by Hans Bezdek
“F-Fae e-elders!” stuttered the man, saluting them awkwardly. “L-Lord Kutarm is about to speak to the p-people, if you’d like t-to accompany me!”
“We’d be happy to,” smiled Uriah. The elders turned to follow the messenger, with Uriah glancing over at Xylona. “Joining us?”
Xylona smiled. “I’d love nothing more.”
Chapter 14
Zeke and Xylona dismounted their horse, knowing it would be more of a bother than anything in order to go deeper into the city. While Zeke would’ve loved having a quick escape ready, it didn’t look to be in the cards. If things went badly… they were going to be in some serious trouble.
“Thanks,” whispered Xylona, the elders fairly far ahead of them. “You really helped me out back there.”
“No problem,” mumbled back Zeke. He couldn’t believe it, but he had decided the fae wasn’t so bad. Besides, it’s not like letting her flounder with the fae elders would have helped him any. If she goes down, he goes down with her.
The two of them passed through the gathering crowd around a tall building not far from the gate they entered. Above them was a wide balcony. Several men decked out in the finest armor Zeke had seen stood at the ready, pikes at the ready. There were a couple other men and women up there, but Zeke couldn’t tell if any of them were Lord Kutarm.
The elders entered into a nearby building, Uriah beckoning them to follow. They took a spiral staircase up the top of the building, Zeke leaning against the wall for stability about halfway up. He wanted to complain about how tall humans felt like their buildings needed to be but figured he had talked enough in the presence of the elders.
The group of them walked out onto the building’s balcony, giving them a much better view of the one that everyone was staring up at. All the people that Zeke first noticed on that balcony suddenly turned, facing inwards. Zeke watched as a figure walked out from the building and onto the balcony, the other humans turning to watch as the man walked. The crowd below them started going wild with cheers and shouts, some going so far as to jump up and down and reach up towards the balcony. It was like they were watching a popstar… or a god.
“That’s him,” whispered Xylona, confirming Zeke’s suspicion. “That’s Lord Kutarm.”
Zeke looked the figure over, surprised by what he saw. Kutarm was easily the tallest human he had ever seen, looking to be maybe eight feet tall. Part of that was probably thanks to his massive boots, but only part. The man’s face was extremely pale and sunken looking. There was something unnatural about his features, and it wasn’t helped by what he was wearing.
The man was decked out from neck to toe in white and gray bone armor. His chest plate was in a skull design, with his shoulder pads pointing up with jagged spikes. In his right hand, he held a long staff, curved towards the top. An orb of black and gray filled the opening.
The elf tried to suppress the thought that he was going to have to fight the man very soon. He tried to focus on the positives, such as the man under the bones.
“Intimidating armor,” said Zeke. “I guess he has to overcompensate for how sickly he looks.”
“Oh, he’s sick alright,” nodded Xylona. “But that’s thanks to the First Staff.”
“First Staff, eh?” mumbled Zeke. He always wondered which Arcane Staff Kutarm held. Not that knowing the number really did anything for him. He remembered that the different Staves had different abilities, but he had no idea what any of them were. He still had no idea what he did, if it still did anything at all. “What’s it do? Make the user sick?”
“In a sense,” sighed Xylona. “It makes them have the power over death.”
Zeke blinked.
“Sorry, I think I didn’t hear you right,” he said.
“The First Staff gives him the ability to control death,” she said. “That’s why he is able to control the undead. That’s also why we need you in order to kill him. Our other attempts have completely failed.”
“Not ideal,” mumbled Zeke. “What about the fae and demons, though?”
“Kutarm was a magic user even before he got the Arcane Staff,” she explained. “I think it’s allowed him a greater level of control over the demons and my people. While the fae aren’t evil… I’ll admit there is some darkness in us that the other races don’t share. He must be able to tap into that by combining his magic with the power of the First Staff.”
“Lovely,” he groaned. He already thought killing Lord Kutarm was going to be hard, but now it sounded like it was borderline impossible. Even if the Fourth Staff worked they might not stand a chance. This was going from bad to worse.
“Thank you, thank you all. It is indeed I, your great Lord Kutarm in the flesh,” smiled the man as his voice boomed down to all of those below. “I know there were some rumors among you that I had not actually come on this excursion east, but let me assure you that is clearly not the case. Those that have spread such lies will be dealt with in due time, have no fear.”
Zeke looked down and saw a few people shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, glancing around at those around them. He also noted a couple of people sneaking away from the gathered crowd and heading towards the gate. The elf wished he could join them.
“I would like to gather all of you for coming, including our great allies in the fae,” continued Kutarm, waving towards Zeke’s balcony. The elders waved back, ecstatic at the recognition. Zeke felt Kutarm’s eyes on him briefly and involuntarily shivered. The human seemed to pay him no mind and went back to addressing those down below. “Through their help, along with the races of demon and undead, we have made great progress in claiming Linsuk for ourselves.”
The crowd cheered at this, Lord Kutarm pausing until they quieted down.
Zeke felt the circle around his hands disappear. He looked over at Xylona, raising an eyebrow.
“Now’s your chance,” she whispered. “Use the Arcane Staff and kill him!”
The elf panicked. This wasn’t going to go well.
Looking over her shoulder towards the fae elders, he nodded in their direction. “What about them? Won’t they freak out?”
“Don’t worry about them,” she replied. “I’ll make sure no one comes for you until after the deed is done. After that, the two of us can either fight our way out or try to convince the others to accept us as their new leaders.”
Neither of those options seemed very likely.
“I have chosen Stedforge as the beginning of the final part of our campaign,” continued Lord Kutarm, the crowd below finally quiet again. “We will split into three companies, each pushing to the eastern at different angles. This is where we finish the fight that we’ve been struggling with for so long, and finally, take over all of Linsuk!”
The man paused again as the crowd erupted.
Zeke glanced back at Xylona, who waved her hand for him to get on with it. Zeke bit his lip and grabbed the Arcane Staff off of his back. Once again, there was no purple glow at the top of it. Not the best start to an assassination attempt.
Deciding it was worth a try, Zeke pointed the end of the Fourth Staff at Lord Kutarm. He closed his eyes and tried to picture a ray of magic shooting out and engulfing the tyrant. After a few seconds, he risked taking a peek.
There wasn’t a single hint of magic.
“We will start by moving as a single unit for Westdale,” continued Kutarm. “As I’m sure some of you have heard, some pests from Burston made the mistake to come into our lands. They successfully took over the town, and must be punished thoroughly.”
“What are you waiting for?” hissed Xylona.
“Um… give me a second,” he mumbled, putting the Fourth Staff on his back. He reached his hands forward, trying to will them to turn on with magic.
Nothing happened.
“When the scum has been defeated, we will ransack the city of Burston,” continued Kutarm, a new edge to his voice. “We will make the city flow with blood and dismantle their walls. The city will be completely destroyed, and
as long as my empire holds, it will never be rebuilt!”
“What are you doing?!” demanded Xylona.
Zeke sighed and lowered his hands. He was dreading this moment. “I might have let you have certain assumptions that aren’t true…”
“All of the people and towns that have stood against us will fall!” declared Kutarm. “They will be destroyed or put into servitude. They will all rue the day that they rejected us when we came peacefully!”
“Like what?” she asked, glancing over at the fae elders. They were still focused on Kutarms words and paid the two of them no mind. “I saw the explosion outside of Burston. I know you really have the Fourth Staff.”
“That’s all true,” nodded Zeke. “But the explosion seems to have, maybe, broken the Arcane Staff.”
Xylona stared blankly at Zeke for a moment. He smiled nervously back.
“Impossible,” she finally said, shaking her head. “I saw you use the magic against the patrol when one of the men snuck up behind me.”
“Now that I can’t explain,” yielded Zeke. “The magic didn’t come from the Staff, though. It actually came from my hands.”
“You’re a mage?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No! That’s what makes it so strange!”
“So you had me sneak the two of us in here, and there’s nothing you can do to kill our target,” she summarized. “You had and have no plan.”
Zeke tilted his head back and forth. “More or less.”
Xylona stared hard at him. “I’m going to kill you.”
That’s when Zeke first heard the sound of distant cries. He thought he was just hearing things at first, but the sound grew slightly louder. They weren’t cries of pain or discomfort, but of war. This was confirmed when shouts from close to the Stedforge walls sprang forth, these getting the attention of everyone.
The fae elders shared a concerned look, as did nearly everyone in the crowd below them. Worried whispers sprang forth, a few people making for the gates and reaching for their weapons.
Lord Kutarm looked around, confusion painted on his face.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded, his voice barely audible over the battle cries and the sound of hundreds of soldiers running. “I didn’t order any movement! I am still speaking!”
“It’s the Resistance!” cried men by the gate, turning back and raising their weapons high overhead. “The Resistance is storming towards us!”
Zeke looked to Xylona. “Looks like you might have to wait to kill me.”
“Looks like it,” the fae grunted in agreement.
Chapter 15
Sloane and the others made down the road back towards Westdale after Zeke and Xylona left. They were running low on sleep, but they could make up for it some other time. Today was a day for action.
To their surprise, they didn’t have to travel far before they came across the victorious Linsuk Resistance. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits after their triumph in Westdale, although those at the front were apprehensive of Sloane and the others before recognizing them.
“It’s Kriket and the other two!” cried out one of the men at the front.
Cheers came from all around, their weapons raised high.
“Good to see you all,” smiled Kriket, waving with his one good arm. “I take it taking over of Westdale was easy enough?”
“They put up a fight at first, but they soon gave up,” said one of the others towards the front. “A few people ran towards us shouting that we had demons on our side. The rest of them surrendered pretty quickly.”
Sloane smiled at Delvin. “Good work with that.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” beamed the gnome with pride.
“I’m happy to hear that,” nodded Kriket. “What caused you all to move so quickly to Stedforge? We were just coming for you.”
There was some movement in the crowd. Sloane heard the distinct sound of squeaking leather, and then a familiar face appeared.
“I told some people about meeting the three of you and that elf,” explained the man in red armor they met back in Westdale. “I said that you all must’ve hurried off towards Stedforge and that if we hurried we might be able to catch up to you.”
“We rested up for a few hours, then began our march,” said another.
“We’re glad you hurried,” smiled Sloane. “We actually have some exciting news… Lord Kutarm awaits in Stedforge.”
The crowd stared back in shocked silence. The only sound that could be heard was the wind, and the squeaking as the man retreated back into the masses.
“He what now?” asked one of the men.
“Lord Kutarm is within our grasp!” exclaimed Kriket. “Doesn’t that excite you all?”
There were mumbles of ‘yes’, but Sloane could see no one had thought today was the day they’d fight against Lord Kutarm himself.
“This is great news,” explained Sloane. “We have a chance to end this all today, and you’ll all be able to return to your families sooner than expected!”
“That’s assuming we win,” pointed out one of the women to their left.
“Yeah… I thought we’d have more time to gather momentum,” added a man to their right.
“But you just took over a town!” pointed out Sloane.
“It was just Westdale,” mumbled someone further back in the crowd.
Sloane groaned, rubbing a hand over her face. How was this lot so unmotivated? She cleared her throat and tried again. “We’ve got The Elf Thief infiltrating the city as we speak, and he has the Arcane Staff! He’ll be able to take out Lord Kutarm in no time!”
“Then it doesn’t sound like he really needs our help then, does it?” chimed in another person from the crowd. Others nodded at this.
“B-But he’ll need our help creating a distraction!” explained Sloane. “There are hundreds, if not thousands of Kutarm’s forces camped out all around the city. Without our help, he’ll be killed in no time!”
The crowd murmured among themselves, no one seeming particularly moved by this. Sloane was beginning to wonder if she had a made a fatal misstep in assuming the Linsuk Resistance would actually pull through for them. Had she just sent Zeke off to his death after spending all this effort tracking him down?
“I’ll double everyone’s pay!” exclaimed Delvin.
“What?!” yelped Sloane, but it was too late.
“To Stedforge!” roared the Linsuk Resistance, everyone beginning to move again.
“Good thinking, Delvin!” cheered Kriket, joining the masses.
Sloane shot Delvin a look, but the two joined with the others. It looked like this war was going to really cost them. She supposed she had made a promise to that halfling Tariq to do this. If she just focused on that, all the loss of gold hurt a little less.
A little.
The disorderly Linsuk Resistance reached the edge of the forest shortly after. The moment they saw the black and blue soldiers down in the valley below, they broke into a run. Battle cries rang out all around, knowing that there wasn’t going to be much of a surprise on the awaiting army anyway. Sloane, Delvin, and Kriket let loose their own shouts as they ran, pumping themselves up along with the rest of the Resistance.
The lounging Kutarm army quickly sprung into action, brandishing their weapons and letting out war cries of their own. The army rushed to meet them, and the two forces were in heated combat before they knew it. The Linsuk Resistance was definitely outnumbered, but the promise of a doubled paycheck seemed to be doing the trick. Everyone was fighting as hard as they could, and to Sloane’s surprised, they were pushing Kutarm’s first wave back.
“We’re doing it!” cried out Sloane, her bow in hand. “Keep up the pressure! Don’t let up!”
“Think of all the money!” cried out someone near her. This elicited a roar of excitement, and the Linsuk Resistance surged against their opponents with renewed fury.
Sloane was finding out that she was not as good at motivating people as she thought
she was. She looked down at Delvin who just shrugged before running forward with the rest of the Resistance.
The second of Kutarm’s waves proved to be a bit stronger, their cavalry now showing up. The Resistance only had a handful of horses, and their riders proved to not be as skilled as Kutarm’s. Sloane began unloading arrows as fast as she could, focusing on the riders whenever she saw one. Mumbling incantations of fire as she went, flaming arrows began taking out Kutarm’s men left and right.
One of Kutarm’s horsemen took note of her, driving his horse right for the archer. Sloane quickly fired her next shot at horseman, but the man raised his shield in front of him before the arrow made it to him. It bounced off, not leaving so much as a burn mark. Sloane tried to prepare a second shot but was too slow. The rider was going to reach her before she could take him out. She could just make out the man’s grin as he steadied his pike towards her.
Unfortunately for him, a certain gnome had other plans.
Delvin hopped off his giant horse as the rider, who had tunnel vision for Sloane, ignored him and everyone else. The gnome wasn’t going to win any jumping contests, but the height of his horse helped him get over enough to be level with the man’s hip. Using both of his hands, Delvin swung his mace as hard as he could at his target.
Time froze for a brief second as the mace connected with the overzealous horseman.
The sound of bones braking filled Sloane’s ears as she watched the man fly high into the air and back towards the next line of Kutarm’s army. His horse continued on towards Sloane, avoiding her and running deeper into the Linsuk Resistance’s ranks.
“Thanks!” shouted Sloane, taking another shot and downing a ground troop in the general vicinity of the gnome.
“Not a problem,” smiled Delvin, getting back to his horse.
The Resistance continued its push, driving through the next wave of Kutarm’s forces. While both sides were losing men and women, momentum was on the Resistance’s side. Sloane noticed some of Kutarm’s soldiers running away, fleeing across the open valley towards the safety of the forest surrounding them.
