Rally to Me

A tired man on a dead horse. He won't make it." He fought valiantly among the broken bodies with sword in his left hand and a broken polearm in his right. Both blades were stained with blood, just like the rest of him. They didn't call him the Falcon for nothing. Warding off the opposition with the staff, he slew them when they got too close. I have never seen any other man stand his ground for so long. But even he was tiring. The swordstrikes weren't as powerful, and the arc of the staff did not extend as far as it had before. There were just too many of them. A battleaxe came down on his right side. I could barely watch as the heavy blade sank into Milord's shoulder as if the mail he wore was made of paper. He dropped the staff, and used his remaining good arm to avenge the blow. His attacker's head rolled to the ground. "Goddamnit, rally to me!" The cry was lost among the losing battle. "Rally to me!" Though he did not have the looks of a warrior, Milord had the spirit of one. He cried out as a bodkin arrow lodged itself in his side. Black blood oozed from his lips. I couldn't take it anymore. I drove my stallion forward and into the mass of rust and flesh, crushing bodies underfoot. He looked up with clear eyes and smiled. I saw the crossed scars on his face. "Thank you," he said, and I watched partially proud and partially terrified as he charged forward with renewed power and anger. I drew my weapon.

~~~

Old piece. This took me a week and a half of almost-straight work. I started it at Kosaikon as a kind of something to show off with. So it's on a really shitty peice of paper. Originally, it was going to be a guy with a katana. Then I was like, "nah" and it became Falcon with a sword. Then, it became Falcon with a sword with a couple enemies. And it grew. A lot. Originally, I was going to do just good shading for Falc, but I started on the helmets in front and I couldn't stop. I even worked on it during the play. After school until like 11 PM. The flag-part of the banner alone was 80 minutes of chemistry.