Arius explained his plan to move from settlement to settlement gathering forces, until they met with the druids. With their help he would visit the Outsiders with the hope they would join his ranks. Once the armies of men were united again under one banner, he would return to Logrant city and mount a full scale assault against the Orcs.
Argoth immediately refused the idea, calling it a suicide, but the prince’s mind was set.
Khomod knew there was no way to change Arius’s mind so instead he suggested that at least the prince should be accompanied by Argoth and the rest of The Order.
“No, Khomod, during my journey I will need to move unnoticed between the open fields. And The Order will provoke too much attention, making it hard to pass unnoticed.”
“I should think your silver armor would prevent you from passing unnoticed all on its own,” said Argoth.
Arius laughed.
“You are right, old friend, but my armor and my hammer are the only ways I can prove to the people that I am in fact their prince. Think about it; I have never left the city and they have never entered it. How else would they recognize me?”
“I still think this is suicide, my lord. But if it is the will of my prince, then you have my blessing.”
“I am sorry, Argoth, but it is not for your blessings that I have gathered you and Khomod here. I summoned the two of you, because while I am gone, I need you, Argoth, to take care of The Order and supervise the city. And Khomod, you are the only person I trust with my father’s wellbeing; since I fear one of the council members may try something foolish to claim the throne in my absence. You are the only people besides my father who I truly trust. This is why I must place such a heavy burden on your shoulders. Goodbye, my friends, until we meet again.”
As he traveled through the city he was often overwhelmed by beggars and whores, offering their services to the young and handsome prince. But the prince’s mind was set; he was going on too much of an important journey to stop for such distractions.
He did use his power over the light to heal several wounded soldiers and as his journey through the city approached its end, he decided to make a stop at an inn near the city limits, in order to properly rest for the journey that awaited him.
The tavern was full of music and festivity, as the townsfolk drank ale and danced their troubles away. But there was an abrupt silence as soon as Arius stepped through the door; soon everyone was staring at the prince and his fancy armor.
He walked to the bar, and approached the bartender.
“A pint of ale for me and for every man who has worked hard for this city.”
The bartender was stupefied by the prince’s request and hesitated for a second, so the prince turned around.
“What is the matter? Have you never seen a prince drink a pint of ale before? Start playing some music because the next round is on me.”
There was a round of applause, and then music began to play gain.
The bartender had never seen someone from the royal family and was impressed that someone would buy a round of ale for the entire tavern. He leaned over the counter.
“Are you really one of those rich people from the castle?”
“Yes, you could say that. Did you serve in the ranks?”
“Yes, a long time ago, but that’s ancient history. Now I give people shelter and make them happy with ale.”
“Fair enough.”
Arius took his ale to sit on a nearby table and began to talk to the men who sat there. He wanted to know how he could make things better. And as he listened to their tales of the Orc raids and their economic problems, a beautiful barmaid walked over to him.
Arius was surprised by her beauty, but before he could outer a word the barmaid said.
“Don’t look at me like that, you may be rich but I am not for sale.”
The men at the table cheered and laughed as the prince blushed in response. She then leaned close to the prince’s ear and whispered, “Don’t blow all your silver in drinks for this men; they are not worth the trouble.
The prince was intrigued by her comment. But before he could give a response, the party was interrupted by screams from outside the tavern.
The prince rushed outside and saw that several of the nearest buildings where on fire. He saw a man running towards him, but before he could ask what was going on, a huge stone fell from the sky crushing the man. Arius managed to avoid it and looked down the street to see the Orcs that had thrown it.
“Orcs!” a woman yelled as she ran up the street. Panic spread as the townsfolk tried to run up the valley to the nearest safe house, but Arius knew that safe house was too far away for them to make it.
The Orcs had used the cover of the night and attacked the soldiers in the bunkers at the border of the city, and quickly started making their way down the valley. With no soldiers left to fight, Arius was the only line of defense the people had against the Orcs. So as he tightened the grip on his hammer the young prince yelled,
“Come at me, you filthy Orcs, for it is I who will make you meet your end.”
The Orcs nearby stopped and stared at Arius, since it was uncommon for a Human to challenge them. Soon he was completely surrounded.
Arius was used to being outnumbered, but this was too much even for him. Still there was no turning back now.
“I was hoping to make it a little bit further down the road before seeing your ugly faces, but I guess now is as good a time as any to start killing Orcs.”
One of the Orcs responded with a roar that made the ground shake and before the noise of the roar had faded another Orc jumped straight at the prince.
Arius responded by smashing the Orc’s face in with his hammer, splattering blood and teeth all over the place. Then he turned around to hit one that was attacking him from behind. Arius’s strikes where strong and certain as he danced through the Orcs attacking him, but one managed to grab his leg crushing the bones of his ankle with his strength before he could retaliate. Arius took one swing from his hammer to the Orc’s face and crushed his skull, as he screamed in pain.
The Orcs began to attack more furiously; then, when Arius raised his hammer, a sphere of pure light surrounded him. This shield of pure light was known by The Order as the holy shield, an impenetrable shield that protected the caster from any harm as long as he could maintain the spell.
The Orcs were unable to penetrate the shield and this gave time for Arius to breathe. But this strategy was not meant to last, since the Orcs soon turned around in frustration and started attacking the townspeople.
Arius need time to heal his ankle, but he could not wait much longer, for every second he spent healing himself could mean the life of an innocent.
Holding his hand over his injured ankle, he began to channel a healing spell, but it was taking too long.
He could not heal fast enough as a large portion of his power was being used to maintain the shield. It was then, when he saw the bartender from the tavern standing over a wagon across the street, dressed in an old armor and carrying only a two handed sword. The bartender screamed at the Orcs,
“Come at me, you filthy scum; let’s see if you’ve got what it takes to kill this old man.”
The Orcs soon rushed him, but the old man was no fool. With steady and sure footwork he moved between the Orc attacks slashing his way through. This bought Arius some time, since there were less Orcs attacking his shield.
But for all the bartender’s efforts he soon found himself overwhelmed by the Orcs and took a direct hit to the chest. This sent the poor man flying away to the other side of the street near to where Arius was standing.
Arius’s ankle was not yet healed, but it was close enough. So he turned around and saw the bartender lying on the street.
Blood was coming out of his mouth as his chest plate had been crushed by the impact; he coughed blood.
“Avenge us, young prince; I believe in you… even if the rest don’t.”
A tear fell from Arius’s eye, as he w
as moved by this old man’s bravery. But before he could say anything, an Orc fell on top of the bartender crushing his head finishing him off.
With a loud scream, Arius forgot about the pain in his ankle and made the holy shield surrounding him explode in a wave of pure holy light. The attack knocked down all the Orcs surrounding him and gave time for the remaining people to run away.
Now it was only him and the Orcs, who soon began to stand up after the attack.
Arius knew he had to take the fight to the city’s borders in order to buy time for the people’s escape, so limping away with his bad ankle; he made his way towards a bunker at the city’s limits and sealed himself inside.
Arius saw the entire room was covered in blood from the corpses of several dismembered guards, who had clearly been caught off guard by the attack.
The Orcs hammered at the door and climbed the walls, looking for a way into the bunker, but this bought enough time for Arius to catch his breath and completely heal his ankle.
He began to pray, gathering as much force from the light as he could and by the time the Orcs made it through the door, Arius was already standing in the center of the bunker covered by a golden glowing aura of light.
The confused Orcs hesitated for a second, as this was something they had never seen before. But being the animals they were, they soon resumed their attack.
As they jumped at Arius from every direction, the prince’s eyes opened and a golden glow emanated from them.
Arius raised his hammer and exploded in light, as several copies of his hammer made out of pure light swirled around the room inside a whirlwind made of energy.
The hammers made quick work of the Orcs, as they bashed them away against the walls of the bunker. The bunker itself started to shake as the force from the hammer was so strong. A few seconds later, only Arius stood in the blood-covered room filled with Human and Orc corpses.
And as he realized he had won the young prince fell to the ground completely exhausted; he then took a minute to catch his breath and slowly crawled through the corpses and made his way out of the bunker.
Once outside he leaned over the bunker’s wall, as he enjoyed the glory of a much-deserved victory, but before he could finish his smile he heard the unmistakable roar of an Orc alpha male.
He looked up and saw three Orcs staring at him from the city limits; there was no doubt as to which of them was the alpha - a nine-foot tall mountain of muscle with more scars than you could count.
Arius was exhausted; he could barely stand much less fight against the three Orcs.
He looked up the valley, in hopes he would see soldiers heading his way. But there was nothing more than a burning town.
He knew this was his end and with regret in his voice he said,
“Maybe I should have listened to Khomod.”
Arius then heard a loud noise, as a huge tree that stood near the Orcs came crashing down and squashed the two smaller Orcs, the splash of their blood and organs made it all the way to Arius’s feet.
The smell was terrible and the sight gruesome, but there was no doubt this was incredibly fortunate for the prince.
And as he lay there, still wondering what happened, he saw the figure of a tiny yet incredibly muscular man with silver hair and a big nose approaching the alpha male Orc.
Arius was still confused; could this four feet tall man be the one who brought that tree down?
As the tiny man stood in front of the colossal Orc, Arius could not believe his own eyes.
The Orc roared, infuriated by the death of his two fellow Orcs and then proceeded to smash the tiny man with a strong hammering blow from his right arm, but the tiny man completely stopped the momentum with one hand.
The Orc was as surprised as Arius and, as he tried to pull back his arm to strike again, the tiny man pulled back the Orc’s arm with such strength it ripped out of his socket. The Orc screamed in agonizing pain as the blood gushing from his shoulder bathed the earth beside them. Then the tiny man used the Orc’s arm as a club and ripped his head from his shoulders in one swing, breaking the Orc’s arm and its skull in the process.
The tiny man then turned around as the Orc’s body felt to its knees and bathed him in blood.
“Are you all right?”
“Ye…ye…yes,” Arius replied.
“Do you happen to know any medics or healers? I ask because, my friend lying over there, is in desperate need of medical attention.”
“What… what are you?” Arius asked, as he could not believe what he just witnessed.
“Oh, I am sorry, where are my manners?” the tiny man said. “My name is Stundroff and I am a dwarf from the mountains to the south. And my tall friend lying over there in the golden armor with the pointy ears says his name is Licius, or at least that is what I understood, since he can barely speak due to the fever.”
Chapter 4
An Unwanted Alliance
“So, do you know any healers?”
“Eh… well yes, in fact I am a healer.”
“By the great forge… Good thing I saved your life then.”
“Yeah for sure, although I’m still not sure how you did that. Come, help me up and let’s get your friend inside the inn.”
“And which building is the inn?” Stundroff asked.
“The only one that’s not on fire.”
Once inside, they went upstairs into one of the bedrooms and laid Licius on a bed.
“There, that should be fine,” said Arius.
“How do you plan to heal him? I don’t see any medicine around here and you look more like a warrior than a healer to me.”
“Well, my short friend… I plan to use the power of the light to heal his wounds.”
“The power of the what?”
“Of the light. Don’t you know what the light is?” Arius asked.
“Look, I’ve carried this man along way, and I am not about to let him die. So do you know any real healers or should I just go look somewhere else?”
Arius stood next to the bed and, placing his hands on top of Licius’s body, he began to channel a healing spell.
“He should be fine in a matter of minutes.”
But he noticed the armor was repelling the healing spell.
“What is this?” Arius asked.
“I can’t believe it. It seems there is still magic left in this world. But the problem is that the armor he is wearing is solid Bronium, a metal that is said to even be able to resist magic.”
“If you don’t even know this man’s name, how do you know what his armor is made of? And what in the name of the light is Bronium?”
“Because I am a dwarf and if there is something dwarves know about, its metals. What I do not know is how someone managed to forge armor out of Bronium. Because until very recently, I thought that metal was completely impossible to shape.”
“What do you mean until recently?”
“Well… it turns out I broke a solid shield of Bronium with my own hands about a week ago.”
“I don’t even know why I bothered asking,” said Arius.
“So, can you heal him or not?”
“Well, my dwarf friend, I want to help your friend but if we don’t get him out of that armor, there is nothing I can do.”
So Stundroff knelt next to the bed and asked Licius if he knew how to remove the armor.
Licius slowly turned his head towards Stundroff and the armor began to retract, exposing Licius’s injured body in the process.
Arius stood there watching, as the metal skin retracted into a small plate on the Elf’s back.
“And here I was thinking a dwarf with super strength would be the strangest thing I would see today. Well, at least I can heal him now, but his wounds have festered and he is burning up with fever so this may take some time.”
Arius started to channel the healing spell again.
“Funny… I couldn’t feel his fever before he took the armor off, yet he is burning up.”
“That is also
the Bronium; the metal is impervious to temperature. Which is why it can’t be worked on in a forge,” Stundroff explained.
“Interesting. A Human army, armed with this metal. Could easily win the war.”
“War, what war?”
“The war I’m planning to bring to the Orc’s doorstep. You should help me, with your strength you would be a most valuable ally.”
“Oh, I don’t know, right now I just want to travel the world ‘till I find a place I can call my home.”
“Well then, it seems our destinies are allying again. For I also want to travel the world, but to reunite my people. Why don’t you help me? That way you can travel the world and kill some pesky Orcs at the same time.”
“First heal my friend.”
“It shouldn’t take long now.”
The spell was working; Licius’s wounds were healing with miraculous speed. And as soon as he felt well enough to open his eyes, Licius looked towards Stundroff and Said.
“Thank you, my friend.”
But as those words left his mouth, he saw Arius’s hammer leaning against the wall over Stundroff’s shoulder.
I know that wolf emblem, he thought. That is the White Knight’s family emblem. They are the ones responsible for Queen Alagossa’s death.
Licius then turned his head and looked straight into Arius’s face.
That blonde hair and blue eyes, he has to be related to King Varius White Knight.
And just like that, Licius was filled with rage and kicked Arius straight into the wall.
“What happened?” Stundroff asked.
Licius stood up and the Bronium armor covered his body again.
“You. You are a White Knight family descendant?” Licius asked, as the retractable blade from the back of his hand began to unsheathe.
“Well, it seems your friend here, has a little grudge against my family,” Arius said to Stundroff.
“A little grudge you say... You dare make fun of the death of my queen?”
“Look… friend. You are the first elf anyone has seen in over two thousand years. I don’t know what happened to your queen, but I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it.”
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