Eyes on the Field

A foolish King blinded by pride should have kept his eyes on the field. This is a story I posted on my blog:

“Your majesty, we are losing ground!” Knight called out desperately from the side, only to be rushed down by an unexpected peasant with a lance in his grip. A helmet possessed four small slits for air to enter, the one to the furthest right instead being used to lodge the lance inside. The sadistic look in the peasant’s blood-red eyes indicated that there was much danger if he doesn’t react to their presence soon. Unlike a cavalier crash, one’s eyes couldn’t avert from the savage.

King clenched his teeth and glared at the new threat brought upon his end of the blood-soaked meadows. Perhaps a luring trap was necessary to safely bring the lamb to its slaughter without repercussions, but Priest would have to serve as a meat shield. All of this for an unhinged peasant? No, the healing of his men wasn’t going to be forfeit for such a move. Though seemingly insignificant, that peasant had to be struck down.

A hasty but confident right arm lunged out with an extended pointer finger sent towards the peasant. Blindsides were the easiest to exploit, the peasant refused to look back to see what approached. For shame, there was nothing preventing a loose chariot from ramming him.

“Chariot, mow down the peasant!” King ordered along with the finger to guide the chariot rider towards his next target. But things didn’t go as smoothly as intended, for there was a rebuttal from the one who rode on top of the chariot.

“Your majesty, I-“

“DO IT!” King’s temper was short. Things just can’t be as simple as a “Yes sir” these days, a mental note to put them on the chopping block would be locked at the back of his mind. If a member of his army rebelled, they could just be replaced with the next one. Welcome to the kingdom.

Though still bravely reluctant, King’s word was law. To disobey the law was certain death. So the two horses pulling the chariot received a lash of the ropes. Unlike their rider, they acted without an opinion given. Two horses charged through the fields past all the other battles being fought, recklessly charging from one side of the war to the other end.

The horses trampled down the peasant, it was the chariot wheels that split the peasant into pieces shortly after. Their body would shatter into small fragments of light, soon blending in with the air. King was satisfied with the result, a confident grin accompanied by his fist being balled to assume that victory was attained with that move.

Unfortunately, Chariot was correct in his intents to warn, for he was guarding something valuable to a recovery in a tactician’s eyes. King’s eyes would see more value than just strength, for Queen was exposed to an incoming Chariot of her own. Two more horses were clamping through the fields followed by another rider charging straight forward. King would only just now notice this.

“Q-Queen!” King called out, teeth clenched yet again before screaming out an order. “You fools, block the impact!”

His “Fools” couldn’t decide whom should take a chariot in order to save the queen. It wasn’t like King’s peasants were looking back, Chariot was just recovering from the assault launched on the dead peasant, and Priest didn’t have the speed to catch the chariots. Even if he did, could his body alone stop the collision?

Queen held up her golden blade in defense, eyes locked onto the horses as she aimed to take the impact for herself. An unfortunate mistake, for not even a queen could withstand such a chaotic force. The horses finally collided with her, the blade catching them for a moment before breaking her guard. Though blessed with the gift of limitless power, her body was as vulnerable to damage as any human.

King could only stare with hollow eyes as dread filled his being. It was a painful sight to witness, for Queen was unable to get trampled as quickly as a peasant. No, her body would be launched off the edge of the fields into the void where none have returned from. Not even the mercy of satisfying particles of light would remain, for there is no way to confirm death in the void.

“N-No…” The remaining monarch whispered to himself, breaking down at the loss of his love for the sake of making a desperate move. A shortsword in his hand, yet he couldn’t bring himself to use it. King couldn’t tell if Queen was dead or alive, she was just not returning. If only he had the knowledge of her status, he would know whether to join her or not. What a useless weapon.

Instead, his head was held down so that the crown would hit the grassy ground. Perhaps he was unfit for the position as king, and if that’s the case, he wasn’t ordering his troops any further.

“Y-Your majesty!” Chariot cried out. “Your orders!?”

The enemy was advancing, but King couldn’t bring himself to hear the outside world anymore. It was all white noise, the one love of his life had been taken away from him.

“King! KI-” Chariot didn’t last much longer, taking a sudden shortsword to the chest from the opposing queen. His screams went unfiltered, for the pain of the twisted blade in his heart made for a messy and hellish sight. There was nothing left for him to do now but perish, for King heard nothing.

White noise left him in his own miserable silence.

“Check!” A bubbly voice declared as he slammed his queen piece down, taking the rook for his own graveyard.

“I lost, can’t do much without that queen.” Another voice said, coated bitterly with defeat shown in a lower tone. Defeat always sucked, but that feeling stuck for a bit. Some sacrifices were not worth making.

Some sacrifices were not worth making.

Author's Note

No restrictions, have at it!