My First Battle Day At Estrella!

.....I'm still trying to wake myself up and bring my mind back to 'reality' in preparation for work tomorrow. Estrella War was definitely fun, with many, many memories that I'll never forget. For this year's celebration I actually fought in two days of battle on the warfield! It was more than I imagined it would be and much different than anything for which I was prepared.

.....On Friday morning I was very nervous. I was up at five and made myself stay in my sleeping bag for another couple of hours. I kept running over and over in my mind advice that I had been given at Fight Practice and things that people had thrown at me at various times. It all became something of a jumbled mess in my mind. I finally sighed and started getting up for the day. Brighid and Cedric were getting up at about the same time and we decided that we needed to go and grab some breakfast, which I barely remember eating before running back to the tent to get dressed for the day.

.....It took me twice as long as usual to get my damned armor on my body. I fumbled with every strap. Nothing felt right. I ended up having to get some help from Brighid and Jenae to get my final pieces tied up. Then I ran on over to grab a tabbard from the Royal Encampment. Khalja was handing them out. She asked me who I was as she was handing me that tabbard, which I thought was funny. She didn't even recognize me all dressed up that way. :-)

.....The An Tir armor filed on out to the warfield. Cedric was a true friend. He kept keeping an eye out for me. Trying to boost my confidence by saying all kinds of inspirational things. Every time he noticed me start to stare off into space he'd jar me back into the moment. It was when he started dragging over Dukes and Knights and other prominent fighters of the Kingdom to give me advice and speak a few words of encouragement that I thought I'd better wake up and pay attention. Cedric is a really good friend. I don't think that I would have enjoyed the experience one tenth as much without his support.

.....His Majesty impressed me as well. I did not know a whole lot about him personally before that day. But he took his role of King and War Leader seriously. He made good and fast decisions. Worked hard to inspire people. He encouraged people at every opportunity. I came away from Estrella liking His Majesty far more than I had ever had before. It was rather awesome.

.....The first few warm up battles moved freakin' fast! We were flying across the field. When we met the opponent it really was like a hammer hitting a hard surface. Swords, hammers, pikes and all manner of weapons were flying through the air. It was hard to keep my eyes on all the hundreds of different things that could easily kill me. Although, to be honest. I died fast in my first battle, that's for sure. :-) The second and third saw me live a little while longer, but not much. :-)

.....But the exhiliration is rather thrilling. Of course the fighting isn't 'real', but the feelings are just amazing! The crush of bodies. The yelling of curses, the roar of commands. The striking of weapons and shields. The chaos of battle is just tremendous. It really gets to you. The adrenaline starts to flow and the air is just freakin' charged with electricity! I was doing my absolute best just to hang on for the ride and stay alive for as long as possible.

.....The second series of battles was at a castle, and if anything was even more exciting as it was confined to a much smaller space. Instead of spread out over a field, all the tension was focused into a very small area. Lots of heroic acts by single individuals were inspirational in themselves. I did my best to hold my own, or at the very least, stay alive for more than a few minutes of time. :-)

.....I lasted for about an hour or so at the castle when I started getting really tired out. When my knees started wobbling on me I decided that I was done for the day. But I felt good. I had actually come to Estrella War, dressed up in armor, and fought in battle. And I stayed in the fight for as long as I possibly could. It was a good day. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.