The Story of a General.

Wild beasts are free to survive in whichever manner they desire. It may not seem so but that is the deepest form of freedom. Domesticated beasts lack that freedom. Even though they are saved from the fight for survival, they get few choices in how to live their lives. Most of them are bred for a purpose and spend their existence fulfilling that purpose in servitude of more intelligent beings.

I may not have been bred for any purpose and my birth wasn't any different from that of most of the children born in our farming community. Aside from the fact that it was foretold. The day of my birth had been prophesized many aeons back and awaited ever since. It was also that fact that disturbed my normal first days in this new world, for I had also a purpose to fulfill. It was my destiny to ensure freedom for the intelligent races and therefore I had to be domesticated as a Beast of War.

My education began the moment I was discovered and ripped away from my birth parents. From that moment on I would be trained in any form of warfare imaginable, both physically, intellectually and emotionally. By my late youth I was a master in any weapon known to my teachers and any of the unarmed arts as well. I was taught to be an expert tactician, inspiring leader and feared general.

Long before my birth my reputation was created for me with the words: "... and he shall be born in the year of the Void Ripple to be brought up in balance. Only then may he have a chance to call Chaos back to Order and ensure the freedom of all." Ever since my name had only grown, much to the satisfaction of my guardians. I was meant to lead all free races into battle after all. A task that is definitely easier when you are worshipped, even if it is not earned but cleverly manipulated.

Most of my guardians and teachers were Mages of the White City, led by Sarael, a very powerful angelic sorceress. They were the ones behind every meaningful event in history, shaping the world around them. A job that may have required dubious measures but their motives could not be doubted. Many wars and much hardship was avoided by clever intrusions from the White Mages of Zantarion. Even though they often restricted the freedom of the people by forcing certain choices upon them, it was always with the people's best interests in mind. Much like a good farmer herds their cattle.

It goes without question that they also left me without much choice and only cared about preparing me as best as they could, for the good of all. Occasionally I was left under the care of capable warriors or skilled craftsmen, even a wise academic or two but my keepers were always very careful about whom I interacted with. Friends were unknown to me throughout most of my life, let alone women or any sort of romantic pursuit. Luckily I didn't know what I missed because I was kept far too busy learning and training.

All this time I was closed off from the world and kept ignorant of the growing dangers outside of my protected city. Zantarion was a beautiful city, filled with rich, marble buildings and protected by the huge, chalked outer walls. From a distance it was a bright Bastion of Life, planted in the middle of a lifeless desert. It wasn't suprising that the city from which the secretive White Mages watched over the fate of the world, not only looks like the safest place around but also probably was the safest place on the planet. Especially in those times when turmoil and corruption seemed to be at an all-time peak.

The largest portion of our history we had known peace among the mixed races. The occasional disputes were mere skirmishes between those in power, where professional soldiers fought eachother honorably. Rarely were there any civilians involved in a battle. Most of this was due to the invisible hand held over our heads by Sarael's Mages. However this long history of peace and prosperity had left us weakened. Our world had become very susceptible to corruption and that is exactly what our enemy knew.

Since my birth, when the first ripples appeared, creatures had come to our world. Chaotic beings from another place, somewhere beyond they void. They came scarcely at first but even that sent a great shock throughout a culture built around honor and peace. Wtih the creatures the corruption also spread and darkness descended over the minds of many. It took the form of greed, anger, jealousy, ... and turned many people against eachother. Every year that passed it ony seemed to become worse until only a few beacons of honorable life remained. All of those were closely guarded by magic to slow the corruption. And each and every one of them had built up a formidable army to keep their borders safe.

About a year before my coming of age, the first large portal appeared in the mountains of the north, tall as a tower and wide enough to fit a substantial palace inside. With the portal came armies that invaded our lands and plundered every town they came across. In reaction to the increased threat all remaining great cities were called to assemble their troops. They were to gather in Zantarion and unite under my lead.

Finally the task set upon me from before my birth was about to begin. I would lead the largest army of intelligent races our world had ever seen against the darkness flowing from the void. And all were so eager to follow me because it was a well known fact that I alone could defeat our enemy. So the armies gathered, thousands of professional soldiers, armed to the teeth and ready to give their lives. Besides those honorable men and women stood millions of simple townsfolk, farmers, butchers, blacksmiths and free men and women from every profession imaginable. The White City was engulfed in an ocean of self-proclaimed soldiers, willing to fight for their freedom.

When our march started, it took three days before the last troops had left Zantarion. We marched onto the Great Portal for months, meeting increasingly more opposition the closer we came. At first the few small skirmishes were won, long before even half of the army arrived at the battlefield. But our great numbers slowly decreased, like a loaf of bread that was being nibbled at and devoured bit by bit. After several great battles, in which more than half of our army had been killed we finally reached the base of the mountains.

My army formed it's ranks on the edge of the dying forests under the eery red glow of the portal. All of my men were hardened veterans of war by the time but they were also away from their homes for too long now. Some of them could probably not even remember why they were fighting anymore but we all took courage in the idea that this would be our last battle. One last charge to drive the chaotic hordes back into their portal and seal it off for good.

And what a battle it was! The men fought with more fury than the gods themselves could muster and our cavalry charges struck like a thunderstorm. Clouds of arrows hailed down upon the enemy and our infantry marched bravely into the fray. It was glorious!

I died there, that evening ... we all did. And along with us the freedom of our people died for aeons to come.

Nice work. Very classic although I was disappointed at the unhappy ending (no freedom in the end). Well written though.

Thanks, not so sure about my writing skills but it was something that had to be written down. As for the end .. it wasn't my choice either.

Oh ok.. is this based on one of your memories? I thought it was just creative writing

A bit of both ... it's based off an old memory that resurfaced recenty. Most of the story is filled in by imagination though as only a few small details reached me from the past, the end being one of them.

That's pretty much the same thing I thought when I read it. Sad ending.

It's good that you tried to write it down though. Oft times it can lead to a revelation later, or some unknown answer to a question you forgot you asked.

Or well that's my belief.

Yeah that's a good idea, writing things down..I usually let things sit in my head a while before writing them down