Invasion (26 page)

“If you could grant us an audience with your Lord Seregruthon, I believe I will convince him to take us personally to the Overlord.”

“Now that is within my power and I am curious to see how you will convince him to do such a thing. But first, we eat.” Angrenor opened the door to an adjoining room and spoke to someone there in Elvish and then returned. “Food will arrive shortly. In the meantime perhaps you can tell me a little about yourself, Decker.”

  “Not much to tell really. I was raised by my father on his farm northwest of Arthea. He taught me how to handle a bow and to hunt and live of the land.”

“And what is it that you hunt?” Angrenor took a seat opposite him and rested his hands in his lap.

“Mainly deer, rabbits and wolves which are all pests in our area.”

“I see, and do you hunt for sport or for food?”

“Always for food and for clothing. I have always held a deep love for animals and nature and my father was very clear that I should never waste the carcass of an animal. I guess it is for that reason that Zyneste chose to bless me.”

Angrenor’s eyes went wide as he said, “You serve the Goddess of Nature?”

“I do. I am a ranger — the Master Ranger of Arthea.”

“There are other rangers in your city?”

“Not many, but I’m trying to change that — if I get the chance.”

“It is an unusual occupation for a human and very rare for Zyneste to bless one so, but I do not doubt you for you have sensed the presence of the trees and I have also sensed your aura which is mightier than most elves. Do the trees listen to you?”

“When I have the time or need to talk to them, yes.”

“A rare enough gift among elven kind. Gaining an audience with Lord Seregruthon shall be trouble-free with a human ranger in our midst.”

The door opened and a beautiful elf, with long golden hair flowing to her hips entered carrying bowls and plates of assorted fruits and salads with perfect balance.

“Decker, I would like you to meet my wife, Gwaerenel.” Turning to his wife he said, “This is Decker. He is a ranger.”

“A human ranger? How sweet. I have prepared food for you. It’s not much but it will sustain you.” She placed the bowls and plates on the table which was a large shaped lump in the tree branch.

“It looks delicious.” Anything would look delicious after the food he had eaten aboard the ship, but the fruit did was large and ripe and the salad fresh and well-prepared. He took an apple from the bowl and bit into it and his taste buds danced around with delight. A satisfied moan escaped his lips and Gwaerenal shot him a smile, turned and left the room.

Silence ensued as they all picked at the food laid out. Decker examined the room and admired its natural beauty. While most things took advantage of the natural shape of the tree, some things had been constructed with wood — a wooden bookshelf housed a plethora of assorted books, the chairs Angrenor and Reibeck were sitting on were made of wood, a large metal-banded, wooden chest sat in a corner and the door they had entered was solid timber.

“I notice that you still use wood to build with, where does the timber come from if not from chopping down trees?”

“We have very large trees here in Faoura as you may have noticed. They drop their branches for us and we make use of every fallen tree. Still there is an abundance of wood.”

“That is very conscientious — we could learn much from you.”

Angrenor laughed. “We tried teaching humans once how best to live with nature instead of against it but they were not interested. Their shorter lifespans make them hasty, impatient and blind to long-term effects.”

“I guess that is true of the majority. It is such a shame really.”

“A shame? No my ranger friend, it is tragic.” Angrenor’s tone turned serious.

“Speaking of being hasty, we really do need to keep moving, Angrenor. If you could take us to see Lord Seregruthon now it would be much appreciated,” said Reibeck.

“Now for Grand Master Reibeck to be in such a hurry it must be urgent.” Angrenor laughed at his own joke. Decker laughed too for in the short time he had known Reibeck, the elderly wizard never rushed anything. “Very well, follow me.”

Angrenor led them back down the stairs and turned right onto the street. Rounding a bend a short time later, Decker saw the most amazing sight — at the end of the street, on top of a hill stood a large tree with the bottom of its enormous trunk formed into a perfect arch with wooden steps leading up and through it. The entire tree had a yellowish glow about it as if it were reflecting the light of the sun. He shielded his eyes against its brilliance.

As they walked up the path and his eyes adjusted to the light, Decker caught sight of two large wooden doors at the top of the stairs with an elf on either side, swords hanging at ease from their belts. When they ascended the stairs and approached, a guard welcomed Angrenor and rushed to open the door for him. The Guard glanced at him and Reibeck briefly but made no move to stop them and uttered no greeting.

Inside the tree structure, a large foyer had weapon racks positioned against the wall to the right, benches to the left and a white arched door in front of them covered with elaborate carvings. Potted plants were positioned to the side with healthy green leaves and bright pink flowers. A red rug, soft underfoot, covered most of the room.

“Here you will need to leave your weapons, and I’m afraid that means your staff, Grand Master Reibeck. If you need assistance walking, then I will happily help you.” Angrenor led them over to the weapon racks.

“I will manage just fine.” Reibeck hung his staff on the horizontal rack and turned to regard Angrenor. Decker hung his bow up and placed his quiver in a stand and then went to the sword rack and placed his sword along with four daggers he always kept concealed.

Angrenor looked at him and laughed. “Is that all? Are you sure you have not forgotten any?”

“It’s a habit of mine to always be prepared.” Decker smiled.

“Well I assure you that you will be quite safe in here and your weapons will be watched.” Angrenor walked over to the arched door, which Decker now realised had no knobs, placed his hand upon it and uttered something in Elvish.

The doors magically swung back.

Beyond lay a modest-sized throne room with a decorated green rug traversing the centre of the room leading up to the interwoven, branch-formed throne. The throne had a green padded seat and backrest. Large twisted-trunk columns with leaves and shrubbery forming the ceiling allowed sunlight to filter through. Against the flower-covered walls on both sides more guards were stationed and yet the throne was empty.

“The Lord is absent?” asked Decker.

“No, he sits the throne for an hour or two each morning to deal with the matters of our community. He will be upstairs somewhere.” Angrenor led them along the rug until he was about ten paces from the throne before guiding them off to the right and through a small doorway and up a narrow, winding staircase.

At the top of the staircase Decker and Reibeck followed Angrenor down a small foyer which acted as the entrance to a long, wide hallway. They passed many doors with elven symbols carved in each of them. Elaborately detailed paintings hung on the walls mostly depicting elves on a hunt.

“Elves also hunt animals?” Decker assumed that elves ate vegetation.

“Only dangerous or overpopulated animals. Everything we do as elves is in moderation or to establish an equilibrium — perhaps dancing is the one exception to that rule. We do that to excess.” Angrenor chuckled. They came to the end of the passageway to a set of bright white double doors guarded by an elf warrior.

“Lord Seregruthon is busy. I’m sorry, Angrenor,” said the Guard who did sound sorry.

“He won’t be too busy for this I assure you. You may tell him it is urgent and that it will be well worth his time.”

“At your bidding.” The guard knocked on the door firmly, waited for a response and then walked inside, closing the door behind him.

“I hope what you have to tell him is exceptional or he will never believe me again.” Angrenor laughed nervously.

“It is not what we have to tell him, but also what we have to show him that will really make it worth his while,” said Reibeck.

Angrenor turned to Reibeck with raised eyebrows. “You are as cryptic as an elf, my friend. You have spent too much time among us I fear.”

Grand Master Reibeck laughed. “It is also a wizard’s trait to be cryptic. I will have to introduce you to my former student Master Pilk one of these days — a more cryptic individual you could not find.”

“You sound very proud of him.”

“He was my finest student and the only one which I can call a friend. He has a heart of pure gold and has not let his immense magical abilities go to his head.”

“He sounds like a fine man.”

Reibeck nodded solemnly no doubt thinking about Pilk’s current plight. The guard returned and informed them that Lord Seregruthon would see them. They followed him into the room where he excused himself and closed the door behind him.

The room appeared larger than Decker imagined possible considering it was up among the branches of a group of trees. Chairs surrounded a round table near the centre of the room, a full bookcase lined the right-hand wall and a solid desk sat on the left side of the room. Ahead was no wall at all and went out a terrace which overlooked the elven city and the bay beyond; Decker marvelled at the glorious sight.

“This had better be important Angrenor, I have much to do.” Lord Seregruthon’s musical voice caught Decker’s attention and so he turned to regard the important elf standing behind his desk.

“May I introduce you to Decker the Ranger, and of course you have already met Grand Master Reibeck.” Angrenor held out his hand to Decker and beckoned him forward.

“My last name is Kearny — Decker Kearny, my Lord, and it is an honour to meet you.” Decker bowed deeply.

“You are a ranger?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Rare among the humans but still not rare enough to justify disturbing me so I assume there is more to it.” Seregruthon turned once again to Angrenor.

“Of course, my Lord. I will let Grand Master Reibeck explain as he has told me little.”

“Very well Reibeck, you may begin your explanation but please make it brief.”

“I fear, my Lord, there is no quick explanation so I will begin by showing you something — if you could take me out onto the terrace please.”

Lord Seregruthon narrowed his eyes but he nodded nonetheless and walked toward the terrace, stretching one arm out to invite them to join him.

“So what am I looking at?” Seregruthon scanned the city and out to sea, shielding his eyes with his hand.

Reibeck turned to Decker. “Please call Ciara.”

“I’m not sure she will enter a strange city,” replied Decker.

“She will know friend from foe I believe.”

Decker looked at the old wizard. Did he know more about this horse than he let on?

“Very well. I will try.” Decker let out a shrill whistle and called out to Ciara. All the elves on the street below gazed up.

“Is everything all right, Lord Seregruthon?” one of them shouted up.

“All is well. Continue about your business.”

Decker waited ten counts and tried again but it seemed like an hour to him. He looked at Reibeck and shrugged his shoulders.

“Try again,” said the old wizard.

Decker whistled and called out Ciara’s name. Once again he waited for ten seconds. Just as he was about to whistle again he caught sight of a disturbance down the street. As his faithful horse neared, Decker could see the elves parting on the street much like the bow of a ship parts the water. They all stood there with their mouths agape and many pointed with outstretched arms as his horse thundered by. Decker turned to Lord Seregruthon who had his eyes fixated on the magnificent animal and his mouth wide open.

“This is no ordinary horse.” Seregruthon did not take his eyes off Ciara as he spoke.

“No it is not,” said Reibeck in a serious tone. “She is a gift from Zyneste — gifted to Decker, her chosen one.”

Chapter 28

Under Threat

“Our scout has returned from Fort Lowmount, my Lord Duke. The report is not good. The orcs of our world have joined forces with Sylestra’s army and they are all marching this way.” For the first time since knowing Duke Angus, Major Hillsworth saw fear in his eyes.

Duke Angus stood up from his breakfast table overlooking the castle gardens and paced with his hands behind his back. “We have General Krak’too’s orcs to help with defence.”

“They are mostly females and young ones.”

“King Buster and his dwarves are still here. We number many more than we did when last we defended these walls. We will defend them again.”

“My Lord, even with our extra numbers we are outnumbered worse than we were last time and are without Master Pilk’s magic or Decker’s lethal bow. Our walls are not completely repaired and we face a more powerful and cunning opponent with many shamans among their ranks. Our scout even reported a human wizard working with them.”

Duke Angus turned abruptly with fire in his eyes. “A traitor? Did the scout get a good look at him?”

“He said he was a tall man with a long white beard and a large, wide-brimmed and pointy hat and held a staff in his hand.”

“That sounds like Grand Master Rotager,” boomed the Duke.

“The Head Wizard of the Academy?” asked Major Hillsworth, a little confused.

“The one and only. He has not been seen for many days and the Academy has been all but deserted. King Cassien is trying to get to the bottom of it but as it stands it remains a complete mystery.”

“Not anymore it doesn’t.” Cressida stormed out onto the terrace. “I spoke to my brother last night with the help of Mistress Cali and he told me that Grand Master Rotager had offered his services to Sylestra along with many other wizards.”

“How did you get out here?” asked Major Hillsworth.

“I told the guard it was important and he was very slow on his feet.” Cressida smiled a crooked smile. A sheepish guard walked out onto the terrace. Major Hillsworth gave him a wave to let him know it was all right.

“She has the same blood as Master Pilk without a doubt.” Duke Angus chuckled before his expression once again turned sullen. “This situation keeps getting worse and worse. Not only do they have shamans, but now they have wizards and powerful ones at that. Major, summon King Buster and our three residing generals’. We have a hard decision to make and we must make it quickly.”

“Already done, my Lord. As soon as the scout gave me the report I sent him off in search of them all. They should be here soon.”

“Excellent, arrange to have more food brought out while I finish my breakfast.” Duke Angus sat back down and ate while Major Hillsworth went off to arrange the food.

By the time he returned everyone had arrived and were sitting around the table. General Kehar had his walking stick propped up beside his chair while General Krak’too sat opposite him and General Ludko and King Buster sat to his left. It was obvious that none of them wanted to sit next to the large orc general even after they had fought side by side in battle. Major Hillsworth didn’t hesitate and took up a seat next to the orc; he felt dwarfed next to him and now understood how a dwarf must feel next to a human.

“I have finished briefing them on the latest news, Major Hillsworth. Now I will open up discussions on what we should do about it, but basically I see two options. We stay and defend the city or we abandon it.”

“Abandon Arthea without a fight? Can you really be thinking that, my Lord?” said General Kehar. “Many of them are the orc rabble that we already fended off once.”

“That rabble will be used as fodder, General Kehar, to charge your walls and keep you distracted from the magical gates appearing beside you. Worg riders will ride along the centre of your walls while archers, shamans and these wizard traitors bombard your walls from below. Sylestra’s army conquered cities greater than this within a day. Your city would fall within hours. Duke Angus is wise to consider abandoning the city.” General Krak’too’s voice boomed across the terrace.

“Ay, but they ha’ not fought dwarves on top of walls before,” shouted King Buster.

“And you have not fought orcs like them in a siege battle. I don’t doubt your courage and your skill, but you don’t stand a chance in this battle.”

“General Krak’too is right,” said Duke Angus, cutting off the rebuttal of King Buster, “he knows the army we face better than any of us. They outnumber us many times over and our walls will prove a minor obstacle considering how many magic users they have. It would be better to retreat to Yulon where we can regroup and with any luck Decker and Grand Master Reibeck will succeed in convincing the elves to come to our aid.”

“So we just abandon a walled city to our enemy? That will make it very hard for us to root them out later,” said General Kehar. “May I recommend that we blow the walls as we leave, or at least as much as we can?”

“That would be wise, General,” replied Duke Angus. “Perhaps the eastern wall as that is the way we will return. Use up whatever burning oil we have so it can’t be used against us.”

“I will arrange it at once.” General Kehar grabbed hold of his walking stick, stood up and hurried away.

“Meanwhile the rest of us have an evacuation to organise. Major Hillsworth, I want the walls manned as usual but get every other available soldier to help with the evacuation.”

“Of course, my Lord.”

“King Buster and General Krak’too, you will tend to your own.”

“We’ll be headin’ back to Corwyn. I gotta be makin’ sure my own city is safe,” said King Buster.

“I understand. I will keep you informed of our plans.”

“Us orcs have little to pack so we’ll be out of the city in no time. I will have my warriors assist in whatever way they can but many humans still do not trust us.”

“Whatever you can do will be appreciated, General Krak’too. Well we all know what to do so let’s get to it.”

Decker couldn’t find any words. What was Reibeck saying, and why did he wait til now to say it?

“Why would Zyneste choose a human over an elf?” asked Lord Seregruthon.

“You know your goddess better than I, but can you possibly doubt that Decker has been chosen? I have read about such a horse and one has not been seen on this world by human eyes. A rare enough gift among the elven race I believe,” said Reibeck.

“Rare indeed.” Seregruthon turned to Decker. “She lets you ride her?”

“She was a little stubborn at first” —Decker couldn’t help but smile when he remembered all the times she ran off on him— “but in the end it was her that came to me and compelled me to ride her. She will not be trapped nor ordered — only befriended.”

“So no saddle or reins?” Angrenor raised his eyebrows.

“No, but she does not need them. She does not let you fall and she knows where you want to go.”

“Will she let us go near?” asked Seregruthon.

“If I go to her first, she may.”

“Then you go on down, we will follow soon after.” Lord Seregruthon pointed to a staircase in the corner of the terrace.

Decker nodded and went to the staircase which wound its way to the ground. He became nervous as he approached Ciara with so many eyes upon him. What if she ran? The elves would then not believe that he could ride her. As if sensing his nervousness, Ciara walked over to him and nuzzled against his shoulder. He patted her nose in thanks and worked his way around beside her where he grabbed a tuft of her mane and leaped upon her back; she stood firm for him. Decker smiled as he heard the gasps of nearby elves.

He trotted a small circuit around the street while Lord Seregruthon, Angrenor and Reibeck made their way down the stairs. He pulled up right in front of them when they reached the ground and gave Ciara a pat on her neck to calm her. He felt her tension running through his legs as Lord Seregruthon reached out to pat her nose but Decker released a little calming magic and she remained still and accepted the touch.

“She is simply magnificent,” said Seregruthon.

“She sure is,” agreed Decker. “I am honoured to be her friend.” Ciara bobbed her head up and down and Decker laughed.

“She understands you?” Angrenor faced Decker with one eyebrow raised.

“She understands more than just my speech I fear. She can sense my thoughts and feelings.”

“Would she let me ride her?” asked Seregruthon.

Ciara backed away from the group and shook her head vigorously.

Decker laughed. “Sorry my lord, I think she has answered that question for you.”

They all laughed. 

“It does seem that way doesn’t it. Well I’m honoured that she let me pat her. She truly is extraordinary.”

“Now to more pressing matters I fear.” Reibeck’s grave tone had Seregruthon turning to him in an instant.

“Very well, I will make the time to listen to you.”

“Your leader, Major Isak, has agreed to remain stationed in the canyon until your released but made it clear that he wouldn’t wait too long. That length of time is now up to you for our scout confirmed the existence of this Gate you spoke of, so now we will hear everything of what you know,” said the orc Gerard considered to be the mayor.

Gerard breathed a sigh of relief; the Gate appeared to be still open and while that remained so, they had a chance to return home and they were so close now.

“Among the supplies you will be providing us with could I also ask for a map of the area with the location of the Gate marked on it?” asked Gerard.

“We will provide you with a basic map to your destination. That will be sufficient for you.”

“That’s all we need. That will save us time seeking it ourselves.”

“I was told that it was easy to find as it lit up the canyon around it and a large encampment has been built next to it.”

“How many guard it?”

“Our scout estimated their count at around five hundred, but he was sent to confirm the location and nothing more. Now it’s time for you to give us some information.”

“I will tell you all that I know, but if you bring the others here some of them may be able to tell you more.”

“They are all being questioned separately.”

Gerard leaned forward and rested his arms on the table and recounted his story over again, in more detail this time. An orc sat by a table in the corner and wrote what he heard dutifully. He told the orc about the appearance of the Gate, his fight with the two scouts, how his family were slaughtered while he was away reporting the incursion and the subsequent battle that resulted in his capture and being parted from his son.

He spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon relating everything he remembered about the Black Skull which proved significant as they didn’t hold anything back, expecting them to die at the hands of the Red Axe tribe. He spoke about the attack on Fort Lowmount which Major Isak and other soldiers had detailed to him and how they had all been released in the middle of an army of the Red Axe to be used as fodder.

Mostly the Mayor sat silent and listened to his story but occasionally he would ask questions and get him to expand on certain points. Gerard continued with their struggle to capture boats and float down the river in order to get away from the Red Axe and the Black Skull. He told of their plans to head straight south from the lake until they came across the canyon and they would use that to guide them back to the Gate but then they were captured by the Ta’zu tribe.