[ IP ] The World is Against Me

The crying roar of the demons shattered my fragile mind. I was on my knees, feeling the invisible chains pull me closer to the sucking mud... Mud that was already soaked and clogged with the gore and blood of allies and enemies. These demons... If only they would be but silent for ONE MOMENT!!! 
 
 I close my eyes, and speak the mantras taught me in schooling, in training... 
 
 `` I am a warrior, I am bound by duty. I am a warrior, I will not surrender.'' 
 
 Tears streak my bloody, mud smeared, scarred and cut face... I had lost my helm much earlier during the fray, and fear that it may be under several feet of bodies and filth... It did n't matter anymore. Nothing matters. 
 
 The sheer cutting edge of fear and defeat gripped my heart. I could barely breath. I could feel those... things... around me. The demons. The nightmarish hell spawn that bayed for not only my flesh... but my soul. 
 
 I leant forward, hands in the filth, my right gripping my long sword, my left gripping a broken but useful shield. Inside was a picture... A picture of the loved- lost... My sword bore engravings: 
 
 `` For no other will I stand, but for freedom will I fight the multitudes... Courage, Duty... Honor'' 
 
 A quirked smile met my lips. I savored the taste of rejuvenation. Those words... No... that one word... `` Freedom''... Freedom from pain. Freedom from agony. Freedom from want and poverty... The Freedom to fight. 
 
 I begin to step forth once more. One foot... Come on soldier: ON YOUR FEET! I'm trying to grab my breath, the wound across my side is unbearable, but it focuses me... I'd be dead if I did n't feel pain... And this life is all I have left to give. 
 
 I begin to straighten, my other foot sloshing the mud and kicking away various filth and ligaments away. My face is shadowed, but I look up anyway. No longer in fear. Leering faces. Demons. Slack jawed, baying and mewling. Monstrosities that had no physical sense but to exist as mere spawn of demonic joy in the pleasure of pain and suffering. Whipping tongues, elongated claws and burning, hellish, deep red eyes. 
 
 Ahead, just over the field and upon the crest of the hillside that sloped gently into the valley, a shadowy dark figure stood. I could see his sinister demeanor, but his deliciously joyous smile... I could almost smell his enjoyment in the slaughter... No matter how many die... It all served his purpose... And just one: death. 
 
 But it was alright, I smiled and wiped my nose on my sleeve. I leaped in to the fray, my sword point hitting the meat of the tallest monster closest my position and drove it deep into its fiery heart. The fight was now on... 
 
 This world and its demons stand against me... It would n't be fair otherwise...
