The Chronicles of Encompassing Shadows: The Ancient Fear(Book 1)

The Noble II

The great wall of the Bastion lay before the entourage. The wall stood an immense one hundred twenty-five, and twenty feet thick... It was the first line of defense for the capital city of Aern Clay. The cobbled stone road leading through the gate had moss growing inside the cracks. The wall was made of a dark gray stone, stretching up and up, almost seeming to touch the sky from where they stood.

The giant gate was made of enchanted iron wood, with dwarven metal reinforcing with strips and studs. Two statues were flanking the gate, standing in alcoves about ten feet from where the entrance was. They were large, armored warriors.

People of the empire called them, "the Paladins".

As the group approached the gate, they could see four guards. These guards were unique to the average soldiers you would find in the empire. They wore heavy dwarven plate armor, with helmets that were crested with dragon faces. In one hand, they carried long spears, tipped deadly barbed points. Their shields wore the sigil of the Bastion; two dragons, rampant, one black and one white, with tails intertwining.

The guards called for them to stop and state their business. Their face-plates making it so you could only see their eyes. "State your intentions!" This guard had a deeper voice, almost like a thunderstorm.

"Just returning from the training fields," Drayven called out, doing a salute from the top of his horse. The guards of the Bastion were mysterious... Having been here since the time of the dwarves, and seeming to only have one purpose...

To guard the wall...

The guards didn't care for the city of Aern Clay, they only protected the Bastion. No one knew who... or what the guards were. You could do whatever you wanted to the city, but threaten the wall... And the guards would leave nothing for the crows.

Scholars argued amongst themselves over what they were; some believed they are reanimated corpses, others that they are an enslaved race of elves, but one thing is clear... They're not human; They don't eat, they don't sleep, and they don't drink. They just stand there, on an ever vigilant watch, neither moving, nor seeming to breath, until someone comes to pass the gates.

They sent chills down Drayven's spine...

The guards, as silently as they stood, moved out of the way, pulling the gates open with them. As the group rode through, Drayven could feel their steely eyes watching him as he passed, and their almost seemed to be an underlying sensation in their gaze... almost, hatred. He shook off the feeling, as there was precious little time to spend on such thoughts.

Once past the Bastion, they began to come across the three kilometers between the wall and the city. In between the two, was mostly farmland, where many farmers harvested their crops, confident in the protection of the wall. If an army was to properly besiege Aern Clay, they would have to break through the Bastion to starve out the city... In which the Bastion has only ever fallen four times in over 20,000 years...

They passed by the plantations of the rich, where the fields were being worked by slaves... by the elven slaves. The enslaved watched them as they passed by, still working. Many of the backs were scarred with the lashings of a whip, these were no doubt the rebellious ones.

One of the elves spat at them... Not that it bothered them... The elves meant nothing to Drayven... He typically ignored them, as they were thought to be below his worth, as he had been taught from birth.

The church told them that Humans were dominant to all species, and the others had been created by the thirteen for their service. The empire took advantage of such teachings, enslaving the elves, and driving the dwarves from their mountain halls.