Tower of Ancients

by Jaeger Mitchells

  “What the hell is that?” I asked in disbelief as the sisters joined me. They looked at each other and shook their heads, not able to give me a real response.

  “Only the Goddess knows,” Helena whispered. “What a magnificent building, though. Just who could have created something like that?”

  “Whoever it was, I don’t think it matters now, sis,” Sylvana whispered. “We need to speak to the Goddess and see if she has anything else to add before we need to start moving. I have a bad feeling about all of this.”

  I placed my arms around the two and jumped off the tree, enjoying the free fall for the first time in my life. It had always been somewhat strange, but now with two beauties in my arms, it was time to show off a bit.

  We landed with little more than a weak thump. To my surprise, they didn’t seem impressed, what more, Helena was downright annoyed.

  “Really? You had no better way to peek up my dress than jump down the tree? Here, let me make it easier for you,” she hissed, pulling up her dress and revealing she wasn’t wearing anything beneath. I let out a deep sigh as Sylvana slapped her across the right cheek. Helena’s head snapped to the left, leaving a red bruise in its wake. A long and uncomfortable silence followed, which was only broken by Yrneha’s renewed arrival.

  “Go, children. Make haste as other factions will start to move once they spot the tower. Let’s be honest, it isn’t hard to see it from even fifty miles out. It’s too tall not to.”

  “Goddess!” Helena pleaded. “Will we see you again?” Yrneha shrugged.

  “When the time comes, yes, but not before then. But let me tell you something. Trust this man. The Goddess Mara has blessed him for some reason, and after observing him for a while, I’ve come to believe her judgment. Don’t be too harsh on him, young Elf.”

  “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us, Goddess,” Sylvana replied and bowed low. Helena looked away at her Goddess’ words, but bowed as well and nodded.

  “I will, Goddess. Thank you for your kind words.”

  I was already on my horse and making my way out of the forest when that strange feeling struck me. The closer I was to get out, the stronger it became. The girls followed me out a couple of minutes after I left, finding me standing out on the desolate land that surrounded this strange patch of forest. Sylvana looked more pleased than her sister, but both seemed otherwise high in spirits.

  “How far along are they? What do you think?” I asked as they pulled their horses up next to me and stopped.

  “We’ll need three hours by horse on a full gallop. The Goddess blessed them so we’ll be going a couple of times faster than usual. She also gave us a way of tracking them so it won’t be a big problem. However, she warned us of other forces nearby and crouching upon us.”

  “Yeah, I have no doubt.”

  Any other day and I’d think them crazy, but not today. I had a feeling today would have a lot in store for us, even more than the day we decided to break all ties.

  Helena’s horse gained speed seemingly out of nowhere. I let her take point as I slowed down slightly and rode next to Sylvana, flashing her a weak smile. It looked strange on my face, I knew as much. I was a gruff and hard man, or rather Vampire, but I still had my qualities. At least so far she didn’t show any disdain, but that was partially because of my shared blood with Lefrand.

  Three hours passed before we finally caught up with the army. They had gone on a straight course toward the No Man’s land, while we had gone all the way to the Vampire border and returned on a course that would catch up with them at the closest point.

  Dimas spotted us and ordered a halt. It only took the rest a couple of seconds to see what was going on. They visibly relaxed and milled around, whispering between themselves. Now if even every fifth mentioned they were happy to see me, I’d count myself a lucky Lord.

  All of the officers, along with Dimas and his wife, bunched up around me and the sisters like love-sick puppies. It was a strange feeling seeing them waiting for an explanation. They must have felt the tremors this far out as well and seen the tower rise.

  We gave them the shortest possible explanation. I didn’t want to waste much time, so I decided on cutting down on details, including mentioning the Goddess. Once done with explaining, I thought long and hard on how to proceed.

  “We’ll split up into two groups,” I finally said. “We’re almost there as you can see. It will take the army a day on foot, while the cavalry can make it much quicker.”

  “Yes, my Lord,” they all replied in unison.

  “Everyone will take command over their units. Grestal, you’ll take two hundred of our cavalry along with Dimas, his Coven, and the sisters. They will most likely outrun you, but the moment you arrive your main job becomes support. Try to set up barricades to narrow a possible approach once the enemy shows up. If there are any trees, fell them and use everything. Make spikes, use the leaves and branches to cover them. Do what you must, but hold at any cost if anyone arrives before us.”

  “Very well, my lord,” Grestal replied as he bowed slightly. “I’ll get right on it.”

  He started shouting orders at which point I tuned out, trying to come up with a way to increase our marching speed. There was none except for feeding them blood, but there were too many of them and too little of us. This just went to show I needed to make Vampires out of them, or at least out of the group commanders. They could take over the duty of feeding the men.

  Just thinking of No Man’s land made shivers run down my spine. We never really ventured there because the terrain wasn’t suitable for us. Too much sun and too little shade. Just how were we supposed to defend against an army that would outnumber us ten to one? I knew the Human Kingdoms had more than a couple of soldiers to spare as they numbered in the millions, but not us.

  We had no other choice but to try and establish alliances, or at least try and make some treaties, trade agreements, and others that would prevent them from attacking us. Defending one side was already hard enough. But the problem was that we had nothing they might want for now. Except for my blood and power. My fifteen-hundred were equal to five thousand ordinary Human soldiers, Dimas’ Coven alone could probably count as another two thousand as the man and his wife alone were monstrously strong.

  “Do you really want us to join the vanguard?” Sylvana asked.

  I stood there, thinking for a long moment.

  “Helena, what did you see? What do you remember? Please be as detailed as possible.”

  She bit on her lower lip and closed her eyes, thinking hard.

  “I remember two armies. We battled the one from the East first, then some time passed before an even larger army appeared from the West. We started fighting and—that’s where it ended.”

  “The East, huh? It must be one of the Human Kingdoms, but which one? And more importantly, why? Was it pure coincidence?”

  “My Lord,” Sylvana started, drawing my attention. “Does it matter why? If we know what to do next, isn’t that good enough?”

  “You’re right, it is. I’ve decided then. You two join Dimas. Grestal moves out second with the cavalry after they re-pack their gear. I’m going East to see who is so bold to move with an army against our tower.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “Move out!” Dimas roared as he dashed deeper into the forest. The whole Coven moved as one along with the sisters. He turned his head around one last time before he was too far out and nodded toward Raziel. The Vampire Lord nodded back and turned to speak to the rest of his men, just as another voice boomed out from behind him. It was that young warrior Raziel respected so much, Grestal.

  “For Raziel!”

  The Cavalry started moving and soon two hundred horses followed the Elder Vampire and his family. A familiar yet strange feeling washed over him from either side. He sniffed the air and grinned.

  “Elves?”

  “Yes, Lord Dimas, it’s us,” the one to his right replied. He remembered it was Helena, the rowdier
one.

  “Elder Magic?”

  “It’s Cloaking magic. It makes us invisible up to the point if someone stumbles into us,” the same one replied. The one on the left remained quiet for some reason. He could feel her emotions running wild. It wasn’t fear for death, at least not her own. No, she was worried about something. Or someone.

  He chuckled and glanced over at his wife, Anya. She felt the same for him every time they went into battle. There was no way for her to hide it no matter how hard she tried. Still, it was something he appreciated dearly. All those years later and nothing changed between them.

  “Make sure we don’t embarrass ourselves today, my children,” he thought. They all acknowledged his command. It always made him proud when they did as ordered, especially during combat situations. Every single one of them was hand-picked to serve as his—no, not to serve, but to be part of what he created.

  “Anya?”

  “What is it, dear?” she replied. “Having second thoughts?”

  He burst out in laughter, then caught himself forgetting the Elves rode to either side of him.

  “No, just one thing I forgot about for a long time. See, as your master, I order you to run if I die and our children start dying as well. I want you to live.”

  She remained silent for a long minute, maybe even two.

  “I’ll never forgive you for this, Dimas,” she finally replied, her voice weak. He turned to face her but didn’t meet her eyes.

  “As long as you’re safe, I don’t care. Now I can fight with all I have and won’t have to worry about you.”

  He half expected some of the young to ask ‘what about us, father?’ but they didn’t. They knew better, and not through fear, but through respect. They knew he would do as much for them as for Anya, but there was no need to keep on asking the same question over and over again.

  The forest finally ended after a long, hard run, and with it, the desolate landscape of No Man’s land came into view. It was just that; sand, rock, and scorched earth.

  “We’ll be there soon,” he said over his link and repeated the same to the Elves. It was apparent, but he was someone who liked to state a situation as it was.

  “Thanks for the info, but can we can see as much,” Helena replied sarcastically. He didn’t rise to the occasion but instead focused on shifting strides from soil to sand and rock.

  The tower became ever clearer as the group flashed across the desert-like landscape. To an onlooker, they might have been mirages or specters when considering their speed. The group moved in an inverted V-shaped formation with Dimas being at the tip and no one was lagging behind, not even a bit.

  He narrowed his eyes on the lowest floor, or rather what looked like the entrance. Intricate carvings covered the whole front part facing the group, but it didn’t depict anything specific. Or maybe it did, but he couldn’t recognize it.

  “That’s Ancient Elven,” Sylvana said, breaking her silence. “I can recognize some of the signs.”

  “Yeah, same here,” Helena replied. “But it’s more like a mix. I don’t know, we need to be closer to study it.”

  “Tower of Ancients. It says so right there across the first-floor wall,” Sylvana said excitedly. “What the hell does that mean? The Ancients?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Dimas replied. His voice was strained and low. The sisters both looked at him.

  A sudden burst of emotion and information slammed into his mind and stopped him in his tracks. He looked to the left and then to the right, not knowing where it had come from.

  “Father!” one of the children urged. “We got company on our right flank. It’s a Human army!”

  He cursed under his breath and turned to see for himself. Was it them? But how could ordinary Humans cause such a shockwave of emotions that could reach him?

  “Did anyone else feel this just now?” he asked, wanting to make sure it wasn’t just him. But it was. No one replied.

  “What are you talking about?” Anya asked from up ahead. Everyone had gone on but just for Dimas who stopped.

  “Never mind. But won’t you look at that? Isn’t that the Stheralian flag?” he asked, finally able to discern the red and purple colors.

  “What in the Goddess’ name? There’s at least a thousand of them!”

  “And look at the horizon. They came here with a big army, not just their cavalry,” Helena added. “Fuck, this wasn’t what I remember seeing!”

  “Huh? Seeing?” Dimas asked, finally having shaken the feeling off of dread.

  “Never mind that right now. What are your orders, Lord Dimas?” Sylvana asked.

  No matter how strong he and his Coven were, a charging cavalry, and a thousand of them at that, was too much even for them. But how did he stop them? They didn’t have any time to prepare any defensive measures.

  “Elves, what do you propose?”

  “There’s something we’d like to try out. Don't worry, you just get into a V shape formation like when we were moving and we’ll take care of the rest. Get in close to each other and form a slightly angled wall.”

  “I don’t think you’ll be able to escape once the battle starts, so you better not screw us over,” he hissed.

  “Please, Raziel ordered us to help and keep you all safe if we could, so that’s what we’re doing.”

  ”Very well, I’ll entrust my family to you. Don’t make me regret it, Elves.”

  “Don’t worry, we’re in the same boat, Dimas. Raziel would have our hides if anything happened to you, trust me on that. He considers you like a brother and even more than that.”

  He scoffed and shook his head lightly.

  “Not before I had my way, little Elves. Now, what next?”

  “Nothing. Take up the formation as shown below your feet once we arrive and form a slightly angled wall. The rest is up to us,” Sylvana replied.

  “The Elves have a plan. Look at the glowing form below your feet and get in position once we’re there. We will become an unmovable mountain. Is that understood?”

  Everyone confirmed mentally but for Anya.

  “Do you believe them?” she asked worriedly.

  “I do. I have to. I don’t think we can take them on by ourselves, not such a well-equipped cavalry. They’re heavy troops, not the light crap we’re used to dealing with.”

  “So we stand our ground?” Anya asked, “And wait for the Elves to do their thing?”

  “Exactly. I trust Raziel, and he trusts the sisters. Do what you’re told, woman.”

  He could feel Anya’s disdain for the way he said it, but she wouldn’t go against his order. She knew what that meant. All she could do now was to do what she was best at, provide support.

  “Shields out!” she yelled as they arrived, putting her hands up into the air and spreading them. A magical dome appeared around the Coven. One by one they pulled lances and shields out, got in formation, and linked up by chaining their shields together.

  “Do not fear! Do not falter! Do not let them break the formation!”

  No matter how much he tried to pep them up, Dimas himself didn’t feel so sure anymore as the cloud of sand approached rapidly. His heart started racing unlike anything over the last centuries. Was it fear? No. Anticipation? Maybe. Joy? Definitely. He would finally be able to reap lives again. It’s been so long since he had fresh blood.

  “I see you’re getting nervous. Please don’t, you have us on your side,” Sylvana whispered.

  “Yeah, what she said. It’s time people got to see the rise of the Elves,” Helena added excitedly.

  “Helena, you take the left and hurry it up. Place the wards along that line, and I’ll place them over there. And as for you, Dimas, I hope your Coven listens to you because if you move, you’ll all die along with the enemy.”

  Dimas remained quiet as he observed something strange. Light-blue runes started appearing all around them. The strongest concentration was right ahead of him and then it went down either side. What the hell are
the sisters up to, he thought.

  The ground started trembling as they hurried up to finish, but would there be enough time? The enemy cavalry was barely a mile out while they still had to create seven marks.

  “Stay calm, Helena. We can do it, just don’t panic,” Sylvana said, cheering her sister on. Helena remained silent, sketching away slowly and trying not to think about failure.

  “Half a mile!” Dimas growled as he finally put up two shields on both arms and crossed them. “A quarter-mile! You two better are ready!”

  “Just a moment!” Helena whispered. “One more.”

  “Hurry up!”

  Sylvana looked up and cursed under her breath as the Human cavalry came storming in. They were an arrow-shot away while she still had to finish her last rune of flame. Being clumsy as she was, she looked back on the opposite side to check for Grestal’s reinforcements. He would be slightly late. There was at least a mile difference between the two charging armies.

  “Brace yourselves! Don’t give them a single step!”

  “Done! Hide behind them!” Sylvana yelled as the sound of thundering hooves became too much to bear. Their Elven hearts started beating faster and faster, praying to Yrneha that the spells they inherited from her would work.

  A deafening screech rang out as Sylvana snapped her fingers. The first line of the charging cavalry tumbled and fell, launching the riders to the ground. The second row fell over their companions, and a third trampled them to death. The fourth row veered off to either side and charged the Vampire formation from either side, slamming into the shields like a tidal wave.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  With every passing moment, it was clearer to Grestal that the enemy army would hit the Vampires before they managed to arrive. He cursed under his breath, snorted and let out a war cry. For a moment he thought of spurring his horse on to go faster, but even if he did manage to outrun his own men, it only meant that he would arrive faster than the rest. But what could he do as a single unit? Die along with the Vampires?