Diary Entry, Twenty First of December

I write this entry while lying upon a pile of furs in a makeshift tent deep in the alterac mountains. This tent is part of a small, hastily constructed triage area set up to tend to the wounded and dying from the recent battles in alterac valley. I remember little of how I got here, although I know for certain I was grievously wounded and must have been carried from the field of battle. I know that I had an arrow in my leg, and that I had been struck by several spells before everything turned black.

The Stormpikes counterattacked us I am told. At a place called Tower Point we made a final last stand against a huge force of enemy fighters that were advancing into the valley and retaking the territory we had claimed in previous fighting. I suppose our vanguard could not hold them back and broke against their power, for it was left to me and the regiment I was assigned to hold the line at Tower Point and stymie their advance. We have failed utterly in this regard.

I am told that I acted with great heroism. That I stood back to back with the last of my companions and hurled flames all around until I fell beneath the onslaught. I am told that they found me lying amidst the wreckage of a burning watchtower, barely breathing and with dead foes lying all around me. I remember none of this.

The only thing I remember, the only thing I will keep with me always is the faces of my companions. People who will never fight again. Who will never laugh or cry, who will never know the joys of life. All of them are dead. All of the brave fighters in my regiment have been slaughtered. I am the only one who lived, and the guilt eats at me now as I lay here, slowly recovering. Healing magic is at a premium, and I will get no more until I am able to walk on my own.

I should write to my sister, or to my friends and loved ones and tell them that I have survived, tell them about what I am experiencing, but I doubt they would understand. I do not wish to share these things with anyone, and so I write them here to get them out onto paper. This will not be the last sorrow that this war brings to me I am sure. This is only the beginning of the trial, only the beginning of a conflict that has been brewing for so many years. There is so much more yet to come.

I fear for us all.