The Fallen Guardian tgc-2

by Steven R. Burke

  “General Jaali, today is the day,” Queen Kishi said with a great deal of optimism. “We will end this overly long siege and deliver the ultimate payback.”

  “What did you have in mind, my queen?” asked the general gruffly. The long battle combined with heavy losses to his ranks had left him bitter and desensitized. He tried to put on a smile but gave it up as a lost cause. He was too close to the queen to waste any energy on hiding his feelings about the situation. I simply cannot believe that General Yukio has been able to hold us off for so long! How in the name of everything sacred and holy are we supposed to finish this battle that has raged on for longer than anyone anticipated?

  “What is the strongest point of any group or organization? In other words, where does the true power lie in the people before us?” she asked slyly.

  “Like an archway, there is one stone that holds it together and in this case the keystone is the queen,” replied the general thoughtfully.

  “I am impressed. I thought you would have said that it was their insane general. You hit the mark spot on. We need to remove the queen so that the rest will lose their nerve and flee.”

  “So, you want us to direct our assault on the queen for the next few days?”

  “No, I want you to take the army and hem in their troops. I want them to think we are tightening the noose around their necks. This diversion will draw their attention away of their center long enough for an assassination attempt. Since I will be the one taking on the assassin’s role, the attempt will be successful.” She had a wicked gleam in her eye as she said this, and her good friend took notice. He knew that his queen was changing and liked his new, more confident friend.

  “Then let us make haste and put an end to this fight today!” He snapped to attention and saluted his queen. She reached out and gave him a warm hug and then kissed him firmly on the lips. The general was taken aback by this show of affection. After a few brief moments, he regained his composure and headed off to deliver the new orders for the day. As the queen watched him leave, she began to plan out her assassination attempt in her mind.

  She determined that it would be best to make her approach as undetectable as possible. She decided that mimicking her environment would do the trick. She knew that any soldier she came across would have to die. It was while she was thinking this that the memory of her departed sister burst into her mind. Kira would not approve of this course of action; she would try to find a way to spare every life she could on a mission like this. Why am I so different from her? The queen looked around guiltily as though someone may have somehow heard her thoughts. She did not care for the feeling of guilt she experienced when thinking of her sister. She knew that her plan would be successful and that if she allowed those who came into her path to live she would pay with her own life.

  After an hour of preparation, the army had finished dividing up and began to move out. A small number of forces remained behind to feign guarding their queen. Kishi waited for the army to engage General Yukio’s entrenched soldiers before easing her way down to the underground castle of Queen Daria. She only had to wait for a few minutes before the first signs of resistance presented itself. The battered army began to swarm the dilapidated ranks of Yukio’s army while Queen Kishi disguised herself and headed toward her target. Smoke began to rise from the battles that had erupted along the eastern and western sides of the canyon. The assassin made her way silently down a long, winding rock staircase. She used her magic to conceal her secret movements as she hugged the canyon walls during her descent. She reached the bottom after another hour had passed. It had taken her so long because she had to move slowly because there were sentries posted along the path at every turn.

  At the end of the winding trail was a small encampment where the sentries that she had passed along the way slept. She crept quietly through the camp so that she would not alert anyone to her presence. As she made her way through the tents, she came upon two soldiers sitting around a burned out campfire. They were talking conspiratorially about the events surrounding the unprovoked attack by the elves who called themselves by a different name for some superfluous reason. They laughed at one another’s comments and views on the subject as they eyed the fighting that had sprung up along the canyon walls. They were glad not to be in the fighting because the pointed-eared freaks were using magic, which clearly gave them a distinctly unfair advantage. They believed the high elves to be nothing more than a bunch of race haters who believed they were the enlightened ones. The conversation was beginning to have an adverse effect on the queen as she tried to slip by. Her shadow appeared on a tent that was in the line of sight of gossiping soldiers who knew at once that someone was behind them. They stood abruptly and whirled about to face whoever it was that was eavesdropping on them.

  A hand was in each of their bewildered faces, and before they could swipe away the assassin’s hands, they saw a flash of red light, and then they saw nothing at all. Kishi lowered her hands slowly with a look of fierce determination and pure loathing. She had used her fiery magic to vaporize the unsuspecting soldiers’ heads, which helped the queen relieve her built-up tension. Her attack, however, was not silent. Several of the sentries that she had passed either saw or heard the commotion. She wheeled about to face a dozen guards rushing toward her, and she did not move as they rushed at her. She gracefully moved her hands and arms about as if she were weaving something in the air. A staff appeared, and she quickly turned the weapon in their direction. A green, ethereal dart shot from the end of the staff and into the middle of her attackers. It exploded into a greenish brown cloud and every single sentry was engulfed in the toxic haze. The poison worked instantly, and all twelve of her pursuers fell to the ground like a sack of rocks, dead before they landed.

  The queen was lucky that none of the sentries thought to send up the alarm and instead rushed her. No one had been alerted to her presence yet, and she quickly resumed her course toward the castle’s main gate. She did not reveal herself the rest of her journey until she reached the entry to the castle. At this point she could tell that it would be impossible to conceal her presence because of the position of the sun. As soon as she reached the gates, the queen’s guard noticed an unusual shadow being cast by an invisible object. They immediately shouted for the gate to be closed and the doors to the castle to be sealed. The small wall surrounding the entrance to the underground palace came alive with archers who released their arrows at will. Kishi reacted swiftly by throwing up a defensive shield that deflected the missiles. She retaliated by shooting forth lightning from her staff into the bowman atop the wall. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air at once, and shrieks of terror and frustration burst from soldiers behind the bulwarks.

  Kishi raised her staff high above her head and lowered it with both hands. A gust of wind blasted the gate that had just been shut but did no real damage. She wanted the queen’s guard to give into their fears and make a mistake. She could hear yelling on the other side of the wall, but the voices did not have the same edge to them. The captains were obviously rallying the troops and calming them down. The high elven queen was infuriated by the success they were having and began to twirl her staff in elegant motions around her body. Her eyes turned an icy blue color as a cool mist began to form around her. After a few more revolutions of the staff, she was completely engulfed in the magical mist. The cloud around her began to crystallize, and then she aimed her staff with both hands gripping tight at the main entry. A bluish orb shot out from the end with extreme velocity.

  The gate exploded into tiny shards of wood, leaving the entrance wide open as if it had never even been there. The ball of ice had hit the castle doors as well and turned them into sheets of ice. The guards were temporarily stunned by the attack, and that infinitesimal delay cost them their lives. Kishi began whirling her staff again over her head this time, and she rose into the air some ten feet above the ground. She appeared to turn a dark purple color as unnatural lightning gathered about her. She sent several
wicked bolts slamming into the bewildered guards, and they were all immediately vaporized. She then lowered herself to the ground again and made a sweeping gesture at the frozen doors. They blew apart as a gust of wind hammered into them and left the entryway empty with the exception of the queen’s guard, who were waiting in the foyer beyond.

  Arrows flew from every direction at the high elven queen. Kishi reacted just in time to deflect most of the arrows with a magical shield. She had to dodge the others using her agility and speed to avoid all but one arrow while she called up her magic. An arrow had pierced her thigh near the right hip and sent her tumbling backwards. As she lay on the ground, she could feel pain spreading throughout her entire body as if it were some kind of poison. She instantly realized that the arrow must have had a poisoned tip. She reached down and gently pulled out the arrow that was covered in her blood. She shook the dart to see if there had been something on the arrowhead, and it became clear that it had been doctored with some foreign substance. As she gripped the arrow firmly, it burst in flames and vanished. She would have to take care of the poison after she dealt with the queen. She stood up and closed her eyes for a moment while her body shook tremendously from the effects of the poison. She quickly sealed the wound and steadied herself for an attack.

  The arrows stopped flying at her while the guards watched closely waiting for the vile high elf to drop dead. They were sadly disappointed as she became still and opened her eyes. She had isolated the poison and surrounded it with her magic. In essence, she had locked away the poison so that she could later remove it. Now she turned her attention to the unlucky soldiers that would now feel the full, unadulterated wrath of the most powerful sorceress in Tuwa. Her staff disappeared into thin air, and she cupped her hands together in front of her. A conglomeration of different colors and substances began to form into an orb shape in the air slightly above her hands. The ball seemed to have colors that represented the four different elements in nature which had a sickly hue to it. The small ball grew to the size of a person’s head and then solidified into an ugly looking ball. It began to rotate slowly and continued to pick up speed. The guards were mesmerized or were in some kind of trance because they did not react at all when the ominous sphere emitted a black hand that reached out at its prey.

  The ethereal hand went to each guard and wrapped its black fingers around their necks. The hand would then squeeze hard, and the person’s eyes would go blank. Their souls were literally ripped from their physical bodies, and their spirits were forced into the netherworld. Their physical bodies were left intact as though they were still alive. In fact, they were still alive, but they no longer were capable of doing anything aside from standing there. Such magic had not been used in Tuwa since the days of its formation. This act of manipulating the elements to perform such dark magic left a mark upon the place where the spell was cast. After Kishi had demonstratively destroyed the queen’s guard, she proceeded into the throne room where Daria sat upon her throne. As the assassin approached the doors to the chamber, she noticed that there were no guards there. She opened the doors slowly and slipped in quietly to the ornate room. The queen of Nairi sat there with a look of resignation and expectancy on her face.

  “So, you knew I was coming,” stated Kishi bluntly. It was not a question, and Queen Daria nodded her agreement with what the high elven queen said. The assassin could see that her prey was waiting for her to finish the job. It was a pitiful sight to see one of the most powerful and influential leaders in the land of Tuwa sitting upon her throne resigned to the fact that she was going to die.

  “Let us not mince words. Finish what you have come here to do,” said Queen Daria bitterly. “Seal your wicked fate by killing your only ally. Know this. I curse you and all those who carry the name of high elf. May you die viciously painful deaths, and may your souls be racked with eternal torment for your sins.” Daria had a stern and meaningful look on her face as she spoke. After she had pronounced her curse, the look of resignation returned.

  Kishi, who still held the death orb, sent out the black hand once more, and it reached out to Queen Daria and ripped her soul from her body. The queen’s eyes slid out of focus, and she remained seated on her throne with a faraway look. Having done what she had set out to do, she turned about and exited the soulless halls of Nairi castle. As Kishi entered the light of day once more, she could see that the battles on the sides of the canyons were intensifying. She needed to relay to General Jaali that she had been successful and to put an end to the wicked men once and for all. She started to run at a very fast pace back down the path she had taken to enter the castle. There was no one along the way that tried to stop her because they were all dead. As she ran, she wondered how long it would take General Yukio to find out what she had done. She had her answer immediately after thinking this. Yukio’s voice could be heard above the sounds of battle and caused an eerie silence to fall. The only sound was that of an enraged general who had somehow discovered the loss of their queen. Threats, blood oaths, and extremely vile language rang through the air while everyone and everything listened to his ranting and raving. Queen Kishi stopped running and smiled. I guess I do not need to hurry anymore; the whole world knows what happened now. General Jaali knows what to do.

  “Kill them! Kill them all!” shouted General Yukio as he finished his vulgar tirade. The ground shook momentarily after he shouted his order.

  The Nairi army redoubled their efforts as they renewed their attack on the advancing high elves. They were so enraged by the loss of their queen that they unwisely left their defensive positions to attack the approaching army in hand-to-hand combat. General Jaali acted at once to take advantage of this slip in judgment. He sent the archers up to higher ground and ordered them to rain arrows down on the soldiers in the rear of Yukio’s army. After an hour of intense battle, the ranks of the army of men began to lose their resolve. General Yukio, though still enraged by what had happened and what was happening now, called for the retreat. Jaali let them go so that he could reunite his divided army and take an inventory of his troops. Plus, he wanted to speak with the queen before deciding what to do next. After a few hours the entire high elven army that had come to Nairi was gathered together outside the castle gate on the canyon floor.

  “My queen,” said General Jaali, finally finding Kishi. They hugged each other and looked one another over to see what damage had been done to them. Jaali had a nasty cut that started just below his left eye and went down past his jawbone slightly. Aside from that, he was unharmed. He noticed that Kishi’s hip was bloody and had a sickly greenish look to it. “What happened here?” He bent down beside her to get a better look at her sickly wound.

  As the general touched her hip gently, she said, “Nothing that cannot be fixed.” As he stood up, she gave him a wry smile, and they both laughed warmly. She reached up and gave him another tight embrace. He always liked the feeling of holding her and under different circumstances would have acted on the feelings that he had for her. Now was not the time, however. As they stood there holding one another, the general wheeled her about while still holding onto her. They both saw the army of General Yukio leaving the canyons; they appeared to be heading southeast.

  “Leave a small detachment here with me and pursue those traitors,” ordered Kishi as she let go of her beloved friend. “Do not let them reach their destination no matter what the cost. If they should reach the High Plains before you overtake them, encamp the army at a safe distance from the cliffs and send me word. No one has ever taken Landen, and I do not believe we could do it on our own. However, maybe we could get some allies together and change that record. I will communicate with Lord Aellenas while you make your pursuit. He should have some allies for us by now.”

  “It shall be as you wish, malady,” said the general with a bow. She stood him up once more and kissed him hard on the mouth before turning away to enter the castle gates. Jaali went into action at once and ordered a small regiment of soldiers to remain behind wit
h their queen. He then turned his attention to the matters at hand. “All right, you can see that our unworthy foes have turned tail and fled. Let’s hunt them down!” Shouts of agreement rose from the ranks. The air was also full of vulgar language as they began their pursuit of Yukio’s army. Never before had a group of elves used such unbecoming language.

  As General Yukio rode ahead, he was consumed in dangerous thoughts and was in a rather vile mood. First he lost the love of his life, and now he had been unable to keep his queen from being murdered. He had been so successful in defending her against assassination attempts in the past and could not understand why he had failed this time. Why was she sitting in the throne room? I told her to hide in the secret cavern until I came for her. What possessed her to do such a rash thing? He was perplexed by Daria’s actions and knew that she must have been coerced somehow to allow herself to become such easy prey.

  After the army behind him was completely clear of the canyons, he called a halt to their retreat. He had to explain to the troops what happened and what they needed to do now in order to survive. Yukio did not like the idea of retreating, but he would much rather run than get his entire army killed needlessly. He had lost a significant number of soldiers in defending their homeland and did not think it was wise to defend a place where they had experienced a great tragedy. The general knew that it was time to leave when his men left their defensive positions to attack the high elves in a wildly unorganized assault. He also knew that they would be able to find protection in the High Plains of Landen. Allies would save them from utter annihilation and would help them recapture their beloved homeland.

  “Men, we need to regroup after the tragedy we just experienced with the loss of our beloved Queen Daria Thejar,” began the general evenly. “We must retake our lands, but first we need help to accomplish this. We will go to our brethren in Landen and seek their protection and aid. We will be reunited with our families who left us weeks ago. We might even be able to garner the support from the men of Aran as well.”