Marduk, with old thoughts running through his mind, decides to sit for a spell to rest and recenter. Finding a great old oak tree, he slips between two large roots and leans back into the tree like a cradle. If it was the comfortable seat or the sound of the wind through the trees, he soon began to doze off..... In the distance a song of battle seems to linger in the breeze.... "What was will be, will be no more, through bloody fights and rites of war......"
There he was. In the thick of a battle. He was sure he was dreaming, but not sure enough to stop fighting. There they were, monstrous humanoids, screaming there animal calls and battle cries. He was younger then. He could feel the strength in his limbs. Taking a few quick seconds to scan his surroundings, he sees the wooden fort and the small buildings that made up his first duty station. It was small, ill defended and the soldiers in his platoon were distant and unfriendly.
This wasn't déjà' vu, it was a memory. Coming back to him in the form of a dream. He knew the outcome, but followed the actions like a puppet on a string. The tide had turned. The sun was coming up. He could tell due to the sparkling reflections of the stonework and the horizon. The beasts were retreating. He was tempted to be happy about the victory. Few of the other gnomes had died. Wounds and damages were minimal. We sifted through the bodies looking for information and resources to use later.
Bravo squad was gathered off near the wood line in a huddle. One turned and gave the sign for Marduk to come help. "Maybe we made a good find..... Could it be magic?" They led him to the center of the circle. Treasure was being counted there. The squad leader looked at Marduk and asked, "did you find some good loot?" Marduk shook his head and said "I did, but I haven't had the time to turn it into the Captain yet." There was an odd feeling... In the real world Marduk stirred in his sleep. But in the dream.... the squad looked around at each other with an eerie grin.
The first blade hit Marduk square in the back knocking the wind from his lungs. He raised his shield as a reaction just in time to stop another blow from the left. But it wasn't enough. More blades hit him over and over.... and over...... and...
He was cold. He was now looking down over his body and the scoundrels that had killed him. "Treasure!!!... They killed me for treasure!!!! but no one heard his cries.... the squad dragged his lifeless body into the woods and left him there. On his bloody chest, they left a shattered glass globe with the label intact.... That label read... HALLUCINATION GAS....
Hours later, when his body was found and he re-entered the land of the living, no one believed his story. In fact, he was threatened with punishment if he did not stop telling that false story of his own side killing him. "Surely his memory cannot be trusted due to that gas..."
The dream darkened. There was a distant sound of rain. Marduk sat in the back of the wagon soaking wet. He remembered.... "They sent me away.... they said I couldn't hack the constant fighting that the fort saw." He never saw the fort again. There was word that it fell first in the "great attack". But intelligence was sparse toward the end.
But one thing did stay with him... the faces of those he called friends slaying him ... It was a long time before he could trust the soldiers to his left and right again....
Marduk woke with a start... the wind still moving the leaves in the trees above him. The faces of the soldiers still clear in his mind. He slowly got to his feet and began wondering back toward town. "I hope this can be home." He said with a sigh...
In the distance... he swore he could still hear that war chant in the wind..... "What was will be, will be no more, through bloody fights and rites of war......"