Myth War | Book II

Prologue V

Prologue V

"To be able to look back on one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice,"

-Lord Acton

The wind blew against him with such intensity. He could barely muster the courage to keep a courageous façade. But he had to. He had to keep a brave face.

He had to for his men.

The screams and echoes of battle rang through the trenches. A layer of water rested at the bottom. It was black in color, and smelled of shít. He scowled, adjusting his gun. Life in the trenches was it's own kind of special hell. It was horrible.

"Hey now, Hell is probably worse than this." Him again. He man scowled, side-eyeing his men. They seemed preoccupied. They wouldn't hear him talk now.

"What do you want?" He hissed, attempting to keep his voice down.

"Now now, is that anyway to treat your best friend?" The voice hummed.

"You and I are not friends, wolf. If anything, you're just an annoyance."

"You wound me, Captain."

"How I wish I could."

He could feel the being roll its eyes within his head. Whatever it was, it was annoying. "You are probably the worst vessel I've had. In all my years of living, I've never experienced a worse man than you, Albert."

Albert rolled his eyes, adjusting his gun yet again. He didn't respond to the voice. He knew his comrades were inching closer to him. Couldn't risk them hearing him mutter to himself now, could he?

"Captain, we are awaiting your explicit orders. On your call we will jump into No Man's Land and attack the Austrians." One of them said. A young man, barely twenty. Albert frowned at his age. Why was a man as young as him in battle?

Of course, he himself was barely twenty-five, so there wasn't much of a difference between them. "Thank you, Judge. Now, on my count, we will attack."

The troops nodded, readying their guns. Albert nodded, and then sent the signal. The group immediately pulled themselves out of the trenches and into No Man's Land. The sound of water splashing and gunshots echoed over their screams as they went off to fight.

Albert tightened his grip on his gun, and then threw himself over the wall of the trench.

As he ran forward through No Man's Land, a sudden chill ran through his whole body. It was strange. He felt as if something was pulling him towards something. Albert glanced towards where it was, only to see more troops fighting. His eyes were immediately drawn to one wearing the British armies uniform. He swung haplessly with his bayonet. Albert watched as one of his comrades shot the enemy he was attempting to fight. His comrade shouted at him before they continued on.

"How intriguing." The voice in his head hummed. Albert shook his head, focusing forward.

He was about to continue on when the sound of a un shot rang out. Pain immediately flared up in his side. Albert groaned, clutching his side.

He should be dead. He was going to die. Albert groaned, wrapping his arms around himself. He was barely able to see through the pain. He saw the outline of the soldier who shot him, raising his gun to shoot again. Suddenly, the man was shot. As soon as another figure came into his view, Albert passed out.