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Feel the Silence

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Chuk

Chuk

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Well, that may just be the way it is at my skool (dang censor) and the difference in teachers. :s
And it's getting easier, now. It's like they hammered us the first several weeks, and now that we survived, they're letting up. Ah, well. Write if you can; if you can't, oh well.

29-Nov-2008 06:07:11 - Last edited on 29-Nov-2008 06:07:31 by Chuk

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The rain had slowed over the last hour and a thick fog had descended, masking the approach of the oncoming ships and bringing with it a terrible chill. Lucas snuggled deeper into his trench, but the damp sand provided no warmth. “Quit movin’, kid,” hissed the soldier beside him.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“Don’t say sorry, just quit it. And shut y’mouth,” grumbled the man. “We’re hidin’, you’d best remember that.”
“Right,” he almost said, then thought better of it, and just bent his head. He wasn’t thinking clearly. It was just so hard to fight through the fog of his own mind. His head pulsed with guilt and shame; every breath sent a new stabbing pain, an echo repeating, “Martin is dead, and it’s your fault.” Every breath sent the image of Gavin’s angry eyes flashing through his brain, and then his words, and Reynolds’ words, would echo. “You’re pitiful.”
“You don’t deserve to be saved.”
“Don’t try to justify it.”
“You don’t deserve to be saved.”
‘Stop it,’ he told himself angrily. ‘Just quit it. Focus, or you’re apt to get killed.’
‘Well hell, maybe that would be a good thing,’ a weary voice replied. ‘Why should I keep trying? I am useless. I am pitiful.’
‘What about Justine?’ the first voice, his pride, countered. ‘You’d abandon her?’
‘She deserves someone better than me,’ his guilt replied.
He slammed his head into the sand, causing his helmet to jerk, and pain shot through his skull. He relished the feel of real, physical pain to distract him from the dull ache in his chest. “Quit movin’!” snarled the soldier.
‘Get a grip, Lucas. This is pathetic. You’re seeing this through, d***it. You’re going home and you’re getting married and her father can rot in hell. But first you’re gonna win this bloody war.’

29-Nov-2008 21:42:09 - Last edited on 14-Dec-2008 22:56:23 by Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
A refreshing surge of energy coursed through him as he cemented this new resolve in his mind, and he lifted his head slightly, peeking over the edge of the trench. A red sail was visible, cutting smoothly through the fog. Fainter sails, dulled pink by the clouds, could be seen behind it. They’d be landing soon. He ran over what he had to do in his head once more. The ships would send landing boats, and when they were within range, the archer squadrons would begin shooting. When the first Kandarins passed the barricades of spikes and spears they had set up, the foot soldiers were to burst free of their own trenches and charge. All Lucas had to do was watch, wait, stay hidden, and wait for the call that would signal the attack. Easy, right?
He’d never been good at waiting. Waiting always left one with time to think. Being the dreamy scholar that he was, he was a thinker, but waiting brought about a different kind of thinking than the philosophizing he always enjoyed so much. Anticipation, predictions; it all made him so terribly anxious. Right now, especially, time to think was something he had all too much of, and did not relish in the least. Despite his best efforts, nothing could stop his thoughts from straying to Gavin, somewhere down the line of soldiers in the trench, and his friends, and the hurt in their eyes when they realized their friend had died. Part of him wanted to say that they weren’t justified, that it wasn’t his fault and they shouldn’t be so messed up about it anyway, they had to know it was going to happen. Part of him felt terrible, said it was all his fault, and they had every right to hate him.

29-Nov-2008 21:42:32

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Most pitiful of all perhaps, was that part of him was jealous. Were he to fall in the next coming minutes, were he to fall was heroically as Martin had, saving his life, there was not a single person on the beach that would mourn him. No one would cry for him, no one would feel their body clench with anger and grief, feel their world come crashing down around them. Perhaps Justine would cry, eventually, when she found out, but that wouldn’t be for months. His body would be lost, forgotten, left to float out to sea and stain the tide crimson with the other dead, and when the soldiers returned home when the war was done, and he failed to pass through the gates of Varrock, then she would know, and then she would cry for him. But she would move on, she would find someone else. Life went on.
His hand shifted instinctively to his pocket, and he stifled the urge to reread her letter again. ‘Remain hidden,’ he reminded himself. ‘Quit movin’, right?’
“They’re landing!” someone hissed, from somewhere down the line. Many soldiers whispered “Shh!* but Lucas felt the air around them change, as if now it crackled with energy, the adrenaline of the soldiers. He no longer felt the damp, or smelled the rancid odor of death from the beach; now the blood was pumping in his veins. He was ready. He was going to do this. He felt the fear, nagging somewhere in the back of his mind, but he was able to keep it from overcoming him as before. For the time being, he was no longer defeated, but stronger. He wondered how long it would last.
He strained to see over the lip of the trench again.
Then it was gone. He laughed hollowly in his head. Just like that, his strength was gone and the fear seeped in, intensifying the cold in his veins. ‘Well, that was…pathetic…’ he thought mocking, and took a shaky breath.

29-Nov-2008 21:43:17

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
It seemed that there were hundreds of boats floating in on the scarlet tide, each packed with soldiers in red and white. They crouched in the boats, rising and falling on the waves, dotting the ocean in a line so long it stretched beyond Lucas’ vision. There was a familiar tightening in his stomach, his breath coming in short, rapid gasps. His hand was sweaty on the hilt of his sword. Fighting for the control he felt before, he closed his eyes. Her face swam in his mind, calming the pounding of his heart. Okay. He’d be okay.
“Here they come!” someone called softly.
As if waiting for that cue, there was suddenly a change in the air, a hot wind blowing quickly over his head. He looked up in time to see a hail of flaming arrows blaze their way through the sky, whistling quietly before splashing into the water around the boats. A lone scream rent the stillness, followed by another, then another. Lucas heard the other soldiers yelling, “Take cover!” or swearing viciously. There were a few return arrows, but they fell miserably short. Shooting from a wobbling boat to a target uphill was not an easy task; for now, Lucas’ side was safe.
There was another flurry of arrows; more screams erupted. A pause, another hail, more yelling. When Lucas dared peek above again, the boats had reached the sand. The Kandarins vaulted the sides and knelt in the sand, now able to fire arrows more easily. He ducked as one flew into the trench over his head and buried itself in the sandy wall behind him. He stared at it in shock, then took a shaky breath. Soon it would be time, and he needed control of himself.
For a few minutes, the hail of arrows from his side slowed as the Kandarins took the offensive, giving them enough time to charge up the slope of the beach. Lucas saw them sidestepping the dead with looks of horror on their faces, even a few cries of recognition, before the first of them crashed into the spike pits.

29-Nov-2008 21:44:07 - Last edited on 29-Nov-2008 21:50:56 by Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
He averted his eyes, following those that leapt clear instead. They struggled through the line of spears, a few unable to stop in time, and then the way was clear to the trenches. That was the signal.
“Up! Forward!” bellowed Commander Ferric from further down the trench. “Get them!” He burst free, shaking sand from his armor, and led the charge down the beach to meet the invaders. Lucas hesitated, then followed, heaving himself forward and allowing gravity to carry him down. His foot snagged on a body and he stumbled and rolled headlong into the battle. When he gained his feet again, the fighting was raging all around him. His vision wavered dangerously as he swayed back and forth.
There. His vision locked on a single man in a red and white tunic. He lifted his sw--
No. There was no sword in his hand. He turned back the way he had come, spied it poking up out of the sand back up the slope. Then it disappeared into the hand of a Kandarin who ran by and snatched it up. Perfect – he was now unarmed, terrified, and smack in the middle of the fray. And, under attack.
He dove aside just in time as a soldier swung at him, then rolled to one knee and tackled the man at his knees. The breath burst from his lungs in a gasp as one foot collided with his stomach. Still he wriggled forward, pinning the man to the ground. They grappled for possession of his sword, punching and kicking at each other, until Lucas twisted the man’s arm enough to make him drop it. He grabbed it swiftly and plunged it through the soldier’* weak leather armor just in time. He slid backward off the blade with a moan and collapsed in the sand. Panting, Lucas climbed back to his feet and surveyed the chaos around him. There was a scream and the ground rocked beneath him.
“Mages!” someone shrieked.

29-Nov-2008 21:44:34 - Last edited on 14-Dec-2008 22:57:00 by Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The famous Kandarin mages had arrived. Lucas’ heart sank as he spied the final boats pulling up to the beach, carefully avoiding those already aflame from the archers. They were filled with robed mages, all standing with staves raised. Death shot from their hands in great gouts of flame that did not discriminate against Kandarin or Misthalin; all fell to the terrible explosions. One was coming toward him now, and Lucas dashed as fast as he could up the slope, scrabbling for purchase in the loosened sand. The blast threw him flat on his stomach and searing heat blew against his back. When he looked behind him, nothing was left but a smoking crater, filled with the singed remains of a half-dozen soldiers.
Every instinct in his body told him to keep running, to vault past the trenches and disappear into the woods. No one would ever miss him; he was forgotten. But that would be a coward’s move.
He had to go back. He had to keep fighting. He would not be a coward.
His muscles protested, his entire body shook, but he turned himself away from the tree line, back toward the beach and the carnage. This was his life now, his duty, and he would perform it to his best. He would be brave.
One shaky step, then another, and he plunged back into the battle.
-- End of Chapter --

29-Nov-2008 21:44:54 - Last edited on 14-Dec-2008 22:58:28 by Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Well, I hope y'all enjoy that. Let me know if the conversations in his head are weird - I'm trying to give a sense of just how much he's debating with himself, fighting against his nature, his fear, but it may be coming off as more schizophrenic.
Also, in case the dragged out battle scenes are getting boring - I don't have much experience with writing large-scale battle scenes, so if they're not great...I apologize. The major battles like that will be over soon, though - we're going to move on to other things once this one is done. Just to let you know and all.
In any case, enjoy.
- Smeeze -

29-Nov-2008 21:47:27

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