The Georgian Double Spear

I am a Double Spear, handcrafted by the finest blacksmith in the whole of Georgia. I was created in the region of South Ossetia at the foothills of the towering Caucasus mountains, near the border with the old enemy, Russia. I am the best of my kind; only the experienced army Generals use me. I was created in the year of 1097, for the famous crusade of 1098. The army General knew that he needed a weapon that would strike fear into his enemies, a weapon that would shed blood, a weapon that would be invincible! That weapon is me.

The blacksmith started creating me with a simple mold; melting down some silver and pouring it into the mold for me to set. Once I was set, he started carefully engraving patterns onto me. These were patterns that signify the existence and the power of Jesus. I like these - I see them as my tattoos, that I will forever be a servant of God and that this will stay with me forever. The blacksmith then finally put a black leather handle on the front of the spear. This is how I was created.

In the year of 1098, the news came that the Russians would try and invade our holy land. Being the oldest Christian country in the world, the Georgians would be valiant in battle to protect their land. After I was finished, I was handed over to the army General, Vladimir Khabiashvilli, and he treasured me like you would not believe. Every day, he would polish me, worship me, kiss me - everything! He treated me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered to him. He even gave me a case to hold me in - a solid gold case, with vibrant patterns on it. In the six months between my day of creation and the day of battle, I think that Vladimir was preparing me for the dreaded day, and eventually, on the 11th October, 1098, the day finally came.

After five days of gruelling treks through the high, mysterious Mountain range of the Caucasus, the army eventually spotted the Russians marching over the hills. The Georgian army then ran down the final mountain and entered a desolate, snowy valley with an evergreen forest in front of the clearing where they knew that the two sides would meet. The Georgians waited in the forest for roughly an hour before they saw the Russians about 100 yards away at the other side of the clearing. Vladimir and me, hiding in the tree branches at the front of the forest just next to the clearing, prepared ourselves for the long, tiresome and gruesome battle that awaited us. Peering through the thin, cold, snow-topped branches Vladimir knew that the Georgians needed to attack now as the Russians were on the other side of the clearing, clearly waiting for us to attack. Vladimir took a deep breath, and then yelled at the top his voice: "CHARGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Vladimir and the others suddenly ran into the clearing at full speed, with the Russians doing the same thing. Vladimir than brandished me from my case at his hip and ran straight for the enemy like the gallant, brave warrior he was and starting stabbing the Russians with me. I saw mortifying things that day. As Vladimir thrust me into the hollow stomachs of my enemies, we tore out their cold red blood, were tore out their squishy pink guts and we tore the living daylights out of the enemies we faced. The others in the army fought as bravely as we did as well. On that day, a Georgian and a Russian were like two lions over the carcass of a zebra. However me and Vladimir saw things that day that we will never forget. We will never forget seeing the blood pour out of our enemies' bodies onto the blank snow. Vladimir will never forget seeing  his dearest friends perish in the most horrific ways.

The Georgians won the battle in the end, but only 6 of us returned. I still remember to this day when we were walking out of the clearing looking back for a moment. Half an hour before we finished the battle, the snow-covered floor had been dyed red by the blood of the soldiers. It was a cold sight.

When we arrived back in Tbilisi, I was still covered in the blood of the Russians, in fact some of it had seeped into my 2 silver heads. I knew that now I was worthless, I would never be used in battle again, I would just be a meaningless object in the ground of a nearby field. I stayed in the ground of that field for 800 years.

However, in 1912, a British ancient artefact collector found me whilst excavating the ground. I remember thinking to myself: " I'm free! I'm free!" but the collector had other ideas. Instead of being used in battle where I belonged, I was put in a cage again and sent to a horrible old building in Oxford so that people could marvel at me. I'm still in that situation now. I should be held in the hands of a fearless man, not in a glass cage where stupid idiots think that they can touch me! How disrespectful!

And that's me now, that's my story. Hopefully in the future I'll go back to where I belong...

 by Alfie Wilson