Solo Testudo

Like raindrops that keep falling on my head
The barrage made my head ring
Sudden silence
Looking at the blunted arrows about me
I realized that the ringing was a helmet
Secure on my head the entire duration
I endured the attack

The desert stretched as if it consumed the world
And a speck I was
Huddling behind this shield
Wondering when the next cloud of arrows
Would come screaming down in fire

I cannot breathe
I open my eyes
I see that my belt is too tight for this crouched position -
I still have a belt?
It holds together my cuirass
Which mysteriously shines
No longer stained

The next storm of arrows came
Scorching the ground more than the sun
But more of the firebrands missed
The flies were losing accuracy

I should have been surrounded
Pressed from all sides
Struck down
But not crushed
Not destroyed

I look around
The army of
The lord of the flies
Retreats
Firing Parthian shots

I looked behind
An army of brethren is coming
They have seen the thirst
In this desert, this wasteland
And are going to do something about it

I was not lost, alone
in some place where I should not have been;
I should have not been alone
in this lost place

"If only I were not barefoot"
I thought
An instant before noticing the sandals
Beside me
Untouched by the flames

Now
If only I knew how to use this sword....