Fighter

Chapter Eleven

"Hold still a minute" I said taking out my sword. There was about a centimetre gap between his two hands and my blade was about the same width, I had to cut it exactly in the centre or I would completely severe his hand. I raised my sword and took a deep breath, I focused my eyes on the gap and brought the blade down hard and fast. I had to stop myself from closing my eyes out of fear or hesitate with bringing the blade down or it may take another swing to cut the ropes. The blade cut through the ropes cleanly and George pulled his hands away fast. As soon as I had cut George free my mother launched for him. She was like a limpet sticking to him as tightly as she could, I knew the feeling: if i was her I wouldn't of let go. My son who I hadn't seen for over 10 years was free and back in  my grasp, if i was my mother nothing in the world could stop me from never letting go. Except I wasn't my mother, I was the voice of reason and right now the reasonable thing was to get out of this hideous place as quick as we could. I prised my mother off of George and hauled him up, he looked weak so I dragged him out of the room pushing my mother along with him, Callum and Danny took up the rear. 

"Callum, give me your dagger" I hissed at him, I gave my mother my sword and caught the dagger in its sheath from Callum. Dragging George and wielding a sword would be hard work so i strapped the dagger to my leg and pushed on, back through the many corridors passing all the identical doors as i went. We finally came out in the massive circular hall. My father was still laying on the ground un-conscious. I thanked the gods for keeping him down because I have no idea what I would have done if he'd woken up that angry! I hurried the group out of the castle and into the courtyard. I stopped and looked out over the castle courtyard and grounds. There were bodies everywhere, fighting, dying, already dead. Then there were two figures running toward us, one tall and dressed in armor and a long dark blue cape, the other smaller but just as fierce, blood splattered over them both they looked deadly. They reached us in a matter of seconds and I was enveloped in a hug from Mrs. Havisham and my mother was smothered by Damon. The blood from their armor got all over me and I cringed as I could taste it in my mouth. The smell made me gag but I held it in: I was not planning to kill anyone during this battle but it seemed as long as my father was alive, no-one would surrender. I pulled out a sword from a dead soldier lying next to me, I saw his eyes opened in terror. I saw his armor, he was from my fathers side. His armor was coated in blood from the still leaking wound in his stomach, his face covered in scratches and his helmet knocked off and on the floor next to him. I bent down next to him and as everybody watched in erie silence, I shut his eyelids. It was a small gesture but yet again, it meant so much, it made my heart drop into my feet and a tear come to my eye. At first he was a casualty of war but as soon as I studied him i saw he was just as human as the rest of us. He had a whole life before the sword i was holding was plunged cruelly into his stomach, a fatal blow, but not before he suffered. Around a minute of agonising pain before he died, a minute to watch his life flash before his eyes, a minute to think of all the things he could have done in the future, a minute left of his life and it was spent in pain. It was only a minute but I speak from experience, I minute could feel like a whole year if it felt the need to, and I'm pretty sure this man died in what he felt was a year, not a minute. I said a silent prayer to Hades, begging him to welcome whim and treat him with kindness, "No harm must come to him in the underworld" I said to Hades, "Or I will hunt you down and kill you" I felt a shiver run through my body as Hades replied inside my head. 

"Fine" It was reluctant but it was promise, a promise i would make sure he kept. I rose slowly and looked out across the battlefield. 

"Come on" I said to the group. "We get back to field and we rest, then we call back all the soldiers we can, stop the fighting for now. Then we collect our dead, we allow my father to do the same but I doubt he'll care about respect for the dead." Everyone nodded in agreement.