The sun rose slowly above the horizon and shone upon the battlefield littered with bodies, death, and blood. Countless bodies I could see were old friends of mine, and now I would not see them again alive in this world, on this plain of existence. A tear streamed down my eye as I turned my attention to my men preparing for the final wave. We had been defending this position so, supposedly, reinforcements would arrive. The road we were defending was a direct route to Silena, the capital of our beautiful Republic.

Alas, no reinforcements had arrived, and it was the fourth day we were to defend the key to our people's survival. We had been outnumbered eight to one since the beginning, yet we still held the position...how strong we held this position was another story. I could see the battered look in my comrades' eyes. They had no hope left in their souls and no reason to go on in their minds. I stopped walking by and inspecting my men's work on the barricades and fortifications and found I was gazing directly into a mirror. I had the same despair and hopelessness lurking within me.

After a moment or two scolding myself, I went to the nearest soldier who was struggling to jam a sharpened log into the side of a steep hill and helped him finish the job. I continued, soldier to soldier, helping anyone who needed it. At last, the sun rose high above the horizon and reflected off the thousands upon thousands of metallic weaponry and armor. It was a beautiful sight until the smell of death reached your senses and the sight of thousands of good men lying on the ground drenched in their own blood reached your eyes.

"They will be here soon, sir." A soldier approached me with bandage over his left eye.

"Yes...yes, I know...as is death my friend." I answered with despair. He turned away with his eyes to the ground. I hated to sound so helpless and depressed but I could not help it. I could not see how you could find hope in such situations as this the way so claimed was possible. After a minute of thinking, and the nearing sound of battle cries, I wondered how we could run to safety when I gave the order to retreat. Alas, I stopped myself. I could not run from this fight...too many would have died for vain if I did, and so many more would perish if they made it to Silena. If we could not stop them, then we would delay them and show all future soldiers of our Republic to read of us and use us as an example. We would be the true role models of the Republican soldier.

"Men..." I screamed with exhaustion conquering my voice, "I will be utterly honest with you. There has been no sign of reinforcements to aid us in this fight. We have fought here for what seems like an eternity, yet we have held firm. They have had us outnumbered for four days now and yet we still stand here alive with weapons in our hands and the courage to fight for freedom in our hearts!" Hollers came from every man alive and echoed throughout the entire area. It even seemed to mute the battle cries nearing us.

"We will be remembered for what we fight for today, there is no lost cause...ever. One day a teacher will be showing our descendants the story of how we held our ground here and the list of all our brave names. A child with the same name of one of us will smile with pride of knowing that he is named after a man who stood against seemingly invincible odds and did not flinch!" I screamed now ranting with bravery destroying my exhaustion in my words. I pointed towards the enemy, "Do you see that? That is the key to immortality, a thing man has searched for so long when it was right there alongside them on the battlefield. Grasp this key firmly, take it, keep it, and show it to the enemy. Show them we see no fear in their numbers or screams of victory, only our blade of bravery piercing their very hearts!"

The entire group of men hollered even louder now completely muting every sound nearby as an answer. They held their weapons high in the air daring the enemy to come any closer. The men's eyes told them that if they did dare to take another step that they would soon see their foes dead, along with their hollering mouths explaining how they were eager to laugh upon the fallen victims. I smiled, turned to the enemy who marched to us, and joined in on the daring. I held my sword out in front of me and began to run along with a few hundred brave men behind me against a thousand that I knew I could trust with my life. We began the charge that would ram into their lines with such violence that it would prove to the world that the gift of bravery that God had given us is truly a thing not to be trifled with. As my father had once said, "Love brings the world to its knees and kindness brings to the world into a stare of awe. Bravery and honor, however, bring the universe to its knees in awe and respect along with its every inhabitant."

----

"Now, who can tell me what saved the Republic from destruction in the Great War?" The teacher asked waiting patiently for an answer. There was a long pause while the class tried to find the answer.

"Mrs. Denson?" One spoke, "Was it the famous last stand of General Ackibar at Darlenus road? I hear it every year on June 9, my parents told me it was a celebration for them."

The entire class began to chat amongst themselves trying to confirm this with one another. June 9 was almost a two hundred year tradition that very few under the fifth grade knew of its true importance.

The teacher smiled and then sighed with satisfaction, "Yes...yes it is."