The Gift of Battle by Morgan Rice Page A

elephants,
running as fast as they could, not even hesitating to meet death in the face.
    The moment of
impact was not what Darius expected. He dodged a spear as the soldier, atop the
elephant, threw it straight down at him, then he raised his sword and slashed
at the elephant’s foot as it charged right for him. Darius did not know how to
strike an elephant, or if the blow would even have any impact.
    It did not.
Darius’s blow barely scratched its skin. The massive beast, enraged, lowered
its trunk and swung it sideways, smashing Darius in the ribs.
    Darius went
flying thirty feet through the air, feeling the wind knocked out of him, and
landed on his back, rolling in the dust. He rolled and rolled, trying to catch
his breath as he heard the muted shout of the crowd.
    He turned and
tried to catch a glimpse of his father, concerned for him, and out of the
corner he saw him hurling his spear straight up, aiming for one of the
elephant’s huge eyes, then rolling out of the way as the elephant charged for
him.
    It was a perfect
strike. It lodged firmly in its eye and as it did the elephant shrieked and
trumpeted, its knees buckling as it tumbled to the ground and rolled, taking
out the other elephant with it in a huge cloud of dust.
    Darius scrambled
to his feet, inspired and determined, and he set his sights on one of the
Empire soldiers, who had fallen and was rolling on the ground. The soldier
gained his knees, then turned and, still clutching his spear, took aim for
Darius’s father’s back. His father stood there, unsuspecting, and Darius knew
in a moment he would be dead.
    Darius burst
into action. He charged the soldier, raised his sword, and slashed the spear
from his hand—then swung around and decapitated him.
    The crowd
cheered.
    But Darius had
little time to revel in his triumph: he heard a great rumbling, and he turned
to see the other elephant had regained its feet—and its rider—and was bearing down
on him. With no time to run out of the way, Darius lay on his back, took the
spear, and held it straight up, as the elephant’s foot came down. He waited
until the last moment, then rolled out of the way as the elephant went to stomp
him into the earth.
    Darius felt a
great wind as the elephant’s foot rushed past him, missing him by inches, then
heard a shriek and the sound of spear impacting flesh as he turned to see the
elephant stepping on the spear. The spear rose straight up, all the way through
its flesh and out the other side.
    The elephant
bucked and shrieked, running in circles, and as it did, the Empire soldier
riding it lost his balance and fell, a good fifty feet, shrieking as he landed
to his death, crushed by the fall.
    The elephant,
still mad with rage, swung the other way and smacked Darius with his trunk and
sent him flying once again, tumbling in the other direction, Darius feeling as
if all his ribs were breaking.
    As Darius
crawled on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath, he looked up to see
his father fighting valiantly with several Empire soldiers, who had been
released from the gates to assist the others. He spun and slashed and jabbed
with his staff, felling several of them in every direction.
    The first
elephant that had fallen, the spear still in its eye, regained its feet,
whipped back up by another Empire soldier who jumped on its back. Under his
direction, the elephant bucked, then charged right for Darius’s father who,
unsuspecting, continued to fight the soldiers.
    Darius watched
it happening and he stood there, helpless, his father too far away from him and
he unable to get there in time. Time slowed as he saw the elephant turn right
for him.
    “NO!” Darius
shrieked.
    Darius watched
in horror as the elephant rushed forward, right for his unsuspecting father.
Darius raced across the battlefield, rushing to save him in time. Yet, he knew,
even as he ran, that it was futile. It was like watching his world fall apart
in slow motion.
    The elephant
lowered its