In fact, he had probably outlived most of those sent to Gashek during the same reaping, especially when he had become the favourite of one of the officers in the Dark Elven army. Although still having to endure unthinkable abuse, he was fed and cleaned, even dressed in fine clothes. Moreover, because he was apparently owned by one elf, he was not passed around like so many others were. Although these were mainly girls, apparently there were a few other boys in Gashek being used for the same purpose. While his time in the Elven city may have been a living hell, Lofton had managed to survive over a year, far more than most humans sent there.
A few months back, the elf that had owned him had been posted elsewhere, and at first, Lofton had thought his time was probably done. He would inevitably be left behind and eventually be just another human boy passed from elf to elf until such time as he was no longer deemed desirable. When that happened, he would either be killed or more likely sent to the mines where he heard conditions were even worse, with many barely living more than a few months. However, much to his surprise, the Elf who owned him had managed to add him to the number of humans travelling with the soldiers. These were all people of a similar age to himself that had undergone just a very basic training, and who were given a magical potion that apparently made them more susceptible to do their Master’s bidding. In effect, this potion appeared to make most of the other young men Lofton had travelled with, nothing more than mindless husks. Merely empty shells of the young men they had previously been, seemingly willing to do whatever their elven masters instructed.
As Lofton had also been required to do the same basic training he had been told by his owner that he would be safe and not required to do any fighting. Thinking he would not have to undergo the same mindnumbing process suffered by his fellow recruits, he had, however, had to suffer the very same. Yet for whatever reason, the potion appeared not to have affected Lofton the same way as the others. After having it forced down his throat, he had felt somewhat queasy and nauseous, with a head that felt it might explode at any moment. Whereas all the others in the group appeared to then wander around as if half asleep, after a nights rest Lofton appeared none the worse for wear. His thoughts were still his own, although to at least play along with the charade of the potion working he had tried to imitate the same behaviour as the others. Lofton had assumed this had worked well enough as nobody appeared to question his behaviour, not even the elf that owned him.
After a short training and a long, arduous journey on foot, at least for the humans, they had eventually arrived at the outpost at Crendon. Apparently, they would be expected to stay there for a year, and only permitted to return to Gashek once they were relieved by the next batch. Lofton had found his time at Crendon even worse than that in Gashek, especially as his owner, for whatever reason had not travelled with them after all, and been posted elsewhere. This effectively left Lofton to be treated like all the others and had been forced to suffer the usual abuse and beatings from their Dark Elven masters.
With his resolve hardened each time he had been forced to witness such cruelty, Lofton knew if he bided his time long enough an opportunity would arise for him to either take revenge or escape. Now that the outpost was all but bereft of Dark Elves, he thought his chance would never likely be as good again. Lofton’s dilemma now was how far did he want to take this, and moreover, the consequences of failing. With only a couple of Dark Elves left in the entire compound, the humans were now by far the most numerous based there. However, his fellow soldiers were nothing more than useless, as they would only do as was ordered by the elves. However, Lofton hoped if he could remove those few that remained, then perhaps they would be forced to take commands from him. Maybe if he announced he was in charge and acting on behalf of their Masters, the others would listen? Lofton wasn’t sure, but the more thought he gave the idea, the better he felt about it. The only thing he needed to do was sneak around the outpost killing off the Dark Elves, something that wasn’t going to be that easy.
Having been marched back to Crendon the previous day, because the Commander had deemed them a waste of time, the human soldiers at Crendon took up their posts around the perimeter wall. With a cold wind blowing and only thin clothes to wear, Lofton could feel the breeze biting through him. Shivering and stamping his feet to try and keep warm, Lofton decided he needed to act. The weather would only get colder, and therefore things would only get worse, and he was certain that before long he would freeze to death.
It was while on guard duty that he spotted something that gave him an idea of how to accomplish his plan. Humans were not only used as soldiers in Crendon but also for every other manual job. Whether that was feeding and caring for the animals, a dangerous job at the best of times, or maintenance workers keeping the outpost fit for purpose. Lofton reckoned there was probably a hundred at least, yet it seemed all bar him, appeared happy to plod along with their miserable, down-trodded lives. Lofton spotted two women walking across the yard towards the main building, where he knew the Dark Elves slept and ate. One of the women was carrying a tray, and he could tell by the cloth covering it, that it probably contained their Master’s food; Seeing this gave him his great idea.
No longer bothering with his duty to stand out in the cold he quickly darted down the steps that led down from the perimeter wall and across the yard. No longer bothering with the consequences of his actions, Lofton intercepted the two women.
“Stand there!” he ordered, shocked by the response he got.
Both women looked at him, and much to his surprise did as was asked, looking back at him with the same blank expressions worn by the human soldiers. Knowing he could not leave them standing there for long before the elves became suspicious, he darted off to the storeroom. Knowing with only a few elves on site, there would not be any inside, he forced open the door and headed for a small wooden cupboard on the wall. Having witnessed one of the elves take phials of poison out of there for the purpose of killing the plague of rats that seemed to appear and disappear at will, Lofton knew exactly what he needed and where to find it. Without delay, he grabbed a phial and hurried back outside to where the two women were still standing as he had ordered them too. This was something else that gave him hope, and without any further self-doubt, he proceeded with the next phase of his plan.
After removing the cloth from the tray, Lofton had felt tempted to just eat the food that was in the three bowls and be done with his plan. However tempting it smelled and looked, Lofton knew time was of the essence, and he needed to hurry before the elves came outside wondering where their food was. He looked at the faces of the two women, but neither so much as questioned why he was pouring and mixing poison into the thick gloopy porridge-like mixture. With the deed done, Lofton replaced the cover and ordered the women to proceed and serve their Masters the food.
Lofton watched as the two strolled towards the building, wondering as to whether he would be so successful in ordering all the other humans about. Knowing that standing in the middle of the yard would make him look somewhat suspicious should any of the elves decide to make an appearance before eating, Lofton thought it best to stand in the doorway of the storeroom. While he wanted to go and try ordering some of his fellow soldiers around to see if they would do as he said, the need to see his plan succeed was far greater. Unsure as to whether he had used enough poison, or even whether it was strong enough to kill the elves, Lofton waited anxiously.
The two women left the building just a few moments after entering, suggesting that those within had not suspected anything untoward. The results of his scheme soon became very apparent, as, within just a minute or two of waiting, one of the elves came bursting outside screaming and holding his hands up to his throat. With eyes almost bulging from its head, the elf fell to the ground, writing around in the dirt causing Lofton’s heart to beat even faster. As the elf suddenly fell silent, its body now limp and motionless on the ground, Lofton realised there was no going back now. He had killed one elf and now needed to check to ma
ke sure the others in the building had suffered the same way.
As he walked gingerly over towards the door, a thought occurred to him. Despite the cries and screams of the dying elf, not a single human had gone to its aid, something he thought might bode well for the future. Did the human’s under the influence only react when ordered to do so? Despite being with the Dark Elves for the past two years, it was something Lofton had not realised before, but showed that their level of self-thought must have been virtually none existent. Pulling his short sword from the scabbard at his waist, Lofton peered in through the half-open doorway, not sure what he might find within.
Feeling his breathing getting quicker, he stepped inside looking around for any signs of life. His attention was immediately drawn to a groaning sound over the far side of the room, and although fearful about what might happen, stepped slowly towards it. In the flickering lamplight, Lofton could make out the figure of an elf, still very much alive. Clearly, in some distress, the elf turned its head towards him, lifting its arm as if requesting him to assist. Lofton never really thought about what he did next, as he stepped over and thrust the blade of his sword into the chest of the elf lying on the floor. He looked at that cold grey face, and those red eyes staring back at him, feeling the hatred of all he had suffered and endured he twisted the blade and watched one of his so-called Masters die. Feeling no sense of remorse for what he had just done, Lofton stood back up before looking down at the elf he had just killed. Noticing his sword was still baring the blood of his victim, Lofton duly wiped the blade on the clothes of the dead elf.
Walking around the room, he stepped over a bowl of the food that had been knocked to the floor before finding the third and what he thought was the last of the elves in Crendon. Like the one outside this elf had evidently eaten more of the poison and had died clutching and clawing at the skin around its neck, leaving a gruesome sight. With bulbous red eyes, Lofton kicked the corpse just to make sure it was dead, before deciding to explore a little further around the rest of the building. Ordinarily, a place he was not permitted to enter unless requested to do so, Lofton ventured into some of the other rooms.
The first, appeared to be some kind of bunkroom, in truth little different to the one he used, except that it was much warmer. Moreover, he noticed the beds appeared much cleaner and had more blankets on them than those given over for human use. There was even a fire still burning in the small stone hearth at the far end of the room, but it was to the sets of drawers and tall cupboards that Lofton was drawn. Opening each one, in turn, he discovered dozens of clean shirts and breeches, one full of socks and another full of vests and underclothes. In the tall cupboard, he found dozens of blankets, more than enough to go around the human population at Crendon with some to spare.
Lofton also discovered some kind of office with a desk and papers strewn across the top, but not being able to read had no idea of what anything said. On the wall of the study was a large map, and by looking at the detailed landscape was able to point out both Gashek and Crendon, although could not find his home village. Lofton noticed certain parts of the map appeared blank as if the person making it had not known what was there. Having never travelled to those areas, Lofton assumed that perhaps they were merely wasteland and that they were simply not worthy of note to put on the map.
As Lofton ventured back down a hallway to the main room, he passed a rack containing several swords and spears, as well as a couple of crossbows; weapons not ordinarily given to humans. With so much to see, Lofton had almost forgotten that he still had to find a way of getting the other humans in Crendon to follow his command and do as he asked. While he had managed to order the two women outside to do as requested, he wasn’t so sure it would work on all the people. While he had appeared completely immune to whatever magical potion they had forced down him, others also appeared to have been affected slightly differently. As to why that was the case, Lofton had to admit to himself that he did not know, but it was something that might make his task somewhat harder. Those most affected he thought would probably jump off the top of the wall if he commanded them to do so, yet those at the other end of the scale would seem confused as to why they should be taking command from another human as opposed to their elven masters.
As Lofton returned to the main room, the bodies of the Dark Elves remained where he had left them, when he suddenly had an idea. Quickly turning around he darted back to the office and shuffled around for what he thought looked like an official piece of paper. He afforded a smile as he found exactly what he was looking for, although he had no idea what it said. With a large golden symbol printed in the top corner of the page and lots of elegantly written words, he thought it suitable for what he needed. Without further delay, he then headed back outside to try and convince his fellow humans he was now in charge.
After ensuring the gates were shut, Lofton managed to gather as many of the humans in Crendon as he could. Having a few of the women helping him, he also piled up the spare clothes and blankets he had found ready to hand out to the soldiers, hoping a little gift might help swing their allegiance his way. Holding up the piece of paper in his hand he cleared his throat and shouted his words out so they could be heard by everybody.
“A terrible accident has befallen our Masters. They are all dead, but before the last died, he signed this order putting me in charge. From now on I am to command the outpost at Crendon, until such time as our Master's return!” he declared waving the paper in his hand.
One man stepped forward, quickly followed by two more, all looking somewhat doubtful and even confused as to what was going on. One snatched the paper from his hand and held it in front of him as if reading it, and Lofton thought his plan was going to fail already. However, the man merely nodded before showing the paper to the two others behind him who mirrored his actions.
“Looks all official!” One of them said handing the paper back over to Lofton.
“What will you have us do, Sir?” Another asked.
Lofton afforded himself a large grin as he turned to the two women stood by the piles of blankets and clothes.
“As my first act of your new commander, I have been asked to give you these,” Lofton announced gesturing with his hand. “Extra clothing and blankets for your beds!” He added looking at their faces for any kind of adverse or dubious reactions. Lofton felt sure there were none, and that for now at least, all of the soldiers and auxiliary staff at Crendon appeared happy to do as he asked. With that in mind, the first job was to get rid of the dead bodies and poisoned food; As the commander, he would need to use the elven quarters as his base of operation.
Unsure as to what he would do if and when the Dark Elven force returned, Lofton also knew he needed to check on the amount of supplies he had at his disposal. The arrival of the extra soldiers would have taken up much of any surplus the outpost might have had, and the thought of not having enough, only added to his ever-growing list of worries. Suddenly, having responsibility was something Lofton had not experienced before, although he had always thought those in charge had it very easy. Now he was in such a position he was not quite so sure, although he was determined to make of it what he could.
Chapter 22.
The state of alert at Insgarth was lowered, and those reservists that had been called out to fight were allowed back into the city to resume their normal jobs. Egar had been assisted down the steps and back towards the infirmary in the city where he was allowed to rest. As Brenion had explained to Liana on several occasions, magic always came at a cost. Both she and Ari were also asked to go back home, more so to act as a babysitter to Oscar, than for any other purpose, although this was something Liana did not mind doing. Not only was it much warmer in the family home, but she had already become very fond of the little boy, despite what he was.
Elynia, as a healer was asked to check on the few casualties suffered on the human side. Just five had died, two when a group of elves had managed to scale the wall, the other three to crossbow bolts fired
up from the trapped soldiers below in a defiant last stand to make a fight of it. After checking each, in turn, Elynia confirmed each was dead, and there was nothing she could do before she turned her attention to the four wounded soldiers. Three hit by crossbow fire, and the fourth having suffered a slash from an elven blade, although in truth none were serious and would merely require cleaning and dressing. That being said, Elynia did use a small amount of magic to help one of the soldiers who had been hit by a crossbow bolt. With the shot being close to his chest, Elynia checked for internal damage and made a small repair to a muscle before closing the wound with her magical skills.
Meanwhile, the hundreds of dead elves and the strange beasts they used were piled up just inside the gates ready for burning. However, even after everything that had been rained down upon them, not all the elves were dead, at least not yet. Several had tried to fake their deaths, lying still amongst the corpses of their fallen brethren hoping that a chance to escape might yet become available to them. The humans sent out beyond the gates were no fools and had set guards across the tunnel stopping two such elves from escaping. Having thought they had escaped the carnage, the two had suddenly jumped up from the mass of bodies and made a run for the tunnel, but neither had made it more than a few yards before being cut down.
Reign of the Dark Elves Page 18
