Refusal

Such a pathetic death does not suit a knight. A knight does not give up his life for nothing. I don't know what it is inside my soul that keeps me going, but that thing refuses to let this be my end.

I can feel the skin melt off my body, I can feel my organs as they collapse in on themselves, I can feel the cold embrace of death. But my soul puppets my body to stand. I look down to observe my abandoned helmet on the floor, while its worth to me is nothing, I can't help but still feel the pride of when I wore it. I force myself to ignore it and escape what was supposed to be my final resting place. My job was not to die, but to face the enemy.

I try to step, but my armour feels as if it is weighing me down, so I abandon it as step out onto the battlefield, the bodies of my men fill the ground, what a pathetic death they must have endured, the thought that this was what these knights had been awarded with for their service to God is a travesty. Their pathetic death fuels my soul to avenge them and to lay waste to our enemies.

But where were those enemies?

The battlefield was void of anything that would resemble life, there was no one to be fought, there was no sound of the clashing of swords, their was no roar of the all consuming flames that had been cast upon us. How long had passed since I had woken up? 

I began to wonder around for the faintest sign of life for what felt like hours. I had scouted out the charred remains of the bastion, but found nothing. I began to explore the area surrounding the bastion and could here the chanting of celebration, not loud enough to be an army, but maybe a small platoon of a few soldiers. I carried my scorched body to investigate.

I took position on a hill that overlooked where the noise had been coming from. I could observe a small wooden fort that housed six men, all dressed in the attire of a samurai. However said attire was not fashioned correctly on the soldiers, it was not securely fastened to their bodies, as if they were attempting to imitate the image of a samurai. 

Such minor details did not bother me as much as the sight of the men celebrating around the corpses of my knights. The were mocking my men. Such insolence would not go unpunished. I left my vantage point on the hill and presented myself at the gate of their fort.

"Loathsome samurai, you murdered my men in cowardice. You refused to present yourself to them as you all wished to escape the consequence of death that came with the concept of war against my people. As such, I will be you judge jury and executioner. Now, present yourself to be ended by my blade in combat."

At this point two of the six presented themselves by poking their heads above the wooden wall that protected them. They laughed at my face, "One man, to kill all of us? You already look burnt to shit. Your people really are dumbasses! I can't wait to kill you!" screamed one of the men. Such language coming from what was supposed to be samurai as honourable as us knights was not expected, but I drew my sword in anticipation of resistance to my demand. "Come on guys, let fucking kill him!" one bellowed as they began to charge at me.

I stood my position as the charged at me like barbarians. The one who took the lead was the one who had been hurling his threats at me, he was most likely to be the one who would strike first, I inspected his armour, looking for a point of weakness. I notice a weakness in his armour and realise if I could make one precise cut to a gap between his leg guards while dodging his wild slash, he would be embolised and could be dealt with later, The next two would charge at me and would swing at me at the same time, if I dash towards the one on my left, I could swerve behind him, where the right samurai would unleash a slash that would land in the chest of his friend. He would be an easy picking afterwards due to his inability to disengage in time and his susceptibility of a piercing slash through the throat. But such a move would leave me open to a blow to the head from the fourth samurai, as such, I should leave my sword embedded in the neck of the third and use my armoured hand to catch the blade wielded by the fourth combatant. Then I would draw my dagger with my free hand and slit the throat of said combatant.

This would suffice for now, the last two are a safe distance away for me to plan my next moves to deal with them after I complete this sequence. 

I make a slash to the leg of the first samurai, the second one is killed after I trick the third samurai into killing his friend. I use my sword to pierce the neck of the third one. Finally, I catch the blade of the fourth and draw my dagger to execute said samurai.

Now for the other two... who are running away... why? They are samurai yet refuse to give up their lives in battle and would rather retreat back into their fort.

"Ugh... pathetic," I groan to myself as I retrieve my blade from the neck of the fallen soldier. As I do so, I witness the crippled samurai on the ground, attempting to crawl away. I stamp my foot onto his wound and slice the string that held his armour to him, exposing his neck and back to me. I press my blade against his back and begin to question him.

"Who are you people?"

He does not flinch and ignores me completely. I begin to press the tip of my sword into his back. It pierces his flesh and cause him to saueal like the pig he is.

"Ok! Fucking stop it you cunt. Look at the symbol on my armour." He speaks in an awfully confident tone for someone who is a lamb for the slaughter, but I choose to entertain him. The symbol looks simular to that of a rising moon.

"You see that shit, look how bad you fucked up! Your messing with the wrong people jackass." His confidence has not swayed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I question.

"Huh? We're the most feared clan in all the lands, you should surrender now so you can at least have a quick execution!" His voice seems like he is grasping at straws. Such a pitful man should be put to rest, I plunge my blade deeper into him, he screams and shakes in pain. I find it funny how cocky a rabbit can be in front of a wolf but when the rabbit has been caught by the teeth, it will do anything to escape. My blade goes though his entire chest, leaving a hole where my blade used to be. I flip him over to see him gasping for air, as he fades in and out of consciousness. A waste like him does not deserve to be buried, I begin to leave him behind, but I hear his voice say his last words.

"Construct... Stone-Golem!" He screamed so loud the Earth began to shake, I retreated for the moment to assess the situation. The ground beneath his body began to rise, and form a large stone body around him. The structure began to rise and a familiar voice came from within the structure.

"You're gonna need to try harder than that to kill one of the blessed!"