Reflections After It's Over

Though the intentions are clear now, at the time we could not understand why our quarry would emerge in such numbers on this day. Aye, rain did fall ceaselessly that morning, and had done so since the night previous, and did make our foes all the more difficult to grasp, and thus all the more difficult to deal with in the method proper for knights of our station. Yet there was also a cold wind that day, and they, who were both smaller in size, and less protected by armor than we, should feel the effects of it all the more.

Still, they pressed forward, from all directions, and every avenue possible. From pools of water, from beneath the leaves on the forest floor, from out of structures we had thought they feared and avoided, always they were before us, forcing confrontation. Always did we meet them boldly, as it was our duty, and our privilege to do so, and always did we drive them back. Not without loss; some of my comrades faltered, the mechanisms which drove them failing, but only momentarily, they would always regain their momentum and press ahead.

Later in the day, it seemed as though our adversaries had reached their limits; their attacks no longer fierce, the clashes shrinking to mere skirmishes. Verily, their strength seemed to ebb with the slackening rain and the rising gale. Then, as we prepared to retire to for the day, confident in having prover our mastery again, they did launch one last furious assault. Perhaps we could have continued to withdraw, for they were not much of a threat, even coming forth in greater numbers than ever before. We did not leave though, for their presence meant our job was unfinished, and upon taking our positions, we had sworn to our liege to never cease until all was completed. So we met them once more.

The elements had taken their toll, their movements becoming erratic, and sluggish. They broke easily against the instruments with which my brethren and I do battle. Though it took time, their forces were broken and routed again, and they scattered across the landscape in swift retreat. Victorious once more, we returned to our home to celebrate and enjoy a repast. Would our enemy never learn?

As I alluded, it was only later we grasped their true scheme. The weather had been against them, but we were not impervious to Nature's power, either. Soon, we fell ill, the wind having been all the more effective with the thorough drenching we had received. While our foes seem limitless in number, regaining easily whatever losses we inflicted, we knights are few in number, and our ranks can be replenished only slowly. As we were, there was little hope of holding back their next sustained assault. We will still sally forth to oppose them, but will have to do so knowing in our hearts, that we are already outflanked, and have underestimated the danger we face for quite some time.