

    "I will go find it.. I have a blacksmith who can meld this iron from the sky with our iron and see if we can make you a sword".. The knight galloped after the spot where the shooting star had landed..

    ****************************************************

    Over the night, the clump of metal that had fallen out of the sky was heated to the glowing molten state and rolled, folded, hammered and folded again..

    Molten metal flowed in the fires.. Forming intricate lines and patterns while the blacksmith's hammer stretched its shape.

    And by the early hours of the morning, the sword from the sky was forged..

    Charles was heavily occupied with the movement of his army rushing to the hill when his trusted knight pulled him aside to present the sword..

    The blade gleamed in the morning light as Charles drawn it silently out of the scabbard..

    There were intricate lines and patterns all through the blade as the various metals in the sky iron danced to the technique mastery of the blacksmith..



    The most pronounced, were the five stars along the beveled fuller of the blade..

    Blending of the earth and the sky.. This world and the heavens..

    A meeting point of the love of the land and the steely resolve to defend it at all costs..

    "The enemy Calvary is forming sire".. His scouts reported..

    Charles sheathed the sky sword and strode off onto the hill..

    **************************************************

    A.D 1429

    An armoured knight trudged her horse slowly against a rainy spring twilight along a country road that hugged a mighty river.

    The enemy had been on her shores since before she came into this world.. She had heard of the all the battles where her countrymen knights were cut down by walls of arrows flung from bows as tall as the men..

    She knew little of the affairs of arms and arrows.. Of military tactics and maneuvering warfare..

    But she knew that the people are ready.. And that they were waiting for her..

    Jeanne knew she will have to drive the invaders out.. The Voices had told her so..

    But her heart was heavy as she led a small relief party of Knights and armed men to lift a siege of a city by this mighty river of her land.. She needed a quiet time to strengthen her will and resolve as the nightfall approaches..

    She summoned one of the lieutenants..

    "I see a small parish up ahead, we can camp there overnight.. Let me have a few moments at the sanctuary in that town"..

    The parish was deserted.. The enemy occupation had disrupted the people of the land so much.. And her heart was in deep sorrow as she approached a dilapidated sanctuary, with its roof partially collapsed..

    Jeanne dismounted from her horse in front of the sanctuary.. The rain was softly drizzling and there was distant thunder when she stepped into the hall of the sanctuary..

    ...Jeannne lit and settled a few torches in the hall and as she knelt at the alter, she calmed her thoughts..

    She had seen the hope and strength in the armed men and Knights that she had been travelling with.. Here, her included, were a people who had known nothing but war, strife, hardship and defeat for their whole generation.. And a generation before them..

    She will be the strength for them.. Jeanne pondered.. She will lead them into the battles..

    "And if the swords of her countrymen were to defeat the longbows of the enemy, I will lead with a sword as well..." Jeanne whispered..

    A lightening flashed across the sky above the collapsed roof.. There was a tap on the main door..

    It swung open and as Jean glanced back, a ghostly battletorn knight silently walked in..

    *************************************************

    A.D 732

    Euphoria and Joy was coursing through his battle ravaged body..

    Charle's armour was tattered and awashed with the blood, dirt, smoke and soot for two days of the hardest battle he had ever fought..

    For two days, the waves of calvary assaulted his men on foot.. Many times, the enemy's horses and men came close to breaking their lines, but his men had willed them back.

    And the sword... Hastily put together the night before, did not break.. Neither did the will of the men..

    ...and the ruse that Charles initiated by harassing the loot caravan worked.. As the distracted Calvary was mistaken by their own troops for a retreat and the route was on..

    The nightfall was approaching as he came back from the battlefield and passed through a small town.. And in the drizzling rain and a distant thunder, he saw a sanctuary on its outskirts..

    Charles gripped the sword from the sky gently..

    Here... was a symbol of his countrymens' will and resolve to repel the invaders.. And the tenacity to endure and overcome great odds by focusing on what they could do, what they could rally..and what they could sacrifice..

    He opened the door and silently walked into the hall..

    ****************************************************

    Jeanne was not sure if the knight even recognized she was in the sanctuary.. He had a strength and peace surrounding him..

    She is not certain of the type of armour that he was wearing or what faction this knight belonged to..but she felt a certain kinship with this spectre of a knight that was now silently walking past her..

    Jeanne then saw the knight knelt at the altar in front of her with a few moments of silence..

    ...and the knight slowly drew his battle sword from its scabbard..

    The sword gleamed faintly in the glow of the torches.. The blade as it came into view, had intricate lines like a woven tapestry.. And as Jeanne counted, five crosses running down the length of the fuller groove..

    The knight handled the sword with effortless precision, watching the movement as he swung it in a slow arc across..

    After this brief farewell gesture to the sword, the knight went behind the altar, dug up the earth and buried his sword.. He had a slight smile on his face as he passed Jean silently on his way back.

    The spectre exited the hall and just as another lightening crashes, faded into the rain..

    **************************************************

    Charles felt fulfilled.. The sword from the sky carried him and his men to victory...

    ..And should there ever be a time for the people of the land to summon up the courage and rally against the invaders, he felt sure that the very symbol that was gifted to him, would be bestowed upon those who are bravely leading the charge.

    ***************************************************

    A.D 1429

    A true king had finally been crowned.. Jeanne thought with gratitude..

    The territory that the invaders had held was still sizeable but it was clear who is winning the war now..

    Many times, she had rallied the people of the land up the castle parapets, stormed the gates of garrisons... and braved the arrows of the feared longbowmen.

    Now, all that she see in her people's eyes are courage and the spirit to fight.. And that was enough for her to know that the tyranny will be lifted from her people..

    She clutched the sky sword instinctively.. She had never struck down an enemy with this weapon that was far too heavy and large for her stature.. But the presence of a battle sword, a sword her men could tell was borne of the battle and not just in ceremonies, had provided her with the commanding respect from her men, to lead the charge into routing the enemies..

    ....and now, she understood her encounter with the spectral knight on that rainy night..and the smile he had when he walked past her..

    Jeanne stopped at a small town on her way back from the coronation.. It was by a different river than the first town she came to rest..and the first city that she had helped to lift the siege..

    But this was also a river of her homeland.. It nourished many small towns and cities of her people.. The people she loved..

    Jeanne buried the sky sword in that small town...

    One day, the people of her land might come under siege from invaders again.. The enemies will bring their own devastating weapons and forces to bear down on the freedom of her people..

    But she knew that they will have the courage and the strength to unite against the oppression..

    ...and a knight of the people, just as she was, and the spectral knight before her, will find the sky sword.. And lead the way..


     
  2. ...The female then awoke from her realistic dream with a smallish amount of drool on her face and her favourite book "Nicholas Cage's Biography" within arms reach. Shocked at what she had envisioned, she stands quickly trying to find a quill and paper to record her fading thoughts. Immediately she wrote the last words her spectral apprentice spoke to her. The words that will forever echo from her tortured soul... "Kirby is best pokeman".

    FIN
     
  3. This is my contribution to show solidarity with the people of France..

    It is just a fiction short story.. Meant to capture a certain spirit of Charles Martel and Jeanne D'arc.. 700 years apart..

    May you find the strength to endure and overcome..

    
     
  4. Give me strength to be able to read it
     
  5. This was definitely a lot to read but it is well worth the time to read it. Very well written Ash. Two thumbs up.
     
  6. ???️
     
  7.  
  8. Excellent read, Ashes, beautiful.

    Having lived a few years in Paris and experienced troubled times there myself, I deeply feel with my friends over there 
     
  9. I came here expecting Skyrim. Sky sword from the sky forge.

    But I got something even better when I read it. Well done as always Ashes
     
  10. Stunning, thank you for sharing ️
     
  11. Saved this all day for my last forum read tonight.
    Thank you for an excellent well written post. Thoroughly enjoyable.
    My respect for the intent as well 
     
  12. Ashes is back with another fantastic story :D
     
  13. Jeanne d'arc and Charlemagne?
     
  14. Support to Ashes. Still reading this though.
     
  15. Bump for an excellent read.
     
  16. Actually, quite a good short read, support.
     
  17. I'm sorry but I read the first few paragraphs then gave up lol I'm sure it was a good story and for a good cause though :)
     
  18. Good read... But where are the hot ladies?
     
  19. I don't think you want to see any hot ladies from 732 or 1429...