War Of The Wildlands (21 page)

“W
hy are we
waiting for dawn?” Sal asked. “Why not attack now, while the villagers are
still sleeping?”

“Essa insisted,” Reylin replied. “Since our
weapons are much better, she insisted we at least wait until the people were
awake.”

“Ah,” Sal said. “She’s a true warrior, then. She
wants them to put up a fight.”

“It still won’t be much of one,” Reylin commented.
“But two attacks happening at once will certainly send a message to their king.
Essa and Nat will attack Duana with the rest of our army this morning, and we
will burn Enald to the ground. Domren is going to think it’s an invasion.”

A thousand elven troops hid in the trees just
outside the village of Enald. They waited for sunrise, when the villagers would
begin to emerge from their homes. Children would not be attacked directly, but
every adult was a fair target. The houses and shops were to be destroyed,
forcing the humans out of their homes as the elves had been.

“I’m surprised this village has no lookouts,” Sal
remarked. “Do they not realize there is a war taking place in the woods?”

“They’re going to realize it today,” Reylin
replied.

The snow had held off for the night, providing
clear paths for the elves to make their way to Enald. By now, Essa’s troops
would be in position, allowing the elves to attack both cities at once. King
Domren would be forced to retaliate and bring the war back into elven
territory. Once there, they planned to have an even greater advantage.

As the sun finally began to peek over the horizon,
the elves began descending from the trees. The shadowy figures of Enald’s
citizens began to move about the streets, preparing for their daily chores. The
sword maidens readied the charge as the archers spread out to cover three sides
of the town.

Reylana had agreed to lead the sword maidens while
Essa went north. She waited a few moments to ensure the archers had reached
their posts before giving the order to charge. Just as the streets began to
fill, she lifted her sword, signaling the maidens to attack. They charged
toward the city just as arrows began to fly through the air.

Screams erupted from the citizens followed by
panic and chaos. The runed arrow tips hit their marks, causing homes and shops
to burst into flames. Terrified citizens ran from the burning buildings, not
realizing they were under attack. They ran straight into the charging sword
maidens and were quickly cut down.

Reylana turned away as a woman dashed from her
home cradling a small child in her arms. She could see no way of killing the
mother without harming the child, so she did not pursue. The maidens broke
formation, chasing fleeing citizens in every direction. The archers focused
their fire on the town, destroying as much as possible.

As she pursued a man through the streets, Reylana
caught sight of a stable full of horses that had caught fire. Seeing no reason
to harm the animals, she ran inside and quickly opened their stalls, allowing
them to run freely. Pausing for only a moment, she hoped the beasts would
someday run free in the forests, should the forests manage to survive the war.

A large man with an iron bar approached her from
behind. He grunted as he lifted the weapon, catching her attention just in time
to step out of the way. Swinging the heavy bar again, he aimed for her head.
Rolling to one side, she narrowly avoided the weapon, which struck the ground
with a heavy thud.

The man was no fighter and was beginning to tire
already. With difficulty, he tried to raise the bar once more over his head,
but Reylana was too fast. From her lowered position, she swung her blade
forcefully, striking the man in his thigh. Blood gushed from the wound, and he
fell to one knee, clutching at his injured leg. From the amount of blood
spraying from the wound, Reylana could tell it was fatal. Instead of wasting
her time watching him die, she turned and ran back out into the streets.

The archers began to close in as the city burned. Catching
sight of Sal and a few other silver-haired archers, Reylana ran to his
position. “Where has everyone gone?” She had not seen a single citizen since
coming back out of the stables.

“Most of them are running east,” Sal replied.
“It’s been chaos since the moment we attacked. If we’d attacked them in their
beds, I think we would have killed more of them.”

“You’re probably right about that, but destroying
the town was more important than casualties.” She left Sal and pursued the
townspeople who had fled. Several sword maidens ran ahead of her in the
distance. Unsure how far it was to the next town, Reylana hoped the women would
not pursue too far. They were already dispersed and vulnerable should there be
an army ready to retaliate.

Corpses lay strewn in her path as she continued to
run. Apparently the elves were faster than Enald’s average citizen and had
managed to catch quite a few of them. The sun rose high in the sky, and Reylana
decided it was best to regroup. She raised her sword, reflecting the sun’s rays
in her runed blade. A white light projected hundreds of feet ahead of her, and
the sword maidens stopped running as they caught sight of it.

“Regroup!” Reylana shouted as loudly as she could.
She hoped the maidens who were farthest away had gotten her message. She
continued to shout until she could see the women returning to her position. “We
need to get everyone back together,” she said as the women approached. “We’ve
spread out too far, and we should get back to the archers.”

One by one, the women returned to Reylana. Once
they had all gathered, they ran back to Enald to rejoin Reylin’s troops. Reylin
strode through the center of the town, a large smile on his face. The entire
city was smoking, and there were no signs of any of its citizens.

“How’s that for forcing people from their homes?”
Reylin asked as he approached his sister.

“I just wish we had more of those arrow tips,”
Reylana replied. “We should gather any metal we find for our smiths.”

“Good idea,” Reylin said. “I saw a smithy just at
the edge of town.” Reylin pointed to his left.

Nodding, Reylana took two of her sword maidens and
headed for the smithy. The rest of the elven army regrouped at the center of
the town. They cheered their victory and dared the king to send an army for
them to fight. Their blood was running hot, and they were eager to continue the
battle.

S
moke filled the
sky over the city of Duana as Essa rallied her troops to the edge of town near
the forest. Their dawn attack had taken the city completely by surprise,
sending its panicked citizens running in all directions. Their marketplace was
completely destroyed, and the elves had grabbed anything they deemed of value.
They had found a few new weapons as well as a small store of arrows.

Nat and his archers had discovered a merchant
stall full of lamps and oil which had provided the fuel to burn the city. Not
only had they saved runed arrows from waste, but they had also been able to
toss the burning lamps at the mobs of citizens who tried to flee. No elven lives
had been lost, and the town was destroyed with very little fighting.

Essa raised her sword in victory as her troops
gathered at the tree line. They were still eager to fight, and they cheered
loudly as they raised their weapons high in the air. The celebrations came to
an end as the high pitched whinny of a horse broke through the air. An army had
come to pursue the elves.

“Reform the charge!” Essa commanded, turning to
face the sound of hooves. Through the smoke, she could just make out the
silhouette of horses coming their way.

The archers quickly ascended the trees and waited
for a clear shot. As the horses broke free of the smoke, the elves loosed their
arrows. Fire rained down upon the Na’zorans as the runed arrows exploded.
Frightened horses threw their riders and fled. Many of those riders were
quickly trampled by the horses still coming from behind.

The archers continued to shoot, sending more
riders to the ground as their horses were struck with fire. The maidens stood
ready behind the trees, hoping for their chance to join the fight. Once the
remaining horses reached the tree line, they wouldn’t be able to stay in
formation. Their riders would be at the mercy of the elven blades.

Prince Aelryk and Mi’tal had managed to stay on
their mounts despite the fire from the elves. Their mages were somewhere toward
the back of the line, probably stumbling over fallen soldiers as they tried to
rejoin the group. Aelryk had not expected to find Duana under attack, and he
didn’t realize the elves had acquired such weapons.

The elves continued to fire relentlessly from the
trees. Aelryk turned his horse and signaled his troops to follow. The mages
needed to blast the elves out of the trees if his troops were to have a chance
at fighting them. While they remained aloft, he could not hope to advance.

Near the rear of the line, he found the mages. All
of them still remained on their mounts, awaiting the prince’s orders.

“I need you to concentrate fire on those trees. We
have to take care of those archers.”

The mages began conjuring their fire, and after a
few moments they began to fire white streaks of lightning at the trees. The
arrows stopped flying, but there was no sign the elves had been injured. As the
mages ceased their fire, a strange silence filled the air.

Nat climbed ever higher among the branches until
he felt he was in the proper position. Licking a finger and holding it skyward,
he tested the direction of the wind. Knocking a runed arrow to his bow, he
aimed high in the air. His arrow flew, arcing high out of sight. Silently, he
counted down from ten. As he reached one, he heard the sound of his arrow
hitting its mark. Smiling to himself, he began descending the branches.

The arrow landed in the midst of the mages,
exploding as it hit the ground. All six of them were thrown from their mounts
as the terrified beasts were burned with fire. Two of the mages were trampled
to death as the horses fled. Aelryk’s horse was visibly frightened, and it took
nearly all of his strength to keep it under control.

Mi’tal rushed to the prince’s side. “We’ve lost
too many to pursue the elves into the woods, my lord.”

Nodding in agreement, the prince replied, “That
was only their archers. I’m betting their swordswomen have improved their
weapons as well. We have to retreat.”

“What of Lisalla?” Mi’tal asked.

“We’ll have to find another way,” he replied,
looking off into the woods. “We must return to the palace and gather the rest
of our army.”

Mi’tal sounded the retreat. From the forest, cries
of victory could be heard as the Na’zorans sped away. The archers descended
from the trees to celebrate with the sword maidens on the ground.

Essa made her way over to Nat. “Well done,” she
said, clapping him hard on his back.

He nodded and smiled proudly at her.

“We mustn’t give them a chance to return,” Essa
said. “We’ll head for the troll forest immediately.”

The elves began to make their way to the section
of evergreen forest known as the troll forest. Legend states that thousands of
years ago, before the Wild Elves came into existence, this section of forest
was home to horrible, vicious trolls. Now, it would serve as cover for the
elves if the Na’zorans managed to locate them.

“Does Reylin know to meet us here?” Nat asked as
he walked.

“Yes,” Essa replied. “We discussed everything
before our group traveled north.”

“I hope they’ve had as much success in the south
as we had here.”

The elves continued to cheer and sing songs of
victory as they marched. The winter air could not chill their spirits as they
celebrated. They had destroyed the homes of many humans and sent their army
fleeing in fear. The tide of the war had finally turned in their favor, and the
victory tasted ever so sweet.

Y
ori pushed his
chair away from the desk and rubbed the back of his neck. After hours of
staring at the scrolls, he was no closer to learning how to set the gemstones
without using magic. The bits and pieces he could make out suggested various
spells, but he had no idea how to go about casting them. Clearly, these scrolls
were not designed for his type of magic.

A knock came from
his door, and one of Eldon’s apprentices called to him. “Master Eldon would
like a word with you. He’s on the first floor. Don’t keep him waiting.”

Relieved to have an
excuse to stop studying, Yori began the long walk down the spiral staircase. As
he neared the bottom, the ground began to shake violently. He clutched at the
handrail to stop himself from falling on his face. No other elf in the room
seemed to notice the trembling, and they casually went about their business.
Once the shaking subsided, Yori proceeded down the stairs to find Master Eldon.

“Ah, there you
are,” Eldon said as Yori approached. “Have you had any luck with those
scrolls?”

“Not really,” Yori
admitted. “They all suggest spells, but I don’t think I could cast them.”

“I’ll just have to
do a bit of research on my own, then,” Eldon replied, shaking his head. “Let’s
head over to the shop, and I’ll show you how I forge a dagger.” Standing, he
clapped his hands loudly, calling two of his apprentices to his side. Both of
them wore red robes and hateful expressions. “Come along,” he said.

Yori followed a few
steps behind the sorcerers. So far, the apprentices had not been kind, and he
preferred to stay out of their way. Angering someone who could set you on fire
just by looking at you didn’t seem like a good idea.

Master Eldon waved
his hands in front of the shop, and the solid wall of stone dissolved once
again. Strolling inside, he mumbled some instructions to the two apprentices
and sent them away. “This way, Yori,” he said, as he approached his workbench.

Eldon placed a flat
sheet of steel on the workbench and hovered both hands a few inches above it.
Closing his eyes, he focused his energy into the metal, which took on an orange
glow. As the color flickered, Yori could tell the steel was the right temperature
for shaping. Master Eldon began to wiggle his fingers slightly, keeping his
wrists and arms perfectly still. Yori stared in disbelief as the form of a
blade took shape in the center of the glowing metal sheet.

“Unbelievable,”
Yori whispered.

Having finished his
work, Eldon dropped one hand to his side and began to move the other hand in a
circular motion. A bluish tint came over the dagger to cool it, and tiny sparks
flew from the edge as he sharpened it without the need of a grinding stone.
Once he was satisfied, he lifted the blade and handed it to Yori.

“Try etching some
runes into that,” Eldon said. “I’ll make a hilt for you.”

Yori accepted the
blade and took out his chisels. He wasn’t sure which runes he should etch, so
he chose a simple set of runes that would prevent the blade from becoming dull.
By the time he had finished, Eldon had already crafted a simple hilt for the
dagger.

Looking at the
runes on the blade, Eldon smirked. “You couldn’t think of anything better than
that?”

Yori shrugged apologetically.
“I’ve never added fire to a blade before. I’ve added fire to arrow tips, but
with blades I’ve only added runes to improve its function.”

“Don’t you think
adding fire to it would improve its function?”

“I wouldn’t want it
to explode in someone’s hand,” Yori commented.

“That’s not how it
works.” Eldon thought for a moment and added, “Unless of course you etch
something that will cause it to explode. You need to learn another word for
fire.” He strode over to a shelf and took out a large blue volume on weapon
crafting. Yori could not make out the full title, but the words “blade” and
“enchantment” were clearly visible.

Thumbing through
the dusty volume, Eldon found a suitable page and laid the book on the table.
Pointing at a graphic of a partially crafted hilt, he said, “Examine this
closely.”

Yori looked at the
picture and tried to make out the words in the description. Clearly, a red gem
was being added to the hilt of the sword. The pieces Yori could read stated:
Fire
strengthens steel, giving the wielder an advantage. The heat will radiate at
various levels, burning one’s opponent, shooting sparks in an attacker’s eyes,
melting the enemy’s weapon, and sometimes melting the opponent himself.

Realizing what he
had just read, he stared up at Master Eldon, his jaw dropping open.

Upon seeing Yori’s
expression, Master Eldon nearly burst with laughter. “It’s quite amazing what
you can do with gemstones, is it not?”

Nodding his head,
Yori replied, “It certainly is.”

“Now,” Eldon began.
“Try etching something more along those lines. I can bring you a dictionary if
you need me to.” The old elf chuckled quietly.

“That won’t be
necessary,” Yori replied. He knew just what to etch next. Turning the blade to
the other side, he began etching again. This time, he chose a derivative of
fire that also insinuated strength and passion in the ancient elven tongue.

Master Eldon
watched and nodded approvingly as Yori completed his work. “Excellent choice,”
he declared. “Now let’s see if you can set a gemstone into this hilt.” With a
magical burst, Eldon opened a drawer that contained various gems laid out on a
soft cushion. Choosing a small red stone, he said, “This one should do nicely.”

Using the same
method his uncle had taught him, he delicately set the precious stone into the
metal. The dagger glowed red, but after a few seconds the color faded away.
Even the etched runes lost their small amount of color as the pair stared in
disbelief.

“What would cause
that?” Eldon asked, scratching his chin.

Yori shook his
head. “I guess that gemstone didn’t like what I did to it.” He had no idea why
the runes would lose their effectiveness, but it had to relate to the gem or
the magic contained inside it.

“I’m going to have
to fix this,” Eldon declared, turning the blade in his hand. “This is going to
require more research on my part. I might have to visit the university.”

The sound of
footsteps told Yori the apprentices had returned. They walked in stride with
one another as they approached the workbench where he sat. As Yori looked over
his shoulder at them, they glanced at each other and shook their heads. He
turned away, hoping they would keep their comments to themselves.

“Here, hold this,”
Eldon said, passing the dagger to one apprentice.

“Achh!” the elf
shouted as he dropped the dagger and staggered backwards.

Eldon chuckled. “At
least that part still works.”

The apprentice
retrieved the dagger from the floor and glared at Yori as he handed it back to
his master.

“You two should
take this young elf to see the duel. I’m going to head over to the university
for a bit.” Eldon turned to Yori and said, “We’ll continue this lesson in a day
or so. I’m sure I can find something by then.”

Eldon hurried off,
leaving Yori behind with the two apprentices. He stood and managed a weak
smile. The apprentices looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

“So what are you,
anyway?”one of them asked.

“An elf from the
Wildlands,” Yori replied, not bothering to mention his human blood. He knew
that would only make him more disgusting to their eyes.

The elf shrugged at
his answer. “Let’s go,” he said.

After magically
sealing the shop, they continued down the street through the massive
marketplace. Yori would have enjoyed stopping to browse the wares, but he
barely had time to glance at the shops as he matched the hurried pace of the
apprentices.

At last they
arrived at a large coliseum. The entire structure was made of polished white
stone that sparkled in the sunlight. Inside, hundreds of spectators had
gathered to witness the daily duel.

“What are they
dueling about?” Yori asked.

“Does it matter?”
one apprentice replied. “They have some dispute, and they’ve come here to
settle it.”

“How do you
determine the winner?” Yori asked, fearing the answer.

Both apprentices
laughed at the question and continued inside the coliseum. They found seats
near the upper row just before the duel began. Two sorcerers, one in a blue
robe and one in brown, stood at the center of the stage. Neither carried any
visible weapons as they paced, sizing each other up.

Without warning,
the blue sorcerer shot sparks at his opponent, who barely had time to put up a
shield. As the sparks faded, the brown sorcerer was already wrapping his
opponent in what appeared to be some sort of webbing. Yori glanced over at the
apprentices, who sat on the edge of their seats. A blue light flashed, and the
blue sorcerer was somehow freed of his bonds. The crowd roared with excitement.
Yori remained silent, unsure how to respond. He assumed the spell must have
been rather difficult if it could impress this crowd.

The brown sorcerer
wasted no time in attacking again. This time, he emitted a green light from his
fingertips, enveloping the blue mage in some type of sphere. The sphere began
to fill with water until it burst, freeing the blue sorcerer from his prison.
He quickly shot a stream of blue light at the brown sorcerer, hitting him in
the face and knocking him off balance.

The brown sorcerer
hit the ground hard, and the blue sorcerer stood over him triumphantly. A
purple glow encircled his hands as he prepared for his final attack. The brown
sorcerer, however, was not yet finished. With a swipe of his foot, he knocked
the blue sorcerer to the ground and pummeled him with an unseen energy attack.
The force of his blows drove the blue sorcerer into the earth itself, leaving a
shallow pit in the center of the arena. Shaking his hands as if to dry them, he
commanded the dirt to fill over the top of the blue sorcerer.

The elves jumped to
their feet, cheering the victory of the brown mage. Yori was the only person in
the coliseum to remain seated. Never before had he witnessed such a scene. One
elf had clearly killed the other in front of hundreds of witnesses, yet no crime
had been committed. Disputes in the Sunswept Isles were apparently settled in
this fashion, and the crowds enjoyed it immensely. Yori wondered what two
people might fight over that would require such drastic measures. Surely they
could have settled their dispute more peacefully.

The crowd began to
disperse, and Yori followed the apprentices back to Eldon’s tower. The old
sorcerer had not yet returned home, so Yori proceeded to his room to await
dinner. He sat down in front of the desk and once again looked over the
scrolls. Reading, he hoped, would take his mind off of the spectacle he had
just witnessed. He chose a scroll about purple gems and studied it closely,
hoping to forget about reality for the time being.