“Father,” Prince Jaerick interrupted after an awkward silence of fuming emotions filled the room, stifling rationale. “What about his daughter?”
Keiyann directed his attention to his son, slightly perturbed and impatient. “What of her?”
“What if the two kingdoms unite through marriage?”
Keiyann stood silent for a few seconds. “You and the human princess?”
“Yes.”
“I am not sure how that will make a difference. Do you have affections for her?”
“I’m beginning to, yes, I believe I do.”
Meztrae and Kroejin looked on dumbstruck, as if they had just been slammed against the wall.
Keiyann saw the shocked faces of everyone in the room. “Do you see how everyone in this room has just reacted to this option?” Keiyann said pointing to Meztrae and the others with a wave of his hand. “Our people would never accept such a maneuver, even for the gain of the kingdom.”
“I am also concerned, for her, and their safety. It is only a matter of time before they are completely overrun. Traelyn unknowingly showed me a weakness in their defense, if this weakness is discovered, they will not be around to even host further conversations.”
“Do you suggest that we don’t have much more time for debate?”
“Exactly that. That weakness is a door at the foot of the cliff, and if found, the gronts could shatter it with two hits of any makeshift battering ram.”
“Then we should get busy. I will move to fulfill the prophecy, and it sounds like we may not even have any time left, for if the human king dies, the prophecy will never be fulfilled. General, earnestly, I need your support on this.”
“My glorious king, I highly disagree with your actions, but you are my king and I will carry out any and all of your wishes with my life, and you know this.”
“Very well, assign three detachments to go with us back to the Halls of Dar Drannon. We will secure the fortress and hand over the sword of Valkilye when everything is safe and secure.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Now Jaerick,” The king continued, “ When we get close, I want you to show the general where that door is so that he can secure and or seal the door for good.”
“Yes sir.”
“When we leave, we will leave behind two of our detachments to keep their fortress secure.”
“My king,” Meztrae interrupted. “You do realize that you will be leaving two detachments to their eventual death don’t you?”
“I am confident in our forces. Two detachments will be plenty, but just to be safe, we will leave all three.”
“Father, may I make a request?” Jaerick spoke breaking up his father’s focus.
“Ask it, and we will see,” he answered, a bit annoyed.
“Can we bring Traelyn back with us to the elven kingdom?”
“Why? Do you fear her death as well?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why should I save her life when I am committing many elven soldiers to their deaths to defend her father?”
“Because, whether or not you agree on the reactions of our people, you made a commitment to the human king, and you should hold true to that promise. And if you choose to abandon that promise, I urge you to do so not because I have feelings for her, but for the simple fact that the line of human kings might continue with her survival, should the Halls of Dar Drannon Fall.”
Keiyann shook his head in disbelief and looked at the others seated around the table and rubbed his chin. “What does the prophecy say of this Kroejin?” he said, now smiling.
“He is right. In order for the prophecy to be fulfilled, her line must continue.”
“Then I will allow it. The elven people will most definitely not understand, especially if you two wed, but we will have to deal with that later. There is so much in the near future that they will not understand.”
After the surprise by the prince, King Keiyann decided to end the discussion. He then dismissed the assembly and left the room in expedient fashion. The committee also quickly left the room, whispering avidly amongst themselves. Meztrae and Kroejin were the last to remain. When everyone had left, Meztrae went to the door and closed it. “What happened to you these last few days?” he said.
“I’m sorry, things have changed. When I saw the human king, I knew then that he is the one the prophecy speaks of.”
“We had a deal!” Meztrae shouted shaking his fist in the air.
“I know! That is why I tried to persuade the king differently.”
“Oh, I see, with your personal opinion, not your spiritual one. The king does not have you by his side to hear your personal opinion.”
“I could not lie to him,” Kroejin said quietly looking down at the table.
“Then die with him!” Meztrae said as he marched out of the room.
* * *
Traelyn did not hear from the elves again for many weeks until her father came into her room with a letter that was sent by an elven courier.
“News from the elves,” he said as he handed Traelyn an opened letter hand stamped by the elven king. “They are returning. They will bring a small force to help us.”
“The prince?”
Her father smiled. “Yes, he will come as well.”
The elves arrived a week later. While the elven force mustered their forces near the fortress at the base of the cliff, General Meztrae steered his mare away from the side of the kings’ entourage, and went two rows back to the prince.
“Now show me this entrance.”
Without a word, the prince turned his steed eastward and skirted along the edge of the sheer rocky cliff. As Jaerick rode away, the general assigned twenty soldiers to follow them.
Within a few moments, the prince had found the Scillia tree hidden within the cluster of tall pine trees. “This is the spot.”
General Meztrae stopped and looked up to the face of the cliff, and stared for a few moments before looking back to the prince. “But where is the door?”
“I will show you.”
The prince dismounted his horse, groped at the cliff face for a few seconds before finding the crease exposing the door, and opened it for the general.
“Very good, that is all I need you for,” General Meztrae said to the prince. You should go back to your father. He needs you by his side.”
The prince rode back to the king, but as he did so, he heard the general barking orders to his troops to enter the forest and to secure the immediate area.
Meanwhile, at the main entrance to the Halls of Dar Drannon, the humans escorted the elves inside. Once they reached the top, the two kings immediately went into the council chambers. Jaerick and the soldiers stayed mounted on their horses in the courtyard, while Traelyn stood on the upper hall looking down to the courtyard, her eyes on the prince. The prince did not move, but held a somber look on his face.
Jaerick looked up and saw Traelyn. Immediately he dismounted, ran across the courtyard and up the stairs to the hall. He was out of breath when he reached her, and in an urgent tone he said, “I’m glad I found you first.”
Seeing the sense of urgency in his expressions, she backed away a few steps. Jaerick reached for her face and ran his hand from her chin to the back of her neck, feeling her soft auburn hair between his fingers. “I missed you so much Traelyn.”
She smiled and began to speak, but Jaerick put his other hand to her lips.
“But I have more to tell you -” he stopped to look into her eyes, brought her head closer, and kissed her while wrapping his left arm about her waist and holding her tight.
Traelyn returned the kiss but pulled away abruptly. “What must you tell me Jaerick?”
Jaerick, holding her waist with both hands, looked into her eyes and began to tell her the news he knew she would not want to hear. “We have come to take you back with us.”
Traelyn pulled away, shook her hands downward as if attempting to shake something off of her.
“I will not,” she stated, before turning and running down the hallway. Jaerick stood still for a few moments and then followed her. Traelyn ran to the end of the hallway and spoke to the two soldiers standing watch, and then continued downstairs and into the courtyard.
Jaerick walked to the soldiers, and attempted to walk past them, but they blocked his path. He thought briefly of forcing his way passed them, but instead he turned around and walked back to where his father and King Dar Drannon were meeting.
As he walked back, he looked down at the courtyard and saw Traelyn slip out of sight into the garden where she had taken him when they were together. He remembered their time together through the garden and to the outside of the fortress. He knew she would be heading out there to the Scillia tree where she felt free.
He began to wonder what would happen now if she would run away and no one could find her. His father would undoubtedly be upset that he had told her their plans prematurely, but he could not wait, as much as he wanted her to be with him, he cared too much for her to simply take her by diplomatic force. Sure, she would be in safe hands, but she might not care for him the way he would like her to.
He wanted her unconditional love and he did not want to be selfish and take what was not his to take. Jaerick stiffened as he approached the door to the conference chambers where his father and King Dar Drannon were meeting. Four soldiers stood at the entrance, two elven, and two human. All four stepped aside as he approached. He had just put his hand on the door when he heard loud screams and clanging of swords from behind them somewhere within the castle.
“What is that?” Jaerick said to the human guard. The guards looked at Jaerick with a surprised look and shook their heads not knowing the answer.
“Tell your king that something is wrong, and call for help. I think we are in for a fight and will need as many soldiers as we can muster!”
Chapter 9
Jaerick ran in a panic. He had to find Traelyn before it was too late. Running back to the open hallway that overlooked the courtyard he saw that many soldiers were already battling gronts below as they poured out of the garden area into the courtyard. The gronts outnumbered the surprised soldiers at least two to one. Jaerick yelled for his elven warriors to engage in the battle as he drew his sword and charged into the courtyard.
He ran into the courtyard and could not stop thinking of Traelyn, whether she was safe, or if she had been overrun and killed during the beginning of the raid since he saw that the gronts had entered from where he saw her last. The human soldiers were already in close combat by the time Jaerick reached the battle, and many soldiers had easily cut down a number of the poorly skilled and poorly armored attackers. Still, the gronts, who outnumbered them, fought onward, causing the defenders to slowly lose ground.
A handful of elven soldiers came running down the stairs and joined in the defense of the fortress. The elven charge attacked with a fresh fierceness that knocked some of the gronts back initially, but they regrouped and tightened up their ranks enough to gain the little ground that they had lost. Jaerick noticed this, and commanded his soldiers to charge again, while he and his guards slashed, cut, and hacked their way into the middle of the pack. This onslaught dropped a number of gronts to die a bloody and mangled death on the sandy ground. Despite this successful charge, many of the gronts slipped passed the elves and humans and charged up the stairs where Dar Drannon and Keiyann Krowe were leaving their chambers to enter the melee.
Dar Drannon saw five gronts charging towards them, and withdrew his ceremonial sword, which was used for decoration and not sharpened for fighting, as Keiyann Krowe drew the Sword of Valkilye and prepared for the charge. They did not have any shields or protective armor, but the two of them stood firm to defend themselves alone, for the door guards were already down below in the courtyard fighting.
Both of the kings blocked the center of the aisle-way as three gronts charged shoulder to shoulder while two more followed behind. They barked as they charged feeling the blood rage run through their feral veins. Dar Drannon and Keiyann ducked as two of the gronts charged. Dar Drannon used his shoulder and stood up as fast and as hard as he could, hitting the gront below the rib cage. The force threw the gront over the rail and into the courtyard, twenty feet below. The gront screamed and flailed his arms right before landing on his head, breaking his back and neck.
At the same time, Keiyann stood from his crouch and slammed the other gront into the wall, pinning him against it. The third gront that did not jump, now charged into the fray and aimed his blow for Keiyann’s head with an overhead swing, but missed his mark when Keiyann moved to slam the gront against the wall.
The gront was hunched over with both hands on his sword attempting to regain the initiative, but only looked up in time to see Dar Drannon swing his sword downward with a killing blow to his neck and shoulder.
The two remaining gronts, sensing a new advantage, charged the preoccupied kings. Both attacked Dar Drannon who had just struck his blow to their fellow warrior. In a maddened rage, one dropped his sword and dove at Dar Drannon’s mid section tackling him to the hard stone floor. Dar Drannon landed flat on his back and lost all the air from his lungs. The last gront, not expecting his partner’s rage, swung his sword high and wide and missed both the king and his partner. Keiyann, realizing the confusion, stabbed the unsuspecting gront in the side of his ribs. The wounded gront lay on the ground groaning and writhing in pain.
Keiyann then looked over and saw Dar Drannon wrestling with the other gront. The gront was reduced to using his bony fists as his only weapon and was doing a fair job of pounding Dar Drannon’s face in a fierce rage of numerous blows. Dar Drannon lay unconscious as the gront let out a guttural yell with each blow. Keiyann ran to the gront and kicked him off his friend, causing the gront to roll on his back just as Keiyann’s sword was plunged into his exposed chest.
Down below in the courtyard, Jaerick battled the gronts from every side. He stopped long enough to see one of the gronts fall from the upper hallway. He noticed his father and the human king engaged in a heavy fight. The gront fell a few feet beside him landing on his head. He heard his neck crack and saw a small trickle of blood escape from the corner of his mouth. Jaerick looked away and saw one of his lieutenants waving at him to follow. “This way!” he yelled, motioning toward the open hallway that led to where Traelyn was last seen.
The battle had raged with no single group gaining any ground, even though more gronts than elves were giving up their lives. Hoping for a change in strategy, Jaerick ran from the battle to join his trusted lieutenant. He was surprised at how easily he had slipped away from the fighting. “Follow me. We need your help over here.”
“We?” Jaerick questioned and followed behind his lieutenant as they ran through the gateway. They ran through the garden and down through the wooden door in the ground, the same one Traelyn showed him. It was eerily quiet inside, but he continued down the stairway, still hearing the now dulling sounds of battle above them.
They continued down the steps that led down under the depths of the castle. When they reached the bottom to the final iron door, he saw five of his own elven soldiers standing side by side with five gronts. General Meztrae stood behind them in front of the iron door. One of the gronts held Traelyn in front of him. Her hands and feet were bound with a strong woven vine, and he held an oversized dagger to her throat.
“What’s going on?” Jaeri
ck demanded, as he looked at Meztrae. Meztrae stepped out from behind his soldiers, and without a word charged the prince, shoving him into one of Jaerick’s soldiers who was just now arriving. His soldiers caught him and held him upright as they stripped his sword from his hands, then shoved him back to Meztrae.
Prince Jaerick, flushed with frustration, shuddered from the betrayal of his own soldiers. More confused than ever, he stared at Meztrae as he felt his face turn hot. Without thinking of the consequences, Jaerick lurched toward Meztrae and wrapped both hands around his throat pushing him back a few steps.
“Harm me and she dies,” Meztrae managed through gasping breaths, holding his arms out wide in mock obedience and submission.
Jaerick tensed his fingers, hands, and arms, but could not finish what he wanted to do. He wanted to squeeze the life out of this betrayer to the king and elvenkind. He wanted so badly to watch his lungs scream for air until they finally give up on life. He wanted to see Meztrae’s eyes mist over as he slipped into unconsciousness and enter into the slow breathless dark of death. Reluctantly, he pulled his hands free from Meztrae’s neck, turning him loose. He then looked at Traelyn, who to Jaerick’s surprise, showed no signs of fear, or emotions.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, but before she could answer, Meztrae struck the prince in the jaw.
“Shut up and listen! We don’t have much time. I do not intend to hurt you, but you need to control your father. This need to help the humans will only bring the fall of our elven kingdom.”
Prince Jaerick rubbed his chin and glared. “If you hate these humans so much, how can you justify in helping these barbarians kill your own people upstairs in the courtyard?”
Meztrae shook his head as if shaking snow out of his hair. “You don’t understand the severity of our cause do you? What is happening now is only the price we must pay for your fathers’ stupidity. A small price to reverse his actions and to assure that the elven kingdom does not fall during his reign.”
Quarterstars Awakening Page 7
