***
Queen Kishi was enraged by their inability to penetrate the giants’ defenses. She was even more upset with herself that she was out dueled by a giant mage. How in the name of the gods did that brute learn to fight like that? In all my years, I have never before heard of or met a giant who could do magic, let alone defy me. What is this devilry? Perplexed by her encounter with Lord Marcello, she had called for a retreat so that they could rethink their approach. As they marched north and east to their newly set up camp at the base of Mount Lamont, soldiers began to murmur amongst themselves. At first Kishi thought they were questioning her abilities until she noticed what they were looking at. There was an ethereal black cloud hanging over the Nairi Canyons. Though they were still at a considerable distance, their sharp elven eyes clearly saw that they were not clouds at all; they were moving as if they were a conglomerate of individual things.
“General Jaali! Come here at once!” she bellowed.
“What is it, my queen?” The general had not noticed the unnatural cloud that had settled over the conquered canyon lands. He had been busy verbally abusing several of the soldiers who had prematurely retreated. When a reply did not come at once, he looked up to see the strange formation of what appeared to be black thunderclouds…except that they were swirling in unusual patterns and they were too thin to be rain clouds.
“What do you suppose those things are?” she said, pointing at the object of everyone’s attention.
“It looks like the demons from the north. How can this be? I thought they were imprisoned in that ice fortress.” Jaali stroked his long white goatee thoughtfully. He remembered the stories told by the elders about the spirit creatures that they fought during the first war for Tuwa. He had a feeling of foreboding come over him as he watched the orgy of wraiths.
I wonder if the guardian council has unleashed those unholy terrors on us. They are the only ones with the power to do so since it was they who imprisoned the foul creatures in that castle. “General, let us not dally here watching this unnatural display. We do not want to get caught unawares by the giants. Let us quicken our pace and get back to camp as soon as possible.”
“You are right. Let’s move out!” barked the general to the troops as they stood in awe of what they were seeing. They did not understand what was going on, but they did not dare ignore an order from their fierce general. He had the reputation of making examples of those who did not carry out his commands promptly. He was unusually gruff for an elf, which made him the perfect general for extreme battle conditions.
As Kishi’s army picked up their march once again, another dark object appeared in the sky to the south of Nairi. This one was a storm cloud for sure, but it looked unusually dense and had an odd hue to it. As it neared the wraiths, it began to shoot lightning into them at an alarming rate. There were flashes of light, and as they increased in frequency, it was clear that the demons were disappearing as a result of this strike. The spectacular display did not slow their march one bit as the troops looked sideways at the awesome air show. Within a few minutes, all of the specters were gone as though they were frozen and then teleported somewhere. The high elven army increased their cadence as if to prove to their general that they were not distracted by the freakish display.
As the soldiers picked up the pace even more, their new base came into view. They continued to ignore the large storm cloud that was now moving toward Nairi. Queen Kishi stopped to watch the storm cloud approach the rim of the southern end of the canyons. She was perplexed by the change in color that was taking place on the underside of the cloud formation. After a few more minutes, the cloud stopped and thinned itself out so that it covered the entire canyon land of Nairi. Fear gripped her heart as she understood what was going to happen. Some powerful being had created that cloud, and they were about to flood the nearly deserted occupied land. They are all going to die!
“You there, come here at once!” One of the soldiers came running and halted at the side of his queen with a ridiculous bow that almost threw him head over heels.
“What is wanted, my queen?” stuttered the scout.
“I want you to take this message to-” Before she could finish her order, the storm clouds unleashed upon the canyon land. It was like watching a pitcher of cool ale fill a tankard to the rim within a few seconds. The queen and the scout stood there with their mouths opened slightly in awe of what had just happened. She felt a pain in her heart as she quickly realized the magnitude of what went down.
“Malady, do you think that they are all dead?” asked the scout tentatively.
“Yes, they are. Get back into formation,” she said sorrowfully. With a slight bow, the scout returned to the ranks and started to tell everyone around him what had just happened. Shock and dismay at what had happened to their friends and kin spread quickly through the ranks.
After hearing what had occurred, General Jaali ordered the troops to begin preparations for a meal. He left his captains in charge while he went outside the camp to visit with a clearly distraught Kishi. They had been friends for years, and he knew that she needed someone to talk to. She did not look at him when he approached and looked oddly frail standing there looking at the clouds dissipating after their destructive rampage. He put one of his massive arms around his slender friend and embraced her in a side hug.
“What happened over there, Kishi?”
“Some very powerful magic is what happened!” she snapped. “Sorry. This is not your fault. It just happened so fast, and I did not sense it. Usually I can sense a danger like that.” She became suddenly rigid as she stood there fuming over the demise of the good people she had ordered to stay behind and occupy Nairi. At least there were not that many people there. Still, that does not mitigate the loss!
“What shall we do now?”
“We avenge our fallen brethren! I know that these allied countries have had something to do with this tragedy. So, they will all pay for this unforgivable act of aggression with their own worthless lives!”
Wolves
General Showia marched north through the enchanted Black Forest with the bulk of his army at a feverish pace. He wanted to reach the secret entrance to the cliffs of Landen by nightfall. Before they turned east to head to that hidden place, he had to send some of his troops west to secure Tarisdell as his king had promised the druid Zaide. He felt that a couple hundred soldiers would be sufficient to accomplish this task. However, he did feel that he should send his best remaining commander to lead them. Commander Fletcher was with his archers in the south setting up traps for any retreating orcs or high elves, so he asked one of his messengers to fetch Commander Brugon, who was in charge of the frontline soldiers. He may be a bit mad, but there is no equal in his tactical skills…no matter how ruthless they may be. I am just glad that he is on our side.
“General Showia, Commander Brugon reporting!” He snapped to attention and saluted his superior officer. He had a gruff, distorted face that did not hide the years he had fought on the front lines. He had seen many bloody battles with goblins and one rare encounter with orcs. He knew better than anyone else under General Sanjay’s command what it took to win wars. He may lose some of his battles, but he always came out on top in the end because of his stubborn determination and his ability to adjust his tactics on the fly. The general could think of no one else that would be able to handle a surprise attack in this enchanted forest.