“Please take a seat, Galen. Idiot number one, fetch us some ale! Idiot number two, go and get us some meat. This poor fellow has been through quite an ordeal. Go!” he blasted at his intellectually challenged guards.
“Chief…they are dead. All of them,” stammered Galen. He was shaking violently from the rage that was still coursing through him.
“It is okay, Galen. It is not your fault,” began Chief Angus.
“No, it is not all right. I just watched them kill each other,” he replied quietly.
“What? Who killed each other?” queried the chief angrily. “Tell me exactly what happened back there.”
“A wicked elf came out of the darkness and caused the fire to explode into the group of giants you sent to find out what the deserters were up to. They attacked the little warlock right away, and at first it looked like they had killed him, but he survived a direct blow from a rock the size of his own head. As your soldiers continued to assault the intruder, it became clear that this fellow had powerful magic. All of their weapons were deflected somehow, and he did something that I cannot quite explain,” Galen explained calmly.
“What did he do to my soldiers?” asked Angus with suppressed rage.
“He used his mind, I think, to force them to attack one another. Only one survived the attack, and it appeared that he had shaken off the elf’s control over his mind because he rushed the wizard. The warlock sent a fireball into him that sent him flying through the air. As he approached again, the little elf shot a poisoned arrow right between his eyes. He was dead before he hit the ground. Then, that wicked creature smiled and left in the direction of the border between Renshaw and Burien,” finished the spy dejectedly.
“Take heart, my good fellow. These crimes will not go unpunished. I need you to help prepare for war. It is clear that the elves are fighting amongst each other at the very least. I hereby promote you to the rank of captain, and your first set of orders is to organize the troops and explain what has happened. Then, take the army to the borderlands and wait for me there. I am going to go and recruit the other tribes; we have been divided for too long. We are going to require their numbers if we are to put an end to our wicked neighbors,” the chief explained determinedly.
“Thank you, sir!” snapped the new captain. “We will be ready and in position by noon three days from now.”
“I will be back in no time at all. I sense that the time has come for the giants to rise to the occasion as one nation and not as five tribes. Be ready. We will push our enemy until they break or are wiped from the face of Tuwa! Go!” ordered the chief.
“May the gods be with you, Chief!” saluted Captain Galen.
The army under the command of Captain Galen stood like statues along the border between the Black Forest and the Burien Lands. There were banners waving in the gentle breeze some thirty feet in the air. The average height of a soldier in Chief Angus’s army was thirteen feet. The wall of fully armored soldiers was an impressive sight to behold. The sun glinted and shimmered off of their helms, chest plates, and weapons. There was nothing more frightening than a giant with a sword the size of a man. As the minutes passed, the ground beneath the stoic soldiers began to shake slightly. Galen pushed through the lines to get a look at what was making the noise behind him. There appeared to be a dust storm kicking up behind them. He strained his eyes to get a better look and noticed that what he mistook for a storm were the combined armies of the other four tribes. They were not marching in their direction; they were running.
Within minutes the sea of giants, were right in front of him, standing still like the soldiers under his command. Not one of them looked at the captain, and no one said anything at all. Silence had come over this awe-inspiring gathering of these towering creatures. The captain was so consumed in his shock and disbelief that he had not noticed that the five chiefs were standing at the front of the combined armies. It looked as though they were about to make a speech.
“You are gathered here on this historic day to witness the birth of a unified giant nation. After serious discussion, I have been appointed to be the first king of the giants,” boomed King Angus. Cheers and shouts of approval rang through the clear sky.
“We have retained the division of the tribes for the purposes of organizing the army. I have been appointed to be the general of the army of Angus,” explained General Lang. More shouts of approval echoed through the air as he made this declaration.
“I am the commander of the warriors and will lead them into battle,” explained Commander Gerodi.
“And I am the commander of the artillery division,” piped up Commander Boaz.
“I have appointed Lord Marcello to be the head of my guard and to lead the siege warriors,” said the king with a booming voice. A collective chill went down the spines of everyone gathered around. Lord Marcello was the only giant who had the command of magic. He stepped into view at this introduction, gripping a staff that was the size of a small sapling.
“Look!” shouted Captain Galen as he pointed to the southern part of the Black Forest. Smoke began to fill the air, and flames shot so high into the air that they could see clearly that the forest had caught fire.
King Angus took this opportunity to explain in detail what had happened thus far, and he also explained what they had found out about what was going on in the forest. They knew that there was a large army of wicked elves preparing to attack in the north and an enormous army of orcs were attacking in the south. They did not know the reason for this evil alliance, but they knew that these two armies were heading for the capital city at the heart of the forest. As the king explained the battle plan, he was interrupted again by shouts from the ranks and everyone pointing in the direction of Tarisdell. Explosions could be heard and seen from their vantage point while dark clouds had gathered unexpectedly over the fair city. Fire was raining down from above as though it were rain. A deafening roar could be heard over the vast number of miles between the giant army and the city at the center of the woods.
“A dragon…here?” thought the king out loud incredulously.
As the collective eyes of the army looked at the fray taking place, a small black dot could be seen leaving the capital and making its way north. After a few more minutes, the dot disappeared. The soldiers began to mutter and talk to one another about the strange events they had just witnessed. General Lang called for quiet as he walked up to the king to discuss in whispered tones about the strange events. They were trying to figure out what course of action they could take when they were interrupted again by shouts from the troops. The black dot had reappeared in the sky and was heading north between Mount Quang and Konane.
“Let’s keep it together,” began General Lang before he was interrupted with sounds of a heated battle breaking out from the spot the dragon had disappeared from a short time ago.
“That’s it! We move out in five minutes!” boomed King Angus decisively. He had had enough of this mystery and did not wait another moment to act. “We must go to the aid of the elves so that we do not lose them like the Eldar of old.” Shouts of agreement filled the air as well as threats of terrible fates for those perpetrating this siege.
The army began their march into the forest after they had begun their war chants. The army of seventy-five thousand strong giants made their way into the dense woodlands, still chanting and spouting horrible threats and oaths. Meeting a giant was never a safe thing for anyone in the land of Tuwa, with the exception of a rock troll, but it was fatal to meet one enraged. The high elves did not know what they were in for when the two armies met, but they would learn firsthand what it is like to meet an army of angry giants.
King Angus stood at the very front of the rumbling army along with his general, his two commanders, and the deadly magician, Marcello. The king had dispatched a handful of soldiers to act as scouts, and when they returned after a few minutes to report that the wicked elves had engaged the good elves just outside the northern outer wall, he knew he had to act
immediately.
“Commander Boaz!” barked General Lang. “Take your artillery unit to the south and attack from the west. Commander Gerodi! Take your warriors to the north, and get behind the vile attackers. We do not want anyone to escape.”
“Yes, sir!” snapped Commander Boaz and Gerodi in unison.
“Lord Marcello, we need you to enhance our armor and weapons with your magic. We would also like a protective shield if possible,” said the general reverently.
“I will make it so,” replied the wizard in a low, soothing voice.
“After you are done with those tasks, return here to direct the king’s guard. We do not want anyone to get near our position. Once you have returned, would you be so kind as to announce our arrival?” asked the general with a wry smile.
“It would be my pleasure,” replied Lord Marcello with a twinkle in his eye.
After a couple hours of positioning, the wizard had returned to his king’s guard for the final preparations. After everyone was in position, Lord Marcello raised his staff in the air and muttered some unintelligible words. A blue shield appeared slowly in front of the artillery units and the warriors. The siege warriors and king’s guard remained behind with Lord Marcello, King Angus, and General Lang. After a few minutes, the staff of Marcello lowered to the ground again as if the effort of creating the shields cost him dearly. He stood in the same spot for minutes while he appeared to be recovering from the extreme use of magic. His head snapped up abruptly and stared into the darkened skies overhead and raised his staff once more.
“And so it begins,” said King Angus in hushed tones.
Again the wizard muttered something under his breath, and an eerie blue light went up into the clouds. The hail of fire turned to a deluge of rain. Lightning ripped through the sky as if the storm was only beginning, and booms of thunder tore through the air so loudly that no one could hear anything at all. The rain put out the fires at the southern part of the city and the several fires in the forest north of Tarisdell. The high elves were bewildered by the change in the weather and the ear-splitting thunder. As they looked around to see what was causing these strange events, massive blue objects began hitting the ground. The chunks of ice were fifty feet in diameter and were hitting the ground with such velocity that the ground shook uncontrollably. After a few minutes of this, the ice stopped and the rain came down fiercer than before.
“Fire!” order Commander Boaz. A volley of arrows flew through the air at the western flank of the high elves. Several of the wicked elves went down. The battle that had been between the elves and high elves had now taken on a new dimension. The giants had arrived, and the tide of the battle turned in the favor of the woodland elves. A portion of the high elves turned their attention to the newcomers and a bloody confrontation ensued.
Lord Keb
As Kana made her way deep into the icy northern regions on her dragon, she continued to mull over the glitches in her plans. Each strategy she had devised seemed to have been discovered in part before its execution. The reports from her network of spies had told her that the dwarves at Mount Carrick had been ready for the attack. The elves in the southern part of the forest had been made aware of the impending assault before her orcs could surprise them. She just found out that the high elves had been ambushed numerous times before arriving outside the outer wall of Tarisdell. The giants had appeared out of nowhere and had the unsuspecting Lord Dukker surrounded. She could not believe her misfortune and did not think that these incidents were merely coincidences. She was going to get some answers one way or another.
The country below her turned to snow as she continued to fly high in the sky. She was going to have a little chat with her old friend about what exactly was going on. He would help her or suffer excruciating pain and endless torment. She could not kill him, of course, but she could make his existence miserable at the very least. She just knew that he had something to do with the leakage of information about her plans, and he was going to answer to her for his meddling. After dealing with Lord Keb, she would be free to pursue her war with the people of Tuwa. She still needed to recruit some other allies and get them involved as soon as possible. Even though her army was considerably larger than the organized armies of the dwarves and man, she knew that her ranks were susceptible to superior battle tactics.
After she had flown for what seemed to be hours, she came upon a mysterious dark mountain that reached so high that it pierced the sky. It was completely covered in snow, and yet it did not look white to the naked eye. The snow was discolored somehow to look gray and dirty. As she approached her destination in the far north, she took deep steadying breaths as she took in her gloomy surroundings. The dragon tried to turn away as it neared the mountainside. He instinctively knew what the place was and what lay beneath it. He did not want to have anything to do with landing anywhere near the cursed place. Kana was momentarily taken aback by her steed’s refusal to follow her command to land. She spurred him hard and tried to use her psychic control over him to reestablish dominance. He resisted the mental attack for some time before he finally succumbed to his master’s will. He swung back around and landed on the southern slope. Kana jumped down and glared at the dragon with such a steely look that he turned away.
“You may leave now, you coward! Come back periodically to see if I am ready to depart. Make sure that no one approaches and that we are not disturbed,” she commanded pointedly. The simpleton does not realize that he cannot be hurt by this cursed mountain while I am with him. She knew that this was the birthplace of evil and that traces of it still existed within the mountain’s bowels. She also knew that her power was greater than anything she would encounter here, so she was truthfully unafraid.
The dragon shot back up into the sky and flew a short distance to a mountain top directly south of the wicked place. There was something more to that strange location than the evil it emits. Somewhere below the jagged slopes lived a creature that could do horrific things to the inhabitants of Tuwa. The beast did not merely kill; it would steal your soul. It was said to feed off of the fears and hatred of the living even though it was not truly alive itself. The overzealous guardian was playing with fire by taking care of her business in a locale that was home to what most referred to as the demon lord. There were stories in the northern lands of his spawn killing whole villages for no other reason than to kill. Many who had witnessed these attacks said that the demons were wraiths and could not be killed by any conventional or magical means. If she falls prey to what lies beneath, it will be on her own head.
Kana entered a small opening on the slope and continued down a narrow passageway that led her to where her fellow Elemental had been bound. As she made her way down the tunnel, she could sense the presence of several ethereal creatures that were watching her from somewhere in the shadows. She could smell their dank and foul breath as she passed the invisible watchers. The walls were smooth as plated glass, which made it difficult for anyone to follow her on foot. She had to glide because every side of the vertical tunnel was slick. They had been magically polished in order to deter potential intruders from sneaking in. Kana did not believe that anyone would be crazy enough to enter such an evil place, but she knew that she would have done the same thing just to be on the safe side. As she continued her journey into the bowels of the mountain, the air became even more fetid and rank. She called up a stiff wind to blow the stench away from her, which also propelled her toward her captive guest.
After a few intense twists and turns, the tunnel opened up to a vast cavern that appeared to have been constructed by some rudimentary means. The bottom of the massive underground cave was covered in slimy water that was filled with bones and rotting flesh of unfortunate visitors. The smell was absolutely putrid and would have caused anyone else to pass out. Kana, however, merely called up the wind again to swirl about her as a protective shield against the foul odors. She descended a little more slowly now until she hovered just above the bent figure of Lord Keb.
“I see that you are still here, my old friend,” began Kana derisively. “You still do not understand why I have brought you here?”
“I simply cannot believe that you have bound me here. Of all the places in the world, why here?” asked a bewildered Lord Keb. His voice shook slightly with disbelief.
“So, you recognize your new home already? I thought you would,” she said with a nasty smile.
“Why bring me here and leave me alone for this long? I have done nothing to you and neither has the council,” Keb pled with her. He could sense the evil around him and that it was now more alive than when he had first arrived several weeks ago. He did not understand why Kana had brought him to this place, and, more to the point, how did she manage to do it? He was simply did not comprehend what was happening to him. None of it made sense.
“Well, at least you know where you are. I thought you would have figured out the reason I locked you away deep within this birthplace of evil.” She had a trace of real disappointment in her voice as she spoke. She believed Lord Keb was the most intelligent of the four basic Elementals. Perhaps he is merely in shock or he is still in denial.
“What have you been up to?” He was beginning to understand exactly what was going on. He could feel her hatred for him and the others. He was also aware of the wraiths that were appearing behind the wicked sorceress. They seemed to be feeding off of his fear and her loathing. They began to whirl around gleefully at the unexpected treat.
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