"Hunted after the battle, we scattered to divide the enemy's forces. Doubting I could outrun my pursuers on the solid hills, I gambled my life against the quicksands of the plain.

I lost. One wrong step was enough; the sands are hungry and they do not let go. I am in past my knees now. No branch to grab hold of, no friend to aid me, no solid thing beneath me. Nothing here but the plain and the sky. The hunters turned back, seeing my fate, and I am alone. No sound but the wind, and the crickets, and the slow gloop of the devouring earth.

I threw off the weight I carried, not to save myself but but to delay my going under for a little while. There is peace in this place and I wish some time to be quiet and alone before I disappear. My sword and shield and armor are sinking quickly and will be gone long before me. While they are here I am a doomed warrior facing his end; when they go they will take the war with them and I will be myself again, quiet and private and glad to be briefly free."