I Never Knew

• Paulette McDermott, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2012

I stood over him as he lay in the dirt, his life’s blood leaking from the wound in his stomach. He didn’t have much longer and we both knew it. His lips moved and I leaned forward, anxious to hear his last words. “Don’t… die,” he whispered, blood forming on his lips as he coughed. “I… need you… to… stay alive. Don’t thr… throw your life… away… for grief. If you… do… they have wo-“ his breath escaped and I sobbed. I tear fell onto his still chest as I looked into his blank green eyes one more time before closing them with shaking hands.
‘It isn’t him anymore. No point in crying over a corpse,’ I thought, savagely wiping my tears from his face. The sounds of fighting and the smell of dust and men’s sweat returned to me. When he’d felt the sword bite into his flesh, he had handed me his, clasping my unresponsive fingers around the silver wire-wrapped hand- and- a- half hilt. I admired the long blade through the blood coating it. ‘It is ideal for a woman,’ I thought, feeling the lightness of the sword and the fineness of the edge. It was undecorated except for the name engraved into the steel of the blade. There was one thing left that I could do for my old friend and comrade.
Gripping the hilt tighter, I stood in a swift, calculated movement, driving the blade into the chest of one of the enemy warriors. Withdrawing, I spun, long raven locks flying, and decapitated another. I stepped through the ranks of the enemy faster than they could react, leaving death in my wake, fired by the grief of my best friend. But, no matter how angry and sad a person is, adrenalin cannot pound through their veins eternally. My reflexes began to slow and I made many mistakes. Someone sliced me across the ribs, and another stabbed me in the calf. The sword no longer felt like an extension to my arm, instead weighing it down.
A man’s face leered at me from behind his helmet. He feinted to one side and as my mind was dull with exhaustion, I moved to block the cut aimed at my waist. At the last moment, the man flicked his sword up and sliced into my neck. I had no energy left to care. No energy left to do anything, but fall to the ground, thinking, ‘I’m coming, Leonard.’
Then everything went black. But I didn’t notice it go black. I was already gone. I never knew the enemy triumphed over my king’s warriors. They raged through my country, killing children and raping women. I never knew my body was tossed into a large pit, landing right on top of Leonard, the man I had cried for. I never knew I had died. I never knew I had failed in my duty to protect my king. We all had.