Towers of an Impenetrable Darkness

Volume One: The Intertwining Light and Shadow

The Emperor and His Advisors:

Lozyl – Emperor of Kaladacia, also known as the Beloved or his Leniency, or Lenience.
Cheevyl – The Beloved's Empress, Titled her Beauty, for she is the most fair of all woman in Kaladacia.
Kerenyd – Lord-Advisor and High Councillor of the Political Council. Titled his Lordship formally, or to some, just Ser.
Skye – Originally from Argate, now Mage-Advisor. His formal title is Ser Mage, or his Mageship.
Ferral – Military-Advisor and Skye's best friend. Titled his Warness formally.
Wrelyt – Engineer-Advisor, his formal title is, Honoured Engineer.
Talanyt – Trade-Advisor, his formal title is Ser Trader, or Ser Factor.
Hylan – Navy-Advisor, his formal title is his Warness, or High Navy-General.

Kaladacian Lancers – High Command

Lancer Elite Corps

Skayl – Over-Marshal
Cynyl – Marshal
Rafyl – Under-Marshal

Mage-Lancers

Hylyr – Mage-Commander
Gerdamh – Over-commander
Gunnar – Commander-Captain

Engineer-Corp Lancers

Clayn – Over-Commander
Mrayt – Regiment Commander
Lyselle – Majer-Commander

Kaladacian Navy

Ollayt – Navy Over-Marshal
Myrata – Navy Commander-Admiral
Jeyral – High-Commander
Teran – High-Majer
Syvnyr – High-Captain.

Kaladacian Lancers – Low Command

Lancer Elites

Gityl – Tactical Commander
Clynnth – Force Commander
Yull – Regimental Commander I
Hynnah – Regimental Commander II
Lien – Force Majer
Tyrl – Captain
Drevyl - Captain

Mage-Lancers

Fledyl – Tactical Commander
Dayn - Logistics-Commander
Vyrt – Commander
Cabayt – Majer
Blynt – Sub-Majer
Aejyrt – Sub-Majer
Neylyt – Over-Captain
Ranylt – Captain

Engineer-Corp Lancers

Talynr – Commander
Valney – Sub-Commander
Dewyn - Majer
Cumaryn – Sub-Majer
Gryan – Sub-Majer
Kelvyn – Captain
Blynnh - Sub-Captain

Liege Lords

Bron – Lord Mykryl
Mylar – Lord Flevyr
Sylania – Lord Zygran
Tryht – Lord Camryn
Arelkyn – Lord-Councillor Lyndyn
Kahnla – Lord Heyl
Fanryn – Lord Nevyr
City of Traders (Sekynt) – Lord-Factor Jelaryn
Port of the Beloved (Jalme) – Lord-Mariner Petrev
Erylyn – Lord Neryl, also known as his Lordship or Neryl the Great.

Palace Guards

Elite Guard

Felryn – Over-Commander
Veiyt – Over-Majer
Tlieryn – Over-Captain

Places

Continents

Rynstad – Continent in the North-west regions of Corath.
Kern – Continent in the Equatorial regions of Corath.
Veyren – Land mass in the North-east regions of Corath.
North Polua – Continent on the Northern Pole.
South Syskemia – A Relatively large island on the Southern Pole.
Krystyd – Large island in South-west Corath.

Islands

Isle of Skrath – Small island in the Sea of Tranquility, in Kern.
Kylarh – Tiny island located within the Western Equatorial regions of Corath.
South Rynsta – A Very large island, situated south of the continent of Rynstad.
Wrelpn – The island on which the Ice Wizards make their home. Although Ice Wizards control ice bolts, the island of Wrelpn rarely ever has ice on it, except during winter. Situated in the Sea of Peril, and why it is named thus.

Cities

Koren – The principal city of Argate.
Fyodor – City of the Palace, principal city of Skart.
Idylyn – City of the Beloved, City of the Forest; the principal city in Kaladacia.
Kuartz – City of the Embassy and the principal city in Salendor.

Pronunciations

Places

Corath – Cor-wrath
Fyodor – Fi-yo-door
Wrelpn – W-rel-pin
Idylyn – I-del-lin
Rynstad – Rin-sta-ed
Rynsta – Rin-sta
Polua – Poh-loo-ah
Kuartz – Koo-ar-tiz
Alasia – A-lay-shah
Skrath – Ska-rath
Syskemia – Sisk-eem-ee-ah
Krystyd – Ka-ris-tid
Veyren – Vay-rin
Counquan – Co-in-kwahn
Arelkyn – Ah-rel-kin
Sylania – Si-lane-ee-ah
Sekynt – See-kint
Tryht - Trite
Erylyn - Air-ra-lin
Kahnla - Ka-na-lah

People and Cultures

Hai'Ynl – Hay-yin-all
Hai'Caval – Hay-ca-vall
Hylua – Hi-al-loo-ah
Luylt – Loo-y-alt
Jakyro'yah – Ja-keer-ro-yah
Hylyr – High-lie-ah
Gerdamh – Ger-dam (silent H)
Ryo'Alegal – Ree-oh-ah-lee-gahl
Ferral – Fer-rahl
Lozyl – Loh-ze-all
Cheevyl – Shee-vy-all
Vaynh – Vane (silent H)
Fyryd – Fy-a-rid
Jyien – Jy-en (silent I)
Tlieryn – Tee-lee-ah-rin
Jierans – Gee-er-rans
Kleryssa – Kler-ris-ah
Kerenyd – Ker-ren-ide
Xorl - Ex-orl
Altran – El-trin
Geltharis – Gel-far-is (long pronounced Arrr in far)
Talanyt – Tah-lah-nite
Keldyl – Kel-dee-all
Drawyt – Draw-it
Mythros - Mee-far-ohs

Part One: Tales of Kern Age 04 Yer 00-155

Chapter One: A rather expected journey to Counquan

A young magician stomped down the shadowy path, accentuated greatly by the bright, luminescent full moon. The young man wore a vicious look on his light face; his bushy eyebrows swallowing much of the malice contained in his dark, blue-flecked eyes.
The young man’s name was Skye. He was travelling the stone-tiled road of Koren, the capital city of Argate, empire of the Blessed Ones.
Skye had been sent from the city, since the elder magicians had decided that he was too much trouble to train. Skye had stormed out of the earlier meeting; the stubborn elder magicians had tested his short patience and he knew very well that he would not be allowed back until he had fulfilled their foolish expectations.
Skye stopped thinking and applied his mind back to the task ahead, as difficult as it seemed; however, Skye drew upon his comfort in his fairytale life of being solitary and relying on no other man.
Skye was the lone wolf; he would only ever trust one other man, his friend, actually best friend, Ferral, who by default Skye had to leave behind.
Speaking of the devil, not literally but figuratively speaking, that dratted swordsman approached behind him, at least he thought it was Ferral, judging by the footsteps of the heavy metal-soled boots*.
“Skye?” the dark figure asked him, “Ferral, is that you?” Skye queried warily. “Yes, it's me. Who else would you expect it to be?” Ferral replied, somewhat sharply.
“No matter. I'm glad to see you though, my friend” Skye then grabbed the other man in a fierce hug. Ferral groaned at the onslaught, then he returned the hug and almost crushed the more slight figure of the magician.
Skye gasped for breath and Ferral released him quickly.
“You great lump” Skye breathed heavily and then he grinned at the stolid swordsman. “I'm glad to see you too, Skye. I was worried when you didn't come back from that meeting. I take it they exiled you then?” Ferral asked with concern.
“Yes!” Skye growled angrily, “those frigging bastards don't even understand me, they just assume that I'm not trying hard enough to control my magic”.
“At least we're leaving. Where are we going to go?” Ferral asked him.
“Counquan. It's reasonably close and once we are there we can decide what we are going to do” Skye decided quickly. “Good plan my friend; how long will it take to get to Counquan?” Ferral wondered out loud. “By my estimate it should take no longer than a day to get there” the magician told his friend.
“Well okay then Skye” Ferral agreed cheerily and then they started walking. Skye extended his senses around the area. Then he relaxed; “I can't sense anything beyond two Centimes, so we should be safe for a while. I'll check again once we have left the area and make sure that there aren't any Krellon” Skye says to Ferral, reassuringly. They resumed walking on the nicely paved road until they came to the end of the path. Skye and Ferral were looking into the great beyond, stretching a thousand square Centimes across Argate. It would take them almost a day to cut through the dry, sparse land and then a couple more hours to cut through a tropical forest. Once they left the forest, they would be almost in Counquan. Skye kept walking, although he wished that they were in the tropical forest already. “It looks like it's going to rain” Ferral predicted.
As well as being proficient with a blade, Ferral was also a cloud elemental. He could sense rain, lightning, thunder, upsurges in wind, ice, snow, hail, humidity and even tell if a hurrikan, twister or ice-storm was coming. Ferral was already rather skilled in making the wind blow and changing the air currents to other places. He could even make a small storm if he was angry enough.
Skye was completely different; he couldn't even hold a decent blade, the cold iron gave him a headache. He could handle a staff though, and he could use the staff to channel magic. Skye was better at a different kind of magic. Skye could generally sense objects and organisms in the distance, either by the change in temperature or voice pattern, and footsteps.
Skye could read a person's face, but that didn't take magic. He would be able to tell if someone was lying, or wasn't telling the truth, by reading their facial expressions and nervous ticks. Skye had once tried to fool a professor at the University of Koren. Not that he had studied long there; the elder magicians had removed him rather quickly, though he had only spent a year at the university. The lecturer concerned was also a great Link-Mage. Skye had tried to make remove links from surrounding link-magic and the professor had sensed this. Because the lecturer was a Link-Mage he had felt the change in concentration of link-magic around them. Professor Slyayn had immediately become suspicious and hauled him in front of Director Hyolt. The director realised it had been a mishap and had sent the lecturer off. “If you try another trick like that young Skye, then you will be exiled for sure. Why did you do it?” he asked solemnly. Skye replied that he was trying to see if he could control link-magic himself. “Professor Slyayn is an accomplished Link-Mage, he can sense what you do and take the proper precautions” Director Hyolt said dryly. Skye simply nodded and looked sorry. The director had nodded and told him to behave himself better in the future.
Skye swore and looked up at the darkening clouds. “We better wait under this tree” Skye pointed at a gnarled tree, probably one of the few that actually survived in this wasteland.
Ferral nodded, “aye, it's a bit wet for my liking. Should we continue at dawn?” Ferral asked questioningly. “Yeah. We want to try and get to Counquan before dark” Skye replied. “Right. Let's get sheltered then” Ferral hurried over to the tree and settled underneath it.
Skye turned the tree into a hut and then opened the door and walked inside, leaving Ferral with an expression of wonder on his face. “How did you do that?!” Ferral asked him sharply, once they had both sat down. “Magic!” Skye chuckled foolishly. Ferral glared at him. “I mean what sort of magic?” Ferral grimaced. “Just the normal kind” Skye said aloofly. Ferral sighed and subsided. “I've never tried magic like that before” Skye admitted. “Really? I thought you had tried many kinds of magic...” Ferral wondered blandly. “Well... I have but that was based under a different principle. That was based on the Principle of Constructive Magic, where something is made out of thin air. But it has it's vices too; this kind of magic uses link-magic from other sources, and may affect other people too. If I made food appear in front of you right now, for example. This would effectively steal the link-magic from other peoples' food and someone may even die just to appease the magician, or Mage, that can't be bothered to make his own food!” Skye explicated.
“How would they die?” Ferral asked, sounding relatively interested. “Because when you steal link-magic from an organism, it would cease to exist, but in this case it would be from starvation. It's also a good way to kill someone quickly, just by stealing their own link-magic” Skye said cunningly. “Wow, there are certainly many ways to kill someone” Ferral gasped, he had only really begun to delve into his weather magic.
“Yeah. A lot of spells and different kinds of magic are deadly when used incorrectly*” Skye said knowingly. “You're telling me. I hardly know any magic at all. I'd hardly call fiddling with the weather true magic” Ferral snorted to himself. Skye chuckled to himself and then lay down on the wooden slats. “Hardly comfortable, but they will do” Skye said out loud.
“What are you talking about?” Ferral asked, “just the wooden slats my dear Ferral” Skye replied and then he fell asleep rather abruptly. Ferral lay awake for some time. He couldn't sleep and decided to check outside for any Krellon or other creatures.
He opened the door quietly and walked over to a rock in the middle of the ground. It was still raining and Ferral could sense that it was going to be raining for another glass, maybe even only half. He couldn't see any Krellon, so he went back to the hut. He lay back down on the wooden slats, careful not to wake Skye up. The magician tended to be grumpy when he was tired. Ferral fell into a light slumber.
After about two glasses, Ferral woke up again. He went back outside to check the weather. It was no longer raining and the sun was starting to rise. Ferral went back inside and woke Skye up. “It's time to go Skye. It's almost dawn and it's stopped raining. Skye woke and after a moment he got up and walked over to the small window, “ah. It looks like it's going to be a nice day” the magician mused quietly. “Breakfast?” Ferral asked with concern, as his stomach gave a loud rumble. “I suppose so. We can make grain porridge, it's quick and we don't actually have much other food” Skye told his friend. “Aye, it'll have to do.”
They quickly made the porridge and ate it almost twice as fast. Once they had finished they left the hut. Skye enchanted it back to a tree and then glanced at Ferral to see the expression on his face. Ferral stared back, trying not to blink or laugh. Skye laughed first, then Ferral started laughing as well. “Okay then, let's go” Skye said after the laughing fit had subsided.
They started walking once more, ready to get to Counquan as quick as they could. The great wasteland was sopping wet, with the rocks glistening with the moisture and the ground was so wet that it had almost turned completely to mud, or a clay-like substance. Ferral sent out a string of obscene words. “Lovely language my dear swordsman, where did you learn those words?” Skye asked cheekily.
“Shut up!” Ferral growled mock-ferociously. “That's not very nice” Skye pouted indignantly. “Well I was only kidding, you sop” Ferral stated teasingly. “Well I suppose that it's all right then. Hold on!” Skye stopped suddenly, evidently sensing danger of some sort. “What is it?” Ferral asked. “I can sense something, not exactly sure what though. It may be Krellon or it may a rogue Mage. But I'm sure that it or they could mean us harm” Skye decided quickly.
“Frag. Okay how far away are they?” Ferral asked desperately, hoping that they weren't too close. “They are at least two Centimes, but likely three away” Skye stated frankly.
“Can we avoid them?” Ferral asked.
“No. Whether they are Krellon or a Mage, they will be able to sense us. We may as well prepare for a fight and not hide” Skye sniffed.
“Ah I see. Well let us announce our exalted presences, so we may take them by surprise, rather them taking us by surprise” Ferral exclaimed, a little too jovially.
“Hmm, not a bad idea actually. They won't be expecting us to be expecting them, this may work yet” Skye agreed subtly.
They kept walking, if they stopped then the beings would sense that the two knew they were there. Once they had covered the first two Centimes, Skye advanced his senses towards the direction that the offenders had been.
“Ah I can't sense anything now, except I have the feeling that they may be covered with a plane distancer*” Skye shivered inwardly, he had a bad feeling about this.
“But only Ice Wizards use plane distancers, Skye. What should we do now?” Ferral snapped desperately.
“Summon a fire storm if you can my friend, that will make it a bit hot for them” Skye stated matter-of-factly.
“A fire storm?” Ferral asked questionably.
“Yeah” Skye muttered.
“I'm a cloud elemental you idiot” Ferral snapped impatiently.
“Look, we don't have time for this, let's just get it over and done with” the swordsman sighed, exasperated with Skye's eccentric behaviour.
“Okay then” came the impatient reply.
They marched into the distance, as quickly as possible. Skye thought he heard something slightly east to where they were, so he extended his senses. However, all he could sense was the feeling of the plane distancers.
“Damn it!” Skye snapped.
“What?” Ferral asked urgently.
“They are to our east. There must be two or three Ice Wizards, because I can't sense through the damned plane distancers” the magician exclaimed heatedly.
“Then let's head east” Ferral growled.
They crept to the east, hiding themselves in the sparse vegetation around. It was not enough though, the wizards would sense what they were up to, sooner or later.
“OVER THERE!” came a sudden bellow.
Skye and Ferral ducked as two ice dashes exploded right where they had been before. Skye leapt up and shielded his body with bonded link-magic, then walked towards where the icicle dashes had come from.
Two more ice bolts smashed against his shields, but he managed to hold them. Skye gasped in horror as the plane distancers stopped working and a squad of Ice Lancers, as well as two Ice Wizards came into view.
Skye started to draw the link-magic out of the weaker Ice Wizard, making sure to continue shielding his body as he did this. One stronger icicle bolt blasted into his shields, sending him backwards by a couple of Dexyl. Skye cursed and started drawing more link-magic out of the weaker Ice Wizard.
The stronger one flung another icicle bolt, except this time at Ferral who was advancing through the darkness. Ferral dived to the side, avoiding the icicle bolt, then started chanting the incantations to one of his cloud spells. Suddenly the weaker Ice Wizard broke out of Skye's bonds and flung another ice bolt at the magician. Skye rebounded the ice bolt into the advancing Ice Lancers, killing one of them and knocking another to the ground. The captain cursed Skye and then the lancers readied their ice lances and fired directly at Skye. Skye's shields almost broke and he lost his balance, losing the link-magic to the weaker Ice Wizard in the process.
Skye crawled away and then jumped up and used most of his energy to sustain his shields, then he again weakened the weaker Ice Wizards link-magic. The weaker Ice Wizard died, with a vengeful anger on his face, dissolving into ice and water onto the ground*. “Curse him! Now Kellek is dead” the stronger Ice Wizard screamed at the hapless Ice Lancer Captain. “We still have most a squad and you, Jerrat. He won't last long!” the captain sneered vindictively.
“Fool! He is stronger than he looks and he has another cursed friend with him” Jerrat snarled at the captain. Skye took this moment to draw energy from the captain. The captain fell to the ground and blacked out. Skye looked around at Ferral, who was still concentrating on his weather magic. Finally a thunder-storm rumbled overhead, while raindrops the size of rocks started to fall. After a moment, lightning started to flash in the sky. Ferral directed one of the lightning bolts at the Ice Lancers.
The forked lightning struck the lancers and exploded furiously upon contact with the rain soaked ground, while the Ice Wizard disappeared in the explosion of electricity.
Skye used the last of his energy to shield himself from the electricity, then blacked out on the ground. Ferral gulped and ran over to the fallen magician. “Skye!” Ferral yelled despairingly. Ferral got no answer, so he lifted the slender magician onto his shoulders and walked boldly through the rain, not looking back at the destruction.

Chapter Two: Destruction at Trergom and the behemoth

Armonath waited calmly in the Warrior's Hall. Exgaroth was with the Beloved's troops. Why they were bothering defending this scant, underground city Armonath had no idea.
Armonath didn't much like the Beloved and generally forbore to meet him, unless it involved all of the different races on Corath. Armonath preferred the company of Captain-Overlord Gunnar and Commander-Overlord Hylyr, and even the Highlord, Gerdamh.
But Armonath did not like Overlord Teriyl. The man was simply infuriating and argued more than the rest of the army put together. Teriyl was young and foolish, but suited the style of the Highlord-Commander and Commander-Overlord Dyne. Just like Highlord-Commander Skayl? Maybe.
Skayl blamed everybody, but himself, for basically everything that was noted as a problem. He even believed that the Stardust Dragon was responsible for the most obscure of incidents and hated the Dragonlord and the three dragons, Exgaroth, Xilantes and Kandahar. Armonath decided to go find Gunnar, since it was Quattuorday and the Captain-Overlord would be at the inn. It was already four glasses* past dawn, therefore Armonath had to walk fast. Armonath was a Dragonlord; He was fused together with a dragon and had the wings to prove it. Armonath walked past the headquarters for the Highlord-Commander and Commander-Overlord Dyne. The Highlord had separate, smaller, quarters from the Highlord-Commander.
Commander Hylyr preferred to share headquarters with Gerdamh, the Highlord, since he heartily disliked Commander Dyne. Commander Dyne matched his dislike towards Hylyr.
Finally Gunnar came to the inn, The Happy Algyrt, where Captain-Overlord Gunnar preferred to drink the heavy, dark brew. He entered the building. Upon opening the door, he straight away saw Gunnar drinking dark brew. Across from Captain Gunnar were Overlord Lien, squad captain Drevyl, squad captain Tyrl and Captain-Overlord Aejyrt.
Armonath sat down next to Gunnar. “Hello there my friend” the Dragonlord greeted Captain Gunnar. “Welcome Dragonlord. How are you today, Ser?” Gunnar asked graciously. “I'm worried about Exgaroth, he still hasn't come back” Armonath said anxiously.
******************************
Exgaroth was a real dragon. He wasn't fused with a dragon like Armonath. Exgaroth was about five Dexyl high and his tail stretched at least seven Dexyl. Exgaroth was battling a behemoth. At least he thought it was a behemoth. It was the same colour as the hardened dirt underground. Except it had huge claws and was about twelve Dexyl high. The behemoth had been created by Lord Altran, of the barbarian hordes. He was a powerful sorcerer and was far more of a threat than the twelve Dexyl high behemoth creature.
At this moment Exgaroth was flying high above the behemoth. The wretched creature was strong enough to shake the stones of the fifty Dexyl stone fortress walls. Eventually the behemoth had broken enough of the foundation to make the wall collapse and about fifty of regiment VI, the Beloved's archers, perished by falling onto the hard, stony ground. Exgaroth flew straight at the behemoth and sent a huge, billowing flame onto the creature. The behemoth roared defiantly and sent it's great fist crashing into the higher part of the fortress.
This time a huge block of wall, at least the size of Exgaroth, fell onto Regiment VII, crushing at least half of each squadron. At least three hundred more troops died. Exgaroth bellowed and smashed his tail into the behemoth, knocking the huge monster over onto Altran's troops. Lord Altran snapped at his men to move away from the fallen behemoth.
Exgaroth sighed and dug his claws into it's back, then he lifted the behemoth up and flew high up into the roof of the cavern. Once he reached the stony roof of the cavern, Exgaroth withdrew his talons and watched the behemoth fall. But the behemoth latched on to Exgaroth's leg with a vice-grip. Exgaroth roared and billowed flame on the behemoth once more. His efforts were futile, however and both plunged back to the hard ground. Both hit the ground with sickening thud. Altran's troops stayed silent as their warlord inspected the body of the dragon and the behemoth. “They are dead!” Altran said in his cruel voice. The troops cheered aloud and they all thundered Altran's name. “LORD ALTRAN!” all of his thousands and thousands of troops cried victoriously. Up in the fortress Overlord Teriyl watched stunned, as the Altran's troops celebrated their win. “All regiments retreat, we must retreat” he yelled as loud as he could to the troops scattered down the wall mounts. Squad captain Rienyk, from 3rd of V, answered back. “YES, SER. ALL REGIMENTS RETREAT!” squad captain Rienyk yelled to the next wall mount.
3rd of V started to retreat and so did 4th of IV. Eventually all of the two regiments placed on the wall had started to retreat.
Commander Hylyr led regiments V, VI and VII down into the depths of the fortress. He left fifty of the Beloved's archers on the walls to slow Altran's troops. V had only lost five men. However VI and VII had lost almost seven hundred between them. VI had lost almost three hundred and VII had almost lost four hundred. Hylyr was saddened by the loss of so many men. He led the regiments to the meeting place. Highlord-Commander Skayl was already there with Regiments I, II, III, and IV. Regiment IX was scattered on the fortress wall, with long-bows to slow down the enemy.
“Commander Hylyr. What has happened?” the Highlord-Commander asked urgently. “The-dragon-has-been-killed-my-lord” Hylyr said breathlessly. “Frag. What about the behemoth?” Skayl asked sharply. “It's gone too, but Altran is probably summoning more. We must escape through the wall of the cavern, Ser” Hylyr recommended. “Okay. Take V, VI, and VII. I'll take the rest. Meet Commander Dyne, Majer Vyrt, Captain Teriyl and regiments VIII and X at the north wall of the fortress and climb up to the secret passage. Wait for me there” the Highlord-Commander instructed. “As you wish, Ser” Commander Hylyr bowed his head, then he shouted at the diminished regiments. “Move out. Now!” Hylyr ordered.
They filed through the evacuating fortress of Trergom; civilians were everywhere, fighting to follow the troops to the north wall. Finally they entered the passageway to the north wall. Hylyr led the regiments to north wall. Once they emerged they immediately could see the hundred Dexyl high wall. Hylyr led his troops onto the huge area underneath the wall. He met Commander Dyne, Majer Vyrt and Captain Teriyl. Hylyr couldn't think of anyone worse to promote to Captain.
“Commander Hylyr” Dyne spoke formally. “Commander-Overlord Ser. Will you brief me on what's happening outside?” Majer-Overlord Vyrt asked politely. “As you wish Majer. As you know, Altran summoned a behemoth. Lord Exgaroth has died, while destroying the behemoth. We also have lost almost seven hundred troops” Commander Hylyr briefed the Majer. Captain Teriyl snorted loudly. “Excuse me, Captain?” Commander Hylyr spoke coldly, his baritone voice pierced like daggers into Teriyl's heart, accompanied by frozen tones. Teriyl froze and looked at the floor. “Next time shut your mouth and don't say anything, is that clear Captain?” Commander Hylyr demanded angrily. “Yes, Ser” Teriyl spoke disinterestedly. Commander Dyne watched with interest, “Teriyl, why don't you join your squad?” then he dismissed the newly promoted Captain. “What did the Highlord-Commander say?” Dyne asked his counterpart. “We have to wait for him at the entrance to the secret passageway” Hylyr said irritably, his dislike for Dyne and his lackeys had been reinforced.
“Right. Majer, would you help Captain-Overlord Gunnar direct the civilians to the secret passageway?” Commander Dyne ordered. “Yes Ser” Majer Vyrt said, then saluted and ran off to catch Gunnar. Hylyr watched the Majer run after the Captain. “Why don't you await the Highlord-Commander, Commander Hylyr? I'll help the Majer and the Captain with the civilians” Dyne said, almost kindly, but Hylyr knew that the Commander just wanted to get away from him. “As you wish, Commander” Hylyr nodded and then he climbed up the stairs, pushing past civilians. “Watch it!” a young man snapped at him.
“Get out of my way, I am Commander-Overlord Hylyr” the Commander snapped at him and stomped up the stairs. Finally he reached the top. He found an Overlord watching the civilians go through the passageway. “Overlord Lien?” Hylyr asked, “aye Ser?” Lien asked. “Did the Highlord-Commander ask you to wait for him?” Hylyr asked the young Overlord. “Yes Ser” he replied. “Good. We will wait for him to arrive then” Hylyr nodded and slumped against the wall. Hylyr almost nodded off waiting for Highlord-Commander Skayl and his eyes were spontaneously blinking every so often. Finally the Highlord-Commander and the rest of the Beloved's army had appeared.

(This chapter isn't quite finished yet, if I recall correctly)

Chapter Three: Escape from the siege and a dramatic council meeting

The Beloved's army had been on the move through the narrow passageway, which led through a smallish hill and exited onto the dry, hard desert. They were about three or four days walk from the borders of Argate, the empire of the blessed ones, and they needed more supplies.
They had managed to escape from Trergom and without too many more casualties, although there had been Cave-rodents in the passageway. Captain Gunnar recalled it all too vividly. Gunnar had been leading his squad down the corridor, no more than one wide and in front of him was Captain Teriyl's squadron. “Captain! Where does this passageway take us?” Senior squad captain Rienyk asked.
“Out on the desert, behind a small hill. Once we have escaped here, we will be moving to Argate. Hopefully they will be able to help us repel Altran” Gunnar explained quickly to his senior squad captain. “Thank you Ser” Rienyk spoke courteously. “Suck up”, “bet he'll get a promotion soon” and “fraggin' bastard” Gunnar heard from behind them. “Next person I hear will volunteer to go ahead of Captain Teriyl's squad” Gunnar snapped at 3rd squadron. All his men shut up after that and Gunnar had peace and quiet once more. Well not for long anyway. Once Gunnar had thought this, everything had changed within seconds.
Gunnar suddenly heard screaming up ahead and Captain Teriyl and Highlord Gerdamh snapping at 2nd squadron of regiment V. Then he saw the cave-rodents, each about half as high as the mounts that the Beloved's army usually rode. “Squad captain Rienyk, take half of 3rd squadron up ahead and help Captain Teriyl” Gunnar ordered the senior squad captain. Rienyk nodded and pointed at junior squad captain Evenyius to follow with the half squadron. “Not you Evenyius. Stay here with the troops, I'll go with Rienyk” Gunnar told the junior squad captain. “Yes, Ser” Evenyius said, slightly relieved and headed back toward 3rd squadron. Gunnar ran faster in the other direction, following just behind squad captain Rienyk. Once they reached 2nd squadron, Gunnar immediately withdrew his blade and slashed violently at the nearest cave-rodent.
It tried to duck, but Gunnar's long blade caught it right in its midriff and splattered it's guts everywhere. Another leapt through the air and latched onto Gunnar's back. Gunnar tried to turn around and get the rodent off his back, but it had it's claws dug in too tightly and Gunnar couldn't dislodge it.
Suddenly Dragonlord Armonath flew out of nowhere and pulled the wretched creature off his back and threw it against the wall, with a dull, meaty thud. “Thank you Dragonlord Ser” Gunnar said gratefully. “No problem Gunnar” Armonath grinned at him and then disappeared back into the fray.
Gunnar saw one of the last rodents leap at Captain Teriyl, so Gunnar threw his smallish knife at the beast, slicing it's head off in mid-air. Gunnar ran over to the fallen Captain and pulled him up. “You okay?” Gunnar asked, “yes thanks Captain” Teriyl said stiffly and then ran over to the incoming Highlord-Commander to assist him.
Gunnar sighed and decided that he really did not like Captain Teriyl. Once they had cleaned up the dead bodies and organised the troops once more, the Beloved's army started riding through the tunnel again. Once they reached the end of the tunnel, they all halted and waited for orders from the Dragonlord and the Highlord-Commander.
“We will ride out now, and try to get to Argate as fast as possible. Once there we will have enough protection from Altran and we can gather supplies and then head to Counquan from there to get a boat to Trialge in the Dwarven territories. There we will await the Dragonlord to come back from the council on the isle of Skrath” Skayl barked at the troops.
Finally it was time for the battered regiments to move out, and they were led by Highlord-Commander Skayl, who was in front for once, and Commander Hylyr. They marched all day in the searing heat of the Alasian deserts, and a few perished from starvation and dehydration.
“Hurry man, we have to get to Argate before we all die of thirst and heat sickness” Armonath spoke firmly to Commander Hylyr. The Commander-Overlord was lagging behind, with a wound in his leg from one of the cave-rodents. “My leg is killing me” he said as he stopped abruptly, pulling a water-skin from his carry-pack and pouring most of it on his leg. Then he drank the last few precious drops.
“It looks as though it is becoming infected, so you'll need some feather-leaf. I think one of the healers carries some around with her, but we'll need to act quickly, otherwise you'll lose that leg of yours, Ser” Gunnar interjected, hurrying from behind.
“Where did you come from Gunnar, I thought you were with your squadron?” the Dragonlord said questioningly, eyebrow raised. “Just needed to ask you something quickly, Ser. I was wondering where we will end up after getting through Argate?” the young Captain questioned.
Armonath stopped for a moment, an intent look of thoughtfulness on his face; “well, we have to attend a council meeting on the Isle of Skrath. You know what that island is famous for, don't you Gunnar?” the Dragonlord asked, hinting at a touch of rhetoric’s. “Ah... that particular island; it might be interesting to have a council meeting there, particularly if the Stardust Dragon is going to be in attendance” Gunnar replied casually.
Commander Hylyr stared at them both a moment, then spoke suddenly. “Isn't that the God of Wisdom, Jakyro'yah? Doesn't he assume the guise of an elf, so he can play practical jokes on other elves and visitors to Skrath?”
“Actually, yes. He does tend to do that rather often; for the God of Wisdom he certainly has a sense of humour, a warped one at that” Armonath replied rather waspishly. “Oh, so you have been a victim one of his practical jokes, have you?” Gunnar grinned despite himself. “Unfortunately; he a rather rude comment one day in passing, and, since I didn't know it was actually him, I got rather rude back, then he revealed himself.”
The suns began to set in the sky, and Gunnar realised that it was far later than what he had previously thought, though he had to admit that the sunset was beautiful. “Isn't it amazing, Dragonlord?” the Captain spoke rhetorically, not actually expecting an answer from the dragon-hybrid. “Yes, though it seems to me that it reflects the bloodshed of the day and the lives lost; that's all the colour red means to me anymore” Armonath answered Gunnar's question sombrely.
Moments later, Highlord-Commander Skayl halted the advance and ordered them all to start setting up for night and to start preparing their meals before it became too dark.

(Also not quite completed yet)

Chapter Four: An interesting tale of a dragon-demon

“Our lord, my mentor, told me of this tale long ago, before any of you had even ascended beyond your teenage years or fought your first battle. I am, of course, talking about the myth of the dragon-demon, Sholgor-Redflame”.
It was late spring; the two suns had fallen behind the mountains, displaying a blood-red shadow of the highest peaks. This was to start a new, bloodied history of this world, for a strange, new evil had emerged behind a shadow; the shadow of all things past.
As I caught the scent of this new evil, a dragon materialized from behind the range. He looked at me, and then I caught a glimpse of sadness behind his reddened, yellow irises.
His name was Redflame.
He had left behind destruction of his home and dwellings, including all of his kin and family. The mountains, which we now call Demon range, had been raided by a bunch of barbarians and thunder eagles.
All of Redflame’s kin had slaughtered by the bloodthirsty barbarians and magical thunder eagles. Redflame had fled and waited till the horde had left, then he slowly buried each and every body of all the family he had ever cared about.
Redflame asked me why I had created beings like that, to cause more evil and chaos among this world; it was clear he knew exactly who I was.
I replied almost casually after thinking about my answer for a moment. “I never created evil; men did. Their hearts are turned by it and it manipulates their brain until they become pure evil. Their brains are clouded by indecision, therefore they are eager to desire and quick to judge others; they even think they should have whatever they want, and do whatever they want, regardless of the consequences. Men are gullible and they only ever see what they want to see, unless prompted to look further. Yet still they manage to surprise me every day I watch their antics.”
Redflame lowered his eyes and I was surprised to see them shiny with tears.
I had learned a great deal, just from talking to Redflame; in a sense, this dragon was wise beyond his years, yet for an unseemly characteristic, this dragon was not even wise at all, oh the controversy.
Redflame then bade me farewell and I watched him leave and settle back into the mountain range. I stayed there that night, aroused by the strange feelings I had felt while talking to Redflame. I could still smell the evil, that I sensed before dark, the stench was great, but I wasn’t sure where it was coming from.
In the morning I kept my eyes on the mountain range, hoping to see Redflame again. My gut instinct was that Redflame was more than he seemed, possessed on the inside by another being perhaps. The other part of me however felt that Redflame was fine and that it was another that I had to be wary of. Suddenly the acrid stench of evil grew worse, many voices screamed out to me and a single, resonating voice cried and pleaded for help; and for mercy. That voice was Redflame’s, and it was closer than the rest had been, though I was unsure whether I had simply imagined them or not.
I made my way to that sequence of mountains, as quickly as my wings would carry me. I landed at the foot of the mountain I had watched Redflame settle at. All I could see were shrubs and more, smaller and more sparse, vegetation; I closed my eyes and tried to sense where I had heard Redflame’s voice.
It was not good, no matter what I did, I could not sense where that dragon was. I lifted my wings and flew right to the top of that peak. From the top, I could see everything and I first spotted Redflame writhing in agony in a secluded spot in the middle of the larger variety of shrub.
I soared down from the top of the peak and wavered in mid-air, waiting to see what was happening to Redflame. Then I spotted him, Sholgor, King of the Abyss. Sholgor was the Dark One, a being created by the same forces of existence that created the Great Mother and I and with powers of that of a demi-god, twisted and demonic though they were.
It was too late to do anything now; Redflame was already under the demon’s spell and furiously trying to escape. Sholgor slowly strode over to the dragon, “I have you now, dragon” the demon spat the last word out bitterly.
Then he disappeared swiftly, into Redflame's body, and moments later I was looking at the dragon-demon, Sholgor-Redflame. I mourned the death of Redflame; he had reminded me why I had created the humans and why they did what they did, I would now have to banish this demon from this world to ensure every being’s safety and to make sure that evil disappeared from this world.
I watched Sholgor-Redflame for a time, hoping that he would eventually move or even notice me in the air. He didn’t move for some time; once he did start to move, it became obvious where he was going.
He must have discovered my little hideout nearby and was investigating. I flew closer, and hovered close to where I had made my hideout before I had met Redflame. Sholgor-Redflame sniffed the cave which I had taken up residence in, which of course wasn’t as comfortable as the one on the isle of Skrath, then he sniffed the air and finally his eyes rested upon me.
“I can see you up there” the dragon-demon hissed like a snake.
“About time too, I was waiting for hours and you disappointed me” I spoke humorously, doing my best my not to seem bothered by the demon.
“You won’t be laughing shortly!” he hissed again.
Unconsciously I shivered, trying not to imagine what this fiendish demon could do to me. I summoned my courage though and confronted him quickly.
“Wait and see, demon!” I growled back, my anger beginning to boil to the surface now. Sholgor-Redflame sneered, clearly with evil intent, waiting for me to make a mistake so he could steal my body and leave Redflame to die. I had to either escape or banish him, even though wasn’t actually sure if I could banish this demon.
“I will not let you possess any more of my creature’s minds, demon” I snarled, “you already have let me take one, and list will just continue to grow unless you find a way to destroy me.”
Sholgor-Redflame sneered once more and started walking towards me slowly. I stepped back a little, thinking about how I could destroy Sholgor-Redflame; he was not of this world and I was fairly sure that no magic, except the banishing spell, would not concern him at all.
He got closer and closer, while I backed away further and further. “Scared now?” Sholgor-Redflame inquired insanely. “Nope, just some concern for my mind and keeping intact” I grinned at this irrepressible demon.
Sholgor glared at me and advanced a further few Dexyl, while I stopped and waited for him again.
“What’s it like being inside a dragon’s body?” I asked him curiously, hoping that this topic of conversation would distract him.
“Different, but you are a dragon so you should know” he hissed at me.
“Yeah, but I’m not just possessing my mind so it’s slightly different” I argued with him. “True, however you’re just prolonging your fate, dragon” he snarled at me in that brutal manner.
“Nay, I have no fate except to walk this world for many more Ages to come” I stated boldly. “Your fate is to lose your mind to me, the King of the Abyss” Sholgor-Redflame snarled at me.
I shuddered and then recovered quickly; “Isway Teeway Yenway Neeway” I pronounced the words to the banishing spell. Sholgor-Redflame screamed and tried to resist the sudden vortex which had appeared around him; losing his confidence, he bellowed resistance at me and forced himself from the vortex.
I fell through the air and recovered in time to lift my wings and soar away through the sky. I cursed at my failure to banish that demon; so I flew through the air so quickly and in no time I had arrived at my home, the isle of Skrath.
A young elf, named Geltharis, came to meet me at the port of Keelong. “How did it go?” he asked me curiously.
“How did what go?” I asked, wondering if this wise, young elf knew what had occurred. “I watched you battle the demon, Sholgor” Geltharis admitted.
“I thought you might have seen, then you must have watched me try to banish him, so why didn’t it work?” I questioned out loud, in frustrated tones.
Geltharis shrugged and looked at me.
“What?” I asked him.
“Perhaps you need to physically destroy him, my liege” Geltharis said wisely, but teasing me at the same time with his unneeded titles.
“Ah, I see; but what if he gets close enough to possess me?” I asked unconfidently.
“He won’t, as long as you keep him from doing so” Geltharis told me.
“Thank you, Geltharis, you have reassured me” I told him proudly.
I changed form once more and flew back to my cave, then pondered awhile; I decided that the next day I would go and see the Wise Elder, for something nagged at me and I had the feeling that Geltharis was wrong and something else needed to be done about Sholgor-Redflame.
The next morning I woke up and immediately decided to go straight to the Wise Elder.
I left when the suns were between halfway and a quarter. Back then, our measurement of time was by measuring when the suns were literally within a quarter and halfway past any mountains close by or any other structures; now we just measure time in glasses.
I went to find Geltharis before I met the Wise Elder, hoping that my explanation of what I must do was clear enough.
“Good morning, Chief” Geltharis remarked happily, watching the waves crashing onto the cliff-face he was standing above.
“I’m not really your chief, Geltharis, I’m more of a free being if I must say so myself” I replied.
Geltharis looked at me strangely.
“What now?” I asked.
“I saw the dragon-demon again; he is building a city with men, King Thiamin’s men actually” Geltharis called to mind.
“Ay-a… what?” I said; my mouth was gaping open, like a black-hole on my face.
“He is building a city, or more like a temple for the humans to worship him; that demon is quick, he’s already got their puny, human brains under his command” Geltharis observed acerbically.
I winced at the comment; Geltharis nudged me in the ribs playfully.
I grimaced at him and then told him. “Geltharis... I don’t think I can kill him physically” I said.
“Why?” he asked warily.
“Because Sholgor is actually the Dark One of the Abyss” I admitted sadly.
“I must agree with you then!” Geltharis cried in alarm.
“I must go, Geltharis, if I do not return then you must not anything stupid in revenge” I snapped, trying to calm him down, then I changed from my elf guise back into the huge Stardust Dragon I was used to being in.
Geltharis sighed and then nodded; the young elf hugged my multi-coloured scales, then he sighed again and left.
I flew quickly to Kalahad to see the Wise Elder.
I landed at the foot of his hut and then bellowed his name loudly. He answered and opened the door to his hut, then strode down the stairs and bowed to me.
“You don’t have to bow to me, Malaga” I said his name proudly.
“I still have to, my Lord” he said kindly, but firmly.
“Leave us!” I cried to all the surrounding Elven, they all looked defiant, but I slammed my tail into the ground to warn them that I was serious.
Malaga, the Wise Elder, looked at me, “why are you here my Lord?” he asked me rhetorically.
“You know why” I told him.
“So it is true then?” Malaga asked me.
“What have you heard?” I wondered out loud.
“That you were fighting the creature from the Dark Abyss” he proclaimed.
“Then, yes, it is true” I stated plainly.
“Then you must fly to Argate and see the Blessed Ones, for they may have crucial information on the Dark One” he suggested helpfully.
“Then that’s what I’ll do” I said quickly and tensed my legs, ready to leap into the air and begin the reasonably long flight; “do not tell anyone about the Dark One” I remembered, then I rose through the air and left.
I flew quickly, hoping to reach Argate before lunchtime. It took me about a glass to fly to Counquan, then ten minyts from there to the city of Koren in Argate.
Back then, Koren was the fabled city of the Blessed Ones. It was upheld in legend; for the founder of Argate, the famous Mage, Ardipithicus, founded the city of Koren once he had formed his own empire of Argate.
The line of Ardipithicus had stayed pure; his great-great-great-great-great grandson was now Mage-King of Argate, the Blessed One, Silan. These days there is a city named after Silan for his help to me and for his dedication to the empire of Argate.
Once I arrived at Koren, I landed on the highest tower of the Mage-King's tower and sought the assistance of Mage-King Silan. I bellowed his voice as loud as I could. Finally a servant came running.
“Your Majesty, it’s the Dragon” the servant cried with awe.
“The Dragon?” Silan asked cautiously, hoping that it wasn’t a bad dragon like legends had foretold, at least that’s what emotions I got from the Mage-King.
“The Stardust Dragon mi’lord” another older servant told the Mage-King.
“Mage-King Silan, I have need of you now!” I bellowed again and stamped my feet impatiently.
“He’s coming my Lord” the younger servant said nervously, probably the first dragon he’d ever seen, let alone talked to.
Silan approached me slowly. “My Lord, it is a pleasure to meet you face to face” the Mage-King spoke gallantly, awed by my Godly powers.
“Mine too” I said. “Silan, I need information from the blessed clerics” I told him urgently. He looked at me questioningly, “what information?” he asked.
I looked at the servants. “I need a moment alone with the Mage-King” I told the two servants.
They both huffed haughtily and strode out of the room indignantly. “They don’t like to be treated like servants” Silan admitted gruffly.
“My apologies Silan, however this information is too confidential, I shouldn’t even be telling you” I divulged reluctantly.
“What is it, my Lord?” he asked quickly.
“The information is about how to destroy the Dark One of the Abyss; permanently” I told him.
Silan’s mouth gaped open, “surely you wouldn’t need that information… unless you were going to be fighting the Dark One of the Abyss” Silan gasped, even the great Silan was terrified at the word of the Dark One.
“Yes, we must hurry!” I told him imperatively.
“As you wish” Silan grabbed his Mage-King's robe. “Follow me when I emerge from this tower” he told me. I changed into the guise of an eagle, for eagles are renowned for their speed and dexterity. Once he opened the doors and appeared outside the tower, I flew quickly to ground level and followed him for a time.
When we stopped, we were outside a curious, little building. “Is this the blessed cleric’s building?” I asked Silan.
“Yes that is correct, my Lord” he replied and banged on the door.
A young zealot opened the door, “your Majesty” the zealot said politely, and then he glanced at me. “Welcome great Creator of the Heavens” the zealot then bowed majestically.
“Thank you child” I said gracefully, I had changed my guise into that of an old man with a beard.
“What can I do for you?” he asked charitably.
“I need information on the Dark One of the Abyss” I replied casually, but importantly. “As you wish, my Lord” he answered and led us inside. The zealot led us through a narrow corridor, which brought us to A couple of minutes later he reappeared, “this is the only annal ever written about the Dark One himself” the zealot said gravely.
“Thank you, zealot, what is your name?” I asked him.
“It is Shamburg my Lord” he replied most demurely.
I thanked him again then proceeded to read the book. Mage-King Silan listened to me reading the heavy book aloud.
Finally I came to the important part. ‘The Dark One has never been seen by human eyes. He cannot be killed, maimed or banished. The Dark One must stay in the Abyss, for if he was to escape then he would be a permanent curse upon our world’ the annal read.
I cursed violently, while Silan shivered next to me. “My Lord, if there is anything else I can do, then I will help you banish this creature from our peaceful world” Silan vowed fervently.
I shook my head, “there is nothing that you can do, I must fly back and take care of the dark one” I told Silan and then changed back into the guise of the stardust dragon. I thanked Silan for all his help and then rose into the air and took off. I arrived at Sholgor’s city, right behind him in fact. Then I curled my tail around him and proceeded to crush him.
This had no effect at all; instead he grabbed my tail and almost ripped it off. I roared with pain and anger and tried to perform the banishing spell again, but the fiend just cackled and jumped through the air, connecting his clawed feet with my head. I bellowed my outrage and caught his legs with my mouth and ripped through his tough dragon scales. Sholgor growled viciously and tried to move. I slashed him with my foot claws and succeeded in ripping his right wing off. He screamed in pain, this was all going better than I thought and I tried the banishing spell once more. “Isway Teeway Yenway Neeway” I cried once more at the beast.
He got caught in the vortex and was sucked away. I sighed with relief and bellowed at the foolish men gathered around me. They all scattered and I rose once more and flew away from that evil place. I arrived back at Port Keelong once more. Geltharis was waiting as usual and hugged my tail, which I had grown back over the flight. “You won!” he stated joyfully and then stopped dancing around and looked at me. “How did you manage it?” he asked. “The banishing spell” I laughed and changed back into my normal guise of a young elf. The sun set in the distance, lighting the harbour with a fiery red colour; we watched it go down behind the distant mountains and talked about my success till night had swiftly fallen. Stars appeared in the ink-blue sky, twinkling like they usually did. The three moons were all full tonight and bathed the glory of my victory. I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the soothing sound of the ocean.

***********************

Armonath finished the story and glanced at Geltharis with interest. Geltharis stared back with an incomprehensible look upon his face. “What?” Armonath asked curiously, “did I tell some of it wrong?” he questioned the elder elf. “No... it's just that I haven't heard that story for many years” he admitted to the Dragonlord. Armonath ruffled his wings and then spoke softly. “It's a magnificent story Geltharis, especially how long ago it was” Armonath said with pride. Geltharis shrugged his shoulders.
Once the council was over, Armonath flew over the town of Trialge and landed on a hill right in front of Highlord Gerdamh and Captain-Overlord Gunnar. “We have sorted out the little details. We are officially at war with Altran and his army of barbarians” Armonath stated bluntly. “What happens now, Dragonlord?” the Highlord asked.
“We move the army to the gates of the dwarves and then we send 1st and 2nd squadrons of regiment I to meet the army of the horsemen at A Dor'tra. Regiments II, III, IV and V as well as the minotaurs, will move through Kaladacia and meet up at the city of the Beloved and then you will be under the emperor's direct orders” Armonath told them.
Gerdamh nodded then he signalled to the Commander-Overlord Hylyr leading II, III, IV and V. Both nodded and they marched over to await Armonath's orders. In the whole army of the Beloved, there were currently two Commander-Overlords, three Majer-Overlords, twelve Captain-Overlords and six Overlords, the Highlord and the Highlord-Commander of the five regiments. A Highlord-Majer was to still be appointed. There was always a final battle in a war and the final battle, against Altran, would be definitely be remembered in history. Armonath grimaced at the two and then he gave the orders to Captain-Overlord Lien.
“Move out. You will meet me at the Dwarven gates next Unusday” Armonath ordered, then he spread his wings and leapt into the air using his powerful legs to push upwards from the ground. Captain-Overlord Lien gave the orders to move out to the squad captains. They started to march in the direction of the Dwarven gates, while Overlord Drevyl and 2nd squadron followed at the same speed as 1st squadron.
Highlord Gerdamh watched them leave, “well I guess I will have to let the Highlord-Commander know what we are doing” Gerdamh trudged off to meet his superior officer.
Gunnar went to find 3rd squadron of regiment V. He found them waiting for him over by the smaller hill. “There you are Ser!” Squad Captain Rienyk exclaimed. “What did the Highlord want Ser?” the other squad captain, Evenyius, demanded. Gunnar stared at the squad captain, “none of your business squad captain, I suggest you mind your manners in the future” Gunnar reprimanded him.
“Yes, Ser” Evenyius uttered in disgust. Rienyk glared at the other squad captain, “you better watch it Evenyius, I might just wipe that ridiculous smile off your face” he threatened the younger squad captain. Evenyius glared back at Rienyk, then strode off furiously. As he passed Rienyk, he sneakily flipped a small blade and slashed Rienyk's chest above his armour. Rienyk gasped and fell to the ground slowly, as though time had slowed down. Evenyius bolted into the forest and melted into the trees. Gunnar held Rienyk's head in his arm, “I'll get that bastard I promise you my friend”. Rienyk coughed and spat a mouthful of blood onto the green grass. The rest of the troops stood around in a tight circle, while Gunnar rested Rienyk's head comfortably and waited and held his hand. After a minute Rienyk finally closed his eyes and went to the Great Forest. “What a waste of a good squad captain!” Gunnar growled, Rienyk had a been an excellent squad captain and well loved by many of the troops. Even the officers had liked Rienyk.
Gunnar dug a grave for the fallen squad captain; over in the trees, Gunnar even cut Rienyk's name into the tree above the grave. Here lies Rienyk; he was one of the best squad captains in our army. Served as a squad captain in 3rd squadron of regiment V. R.I.P. Gunnar bowed his head to the brave Rienyk. He led 3rd of V back to their quarters. He gave himself leave and went to headquarters to see the Highlord-Commander.
He entered the amply built building, hoping that Majer-Overlord Teriyl wasn't there. Instead Commander-Overlord Dyne sat in the seat.
“Captain” Commander Dyne greeted. “Commander Dyne. Is the Highlord-Commander in?” he asked slightly irritably, he wasn't much of a fan of Commander Dyne either.
“Yes he is. He said he didn't want to see anyone until tomorrow though. You'll have to come back tomorrow” the Commander-Overlord said bluntly. “I need to see him now!” Gunnar snapped. “I said you'll have to come back tomorrow. Are you going to disobey a direct order, captain?” Commander Dyne growled.
Gunnar glared at him and stomped out of his office. Gunnar met back with his squad at V quarters. He entered the huge building and proceeded to 3rd squadron's quarters.
Once he had entered their barracks, he met his next choice for a squad captain. Jyien was a veteran and had survived the battle for Trergom; he was older than Gunnar, but he had a good leadership quality.
“The Commander-Overlord would not let me see the Highlord-Commander. I will go back tomorrow and see the Highlord-Commander and tell him what happened.” Gunnar addressed the troops with a bitter tone to his voice. “Jyien and Fyryd will take over as junior squad captains and I will get a senior squad captain as a replacement from the Highlord-Commander if he grants me leave to” Gunnar explained to the troops.
“What are you going to do about Rienyk?” Fyryd asked, him and the dead squad captain had been quite good friends. “I'll find him!” Gunnar vowed fervently. Suddenly a messenger burst in through the door; “Captain-Overlord Gunnar of 3rd squadron, Regiment V?” the young man asked. “Aye that's me. What is it?” Gunnar asked the messenger, “Highlord Gerdamh sent a letter for you” the messenger replied and handed him the message. 'I heard about Rienyk. Meet at the Scalded Krellon. Highlord Gerdamh, G-Highlord. Gunnar thanked the messenger, then he sat down and thought about their current situation.
Highlord-Commander Skayl was not the best commander and Gunnar suspected that Teriyl and Dyne were both in some kind of plot to steal the title of Highlord-Commander from Skayl.
Highlord-Commander Skayl was always at ends with Highlord Gerdamh and blamed him for anything that went wrong, therefore it went without saying that Skayl would not suspect Teriyl and Dyne. Gunnar left the barracks and walked down the main street of Trialge. It was a reasonably small Dwarven town, however Kaladacia's troops and the elvish reinforcements had set up headquarters there temporarily. Gunnar finally stopped outside the Scalded Krellon. In was a nice, little inn; designed by the dwarves, with plenty of Dwarven snacks and plenty of dark brew. Gunnar opened the door to reveal a slightly busy inn. Gunnar pushed past a burly looking dwarf and looked around for the Highlord. Then he spotted Gerdamh sitting at a table. He made his way over to his friend. “There you are!” Gerdamh growled mock-ferociously.
“Afternoon, Ser” Gunnar greeted Gerdamh. “So what happened about your squad captain?” the Highlord asked him. “Nothing. Just like always” Gunnar said dryly and put on a brave face. “Well if I was the Highlord-Commander, I would grant you leave as a senior squad captain. But since I' am not, I cannot simply do anything” Gerdamh complained. “If only the Highlord-Commander was to die. Then you would be temporarily in charge and we could change things to suit us” Gunnar said with an extremely quiet whisper, making sure not to attract attention from the crowd of people in the Scalded Krellon. “Well when we go out to the next battle...” Gerdamh started to whisper, then he was interrupted by the Highlord-Commander himself.
“Ah. There you are Highlord. I have been looking all over for you. Come to my office with me, I need to have a little talk with you” then he nodded at Gunnar and headed back toward his office. Gerdamh nodded to Gunnar. “I'll see you later my friend” he said. “Until next time, Ser” Gunnar nodded back. Gerdamh walked away. Then the server approached him. “What will you have, Ser?” the young man asked. “Dark brew and the Fyrien stew and wheat loaf please” Gunnar said politely. “That'll be two bronzes and a platinum” the server said. Gunnar pulled the coins out of his coin pouch, “thank you, Ser. Two silvers change” the server went back to the bar and then came back with Gunnar's change. “Thank you” Gunnar said courteously, then he waited for his meal to come. The server came back after a minute with the dark brew. “One dark brew for you, Ser” the server said, then he disappeared back to the kitchen.
Gunnar sat there for a while, waiting for his meal to come. While he waited Overlord Tyrl sat down next to him. “Captain Gunnar. How are you, Ser?” Gunnar hesitated. “I'm good thank you Overlord. How is 4th of III?” he asked Overlord Tyrl. “It's great. I love being in command of a squadron, except Majer-Overlord Teriyl still dislikes me and he's sometimes in charge of regiment III” Tyrl spoke contemptuously. “I dare say not many enjoy the company of the Majer-Overlord” Gunnar spoke dryly and without firm malice in his voice. “I agree with you there. Even Commander-Overlord Hylyr isn't a fan of the Majer” Overlord Tyrl agreed. “How is your brother, Drevyl?” Gunnar asked the Overlord. “He's good. The Highlord-Commander transferred him to 2nd of I. I hope the Dragonlord takes good care of him” Tyrl said anxiously. “Don't worry. Armonath takes good care of our soldiers. He even saved my life back at Trergom” Gunnar explained to the Overlord.
“Well maybe he'll save Drevyl's too. Captain Lien was in command of 1st of I, wasn't he?” Tyrl confirmed curiously. “Aye. He's a good captain. Better than many.” Gunnar praised the young Captain-Overlord. “Lien was an Overlord at Trergom?” Tyrl asked. “Yes. He got promoted for helping the Highlord-Commander and saving about a hundred troops” Gunnar told the Overlord.
“Here you go Ser” the server set down the bowl of stew and the plate of wheat loaf. “Thank you” Gunnar said politely. Then he dug in. Overlord Tyrl ordered a light brew and then watched Gunnar eat his stew. “Good?” the Overlord asked, “very” Gunnar praised the spicy and meaty stew. “I hope the light brew here is good. Some say that the dwarves make better dark brew than light brew” Tyrl laughed. “The dark brew is definitely good” Gunnar agreed fervidly. “Well have you tried the light brew?” Tyrl asked hopefully. “No. I can't say I have” Gunnar chuckled at the expression on Tyrl's face. At that moment, Highlord Gerdamh arrived back.
“Thought you might still be here” he spoke somewhat sadly. “What is the matter Ser?” Gunnar asks with concern. “I was just demoted by the Highlord-Commander” he says, with his mood swiftly changing to angry. “Why?” Gunnar demanded furiously. “Because he feels that I was responsible for Trergom. I' am now a mere Majer-Overlord! I also have to put up with Commander-Overlord Teriyl and Highlord Dyne. He has also promoted you to Majer-Overlord, Vyrt to Commander-Overlord and Aejyrt to Majer-Overlord” Gerdamh explained the promotions and demotions. Tyrl looked outraged that he hadn't been considered as Captain-Overlord. “Maybe one day I'll be promoted” he wished silently, then looked at Majer Gunnar. “I'm sorry, Ser. You'll still be Highlord to me and one day you'll be Highlord-Commander. You'll see” Gunnar told the former Highlord. “If you say so Majer” Majer Gerdamh said to his friend; Gerdamh evidently did not believe that it would happen any time soon. Finally Gunnar finished his last dark brew and they left the Scalded Krellon, while Overlord Tyrl disappeared to go and catch up with his squadron.
“What about Commander Hylyr?” Gunnar asked the former Highlord. “What about him?” Gerdamh asked speculatively. “Did he get a promotion?” Gunnar wondered. “Oh... why yes he did actually. Highlord-Majer in fact” Gerdamh said matter-of-factly. “Good on him. He's a good commander and if you aren't a Highlord at least we have a capable higher officer in command” Gunnar said thoughtfully. “You do have a point there Majer” Gerdamh exclaimed. “I hope the Highlord-Commander perishes in battle” Gunnar snapped. “Then Hylyr would be Highlord-Commander?” Gerdamh asked, considering Gunnar's intentions towards the infamous Highlord-Commander. “Exactly. Things would be much better off I'd imagine” Gunnar observed the situation. Gerdamh laughed. “Yes, things would be much better off” the other Majer spoke with slight humour in his voice. Finally they separated and Gunnar entered the barracks and joined his squadron.

Chapter Five: A long journey home, and a long battle

The next day, Duoday, the whole army left Trialge to meet at the gates of the Dwarven people. Dragonlord Armonath and two squadrons were already on their way there. Highlord-Commander Skayl appeared in the middle of the rally area. “Regiments. Today we move out and make our way to the Dwarven gate. Once there we will march back to the city of the Beloved.” Gunnar watched the leaders of other squadrons. “I hope we leave soon then” Fyryd whispered to the Majer. “Majer-Overlord Gunnar. You and your squad will leave now to scout ahead. You will need a messenger to send to us in case of an impending attack or other incidents” Skayl told Majer Gunnar. “Yes, Ser.” “If there is an attack, send your messenger to us straight away for reinforcements. Do not try to attack anyone until we come, is that clear?” Skayl asked firmly. “It is clear, Ser. By your leave?” Gunnar asked. “You may go, Majer” Skayl said, then turned his back and then went to brief the other officers. Gunnar and 3rd squadron started marching straight away, fearing the consequences if they lingered. “3rd squadron split into two groups and follow me” Majer Gunnar snapped his orders to senior squad captain Vaynh. Vaynh swayed in his saddle and then complied. “Yes, Ser. 3rd squadron, split into groups” he yelled to the two junior squad captains, Fyryd and Jyien. They repeated his orders to the squadron and after a few moments they were split into two groups. Gunnar rode past his troops while they were riding. He singled out Gyryt, who was good at relaying messages. “Gyryt. I want you to follow me and await my orders” Gunnar told him. “Yes Majer” Gyryt replied. Gyryt pushed his horse through 3rd squadron and followed Gunnar to the head of the Lancer-Elites. They joined Vaynh, who was leading the troops. “You will be our messenger. I will send you to the Highlord-Commander if we run into trouble, so you will ride with senior squad captain Vaynh and I will find you if I have need of you” Gunnar explained carefully. “Yes Ser” Gyryt obeyed and then fell silent. After about two glasses, Gunnar found him and the troops had come to another small Dwarven town.
“We will ride through, I will ask questions of the town elder” Gunnar explicated to the senior squad captain.
“Yes Ser. What about us?” Vaynh asked.
“You will wait for me in the square” Majer Gunnar told him bluntly, then he rode ahead. The troops followed and lined up in the square. Gunnar rode through and then walked his mount into the stable, close to the Elder's office. Gunnar entered the building and walked up to the front desk.
A younger dwarf looked at him. “Who are you?” the dwarf asked. “Majer-Overlord Gunnar of his Lenience's Army, Ser. I would like to see your Town Elder” Gunnar asked, choosing his words carefully. “As you wish, Majer, however in this town he is known as the Dwarven Elder” the dwarf sniffed infuriatingly, then he got up and exited into the next room.
After a moment he came back, “the Dwarven Elder will see you now, Majer” he emphasised condescendingly, then he led Gunnar into the next room and down a short corridor. Then he knocked on the door and left, going back in the same direction he had come.
The door opened and an old dwarf peered outside. “Majer-Overlord Gunnar?” the Dwarven Elder asked inquisitively.
“Yes, Ser.” Gunnar entered the office and sat down opposite where the Elder was sitting. “Are you of the Beloved's army?” the Elder asked.
“Yes, Ser. I came to see you because my squadron and I are in charge of scouting ahead” Gunnar explained to the Elder.
“Ah, so you want information?” the Dwarven Elder said knowingly.
“Yes Ser. If you have seen any hostile creatures within your territories, or any information from other dwarves throughout your kingdom” Gunnar offered.
“Ah. Last Quattuorday one of our scouting companies came across a small number of barbarians. The Captain managed to take one alive and slaughter the other ten. He said that the barbarians had come from over the Sea of Tranquility. They had set sail from Counquan, hiring a boat from one of the sailors there. I have not heard rumours of any others, however there may be more out there that we don't know of yet” the Dwarven Elder detailed the story.
“Thank you, Dwarven Elder. If we see any, we will destroy them for you” Gunnar vowed. “Good man. Now I must bid you a good day, for I have others to see yet.”
“Thank you” Gunnar bowed and left his office. Gunnar went and got his mount from the stable, then he met 3rd squadron at the square.
“Let's move out, Vaynh” Gunnar ordered.
“Yes, Majer” Vaynh cried and echoed the orders to Fyryd and Jyien, who both repeated it back to the rest of the squadron. They marched through the small Dwarven town; Gunnar was right in front, leading the troops as usual and making sure that he could see in all directions in case of an impending attack.
After another glass, Gunnar was poked by a lance. It was senior squad captain Vaynh. “Ser, I believe I may have seen something over there” the squad captain pointed toward the large forest.
“What exactly did you see?” Gunnar asked the squad captain sharply.
“I'm not exactly sure, Ser. It may have been a barbarian, because I caught a glimpse of something tan coloured” Vaynh spoke softly.
“3rd squadron, halt!” Gunnar cried.
“3rd squadron, halt!” Fyryd and Jyien echoed.
“I thought you said you didn't know exactly what you saw, but we better look into it” Gunnar said.
“Sorry, Ser, I meant that I didn't know exactly what they were but looked sort of like the barbarians like at Trergom” Vaynh explained carefully to the Majer-Overlord.
“Okay, Vaynh. We will wait here, until we can determine what they were” Majer Gunnar spoke resolutely.
“As you wish, Ser” Vaynh agreed.
Gunnar sent the troops to wait behind the closest hill, to hide them in case they were seen by a larger number of barbarians and to keep the element of surprise, in case of attack. Gunnar waited with the messenger, Gyryt, and squad captain Vaynh.
It had been about quarter of a glass, when Gunnar spotted a man, wearing tan coloured clothing and bearing the banner of Altran's insignia. “Frag. I wonder how many of them there are?” Gunnar wondered, while they fled back behind the hill.
Gunnar lay flat on the ground, beside the hill. Gunnar watched to see which way they were going. Eventually a large company of Altran's men thundered past the hill. Gunnar dived behind before they saw him.
“Gyryt. Ride back to Trialge immediately and make sure to avoid them at all costs. Report directly to the Highlord-Commander and no-one else!” Gunnar briefed the young man.
“Yes, Ser. Should I go now and what do you want me to say?” he asked.
“Yes. And tell the Highlord-Commander that there are about five hundred barbarians heading towards Trialge and the closer town. Oh, and ride like the wind!” Gunnar said, then dismissed the messenger.
Gyryt jumped back onto his mount and then nudged it with his feet and then they sped in the same general direction as Altran's troops.
“What will we do now, Ser?” Vaynh asked curiously.
“We will follow at a distance. If we have to then we will help defend that Dwarven town that we passed through before” Gunnar explained carefully, making sure to execute his orders properly.
“Yes, Ser” Vaynh responded and then he yelled the orders to Fyryd and Jyien. Both echoed the orders to the squadron and they started back in the direction which they came. They made sure to follow the barbarians as quickly as possible; it was crucial that they got to the town before it got destroyed, Gunnar did not want that on his conscience and he also would be permanently demoted.
“What are you thinking about, Ser?” Vaynh asked speculatively.
“We need to get to that town before those barbarians do, are there any short-cuts?” Gunnar wondered.
“We could cut across the river and go past the forest, then we would get there long before the barbarians” a veteran, named Hilyt, said sagely, riding his mount up from behind the Majer.
“Lead us. But I warn you, Hilyt, if we don't get there in time I am holding you personally accountable for this. But, if you succeed, you will be recommended to the Highlord-Commander to be a squad captain” Gunnar said quickly.
“Yes, Ser, I understand” Hilyt said wearily and then he started riding his mount towards the river.
The Lancer-Elites followed cautiously, looking out for any enemy in the surrounding territories. Gunnar observed out from the corner of his eye, hoping to see a clear way to follow.
“Ser, we should cross here” Hilyt spoke urgently.
“Right. Vaynh, make sure that the troops know what we're doing and where we are crossing” Gunnar told the senior squad captain.
“Yes, Ser. We cross here!” Vaynh bellowed over the roar of the nearby rapids. Fyryd and Jyien echoed the orders to make sure that every man heard Vaynh's orders. They started to cross the river, the metal hooves of the mounts clinking against the pebbles underfoot. Once they had forded the river, they started to ride down the grassy riverbank, until Hilyt stopped and then rode right into the forest.
“Ser. We must cut through this part of the forest to the other side, then we'll be close and we have the advantage, because they are marching and we're riding” Hilyt mumbled rather quietly.
“Then let's go. NOW!!!” Gunnar ordered loudly and they started riding through the thinly assembled vegetation. After a quarter of a glass, they were at the edge of the woodland and Hilyt led them in the direction of the small Dwarven town. After another quarter of a glass they rode into the small town.
“I'll go see the Dwarven Elder again” Gunnar muttered, then headed off toward the same office he had been to before. He entered the building once more, torn by what he should ask of the Elder and how to convince him how many of the barbarians there were.
“You again?” the clerk dwarf asked, rather rudely.
“Yes, Ser. I must speak with your Elder once more, it's of the utmost importance” Gunnar emphasized his point.
“Okay. Just head straight there, you know where his office is” the clerk sniffed as though he couldn't care how important it was, as long as he didn't have to go anywhere.
Gunnar turned his back on the infuriating dwarf and strode down that short corridor once more, then knocked on the Elder's door again.
The Elder opened the door. “Ah, Majer-Overlord, what brings you back here?” the Elder asked in a friendly tone.
“You have a problem heading your way. One of my men spotted a task force of barbarians, at least five hundred strong. We took the short-cut back here to warn you” Gunnar said urgently.
“Five hundred?!” Elder Gorblade, as that was his name, asked in horror.
“Aye, Ser. I have sent a messenger to the Highlord-Commander of his Lenience's Army and they should be on their way here now, until then my squadron and I will help defend your town” Gunnar explained.
“We have only fifty Dwarven axemen here, so we won't be that much help” Gorblade said sadly.
“We must blockade your town and set up archers in your tall buildings, if you have any that are skilled with a bow” Gunnar groaned inwardly to think about only having a hundred and fifty against more than five hundred.
“A few of the residents have bows, so we could ask them to hide in the tallest buildings and shoot at the barbarians” Gorblade suggested.
“That sounds like a sound idea, Ser. We must go now and ready my troops and find your troops and men with bows” Gunnar proclaimed and then they both left the Elder's office. “Thank you for doing this for us, Majer” Gorblade said graciously.
“Your welcome, Ser. We couldn't let any innocent citizens get hurt, especially by those cruel barbarians” Gunnar said politely.
“Indeed” Gorblade nodded, then fell silent. Once they left the building, they went to get 3rd squadron and then start planning the resistance. Gorblade went off to make sure that his citizens were boarded up in their dwellings, then went to find anyone with bows. Gunnar and 3rd squadron barred up all four gates in the town and set ten of the Dwarven guards at each gate. Then they rode back to the square and waited for Gorblade to return.
“I hope he managed to find some archers, we could really use them” Fyryd said hopefully. “If there are bows and no-one to fire them, then we can do it to hold them off until the Highlord-Commander gets here. I'll ask Gorblade how many bows there are in this town and other ranged weapons, like slings and catapults or ballistics” Gunnar announced suddenly.
“Good idea, Ser” Fyryd said complimentary-like.
“Thank you, squad captain” Gunnar nodded and then he noticed Gorblade arriving back with ten men, all holding plenty of bows and scores and scores of arrows.
“These ten can fire bows and we have fifty bows and about five hundred arrows. I also found some slings lying around and we have plenty of stones lying on the ground” Gorblade said, slightly more cheerful than before.
“Good man!” Gunnar praised the Elder.
“Ser, I can see a cloud of dust about four or five centimes from here, and it looks like it may be the Highlord-Commander already” Fyryd yelled from the top of one of the towers, where he had been placed as lookout.
Gunnar scowled, “which direction is it coming from?” he bellowed back.
“The same direction which we came from originally, Ser, unless the barbarians circled around to try and fool us” Fyryd suggested.
“Vaynh. I need you to send someone out the back to sneak around and observe, then we may learn if it is the Highlord-Commander or the barbarians” Gunnar barked at the hapless squad captain.
“Yes, Ser; Hilyt would be perfect for this once more, since he knows Dwarven territories” Vaynh replied wearily.
“Do it now!” Gunnar snapped. Vaynh left to go find Hilyt, while Gunnar attended to Elder Gorblade.
“Ser, we must arrange the archers right away. My junior squad captain has seen dust from a marching army, and it could be either the barbarians or our reinforcements” Gunnar explained to the dwarf.
“Then we must act now. Dimwald, take four and set up in the west tower and the rest of you group in the south-west tower” Gorblade ordered his men.
“Yes, Ser, what about his troops?” Dimwald pointed to Gunnar.
“Majer, you should set up half of your squad down the west wall, each with his own bow and set of arrows” Gorblade suggested firmly.
“Yes, Ser, we would be happy to help” Gunnar smiled and then nodded. Gunnar gestured for Jyien, the veteran, to attend him.
“Jyien, take half the squad and set them up, with those bows and arrows, down the west wall” Gunnar ordered the junior squad captain.
“Yes, Ser” Jyien replied and then took half the squad with him. Gunnar and the other half of the squadron, mounted their horses once more and waited with Gorblade and about fifty civilians, each with randomly assorted weapons.
Finally Hilyt returned, looking worse for wear. “Ser, it was the barbarians and I counted more than six hundred” the middle-aged man reported wearily.
“Frag. Elder Gorblade, you must ready your men. Vaynh, make sure that you all are ready for battle and make sure that your blades are clean, understood?” Gunnar demanded urgently.
“Yes, Ser” Vaynh replied.
“Good. See to it at once” Gunnar replied, then he dismounted and retrieved his battle items from a carry-sack on his mount. Gunnar lifted out his battle helmet, his small blade and his cover chain-mail. He attached the dagger to his belt, then placed his chain mail over the top of his battle armour, then he placed the battle helmet on his head. Gunnar then cleaned his longsword and the pole of his battle-lance, making sure that it was fully operational. Once he had done all of this, Gunnar looked up to check that Vaynh and the half of 3rd squadron were doing the same.
Once satisfied, Gunnar mounted himself again and waited for the others to do the same. Meanwhile, up on the towers, Jyien was arranging the men with the Elm-wood bows and the cherry-wood shafts of the arrows.
“Seryd. Make sure you aim properly, you never got archery training, did you?” Jyien asked the young man.
“No, Ser” Seryd replied, then he turned around and waited for Jyien's orders. While all this was happening, far in the distance almost seven hundred barbarians started to advance on the small Dwarven town.
Squad captain Jyien noticed this, almost at the exact same time as his colleague, Fyryd. As Jyien alerted his archers, Fyryd alerted Majer-Overlord Gunnar.
“Ser, the barbarians are advancing on us now” Fyryd warned his commanding officer. “Thank you Fyryd, get down here now and get all your battle gear ready, can't afford to lose another squad captain, not one as good as you” Gunnar bellowed.
“Right away, Ser” Fyryd replied, grinning; then the junior squad captain climbed down the ladder, which lead back to the ground.
Once the barbarians were within a centime, Jyien readied the archers and made sure that they would shoot as soon as the barbarians had advanced within five hundred Dexyl or so.
“Once the barbarians are within five hundred Dexyl, that is your cue to fire” Jyien ordered the half of 3rd squadron. Finally the barbarians were close enough.
“Fire!” Jyien ordered; the troops all let off a flurry of shafts, and about fifty odd barbarian warriors fell to the ground and didn't rise.
“Good shooting. Fire again” Jyien ordered once more, and another forty or fifty barbarians fell. Then out of nowhere two thunder eagles flew straight at the top of the wall and picked up two troops in each of their great talons, then flew up high and dropped them back onto the top of the wall.
“Lances!” Jyien cried urgently and ten of 3rd squadron pulled out their battle lances and fired directly at the two thunder eagles. One avoided the shafts of light, but the other was unlucky and flew into two beams at the same time, then it fell to the ground, crushing two errant barbarians. Then the barbarians started firing their own arrows at 3rd squadron. Each arrow was alight with fire and two of 3rd squadron fell dead.
“Aim at the archers!” Jyien snapped.
The remaining forty-six men fired at the barbarian archers, killing ten of the fifty archers. Jyien and ten of 3rd squadron readied their lances again and fired at the archers, wiping out the rest.
The barbarian captain cursed loudly enough for Jyien to hear and ordered his men to do something, which Jyien didn't quite catch.
Moments later ten barbarians wheeled out a battering ram, then set it up right outside the west gate. Jyien and 3rd squadron dropped their bows, since they had used the available shafts, then they climbed down to west gate. Jyien advanced on the ten Dwarven guards, “they are breaking down the gate. We must guard it closely as possible and bar the barbarians from any entry” the squad captain ordered the guards.
“As you wish, Ser” the senior guard replied and drew his sword, the rest did the same.
“Seryd, go and find the Majer and get him over here, now” Jyien ordered.
“Yes, Ser” then the young man ran off to find Majer Gunnar. Gunnar was awaiting news from the wall, when suddenly one of his troops sped over to him and stopped abruptly. “Ser. The barbarians are breaking down west gate, you must attend squad captain Jyien immediately” Seryd said breathlessly.
“Thank you Seryd. You may mount and follow with us” Gunnar replied and yelled his orders to Fyryd and Vaynh. “Vaynh. We ride to the west gate, right away!” Gunnar barked loudly.
3rd squadron rode to west gate, avoiding any pot-holes along the way, while fifty armed civilians followed slowly. Gunnar rode right up to the gate and dismounted.
“Jyien, what's been happening?” he asked the junior squad captain.
“We lost five on the wall. They had two thunder-eagles, we killed one but I'm not sure what happened to the other one. We killed about eighty troops and fifty archers, but they still have about five hundred, compared to our one hundred eighty or so” Jyien reported.
“Frag, and there's still a thunder-eagle out somewhere too. How charged are your lances?” Gunnar asked the squad captain.
“Seryd, Klelyt and Felgryd still have half charged lances, but the rest of us used them against the thunder-eagles and the archers” Jyien replied. “Right then, line up and...” BANG! Gunnar stopped in mid sentence as the gate shuddered and cracked slightly.
“Frag. Okay, Jyien, you and the second half of 3rd squadron join with the civilians, we'll line up and take out as many as we can while we are mounted” Gunnar ordered, cursing the damned barbarians.
“Yes, Ser” Jyien replied, battle weary and bone tired, then he took his troops behind Gunnar's. BANG! The gate shuddered once more and a bit of the hard timber cracked and split, while a nail was flung out with quite some force. They waited once more and this time a plank of wood broke in half, then slammed to the ground.
“They're almost in!” Vaynh cried loudly.
“That gate won't take any more than two hits, be prepared for battle” Gunnar yelled back at the senior squad captain. BANG! This time was hard enough to split the entire gate in two, which it then opened up and a score of barbarians rushed through one by one. “Charge!” Gunnar snapped and Fyryd and Vaynh echoed the orders. 3rd squadron charged straight at the hapless barbarians and crushed about eight of them. The other twelve were scattered everywhere, inside Wylldom.
Gunnar rode straight for one of them and cleaved it's head off with his longsword and then he sent a beam of light, from his lance, at another one.
Gunnar saw a mount collapse and it's rider ran at a barbarian and clashed his sword into the barbarian's. It swept the troop's sword out of the way and sliced his head off. Gunnar charged and knocked the barbarian out with his lance. Then he ran at another and smacked it on the head with his sword, knocking it out as well.
Ten more barbarians charged through the broken gate, only to be destroyed by an errant blast from Gunnar's lance. Gunnar sneered at the one remaining barbarian and jumped off his mount, grabbing the barbarian by the throat and slamming it's head against the wall. While the gate was clear, Gunnar took the opportunity to grab each of the unconscious barbarians and pull them over to the west tower and tie them up.
Gunnar headed back to the gate. He could see through the gate that the whole barbarian army was advancing and were preparing to storm Wylldom.
“Vaynh! Get the troops ready, they are all marching through the gate. Oh and how many casualties so far?” Gunnar asked with concern.
“Yes, Ser. Ten of our squad, twenty of the civilians and twelve of Jyien's, Ser” Vaynh reported sadly.
“Frag, we're running out of time. Hope the Highlord-Commander gets here soon” Gunnar swore loudly. Finally the barbarians started coming through the gate, bringing large amounts of dust with them. Gunnar and 3rd squadron rode at the barbarians, crushing them under the diamond hard hooves of their mechanical mounts and rendering them more than useless, or just dead. 3rd squadron stood ready, with their lances out, just waiting for the rest of the barbarians to advance through the gate.
Suddenly Gunnar noticed that barbarian captain and about two hundred and fifty barbarians were missing; there were only a hundred odd troops coming through the gates.
Gunnar didn't have time to think, because the missing thunder-eagle appeared out of the sky and swooped down at him, knocking him off his mount and slamming him heavily to the ground. Gunnar gasped and fumbled for his lance, but he couldn't feel it anywhere, so he turned over and it was at least two Dexyl to his left and the thunder-eagle was hovering directly above him, ready to deliver the killing blow. It swooped down once more at him; but Gunnar managed over to his left and snatched his lance and then fired directly at the cursed creature.
Then Gunnar remembered the missing barbarians, “Vaynh! There are barbarians missing, they might be attacking elsewhere” Gunnar yelled to the senior squad captain, who was battling a large barbarian man.
Vaynh ignored him and finally slashed the barbarian, killing it instantly, then he rode over to Gunnar. “What happened to you, Ser?” he asked anxiously.
“Damned thunder-eagle came out of nowhere” Gunnar growled and rubbed his arm tenderly.
“Majer!” Gyryt, the messenger, yelled loudly from behind the squad captain.
“Gyryt. Good to see you back, safe and uninjured” Gunnar said, not quite irritably. “Where is the Highlord-Commander?” Gunnar asked suddenly and rather urgently.
“They are wiping out the rest of the barbarians, Ser, their captain saw us riding around and they met us in battle, but the Highlord-Commander told me to come and find you. He looked pretty happy for once actually” Gyryt laughed.
Gunnar chuckled and so did Vaynh. Both then started laughing with relief, while 3rd squadron carried some of the dead bodies of the barbarians and dumped them all in a big pile outside the walls of Wylldom.
Gunnar, Vaynh and Fyryd strode over to west tower to take the gags out of the mouths of the three captured barbarians.
Gunnar shook each one roughly until they were all awake.
“How did you get to the Dwarven lands?” Gunnar demanded of them.
“Not telling”, “screw you ya bastard” and “get fragged” each one answered rudely. Gunnar pulled out his small dagger and then held it right in the closest barbarian's face.
“If you don't talk I'll cut each one of your fingers off, then I'll start on your toes, until I get answers” he threatened furiously. The closest barbarian shivered and then broke down; “we came by boat, from Counquan. Lord Altran wanted us to find various Dwarven towns and destroy them” the barbarian quivered under Gunnar's furious glare.
“Right. Did Lord Altran ask your Captain to do anything else?” Gunnar asked, pleased with the progress.
“No, he wanted us to try and get information on the emperor of Kaladacia's troops and from the dwarves, he thought that the ones from Trergom were within the Dwarven territories” the barbarian answered, trying not to faint.
“That's all I need to know. Vaynh, tie this scum up and have 3rd squadron guard them until the Highlord-Commander tells me what to do with them” Gunnar told the senior squad captain. “Yes, Ser” Vaynh replied eagerly, for he couldn't wait to gag the barbarians and not have to look at their ugly, disfigured faces again. Gunnar found his mount, looking battle-worn, then mounted and rode to the square, hoping to find the Highlord-Commander, or Gorblade.
At the square, the whole army was cramped into the minuscule space.
“Majer Gunnar!” sounded the Highlord-Commander's voice. Gunnar turned around to face Skayl.
“Yes, Ser?” Gunnar replied back.
“Good job, Majer, Elder Gorblade told me about you and 3rd squadron's bravery and I am most pleased with your efforts” Skayl congratulated Majer-Overlord Gunnar.
“Thank you Ser, although if it wasn't for one of my squad, we would never have reached Wylldom in time” Gunnar remembered his promise to Hilyt.
“Oh? Who was this then?” Skayl asked curiously.
“Hilyt, Ser. He knows his way around these lands and led us through a short-cut, enabling us to get here with enough time to prepare for the battle with the barbarians” Gunnar said proudly.
“This Hilyt, is he good officer material?” Skayl asked.
“Yes, Ser. He would do well within our ranks if given the chance” Gunnar spoke softly. “Thank you, Majer, you may go find 3rd squadron and organise them. We will be staying here overnight to ensure that no more barbarians are lurking around, then we leave for Kaladacia tomorrow; oh and send Hilyt to find me, he deserves a promotion” Skayl said, then went back to brief Highlord-Majer Hylyr.
“Good work, Gunnar, you did me proud today” Majer Gerdamh said from behind him, then clapped him on the back.
“Thank you, Ser” Gunnar replied balefully.
“Don't call me Ser, you are of the same rank as me, people will start to talk and things will occur” Gerdamh said anxiously.
“Like the Highlord-Commander?” Gunnar sneered.
“No, he is not one who worries me, I was thinking of Commander Teriyl or Highlord Dyne. Both are highly ambitious, whereas the Highlord-Commander is simply lacking in fortitude” Gerdamh said in a worried voice.
“I worry not about those two, if they care to antagonise me then I shall retaliate how I see fit, Majer” Gunnar said coldly, he suddenly felt angry beyond redemption.
“No you must not, they would kill you just to achieve higher command” Gerdamh said, horrified by the conversation.
“They would not dare to harm me, the Dragonlord would know of such traitorous deeds and even if they killed the Highlord-Commander, Highlord-Majer Hylyr would still be in direct command and if he died they would be under direct suspicion from his Lenience” Gunnar philosophised.
“Why, because they would have the most to gain?” Gerdamh demanded.
“Exactly. His Lenience would definitely suspect and if he didn't then Over-Commander Felryn of the Elite Guard would see through their plan. He has never liked Dyne or Teriyl and he has always been a friend to Skayl, even if indirectly” Gunnar stated.
“I see you have given this great thought, we will wait and see then. I will keep an eye on both, but I cannot warn the Highlord-Commander since I am not in favour at the moment” Gerdamh said rather irritably.
“I would not dare to presume that the Highlord-Commander would listen to me, a lowly Majer. But I shall keep an eye on the two, since I intensely dislike the pair of them” Gunnar stated bluntly.
“It is agreed then. I bear you farewell my friend” Gerdamh said his goodbyes and headed off to find his troops which had been assigned to him.
Gunnar went to find 3rd squadron. Once he got to the west gate; he spotted senior squad captain Vaynh lurking around, helping the rest of 3rd squadron to clean up the dead barbarians and place them on the plains.
“Vaynh. Where is Hilyt?” Gunnar asked the squad captain.
“Here, Ser” Hilyt emerged from within the men.
“The Highlord-Commander wishes to see you, I told him of your bravery in helping us” Gunnar exclaimed.
“Thank you, Ser” Hilyt said politely.
“Be careful what you say to the Highlord-Commander, and be as polite as possible so not to give him leave to take offence from you, 3rd squadron or me” Gunnar ordered Hilyt. “Yes, Ser” Hilyt said with relief. “Good. You may go, and go to the square because he should be there or in the vicinity.” Gunnar dismissed the courageous soldier. Once Hilyt had left, Gunnar helped 3rd squadron clean up the rest of the bodies, then he led 3rd squadron to the square to join the rest of the regiments.

I would appreciate it if someone would read this and say what they think... Writing a book is difficult if no-one gives criticism, or compliments...