Cannon Fodder

Cannon fodder! That`s all we are. Just cannon fodder. Why`d I even come here? What the hell can I do against these forces? All of us are going to die.

“You will never win boy! Come out or I`ll kill everybody here.” That`s the enemy leader floating above us all. God he`s got two fireballs in his hands. Hide. I`ve gotta hide. There`s no way I`m dying here. I just bought a house for my wife and daughter.

“Sarge, we have to retreat! It`s too dangerous.” I say to my commander. He`s a smart one. He won`t give up on us.

“No Shazad we have to hold the line! The chosen one will save us.” He reached down and brought his amulet to his lips giving it a kiss. I shudder just at the thought of such a hard man believing in the church of the chosen. They`re just a bunch of cranks and he`s with them.

“Sarge! Look at those guys! They`ve got giants and monsters on their side. What do we have? Swords and rocks. Fuck dam their leader doesn`t even have a nose, not to mention those fireballs. What the hell is it we have to do here?” He`s got to see reason.

Sarge was silent. I could tell he was thinking. How was he going to get us through this situation. Most of us here only volunteered to get a paycheck. We`re not professional soldiers. We weren`t mercenaries. Hell, I hadn`t even held a sword before three weeks ago. He`s going to tell us to go home I know it.

“We have to hold the line till the chosen one arrives. He will defeat the Nameless one. That`s all we can do.” He turned to the fireball holding crazy man and raised his sword. “You will never break us. Kill a hundred, a thousand we will have our freedom.”

I knew he was going to say `Charge! ` but one of the smaller fireballs barbequed him where he stood just missing me. I could feel the heat baking through my cheap ass armor. “Okay that`s it I`m going home.”

“Don`t worry men. I`m here. I will save you.”

“Look the Chosen one has arrived we`re saved.” The second in command pointed to the new flying wizard in the glasses. I could see he was also holding two fireballs and was throwing them everywhere.

“So the fuck what. The lizard guy`s just knocking them everywhere and they are causing just as much damage. There`s no difference.” I pointed out to the rest of the guys in our hole.

“Shut up Shazad and stay down. If nobody see`s us we`ll still get paid and maybe we can find some good things on the battlefield once they`ve moved on.” Said the second in command. He must have been about thirty so he’d seen some battles before.

“What do you mean?” I had to ask. This was my first war after all.

“Look these wizard pricks like to thrust their chests out and blow things up but as long as you keep your head down we`re pretty much ignored. They don`t even know we`re here.” I looked at him and a few of the others. They had a deck of cards out and were playing `Old Maid`. I was surprised at how calm they were in the midst of all this destruction.

“Really?”

“Yes. Now come on and join us. We have a good hand going. I`ll deal you in.” I had no idea how to get away from the battlefield and went down to join them. “Okay the bet is one food ration. If you end the game with the `Baba` you lose your pot to the first one to get rid of all their cards. Who’s in?”

I must say this is better than watching the wizards try and kill each other. Either way I`m probably going to die. Might as well have some fun. “All right deal me in.” I flinch at the nearby fireball. “Those things are getting close.”

“Don`t worry about it. If we try and run we`re dead either way. Lets play.”

I still think we’re just cannon fodder but I’m hungry and the fight seems to be moving towards the wizards castle. I guess it couldn’t hurt to play one game.