vengeance

chapter 2 part 2

Ul-ion led Lunn up on to the walkway of the wall . The boy had been shaking last he looked. The first time was always the worst  , first battle  , first wine , first women. Why do I always think of women before a battle ? It will only hurt to know I’ll leave a widow . Ul-ion smiled a little to himself as he thought this . and a child.  This day was so far the best in his thousand years . His wife had told him that after a hundred and six years of marriage she was with child. It was the best thing to ever happen him , he had won treasures and titles but all them mattered for nothing now. He would at last father a child.

   But that was expected sooner or later , what he didn’t expect was the boy he was mentoring to turn out to be the Dragon Celt . He was skilled no doubt about it , not as big as some others his age but an excellent fighter . Beats the other boy’s hands down , but Sliabh Slante is a small place and they are only boys . The world is filled with worse things then boys , as he would find out tonight. 

   Ul-ion had fought orcs and goblins before , in fact for a long time it was all he fought . His first battle had been against them an army just like this one only larger , but of course they outnumbered the orcs by a good two thousand maybe more. Ul-ion led a troop under the banner of a white leaf on a blue background. They hand been in the van that day . In they shadow forests of the southern Elf-Lands the mist was thick and the undergrowth thicker. Nine hundred years and he still remembered like it was a forth night ago. 

   Green shadows moved through the mist and he called for arms .he commanded eight hundred foot soldiers that day , mostly Elven pike troops with elves armed with great swords as support. He also had a hundred archers which he had ordered to climb the trees and ordered to rain down arrows when the orcs and goblins were engaged with his main force. Some claimed it was what won them the day with so few causalities.

 Ul-ion fought many foot battles after that . Later he rode a his Elven  thoroughbred  into battle . Elven horses can oft live as long as a man but Ul-ion went through four every decade. His horse was always as armoured as he was , Elven sun-steel plate decorated with carved white ivory leaves . He charged with lance and shot arrows from horse back , those were the days before he had swift-sickle. He had won that in a battle against a foe of another sort. 

  His house had gone to war with a wood elf tribe about borders . There had been two small battles fought between sworn banner elves of both sides but the White-Leaves and Swifts were reluctant to call a full scale war , after all they were related if you traced far enough back and oft intermarried with each other . So instead the lords arranged single combat between the two houses eldest sons. Ul-ion was chosen for the White-Leaves and an Elf called Lacka for the Swifts.

   Any melee weapon was permitted and Ul-ion chose a straight edged , double sided bladed sword and long shield . He donned his sun-steel plate , which was a full set in those days. His opponent wore thick leather armour mad stronger with some iron parts . The Wood elves were always less advanced then Royal elves but had skills of their own. The weapon Lacka carried was by no means primitive . It was swift-sickle , their house’s weapon carried by their leader . Ul-ion touched it now , it still a hung as a shame on his back. 

  For hour after hour the two combatants had fought . Ul-ion never forgot the sight of swift-sickle’s curved blade slashing for his throat , chest , elbow , knee or anywhere it could reach . It was only by some miracle he had defended against it . Their battle had begun at mid-day and had hundreds of spectators but as it raged on into the night the watchers from both sides began to dwindle . Soon only a few from each side remained as the torches were lit. Both Ul-ion and his opponents armour had fallen away in places and the parts that were left were dented or cut ragged and offered little defence. By midnight Ul-ion’s breastplate and leather jerkin underneath had been cut off and he fought bare chest , the only armour that covered his chest was light pink-red blood from a dozen small wounds.

  At the start he had a reluctance to fight Lacka , he had fought beside him in a dozen battles big and small , including his first but soon a battle frenzy took him and he knew nothing other then the will to fight . Being honest , Ul-ion was surprised he lasted so long , he was out of practice fighting on foot. For a hundred years prior to the fight he rode griffins and his fathers dragon into battle. But in single combat he had to kill not tell a beast to do it and kill  he did . 

  By the time he did there was only two people left watching , Ul-ion’s father and a young Elven maid he didn’t then know . He heard her screech as his sword pierced torn leather and the flesh underneath. Lacka had whispered as he died “well fought.” 

It was the last thing he said before his eyes went blank. To his shame Ul-ion had claimed two things from his rival as victors payments that night , his sword and his bride to be… Utha.

  does she still think of him ? Ul-ion wondered . does she still love him instead of me , was I a fool to think she could ? Look what she has done though , by rights she should of married Lacka’s  not his killer . She was shunned from her house for marrying me. She has given everything for me , I should never doubt he , she is my sun and I am hers. His thoughts always drifted back to her , they had been together for so long but he always thought of her. 

  Without realising it Ul-ion was standing facing out on the wooden walls , with the village to his back . Lunn was looking out on the edge of the forest as well , they all were . There was torches glowing just beyond the tree line , visible in the gathering dark . what are they waiting for , an invitation ? as if in answer shouts rand out in the night . they will attack soon very soon. Ul-ion turned to Lunn . 

  “ no matter what happens Lunn I’ll be here , I swore I’d protect you .” Ul-ion said in a reassuring voice . 

  “ thanks I guess its time to prove I am what the druids say , the Dragon Celt .”he said , his green eyes glowing with flecks of gold burned with determination. Ul-ion turned back to the forest and laughed . 

 “ time to prove you are your father’s son.” he said to Lunn before raising his voice to speak all around him , for most this was their first battle. “ you men and elves stand sworn to protect Sliabh Slante . No matter what happens you will stand and fight till your last dying breath . If you yield they will kill you , if you run I will.” Ul-ion let his words hang in the air , he saw silent faces and heard nervous laughs . “ now spearmen heft your weapons , archers string your arrows and anyone else draw your weapon and be ready.” the whole garrison did as he said , and a wall off archers drew arrows and waited for his command . Lunn did the same but Ul-ion leaned in close “ don’t hope to keep pace with the elves , when the orcs break cover fire at will an be ready for goblins that scale the wall” the boy only nodded in his heavy helmet and watched the enemy line. he is focused ,good.

  “ they aren’t like to break soon,” screamed  Cullum from the tower on the left flank of the gate . “ lower your weapons , don’t listen to that prick eared basterd I’m your ….”  A horn blast from a man in the right tower cut him short . “ they are charging.” screamed a red haired youth down along the wall .

 Let them come taste swift-sickle , the way I should have . “ LOOSE!” he shouted and his elves began to rain down arrows on the green skinned attackers . let them come die.