‘How on earth did I end up in this mess?’
Cassel was lying down as he stared up at the sky. Then he tried to recall the last time he had been able to look up at the sky so leisurely or even lay about comfortably in peace. This was probably the first time since he had left his hometown, but he could not remember too well. The only thing he could remember from the last month was cutting grass with a sickle or moving from one camp to the other.
‘Was it three days earlier after finishing spearsmanship training? No. As soon as we finished we had to move camp so I was busy packing my gear. Didn’t they give us some free time because we covered two days’ distance in just one during our last move? Nah. Everyone pretty much went right to sleep after that. Did I end up sleeping too? Ah, I think I remember being called out to make a midnight snack. Oh yeh! It was four days ago when I fell asleep squatting beside some bags of wheat. I did end get getting beat up like hell, but I did end up sleeping lying down. So I guess it’s been four days since I had laid on the ground.’`
Suddenly he could hear the sound of over a dozen horse hooves beating at the ground nearby. Cassel quickly closed his eyes.
That morning, a battle had ensued seemingly out of nowhere. Cassel had no idea if it was an enemy ambush or something that was planned by both parties. All he was in charge of was making sure to retreat when commanded to retreat and to advance when ordered to advance. That was it. Though he did hold up his lance and march on to wherever he was told to march like any good solider, he honestly had no idea who the enemy even was.
Cassel had taken a shove from an enemy soldier and fallen before even having been able to use his lance once. At one point an enemy boy soldier, years younger than himself, fell atop him to die after spewing fountains of blood out his neck.
‘That could have been me.’
And so Cassel remained on the ground – crushed by the lifeless body of a young corpse. In the midst of all the bellows and screams around him, he dared not move an inch. Only after half the day was through when the noise had died down did he open his eyes. But even then he refused to get up.
Cassel thought to himself as he waited for the sounds of the horse hooves to move even further away.
‘I shouldn’t have done such a foolish thing from the start. I should have just followed in my father’s footsteps like a good son and lived a peaceful life of wheat farming.’
Cassel did not know how to handle a sword. He was not particularly fast. Nor did he possess any extraordinary strength. He did learn to ride a horse properly from his father, who said it would come in handy around the farm, but not in any way that would help in the heat of battle.
There was nothing Cassel was able to contribute to the outcome of today’s battle. He had merely survived. One less dead for his side.
‘I should have just listened to what my father had said that time.’
Cassel had only regrets as he thought back to one month ago.