I heard the sound of drums beating from within the city walls.

Outside, the horns were blaring, as the sounds of thousands of metal boots crashed across the valleys and the plains.

Everywhere that I looked, young men and women were scrambling to position, as each of them prepared to fight, with a great degree of nervousness and excitement.

But in that moment, all that I felt was terror, and sorrow.

I didn’t want to die…. and I didn’t want Praxa to die, either.

I thought of her alone somewhere, in the midst of danger, lonely, and afraid – and I felt so sad that I could hardly stand it, and I wanted so desperately to be with her.

And then, I heard the pace of the drums beginning to increase, as I set off into motion, and began to run along through the streets.

Young men and women were scrambling from place to place, and the sounds of the horns from outside were growing louder and louder, as screams rose up from the marketplace, and a few small children ran for cover inside of a nearby building.

And then, a man on the opposite end of the street yelled out to me.

“You, there! Where are you headed? What’s your class?”

“My class?”

“How do you fight! Two-handed?!”

“Yeah - two-handed!”

“Come with me, then,” he yelled, as he pointed off towards a building in the distance. “That way! And quickly!”

“I can’t,” I cried, “I’m looking for my friend!”

“I don’t give a damn about your friend,” the man yelled. “Get over here, or I’ll have you arrested!”

At those words, I felt a surge of rage from deep inside of me... but a few people in the street were looking at us, and there were guards nearby ready to step in if I tried to resist. And so, I pretended to be meek, and submissive, as I ran with him through the winding streets, past dozens of men and women in armor, each making their way to their battalions.

And then the two of us were rushing down a narrow alley, as we made our way inside of a large, wooden building.

There were already about two hundred young men and women standing inside. And at the very front of the room, an older man was delivering a speech, as he raised his voice more loudly now, and cried out over the horns that were blaring from outside.

It was hard to focus on what was happening, with how frightened I was, and how eager I was to find Praxa. But eventually, I began to make some sense of my surroundings, and I started to hear the speaker’s words. He was encouraging each of the young men and women to lay down their lives on the field of battle, and to die for the good of those who remained.

Then, the door slammed shut behind us, as the commander locked us in, and went to help each of his soldiers to prepare for the battle.

The sound of the door shutting had interrupted the man’s speech… and with the door closed, the room was much, much more quiet now.

I could no longer hear any of the drums, or the horns from outside. Now all that I heard was the sound of a young woman weeping softly from one of the corners of the room, as her friends did their best to console her.

Then, the man on the stage paused, as he looked out towards the audience. You could almost feel the tension in the air, and quite a few people were shaking so hard that they could barely even keep a handle on their equipment.

“I know that some of you may be afraid to die,” the man on the stage said, as he resumed his oratory. “And for that, I do not blame you. Nothing is more frightening than death, after all. It is truly an awful thing to die. And it is especially awful for men, and for women of your own age. My son, who I loved very much… he died in a situation just like this, about a year and a half ago. And for many months after that, I could hardly sleep at all, as I thought again that I would never be able to see him in this world, no matter how many years I lived.”

“And so, I promise you… I understand how afraid you are right now, and I understand how awful it might seem to die.”

“But isn’t it precisely because death is so horrific, and so awful, that sacrificing your life on the field of battle is such a noble, and a beautiful thing? If it were an easy thing to die, then giving up your life would not be a beautiful thing at all. But is it not the very horror, and the very badness of death, that makes choosing to die so noble? Is it not precisely because war allows us to choose what is terrible, and to give up our own greatest good, that it also allows us to most clearly prove our own devotion towards what is higher, and thereby to demonstrate our deepest merit, and to reach up to the greatest heights that a mortal being is capable of?”

“Your whole lives, you have lived gentle, and peaceful existences. I am sure that right now, many of you are wishing that you were back in your homes, in that same warmth and safety. And yet, during your peaceful lives, have you not often felt restless, and ill at ease? Have you not often wondered what your lives were for, and wished that there was some higher task that you could fulfill?”

“But the moment that you step out onto that battlefield… it may seem strange to say this. But the moment that you are there, you will discover what your purpose in life has been all along – that it was always to sacrifice yourself for others. You shall feel more alive out there than you have ever felt before... and as you dash ahead, and leap to the aid of strangers, and perhaps even give up your own life, so that others may carry on… you will never once wonder why you are out there, and you will never once feel that you are wasting your time. You will just feel so alive, and so complete, precisely because you will have no doubts that what you are doing is truly right, and noble… and I tell you, to not just be happy, but to know that you are worthy to be happy – there is no greater joy in this world than that!”

“And so my friends – be not afraid. Even as the horror, and the violence creeps in from all around you, do not shake, and falter. Death is only the door that leads to the next part of this journey that we are on. And if you die, know that you died in the service of what was just, and righteous. Know that you died in the service of something even greater than yourselves – for the good of the whole community, and for its peace, and happiness. And remember always, that he who gives his life in the service of another, shall never fail to be rewarded.”

“And so, be not afraid, but rather prepare yourselves for the fight, and for the glorious opportunity in front off you. For without suffering, and pain, there would be no place for virtue to display itself, or for moral courage to unfurl its sails, and to display its grandeur. And so, do not be afraid of the terror that lies ahead… but understand that it is nothing more than the opportunity for you to make use of your virtue, and to do what is right, and noble. And for that chance, and for that opportunity – to be heroic, and to noble – may each of you conquer your fears, and your sorrows… and fight!”

At the conclusion of the man’s speech, there were loud cheers, and applause, as each of the soldiers prepared their weapons, and began to ready themselves for the coming battle.

And then, just like that, the doors to the hall were thrown open, and the whole battalion made its way outside.

Just about all of the soldiers around me seemed to be brimming with energy, and to be thinking of the glory that they might obtain.

But for my own part, I merely looked everywhere that I could, and tried to catch sight of Praxa.

I wasn’t able to find her, however. And with each passing second, I only felt more afraid, and more disoriented.

And then, the wooden gate was only a few meters in front of us. And the next thing that I knew, the gate began to open, as we made our way outside, having decided to meet the enemy head-on in the fields.

From through the crack in the slowly opening wooden gate, I could see hundreds, and hundreds of young men and women in bright red armor.

They were positioned a long way back from the town, and they seemed to only be waiting for enough of us to leave the safety of our walls before they began to attack.

As we marched through the door to what seemed as if might well be our certain death, a song rung out through the young men and women of Westfall.

It was a song of fighting, and of battle… and it centered around the refrain, “for glor – y, for glor – y, we shall give our lives for glor – y!”

And then, we stood there, and waited for the signal, as the enemy continued to blare their horns.

And then…

… the battle began at once.

Without any sort of warning, hundreds upon hundreds of arrows rained down upon us from overhead.

One of the older instructors cast a magical spell to cover us, while the soldiers with shields in their hands held them up into the air.

But the arrows were landing all around me, as I twisted my body, and tried to keep myself alive.

And then, our swordsmen began to charge forward to advance, as our bowmen took up their position, and struck out towards the archers in the back of the enemy’s formation.

The next thing that I knew, I was being pushed ahead by the swelling of the crowd, as swords and spears jutted towards me from the front, and arrows fell lightly around my feet.

It took all of the focus, and all of the concentration that I had just to be able to dodge those blows. But soon, there were so many men and women all around me that I could hardly see at all. I tried to do my best to fight, and to keep myself alive. But every chance I got, I fell back a bit from the formation, and tried to scan my eyes through the battlefield.

And then finally, in a flash – I saw her.

She was a ways off to my side, pressed up against the wall of the city, as she provided support for a battalion of soldiers… but that battalion was under a sustained attack – and I could tell that at any moment, a sword wielder or two was going to crack through their defenses, and to get towards Praxa.

She did have a dagger that she could use to defend herself, if it came to that.

But I knew how much danger she was really in – and how close she might be to death.

And then, everything in me came to life at once, as I ran towards her as fast as I possibly could, and tried to protect her.

“Praxa,” I cried.

“PRAXA!”

For a moment, she looked around with some confusion. And then, she spotted me… and she gave me a huge, and warm smile, before she brought her focus back to what was ahead of her.

A man with a long, curving sword was charging towards her, as he swung his blade frantically, and tried to cut her down.

She was doing her best to dodge, and to move swiftly out of his way, as she flailed with her bow in her hands, and tried awkwardly to notch an arrow.

I wondered at first why she hadn’t grabbed her dagger, and why she was having so much trouble preparing her bow.

But then, I realized that she was only trying to pretend to be helpless… and I noticed that with every move she made, her pursuer had to keep his back turned towards my blade.

And I understood at once that this was going to be my best chance to strike.

I had never really hurt another person before in my life. But given the circumstances, right then, there wasn’t any hesitation in me at all.

Instead, I instantly raised my sword up into the air, then brought it down in a strong, diagonal slash, as I carved my way as deep into the man’s back as I could.

Afterwards, I heard the man let out an awful, and an agonizing scream, as he spun around, and tried to figure out who had just attacked him.

But that was all of the opportunity that Praxa needed.

An instant later, she had drawn out her dagger from around her waist, and then leapt forward, as she stabbed swiftly into the man’s neck, and plunged her blade deep into his muscle, and through his veins.

There was no sound at all after that, as the man dropped down onto the ground, and clutched limply at his neck, before he finally became still, and quiet.

Then, I looked into Praxa’s soft, green eyes, as she breathed heavily, and dashed towards me.

“Are you okay,” I said, breathlessly.

“Yeah,” she said, “are you?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Okay,” she said, “Towards the house?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Alright,” she said, quietly.

And then, we began to run.

There were so many different soldiers in front of us, and around us, that it was hard to really imagine how we were going to get out of this.

But even still... neither of us were afraid, right then.

In a way, we couldn’t be.

At that moment, there was no future, and there was no past.

There was just the pulsing, burning intensity of the present moment, as the two of us darted forward together, side by side, and tried to weave our way through the openings along the field, and out towards the edge of the forest.

We had fought for so many times before – and we had become so used to each other’s movements, and each other’s ways of thinking, and of feeling – that we didn’t need to say a single word to one another as we ran. Instead, we just leapt together through the air, and danced, and spun, and tried to find any openings that we could, and any way out of this that we could discover.

I could feel her body so close to mine… and I felt all of the exhilaration, and all of the beauty of movement, as we dashed ahead, and tried to flee towards safety.

The squadrons were so busy fighting one another that hardly anyone seemed to notice the two of us fleeing far out of our formation. And after almost a minute and a half of scrambling, and of darting from side to side, we were finally right at the furthest edge of the battlefield.

Looking back for a single instant, I saw Praxa give me a warm, and joyous smile…

… and then, I felt a blade come ripping through my body.

At first, I barely even registered the sensation. Eventually, however, I felt a burning, raging pain, roaring out along my side, as I clutched my hand atop the wound, and tried to figure out what had happened.

Slowly, I turned to look to the side that I had been struck from… and as I did so, I saw a young man of about my own age and build, who had ambushed us from behind cover, and was now holding a short, metal blade, that was stuck inside of my body.

He was wearing bright, red armor… and on his face, there was nothing but a look of horror, and of sorrow.

And before either of us could react at all, or make a single movement, an arrow went ripping through his eye, as it plunged in through his skull, and dropped him towards the ground.

At once, I pulled his blade out from my body. But that only seemed to increase the pain that I felt.

I trued to run, and to move. But I felt myself stumbling, and falling down onto the ground.

A moment later, I caught my balance. But then, a second blade plunged itself into my side.

Before I could see who had stabbed me, I heard a cry of rage from behind me, as several arrows whizzed through the air, and struck down my attacker.

It took everything that I had to pull that second blade out of my side. But now, I was breathing very, very heavily. And after I tripped, and stumbled once again, I no longer had the strength to pull myself back up off of the earth.

My eyes were blinking rapidly, now… and it took all of my focus to notice that Praxa was rushing towards me, as she knelt down by my side, and screamed out in rage, and waved her dagger menacingly in the air.

And then, I saw a long, sharp steel blade plunge into her back…

… and after that, everything began to turn dark, and blurry.

A few voices seemed to be ringing out from my side, somewhere. And I thought that I saw some movement from along the edges of the forest. But I could hardly make out anything that was happening.

The next thing that I remembered, Praxa was crawling towards me, with tears in her eyes, as blood streamed out from her body into a pool along the ground.

And then, I faded into blackness once again.

And I have no recollection at all of what happened after that – or of how the rest of the battle had gone.