Hermes Dialogue
I lost my arm on a snowy day like this. Nowadays they call it The Battle of Blue Valley, but that day, it was white everywhere you looked. Couldn’t even see the enemy until they were right in front of your face. Not only did I have both arms back then, but I had a pair of biceps that made men swear and women swoon, and that was reason enough for my commander to put me on the front lines.
The battlefield was a blur of bad weather and blood spray. Mostly I remember flashes of light as swords swung at my head. I fended them off one after the other, but some bastard found a spot where my breastplate had gotten loose and stuck me between the ribs. But I’m grateful to him, because he put me in a fit of rage. And I do my best slaying when I’m angry. My attacker went down in two strikes, but I only needed one apiece for everyone who followed. Of course, there was no time to tally up my kills, but I had made a pile of bodies at my feet before anybody stopped me.
Eventually my prowess in the fight attracted the notice of the enemy’s most notable champion. And what a warrior! I’ve never seen his like. He must have had some giant lurking somewhere in his lineage. He had fists like boulders, and in one of them he carried a spear no shorter than an ancient oak. He probably reckoned he’d dispatch me with a single jab, but I was quick and skilled with a blade and I took the wind out of him once or twice. But he got the better of me in the end. One ill-timed thrust and suddenly he had hold of my wrist and there was no escaping that grip. He gave my arm a good twist. Bones cracked. Muscles stretched and flesh frayed. An elf that size could have popped the limb off in one good yank, but he wanted me to feel it. He got a thrill out of the torture.
I very seldom miss my limb nowadays. Sometimes I wonder if an extra arm would just be an inconvenience. Most things you lot accomplish with two arms, I can handle with only one. And my loss has also been my gain. Oh yes, this old war wound has impressed more than a few women over the years, and none of them minded a one-armed embrace either, let me tell you.