Short Stories Of The Mind

Through Distant Lands

My dear Sera, I have told you many stories that I had come up with over the years, but I think it is time for you to know, the one I got to witness with my own eyes. It began in another world, in a land far to the north, the likes of which you can not find in our own world. For you see, there was a vast and old valley that was seen as a treasured place across all the land. It had one of the largest lakes within its borders, which had the city known as Orridal. Known as the great lake city that was known for the rare fish they were able to collect from the lake. But the humans that lived there weren't the only people to live in this valley; for within the ancient forests dwelled the elves of Findara, and in the largest of the mountains Durador, dwelled the dwarves of old.
These three races lived together in harmony and peace, each of them honoring and respecting the others for not only what they each had done for them but also for the items that they all had possessed. For you see, the humans of Orridal had a large silver pearl almost as big as a shield, that they had called the jewel of the lake, for it was this item that got their ancestors to settle in this valley. The elves of Findara had an amber acorn as big as a human head that they say is the last seed of a long lost breed of tree that used to grow in their world. Now they worship and protect the seed, not wanting to plant it because it is all they had left of the old world. For you see, when an amber acorn is planted, it would sprout an entire forest within a certain area but none of the trees that grow can produce another acorn. Lastly, the dwarves of Durador, their people had one of the rarest jewels their world had ever known, a black diamond. The Dark Heart. They believed that their gods put it within the marble mountain for them to find, as a test to show that they were worthy in their eyes.
With all of these jewels, the people of the valley were known far and wide as being the Great Treasure Kingdom. True, sometimes there would be those who would come to try and take what they held dear. Over the hundred years of them being there, no one had ever been able to defeat them or steal their treasures. But nothing good lasts forever, the first thing they had seen of the coming threat was a warm wind that blew through the air. Tanit had arrived. She was a dragon from the west, who had come to claim the entirety of the valley. Her shadow would block out the sun as she flies, before raining bursts of blue fire upon the people below. None of the weapons from any of the humans, elves, or dwarves could bring her down. As Tanit attacked each of the cities, she would locate and take each of their treasures, first the pearl, then the acorn, leaving Durador for last.
She shot streams of fire upon the front gates of the dwarven city, turning any and all dwarves on it to ash. As her powerful arms were smashing against the front gate, what was left of the humans and elves were fleeing with what they were able to grab, leaving the dwarves to also face the dragon. But there was one man who turned back with a few enchanted spears and started to shoot them at the dragon, bouncing off of her impenetrable scale armor. He managed to get her attention, allowing the dwarven people to be able to flee before she could return. The last thing someone managed to see of the man was his body vanishing in a column of dragon flame. Out of the around sixty thousand people living within that valley, only twenty thousand of them managed to escape with their lives.
Within just a few hours, the Treasure Kingdom had fallen and now belonged to the beast of flesh and flame. Many of the survivors traveled far and wide to wherever they can go for shelter and food, many of them just decided to forget about even trying to return to the valley, knowing that the beast would kill anyone who enters for as long as she will live. But some of the dwarves and men never forgot their ancestral home and they weren't willing to die without at least trying to reclaim what was taken from them. The years had grown long as they turned to decades since the fall of the valley. What was left of those who wanted to fight for their home had sent several groups to the valley, but none of them ever returned, and that is when I came in.
You see, back in our world, I was swimming in my father's creek when suddenly I felt something dragging me down below the water's surface. When I looked down into the murky brown water, I saw a light of bright blue, white, and green as I went even deeper than what the creek was supposed to be in that area. I soon started to run out of air and blacked out as I seemed to enter the bright light. The next thing that showed when I came to was me lying on the bank of a small river, I most definitely wasn't in the same creek that I was swimming in. My weary eyes looked around, trying to figure out where they had ended up. As my mind became clearer I started to hear voices in the distance and managed to pull enough strength together to get to my feet. My steps were stumbling as I made my way through the unknown forest towards the voices.
What was found was some sort of campsite, but what confused me was how the people there didn't dress like modern men, almost like I had been sent to medieval times. That's went I realized that all I was wearing was a swimsuit and some water shoes, so I had to act quickly and found some clothes that were hanging on a line fairly close to where I was hiding. So while no one noticed me, I moved to the clothes and managed to find a combination of clothes that managed to fit me; shirt, what looked like pants, an over shirt, a black leather belt, and some brown boots. To my surprise they were actually a lot more comfortable than what I was expecting, I almost thought that they were going to be itchy or something along those lines. But as I continued to admire my newly acquired clothes, that was when a scream could be heard on the other side of the campsite.
As quickly and silently as my tired legs could allow me to, I ran back into the bushes to see what was happening without getting involved. What I saw was what looked like armored reptilians armed with swords attacking the camp. Some of the men managed to arm themselves and tried to fight while their friends and families tried to get away. My first thought was to leave, not wanting to be killed by some kind of mutant lizard and as I began to leave, I heard a young girl of what looked like seven to eight years of age screaming as she's being chased by one of the creatures. She tripped over a bit of rope holding up one of the tents, falling to the ground, screaming out for someone to help her, but I couldn't see anyone coming. So for some reason, something went through my mind that said to not let this girl die from something like them. I managed to find a sword sticking out of a nearby tent; it had a solid round brass hilt, brown wooden grip, and a brass cross guard that was angled towards the blade almost like a W with the center point of the guard. Once I drew the blade from the black leather scabbard that it had called home, I took one last breath before running to help the little girl.
Right as the lizard man was about to swing its blade down upon the young girl, I managed to thrust my sword into its chest, tackling it to the ground in the process. The next thing I knew was that its green blood was on the blade of my sword and one my hands. When I looked towards the main fighting, I could see that one of the other lizard men had seen me kill one of his friends and charged at me to avenge its fallen brethren. I pulled out my sword from the first lizard man's corpse and held it with both hands even though it wasn't a two handed sword. The lessons that I had gotten from my dad and older brother started to flow through my mind and I readied myself for my first ever actual fight. As the lizard man thrusted his blade at me, I swung my sword, knocking him to the side. When he staggered past me, I swung my sword towards him, using his own weight to help me cut through his tough armor. I looked back down towards the little girl that got me into this situation and saw that she had a few cuts on her right arm.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I knelt down next to the girl, trying to take a look at the cut on her arm.
"Um, yes I'm okay, who are you?" The girls asked, not recognizing me from being part of the group of people that was part of the campsite.
"Let's get to safety first, afterwards, I'll tell you who I am miss..." I said as I looked around to make sure none of the other lizard men were coming for them.
"Um Lizzy, my name is Lizzy," Lizzy said as she looked around, terrified of everything that was going on.
"That's a beautiful name Lizzy, now come on, I'm gonna get you out of here," I said as I lifted her up in my left arm so I could still use the sword if I needed to. I carried her into the forest, not realizing that two of the lizard men saw us leave and had noticed that I was the one who killed two of their brethren and started to follow us into the trees. The sounds of the fighting started to become distant when we made it back to the river from which I had awoken next to. I took off my belt, which did confuse Lizzy at first but she quickly learned what I was doing, for I used it to do a makeshift bandage on her arm. She winced from the pain as I tied the belt around her arm.
"I'm sorry Lizzy, but this should hold up until we can find a doctor of some kind," I told her as I looked around, trying to think of what we should do but since I didn't know this world I didn't know where to go. "Are there any nearby towns? Or places where survivors would go from that attack?"
"Well we were all heading towards Carnhal, my mother told me that it's a fortress of some kind and that it wasn't far in that direction," Lizzy said as she pointed at what looked east from what was our current position. "We were gonna go there before..." She began to sniffle as tears started to roll down her cheeks from the thought of her family not surviving the encounter.
"Hey Lizzy, look at me," I said, kneeling before her so I could look into her eyes. "We'll find your mother, I'm curtain that she's at Carnhal waiting for you," I gave her a comforting smile, trying to make her feel at least a little bit better. A small smile started to appear on Lizzies face at the thought that her mother was alright.
"LOOK OUT!" Lizzy called out when her face changed to terror when she looked past me. The lizard men had found us and charged, poised to cut us down like grass.
"Stay behind me," I told Lizzy as I pulled my sword to face the two lizard men.
"Human filth, you will be very tasty," said one of the lizard men, licking his large teeth with a long black tongue.
"Bring it ugly," I said before moving toward them, ready to defend Lizzy from the ugly beasts. The lizard man got angry from being spoken to in such a way from a human and charged in to make sure he could get to me first. He swung his sword around neck level on me before I managed to duck and slice my blade across his gut. By the time he had fallen to the ground motionless, I looked towards the second lizard man with an intense look in my eyes. While I was fully expecting it to charge like the others had, it actually dropped its sword before turning tail and retreating back into the forest.
"What the heck are these things anyway?" I asked Lizzy as I knelt down to look at the now dead lizard man next to me, his blue blood, coursing out of his wound, staining the ground beneath his motionless body.
"They're called Troglodytes, how do you not know about them?" Lizzy asked, confused because she had not known of any land that didn't have at least one or two packs of Troglodytes. "They're these mean lizards that kill anyone they come across and eat those they kill," I didn't really know what to think when it came to whatever world this was, but wherever I ended up, I most definitely was not on earth anymore.
"Then maybe we should start making our way to that fortress you spoke of," I said as I held out my hand to help Lizzy up to her feet. Once she was back up we slowly and cautiously made our way back towards the now ruined campsite. What we saw was some tents on fire and quite a few dead bodies of both Troglodytes and humans throughout the site. Lizzy almost seemed like she was about to cry at the cut down bodies of her former traveling companions. As we walked I managed to find the black leather scabbard that belonged to my sword and quickly tied it to my belt before sheathing my blade inside of it. While it took some convincing, I managed to get Lizzy to start heading in the direction of Carnhal. We walked off the main road, just inside the treeline, in case there were any more Troglodytes wandering around nearby.
After traveling for what felt like hours, we were finally in sight of what looked like an ancient fortress, with longbow men standing on its tall stone walls and towers. I suggested to Lizzy that we should continue with caution, since I wasn't sure how the soldiers might react after the nearby Troglodyte attack.
"Hault, speak your business here," Said one of the guards standing on a walkway just above the main gates to the fortress.
"We are here to get shelter from the Troglodyte pack," I replied, hoping that if there were survivors then these soldiers might let them in. The guard looked down at us with a look of what seemed like he was thinking about what to do.
"Let them in," Said an older guy with a tall walking stick as he walked up to the guard before looking down at us. The gate started to open up, allowing the two of us into its safe stone walls. As we entered Carnhal, I got an idea on how bad the Troglodytes really were. For I could see what looked like farmers, merchants, and other kinds of civilians, many of which one kind of bandaged injury to another. Lizzy was looking frantically amongst the refugees for her still missing mother, when her look of worry changed to a look of joy and happiness.
"MOTHER!" Lizzy called out as she ran towards a woman that was put to tears when she was able to hold Lizzy in her arms.
"My dear Lizzy, how were you able to find your way here?" Her mother asked as she held Lizzies face in her hands.
"He helped me escape the Troglodytes," Lizzy said, pointing back at me. Lizzie's mother got up and walked towards me, with tears still flowing from her eyes.
"Bless you sir," She said to me as she gave me a huge hug. "Thank you so much for bringing my daughter back to me," I was speechless and motionless from all of that, but returned her hug, understanding how worried she must've been for her daughter's well being.
"It was my pleasure," I said to her, allowing her to return to Lizzy as they started to walk away.
"Wait, what is your name?" Lizzy asked, remembering that she still hadn't gotten my name.
"I am Erik," I replied, glad to see them happy to be together again.
"I will remember you, for the rest of my life," Lizzy said with a big smile across her face. When I looked up at her mother's face I knew that she felt the same way. They continued to leave what was left of their traveling companions as someone started to walk towards me. It was the old man that convinced the guard to let me and Lizzy into Carnhal.
"I guess I should be saying thank you to you," I said once the man stood before me.
"You did well, considering you are not from this world," The old man said to me, which completely caught me off guard, since I was trying my best to make it seem like I was part of a world that I really didn't belong in.
"How did you know?" I asked, hoping to get an answer that might not be crazier than the humanoid lizards.
"I am Arbor, an old druid who has been doing my best to help people in need, and your inner energy doesn't match up with anyone I have seen in this world," Arbor explained to me, making my head spin a bit from everything that he had just thrust upon me. "Tell me, how did you come to this world?"
"To be honest, I have no idea," I told Arbor everything I could remember; me swimming in my father's creek, the bright light, and then waking up on the shore of the river. Arbor was intrigued by the details of my story, and had an idea of what might explain what had happened to me, but wasn't willing to tell me at that moment.
"Come with me Erik, I think you might have a bigger part to play in what is to come," Arbor said as he began to make his way towards the center tower of the stronghold. We soon arrived at what looked like a meeting room, where multiple leaders sat around the room with a fire pit in the middle of them all. From what I could tell at first glance, they were debating on what they should do next about both the Troglodyte attacks and something else that I had yet to know about.
"The Troglodytes are becoming bolder, what is to stop them from attacking here?" Asked a white skinned lady, who when I looked closer, I noticed that she had pointy ears. Is she an elf? I asked myself within my thoughts.
"Carnhal is one of the strongest fortresses in the area, they would not dare attack here," A lord said in response to the elven ladies' question.
"Then what is your explanation for them seeming to get closer and closer to us?" The elvish lady asked, not liking how the other lord was arguing with her. As the two of them were arguing with each other, I noticed that there was another lord that was sitting in a bigger chair on the other end of the hall. All he seemed to do was listen to what the other two were talking about until he saw me and Arbor walk in.
"Ladui Thannil, ha's okaui, im heni- cín nifred," Said the once silent lord, from what I could
Lady Thannil, it's okay, I understand your fear.
tell, it seemed like he was trying to calm the elven lady down a bit. What confused me a bit more was that the words that he had just said almost sounded like Sindarin.
"Hir Moldan, a bor bo hi?" Lady Thannil asked while gesturing towards the second lord.
Lord Moldan, a hand on this?
"Ennas n- núr," Lord Moldan said as he brought me and Arbor to the other's attention.
There are people.
I got really nervous when all of their eyes turned to look at me more then Arbor because I was a stranger to them. Arbor did a small bow before the three royals, which made me quickly follow, not wanting to offend them or make them mad in any way, shape, or form.
"Herdir Arbor, gweg na- hi?" Lady Thannil asked, looking from Arbor and back to me.
Master Arbor, person is this?
"Im'm Erik, réd -o Matt, mui ladui," I said before Arbor could respond to Lady Thannil.
I'm Erik, son of Matt, my lady.
I had no idea what I was doing. For I had tried to learn some Sindarin in my free time back home, didn't know I would have to use what I have learned to speak to actual lords and ladies. Even Arbor was surprised to hear me speak the elvish language, especially since he had a feeling that there weren't any elves in my world, which was true.
"Cin ped- i lamb -o mui núr?" Lady Thannil asked, thinking I may have been around elves.
You speak the language of my people?
"Verui dilthen," I responded, having a somewhat idea of what it was she had asked of me.
Very little.
"Why have you brought him here Master Arbor?" Lord Moldan asked as he turned to look back at Arbor.
"My lords and lady, I believe that he might have a part to play in future events," Arbor said as he turned to look towards me. My eyes went wide when I heard his words, not really believing what he was saying. What the heck does that mean? I'm not even from this world, so how could I possibly have a part in future events in this world? I thought to myself as I attempted to keep the same composure as I had when I entered the room. But before any of the royals could ask anymore questions about me, a man in light, brown leather armor came bursting through the doors that entered the hall.
"MY LORDS! I HAVE GRAVE NEWS!" The man cried out as he practically fell to the ground from what looked like exhaustion and attempting to bow towards the royals. All three of the royals stood up and went towards us to see what it was he had come to say.
"What is it?" Lady Thannil asked when she squatted down beside the man so she could look into his eyes.
"Troglodytes... a couple thousand at least," The man said, still panting to try to catch his breath.
"Alright, guards get this man someplace where he can rest," The third royal ordered for two nearby guards before they helped the man up. "And tell our defenses to prepare for battle,"
"So, do you believe me now lord Jorund?" Lady Thannil asked as she turned to face Lord Jorund with a small glare in her eyes.
"Doesn't matter now, we must prepare for when that force hits us," Lord Moldan said to Lady Thannil before stepping towards me with a very serious look on his face. "Master Arbor says that you might be here to help us, time to see if that is true," My eyes got very wide by this statement, and as I looked at Arbor and the other royals, they were all looking towards me with the same serious looks.
"You can't seriously be considering taking this... boy to fight alongside us against this threat?" Lord Jorund asked, looking at me from head to toe, not trusting me but also thinking that I was not fit to fight in a battle.
"Yes, if what the scout said is true then we'll need all the help we can get," Lord Moldan said, looking at Jorund and then back towards me. Lady Thannil seemed to agree with Moldan and also seemed to think that there was more to me than meets the eye.
"I will help him get what he needs," Arbor said as he gestured for me to follow him out. Not too long after I had left the hall of the three royals, I was put into a strange kind of leather armor. It was mostly dark grey with some silver edges and markings all over it. The gauntlets almost looked like dark leaves on the back end, and the silver on the chestplate almost looked like either a leaf or a flow spreading across the entirety of the front. I took the gray leather belt that went with it and attached my sword to it, making it hang from my left hip so I could draw it with my right hand. As I was leaving the armory I found a black bow with a quiver of arrows next to it and felt a little confident with them. By the time I came out to meet Arbor, I had strapped the quiver of arrows to my back and held the black bow with my left hand.
"Well then, now you look like a warrior," Arbor said as he helped tighten a few more straps that I had missed.
"How am I supposed to help with this? I've never even seen a battle," I said as I looked at myself, thinking that this was equal parts cool and crazy.
"From what I heard, you were able to take out several Troglodytes on your own," Arbor said.
"Plus, I'll watch out for you," Lady Thannil said from behind me, which spooked me a little bit since I didn't even hear her coming. "If Arbor believes you are here to help, then I will help you out in this fight," She wore light, silver armor, with a light metal skirt-like bit covering each leg, and some metal bits on individual parts of her body. I looked down and saw her sword, it had a katana design to it and had some silver vines wrapped around a black leather grip.
"Why won't you let me fight?" A younger elven woman asked Lady Thannil, seeming really upset for not being allowed to fight by her side.
"Miluel, I already told you, I want you to protect the women, children, and injured, please do this for me," Lady Thannil said as she lightly set her right hand on Miluel's left shoulder. From the way she spoke to Miluel, I managed to put two and two together and came to think she was her mother, making Miluel an elven princess.
"Very well, my queen," Miluel said, not even looking into Lady Thannil's eyes before leaving to where those who can't fight were going. Lady Thannil sighed as she looked down at the ground as her daughter walked away.
"Are you okay my lady?" I asked as I slowly walked closer to her, not wanting to overstep my bounds with the elven queen.
"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just I've been a little distant from my daughter recently," Lady Thannil said as she turned her head to look into my eyes with her light blue and hazel eyes. I knew how she felt since my own mother had had trouble with my younger sister for the past few years as well.
"I'm sorry to hear that my lady," I said, bowing before Lady Thannil, showing my sympathies.
"Thank you Erik, and don't worry, I'll be with you every step of this battle," Thannil said before looking to see her elven soldiers arming themselves for the coming fight. They all carried a curved sword at their hips, two short swords on the sides of their quivers strapped to their backs, and a longbow in hand. When I looked at their armor, I noticed that they were mostly brown leather with a golden tinge to them, on the edge of their helmets I saw there were darkly colored patterns in the shape of feathers that went up both sides to points on top. Even though they were fully armored, since it was leather armor, they could still move with incredible speed and grace. While the human soldiers wore more metal armor to give them more protection while in battle.
I watched from the sidelines as the humans barricaded the front gate and the elves started to line up on one of the main front walls. As they worked, I began to really think that this was not just some dream, this was real, and the danger coming could really kill me. So I took some deep breaths before getting back to my feet, grabbing my long bow and went to stand alongside Lady Thannil and the other elves on the wall. As night fell upon Carnhal, the fortress fell silent when the sight of the enemy forces came into view. My eyes went wide at the sight of hundreds of Troglodytes marching towards us, spears, swords, and axes in hand, and wearing more armor than the ones I had faced before. Which made me think that those were probably just scouts for this force.
My heart was practically beating out of my chest as they moved closer and closer to the fortresses walls. I wanted to run away and just return home, not have to fight in a battle that I shouldn't have been in in the first place. When I turned to see Lady Thannil and the other elves beside me, they seemed so calm, like this force didn't scare them at all. But I turned back to the Troglodytes when I heard that they stopped marching. They just stood about seventy to eighty feet away from the walls of Carnhal, making me think, what are they waiting for? When they stopped the only noise heard was the rain falling from the dark sky and the Troglodytes growls and snarls. Both forces were waiting to see what the other's first move would be, making things very tense.
That was when I saw what looked like an elf of some kind walk out in front of the Troglodyte forces, looking up at us with a hateful look in his eyes. Lady Thannil's hold on the grip of her blade tightened when she saw him, she knew who he was.
"Readui na naur!" Lady Thannil called out, not breaking eye contact with the enemy elf.
Ready to fire!
At that very moment, all of the elven warriors locked their arrows upon their bows and pulled them back on the strings. I quickly caught up to them by pulling back on the arrow I placed onto my bow and took aim at the Troglodytes standing before us. We all proceeded to just stand there, aiming the arrows to strike the enemy down. The enemy elf smiled at us, seeming amused at what we have to stand against his army, he started to walk back into the Troglodyte forces before saying something to a nearby soldier. By my guess it was the order to attack because it roared at us afterwards, making the others do the same. The mere force of their roars was enough to stand my hairs on end, knowing that they are really here to kill each and every one of us by any means necessary. That was when they charged at us with incredible speed, with their weapons poised to kill us.
"Naur!" Lady Thannil called out, telling all of us to release our arrows upon our enemies.
Fire!
Our arrows flew through the air, falling upon the Troglodytes like rain from the sky. We kept drawing new arrows, and then firing them, attempting to take down as many of them as we could before they reached the walls and gate. As they got closer, they brought what looked like makeshift ladders with them so they could climb up the stone walls. I took aim at one of the Troglodytes that were pushing a ladder up and shot him right in his chest, forcing the ladder to fall back down to the ground. Unfortunately, about six to seven other ladders managed to make it to the wall, allowing the Troglodyte soldiers to start their climb.
"Macils!" Lady Thannil called out as the Troglodytes nearly reached the edges of the walls.
Swords!
I dropped my bow to the ground and drew my blade, right before the Troglodytes made it over the walls edges, I detached my quiver so it didn't get in my way. Me and the elves took a few steps back before charging at the Troglodytes that got onto the wall. They snarled at us right before both troops clashed into each other. The first one that stood before me, I thrust my sword deep into his chest before shoving him off the wall, falling upon one or two enemy troops below. As we fought against the ones before us, more and more of the enemy was making it up the ladders and into our laps. When more of them showed up, I quickly grabbed the sword of a fallen elf with my left hand and started to fight against the Troglodytes with both of them.
I noticed that this battle had only just started and we were already taking heavy casualties from what had already made it up the wall. Whenever a Troglodyte would swing their sword at me, I'd block with one of my swords before cutting them down with my second sword while they were defenseless. As I fought I looked over and saw how Lady Thannil was fighting against her enemies with the grace as one would expect from an elven warrior. But I tried to not get too distracted, for that is a very good way to get myself killed. The Troglodytes seemed to just keep coming endlessly, I wasn't used to this kind of thing and started to get tired, but I had to keep going, not only for my sake but for everyone else who was in Carnhal. I heard Lord Moldan call out over the chaos to his soldiers saying, BRACE THE GATE! When I heard this, I looked over towards the main gate and saw a bunch of the Troglodytes were attempting to break through it.
But I couldn't really concentrate on it while I still had the Troglodytes before me to deal with. As I continued fighting, I could see the elf leading the Troglodytes standing out away from the fighting, enjoying the sight of his forces slowly wearing ours down. When I looked over, I saw that Lady Thannil was starting to get surrounded and I began to make my way towards her. I quickly stepped onto the side of the wall and jumped down, slashing my two blades down upon two of the Troglodytes near Lady Thannil. Fighting alongside Thannil, we managed to decrease the number of enemies in that small part of the wall.
"Are you alright Erik?" Lady Thannil asked before she slashed another nearby Troglodyte, forcing his dead body to fall off the wall.
"I'm alright for now, but there's a lot more of them here then we were expecting," I said, noticing that we were severely outnumbered. "Who was that elf leading this attack?" I wanted to know who it was we were fighting, but the look on Thannil's face seemed grim when she thought about the elf.
"His name is Orthoron Razorlash, and he is not a good sign for us," Lady Thannil explained, making me worry about him, but when I looked back in the direction that I last saw him, he was gone. I started to look around for Orthoron but by the time I found him, he had cut down six elven warriors at once. For he seemed at first to be wielding a sword, but whenever he swung it or thrust it towards someone, the blade extended into a long bladed whip, sharp enough to slice through armor.
"Suilad Thannil," Orthoron said to Lady Thannil with an evil smile on his face after he cut
Hello Thannil.
down another elven warrior. Thannil glared at him as she prepared to confront him.
"Erik, go help the others," Lady Thannil said, not breaking eye contact with Orthoron.
"But I can help you my lady," I said, getting the feeling that not even Thannil can take on this guy on her own.
"You can't help me against him, now leave," Lady Thannil said before charging in towards Orthoron, prepared to fight him with everything she has. I was soon attacked by several more Troglodytes and had to concentrate on them, but I did my best to stay as close to Lady Thannil as I could. As I fought off Troglodytes, I saw Orthoron thrust his blade whip towards Thannil, the tip stabbing into her left shoulder. That's when I knew I had to do everything I could to get to her, and get her away from that evil elf. I quickly started to cut my way through the Troglodytes to get to her, by the time I got to her, Orthoron had already stabbed his whip right through the center of her chest and out of her back. I stared at him as he cut off one of her braids and stuffed it into his pocket, before turning his attention to me.
"You are gonna pay for that Orthoron," I said as I started to run towards him, ready to thrust my blades into his heart. As I ran at him, he smiled at me, just waiting for me to get into the range of his bladed whip. Once I was within range, he quickly lashed out with his whip at around head height on me. Right before it was able to cut into my head, I dodged downward, rolling towards him and once my feet were back on the ground I managed to jump upwards, sword first. The next thing I knew, my blade had completely slashed Orthoron's right arm clean off. His cries filled the battlefield as his arm fell to the ground and he held his bleeding arm. A bunch of Troglodytes ran over towards us, knocking me off the wall and into a nearby casm, falling into the deep darkness.
"Awaken Erik," A female voice called out to me as my eyes slowly fluttered open to see the cave that I had landed in from the battle. I sat up, setting my right hand over my forehead and when I pulled my hand back it was covered in blood from an injury I got from the fall.
"W... who are you?" I asked as I slowly tried to get to my feet, looking around to see who I am even talking to.
"I am a friend," The voice said, sounding like she was sticking to the shadows of the cave I ended up in. I then looked to the side and found my sword; since I didn't know who or what I was dealing with, I took the sword and prepared myself for a hostile encounter.
"You don't sound like someone I know," I started to walk around, trying to not only find the source of the voice, but also a way out of the cave. "Who are you?"
"I have many names, but many know me as the spirit of the forests," This response really didn't help me what it was that I was dealing with, so I continued with great caution.
"How do you know me?"
"I'm the one who brought you to this world," I was shocked by this revelation, so this being was the one who brought me from the creek near my dads house to the river that I awoke next to.
"Why did you bring me to this world?"
"I sensed you within that creek and I got the feeling that you could help these people," The voice explained, still not revealing themselves to me. "Your actions on the battlefield proved my thoughts about you,"
"The battle," I said as I started to remember about Lady Thannil, troglodytes, and Orthoron. "Are they alright? What happened to the people of Carnhal?"
"You shall find out soon enough, but before you return, you must take something to aid you in the coming journey," The voice said before an emerald green light shined behind me. When I turned around to see what it was, I could see at the center of the light a golden ring. I slowly walked towards it, seeing the large green jewel on the top, wrapped in golden vines. It almost had a hypnotizing energy to it, compelling me to move closer to it.
"May this ring aid you when you are alone in the wilderness," the voice called out right as the ring floated onto my finger, blinding me with the bright energy surrounding it. I then came as though I awoke from a dream, but still just as sore as when I awoke in the cave. When I looked around I could see that I was not too far from the wall of Carnhal. So I grabbed my sword and made my way to the smoke towers floating from the battlefield with a small limp from the fall. Eventually I came in sight of Carnhal and I could see the cut down bodies of troglodytes, elves, and men all over the area. But when I saw men and elves still searching amongst the bodies, I knew that we had won the battle. Though if I had learned anything from the movies and stories in my world, there are no winners in war. As I walked amongst the bodies, I managed to find Thannil, sitting against the lip of the wall.
"Erik... good you're alive," Lady Thannil said, smiling at me as I walked towards her; a small stream of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. I dropped my sword and tried to cover the injury Thannil had in the middle of her chest.
"Don't talk my lady, save your strength," I said as I tried to do what I could to keep her from bleeding out, but I could tell that she had already lost a lot of blood. She then looked at my right hand and saw the green and gold ring on my finger, looking at it with wide eyes.
"Arbor was right, you have been chosen by the forest spirit," Lady Thannil said as she pulled my hand away from her wound so she could have a closer look at the ring. "My daughter and people will need you to help them after I have gone," She then coughed as some blood flew out of her mouth and into her right hand.
"No no stay with me, they need you more than me, I'm just a normal human boy," I said, not wanting to let her die.
"You have the ring of Amari, you may not know it yet, but you will help them better than I ever could," Lady Thannil said as her strength started to fade away. "Tell them, it is time to return... to the... valley," That was when her life left her eyes and her body went limp. Tears started to flow from my eyes as I took my hand to close hers.
"I promise to do everything I can to help them," I said to her before some elves came to carry her off. I stood up to look at all of the dead bodies surrounding me, tears going down my cheeks at our losses. Arbor came walking up to me, seeing how upset I was.
"First time you saw death?" Arbor asked as we both looked outward to where the troglodyte army had come from.
"Yeah, I just... I shouldn't have even been here," I said, not looking towards the druid beside me.
"Maybe not, but Amari seemed to think you were meant to be here," He said as he pointed at the ring on my finger. "You have a destiny Erik, and I get the feeling that once you fulfill it, you'll be able to return home," I wiped the tears from my face before kneeling down to grab my sword, putting it into my scabbard. After taking a few deep breaths, I was somewhat ready to see what else I will need to do for these people. We went to a ceremony for the loved ones of the fallen to mourn for their losses. As I looked amongst all of them, I found Miluel looking down at her mother's body, who was covered in a silver banner with a tree. It made me think that it was her royal family's banner as I slowly made my way to Miluel's side.
"I'm sorry my lady for your loss," I said as I looked down at Thannil's body. "I offer my services to you, so if you need me for anything I'll be there," She didn't really respond to my words, but I got the feeling that she probably wanted to be alone, so I didn't want to push my luck and started to walk away. But I was stopped by Miluel grabbing my hand with hers.
"Thank you Erik, and don't worry, I don't blame you for what happened to her," She said before turning her head to look at me. "I've been told at what you did after she was cut down,"
"I know I couldn't have brought her back, but I hope I was able to avenge her," I said as I moved back at Miluel's side, thinking of how I had cut off Orthoron's arm after he took one of Thannil's braids.
*****
Orthoron limped through the halls of a ruined castle, troglodyte soldiers looking at him, thinking of how he had lost his right arm. He made his way to a great hall that opened up to view over the rest of the castle and the surrounding lands. There were three other elves, like him, standing there, watching him coming in.
"Oravhoron, lat failun avo drepa avhe people ro Carnhal," A dark voice spoke to Orthoron.
Orthoron, you failed to kill the people of Carnhal.
"Mausan goth, avheir forceuk ayh uklaughavered, avheausan saib noav avhreaaven lat," He said
My lord, their forces are slaughtered, they can not threaten you.
as a large, armored being started to walk towards him, his face covered by a shadow from the metal mask he wore as a helmet and a crown. "Thannil, ukhe iuk vadokan," He pulled out the braid he took.
Thannil, she is dead.
The armored lord looked down at the braid and then at where Orthoron's right arm use to be.
"Nalkren saib lat ukerve alnej wiavhouav ij krah?" The lord asked, thinking of ending him.
How can you serve me without an arm?
"Mausan goth, jiak aukk ij krah uko jiak maausan finiukh whaav jiak ukavaravun," He pleaded.
My lord, I ask for an arm so I may finish what I started.
This request angered the other elves in the room, not liking that Orthoron would ask for something from their lord, especially after losing the fight at Carnhal. Some of them would've cut him to ribbons if their lord would allow it, so they waited for what he had to say for Orthoron's plea.
"Sulj nalal, avhiuk iuk avhe laukav biav ro mercausan lat geav," The lord responded.
Very well, this is the last bit of mercy you get
All of the elves in the room, including Orthoron, were surprised that he would give him mercy for his actions. With a wave of his right hand, Orthoron suddenly got a metallic arm which not only replaced his arm, but also gave him a new blade whip to use against his enemies. He fell to his knees, thanking his lord for the kindness that he had given him.
"Lat ayh ij ukavrong ukervanav, buav diukappoinav alnej avwice, agh jiak'll drepa lat myukelf, lat julderukavand alnej?" The lord asked as he looked at Orthoron out of the corner of his eye.
You are a strong servant, but disappoint me twice, and I'll kill you myself, you understand me?
"Yeuk mausan goth, jiak won'av diukappoinav lat avwice," Orthoron said, still on the ground.
Yes my lord, I won't disappoint you twice.
The dark lord gestered so Orthoron knew that he had his permission to leave and await his next orders.
*****
Meanwhile Miluel was crowned as queen of what was left of her woodland elven people. She joined the other two royals in the same chamber that I met them before the battle. I stood before the three of them with Arbor at my side once again. Jorund didn't like how someone as young as Miluel was sitting with them as a supposed equal, even though she was around six hundred years old.
"So what do you two think of what Erik has told us?" Lord Moldan asked both Jorund and Miluel.
"I think if my mother believed it is time then it is time for us to try again," Miluel said, knowing how important the valley is to all of them.
"Or she was rambling from the loss of blood," Jorund said, not really thinking that they should travel to the valley again. "We lost too many soldiers over the years from sending them back to the valley, who else can we send now?"
"I'll go," I said, stepping forward towards the three royals. "If Lady Thannil believed that I could help you reclaim your homelands, then I minus well should try," All of them got the feeling that I didn't know what was lurking within the valley's borders. So Arbor gave me a quick explanation of the dragon that took their lands years ago and how no one had entered the valley since and came back out.
"I don't care, I trust Thannil's judgment, and I'll do what I can," Miluel smiled at me, liking the amount of courage that I was showing to them.
"Then I will go with you," Miluel said as she stood from her seat.
"Um my lady, that's not a very wise choice," Arbor said as he took a few steps towards her. "You just became queen of your people, you are needed here,"
"I'm the only one out of all of us that truly knows the way to the valley," Miluel responded, not really liking the idea of just staying at Carnhal, doing nothing. "Besides, reclaiming the valley is the best way to help all of our people,"
"Lady Miluel is right, we cannot stay here anymore, and it might be time for us to send our best to go and take back the valley," Lord Moldan said before standing out from his seat. "And that is why I will be going with you," Jorund was shocked to hear what Moldan had said.
"I'm sorry my lord but we can't have two of the valley's royals going on what most would consider suicide," Jorund said, trying to convince Moldan to not go to the valley.
"Unfortunately I'm gonna have to agree with Jorund, I don't even like Miluel going but if you both go then Carnhal could tear itself apart," Arbor said, agreeing with Jorund.
"Enough, I have made up my mind," Moldan said, showing that none of their words would change his mind. "I will help Erik reclaim the homeland of our ancestors," We planned to leave first thing the following morning. My traveling companions consisted of Lady Miluel, Lord Moldan, Arbor, twin elves by the names of Radriel and Achariel, Hadding the human archer, Thade one of the few dwarves I could see in Carnhal, Tirim is one of the only dwarves that had actually lived in the valley left in Carnhal, Pernilla was a ranger that had a lot of experience living in the wilderness, Guthred was a warrior who came from the southwest, and lastly Lina was the official medic of the group. As the twelve of us started to leave Carnhal on horseback, the people were weeping for us, fearing that this would be the last time they would see any of us.
"Erik, wait!" A voice called out as I rode down the stone path; when I turned to see who it was that called me and as I turned I could see it was Lucy who was called to me. "Do you really have to go?"
"It's the best way I can help you all," I said as she walked by my side towards the gate.
"Then, please take this, to remember us," Lucy said as she held up a pendant that was hidden underneath her shirt. It was a flat silver circle with three tiny jewels in it that was black, white, and golden; there was a pattern on it that showed a tree with its branches wrapped around the three jewels.
"It's beautiful Lucy, I promise I will not take it off until I see you again," I said as I clipped the chain around my neck. "Goodbye Lucy," I waved at her before I rode a bit faster to catch up with the rest of my companions.
"That represents the three treasures of the valley," Arbor said when he saw the pendant around my neck. "Black for the dwarven diamond, white for the human pearl, and gold for the elven seed," I found it fascinating, but if these three treasures were as valuable as everyone made them seem to be, then it would kind of explain why a dragon came to attack the valley.
"So um, what can you guys tell me of this dragon we'll have to face?" I asked, scared but a little excited to be able to see an actual, living, breathing dragon.
"Her name is Tanit, the fire storm of the west," Tirim said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. "She shot huge bursts of blue flame that was so hot that it melted armor to soldiers, liquified stone, and turned people to piles of ash,"
"Tanit was so massive that her wings could block out the sun like a storm cloud right before flames fell down upon the landscape beneath her," Thade said, though he didn't really remember actually seeing her when she attacked the valley. I somewhat started to think of several things after hearing these descriptions of Tanit. One, Erik... you are absolutely nuts. Two, what did I do to deserve facing off against a dragon as big as this. And three... I'm about to see a dragon face to face... this is awesome. Though in all seriousness, this mission as a whole was definitely crazy. I already got a taste of the darker forces of this world, so I truly had no idea what else could be lurking within the shadows of these lands. It seemed, the more I knew about this world, the more I came to the conclusion that I won't see Sera or the rest of my family ever again.
We traveled through seas of grasslands, and eventually we came across an ancient woodland that seemed to have an old presence that lurked within its trees. As we went deeper and deeper into the wilderness, the ring that I had been given seemed to start emanating energy into me, giving me the feeling that I am close to the ring's true owner, the spirit must be close by. But even with what seemed like the presence of the spirit, I also sensed something else lurking amongst the trees and bushes, something much darker that was watching us from a distance.
"This is a very old forest," Pernilla said as all of us continued to travel deeper and deeper amongst the trees. "It's full of ancient powers and spirits that have long passed," Her words kind of creeped me out, but thanks to my ring, I could tell that her words were true. As I continued to ride, Lady Miluel could tell that there was something on my mind and rode up next to me.
"I really appreciate your willingness to help us, I can understand if you're having second thoughts," She said to me with a bit of a calm tone in her voice.
"No it's okay, I just hope I'll be able to make it back to my own home after this whole thing is done," I said, thinking that it might be wiser to keep the whole thing, me being from another world between myself and Arbor.
"Do you have any family from where you come from?" Miluel asked, sounding like she was curious to learn more about me and where I came from.
"Yeah, quite a few different family members, though I am worried that I will never see any of them again based off of all the dangers this journey has," I said as I got worried that even if I manage to survive everything that will be thrown at us, that I may not even be able to find a way home from this world.