The Last Days of Grimbauld The Great
A 100 word short story
Grimbauld drew the splintered broadsword across his palm.
Blood spilled onto the battlefield. He smeared gore splattered earth over his face.
The killing wounds wept under cloven, buckled armour. A shattered shield lay nearby, discarded and useless.
The accusing dead all around. Friend and foe alike.
He stood alone. The heavy tramp of feet foretold his inescapable fate.
Grimbauld the Great growled a challenge at the approaching steel.
These fools would learn with whom they trifled.
Stern and stoic, the old general waited.
Alas, still arrogantly unaware of the doom laden arrow fired from afar.
Until it was too late.
So, I guess this is my first entry for Sword and Saturday. Not sure how many more I’ll do, but at least I gave it a shot!
This was inspired by the famous “Battle of the Bastards” episode in Game of Thrones when Jon Snow is bravely standing with sword drawn facing the thundering cavalry of Ramsay Bolton. It’s a great scene in an amazing episode. However, the whole time, I was just thinking, why doesn’t someone just keep shooting him with arrows, like they did with his brother, and then they can all go home for tea? However, I suppose that wouldn’t make good TV though, so what do I know!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed my story. Until next time.
The way this is paced and formatted adds an interesting... let's call it texture, to the story. It feels more like a succinct prose poem than it does the typical snipped sized story-in-brief we usually get with 100 word flash fiction. This is to the piece's benefit, I'd say. I often find 100 word fantasy stories feel a little too bare to be satisfying, but whether intentionally or not, the fact it reads like a prose poem helps alleviate that common issue. That is to say, it feels like you were very careful about your word choice and imagery, which makes this short piece feel distinctly more impactful than most 100 word fantasy stories I've read. Well done.
I was just thinking, "This reminds me of Game of Thrones," when you mentioned it yourself. I was actually thinking of Stannis's death, when Brienne comes up to him against the tree. Great visuals, great piece, great S&S addition.