“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.