by RG Long
A yelping noise from far in front of them brought Cuno out of his raging just long enough to allow the pitiful Wrent to come up to his leader and drop down in front of him. The fox beast was scared and bloody, his brown fur matted with dirt and blood. The spear in his hand was broken and his breathing was ragged and gasping.
“They’ve... beaten us...” was all he could say, over and over again.
Cuno grabbed the pitiful excuse for a Wrent and held him out in front of him. He could feel the power pulsating through his paw and the rage in his eyes building.
“Who!?” he demanded. “Who could have beaten the united tribe of Wrents!?”
“The...” the creature moaned. “The elves...”
A snarl formed on his lips and his shook with rage. The elves. That was who they had come to defeat. That was who they had sought revenge on. And now they were again thwarted by the hideous, land stealing, long-legged elves?
Letting loose a howl of rage, Cuno ignited the body of the Wrent he held in flames and threw him against a nearby tree. It sank to the ground, but not before Cuno sent another blast of fire at the body, incinerating both the base of the tree and the place where the body had fallen.
He barked and growled and snarled. His mighty tribe. His unified Wrent clan. Everything wasted on bloodlust and animal instinct. This wasn’t how he was going to have his legacy be remembered: the unifier who could not keep his Wrents faithful to him. He spun around and saw Lacha, glowering at the place where the unfortunate messenger had been.
“Gather whatever Wrents you can find!” he shouted. “Bring them to me and tell them that if they do not obey, they’ll face my fire!”
Lacha bowed and turned away, not meeting Cuno’s eyes or speaking to him at all. Behind him stood Kika, a snarl on her own face.
“If all of the Wrents are burned in your rage, then what tribe will we have left to rule?”
Cuno was on her in a moment. He grasped her throat and felt the heat in his paw rise. Kika’s eyes flashed from anger to fear in a breath. She yelped and her eyes went wide.
“No!” she gasped. “Our... brood.”
Cuno looked at her. He knew it would be easy to burn her. To consume her with fire and be rid of her and the Wrents she held in her belly. She was even beginning to show.
“I can get other willing Wrents to continue my line,” he said with a growl. “Doubt me again and I will dispose of you and do just that.”
He relinquished his grasp on Kika and turned away from her. The gasps of air and rasping breathing told him she was still alive. Though he was sure he had left her with a memory of fire that would not soon fade.
Cuno was in control. Cuno was the leader of the Wrents.
He would have his tribe do his bidding.
Or he would burn them as quickly as he burned the trees around him.
LACHA WORKED QUICKLY. The messengers had gone out far and wide. The Wrents came back from their hunting of elves. Each came before Cuno and bowed before him, or was set to flame for their insubordination. The more that tasted his fire, the fewer that dared defied him.
Kika and Lacha sat behind him, the only two he trusted. And one he cared for less and less.
By the hundreds, they returned to him. Each Wrent showed him honor. Each remembered their oath to follow him as the Unifier. And now, they waited for his plan with fear in their hearts, but blood on their minds.
The elves had still yet to fully be repaid for their treachery.
One by one, Cuno heard the tales.
A Wrent came up to him and bowed down low.
“Great Red Paw,” he said, with his face to ground. “My Wrents and I went far as we pursued the long-legged elves who live in the forests.”
“Which I had not commanded you to do,” Cuno said with a snarl.
The Wrent winced and took a step back.
“I ask for your forgiveness,” he said.
Cuno’s paw ignited as he looked down on the pitiful creature. He felt the fire growing within him. Maybe he would let him live just long enough to get the story. Maybe he would cut him short.
“Tell me the rest,” Cuno commanded.
The Wrent swallowed hard. Sweat began to appear on his face.
“The elves of the forest are scattered. Some fled south to the mountains. We chased them until our paws were torn on the rocks they climbed to escape us. Others left in boats to the north. Some of my Wrents saw them. The ships sailed north. We were not able to pursue them further.”
The fire in Cuno’s paw grew. Taking a step back, the Wrent faltered as he spoke.
“We now return to you,” he said quickly. “We will serve the Unifier!”
Cuno snarled at the cowering Wrent. Without warning, he let out a bark and sent a fireball at the feet of the Wrent.
“See that you prove more faithful in the future!” he called as the Wrent ran, tail between his legs.
Lacha came up behind Cuno and spoke.
“More elves east,” he said in his usual short way. “Boats are gathered.”
Cuno turned to face him.
“The forest elves use ships?” he barked as he asked.
Lacha shook his head.
“Shining metal elves,” he said. “Empire elves.”
Cuno looked at Lacha’s face. How did he know this?
“You’re sure?” he asked the stoic Wrent. Lacha only nodded.
Cuno turned to his Wrents that had gathered before him. Some were lying down, licking the wounds they had received from chasing down the elves. Others fought as Wrents formed circles around them to watch. Some ate bits of flesh or chewed on branches.
The unifier contemplated what to do. The elves of the woods were driven off and scattered throughout Irradan. Some had fled south to the mountains in hopes of finding refuge there. Others had gone in boats north, to what end or destiny his Wrents could not tell him.
But in the south and the east, the elves of the empire were gathering. The army they had fought had regrouped. For whatever purpose, Cuno did not yet know. But this knowledge allowed him to conceive a strategy to attack the elves.
And Cuno would do so with a vengeance.
29: Rumors on the Walls
Bernard was glad to be back on the walls of Lone Peak. He felt like, after being gone for so long and dragged around most of Darrion by either the elves or Captain Kilgore, that he would be content to stay in Lone Peak for a good while and tell stories about his adventures.
He even had a willing and interactive audience.
“And then,” he said as he turned around, sword in hand and facing the opposite end of the wall where Pumpkin sat. “That’s when I turned my horse around and drove it back to save you from the jaws of the Wrents! Hacking and slicing, I cut my way through to you so that you wouldn’t be fighting all alone! You’d had Bernard the Brave by your side!”
Pumpkin was cheering and clapping as she sat cross-legged on the wall.
Bernard enjoyed having such an enthusiastic listener. Lincoln was so engrossed with writing and Captain Kilgore was always so engrossed in... well, whatever made him tick. The soldier was glad to have someone who listened and asked questions about his adventures.
Even if she had been there the entire time and was a part of the whole thing.
“Then what did I do?” she asked, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a wide smile. “What happened next?”
Bernard’s sword fell a little bit in his hand. He had been acting out his brave rescue of Pumpkin when he remembered that she had in fact told him a very simple tidbit.
“You told me your favorite type of apple,” he said, voice trailing off.
“Hey, Bernard,” Lincoln said in a questioning way. He knew what his friend was going to ask. What word rhymed with apple. Or side. Or something.
“You know I’m not good at rhyming!” Bernard said, cutting across his friend as he spoke. The large Lincoln turned around and raised his eyebrow as he looked down at Bernard.
“What?” he aske
d. “Oh, no, I’m not writing a poem at the moment. But I think maple would be a good word to rhyme with apple. Or grapple, like Pumpkin suggested. No, I wanted to ask why Captain Kilgore was walking towards us. He looks mad.”
Bernard looked up to the path along the wall. The city of Lone Peak was a bustle of activity. It had been two weeks since the elves had been kicked out of the city, unceremoniously. Their true intentions were made known and the citizens of Lone Peak along with the soldiers of Leviathan and Condor had successfully seen every elf to the gates. Unfortunately, the invaders had already bought most of the food and taken it to their ships, leaving the city in short supply.
Rations were handed out daily and only to those who stood in very long lines. Being soldiers, they were given their rations at night and only if there was some left. The idea was that the common citizen’s morale would be boosted if they knew the city was being defended by noble soldiers who put the commoner before them.
Bernard didn’t think it was a good plan and his stomach rumbled at the thought of it. Kilgore had been busy ever since their return. He didn’t spare much time for his own company. Instead, he spoke with the three leaders of the houses of the city: Leviathan, Bear, and Condor. Bernard and Lincoln were a part of Condor, now the third ruling house. The first, Leviathan, was in charge of the ships of Darrion, what little they had at least.
Kilgore was apparently sharing everything they had learned on their adventure with the army of elves with the leaders, seeing if it would aid them in their quest to be free of the empire. In the meantime, Bernard and Lincoln were assigned to their old job: defend First Wall. This was the wall that separated the business district from the governing houses of the city.
And now Kilgore was headed toward them and in the direction of the house of Judgement, where the ruling houses conducted their business.
“You two,” he said as he approached them. “Follow me. Bring the unbalanced elf.”
He didn’t even stop to acknowledge their salute.
Bernard and Lincoln both fell in step behind Kilgore, but not before they exchanged a questioning look.
“What do you mean by ‘unbalanced?” came a voice from behind them. “I’m great at this!”
Bernard looked over his shoulder to see Pumpkin tiptoeing along the edge of the wall, arms outstretched. She bounced as lightly as if she were on a field of grass.
“Get down from there!” Bernard said, grabbing Pumpkin’s hand and pulling her down. In reality, he jumped to reach her hand and gravity did the rest after he caught hold of it. She really was much taller than he was.
Pumpkin landed lightly from being pulled down. Bernard’s own fall was much less graceful. His feet got behind his legs and he crumpled into a heap as he over balanced. Bernard thought he heard a sigh from Kilgore, even though his captain kept up his brisk pace. In a flash, Bernard was lifted up by his collar and set back on his feet.
Sometimes he forgot how strong Lincoln was, even though it looked like most of the man’s considerable bulk was fat.
“You should practice landing like Pumpkin,” his friend said as he smiled and turned to follow Kilgore.
Bernard grumbled most of the rest of the way down the wall as Pumpkin followed behind him, skipping and humming to herself.
THE HOUSE OF JUDGEMENT was not a place Bernard visited often. He had no business there. This was a place where the nobles of Lone Peak discussed the important matters of the city and the nation. Bernard was more concerned with whether or not he had an adventure to talk about than politics.
Because of that, he was unfamiliar with the twists and turns it took to get into the inner house. Kilgore and Lincoln were walking together up ahead of them, while Bernard was trying to convince a wandering Pumpkin that she needed to come with him.
“I don’t think it’s a good time to be looking at the artwork,” he said, pulling her from a very large tapestry she was observing and pointing at.
“Look!” she said. “It’s got puppies on it!”
“Those are wolves!” Bernard responded, breathing heavily with the effort of near dragging her. “Now come on! Captain Kilgore’ll be waiting on us!”
It was true. By the time he got Pumpkin pulled away from the tapestry depicting wolves being hunted by knights and hounds and down the hallway, Kilgore and Lincoln had vanished out of sight. Bernard walked until he saw two large doors and assumed they were where he was supposed to go.
“Come on,” he said, pulling Pumpkin by the hand.
It wasn’t long before they had reached the large doors and pushed in on them. Bernard had expected to see Kilgore and Lincoln, as well as a few of the ruling nobles. He had not expected to see over one hundred people in the room. All of them turned their attention to him and to Pumpkin.
“Surprise!” she shouted, extending her arms out in celebration of who knew what.
Bernard stood, wide eyed and unmoving.
Several long moments passed before a harsh voice echoed in the room, even though it was spoken in a low, threatening tone.
“Bernard,” Kilgore hissed. “Get over here.”
He obeyed and shuffled his way over to his captain who stood in the middle of the room. Kilgore didn’t even turn to see if his orders had been obeyed. Instead, he directed his attention back to the three thrones that stood upon the dais. The brown and blue of Leviathan dominated the middle and most prominent seat. In the chair below the large hanging banner was Robert, the leader of Leviathan and, by popular vote, Darrion.
“Who is this?” the squat man asked, pointing at Bernard and eyeing Pumpkin suspiciously. “And what is he doing with an elf? I thought we banished the lot of them!”
“This one is not on the same side as the others,” Kilgore said, dismissing Pumpkin with a wave. “And, to be honest, she’s not a threat unless you’re a Wrent or one of the elves who tried to lock her up.”
Bernard thought he saw a flash of anger cross Robert’s face, but it was gone in a moment. The large man put his hand down and rested a chubby elbow on the armrest of his chair.
“Continue, then,” he said.
Kilgore bowed.
“As I was saying, we became separated from the army of Darrion and found ourselves in the tents of the elves. We saw their plans. And so, we traveled to the closest city to warn them and see if we could thwart the elves’ plans.”
Bernard’s mind began to click into place. Kilgore was explaining their story. Not just to Noble Robert, who he was sure had already heard it, but these others. Other captains and guards and generals perhaps. He waited to see if Kilgore would mention the brave things he had done in their adventures.
He didn’t.
“And after we ensured the city was back in the hands of Darrion, we returned here as quickly as we could. We were assaulted by a few roaming Wrents along the way, but nothing that was not easily handled. Especially with her fighting with us.”
He pointed a thumb back at Pumpkin, who was doing a sort of spinning in place circle dance. Some of the men in the room laughed. Others kept quiet and looked grave.
“As you have heard, then,” Robert said rubbing his temples. “The elves appear to be trying to take over our cities one by one. They’ve failed in their attempts to control all of them. But our reports show that at least two of our major cities are under elven control.”
A general murmuring rang through the crowd.
The man who sat to Robert’s right, a noble called Cecil of Bear House, spoke up.
“We do not know for sure if the elves intend us harm!” he said. “We ought not to rush into things thinking we’re at war!”
A few grumbles of agreement. Drowning those out were calls of lunacy and hate.
“You’re mad!”
“Of course, they’re trying to kill us!”
“We ARE at war!”
Robert held up a hand until silence was brought back to the room. Bernard thought he looked rather tired.
“Now, now,” he said. “We will hear all sid
es in this house before a decision is made. It is important to keep our minds open to all of our options.”
“We have few left,” Kilgore said.
More nods of agreement.
Robert gave Kilgore a stare that clearly said he didn’t appreciate being undercut by him.
“What are your suggestions, then?” Robert asked, a glare of mistrust on his face.
Bernard watched more than heard Kilgore take a deep breath, the big man’s chest heaving once and then returning to its original position.
“We have limited resources here,” he began. “But we’d have even less if we went campaigning to fight the elves out there. I think we’re in for a battle and it’ll take place here. I think we ought to send word to every human settlement that is still under our control to send anyone they can spare to Lone Peak. The elves will be using most of their forces to assault us, I imagine. If we just wait it out, we’ll be dead in a week. If we have reinforcements coming up behind the elves who attack us, we’ll at least have a chance.”
There were murmurs in the crowd as people spoke to their neighbors, deliberating what was said.
Cecil, the Bear House head, spoke first.
“And suppose we don’t want to be cornered like dogs and just wait for the elves to come and get us?”
A few nods and mumbles of assent.
Kilgore turned to face the younger man. Cecil had not long been in charge of the house of Bear and Bernard was sure that Robert had somehow arranged for his rise to take place under his watch. In fact, Robert now eyed him with an eyebrow raised. Perhaps he was wondering what his right-hand man would say.
“Your suggestion, then, Noble Cecil?” Kilgore asked. Bernard caught the sarcasm in his captain’s voice, sure that he had heard it used in his direction more than once.
“Take every available boat and fill it with the leaders of the city, then the women and children, then whoever else can fit and flee. Leave Lone Peak and Darrion to the elves and find a new land to call our own.”
