by Shawn Sodman
Kel'ana shoots an ice arrow from Glacies, but the ogre simply blocks it with another large stone that it has just picked up. Ja'noa sheathes her daggers and casts bolt of lightning. As she channels more energy into the spell, Gena does the same. Ya'leigh fires her bow at the same ogre that Kel'ana has just shot at, but the ogre sidesteps the arrow.
Now the ogres throw their rocks. Sven grabs Lyra and pulls her out of the way of one while the other flies at Ja'noa. Instead of using her spell to attack the ogres, Ja'noa releases the powerful bolt of lightning at the incoming boulder. She then ducks for cover as the boulder is blown into smaller, less threatening pieces.
Gena throws her spell at the ogre to the left. The jolt stuns the giant enemy. It also startles the two horses, and they begin to canter, pulling the wagon, and its six orcneas toward the group. The ogre that was not hit picks up another stone and begins to follow behind the wagon.
Ambra looks at Ya'leigh and asks, “Should I activate the gate stone?”
Ya'leigh grabs her sister's arm and pulls her back. She then calls out, “Kelik! Garrin! Fall back.”
Garrin starts to follow Ya'leigh as he says to Kelik, “Come on, lad. Get back with your sisters.”
Kelik looks worried as he runs back with Ya'leigh and Ambra. He asks, “Are we leaving?”
“Not just yet,” Ya'leigh answers. “But I want you to be ready, just in case.”
Ambra clutches the sandstone amulet in her hand. “Just tell me when.”
Ya'leigh looks at Garrin and says, “Stay by them. I have to go help Isen.”
Sven picks up Hellfire from the ground and everyone stands ready as the enemy closes in. Ya'leigh concentrates, and an aura glows around her. To Ya'leigh, the world looks as if it has slowed down to only half the speed it was before. She draws back Incendia and begins to fire one arrow after another at the orcneas in the wagon. Her speed is so quick that before the wagon reaches them, she has fired ten flaming arrows. The first hits the driver of the wagon, and, as he falls, the horses turn sharply.
Ya'leigh hits three more orcneas as the wagon overturns. Kel'ana hits another just as the wagon comes to rest on top of the last orcnea that was inside. Now only the two ogres remain. Ya'leigh's spell expires, leaving her exhausted, as her speed returns to normal.
“Gelana and Rehma!” Evelena calls. “Use your strength and speed spells.”
Gelana concentrates, and a red aura glows around her. She charges at the first ogre that followed the wagon. Rehma casts a similar spell as Ya'leigh and as everyone watches her, Rehma begins to sprint at the other ogre that stayed back. Isen looks at Sven and says, “I'll help Gelana. You help Rehma.”
Sven nods and says, “Ogres do not stand chance.”
“Be careful, Sven,” Yentroc warns. “Kristieana and I have already healed you. If you get injured again, we may not be able to help.”
“Sven understands,” he replies as he starts up the road to join Rehma.
Evelena yells, “Everyone else take your shots when you can, but be careful not to hit our people.”
The ogre closest to the group takes his large rock and brings it down on Gelana, who uses Infragilis to block it. The stone crumbles as a flash of light bursts from the shield. Gelana looks at Isen, who has just joined her, and says, “I think my shield is losing it's strength.”
“It may need time to recharge,” Isen says as he swings his morning star at the ogre and misses. “It's taken a lot of punishment.”
The ogre swings its fist at Gelana, who jumps back instead of blocking. Isen steps in and strikes the enemy in the shoulder. The ogre lets out a howl and swats Isen away with its incredible strength. Isen lands on his back a few paces away.
Further down the path, Rehma reaches her target and dodges the fist of the ogre. She slashes its arm, cutting into the thick hide of the humanoid beast.
Sven reaches them and swings the massive Hellfire. The ogre barely avoids the attack as Sven says to Rehma, “Sven is sure you have this under control, but Sven cannot stand by and watch this time.”
“Good,” Rehma replies, out of breath.
The gigantic creature towers over Sven. It tries to strike him with its fist, but Sven backs up out of its reach. Rehma moves in quickly and slashes the ogre's arm again, this time with both swords. The ogre holds its left arm close to its body as it picks up a rock with its right hand.
Both Rehma and Sven wait for the ogre to throw the heavy rock in its hand. Rehma looks at Sven, holding his magical ax, and remembers what it can do. “Sven,” she says, “use Hellfire.”
The ogre seems to be holding its ground, as it continues to grip the stone. Sven looks at his ax. “Oh, right. Sven almost forgot.” He holds the weapon above his head, and as he swings it into the ground before him, he calls out, “Hellfire!”
The ax strikes the ground, and the iron edge of the blade splits the bricks of the road in two. Flames jet up from the ground, and an intense inferno soon envelops the area directly in front of him. The ogre yells out in pain and desperately throws the rock. Rehma tackles Sven out of the way, and the boulder narrowly misses them both. The ogre tries to flee but only manages to take three steps before collapsing to the ground.
Everyone else has begun to attack the last remaining ogre. Gelana continues to dodge as Isen makes it back to his feet. Arrows from Kel'ana and Ya'leigh continue to strike it, but they don't seem to be having any effect. Ja'noa's lightning and Lyra's light spells leave marks on the beast, but seem to be angering it instead of doing any actual damage.
The ogre grabs one of the wheels from the wagon and strikes Isen with it. The wheel smashes into pieces, and Isen is sent back to the ground once again. Gelana draws out her spear and impales the ogre deeply into its chest while it is still detracted.
The weakening ogre grasps the spear and tries to pull it free, but Gelana twists and pushes it in even further. The ogre lets out one final breath as it falls to its back and does not move again.
Chapter 17
Repercussions
In the palace of Sheathelm, Chance finds himself waking up in a bed in a makeshift infirmary. Leanara is at his bedside, and says to the others, “He's waking.”
Chance's vision is hazy at first. It soon clears, and he can see King Arioch, along with A'ranah and the five sky drake riders. Arioch walks over to Chance and says, “Welcome back, my friend, you had us worried.”
“I'm sorry,” Chance replies. “I don't know what happened.”
A'ranah explains, “The ship you were on had barrels of a black powder the orcneas stole them from the goblin trade company. The powder is very dangerous and highly volatile.”
“I see,” Chance says. “The last thing I remember was the ogre throwing a barrel at me. What happened after that?”
A'ranah looks to Commander Belron and says, “Can you please fill Chance in on what happened next?”
“Of course,” Belron answers. He approaches the bed where Chance lies and explains, “We assumed you would be safe from our fire elixirs.”
“You are correct,” Chance replies.
Belron continues, “We were unaware of the explosive properties of the black powder. So when Ashden threw his elixir to burn the deck of the ship...”
“It ignited the powder,” Chance finishes.
Ashden steps forward and says, “Yes, sir. I am sorry, and I accept full responsibility.”
“Don't give it another thought,” Chance replies. “You had no way of knowing the repercussions.” Chance looks at Arioch and asks, “How did I end up here?”
Re'ann steps forward. Her long brown hair is longer restrained by her leather cap. She explains, “I was able to spot you in the water from above. Before you sank too far, I tied a rope to the saddle of my drake and dove in after you.”
Belron says, “Re'ann is the first female flier in our ranks. She is the best spotter we have. Had she not seen you, I fear what may have happened.
Chance sits up. “Thank you, Re'ann. I am in your debt.”
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�It was my honor,” she replies.
Chance turns to the king. “What about the orcnea ships?”
“For now, they have fallen back,” Arioch answers. “Belron says they have met up with even more ships.”
“Any ideas of how we are going to stop them?” Chance asks as he stands up from the bed.
“First of all,” A'ranah says, “you will no longer be landing on the ships to fight. We have no idea how many more of their ships may explode when ignited. Resheck tells us that they now believe that the orcneas may be producing their own black powder. The only good news in that is that if we are able to strike the barrels of powder, then the ships may be destroyed with a single hit.”
Arioch adds, “The orcneas will most likely start storing the barrels below deck. What we find odd is that we haven't discovered any of the weapons that the goblins are calling cannons. They are described as large iron chambers that use the explosive powder to launch heavy iron balls at their targets.”
“Let's just be glad they only seem to be reproducing the powder, then,” Belron says.
“Yes,” A'ranah replies. “It is quite possible they are doing so to deter us from landing on their ships. I have no doubt they would sacrifice an entire ship to take out one of our ships.”
“Or,” Arioch adds as he looks at Chance, “to just take out one particular elf.”
“There is some more good news, though,” Belron says. “The reports are that the elven fleet should be here soon, possibly by morning. Then the advantage should fall to us.”
“Excellent,” Chance replies. “It's about time we had a break in this war.”
Far to north, the Amazons are recuperating after their hard-fought battle. Kristieana is with Isen, healing his injuries from the ogre. “That should do it,” she says after casting a healing spell. “How do you feel?”
Isen flexes his elbow and says, “I'm as good as new, thanks to you.” He takes her hand and kisses it. “Thank you,” he says with a smile.
Kristieana smiles and says, “Isen, I have to talk to you about something... but it's a private matter, so we'll have to discuss it later.”
Isen shrugs and replies, “Just let me know when you want to talk about it.” He walks off as Kristieana ponders exactly how to tell Isen that their kiss was a mistake.
Evelena hands Kel'ana four red beads and says, “Good work.”
“Thank you,” she replies as she takes the beads. She starts to untie her necklace to add the new tokens to her collection.
Gelana says to Ya'leigh, “We should start an honor necklace for you. Five kills in one battle is very impressive.”
“Thanks,” she replies, somewhat bewildered. “I am sure I will think of something to track success in battle.”
“Are you all right?” Kianna asks.
“I'll be fine,” Ya'leigh answers.
“Was that your first kill?” Evelena asks.
Ya'leigh laughs and says, “If you don't count spiders and a moving statue, then yes.”
The others laugh as Rehma approaches Evelena. Rehma says to her, “I killed two.”
Evelena's smile disappears as she looks at Rehma. “Yes,” Evelena says, “you did get two.” She digs through a small leather pouch and says, “You also did not follow the plan, and ignored my order to stay back.” She holds out her hand, with two red beads and one black bead.
“What?!?” Rehma exclaims angrily. “That's not fair.”
Gelana quickly comes over to stand next to Rehma and says to her, “Just take them, Rehma.”
“No!” she snaps. “I am not taking it.”
“You were already warned, remember? Back in the mountains?” Evelena says. “I'm sorry, Rehma, but your actions put yourself and others at risk.”
“How?” Rehma demands. “I killed it, didn't I?”
Evelena answers, “Yes, but you left Gelana's side, leaving her vulnerable. Kel'ana or Lyra could have handled the orcnea that shot at you.”
“Then they should have,” Rehma retorts. “I'm not just going to stand around while an orcnea shoots arrows at me.”
“You didn't give Kel'ana and me a chance to hit it,” Lyra says.
“Don't you start, too,” Rehma says.
Lyra, angered, starts to approach Rehma and says, “You would have been killed if Sven had not saved you from the orcnea with the ax.” Lyra points to the orcnea near the brewery that almost struck Rehma in the back during the battle.
Rehma tries to take a step towards Lyra but Gelana holds her back and says, “Rehma, calm down.”
Lyra continues to come at Rehma, but Evelena grabs her by the arm and pulls her back. Lyra yells, “Then you ran off while Sven was almost killed!”
“All right, you two, calm down!” Evelena yells.
Lyra stops trying to break free from Evelena as Gelana continues to try to calm Rehma and says, “Just take the bead, Rehma, it's not that important.”
Rehma looks around at the others, who are all uncomfortable with the tension. She pulls her arm free from Gelana. She stares over at Evelena for a moment before relenting with a disgruntled, “Fine.”
Lyra walks over to Sven as Evelena approaches Rehma. Rehma holds out her hand and Evelena places the beads in Rehma's palm. Evelena says, “I truly am sorry.”
“I'm sure you are,” Rehma says, sounding unconvinced. She clenches the beads tightly in her fist.
Evelena turns to the others. “All right, everyone, split up into three groups and spread out. Let's make sure this city is abandoned.”
“I'll make sure the brewery is safe,” Garrin says with a laugh.
“Come on,” Ya'leigh says to her brother and sister. “We'll stay with Garrin.”
“I'll come with you, too,” Gena says to Ya'leigh.
“Wait for me,” Isen says. “Are you coming, Sven?”
Sven laughs and says, “Sven thinks alcohol is not good idea.”
Kristieana says to Evelena, “I'm going to scout things out from the air.”
Gelana and Rehma start to walk off as Yentroc, Kel'ana, and Ja'noa joins them. Kianna approaches Evelena, Lyra, and Sven and says, “I'll go with you.”
Kristieana takes to the sky as the three groups begin to look through the ruins of Ogre's Mead. Inside the brewery, Garrin and the others find dozens of barrels stacked along a wall, along with the hole made by the orcnea that Gelana had slammed into. A small stairway leads up to a balcony where the orcneas would fill the large vat that heated the water for the brewing process. Below the heating vat are several other vessels and tanks, as well as a large copper still that gives Ogre's Mead its high alcohol content.
There is a fire underneath the vat. Garrin says, “It looks like they were getting ready to start a new batch.”
“If all these barrels are full,” Isen says, “there's enough for an army.”
Garrin knocks on one of the barrels along the wall. “They're full,” he says. “I guess we just may have to celebrate tonight.”
Ya'leigh walks further into the building. She comes across a large stone oven. “What is this for?” she asks.
Garrin answers, “I believe that is the kiln they use to roast the barley.”
“We may as well just stay here,” Isen says. “The building looks sturdy enough.” He walks the perimeter and says, “And there's only one entrance.”
“We could just put whoever's on watch outside,” Ya'leigh suggests. “Then the rest of us can sleep in here without having to set up all of our tents.”
“That will all depend,” Garrin says as he picks up a tap for one of the kegs, “on what Kristieana finds out there.” Garrin takes a wooden mallet and drives the tap into the keg. “Well, let's see how good this stuff is.”
Out in the abandoned city, Evelena and Lyra are walking through the ruins with Princess Kianna and Sven. Lyra says, “It looks like there aren't any more orcneas.”
“I'm sure Ja'noa didn't overlook any when she scouted,” Evelena says. “I just wanted to be absolutely certain.”
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Sven says to Lyra, “Sven thought Lyra was going punch Rehma earlier.”
Lyra looks down, embarrassed about losing her temper. “I was just angry about what had happened. You were almost killed.”
“But Sven wasn't,” he replies. “Thanks to you. Now we're even.”
“What are you talking about?” Lyra asks. “You saved me from falling, freezing, and getting hit by arrows.”
“Fine,” Sven laughs. “You still owe Sven two more times.”
“Well, I wasn't trying to keep a score or anything,” Lyra replies, “but we are hardly even.”
They continue to walk along the abandoned stone structures. Most have collapsed, and not much of the stone remains standing. Scorch marks cover much of the stone where the wooden portions of the buildings were burned years ago.
Kianna ponders aloud, “I wonder if this is one of the cities Chance destroyed.”
“I believe it was,” Lyra says. “If I remember correctly, Ogre's Mead was the largest settlement that Chance attacked.”
“The city must have had thousands of orcneas in it,” says Evelena. “Why were they not able to stop him?”
“The real forces,” Kianna answers, “like the archers, were far from here at the time, fighting my father's forces and the Amazons. Chance could have landed anywhere and set fire to the thatched roofs. If I had to guess, I would say that by the time they realized what was happening, Chance had already left and the fires did the rest. Any shamans that could have put out the fires would also have been at the main battle, miles away.”
“I just can't imagine a city this large totally in flames,” Evelena says.
A short distance away, the other Amazons of the Silver Moon are also walking the streets of this once-bustling city.
“I don't think there are any more orcneas here,” says Yentroc.
“I think you're right,” Gelana replies. “Look, Kristieana is back.”
The girls look up to the sky as Kristieana descends in her giant eagle form. They back up to make room as she lands in the street before transforming.
Rehma asks, “What did you see?”
