Clang!Clang!Clang!
The sound of swords and spears clashing filled the battlefield. The ground covered in blood, bodies lying everywhere.
The war between the kingdoms of Landorius and Irimandel had been going on for years. A rivalry that nobody knows how it started, one had that been going on for generations. This rivalry that ended up bursting into a full-on war between the two kingdoms when one of the nobles from Landorius insulted the princess of Irimandel. Nobody cares about that anymore. All that matters is this final battle at Knightrun.
Argh!
A loud scream can be heard as a man wearing silver armour, with red clothing underneath just fell to the ground due to a deep wound on his arm. His armour and knives and spear are engraved with the symbol of a tree, the symbol of the Mother Goddess who is worshipped by the people of Irimandel. Standing over him is a man in white armour, his short blonde hair and fair face covered in blood and dirt. His armour and the hilt of his sword engraved with the symbol of the sun, the sacred symbol of the Eternal Sun God. He is Xander Cursnight, a knight and hero from Landorius. He is a noble knight from a long honourable family. He is someone who everyone looks up to as the man who will end this war.
"You must be Xander, the knight who will end the war." A big burly man with a thick beard wearing Irimandel's armour shouted at Xander. "Let's see if the rumours about you are true." He says as he takes a defensive stand while pointing his sword at Xander.
Xander takes a similar stance with his own sword. As another man falls on the other side of the battlefield, the two man rush towards each other. The clash of swords is brief. With just a few movements, the man's sword is knocked out of his hands and his throat slashed by Xander's sword.
He looked at the corpse of the man who he had just slain. It is a look he had seen countless times during the war and a look he will see countless times in this battle itself as he continues to fight and slay anyone who dares to get too close to him.
….
As the sun sets and the dust settles, the war can be declared over. Irimandel accepts defeat as Xander has killed their last prince. Both kingdoms had major losses throughout the war but the losses are worth it in the end for the soldiers of Landorius.
"XANDER!" shouts another soldier, running towards Xander. "Did you hear that? They say the war is over! We did it! We won! And you… you are the hero that won us this war." The man is the self-professed best friend of Xander, Michael Howlwitzer. They had been friends since they were children. They trained together even then, hoping to be heroes someday.
Xander looks at him and then smiles before hugging him. Even though Xander doesn't show him the same affection as he does, Xander does care a lot about Michael.
"Yeah, we did it. I'm glad you're safe. Don't know what I would have done if you had ended up dead."
"Hey, I might not be as strong as you but that doesn't mean you can underestimate me like that, alright? Now come on! Let's go and celebrate with everyone else."
Xander simply smiles and nods before walking with him, tired and exhausted from the bloodshed.
As the two friends walked across the battlefield, they talked about all the things they were planning on doing after returning home. Xander was a man of few words, so it was mostly Michael talking while Xander listened. As they walked towards their fellow soldiers, Xander could feel something was wrong. His vision started to blur, his body felt too weak to carry on.
"Are you alright? Xander? Xander!" Michael shouts as Xander falls to the ground with a loud and heavy thud!
…
Xander opens his eyes, staring at the roof of a tent. He turns towards a right and through his blurry vision he can see a black-haired man wearing some casual clothing sitting right beside his bed.
"Mike?" Xander muttered. The black-haired man woke up from his short nap and saw Xander looking at him with half open eyes. As Xander had guessed, the man was in fact Michael.
"Xan are you alright? Can you talk? Can you understand what I'm saying?"
The blonde knight felt some relief as his vision started to come back to him and he can see the familiar worried face of his friend. "One thing at a time Mike. Where am I? What happened? I remember walking with you but then I felt weak and… and then my vision became blurry and then …. then everything went black." Xander sits up, his right hand on his forehead as he tries to remember what happened.
"That's pretty much what happened. We were going to celebrate but all of a sudden you just fell on the ground with a big thud." Mike continues explaining with a worried expression on his face. "I didn't know what to do. The rest of guys helped me get you to the emergency tent that we had set up. That's where you are right now. You have been here for the last 2 days, almost 3!"
"3 days?!" Xander could only reply in shock. Mike simply nodded.
"Yep, almost 3 days. Nobody is really sure about what happened. The doctor thinks that it was because of tiredness and stress caused by the war but even he couldn't say for sure."
Xander listened intently, his right hand covering his mouth as he analysed and thought about what his friend was saying.
"It's possible but I don't think it would cause me to be asleep for 2 to 3 days. Maybe for a day but even that seems unlikely."
"That's what I said! But the doctor insisted that that was the most probable cause. He even said something along the lines of 'you would not be able to understand how much pressure he must be living under.' " Mike explains with a comedic imitation of the doctor. "Regardless I ended up agreeing with his explanation, after all he was the expert and there was no way to know without you waking up."
"Where is the doctor now?" Xander asks.
"He is probably here at camp somewhere. Nobody wants to go without you, so everyone just stayed at the camp for you. Anyways let me call him."
As Mike left him, Xander felt warmth in his earth. He felt gratitude for the people that decided to follow him not only during the war but also after it. He couldn't believe that everyone stayed back just for him. He could almost be happy. Almost. Underneath all these emotions was something else. A growing anxiety about something that he wanted to believe could not come true. Something he believed he got over and left behind in the past. But with this recent 'coma', he knew that what he was worried about might just have become real.
As he was thinking about all of this, a short man with grey hair and a receding hairline with a thick moustache entered with Mike. As he saw the blonde young man seating upright on his bed, he hurried to his side. "Are you feeling alright boy?"
"Yeah, I think I'm good now. I think my muscles are a little stiff but other than that I'm fine."
"That's good then. Drink some water," he points to a water vase on a table, signalling Mike to give Xander some water, "and explain to me what happened on that day."
Xander explained everything he remembered from that day, with some comments in between by Mike. After hearing them, the doctor opened his mouth again, " I still think it's because of the stress and fatigue caused by the war. The war has taken a toll on everyone, but it probably was much worse for you, whether you realize it or not. You had the pressure of expectations; everyone expected you to perform miracles and win the war for them. On top of that you have been fighting almost every day, from morning till sunset. But I will keep what you said in mind. I will give you some medicine to regain your energy and we will see where it goes from there." With that, the doctor left the tent to get the medicine.
After the doctor left, Xander opened his mouth, "Mick, I have been thinking about something."
"Thinking about what?"
"Thinking about this!" he says while making motions with his arms to emphasize that he had been thinking about his current condition.
"I don't think this is because of fatigue."
"Then what do you think it's because of. Do you think it's some disease?"
"I think it's the curse."