Guardian Essay, Research Paper

He stood at a crossroads. He turned in one direction, and found his small battalion fleeing from the spot, leaving him to the coming evil. Turning the other way he found a dark horizon, and knew that shortly beyond it lay a myriad amount of soldiers, each one branded with the stink of malice. And he lay at the crossroads.

The full moon’s glow appeared out of the murk of clouds above, as if to warn of coming danger. The lone warrior trembled in the frosty winter air, and let out a deep breath, then watching the mist disintegrate into the air. Sounds were beginning to flow up from beyond that dark horizon. The evil one and his war force were coming.

He turned slowly and mounted his mighty black stallion, still trembling with fear and cold. He reluctantly started it at a slow pace toward the edge of the cliff that marked the path of flight. He stared down at the thing that lay at the bottom of that cliff, marveling in its wonder.

A small town lay there. It was a simple town, much like any other, but he was suddenly moved by it. It lay at the bottom of the valley, made up of a few buildings and a few families. The people of the town went about their business each day, most likely in the same manner every time. Each person probably knew every other person, and everyone was everyone’s neighbor. They never hurt anything, and they probably never would.

And now the evil one lay only a few paces away and the poor, ignorant villagers had no idea. No, they only knew their farms and the growing seasons, and each other. And they hadn’t done a thing. No, they were innocents in long a bloody war, and they did not deserve their inevitable fate.

The man considered this, and was surprised to find a tear in his eye. He squinted and looked down at the town once more, finding it a work of art. The stars above appeared bright orbs of light, protecting the tiny town of innocents below. The heavens above strived to reach down to that place, to save it from the evil of the earth, to protect the innocent. The orbs reached out to the village, acting as great guardians of the pure.

The warrior wiped the tear from his eye, and dismounted from upon his horse. With a few swift motions he sent it galloping toward the path that would take the beast to the village. He knew the noble creature would be protected here. The man then turned to the dark horizon behind which the moon hid, and stared hard. With slow, brave strides he walked toward the edge of evil, and when he could hear the faint sounds of galloping he stopped.

He drew his sword from off its hilt on his back, and held it steadily in his hand. The night air nipped at him as the galloping sounds became louder and louder. He breathed heavily and anticipated the first horse coming around the bend. It certainly would not be the last.

The hooves came nearer and nearer, and he knew that evil would descend upon him at anytime now. He took one more look back at the great celestial guardians, and then turned back one last time to face his enemy. The first of many armed horsemen came around the bend, just as protected. For the innocent, he thought and charged bravely to meet that army.