Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

The Siege of Syrn: Part VIII

Dirk awoke at dawn again the next day to the horn that was getting all to familiar. He dressed and armed himself again, and went out into the courtyard.

He stretched his arms and yawned. Yesterday's work had left him exhausted when they were finally allowed to go to bed. The entire day had been spent dragging stones here and there along the walls, pounding stakes into the ground along the outskirts of the wall, and in general, preparing for a siege.

The civilians had been instructed to pack their absolute nessecities and be ready to move to the inner fortress at daybreak. The company that Dirk was in had been assigned to helping them move, and shortly that company was in motion heading down to the town.

Most of the civilians were already standing outside their doors with a few bags or bundles. The few children hung nervously by their parent's sides.

The soldiers split up into several different groups. Dirk and three others went down a side street, following an older veteran. Several people looked up to see them. The lead soldier stopped at the first house, and told the people to wait at the corner of the street.

They continued down, telling everybody the same thing. At the last house, the big man started his usual line, but then a shiny flash caught his eye. "Hey!" he barked, his voice rough, "You were told to take only nessecities! Dirk now saw a gold pendant hanging around the woman's neck. The soldier continued, "I'll take that, thank you very much!" He snatched it off her, the chain snapping. She yelped in pain, and clung to her husband. The man glared at the soldier.

"Hey!" Said Dirk, "That belongs to her. You can't take it!"

"It's not a nessecity, I can do what I want with it." The soldier put the pendant in a pocket underneath his tunic.

"No, it's hers!" Said Dirk, now getting really annoyed. "You give it back!"

"And what's a boy like you going to do against me?" The soldier sneered.

"You don't want to find out." Said Dirk, darkly. He drew his sword.

The soldier chuckled mockingly. "So the little boy thinks he can best me? Well, well, well, We'll see how long it is before he runs home to his mother." He drew his sword and with amazing speed for someone so large, he threw himself at Dirk.

Dirk caught the sword with his own, but his blade was wrenched from his hand and he fell under the bulk of his opponent. The soldier landed on his feet, his blade pointing lazily at Dirk.

Dirk kicked at his opponents leg, and then rolled over to where his sword had fallen. Grabbing it and picking himself up, he readied himself for another attack, but he saw that the soldier had fallen to the ground. Dirk pointed his sword at his opponent's throat.

"Do you yield?" He demanded. The man nodded. "Then give her back her pendant." Scowling he took it out of his pocket and threw it back at the woman. With a smile at Dirk, she picked it up and put it in her own pocket, since the chain had snapped.

Dirk let the soldier up, and they continued helping the civilians up to the fortress with out any further incidents.

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