Winter’s Cold Blade (Early Draft, just seeing what people think)

I felt the cold sea air brush against my face. It sent me into a fit of shivers as I pulled the blanket over my shoulders. I ignored everything else around me, only focusing on staying warm.

"Warm." I whispered. "Got to stay warm."

For a brief moment I forgot where I was, who I am, what I had done. There was nothing but the warmth of the blanket, what little it gave at least, and my own calmed thoughts. I slowly began to creep into the sleep I had desired for so long. It had felt like an eternity since I had just lied down and rested. The shadows of slumber soon began to embrace me, wrapping their dark fingertips around my shoulders. My breathing eased and my muscles relaxed. Soon I even forgot about the pain in my gut.

"Sleep. Yes. That would be nice." I said in the dark. There were none there to hear me. I took comfort in that. There was nothing left for me on the solid ground. It was time I joined my ancestors beneath the great Galwood tree's.

"Is this what death is like?" I said once more.

"No you stupid codger!" I heard someone yelling in my ear. "Don't you die on me yet!"

I was quickly awoken from my slumber. The shadows disappeared, I felt my muscles stiffen up, and I let out a heavy gasp for air. My vision was blurry. I could not make out who was staring at me. I knew they were close though. Their warm breath was rubbing against my cold skin.

As if on cue, the pain returned. The feeling in my belly went from nothing to something in an instant. The numbness turned to a burning sensation that made me want to scream out. A hand went over my mouth, muffling any noise I muttered. My arms and legs started to thrash. It only made things worse, but I didn't care. I was more stubborn than a dragon in heat.

"Hold him down!" Someone said. I felt arms hold my arms and legs down. My vision was quickly returning and I could make out who surrounded me. And that was when it all came back to me.

*****

My name is Lath'elan. I am an elf, a warrior, a defender of my people, the elves of the Galwood forest. With me were my friends Teneran, Osron, and Halek, along with a company of warriors numbering fifty. We were chasing after orcs who had been raiding our village. After a few uneventful skirmishes, we finally caught up with them at their main camp. It was an entire clan, one I did not recognize from the other twenty clans in the mountains. They had been burning, pillaging and raping across fifteen villages, leaving no survivors in their wake. My company and I were among the elite, tasked with tracking them down and killing them down to the last orc. Osron was our leader. Brash and arrogant, but also wise and cunning, he was the perfect commander in my eyes. At least that's what I thought at the time.

"Teneran. I want you to take the archers up that hill and provide us covering fire as we approach. Halek and Lath'elan, you two will take our sappers and approach the weakest points of the walls and take them down. I will distract them with a frontal assault. Any questions?" Osron ordered. He always had a plan in motion, even if it was made up on the spot. Osron would never admit it though.

It was the middle of winter and the night had come. Halek approached their walled camp from the east, while me and my four men approached from the west. Teneran had fifteen men, all of our archers, behind Osron's vanguard. Osron's vanguard were the heavy fighters. Thick star steel armour and weapons, massive pavise shields to protect from arrow fire, and pikes as long as two men. Osron began to bang his blade against his shield, yelling out an elven war cry. I could not make out the words completely as the rest of the soldiers joined in, but a simple translation would come down to "Come and face our steel, for the earth will drink your blood this night." There was something after that that I can't remember.

The orcs in the camp rustled and soon awakened. I could not understand their language. It was loud, guttural, and ugly to me. Their own warriors soon gathered up on the top of the palisade wall. Without a second thought they started to throw rocks, spears, and axes at the main group. Osron and his soldiers formed together to make a large, impenetrable shield wall. They continued with the war cries as the projectiles simply bounced off the shields. These orcs may have been viscous, but they weren't great weapon smiths.

A volley of arrows came down onto the wall. I heard many of them reach their mark as orcs screamed and cursed loudly. I could even make out some falling off of the wall. Most landed in the wall or the ground. Despite what many may think, elves are not all born with a bow in hand and even if they were, that doesn't make them a master archer. Only the rangers are the best, and Teneran was the only one in our company.

As another volley came clattering down, the sappers and I began to plant the bombs. They were small sphere canisters filled with dragon oil. Dragon oil as we like to call it, is the most flammable substance in the world that we know of. You're better off asking a mage or a scholar about that, because I don't know how you get it.

Anyways, we quickly ignited the canisters, ran away from the walls and threw them at the walls, taking cover immediately. The canisters exploded in a beautiful blaze of fire and heat. Several orcs were caught in the blast both on Halek's side and my own. There was a resounding cheer from Osron and his men, who quickly advanced towards the gate in the confusion. Teneran and his archers continued to pelt the orcs, arrows hitting their marks more in the confusion.

"Alright! Let's go get the fuckers!" I told my sappers as I drew my own sword and shield. We charged forward to join the vanguard. I could see Halek and his own warriors already joining the ranks.