Escape through the Sacred Forest: Lich Lord Wars Book 2

Chapter 13

"This last wave should do it. They are tired, hurt, and running out of arrows."

"Hurry, I won't be satisfied till Lord Aguarius is dead at my feet. And we've nearly exhausted our supply of death magic. Between that cursed elf and that paladin we aren't getting enough kills to replace what we are using."

"I'm telling you I heard battle horns. They were faint but I know what I heard."

If the scout giving the report hadn't been one of his most reliable, Lord Mason would have dismissed the report out of hand. The thought of Aguarius soldiers fighting nearby was disturbing.

Word of the undead invasion had only just made it around the south leg of Aguarius forest and up to Debigroc the day before. How could any fighting have reached them so soon?

Lord Mason was lord of the city of Debigroc and tasked with guarding the north pass into the Forjad Province. Last he had heard the undead were moving southwest across the Aguarius Province and he had assumed they would enter Forjad through the south pass. He also thought he had at least a few weeks before the made it this far.

If the scout was right then the war had already arrived; and from the east of all places, appearing out of nowhere as if from the forest itself. Was it possible?

Lord Mason wasted no time sending messengers to Debigroc to alert the city and began organizing scouts to go find out what was going on. He had been out with a group of his men on a training exercise but it looked like they might get some real action.

He was about to dismiss his scouts when he heard the howl. All activity in the camp suddenly stopped. It had been a dire wolf howl, but the loudest and deepest he had ever heard.

"Weapons ready," he ordered drawing his own sword.

Watching the tree-line at the edge of the field where they were camped, in the direction the howl had come, he was shocked to see the largest dire wolf he had ever seen come bounding from the trees. The beast was larger then even the largest bear he had ever seen.

Before he could give any orders the wolf slowed its pace to a trot and stopped just out of the range of the archers who were already notching arrows and taking aim.

It was when the wolf laid down and lowered its head that Lord Mason realized the wolf wasn't alone--it had passengers. Three children had been riding on the wolf's back--on the back of a huge dire wolf! It was unthinkable!

Two of the children, a boy and a girl, slid off the beast's back and began running towards him and his men. Lord Mason ordered his men to hold their fire and watched in fascinated awe as they approached him.

The pair stepped up to him and the boy held up the crest that hung around his neck. He spoke in a voice of authority beyond his apparent years.

"I'm Almas Aguarius and this is my sister, Cady. We are children of High Lord Gidon Aguarius and Lady Izybel Forjad. Our family along with refugees from the Aguarius Province are under attack by forces of the Lich Lords and we request your aid on behalf of our parents."

Lord Mason stared in stunned silence at the siblings. The crests and the obvious family resemblance supported their claim. He could do nothing but accept that these two children were High Lord Forjad's grandchildren and accept that the enemy had already made it to the borders of his land.

He looked back to the third child still sitting astride the huge wolf. There was something about the boy that didn't seem quite...human. Something about the way he held himself and something about those ears.

"Who is he," Lord Mason asked indicating to the third child.

"A friend and ally to the House Aguarius," Lord Forjad's grandson answered simply.