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MEMORY 3

The mist came, the mist went away.

I was in another world. Not the world I was living in. It was a colorful world, scarier, more exciting. I tried to remember its name. I couldn't, even though I knew it. I was frustrated by it.

I was the king of my kingdom, ordering my seconds-in-command to draft soldiers for me. I had a purpose. I had a mission. I looked at the horizon, at another kingdom. I hated it so much, I hated its king. He kept sending his workers to my borders and constantly stole my wealth and power. He assassinated my children; he threatened to conquer my kingdom and destroy me. And now, I knew, he was recruiting a massive army, about to invade my land.

But I saw it coming. I waited for him. I led my soldiers to the border and waited.

Dust rose in the distance and I knew he was on his way to crush me. I also knew he could. His kingdom was bigger and richer. I couldn't handle an attack head-on, face-to-face. But I had no plans to do that. I wanted to let him pass me by, to just go on, as if it was nothing. I would dig into the ground and wait. Not long. Soon his troops approached the border. He had blue and green dragons, he had armored vehicles, he had agile salamanders, and he had planes I couldn't reach.

They all passed me by, all stepped on the ground a few inches above my troops, who were hiding in the trenches. For a moment I fought the urge to break out from below and try to surprise him. But I wasn't so sure I would win, even if I did manage to surprise his troops. Instead, I waited patiently. Swallowed the insult. Waited.

The last of his soldiers went past us and disappeared over the hill. Quietly, I climbed out of the ground and charged into his kingdom. With all my strength and speed. Speed was most important. Because of it, I had to sacrifice a large number of my troops. I wanted to charge his palace quickly. He, on the other end, had already spotted me. He called his army back, to withdraw from my land and come back home, hoping to cut me off and trap me in the middle.

I took the gamble and kept on charging. I had an agile cavalry and wild, explosive geese. A light force, very light. Not many would do what I did, but I knew I was doing the right thing. One after the other, his posts collapsed. They couldn't hold me back for long, but they cost me many soldiers. I was excited. It was all or nothing.

Suddenly, I was in his palace. I closed the gates to his troops and everyone was left outside; before me was only one king, alone, defenseless, and with no way out. I got off my horse and slew him where he stood.

Happiness. Pleasure. Power. All his troops became mine. And I should have been happy, but I wasn't. I felt sad and empty. I had won the game, but I knew something bad was about to happen.

The mist came, the mist went away.