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.