After a few minutes of destruction, the cloud disappeared into the nothingness it was called from. No one move on either side of this impromptu battlefield. How could the reports about the presence of Queen Kishi been so wrong? Didn’t the information come from an Elemental? Lord Marcello was perplexed by the situation and reason seemed to be slipping from him as tension between the armies mounted. Then, all at once, the giant wizard’s quandaries were answered. A thin sheet of blue ice shot from the ranks of the high elven army. The icy sheet slipped through Marcello’s defensive shield and instantly froze a few dozen giant soldiers. It became clear at that moment that the little witch had disguised herself to blend into the ranks of the high elven army. Before anyone could react or do anything, a magically enhanced voice rang out through the now chilled air.
“Marcello, let the bloodshed begin!” called an eerie female voice.
“Who speaks thus?” queried the giant.
“I am Queen Kishi of the high elves, the future queen of Tuwa,” replied the sorceress queen darkly. An unnatural ease fell upon both sides of the line. It was as though evil was emanating from her.
“Queen Kishi, reveal your wicked self to me!” demanded Marcello in a loud, booming voice. His shout echoed through the silence that had settled over the two armies. His eyes narrowed as he searched out the vile witch.
A flash of light shot from the end of Marcello’s staff and illuminated a shocked soldier in the middle of the fifth row of archers. The magical light engulfed the now struggling high elf as he was lifted into the air. After a moment, the magical disguise Kishi had been using was undone, and she hung in midair revealed completely to everyone in both armies. Her stunned look did not stay long on her beautiful face. She quickly summoned her staff into her hands and swung it violently through the air. She burst the magical chains that had been holding her fast and screamed loudly in a fit of uncontrollable rage. She slammed to the ground hard and was up again without noticing her weakened appearance. Anger made her numb to the wounds she just incurred and her focus on the giant mage made her oblivious to her indecency.
“You will pay for that!” she blasted at the giant wizard. She pointed her staff at him and sent a powerful fireball at him. The fire quickly engulfed him, but there was no scream of pain or even discomfort. The giant snapped his fingers, and the flames went out at once.
“Is that the best you can do? Remember, I am a giant,” Marcello said smoothly. His calm demeanor did nothing to sooth his attacker. It had the opposite effect, which was exactly what he was hoping for. He could see that she was stomping her way toward the front of the army. She did not notice the looks her soldiers were giving her.
“So be it. There is more than one way to kill a giant. Even one as ugly as you!” retorted Kishi. She raised her staff high in the air, and a black cloud appeared out of nowhere. Panic began to appear on some of the giants’ faces. They had seen a cloud like this before. It was the one Marcello had used to send ice blocks crashing to the earth. They knew that this spell was not an easy one to defend against, so they braced for the worst.
Marcello reacted very quickly and gathered a strong wind behind him. When he saw the first signs of an ice block falling from the storm cloud, he shot forth a mighty gust of wind. The blocks were hurled away from the giants at the North Gate and landed on the back row of high elven foot soldiers, killing several of them instantly. Kishi sent bolts of blue lightning into the cloud, and icy darts shot down from the cloud instead of chunks of ice. Several giants were hit by these icy projectiles, but their thick skin deflected the weak attacks. The giants took heart by these feeble attempts by such a powerful sorceress. Feeling too frustrated to continue the fight, Kishi ordered General Jaali to call for the retreat. The high elven army turned tail and began to retreat. The departing army made rude gestures and shouted vile profanities at the defiant giants. They truly were not the gentle, dignified people they once were. Kishi’s personal downward spiral was bringing down her troops as well.
“Gentlemen, do not think that she will not return. Queen Kishi is much more powerful than I, so be prepared. She was caught off guard, which made her clumsy in her attacks. She will not make that mistake again,” Marcello warned the troops at the gate. “That being said, I am proud of the way you conducted yourselves.”
Forced Betrayal
As the air filled with a musty, dank smell once again, Lord Keb resigned himself to defeat. He was trapped inside this mountain of dark magic with no hope of escape. His brethren and sisters of the guardian council would be too busy by now to search for him. The evil creature that held him bound in this mountain prison seemed to grow stronger as the guardian’s despair grew. The small pool of murky water had steam rising from it as the ice melted. This created a greenish haze that not only blurred his vision, but it also caused the panic he was feeling to intensify. His thoughts became erratic and increasingly wild, like an animal that is cornered. Without realizing what he was allowing to happen, he began to lower his mental defenses to the secrets he had kept hidden from Kana. He felt weary from the confrontation with Kana and the giant serpent. He did not see any harm in allowing his defenses down for just a little bit.
Images began to call themselves forth in his mind as though someone was searching for something, some particular secret. Images of the other guardians flashed through his mind as he began to have a feeling of foreboding come over him. The image of the council of the guardians displayed itself for several minutes. Keb watched the meeting progress as he relived the events that took place during and immediately after the meeting. It was then that he finally realized that some foreign being had penetrated his defenses and was perusing his mind like it was an open book. He immediately tried to slam shut the door he had allowed to be opened. The intruder merely laughed at this vain attempt. The voice he heard did not come from a particular source and was not heard using his ears. The speaker spoke to him in his mind.
“Keb, how long has it been, old friend?” asked a gravelly deep voice.
“Who are you?” queried Keb sharply. He did not like this creature who apparently knew his name and who knew how to get past his defenses. The feeling of uneasiness welled up inside him once more.
“Come now…old friends like us should never forget one another. I certainly remember you. You are the puppet of that self-righteous-” began the gruff voice in chiding tones.
“You will not speak his name! I know who you are now; you are that filthy, good-for-nothing demon lord we banished centuries ago!” He realized with a sudden shock of horror that the dark lord was speaking to him. This was the very creature that the guardian council had banished after the last war for Tuwa for his crimes against all living creatures and more importantly for defiling all of the elements. They had imprisoned that old devil in the icy fortress located at the furthest northern point on the continent. How did he escape that heavily guarded prison?
“The particulars of my escape from that pitiful prison are of no consequence. The reason why I am here with you now is of the utmost importance. I want to know what it is that you are hiding from your friend Kana. You will tell me; you know you will. I do not believe that you will have forgotten my ability to persuade people…especially an element that is as weak as you are.”
“If I remember correctly, your overconfidence was what landed you in that cozy prison we put you in.” Keb knew that this would irritate him and would potentially throw him off his mental intrusion. He knew full well that he had better regain control of his mind soon because of the secrets that he kept hidden in there. One in particular was of the utmost importance to keep hidden from this beast. There were only three people that knew about it, and he was probably the weakest out of the fellowship.