“The soldier in this sculpture has an uncanny resemblance to you.” his hostess told Malcolm
“What would I know of horse riding?” laughed Malcolm.
He looked furtively at the hostess as she moved away, entertaining other guests.
Born Mohammad Faizuddin in 1480, Malcolm was one of Babur’s faithful soldiers in Samarkand. As he lay injured in a war, he was treated with rare plants by a mysterious saint. Malcolm understood the real impact of his ‘treatment’ when he survived any life-threatening disease and recovered after every injury.
Malcolm moved to India, Turkey, Russia and later relocated to England. He loved and hated his timeless immortality. A passionate soldier, he took part in every war, and his latest achievements are world wars I and II. He has been known as Malcolm for the past two centuries.
This short story was written for Alastair’s photo fiction.
That’s a few days. Could do with someone like that as a friend. Except hat he will be going to war all the time 😆
Yes, but we are not having a war now:) However, he could be taking part in some country’s civil war. Thank you for the comment and the challenge:)
Immortality for a ‘passionate soldier’ only so he can take part in every war – Hmmmm.
Yes, he was lucky to be spotted by the saint:) Thank you very much:)
Very well conceived. Enjoyed the read.
Thank you, Aesop:)
Great read.
Hi Susan, Thanks so much for this:)
A member of the Clan MacLeod, perhaps?
Nicely done, as ever.
Just read about Clan MacLeod. Sounds intriguing. Thank you for this, Anelephant:)
Fantastic background in this one. There’s more than one way to make an immortal. Excellent story!
Thank you so much:)
😀 I love this one, kind of Dr. Who-y! great work!
🙂 Thank you, Cao:)
Oh no – immortality, and endless and insane curse. Poor man! Well done.
Yes, and war is the only thing that motivates him:) Thank you very much
I like what you did with this. It reminds me of the ‘Highlander’ series. I was watching part of an episode a while back where there was in fact a stalwart soldier who was a guardian of a particular household, but he wanted the major highlander character to help him dispose of an enemy of his master. I didn’t watch it to see how it ended though.
Oh I see. Where is this serial telecasted? Thank you so much for reading this:)
In the States ‘The Highlander’ is now sometimes shown in re-runs. I couldn’t tell you what day on what channel. Maybe this link will help when you do look for it. You might be able to rent the video from a store or library too.
n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander:_The_Series
will look into it, Jules:) Thank you:)