- "My Master wants the Relic and it will be better for you to have it in your possession!"
- "We do not have it if that's what you're looking for," said the old paladin.
- "If you do not have it with you, tell me immediately where I can find it and maybe I'll let you live, it will be my Master who decides his destiny"
- "We prefer to die before revealing the location of the Relic" exclaimed Gerioh
- "A word more insolete young and will perish like your family!" If you are not willing to give us the Relic, then I will take you to my Master, he can surely be much more persuasive
- "You do not know what you are going to have to fall on the Nevrigiens," Locklhan said warningly.
- "We know that our army grows and dominates little by little all the lands and that the wrath of the Necromancer will annihilate whoever confronts him!"
The commander of the troop called one of his minions, Khar Osh-gära, to take charge of the group, then walked away. He ordered that chains be placed on their wrists, forcing them to follow them to the Black citadel.
In total silence, they were taken to a kind of fortified cage in which they were forced to enter and sit on some wooden planks.
The Nevrigiens were extremely strong and powerful, could lift in their agile arms to dozens of men without experiencing the slightest weakness.
The group left in a westerly direction, the trip was made once.
The incredible
It was known that the cold of the frozen lands of the Kingdom of North Shore paralyzed the weakest beings, anyone who ventured to these snowy countries could die in terrible conditions. Carhaa, who had studied the continents of Hissfon, knew this northern kingdom and the consequences of this deadly cold. While the snow whipped the face half covered with a simple scarf that the young woman had the lucidity to take with them the three young people climbed to one of the smallest peaks only to see, from its highest side, as in the distance in a bay there were thousands of boats anchored.
Kenthaë could not believe his eyes, what he was seeing was too amazing was it a mirage? Would these ships be peaceful or hostile? So many questions the Lancero had in his mind as he sank his footsteps into the deep snow.
At last they came to one of the guard posts, one of the sentries approached them and asked:
- "Strangers who are you?"
- "We come from Moprem, the city of the Fahl Kingdom in the Mandrara Lands," said Kenthaë.
- "And what are you going to do to the ice cream North?"
- "We are looking for a Maléha flower, our friend is vital for our health" he added.
- "They must know that the Meléha is something very rare and for that reason we protect it a lot, the price to pay is high and not accessible to simple mortals"
- "Have you heard of the drums that resonate in our country? The Nevrigiens arrive en masse, a fear without a name comes alive in the black citadel!
- "We do not care about your wars, you protect your lands while we will be safe in ours!"
- "If the Necromancer attacks us, do not think he will stop in the Mandrares," Carhaa replied, "it will devastate everything to the smallest part of life that gets in its way."
- "Then the queen will crush him!" exclaimed the sentry with great security "Look at your fleet, see the power it has," he said, pointing with his arm the entire length of the bay that was seen in the distance.
- "What must be done to have Maléha?" Doltha asked hurriedly.
- I can see from your hammer that you are, surely, a paladin. I hope you are protected from the cold of the North.
- "Yes, I am a paladin and son of King Berum, sovereign of the Kingdom of Fahl and protector of the crown with three branches."
- "Shut up!" he ordered Kenthae, scolding Doltha "we just came looking for the flower that will cure Artemion, nothing more."
- "In this case," said the sentry without paying attention to Kenthae and ending the conversation "go ahead please, first you must pass the test of Queen Oretalha, Sovereign of the Kingdom of Nord Rivage, carrier of the icy crown that protects the nomadic people, unifying the cities of the North and possessing the eternal breath! " he added, looking at the young paladin, who was about to lament his inopportune arrogance.
The group advanced and crossed the dam made of white trunks, advanced along a road carved in the snow from which you could see the huge fleet of huge ships, whose masts were hit by the wind to then enter the warehouses full of goods, It was equally impressive.
They arrived in front of a heavy steel door whose hinges were the size of a man and on which accumulated a lot of snow, they opened slowly, making the ground creak and after them the youth could see the city of Vreseryth, nailed in the high and icy mountains.
Chapter Fourteen
A decisive step
The three young entered the frozen city of Vreseryth, escorted by sentinels, amazed by the beauty of the place. This fortress on the mountain was so imposing that thousands of torches illuminated the walls of ice and metal, all eyes were fixed on the small group that moved slowly on the way to the royal court. This city of the Kingdom of Nord Rivage belonged to very remote times, nobody knew when the first construction had been made, but it seemed that it had no age and that it was frozen in time.
Huge gray columns rose from the ground and sank into the high ceilings, as if the stone were placed on it, the balconies decorated with large fabrics formed by the coat of arms of the city reinforced the feeling of grandeur.
The group arrived in front of a flock of guards dressed in the majestic white coat, synonymous with great purity and loyalty, they judged the three young wrapped in traditional costumes from the south. The sentry from the previous dam asked them to wait in a small room dotted with statuettes with the image of Queen Oretalha and other smaller representatives of the cold spirits and glaciers, their greatest beliefs. Doltha admired with astonishment the splendor of places he did not suspect existed, for this young paladin the northern countries were only myths and unattainable lands. He took a step forward to examine the details of the environment when a guard put his spear at his feet, Doltha raised her head and took a step back:
- "Be careful ! Exclaimed Kenthaë "we do not know anything about this place, would not you want to start a war for so little?"
- "A war? Should we go so far because I've seen his city?"
- "No, but try to stay in your place, we do not know their customs!"
- "You know we admire the spirits of the former Hissfon" added Carhâa" to whom the thirst for knowledge of the young paladin caused him admiration "here is the same but with elements such as the cold and glaciers that surround us".
- "They have strange beliefs in the North!" Doltha finished, turning her head.
Carhaa looked up to hear this talk, smiled with satisfaction and tried to keep her expression serious.
The power of ice
Kenthaë sighed with some contempt when the sentry returned, he asked them to follow him in what appeared to be a weapons room. After crossing some corridors, the group arrived at an enormous room in whose walls shone the flames of the torches, enormous patterned wore the walls and the floor, prints that represented a mountain covered with snowflakes, symbol of the lands of the frozen Kingdom of Nord Rivage. Sitting in a white chair that dominated the room, Queen Oretalha observed the arrival of the three young men and the sentry introduced them:
- "My Queen, here are the strangers."
- "From what they have told me, do you want to take something that has been preserved for thousands of cycles?" Said the sovereign of long, red hair.
- "Your Majesty," said the Lancero, bending his knee, "we arrived at your country with the greatest humility, because it is thanks to your plant that we can cure our friend.
- « And did you make such a long trip just to get Maléha's flower? Your friend must be very important to you ... »
- "He is one of the Auttum Warriors, just like us," added Kenthaë, "he is the pillar of our group."
- "I am Doltha, Majesty, second son of King Bérum, sovereign of the Kingdom of Fahl, I accompany them because my magic belongs to them."
- "They are so much titles for a man that requires our help again, I do not think you ignore that I protected the Mandrares´s Lands in Tanbus-Erhlenam. That's why I rejected his request!
- "Does King Bérum need your help?" Kenthae asked.
- "That seems. He sent us a Dartohn bird recently, he tries to collect the five crowns, that will not help, I can assure you ...
- The sky has darkened in many provinces. My shamans have predicted that the future is full of dark mists. Many kings have give their allegiance to the Black Lord of Shaltara. We have fought against the Necromancer before but now, the arrogance of the Magi has given birth to a new darkness, a nameless fear that can devastate everything that crosses its path.
- "That's why we have to help our friend" said the young Lancero "to be able to go in search of the missing Wizards and fight against the Necromancer and his darkness.
- "Why should I help you? It's not our war," exclaimed Queen Oretalha "what I would it gain if I helped you?"
- "You have the largest fleet of all kingdoms combined," Kenthae replied, "Even the city of Varnum does not have many ships, and once the Necromancer has spread death on our lands, it will destroy the rest of the continents, including yours. . "
- "Then he will face our naval power! Not counting our army and a natural wall that are Calomnum glaciers!"
- "But ..."
- "It's enough!" exclaimed the White Sovereign "I must consult what you are asking me with my shamans, only after having heard the opinions of them will I decide if I give permission for you to take a part of our Maleha flower."
- "Guard! " she called "escort our guests to the ice room."
The sentinel invited the three young to follow him, stealthily walking down the long corridors whose temperature did not please Doltha at all. Finally they came to a small room with only a bench and a small table where there was a jug and small cups.
The paladin poured the contents of the jug into one of the cups and so calmed his thirst, while the sentry closed the door.
Carhaa sat down and said:
- "How long will we have to wait here?"
- "We should not be impatient with the queen," said Kenthaë, "she is the sole owner of Maleha's flower, and if we do not manage to give her even a small part of her, then this search will have been in vain and everything will be over for Artemion and for us. "
- "Do not say that! In that case, let's wait as much as necessary, her response will be positive, I'm sure."
Doltha sat down in turn, admiring the courage of her friend, they had no choice but to wait in this small room, a long and painful wait was approaching.
Chapter Fifteen
The three crowns
A crowd was gathered near the citadel of Galnor, King Berum had requested more troops to go towards Auttum to defend the Covenant of the five magicians, which was threatened by the arrival of the nevrigiens cohorts.
Suddenly, it could be seen in the distance that something in the sky was approaching at great speed, the ruler of the City of Arms recognized his royal Grifo, who had on his back the Great Master Shaari Ohrana, the animal began to turn around the main courtyard little by little as it went down.
The King Bérum went to meet him:
- "We were waiting for your arrival, Grand Master."
- "I came as soon as I felt the death of our disciple Ohnaha," the sorcerer Shâari explained, "we know from a reliable informant that the Necromancer knows about the existence of the Auttum Covenant, and I have been informed that even you have Faln-Lannar´s Relic in your possession, is that true? "
- "Certainly" the monarch agreed. "The monarchs of Mérhidios and of Shôl-Garäa are also in the citadel, they have promised their support in the offensive against the army of the Dark Lord, we agreed to send troops to defend the Auttum people and the Covenant," he added. the wizards Donnhum and Tohn-Ma were terribly weakened by the loss of their disciples, you know the importance of the bond unites them. "
The two men were interrupted by a young messenger who brought a message bearing the seal of the city of Moprem, King Berum took the parchment and opened it, his eyes turned to the great master Ohrana:
- "The news is not good, Master."
- "What the message says?" the sorcerer Shâari asked.
- "The Magician Tohn-Ma informs us that he tried in vain to convince the Regent Harnam, ruler of the Yellow City, apparently, has aligned himself with the dark side, his spirit has been perverted by the ignominy of Count Nerrum!"
- "Then should we fear an attack from the east?" Ohrana asked.
- "Harnam is not the sovereign of the desert of Pirien, but he knows the priests who dominate the sands, if he joins the Necromancer then he will send his troops and attack Auttum, we need the help of the Kingdom of North Shore and Puy Méfron, if they accept help us ... "
- "Why would not they accept?" the Shâari asked in amazement. "The power of the Necromancer will crush their lands if they do not act."
- "The Lord of Puy Méfron has never participated in the wars in the Mandrares lands, like their predecessors, and Queen Oretalha has already fought against the Necromancer at the time of the Tanbus-Erhlenam and has confirmed her position to protect her kingdom even at the risk of our.
- "This causes me great concern!" Ohrana said angrily, "let's hope our troops are enough to defeat Thâar and his army.
- I ordered the three Warriors to look for the missing wizards so that they could help with their magic and with this achieve the fall of the Necromancer's empire, to achieve this the magic of the wizards is indispensable ... "
- "Something was born in the Black Citadel," the Shaari confessed, "and I'm afraid it's beyond anything we've known before ..."
- "When the great Magi come together, I can assure you that they will defeat the Necromancer and any abomination that he is thinking of creating in his fortress"
- "I hope you're right, your Majesty," Ohrana nodded.
The two men walked up to the ramparts to see the troops gathered around the citadel, there were the horse troops, followed by dozens of chariots carrying arches and crossbows, behind these, rows of paladins and warriors. Everyone was preparing to leave for the town of Auttum.
The monarchs were certain of having the help of the kingdoms of Merhidios and Shol-Gara'a to protect Galnor, the great City of Arms.
The last rays of sunlight reflected the smoke that came from the forges of the city, forges that were in full swing.
They had to rest before the next offensive, the confrontation between the two forces was close.
On the plains
The best Nevigiens sent by Count Nerrum had the peculiarity of traveling distances quickly, walking on any type of terrain, while carrying the box in which Artémion and his companions were. Locklhan, whose hands were tied, could not recover his grimoire that was hanging on the side of the box:
- "My powers are limited without my grimoire ..."
- "The old paladins were never very skilled!" Hamaya smiled.
- "You would be surprised by everything we have done in the past."
- "For now, all I see is a man with his hands and feet bound, without any power ..." added the young woman.
- "Khar Ar-tar!" shouted one of the nevrigiens, hitting the walls of the box.
- "I do not know where they take us, but we have to get rid of our bonds before things get worse," Hamaya whispered.
- "By the direction we're going, I think they're taking us to the Black Citadel in the West, I can smell the stench of Zhahnor's smoke ..." whispered Artemion, who was lying down. "What they did to me in Shaltara, I do not want it to my worst enemy "
- "I'm going to try something," Locklhan said with a groan, his arm still hurt.
The paladin put his hands to his head, closed his eyes and recited a spe
ll; a faint light of a very bright blue escaped from his body. This soft light came out through the bars and suddenly a Dartohn bird appeared before them.
They looked at the little bird in front of the old paladin, he whispered a few words and the little bird came out of the cage and took flight while the paladin hummed a strange tune.
- "Hopefully it will works."
Shortly after, the magician Tohn-Mâ, who was stationed in his high tower saw a bird approaching, as soon as the bird arrived he took the parchment that he had on his leg and read what was written on it:
- "Artemion and his group were captured by the henchmen of Count Nerrum, they take us prisoners to the citadel of Shâltara tied hand and foot, warns Kenthaë and Carhâa to help us as soon as possible. Locklhan. "
The Magician, when reading these words, could not help but sit down because of the impression he received. Soon he recovered his strength and quickly, after hastily writing a message on a parchment, he took one of Dartohn's birds and hurried her out to the city of Vreseryth.
In those moments he knew that if he did not act with all the speed and intelligence that the situation required, everything for which he was fighting and had fought for a long time would be destroyed.
The macabre troop carrying Artemion and his group was enveloped by the thick mists of twilight.
The prisoners, unable to move, hoped that what the old paladin had done would make the Tohn-Mâ Magician aware of the situation they were in.
Without much success they tried to find a way to undo their bonds before they reached the black citadel of Shaltara, but... they had already begun to enter the thick and gloomy cenegal of the Fourth Kingdom.
In the ice kingdom
After hours of waiting patiently in that narrow room in the city of Vreseryth, the sentry entered and asked the young men to follow him. Everyone got up and followed him on their way to the weapons room where Queen Oretalha was waiting for them. Sitting on her throne, the queen looked at them and said:
- "After having heard the recommendations of my advisors I have decided to give them a little of Maleha's flower"
The Chronicles of Hissfon Volume 2 - The Black Knight Page 6