No one said anything or made any sudden movements. It was as though they were in shock or stunned somehow. The death of their queen did not seem real or final until General Yukio uttered those earth-shattering words. The soldiers took a moment to reflect on what just happened to them, and for the first time fear entered into their hearts. They had much better defensive positions, and they had held the high elves off for weeks. Murmurings and whisperings began to fill the air as they stood there trying to make sense of what had happened. They had not listened to another word of Yukio’s after making it clear that their beloved queen was dead.
“Quiet! We do not have time to mourn or to place blame. We must move forward if we are all to survive another day. See!” said Yukio, pointing at the high elven army cresting the lip of the canyon. Shouts of terror and dismay erupted amongst the ranks. The general had to do something and do it quick or they would surely lose an open plain battle.
“General Yukio, maybe we should surrender,” stammered one of the soldiers from the middle front of the army nearest to him.
Yukio, who was not a very patient man to begin with, snapped. He used his psychic powers to convince several key soldiers to agree with him so that the rest of the army would agree to move out. Voices began to shout approvals to what the general had said, and many of the captains barked orders to stand at attention and to prepare to move out. The discontent and fear evaporated in the air around the army. Every soldier stood stalk still while waiting for the command to move out. The downcast looks and shifting eyes were replaced with stern looks of determination. The general was pleased with his easy manipulation of his troops.
“Move out!” bellowed General Yukio.
The reduced army of Nairi began to march at a quick pace toward the cliffs of Landen. They bent their course directly east once they were within the shadow of the cliffs. General Yukio rode ahead to make sure that there were no obstacles or traps that lay ahead of them and then turned his steed about to check the rear of the army. He wanted to see just how close the wicked fiends were. He needed to know if they were coming at him with their full strength or if General Jaali had sent only a portion of his army. He also wanted to ascertain whether or not his evil sister-in-law was among them. He wanted to rend her limb from limb more than anyone else. He smiled wistfully at the very thought of exacting his revenge on the little witch. Beware, Kishi. I will have my revenge! You and your high elves will follow in the tragic footsteps of the Eldar!
***
General Jaali could see in the distance, probably some ten miles away, the army of Nairi hugging the cliffs of Landen. They are heading for King Leroy’s kingdom just like we suspected. I must motivate the troops to move faster. “Let’s pick up the pace! We must engage them before they reach the High Plains!” barked the general. The army picked up the pace so much so that they were traveling at top speed. The distance between the two armies began to shrink as they ran full out. It was as though an invisible whip was snapping at their heels. The general was amazed at their ability to maintain such a feverish pace. He ordered the archers to the front and sent them on ahead to see if they could get Yukio’s attention. They ran full out for a few hundred yards and then stopped to release a volley of arrows. The first barrage hit a couple of the stragglers and did exactly what General Jaali had hoped would happen. General Yukio turned about on his steed to face his attackers, and then he bore down on them.
The archers were surprised that the general would rush them all by himself when there were a couple hundred of them. The moment this thought crept into their heads, it was replaced by another terrible thought. The troops began to hallucinate and see things that were not there. Before they had released one arrow in the direction of the charging mad man, they turned on each other and began to shoot one another. General Jaali roared in frustration and ordered the rest of the army to go to the aid of the archers. The soldiers complied with the command, but they did so with trepidation in their hearts. As they narrowed the gap, they saw the crazed Yukio reach the confused bowmen. Within a few moments, every single archer was dead. They died at the hand of one another in most cases, but General Yukio had killed some thirty plus with his sword.
The army came to halt in spite of themselves and stood there transfixed, gazing at the blood-soaked general. Yukio gave them a wicked smile and jumped on his horse in one fluid motion. He spurred his beast hard, and they bolted back toward the Nairi army that was still marching at top speed along the cliff. General Jaali snapped out of the trance and ordered the bewildered soldiers to resume their march. They did not react at once, and the general could tell by the look in their eyes that they were all spellbound in some way. Jaali decided to wait patiently for at least some of them to come around because yelling at them had no effect.
“General, what just happened?” asked one of the soldiers nearest the gruesome scene.
“Son, can you tell me what you remember?” the general asked congenially. He put his arm around the trembling soldier to try and help calm his nerves.
“I remember running toward the archers who had stopped to shoot that wicked general from his steed,” began the soldier weakly. He was comforted a little by the fatherly gesture by General Jaali. “Then it was as though the whole world was frozen or in slow motion. I saw the bowmen turn on one another and watched them destroy one another. Then I saw that vile general jump down off his steed and walk toward those that had not died and began to cut them to pieces. That was when he looked at me…”
“What happened when he looked at you, son?” prodded Jaali kindly. “It is important that I know exactly what happened so we can make sure it does not happen to you or anyone else.”
“Then…I…saw…him…in…my…head,” replied the guard, shaking violently at the mere thought.
“What was he doing in your head?” asked the general urgently. He was getting more and more concerned by what he was hearing. Does this wicked fiend have psychic powers?
The soldier did not reply vocally this time but merely shook his head from side to side. It was clear that the poor fellow had no way of telling his commanding officer exactly what Yukio had been doing in his mind. It was clear enough that he was torturing the soldiers in their minds somehow. General Jaali gave the poor fellow a squeeze of reassurance and then walked around the soldiers to see just how many were affected. It appeared that only the first five lines of troops had been under the control of Yukio. However, Jaali did not believe that it was Yukio who had conjured the images. Who has such powerful magic as to affect the minds of so many? And why would they be helping this vile betrayer? He stood there for a moment perplexed by the situation. He would need to do something to snap the spell and get his army moving again. If they did not move soon, Yukio’s army would reach the other side of the cliffs and then they would have the advantage.
As Yukio galloped up to the front of the sprinting army covered in his enemies’ blood, his troops shouted praises to their valiant leader. Chants and war cries filled the air as they picked up the pace now that their general was in the lead once more. Within a few days, they had reached the sentry posts at the northeastern end of the cliffs. Narrow passages between the cliff wall and a massive body of water to the east were natural defenses that the people of Landen had relied upon for centuries for protection. No one had ever scaled the cliffs or crossed the icy blue lake that was big enough to be an inland sea. General Yukio looked at the entry wall with a smile of triumph on his face. General Jaali will not dare to follow me with such strong natural defenses. I wonder why we were not attacked. How did the soldiers of Landen know we were coming?
A sentry came forward to talk with the general but stopped short when he noticed that he was covered in blood. He did not know what to think of his appearance and simply stared for a moment. At first, he thought to call for a healer but was in too much shock to do anything. Finally he snapped out of his stupor and welcomed the general politely. “Welcome to Landen. King Ishrafle requests a meeting with you at
once. He asks that your army stay at the northern end of the country to help fortify our defenses. We will provide supplies and lodging for your beleaguered men. Please hurry; the high elves are right behind you.”
“Thank you for your hospitality. I will go with you straight away, but first I must pass on your instructions. I will have my troop’s station themselves along the cliff wall so we can surprise the cursed high elves and hopefully drive them back for a time,” replied General Yukio. The sentry bowed and waited patiently for the general to return. After a few minutes, a blood covered horse came back into view with Yukio on his back. The sentry mounted his steed, and they took off at once toward Ishrafle Castle. The army they left behind moved into action at once.
After the army of Nairi had positioned themselves along the cliff wall and at the entrance to Landen, they waited for their quarry to come into view. They did not need to wait long for the high elves to appear. It was clear that the army below the cliffs had no idea that they were walking directly into harm’s way. As the head of the army passed the first defensive position, tension filled the air. The army continued forward until they had passed three more posts without anything happening. When they arrived at the fifth defensive station, the previous four stations opened fire. They sent arrows, rocks, and boiling oil, followed by fire arrows, down into the unsuspecting ranks of Jaali’s army. Shrieks of terror and absolute pain reached the ears of their attackers. The captains took courage at these sounds and ordered the troops to fire at will.
The base of the cliffs were ablaze now, and the soldiers below began to run in every direction as though they had no idea which way was out. Several thousand high elves lay dead within the first few minutes of the assault from above. The portions of the army below that had not reached the first defensive position halted their march eastward and turned due north. They positioned themselves directly north of the besieged part of their army and were out of range of the attacks from above. It appeared that they were attempting to set up a defensive perimeter around the survivors. After a few minutes, the troops who had not perished in the surprise attack settled down and rejoined their army. The remains of the high elves that died burned brightly until the fires had burned themselves out. The charred remains smoldered for days after their fiery deaths.
General Jaali looked up at the tiny dots that were their attackers and cursed loudly in a fit of rage. After ranting and raving for a few minutes, he regained his composure and surveyed the extent of the damage. They had lost a little over six thousands soldiers in the surprise attack. Their numbers had been reduced to less than one hundred thousand strong. While this infuriated the general greatly, he knew that his forces were still formidable and that with reinforcements that he could capture the Nairi army and the foolish people of Landen. He would merely have to wait for a report back from Queen Kishi on exactly who their allies would be. He decided that he had better send her a report and address his battered soldiers. This is only a temporary setback. Those foolish men will curse the day they betrayed us!
The Sacred Language
Lord Keb shrieked in utter frustration as the wraiths swarmed all about him. They seemed to be feeding off of his anger and anxiety. He was not necessarily afraid of the vile creatures; he was terrified of what Kana was doing. He knew that he had to warn the others of exactly what she was planning to do. His mind ached from the effort of thinking while his essence was racked with pain from Kana’s fire. He calmed his thoughts and drove out all feelings and emotions from his body. He locked his mind from his external foes and emptied all thought. His body finally relaxed, which enabled him to block out the effects of Kana’s magic. The specters stopped their siphoning and floated motionless around the wooden figure that was still ablaze. The anger and anxiety had dissipated all at once, and they could not understand where it went or how Keb had accomplished this feat.
As the battered Elemental sat there consumed by flames, his mind was blissfully at ease. He focused his efforts on blocking out everything around him. After a few hours or days, he could not tell, he had enough strength to do what he needed to be free of Kana’s spells. As the word formed in his mind, he knew that his friend Lord Neb would forgive his command of water. The word that formed in his mind was from the sacred language of the guardians. Their language was one of power, and when a word was uttered aloud, it commanded one of the elements to obey. The power was only effective if it was used singularly. When the Elementals spoke to one another verbally, their words did not command because they were used in plurality. It was forbidden for a guardian to speak a command word of an element they did not have stewardship over. Kana was the first to break this commandment since the first war of Tuwa. They all knew how to use all the command words, but only the rightful guardian should command the element, or elements.
“Watnese!” bellowed Keb. The wraiths pulled back from him in shock. Power emanated from him after he said this command word.
Water rose up from the stagnant pool and dowsed Kana’s flame. Lord Keb was free of the painful flames, which gave him even more strength and resolve to continue his attempts to free himself. He calmed himself again to the same point he was at before he uttered the command word for water. As he settled his mind, he knew that his actions had altered something within the earth. He had broken the commandment just like Kana, and he would have to pay for his trespass. He knew that the guardian would forgive him, but he would have to make amends to Lord Neb and Mistress Khalida for his trespass. They too would understand that circumstances did not allow for anything else and that it was for the greater good. Though, a law that was violated required punishment and retribution. He knew that in his case the payback would be considerably lighter because of the mitigating circumstances.
“Frumacia!” yelled Lord Keb. His wooden-shaped body transformed into his human form once more. He had freed himself of Kana’s traps. He did not look into the depthless faces of the demons floating all around him as he took in his surroundings.
As he scrutinized the cavern, he could sense the presence of another creature that did not belong. It was not like the others because it had a discernible form. The being was powerful and was possibly created by dark magic. Evil emanated from it, and its fowl stench filled the air around him. The wraiths began to move higher toward the ceiling as if making way for this new threat. It was clear that they did not want to leave, but this new demon, or whatever it was, posed a greater threat than the whole of the specters. Finally they turned toward one of the walls in the cavern and disappeared. Keb was all alone now with this invisible beast, and in that instant he knew was trapped. He simply could not find his foe even though he knew that it had a body. An unnatural mist began to spring up from the dank pool of water.
“Watnese!” bellowed Keb once again. Once he had uttered the command for water, he forced the pool to freeze. He made every drop of water turn to ice in that dank green pool. He thought that this was where the beast was coming from. He was sorely mistaken.
Keb felt a tall figure rising behind him, and he knew that he had been mistaken in his hasty assumption. He turned around to see a creature that appeared to be three times his height and appeared to be coiled like a snake. The beast had red eyes that had slits for pupils. A forked tongue flicked in and out of its massive mouth tasting the air around it. There were two enormous fangs that were three feet long and that were being displayed warningly to Lord Keb. The scales were a blackish green color with no distinct patterns. This snake was obviously a creation of dark magic that was used ages ago. It was once an average poisonous snake, but it had been altered by magic to its current size. The vile creature stared at his prey ominously as if waiting to see what Keb would do. The unnatural beast was some sixty feet long and was three times as wide as the guardian who stood transfixed in front of the demonic creation.
Lord Keb immediately tried to communicate with the creature by using telepathy, but he could not penetrate the snake’s thick skull. “Erome!” commanded Keb. Huge chunks o
f the ceiling above the beast came crashing down on its head, smashing it to the earth. For a few tense moments, dust engulfed the room and nothing moved. As time passed, Keb became convinced that he had not killed the creature because if he had truly hurt it there would have been some sort of sound from the dying beast.
Rocks flew into the air as the snake burst from its earthen prison and raised its head high into the air. Keb was quick enough to throw up a protective shield around him so that the first attack of his adversary was thwarted. However, his magic shield had holes in it from where the creature’s fangs had hit. Somehow the venom had dissolved the shield where it had come into contact with the protective barrier. The vile creature rose up into the air again to position itself for the next attack. Keb decided to use basic magic to see if it had any effect on it. He sent fireballs and ice bolts into the underside of the worm with extreme force. The magical assaults merely glanced off his scales and were deflected into the cavern walls. This beast is just like a dragon; magic cannot penetrate its scales. The guardian hesitated for a moment while he tried to figure out what to try next.
This time his hesitation worked in his behalf. The snake struck with unbelievable speed and accuracy. It did not try to poison his prey this time and simply swallowed him whole. This was an erroneous move on the serpent’s part. Once inside the vile creature, Keb used every basic spell he knew to wreak havoc on the defenseless inner walls. The beast thrashed about violently from trying to dislodge the Elemental he had consumed. Then he tried to vomit Keb up so that he would stop inflicting such horrible damage to his innards. As the beast heaved repeatedly, the earthen lord clung to the sides using metal claws he conjured up. This caused even more pain and discomfort for the wretched snake.
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