A Knights Purpose Essay, Research Paper
The battlefield was quiet. Only a handful of men were left to tell the tale. Kelly, a tall man, tanned skin and silver hair, leaned on his sword, which was stained a crimson red. Kelly has now been a knight for eight years now, and was soon to become a father. His wife was nine months pregnant and was soon to conceive. Slowly, the four men rose to their feet, and started walking back to they’re town, they’re home, and the only place left for them.
Silence could never have been so eloquently described, the way these men acted on it. You could hear a needle drop, if the ground was hard enough. As the men reached the top of the hill, they could see their town, Kidlen.
Kidlen was a quaint, tiny town, with a lord and a few nobles. They’ve been fighting for their independence for thirteen years now. Every war against Adbun brought on new hope, but that hope was then taken by the raiders of the east, when they did their monthly raid on Kidlen. Time after time, Kidlen was able to defend against the raids, but as food and rations became more and more scarce, so did their chances of living through another war.
The military was bubbling with excitement as the squires greeted the four lone knights who came back from the war. Bursting with excitement, Lance, who was the son of Kain, was a young rambunctious little brat. He never did what he was told, and when he gets into fights, the other person usually comes out with a broken limb of some sort. Kain, the father of Lance, was a man of his word. Very stern, extremely loyal to his friends but he’s also kind of paranoid. He had a medium build, blond hair, and was fairly tall. His face was scared with the years of battle that he participated in.
Lance ran up and jumped on his poor father’s back. Kain being the paranoid man he is, threw Lance to the ground and punched him in the chest. Lance never forgot the face of his father at that moment. A face that was so innocent, so pure, and so goofy that Lance broke out in a hard laugh, only hacking a few times because his chest was in pain. Kelly got up and greeted the squires and made his way to the monastery, which was in the center of the military school.
Kelly, and the rest of the knights finally got to the monastery, upon their arrival, Diane, the Lady of the monastery greeted them, and motioned for them to come and eat with her. After a few drinks, and plate loads of food, they started to tell Diane about the war.
A week has now passed and Kelly’s daughter had finally arrived. His hope of having a son was soon to be shattered, as for that very knight his life would drastically change.
“RAIDERS! RADIERS ARE COMING!” Shouted one of the town guards.
Sure enough, there was a full squad of raiders, not that well armored but very tough. Riding into battle like a swarm of locus’ attacking a farm. Guards from the town walls shot a few of them down with arrows, but the raiders still advanced.
The military school was swarming with activity. Knights getting fitted with their armor, squires getting on their gear, along with archers and the cavalry. It was too late though. The raiders broke through the city.
“What’s this?” Kelly exclaimed as he saw the Adbun army close in with the raiders. “Has it been like this for ever?” He sat down, not caring what was going on. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that the two armies would combine to take out Kidlen.
“KELLY!” Shouted Kain as he stumbled by in his armor. “Get up we have a war to win!”
“Why, Kain Why?” Questio
“Snap out of it man!” Stated Kain. ” Fighting has no purpose, unless you have something dear in your heart you want to fight for. For me, it’s for Lance, and my wife. You also have a wife, and two kids. Do you want them to see you like this, like a coward!?” Kelly had never seen Kain in this light before. “If what you seek is a purpose Look around you, look at the pain and the destruction these wars bring on. Look at the death and the anguish that people have to go through when a war hits. It’s not that we want to fight, but it is our duty and if we don’t, we are no better than the people who attacked us.” Kain ran away, clumsy as usual, but those words were just echoing inside of Kelly’s head.
Kelly got up, and headed for the armory where he would put on his armor. He didn’t know what was driving him, but he felt an irresistible erge to go out and fight. With thoughts of his wife and his children in his mind, all that he could do was now fight. He didn’t want to, he didn’t want to kill anymore, but he had to, for his wife, and for his kids. He ran out to the battlefield shouting with anger and vengeance.
Time passed and Kidlen and the attacking forces were both equal in numbers, but both sides had lost lots of brave men. Kelly turned his head to see if his wife and kids escaped. But fear shot into his heart as he saw his wife, lying on the ground with an arrow in her chest. The children where tugging on her dress, “Mommy come on, we have to leave…” then that sound was silenced as more arrows came and took his children.
“N O” Screamed Kelly as he ran to his wife, and children, and kneeled down. Tears running down his face, as he embraced his now dead wife. “IS THIS WHAT FIGHTING DOES? IS THIS MY FATE, MY PURPOSE? ANSWER ME DAMNIT!”
Then he remembered Kains words. ‘we don’t have to fight, but it is our duty ‘
Kelly got up, with the thought of cowerd-ness, he didn’t want to fight, he didn’t want to loose another loved one.
What would your wife think of you if she saw you like this? She would want you to fight, not to run away like a coward. GET UP!
He didn’t know who said that but his emotions were at a high, and all he wanted was revenge.
The battlefield was quiet, only a few men where left standing. One of them looked around and gazed at a ruined city. It was once his home, and his town. Now it’s just a pile of rubble. Those few men, slowly got up, and walked away, not looking back, trying not to remember what had happened there. Kelly was one of those men. He had forgotten the peace of his life, and all that kept him going now was revenge. He wanted to purge the world of all evil and hate. But in doing so, only increased it. He yearned for a love that he thought he could take, but he never got it. That was Kelly’s life, and that’s all he would be. But in the eyes of his comrades, all they could live off of was their memories of their home, and their families. They started life anew, with new wives and new children. Keeping peace for the time that they could was their promise to each other, except for Kelly.
Kelly’s death was not a questionable thing, because they knew that as long as he yearned for love, he would try and get it. But the others, they looked to the future, and saw the light.
Many generations have passed, but that little town still grows, and has never even entered a war. That is what they wanted, and that is what they got.