Name: Liam Giuliani
Date: February 12th 2015
Period: 6
Prompt # 3
Backstory
Upon the valley surrounding Theodoresburg stood the evidence of the carnage that is
war. King Theodore, ruler of Upalia, stood upon his balcony looking down at the aftermath of
the war, not only had so many brave Upalians died but also the soldiers of Danova who were
unwittingly led into battle by the serpent that is Emperor Kang. The emperor was evil yet
cunning, his tactics were smart but Theodore had anticipated his battalions passage through the
mountains surrounding the Upalian valley, near the edge of their border. Since 2043 the hatred
between the neighboring countries had become great, and they went to war, at the end their
leader had been executed, striking fear into the hearts of the Danovians. It seemed occurrent that
the Upalia had won but the Danovian Emperor still had some aces up his sleeve. Never out of
tricks. His choices in this war are plentiful, as he could come through the mountains, or even
just charge our capital and battle on our front. and our soldier count shows extremely low
numbers even though we’ve stopped their attacks, the battles were two sided both nations had
lost large parts of their military. Both populations were not pleased with this war but as Kang is
nearly a dictator his power overthrows anything the people could attempt.
Danovian Militia
“A half of the Danovian military had been seen by our scouts crossing the mountains
only a few more days until they arrive on our front.” huffed General Galius, as he bursted into
the King’s quarters.
“I see, the calm before the storm has passed, it was only a matter of time. General we
have been preparing for this charge on our front for months now, it’s only a matter of time before
they get here. First send a courier to the scouts and have them set traps to make their trek
through the mountains a little more treacherous, and tell our officers to finish the soldiers
training, we need to be ready for this, once they make it to the valley we can meet them there.”
King Theodore calmly stated, in his royal garments. He sent out a letter to his generals and put
on his royal golden armor and grabbed his sword to train for battle.
“Yes Sir!” General Galius erratically stated.
The Fall of an Emperor
“Hmm, this seems simpler than it should, knowing Kang he would be more tactically
advanced, it is too easy… What do you believe we should do my trusted advisor?
“We must stay on course, the Danovian’s have many troops heading toward our farmland
and then outer wall which if sieged could cause the downfall of Theodoresburg and then Upalia.”
Said King Theodore’s advisor Tropius.
Suddenly Theodore realized what he had been missing, not the entire military had been
spotted there, but our troops had already gone to the valley. Theodore would not stand and let his
kingdom fall to a treacherous tactic such as this.
“General Galius had led his army into battle, it had already begun, I hear the sound of
cannon fire in the distant valley so we cannot call our forces back, so we must lead a small force
into the hills or they will breach our walls from behind into our noble district. Our diplomats and
great thinkers as well as some of the other most influential people in Theodoresburg are quite
vulnerable here, we must go as soon as possible or…”
Theodore’s plan was interrupted by an abrupt quake of the castle followed by the sound
of the outer wall crashing to the ground. The noble district had been breached! The legion
stormed out passed the fortifications and into the city with hastily assembled sets of armor and
mismatched weapons. When the legion reached the noble district their morale reached an alltime
low as they were painfully out matched. The district had been thoroughly raided, houses were
burning, children were screaming and people were missing, the gallant king saw this chaos and
hastily surrendered. He sat there on one knee, with a furrowed brow, Kang walked up to him,
“Not so magnificent now, are you? Look at the great King Theodore ON HIS KNEES! Beg for
me, Theodore and maybe i’ll spare your life, so you can watch the soldiers you failed die one by
one. PATHETIC!” screeched Emperor Kang as he circled Theodore like a hawk.
“This is madness Kang, can you really watch so many innocent people burn for your
victory? Yelled Theodore in an attempt persuade the Emperor. This one move could cause the
death of thousands but it doesn’t have thee power to bring peace to our region!”
“Stand down soldiers!” yelled the Danovian general Asimuth. One of the soldiers
dropped his weapons and Kang turned and mercilessly slashed the generals throat.
“He had no power over me and neither do you, peasants!” Kang walked over to his
soldiers and murdered the lone defiant soldier.
“This killing is pointless Kang! You can’t do this!” Before Kang could respond time
seemed to freeze and The Great King Theodore watched his royal city burn into oblivion. The
large homes of stone were safe but those of wood owned by peasants burned like dry leaves in a
wild fire. He could see over the horizon his army’s victory in the valley but felt his failure in his
own city. He, King Theodore in all his glory, with golden royal armor and chain mail glistening
in the sun, his broadsword fell to the ground with a resounding tone of weight and power but
Theodore was powerless.
The world un-froze, cannons struck the inner walls, Theodore lay on the ground in pain
physically, and mentally, he had no power here, at least thats what Kang thought. “Kang! Duel
me! Lets see who stands dominant.” Yelled Theodore in a final attempt to tip the scales.
“Fine, stand up Upalian. I’ll see what you’re really worth!”
Theodore rose to his feet and grabbed his sword. Kang walked toward him, and slashed
at Theodore, he parried and slashed back, this continued. slash, parry, slash. Finally, Theodore
dodged a stab and delivered a slash across the chest, in the gap between the breastplate and torso,
Kang fell to the ground, dead, it wasn’t like a fairy tale where, there was no hate, no war,
although theirs had ended, there was no guarantee there wouldn’t be another, and the dead
couldn’t be brought back to life. Then there Theodore realized what he had been missing, but
desperately needed, there are no victors in war, and both sides have the same terrible
consequences. War never changes, but it can be replaced. Theodore looked out into his burning
city, and then back to Kang’s limp body, and asked himself an important question. What was the
true cost of victory? He once again looked out into his city to see his army return, his battle was
a victory but not for the soldiers, dead outnumbered the living by overwhelming amounts, and
only then did he have his answer…
War Never Changes…
The End