Dryw Henge

by Jonathan Forth

“Well perhaps the town needs a new Mayor, fancy the job?”

  “Me Sire, no thank you.

  “Actually, everyone likes it just the way it is. That way everyone can always have a damn good moan about the Mayor and take great pleasure in screwing him over. Best sport the town has to offer. I think things are just fine how they are.

  “You know a couple of folk stood against him in the elections and died in suspicious circumstances. It’s really nothing to do with the Mayor. He could not organise a piss up in a brewery. No, the townsfolk are the culprits, very resistant to change they are! You are asking for trouble even thinking about standing for office around here! They’ll be pleased when you lot bugger off and things can return back to normal.”

  The Prince gathered everyone together. The landlord of the Bottom of the Barrel Inn could not believe his luck. Everywhere else seemed to be clearing out bodies. He thankfully was just serving ale and lots of it.

  “I remember you Aksel,” said Prince Aron, “you came to Ampheus to talk peace. We were disappointed when you did not return, but you are most welcome indeed to join us now.”

  Sumnar stepped in, “Raisa did I hear you are Terramian by birth?”

  “That is correct, I was abducted as a child and this is the only life I know,” she said.

  “May I ask whether you were taken by Captain Shomari as I believe he was known at the time?”

  “Yes, that is the case.”

  “Well, you may be the sister of one of our guards at Ampheus. You are no longer an orphan, you have a brother. Perhaps if destiny deems it so, you will get to meet him one day.”

  He turned to the Prince. “I believe Raisa is Logar’s sister!”

  The Prince clapped, “Well that is wonderful news.” He stepped towards Raisa and grasped her shoulders. “Your brother is one of the finest men I know. It will be a happy day indeed when the two of you meet. I would like to see that myself and I even think the captain of the guard may shed a tear or two!

  “So, next we head to Dryw Henge to engage Gorath himself. The Janshai called us a ragtag army, but I think we would be a match for anyone. I like to think you would all join me in our next adventure. Maruq, I’m sorry for your loss, and no doubt you would like to return to your clan and I respect that. However, the realms need all honest men, and all peoples, tribes, and clans. Perhaps hopefully one day they can all tell a tale of how they helped defeat Gorath.”

  “It would be an honour to represent the clans and fight by your side.” responded Maruk.

  “Sister, thank you for guiding Fayette and Sumnar. You may return back to the convent.”

  “Sorry Your Highness, I’m not leaving my husband this time.” There were blank expressions around the room.

  “Sumnar,” she added to clarify. Sumnar groaned.

  A few ‘Well I’ll be knocked down by a feather’ were heard.

  The Prince shook his head. “Well enjoy yourselves tonight but watch your pockets. Light Fingers Sid received a pardon and is back on the streets.

  “We leave at dawn! Troth to the Realms!”

  The small band at the Bottom of the Barrel Inn started singing.

  “I could not give up singing forever,

  Else how would I express my heart and thoughts?

  Separated from my sweetheart, she of fair of face,

  At a loss for words, I could only weep in sorrow,

  Without song I am separated from my heart,

  I gazed on her most sweetly, and fell in love,

  Distance has taken me from her.

  I have taken leave of the one, who has slain me so,

  My joy has ended, and I bear a heavy load.”

  Leo turned to the Princess, “Really, everyone here needs to chill out a little. I guarantee the next song will be about a vegetable.”

  The band paused between songs. “Ladies and gentlemen our next song is one of our favourite little ditties. We call it an ode to the joy of boiled turnip soup.”

  *

  The Borna Fault defined the border between Gamura and Celestina since records began. An impenetrable gorge between the two lands. Too wide to support a bridge, too sheer and steep to transport anything across.

  There had been plans of course. Weird and wonderful designs, elevator pulley systems to carry goods. Yes, the construction challenges and materials available perhaps made it prohibitive, and for every engineering genius, there was a dreamer for the profits that a direct trade route would bring.

  There were the doubters too, the scaremongers. Yes, a crossing may make it easier for merchants to pass, but then so too could Gamura’s armies. For every spice, herb or trinket that could be transported, so would the words of Gamuran spies.

  For every Celestinian who undertook a mission to help those in need in Gamura, there would be ten Gamurans spreading false rumour, stirring the Celestinian pot and brewing discontentment.

  So as people took the arduous trip around the gorge, guards protected merchant caravans and travellers under the threat of bandits who would plunder the wares of all but the most prepared of ventures. For hundreds of leagues, you could turn to your side and see your destination perhaps only a league away. Yet it would take weeks of travel to get there.

  This was the way the Celestinians liked it.

  The Borna Fault felt like having a big, black, muscular, savage two-headed dog guarding your back door. One that would let you tickle its tummy if he loved you, but would rip the arm off anyone it did not recognise. It would probably be called Fluffy.

  The fault was millions of years old. Its canyon carved by years of erosion as the river wandered through it over time. The rock layers surrounding the fault lifted to form the high Celestina plateau.

  This created the great depth of the fault. The churning river gouged its way through the plateau, grinding the sediment and rock debris through the exposed plains. Steepening the gradient of the stream, further magnifying its erosive force.

  Flash floods would carry away plants and trees that would dare grow in the river’s path leaving the canyon bare and barren. Perhaps home to bugs, reptiles and other hardy critters, but not much more.

  The steep sides of the canyon would cast deep shadows below, most of the base of the fault was starved of direct sunlight. It was a desolate barrier untouched and uncharted by man. But a barrier nonetheless, the watchful eyes of Windstrom could sleep well at night knowing ‘Fluffy’ had their backs. All eyes faced west.

  The Black Wizard stepped out from the fault, rested on one knee and pushed himself erect. His black hood covered his face with shadow. As he walked a scratching and scuttling of tens of thousands of claws could be heard behind him. Then they appeared over the lip of the canyon. A black swarm of giant, fetid, scavenging creatures of the Gamuran caves. Each the size of a burly dog, but with a broader heavier face and sharp fangs, their heavy muscular chest set on powerful stocky legs.

  They hunted in packs and were ferocious enough to keep other predators at bay. Their faces were gnarled and hideous. Perhaps a trait of scavengers who would poach meals claimed by other predators, scrapping over the flesh and bones of ageing carcasses. With a bone-crunching bite and claws that could slice through even the toughest hide, their ferocity and lust for death urged them to gnarl and claw even when injured or dying.

  Then with a rush of hot air behind him an army of gargoyles rose arcing up into the air, a black swarm of death. Chattering and snapping at each other as they followed their master. His eyes glowed of the malevolent spirit with which the Black Wizard controlled the creatures. They howled and moaned against the shackles on their minds, their natural frenzy fighting their innate feral instincts. Yet his will held them and they would do his bidding.

  The Elders stood on the watchtowers. The swarm of beasts tussling and screeching in the air and baying on the ground ever closing in on the city. “I fear this
has been Gorath’s plan all along. A simple distraction to draw Windstrom’s armies from its walls, to leave Celestina exposed and unprotected. Will this cancer that gorges away at the earth ever be sated? Sadly I believe not. Soon we will hear this puppet of Gorath’s demands.” Elder Rian bowed his head.

  “It will be the Air Totem he wants for his master. We should give it to him, save the people and children,” suggested Elder Asha.

  “I fear the result may be the same whether we put up a fight or not!”

  “You are more than likely correct. For the few of us that remain the only option is sacrifice. It is not the Windstrom way to yield so easily. When we gaze upon the faces of our children, I am filled with an overwhelming desire to spare them the fear and pain and accede. However our decisions today shape us and will shape our characters, for today and for the generations that will come after us.”

  “What would you want the history books to write? That Windstrom freely handed over the totem to spare Celestina and the people of the city. Or should it be written that against a demonic foe the people of Celestina stood shoulder to shoulder; defended our city and the vulnerable within it; defended the totem; gave their lives with bravery and honour.”

  “But there is no hope!” lamented Elder Asha.

  “It may seem that way, but there is always hope, if your beliefs are right and just. Take the children to the caves under the city. Free the griffins so that they can return home and open the armouries. The men and women of Celestina that remain will fight this day!”

  *

  The Black Wizard stood by the gates. The swarm howled and shrieked behind him.

  “I am indifferent as to how I obtain the totem. Though mark my words I will get it.”

  Elder Rian retorted, “Indifference is as much a curse as the actions of the evil. It is apathy in this world that allows demons like you to survive and prosper. Well today you do not fight indifference, you fight a people who will stand against you till their last breath.”

  The Black Wizard nodded, “So be it!” He cast his staff forward and the beasts descended on Celestina.

  It was relentless, as for every beast that was cut down another took its place, biting, slashing with their claws and talons. The people of Celestina fell, and those that remained were forced back deeper into the city.

  The dark angels rose up to the watchtowers and set upon the griffins that had chosen to remain. The griffins flapped their magnificent wings and snapped with their beaks and sliced the gargoyles with their talons. But there were too many of them and they were too agile. They darted in and tore at the griffins’ unprotected backs, ripped feathers from their wings and slashed at their legs until their muscles could not hold their weight any longer. The griffins stumbled and more dark angels rushed in, snapping and ripping at their bodies until they remained lifeless. Those that took to the air were overwhelmed and fell limp to the ground.

  The creatures attacked like pack dogs surrounding the people of Celestina. Waiting for the opportunity to dart forward and sink their teeth into unguarded arms and legs. Once unsteadied the rest would pounce dragging the Celestinians down one by one. Blood flowed through the streets and turned the reflection pools red. The white walls of Celestina’s marble buildings sprayed with the red blood of its people and its tormentors.

  The Black Wizard watched this all unfold in front of him without empathy or feeling. He stepped up to the Communion Hall surrounded by his creatures and kicked open the doors. The gargoyles swarmed round him, overcoming all and holding the Elders in their deathly grips.

  “The totem please.” But Elder Rian shook his head, “Our lives are forfeit, but you will not have it.”

  “So be it,” said the Black Wizard as one by one the other Elders were brought in front of him on their knees. One by one, the dark angels’ talons slashed their necks, till they lay prostrate on the floor.

  “What evil is this, what could drive a man to this madness? You can kill us all, we will not succumb to your demands.”

  The Black Wizard nodded, “I knew that, I was just having a little fun. Drawing it out for dramatic effect. Pretty thrilling right, I got you all worked up! Now we will get a little more serious. What type of man are you really Elder Rian, what are you willing to sacrifice? Your soul?”

  The Black Wizard circled his staff, and dark angels dragged three children into the Communion Hall kicking and screaming. Elder Rian looked down, he knew all was lost. He would not spill the blood of Celestina’s innocents.

  He held up his hand, “Enough!”

  “I thought you would see reason,” chuckled the Black Wizard.

  Elder Rian stood and walked to the wall. He placed a key from a chain around his neck into the eye of a carving of a griffin. A panel pulled back to reveal the Air Totem on a stand. A dark angel grabbed it and carried it to the Wizard. “Magnificent,” he said. “Again the weak will of man is his downfall.”

  Elder Rian turned to him, “You do us a great wrong stealing us of our life blood under the threat of those we love the most. Who are you, this creature that conjures up such anguish?

  “Do you not perceive the pain and grief you force upon our hearts? Whether I die today or not, it is a responsibility I cannot escape. A weight I will carry on my journey to my death; you made this, it is my destiny.

  “I always defended Celestina with my whole heart, the joy that comes from the love of the people that dwelled here. It was in abundance, and in us all. You’ve scarred the pure and the true of this world. I hold myself as a traitor to Celestina and place myself in her hands to beg her forgiveness. Though I will never be able to forgive myself.” Elder Rian staggered forward from the grief.

  The Black Wizard walked to the door of the Communal Hall where he paused and turned. “Fine words but believe me when I say they fall like tears on a barren and parched earth. Kill them all my creatures, seek them out, find them, and kill them all!”

  Chapter 9

  The Aquamuran Army

  Gorath turned to Shomari, “Like the cogs in a clock I sense each of the totems is moving. I can feel it in their bearing to ley lines to which we druids are attuned. They’ve left their resting places where they were guarded, unseen, gathering dust for hundreds of years.

  “But now they are making their final journey as if they are inexorably drawn to me. To Dryw Henge and the last passage that will determine the fate of this world.

  “Soon this world will be mine, not in the hands of kings or councils. To recreate in my image, as I deem fit. No one will be able to stand in my way.

  “It is time to act. There is no need for us to continue the siege here other than to keep Armanar trapped in his own castle. We must leave Ampheus and make our way to Goul on the River Symbel, to the north of the Great Forest of Tarn. The rendezvous that we agreed with the Black Wizard and the Janshai. They should have the Air and Water Totems by now. I fear if we delay our departure much longer the Army of Windstrom will be upon us and we may not be able to make a clear passage.”

  Shomari nodded, “M’lord. What about the Earth Totem?”

  “Indeed,” replied Gorath. “I sense it is no longer in Ampheus. It is most perplexing as to how it came to be removed from the castle. I do not know whose hands it is in, but it continues to get closer to Dryw Henge. Perhaps the fate of the world is as such; there is no avoiding this moment. Whether in the hands of a druid or in the hands of a king. The totems will be at Dryw Henge for the next solstice.

  “We must travel light. Bring my personal guard and the rest of the Janshai. How many men is that?”

  “Perhaps five hundred,” answered Shomari.

  “All well and good. We depart in the morning. Prepare well and let us not alert Armanar of our departure. Let us do it with quiet and stealth. In fact, leave my pavilion here. It may fox them a little.”

  *

  King Armanar and Logar stood
on the battlements of Ampheus. “It appears Gorath is readying to move out. I sense the final pieces of this chess game are in motion.”

  “How can you tell?” asked Logar.

  “Well they appear to be dismantling his personal latrine. I assume they will leave his pavilion as to try to fool us he is still here. It is too big to take with you anyway if you are leaving with a small force.

  “But I can’t imagine Gorath digging his own latrine or, god forbid, sharing a hole in the ground with his men. No, they would take his latrine with him so that he can rest, contemplate and read a scroll or two in private while he is doing his business.

  “Anyway it works in our favour, I assume he’ll take many of the Janshai and his personal guard with him, which will make it easier for the cavalry to break through their ranks and escape. I suggest we bring forward our departure. Let us leave the morning after the next. Prepare the men.”

  It was just before dawn. The night was still hanging on, though a dark blue glow had started to arc from the horizon. The half-moon gave them enough light to make out the shapes of the castle buildings.

  The cavalry snaked up through the castle. Two hundred knights in total. The knights were dressed in full armour, the prancing lion insignia on their breast plates. Each had a spear and shield in hand, swords sheathed to their saddles. The horses huffed and dragged their hooves on the cobblestones with nervous excitement.

  When the order came the drawbridge started to lower slowly until it finally hit the ground on the far side of the lake, tossing dirt and dust swirling into the air.

  The King spoke, “Let me speak boldly for that which I say is the truth. We are the heirs to this land and have offered our service in defending her. This earth which is tortured and wretched; we shall not abandon her; we will maintain our faith; we will defend her and its people against her enemies. Once again we will liberate our realm. Ride the brave of Ampheus, the valiant of Terramis, ride for your company, your friends, your families!”

  The cavalry started at a walk, broke into a trot and then cantered across the drawbridge. By the time they reached solid ground they were galloping, a battering ram of equine muscle and momentum.