The Great Battle
Caroline Ferraris, Group 3: Fiction, International College Hong Kong
he wind howled. As I breathed in, I could feel the wind echo through my body. The sight of dead
leaves dancing around in the wind haunted me. It’s as if the Mongolians had sent them to us, warning
us that that will be their victory celebration if they should defeat us. The smell reminded me of my
brother, Li Tong, his gravesite. Seeing the deceased bodies at the base of the Great Wall resembled a gravesite,
just with the bodies on top of the ground, not under. A loathsome atmosphere surrounded the place; I hated
going there. I kept visualizing Li Tong, who lost his life building the sentry box that I was now crouching down
on. My brother who lost his life protecting our great Emperor's life, HE who lost his life fighting his heart out
against these ruthless Mongolians. The wind’s sharp whistle interrupted my thoughts again.
T
“
LI TONG, I’M SORRY”, I shrieked but it was useless.
The winds power just whisked my now meaningless words away, along with the dead leaves, which
danced no more, and souls of the soldiers who also lost their lives. I crouched down even more, sheltering my
face from the cold. My skin was dry, dry as a bone, I slowly drifted into a deep sleep.
I was soon awoken by one of the other guards in a sentry box to the right of me, he was shouting, I was
still half asleep so I didn’t have the slightest idea of what was going on.
“
Hey! Wake up, do you see that?” his voice was had mixed emotions.
I felt fear in his shaky voice but also a rush of excitement. I missed the excitement that the world
brought, I can’t remember the last time I felt excitement. The only excitement in this place was knowing that
you had killed a Mongolian. ‘What has become of the human race?’ I asked myself.
Excitement originated from joy and happiness, never killing! I slowly shifted my head so my eyes were
just able to see over the wall. It was a beautiful sight: I could see the blurs of fire on huge tree branches, slowly
but surely making its way towards us. It was like they were floating, bobbing up, down, left, right. They were
tiny waves in the vast sea, making their way to shore. As they came closer, I could hear the roars of angry voices
building up. Trees then burst with blazing flames; the noise of them hitting the ground with such force
frightened me. However, I was stuck in the moment, the blurs of fire brought peace to me... it was an emotion of
excitement, that was short lived.
My excitement turned to confusion, my confusion turned to fear and my fear... my fear turned to hatred.
‘
Mongolians’. The thought of Mongolians threw me back against the back wall of sentry box,
everything turned into fast motion, my thoughts, my actions. I was able to hear the beat of my heart, “BA
BOOM, BA BOOM”.
“
THEY’RE COMING! SOUND THE ALARM!” the guard who was positioned next to me cried.
Sound the alarm. Light fire. Add wood. Add wood. Add wood.
“
LI TONG, HELP ME! DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE?”