A Soldier of Misfortune
War. It hung in the air like a sentence of doom. The very sky proclaimed its presence, the
length of its endless canvas stained with the colour of blood. The sky flashed with the wrath
of the Gods, stirring up their fury before the conflict. There would be death that night.
~
Diogenes steadied his breathing. He clutched his spear to his chest and focused his mind.
He stood with his back to a tree, whose shadow hid him from the piercing moonlight. He
glanced across at the other trees in the grove. Not another man could be seen and the grove
appeared lifeless.
Then came the signal. The cry of a jackal could be heard from farther into the grove behind
him.
“They come!” thought Diogenes as he unslung his shield and tightened its straps to his arm.
Beads of sweat dripped down his face and moistened his dark beard. Many times had he
been in conflict like this but before each one, the same knot gripped his stomach. Once
he was in the fight and he was overcome with fury, the knot was forgotten. But here in the
darkness where the very trees spoke of the death to come, the intensity could be felt more
than ever, yet it fuelled him.
Then another sound came. Faintly at first but then getting louder. The sound of marching
feet. Steady and metered. Coming through the grove.
As the enemy soldiers filed past, Diogenes stilled his entire body lest he be discovered. He
must remain unnoticed for one noise and the ambush would fail.
Then a cry of war was heard and he knew that the time for blood was come. He raised his
voice in woeful cry along with his brothers in arms and his heart kindled with fire. He threw
himself upon the nearest of the alarmed enemy soldiers. The ambush was a success, the
enemy was completely caught off their guard. Screams of agony now rent the air, as first
blood was drawn.
The initial surprise of the ambushed soldiers had subsided and they now began to fight
back. Hard battle was met and steel rang on steel. Diogenes was in the thick of it, slashing
with his short sword and fending blows with his circular bronze shield. He had not yet had
the chance to use his long spear but the opportunity presented itself when he saw an enemy
soldier fell one o