The Lion Heart

lukeminherexx

Krist tugged slightly on his armor, giving just enough room inside for some fresh air to enter. It was only a brief respite from the heat that platemail built up. He offered a smile and low clicking of his tongue to his dog, Lionheart, which responded with a slight wag of it's tail, but keeping a vigilant eye ahead. The goblins had been attacking the already war torn Torunder village for some time now, and the dwarves have been holding them back. However, there was a new surge preparing, and Bolbin Ironbrow asked Neverwinter for aide. Sgt. Knox asked for volunteers, as he was not prepared to send his entire guard out to face the goblins when they were still so needed to hold the city itself. Krist felt for the dwarves, who were struggling to take back what was theirs, and volunteered.

"Sir Krist," a lanky fellow with a long sword at his waist said, as he walked up beside the tall warrior. "I hope you are ready for this fight. I hear those goblins can be ruthless."
Krist looked over to the young man, who wore leather armor and some kind of a leather cap.
"I am not a knight, Busey, so stop calling me that. You will get the captain mad at me if he hears you say that," Krist said with a frown.
Both men were barely twenty, and both had come to Neverwinter at the around the same time. Other than those two things in common, they were very different. Busey wore his dark brown hair cropped short, even though he continually and nervously passed his hand through it constantly. His nose was hooked, and he had a weak chin with something of an over bite. His dark eyes darted about almost nervously, though in truth he was not a nervous person at all.
By contrast, Krist was broad of shoulder, his blonde hair almost touching the shoulders. His face was handsome, but stern and almost uninviting, unless one came to know him. He looked ahead with determination, his chin up to take in his surroundings, his blue eyes steely.
Though the two were very different, they had become close friends in the few months they had joined the guard. Busey quickly volunteered to join Krist and the others in an attempt to hold the line at Torunder, though he admitted he would not have done so had Krist not.
"Alright farmer boy," Busey chuckled, reaching down to scratch the dog behind the ears. Again, Lionheart's tail wagged, but his eyes and ears pointed in the direction of the goblin stronghold. There was two paths that they had to watch as the goblins came down the mountain.
Krist looked about, other guardsmen and men he assumed were mercenaries standing side by side with dwarves, making themselves ready at the breeches in the wall that protected what was left of the village. The scouts already reported that the goblins were on the march, along with ice trolls and other nasties.
Things became very quiet, and intuition told Krist that something was about to happen. The only thing he could hear was the tinking sound of Vaile Birchsmiths hammer as she pounded out new weapons, and fixed damaged ones. The female dwarf never stopped making and mending, even when battle raged just outside the walls.
"There," Busey said, his keen eyes picking out a lone rider even before Krist saw him. The rider was coming hard, and Krist almost knew what the news would be. A path was cleared as he rushed behind the lines and quickly dismounted to speak with the human and dwarven captains. Krist saw his own captain nod, then make a motion to another with a horn.
The horn was blown, long and loud, an alarm that said the goblins were close. Krist eyed the archers that were on the wall, as they readied their bows, then his eyes turned to the mountain's passes.
The goblins were coming.

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Krist was pretty sure things were going well all over, but in the heat of battle it was very difficult to tell. He and others with shields formed a front line that the goblins seemed to break on like waves hitting a large rock. Arrows whistled overhead as the archers poured their shafts into each wave of goblin that came. The little creatures did not put much stock into tactics, and appeared to try and use their numbers to beat the defenders back, though it seemed to no avail.
Captain Markus called out orders to the front line, but mostly it was to hold, not to falter and not to give ground. The warriors already knew this. Krist, at first, held his shield firm, striking at the target in front of him either from the side of his shield, which left a gap in the line for him to hit the target, or over his shield, with an overhand stab, that seemed to tire him quicker. Then he heard a gravelly voice next to him.
"Aim to the target to your right, boy, the one in front of your partner. You won't have to drop shield, and its less tiring 'cause you aint gotta hold your sword too high."
Krist nodded in response to the dwarven warrior's advice, and began doing just that. He was right, and the battle became less exhausting, albeit still quite tiring.
"Shield wall!!" Called the captain. Krist looked quickly to see a wave of goblin archers in the distant taking aim. The warriors planted their shields and covered, overlapping shield to shield.
"Don't ever look boy," the dwarf called, "just trust yer captain. Lookin gets you killed."
Krist nodded, and he heard the arrows hitting shield. Down the line he heard some grunts as some of the warriors took an arrow, and Krist hoped they were not killed. None the less, a goblin arrow is nasty, poisoned, and probably laden with disease.
Arrows poured down again, but did not seem to be as numerous as before. The archers behind them were doing their jobs.
"Prepare swords!" The captain called, even as goblins closed the distance, and hand to hand battle began again.

As Krist held the line, Busey stood back more at a distance. It was his job, along with other fencers, to insure that if the line was broken in any spot, the goblins coming through paid dearly. This only seemed to happen where the surges were so overwhelming the goblins were climbing over one another to get behind the shield line. He eyed his friend Krist, who was in a fairly safe position, considering they were in battle, with seasoned warriors on each side of him. The surges were not greatest on the left flank of the line, where he was at, but it seemed the goblins were, for the most part, trying to form a wedge to overwhelm the center. Time to time a warrior would falter from the sheer weight of the creatures piling against him, and Busey would head in and dispatch whatever goblins were unlucky enough to actually get behind the line. When arrows flew at them, Busey would back off to a safe distance, or duck behind the wall itself.
The battle seemed to be going well, Busey considered, as he parried a short sword, delivered a kick to the goblins middle, and cut it's throat. He paced the line, looking for any other threats, but it all seemed well. From his position he could see Krist's dog, Lionheart, biting at any appendage that it could grab, always right next to his master. One unlucky goblin was drug down and behind the line by him. It kicked and swung wildly as Lionheart's jaws clamped down on it's throat. Busey made a move in that direction, but that fight was over quickly, and the dog was back at Krist's side.
Busey looked out over the rocky distance where someone was pointing. He heard new orders being hollered to the archers. He could see why. New threats were coming down the slope, moving quickly so that they would be hard to hit.
"Trolls!!!" Someone shouted, and Busey knew the battle was about to really start.

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Krist awoke, it was the same dream he always had. He fought, he stood by his men, he stood by the dwarves, and he stood by his friend. Busey was the best with a sword, though he hated shields and thick armor.
Krist could not help but wonder if it would have saved his life.

The trolls came, and the fight changed. People began to die, even as Krist fought on. None ran, none backed off. They fought, and then fought more. The elves came, from where Krist could not tell. They fought and died as well.
Krist pulled man, dwarf, and elf from under trolls. Blocked the path, even as others helped.
And Krist fought.

Krist looked about his room. He stayed in the barracks, seldom sleeping anywhere else. He was now a captain, a leader of men, and no longer the young man that he was when he showed up in Neverwinter.
Looking around, Krist wondered if anyone was the same. Innocence was lost in battle. Innocence was lost in war. Neverwinter was one war after another.

Krist was given a medal, for saving as many lives as he could. No medal would change one simple fact.
He could not save his friend, Busey.

sweetcheryl

good storytelling. Thank you for writing this. I enjoyed it

lukeminherexx

sweetcheryl wrote: »

good storytelling. Thank you for writing this. I enjoyed it

Thank you very much. Took a break for a bit from here, and did not see your reply. I appreciate the time you took to read it.

Thanks again.