by Darkbringer
“Someone pass me that ass.” Using the tip of the banner, Lord Leonard pointed down to the crumpled form of the old mayor. Instantly two knights clicked their heels together, saluted, and then rushed over to grab the mayor under his armpits and drag him before the prince.
“Up here. Just drape him over the saddle if need be,” he commanded, and the two hastened to obey.
With a final nod to show his subordinates that he was ready, The Lion of Gondor donned his helm and rode out from the school heading to the eastern gates. Someone needed to get to the bottom of who these invaders were and what they wanted. Messengers and envoys could have made dozens of paths back and forth by now if the mayor wasn’t such a cowardly bastard.
If his actions – or more specifically his inactions -- led the kingdom into war with a heavily armed and armored opponent, the prince was determined to see to it that the old fool was going to be the first to die in the upcoming conflict.
Erupting Star
Slowly everyone was recovering at the bottom of the cavern – even Zippy was back up and fluttering angry red and purple towards Michael. “We all alive? In one piece?” Michael asked, after finally getting his own stomach under control once again.
“That was…” Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Mongo didn’t even try to describe the experience. “We’re here,” was the only thing he’d finally say.
“Zippy! We need you to shine as brightly as you can for us. We need to see what we’re dealing with down here.” With the barrier gone, Michael’s earth sense could feel the ground and surroundings and give him a general impression of where they were and what was around, but unlike the tunnels, this was a large open-air cavern underground – who knew what dangers might be flying or hovering around and beyond the sense of the earth?
Petulantly, the floating orb grew dimmer; barely giving off even the light of a torch.
“Zippy!” Michael shouted, exasperated. Of all the times for the little thing to act up!
Pouting and upset over its spears being broken and it being flattened, the light grew even more defiantly dimmer. Now, it was barely as bright as a candle with the wick trimmed short.
“Can you do it for me?” Tiffany asked, pouting her lip out towards the orb. “Pleeeease! I don’t like the nasty dark. It scares me.” Flickering for a moment in indecision, the orb finally flared up and light erupted illuminating the whole cavern. “Oh! Thank you sweetie!” Tiffany half hopped, thrilled that her ‘baby’ would listen to her so well.
Glancing around, things were just as bad as Michael had feared. They were down in the bottom of an enormous underground cavern, and a massive pyramid rose up in the far corner, layers of bones piled several stories high around. Unnatural black fire flickered and danced on the rooftop of the pyramid, signaling some dark and corrupt magic already at work.
“We’re too late!” Pointing, Michael screamed towards the pyramid. “The ritual’s begun already, I believe! We have to get there now!”
Screaming “DAAMMMMNNNN IIITTTTT!!”, Mongo barreled forward and dashed through the wall of flames that was keeping the dead away. Extinguishing the circle of fire, Michael tried to come up with a strong battle cry of his own – not that the dead would care; he just wanted to sound cool! “SPOOOOOOON!!” was all he could think of at the moment, so he shouted it with complete vigor and unleashed Nature’s Wrath in a shotgun blast outwards.
Having adjusted somewhat to his oddness, the others paid him no attention as they rushed forward to keep up with Mongo. Skeletons crumbled to the sides as Heartblade’s aura shattered any that got in range, and Mongo crushed the zombies in a raw surge of display of warrior’s prowess. Some he hacked down with his blade, others he simply charged boldly into like a battering ram, knocking them for a loop and trampling over them in his stone-plate armor. Jess and Tiffany rushed to stay in the center, between Mongo and Tiffany as they ran recklessly onward.
Only Michael was left standing behind, calmly observing the scene all around. Fragments of Nature’s Wrath now spun and circled him like the flames had earlier, as he took in the situation. There was no way the group could cover the distance in time. The dark magics were growing ever more intense on top of the pyramid as the ritual was nearing completion. With a calm and serious expression, he slowly walked over to the edge of the slide he’d built and touched it with his magics. Ignoring the greasy feel of the taint on the stone, he shaped it to create a platform at his feet and he purposefully stepped upon it.
‘Where are you, My Lord?!’ Noticing that he wasn’t with them, Crystal cried out mind to mind for him.
‘Hush. All will be well,’ he replied back to her gently. The stone platform was now moving and raising him up the slide, to its highest reaches. Looking down, Michael could see the swarms of dead closing in on the group – and he could tell that many of the dark-boned skeletons and leapers were nearly upon them. The party had just moments left before they were overrun and destroyed.
“SPOOOOOOON!!” Screaming in defiance, Michael forced his will to connect with the strength of the deep earth; the pure earth, deep below the roots of the corruption. With a surge of raw strength, he tied his own natural flows of power into the deeper, untamed power of the inner earth. Electricity cracked from the ground, up the slide, and shot through him. Michael’s hair burned, blood boiled, and skin blistered as he wrapped his hands around more power than any mortal was ever meant to try and wield.
In an instant, the other side of the slide was destroyed with a flick of his wrist. The ground shook and split open in protest of the power being ripped from it, forcing the natural flows to bend and go where they never should. A flick of a finger and the shattered chunks of the slide instantly hurled themselves out with explosive power, reigning down like a hail of meteors across the cavern.
One large chunk cascaded down and erupted directly above the party, only to reform itself into a hard stone dome which covered them completely. The other chunks hit the ground with explosive force, obliterating anything in their path. Whole legions of dead evaporated in an instant.
Where the chunks of stone hit, they didn’t stop there. Melting like butter tossed in a campfire, the stone liquefied and rolled across the dead in a wave of grinding, turning, churning earth. An avalanche cascading down a mountaintop wipes everything clear before it, and Michael’s will created an avalanche that wiped clear all the dead below. The price for such raw power was immense, causing his skin to melt and run like candle’s wax down his hands and arms. His muscles had long since failed him; it was only his pure will and the raw force of magic that kept his body from collapsing completely at this point.
With the floor clear, Michael gathered all the loose stone from the side of the slide which he’d destroyed, and he unleashed it in a massive tsunami of liquefied stone up the pyramid. Step by step up the terraced side, the earth roared on, mercilessly. A dark flow of pure blackness blasted down, trying to halt the encroaching tide, but it was almost as effective as trying to stop a wave from crashing into the beach my pissing in the ocean. The old earth, the deep earth, was too strong. Too powerful. Too overwhelming.
Within moments, the darkness was over ran and the whole pyramid was covered in a thick layer of earth.
“SPOOOOOOON!!” Michael gurgled as much as he screamed, fire scorching his lungs, burning the air from them. With the last vestiges of his life flickering away, Michael erupted like a volcano. Pure earthen power erupted all about and the ground shook and trembled, cracked open, and swallowed the pyramid whole; leaving only a small earthen ball behind.
Deep in the bowels of the earth, the old flows of magic rumbled and shifted; angered at being grabbed and bent to the will of man. With a scream of frustration and anger, the ground showed its displeasure. Fissures cracked open. The ground shook and split. The earth rose and moved. A massive rippling earthquake reverberated across the kingdom of Gondor.
Young Lord Mik’hail of the House of Dancing Flames; High Champion of the First Daughter o
f Andor, Protector and Guardian of the Heir to the Throne of the Shining Star, had fallen. Burnt out and destroyed by magics beyond his control – magics which now rippled and shook the kingdom with his death.
Reunion
It was almost midnight when the gates opened and Lord Leonard rode out. Letting his steed walk slowly, so as to not spook the invaders, he held his banner high and calmly advanced on the enemy encampment. As he got closer, he could tell they had a dozen large campfires scattered around and between the wagons. Guards in exquisite plate armor stood vigilant guard and watched as he slowly approached. No weapons were drawn, but the sense of preparedness was palpable. These weren’t just heavily armed and armored warriors; these were heavily trained and experienced warriors as well.
Gazing left and right, Lord Leonard noticed that there was at least one guard awake for each campfire, and in some instances two or more. By his trained eye, he’d give an initial estimate of approximately twenty men on watch – a sizeable number, but not the number that he’d expect if one were coming to truly launch an attack upon the enemy. As he slowly rode down the road, the guards watched and eyeballed his movements, but never called out nor tried to stop him.
Within a few moments, he had safely ridden the whole length of the road between both sides of the invaders camp and was safely on the other side. Bewildered, Lord Leonard clicked his heels against the side of his stallion and then shoved the old mayor’s unconscious form off his horse. With a slight turn of the reigns, he turned his horse and then kicked his heels. “Hiya!”
Instantly he was charging back up the road towards town. Once again, guards swiveled their heads to watch his actions; a few even stood up and stretched to get a better view; but none tried to stop him. As he rode back to the city gates, the guards inside opened them wide enough to allow him entry, but Lord Leonard tugged the reigns and pulled up short. Wheeling his steed back around, he charged back down the road to where he’d dumped the mayor on the other side of the invader’s camp.
“Boy! Quit your caterwauling! It’s the middle of the night and the captain ain’t looking for no recruits!” A grizzled looking veteran, appearing to be in his late twenties or early thirties finally moved up from one of the campfires and approached him.
“Recruits?” None of this was making sense to Lord Leonard. What invading enemy brings such a low number of opponents? Why allow a spy to ride the road between their camp? Why the hell would they talk about recruits? Just what the hell was going on here?!
“Who’s the person in charge of your band?” Holding his banner high to show he had no ill intent at this time, Lord Leonard slowly rode towards the man who had broken from the camp and approached him.
“The High Lady Lee is in charge, but you’ll probably be wanting to talk to Captain Drugan. He’s in charge of all hiring and firing around here.” The guard was wearing a set of plate armor that had been polished until it shined. Finest steel, masterfully crafted – custom fit too if Leonard was right in his assessment. By the man’s side was a solid steel mace, and by the way he wore it, it was obvious that he was used to it hanging there.
“I’m not looking for hire. I’m here to speak to the Lady Lee.” Lord Leonard lowered both his head and the banner he was holding slightly, as a careful sign of respect.
“The High Lady Lee,” the guard emphasized. “Just ‘tween you and me, she’s a little bit of a snoot. Cap be much better to see, this time of night,” he warned.
“My apologies.” Coming up beside the man, Lord Leonard finally pulled the reigns slightly to halt his horse. Climbing down, he did a half bow towards the guard. “It really should be the High Lady whom I speak with.” He made a point to emphasize the title correctly this time.
“Your funeral, not mine,” the guard said with a slight chuckle. “You’ll find her resting in that fancy ass big wagon over yonder.” With a glance to the side, he pointed out a massive eight-wheeled wagon.
“Aren’t you going to escort me there?” Once again, these people’s actions didn’t seem like what he’d expect if he was in the midst of an enemy encampment.
“Why the hell would I do that? Get the High Lady mad at me for fetching you to her! No thanks.” Half chuckling, the guard simply pointed once again. “It’s right the hell there. I don’t care if a youngster like you is scared of the dark. I ain’t going to hold your hand!” Turning his back, seemingly without a worry at all, the guard slowly walked back over to the campfire he’d came from and began talking to a few others.
Left standing alone, in the middle of the enemy camp, Lord Leonard couldn’t comprehend what was going on at all. He’d been in dozens of battles. Fought dozens of opponents and enemies in the past. Never once had he seen soldiers at war so relaxed and at ease. Even his own soldiers held more tension than what he was observing at the camp here.
Either these men were utterly confident in their ability, or else they simply didn’t view the situation the same way as it had been described to him and his father. In his opinion, by the look of experience these men all seemed to have, he didn’t believe it to be the first. Every soldier with any time under his belt feared each and every battle, no matter how well trained or prepared they were. Death reigns supreme over all battlefields, and even the mightiest of foes can fall to the luckiest of blows.
Victory was never certain, and these men were experienced enough to understand that. The only explanation that made any sense at all to Lord Leonard was that these men simply didn’t have that same expectation of battle that his own had been led to expect. Holding his banner high, he whispered words of command which trimmed the pure white banner with a thick yellow frame.
The knights under his command that were watching from atop the wall could easily see the banner change and they’d relay his order to ‘Stand Down, Be At Ease’. He wouldn’t call them from the walls just yet, but at the least he could calm their nerves and help stop a mistake from being made.
Slowly walking forward, he led his horse towards the wagon he’d been pointed to. Eyes watched him from all sides, but no one bothered to approach or try and stop his progress. Getting to the wagon, he took a brief moment to inspect it before banging the end of his banner against the door. Highly refined steel axles and wheels. Thick lumber, reinforced with bands of refined steel. Enchanted with some form of magics as knocking on the door resulted in a slight magical light flickering and shielding the wagon before it was scratched or harmed by the end of his banner.
A truly high-quality wagon, which would cost a small fortune to build and create! Whoever this High Lady was, she spent coin almost as freely as the clouds spent rain. Just who the hell was she?!
Several moments passed, and no answer came from the wagon. Waiting a few more moments uncertainty, Lord Leonard finally banged against the door a few more times with the end of the banner he was holding. The magical glow began to shine slightly brighter as he knocked harder in his frustration; but when he finished, the door on the wagon was just as blemish free and unmarred as it had been before.
A few brief moments passed, causing Lord Leonard to consider banging on the door once again when it finally swung wide opened. There, at the top of the steps leading into the wagon, stood a beautiful blond haired woman wearing nothing more than a wide-opened robe of finest white silk. He had a perfect view of her naked form – shapely hips, generous breasts, smooth and soft looking body – and his eyes flung open in surprise and his jaw fell open in shock.
“Pussy!!” Squealing, the young lady leaped from the wagon and tossed her arms around his neck. With a loud clang, the young lord commander was knocked to the ground, crashing under the impact of the young woman’s momentum.
“Pussy! Pussy! Pussy!!” Laughing, she had her arms wrapped around his neck and was kissing up and down his cheeks wildly. “It’s been a long time, no see!”
“Lady Le’Nara!” Blinking, Lord Leonard was completely at a loss. Just what the hell was the Second Princess of Andor doing in his land? And why the god-da
mned hells did the mayor think she was invading?
Dropping his banner, he grabbed her firmly by the shoulders and pushed her back. “Just what the hell is going on here?!”
“Well, I thought I was greeting an old friend, Pussy!” Le’Nara laughed lightly and then flicked him gently across the nose.
“I mean, what the hell are you doing here with all these people?!” Flustered, and completely lost, Lord Leonard was floundering to make sense out of what was going on.
“Well, that’s simple, Pussy. I’m here to open up a business. These are my employees.”
“Business?” Leonard’s mind was blank.
“Yep! Heartstone Enterprises is opening a branch here in West Gondor!” Laughing lightly, she rolled over and spritely hopped up off him. “Pussy,” extending a hand down to him, Le’Nara was grinning wildly, “sell me some land. I want to set up an embassy here.”
“There’s already an Andorian Embassy here in West Gondor.” Taking her hand, Leonard struggled and finally lumbered back to his feet.
“You’re not listening, Puss! Andor doesn’t want an embassy. I do. For Heartstone Enterprises.” Laughing lightly, Le’Nara flicked her wrist and pulled the dropped banner over to her, before holding it back out to Lord Leonard. “Cost doesn’t matter, as long as you have a place large enough to suit our needs. Be a dear and help me out here, Pussy.”
“Don’t call me that!” Sighing, Lord Leonard rubbed a gauntleted hand through his hair and shook his head to try and clear it. The ‘invaders’ was the Second Princess of Andor, who was entreating for an embassy land grant with the name and fortune of Heartstone Enterprises at her beck and call.
He wasn’t entirely certain what the hell was going on exactly, but he knew that the old mayor had a lot of questions to answer. His Father was especially not going to be happy when he realized that the old fool had declared the Andorian Second an invader. Trying to shut the gates and turn away a Lordship that held the wealth of the Heartstone Empire wasn’t going to make him very happy either.
