When several of the giants turned their attention toward the bridge that had been crudely made by the orcs, they came under attack from the dark elf below them. He sent up balls of fire that ripped through their defensive weapons like kindling. Marcello rushed to their aid by throwing up walls of ice for the flames to hit. As the giant wizard reached the troops who were being attacked, he heard screams of pain from behind him somewhere. He wheeled about to see that the wicked warlock was now systematically destroying all of the defensive weapons that he had just saved. Several giants were sent tumbling over the hundred-foot cliff to their deaths. Some actually survived the fall, and it was their screams that ripped through the air. General Lang sprang into action.
“Commander Boaz, take your artillery units and station yourselves a few paces back from the edge of the cliff. Boaz, have runners coordinate your attacks for you,” ordered the general decisively. The commander and his soldiers fell back to a more secure distance from the attacks of the warlock. Runners appeared at once, and the artillery of the giants began to rip through the air in a more definitive pattern.
“Commander Gerodi, have your troops fall back behind the artillery units. We will have need of you and your soldiers if those vile betrayers and filthy orcs enter this land. Leave a few thousand here to defend Commander Boaz’s ranks, and take the rest to fortify the southeastern gate,” Lang ordered. The commander saluted and carried out the orders he had just been given.
“Lord Marcello, I need your ranks to divide up now,” Lang began. “I want your catapults to line up just behind Boaz’s artillery. I want them to use a magical fire so that it cannot be quenched. I want your trebuchets along the southern wall to hammer any orc or high elf that attempts to take the southern route. I have received word that the cliff to the north of us is being defended by General Yukio and his army. The army of Landen is defending the portion of the western cliff that we are not. I have also heard that there are over one hundred fifty thousand horse riders, so our job is to delay and kill as many as you can. The horsemen will do the rest,” explained Lang to his good friend Marcello.
“Your strategy sounds like the best possible plan. I will divide up my siege ranks as you have commanded. What of the king’s guard?” asked the giant wizard.
“Ask them to accompany King Angus to the capital city of Landen. King Leroy is awaiting him there. They may be used to help shore up the northern defense, or they may be asked to watch the eastern sea,” replied General Lang.
“I will send them straight away then. We should not delay the king’s departure for the capital,” agreed Marcello. “What would you have me do?”
“I want you to get back up on that bluff and pound them into the ground. If you get the chance, kill that wicked warlock if you can,” Lang said with great disgust.
“I will try to make you proud,” the magician replied.
***
Lord Dukker was in the throes of a full on tantrum once he realized that the giants had pulled back from the edge of the cliff. He cursed them with every vile and hateful thing he could think of. He had successfully driven them back from the wall and had destroyed many of the defensive weapons that the people of Landen had created. That was why the troops nearest to the enraged Dukker did not understand his outbursts. They thought he had accomplished exactly what he was hoping to do. They did not understand that he was frustrated because he let the elves and giants escape. He was also infuriated by the fact that the giants had a wizard that was not only powerful, but he was intelligent as well. He had not planned on this and did not know exactly what to do. The brute will be impossible to bring down because of his resistance to magic!
The troops around the downcast warlock began to inch away slowly. They all knew that he was probably the most powerful warlock in Tuwa, and they did not want to be around when he lost his cool completely. Lord Aellenas stopped ranting and raving after a few more moments. He then seemed to be lost in his own thoughts and did not recognize the people around him backing away in fear. His brow furrowed as he concentrated on what course of action to take. I must do something dramatic to send the appropriate message to these giants. I should probably send the orc siege warriors back into the forest to continue their building of catapults and siege towers. I should probably send some of my archers to protect their southern flank from a surprise attack by the army of Aran.
“Commander Nolan, I want you to take your archers back into the forest to protect the soldiers who are building the siege works,” ordered Aellenas. “Make sure that you are out of the giants’ range before you begin working. I will also be sending a small number of our archers to watch your southern flank in case the people of Aran decide to come up for a look.” His expression was cold and dark as he gave his orders. His eyes were filled with such great anger that he could not hide it from those he was addressing.
“Whatever you want,” replied the orc commander gruffly. He did not like the fact that the warlock felt his archers were superior to his own.
“Commander Regulas, send two detachments of archers to assist our stout friends,” Dukker said to his commander over the high elven archers.
“Yes, sir!” snapped the commander in reply as he saluted the dark elf. He did an about-face and trotted over to where his archers were stationed.
As the orc siege warriors and two detachments of high elven archers made their way into the shadowy portents of the Black Forest, Dukker turned his attention to the cliff wall that rose high before him. He had decided to do two things as he had watched the troops leave. First, instead of using the makeshift bridges of the orcs, he would create a magical passage that would allow the armies to walk on the waters as though they were earth. He did not believe that it was wise to be caught on this side of the river by the army of Aran who would get involved in this conflict sooner or later. Second, he would order the armies to gather in the southern plains just out of reach of the defensive weapons of Landen. Once he was there, he would work on a strategy that would limit their losses and inflict the maximum amount of damage.
Dukker beckoned for Generals Nero, Synan, and Tomo to join him for a vital discussion. They stood in a small circle just inside the eaves of the Black Forest. They talked about his plans for moving the armies to the other side of the river. He further explained that the orc archers would be asked to follow the armies once they had either built their siege weapons and towers. It was very important that they reach the other side of the river and regroup in the rock trolls’ homeland. He had to reassure the orc generals that the rock trolls were not actually there at the moment as they were engaged in an intense battle with King Jarvis. They did not take the news too well because there had never been an orc who entered those desolate, wind-ravaged lands and returned to tell the tale.
“Do not worry, my friends. The rock trolls are in league with us, so even if by some happenstance they are there, they would assist us and not grind us into oblivion,” Dukker said soothingly. The orc generals nodded their agreement with this explanation.
“I will create the magical passageway now, so you can begin moving your troops. I will then create a distraction that should give us all time to cross without incident.”
“What exactly are you going to do?” asked General Tomo.
“You will see,” replied Dukker with a wicked look on his dark face.
Dukker dismissed the generals, and he turned around to face the cliff wall just beyond the Blaine River. He directed his stare at the water in front of him, and as he continued to look at the waters, a staff magically appeared in his left hand. He quickly raised it up and pointed it at the rushing waters. In an instant, the waters ceased to flow and became still like a lake. He smiled at his own ingenuity and quickly turned his focus toward the cliff wall. He held his staff out to one side as he began to levitate above the ground. He appeared to be doing the same thing Queen Kishi had done when they left Mount Konane. The high elves held their breath in anticipation of what would come next. The warlock began
to rise higher and higher into the sky above the river. He reached a point that was several feet above the cliff’s edge and hovered there.
A blackish purple ball consumed him momentarily and then burst out from him in the direction of the giant defenders. The ray that he sent at the massive soldiers would have caused instant death to any other creature or being in Tuwa, but they did not suffer any deaths from this attack. Dukker laughed aloud at the looks of triumph on the silly brutes’ faces. They did not realize that everything around them had died. Their wooden siege weapons and missiles became so brittle that a small wind would turn them to dust. Some of the giants were affected by the magic, and the effects were immediately apparent. Those who had not closed their unprotected eyes or closed their mouths were the ones who displayed the results of their inaction. Those who did not close their eyes had empty sockets where their eyes used to be. Those who had left their mouths open in awe began to vomit uncontrollably.
Dukker did not wait for any retaliation and went on the offensive again. He twirled his staff quickly, and a wave of unquenchable flames shot out repeatedly as he continued to twirl his staff. Fire erupted along parts of the western and southern cliff edges. The flames reached some twenty feet high and blinded anyone atop the cliff from anything that may be going on below. The warlock then flew over to the southwestern edge of the cliff and beckoned to the armies below to begin their crossing. It took several hours for the three orc armies and the high elven army to walk across the water that did not move. Everyone that made it to the other side had an eerie feeling from the magic that Aellenas had used on the river. After a couple more hours, they had all gathered together just inside the northern border of Nodin. They were all immensely relieved that no rock trolls were present.
Lord Dukker had not joined the armies like he said he would, and the generals began to worry. They hoped that their fearless leader had not been hurt or killed, but they knew that there must be a very good reason for his delay. While they waited patiently for their leader to appear, they made camp and began to discuss the events of the past few days. The orcs were in awe of the power and courage displayed by the warlock Aellenas. They were in high spirits despite the fact that the elves and giants had eluded them. They did not seem fazed by the absence of their leader either. They all agreed that he was probably sticking it to those wretched giants. Their boasting and revelry continued into the night as they sat around their campfires. The only ones who seemed remotely concerned about the absence of Dukker, Commander Nolan and the orc archers were the orc generals. They kept their uneasy thoughts to themselves and discussed strategies they could employ if the worst should happen.
The Alliance of Men
As Lord Dukker watched the armies finish their crossing, he turned his attention to the troops who were still in the woods. He had the sudden feeling come over him that something was horribly wrong. He descended rapidly to the ground of the eastern side on the river and made his way swiftly into the forest. He could hear the sounds of arrows whirring through the air as he approached the orcs’ siege works. There were no sounds of battle aside from the continual sound of flying projectiles through the air. He finally heard noises that made his heart sink…thudding. The missiles were making contact with their targets from the sound of it. He quickened his pace to the clearing that the orcs had made, and he came to an abrupt halt just in the shadows of the trees on the eastern edge of the bloody scene. His eyes widened in shock as he surveyed the mass of bodies lying on the ground.
Every single orc had been killed by arrows. The whirring noise he was hearing was caused by a group of archers who were high in the trees firing down at the orcs that were writhing on the ground. Within a few minutes, silence consumed the clearing and none of the orcs moved from that time forward. Commander Nolan and his troops had been wiped out within a few minutes. They had been ambushed by archers of Aran. Dukker was sure of it. He watched a group of six soldiers walk into the open toward the middle. They reached a body that was full of no less than fifteen arrows and was surrounded by high elven archers who were just as riddled with arrows, all of them dead. There were awkward movements as they huddled together, and then they separated to search the dead for supplies. They had removed the commander’s head by force and had placed it on a tree stump in the center of the siege works that stood nearly ten feet high.
Dukker could take it no longer, and his staff magically appeared at his side once again. From the shadows of the trees, he sent out his blackish purple wave that hit the vile men. Their bodies liquefied and sloshed to the ground in a heap of mush. Arrows began to fly at him from every direction. He did not realize that he was standing right under a group of archers who were high in the trees. He turned around and made a break for it. He called up a protective shield around himself as he made his way toward the river. The archers continued to follow their quarry through the treetops. The arrows stopped so suddenly that Dukker looked around to see what had happened. He quickly realized that they were simply trying to circle around him from above and that they were waiting for others to join in the pursuit. He ducked his head down as a few arrows flew at him and he resumed his retreat to the river.
As soon as he reached the river, a barrage of arrows flew at him from the eaves of the forest. Several of the arrows hit in the same exact spot on his magical shield, which caused a slight opening. He was hit by no less than ten arrows through that small orifice. He went down hard and slid into the river. His limp body slid across the smooth surface he had created until he was in the middle of the river where he finally stopped. All at once the river sprang back into life and hit him with a series of waves that washed him down river. The protective shield around him remained intact, but the endless flame wall he had created dissipated as his bloodied body floated down the Blaine. The archers of Aran came down out of the trees to watch, what they took for a lifeless body, the intruder’s body be washed away. Satisfied that they had killed the only person who could report what had happened, they returned to the orc-made clearing.
Lord Dukker had rolled over onto his back as he floated downstream toward an unknown destination. He was acutely aware that he had a small grouping of ten arrows stuck in his lower back. He needed to remove those cursed arrows so he could magically seal the massive wound. He would not be able to heal himself by using his magic, so it would take him some time to recover completely. He would have to resort to conventional means to speed up the process. First thing first, I really need to get these arrows out of my back. How am I going to accomplish this? I can barely move, and I am using all of my energy just to stay afloat. The answer to his quandary was a painful one.
As he floated near to one of the banks, two of the arrows got caught on some rocks and were ripped from his body. Blood gushed from the wound as more arrows were caught in the shallows of the river and were torn free. After a few moments of excruciating pain, all ten arrows had been removed violently from Dukker’s back. He needed to stop the bleeding soon or else he would die. He gingerly reached out for some reeds to stop himself from continuing his uncontrolled journey down the Blaine. After several painful attempts at stopping himself, he grasped a handful of reeds and halted his progression. He pulled himself toward the low bank on the eastern side of the river until he had grounded himself in some shallow water. He lay there for several minutes before he mustered the strength to seal his wound with the magical shield he had used to protect his entire body. The bleeding stopped, but now he was completely vulnerable to attack now that his shield was being used to protect his gaping wound.
He remained where he was for several hours, waiting to get enough strength to move his battered body into the trees for the night. The sky began to darken when he finally crawled from the shallow pool he had been lying in. He made his way gingerly to the eaves of the forest, which was only twenty feet away from the bank of the river. This short distance took him a couple of hours to traverse. Once he made into the trees, the stars showed clearly overhead. He leaned up agai
nst a massive tree within the shadows of the Aran Forest. As he lay there panting from the effort, he tried to seal the wound magically so that he could begin the healing process. He closed his eyes and muttered a spell under his ragged breath. The gaping hole in the small of his back closed up and looked like there had never been ten arrows in it recently. The magical shield vanished, and he lay there exhausted from the use of his magic. His body was completely worn out from the effort it took to keep himself alive. He could steal energy from other living things, which process required strength he had not recovered yet from his prolonged use of magic.
As the moon appeared high in the sky above, Dukker used one last bit of magic to conceal his presence. He used a simple spell that made his body blend in with its surroundings. Once he had accomplished this task, he fell into a deep sleep and did not wake for several days. He used his healing powers from time to time while he slept in an effort to speed up the process. In all, he had laid there for seven days straight before he had healed completely. When he had enough courage to stand up, he winced from the lingering effects of his battle wound. I wonder what those orc generals have been up to while I have been otherwise engaged. He smiled at this thought and began to make his way through the tall trees of the Aran Forest toward the gathering place in Nodin on the other side of the river. Hopefully they were still there and in one piece.
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