Ethria- the Pioneer

by Aaron Holloway

  “Now, I am afraid I must go attend to the spell preparations needed to send you all into battle and anchor the town against enemy reprisals.” She got up slowly, and left, walking into the mix of humans and elves who were amiably chatting in the center of the circular town square.

  “That was certainly interesting. Now I know how you got those books, you charmed them right out of her, lady killer.” Ailsa teased in a whisper as she hovered by my shoulder. I found a slight burning coming to my own face as I watched Lisander go.

  Chapter 13: The Necromancer's Lair

  “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” - Stephen King

  Laketown, Frega, 33rd, 2987 AoR

  Two hours later, Salina and Lisander working together opened the portal. It was larger than any of the other such doorways I had seen, nearly the size of a house. It needed to be in order to accommodate the nearly two hundred strong force of humans and elves. On the other side, I could clearly see rolling hills, grey hibernating grass, and leafless trees. Winter had come to the southernmost slopes of the tiny mountain range, though no snowfall yet.

  The plan was for the force to assemble again on the other side, nearly two miles south of the Dow’del ruins, and then march together in force the rest of the way. That would provide the elves time to do their job and scout the area, and our men time to acclimatize to what we were told where colder conditions, on the other side.

  During the march, the elves would act as scouts, and ambush teams, taking out any goblins, or undead, who might wander too close, screening the larger human force from ambush and blitzkrieg attacks. The human infantry, made up mostly of the town's men-at-arms, would be the primary method of seizing the entrance to the ruins and holding it after the march. The infantry was the proverbial anvil.

  The cavalry would provide heavier screening protection, and once we seized the ruins, would assist me, my companions, and a few of the elven ranger squads in taking the lower levels, and in ultimately confronting the necromancer herself. That was the plan, anyway.

  My companions and I stood near the front of the Laketown infantry with Knight-Commander Traser, as we watched the elven ranger squads go first through the portal. Once on the other side they immediately fanned out and began to patrol. One squad stayed in sight, and after a few moments, raised a green flag on a poll. “That's the signal. All squads! Move out!” Commander Traser yelled. A drummer on the side of the formation began to beat a marching cadence, the two captains, the newly promoted infantry captain, and the veteran archer captain repeated Trasers orders.

  “Well? Ready to go?” I asked Ailsa and Tol’geth. Tol’geth nodded, sword still slung in its sheath on his back.

  Ailsa buzzed her wings nervously “Sure, okay. Let's do it.” A band of flute and fiddle playing peasants picked up as the troops started passing them in a long double wide column. I didn’t hear much of the commotion, but men and women from the town and the militia that was being left behind to guard them began to cheer when the first leather boot picked up.

  ---

  On the other side, I got blasted with a bitterly frozen wind. “Freaking cold!” I said as Ailsa shot into the same satchel that used to hold the puppy. I had left the creature in the capable care of Lisander, but had kept the satchel for storing loot. Ailsa had other ideas it seemed.

  “Out the way!” the new infantry captain yelled, and I realized I had slowed my pace to a near stop.

  “Oh crap!” I glanced around found my companions, and nearly ran to the side to join them. Tol’geth and Commander Tegin Traser were already standing along the side of the portal. The Commander carefully watched and inspected the troops one last time as they marched past.

  “Nearly got flattened there, wizard.” Commander Traser said amusement plain in his voice. “Best not to stop in front of marching men with weapons.” He said this as if it were the wisest counsel he could ever impart on another being. I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut.

  We stood there for about ten minutes watching, first infantry, then the calvary, and then finally the archers march through and begin to assemble in a column four ranks deep, facing the direction of the mountain range not far distant from us. “Don’t worry, the march will warm them, and us. By the time we get there, it’ll feel like a mild summers day.” Commander Traser said, as he patted me on the arm, and began walking in the wake of the archers.

  A man appeared with a horse from seemingly out of nowhere and handed it to him. He mounted, gave me and my companions a quick salute and then rode off with a “Meet me at the front of the column.”

  I grunted and began trudging. The portal had opened at the top of a small hill, and the march was assembling at its base, so I didn’t have far to walk. When I got there, the march had almost finished organizing. “Have you ever been on a march, wizard?” the young Commander asked from atop his brown mare.

  “No, I can't say I've been apart of a military march. But I have been on a few long treks before.”

  “Well, you’re in for a bit of a treat. The elves have reported that we’re clear of hostiles up tell we get to the ruins themselves.”

  “Really? To be honest, I expected to be attacked the second we walked through.” I said concerned. My gaze moved across the landscape, but I couldn’t see anything save a few groups of rangers moving through the countryside in the distance.

  “I had the same fear, but apparently no. The enemy must have fierce defenses ahead, but for now, we are safe. Don’t worry, I'll keep the scouts out and constantly patrolling and looking for things they might have missed.” I nodded my concern abated slightly. The young commander wasn’t being foolish, but the unwillingness for the enemy to engage us immediately and conduct a defense in depth when given the opportunity bothered me greatly.

  “Infantry Captain Bradin!” The Commander called, looking up from a missive that a runner had just handed him. “Call march order!”

  The large man who had shouted at me at the mouth of the portal began yelling orders that were repeated down the line. The man was a size with me in terms of height, but he was much thicker, carrying a two-handed broad ax slung across his back, and a shield and short sword so he could join the line if needed.

  After the call reached the back of the line, the Infantry Captain started marching in place to the beat of the drummer who had picked up again. “MOVE OUT!” The man's voice boomed over the column. Marching in place turned into at first a slow walk, and then quickly picked up the pace into a full march.

  “Captain Bradin, call cadence!” Traser ordered his horse keeping pace with the rest of the column. I followed suit and walked next to the young man's horse. The captain, followed by the entire unit began to sing a quick rhythmic, and repetitive marching song, with the captain calling out each verse and the units calling it back in response. I listened carefully as I walked, stepping to the tune, and keeping up with the rest. After a few minutes of slowly picking up the pace, the Archery captain a ways back picked up the next cadence with a much faster beat.

  “Your Mama was home when you left” The captain called.

  “Your Right!” The soldiers responded.

  “Your Daddy was home when you left

  “Your Right!

  “Your Sister was home when you left

  “Your Right!

  “Your Brother was home when you left

  “Your Right!

  “Your Dog was home when you left

  “Your Right!

  “Your Cat was home when you left

  “Your Right!

  “Your Mommy, Your Daddy, Your Sister, Your Brother, The Dog, The Cat was home when you left!”

  “Your Right!

  “And That's the reason you left

  “Your Right!

  The cadence shifted slightly, slowing the beat down only marginally, with Captain Bradin calling out a phrase, and the column repeating it again.

  “I Left My Home!

  I Left My Hom
e!

  To Join The Men-At-Arms!

  To Join The Men-At-Arms!

  I Left My Home!

  I Left My Home!

  To Join The Men-At-Arms!

  To Join The Men-At-Arms!

  The Day I Left

  The Day I Left

  My Momma Cried!

  My Momma Cried!

  She Thought That I!

  She Thought That I!

  Would Surely Die!

  Would Surely Die!

  I Left My Wife!

  I Left My Wife!

  Crying At The Door!

  Crying At The Door!”

  “Obstruction! Right, Step, March!” Captain Bradin, standing next to me beside Commander Trasers horse called as we passed by a large boulder, interrupting the cadence. The burly officer picked it right back up as the column shifted slightly getting out of the path of the boulder.

  “She Knew That I!

  She Knew That I!

  Would Die At War!

  Would Die At War!

  I Left My Son!

  I Left My Son!

  Playin' At The Dock!

  Playin' At The Dock!

  To See His Daddy Leave!

  To See His Daddy Leave!

  Made Him Cry So Hard!

  Made Him Cry So Hard!

  Oowiee Oowiee!

  Oowiee Oowiee!

  Oowiee Oowiee!

  Oowiee Oowiee!

  We Joined The Men-at-arms!

  We Joined The Men-at-arms!”

  The pace the song set was fast, almost a jog rather than a march, but we ate up the ground between us and the ruins. They were obscured by thick trees that dotted the landscape, but the large six-story black stone towers with broken roofs and missing walls in some cases were not impossible to make out. What concerns me is what's under them, I thought as we kept up the pace with another cadence.

  “Archery Captain Ugin, Call Cadence!” Commander Traser ordered as the column when silent. The more experienced voice from the end of the column came to my ears clearly through the crisp cool air.

  “Follow Me

  Follow Me

  I Know You Can Make It

  I Know You Can Make It

  I Know You Can Take It

  I Know You Can Take It

  Follow The Elf In The Pointy Hat

  Follow The Elf In The Pointy Hat”

  At this, a few of the nearby elves visibly rolled their eyes. One said “stupid human stereotypes. Not all of us are members of the bakers guild.” Which only set my mind to coming up with all kinds of mean spirited jibes about Santa hat-wearing north pole living short-statured pointy-eared elves. For the sake of diplomatic relations, I did not share them with anyone else. Until much later.

  “Stealth Is How He Earns His Pay

  Stealth Is How He Earns His Pay

  Trust the Dwarf Who Made Our Gear

  Trust the Dwarf Who Made Our Gear

  Craftin’s How He Earns His Pay

  Cratin’s How He Earns His Pay

  Trust The Brother Stadin Next To You

  Trust The Brother Stadin Next To You

  Savin Him Is How You Both Get Paid

  Savin Him Is How You Both Get Paid

  Follow Me

  Follow Me

  I Know You Can Make It

  I Know You Can Make It

  I Know You Can Take It

  I Know You Can Take It”

  I could tell this cadence was meant to be a little slower, but the experienced Archery Captain kept the beat of the earlier cadence, keeping the column moving swiftly. The drummer had switched off with another who was riding, to get a bit of rest.

  “So, I hear you and your friends were the last people in the city to see my cousin, Dazin. Is that right wizard?” Commander Traser asked from atop his horse.

  “Yeah, Tol’geth, Ailsa, and I saw him down by the docks ferrying people across to the safety of the other side.”

  “And no one found the refugees who escaped there, did they?” It was more of a statement than a question.

  After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, I broke the silence. “He said he had lost most of his city watch during some ill-conceived counter-attack on the portals when they first appeared in the central marketplace.”

  “That, that sounds like Dazin alright. He always wanted to earn honor in the eyes of the townsfolk, to earn a noble title all his own.” Traser sighed sadly. “If anyone could have done it, it was him. But he always had more bravery than brains. I heard he was leading a militia force?” I nodded. “That also sounds like him. The townsfolk always loved and trusted that man. They’d buy him drinks while the rest of us had to spend our own good coin whenever we’d go out for a night of fun. He could gather a herd of cats to him and get them dancing a jig with how much charisma he had. A natural leader he was.”

  Commander Traser stopped speaking, shook his head and corrected himself. “Is. He is a natural leader. We must hope that he and the people he leads reached safety somewhere. Or that our assault on the witches stronghold will reveal their fate and allows us to rescue who we can.”

  “You sound very close to him.”

  “Aye, we are as close as brothers!” Traser lifted a gauntleted hand over his heart as he smiled at the thought. “When I first came to Laketown I was very young and even more naive. He showed me around, helped me learn who was who and what was what. I will love my cousin until the day I die, no matter his lack of noble blood.”

  Eventually, we marched off of the grey-green frozen rolling hills, and onto a type of gravel that seemed to festoon the base of the foothills that lead up to the ruins. This strangely located feature stopped at the forest, thick undergrowth grew in dense clumps at the base of the trees, but there were pathways clear through it if you avoided the denser parts of the forest. Or so the elven rangers acting as scouts reported to Commander Traser.

  The land here was empty, and it shifted slightly under our feet with each step. The march was slowed dramatically, but the two captains kept up a cadence of one kind or another, at times simply using the beating of the drums to keep people in lock-step and moving.

  Once the gravel became too loose, the cavalry had to dismount and guide their horses through it. About halfway through the mire of tiny stones, about an hour into the march and roughly the halfway point, we took a short break. We watered the mildly distressed horses, and quickly dehydrating troops who were nearly cooking in their armor despite the cold wind, the sun still clearly beating down. No matter how hard it seemed to try, the sun couldn't warm the land enough to fend off the chill. Metal, on the other hand, absorbed the heat of both the sun and the soldiers.

  As the others rested, I bent down to examine the gravel, looking for any reason It might not be suitable for road construction. I didn’t know much about the process, other then what I had learned reading about roman roads in college history classes. The top gravel needed to be fine and packed together with a thin layer of dirt. Under that, there needed to be larger gravel, followed by large stones about the size of a person's head, and under that even larger stones if possible.

  I was going to bypass most of that, and go with large stones, with gravel and dirt directly on top of it, simply to avoid mud and runoff. I was trying to build quickly, not to last. That being said, I still needed to make sure this gravel wouldn’t simply turn to dust if put under wagon wheels or the constant beating of human feet.

  The first handful I examined I was rather pleased with. It even survived a Force Bolt. When I looked at the layer under that gravel, now revealed from my force bolt making a good size crater in the ground, I nearly panicked. “Commander!” I yelled. “Commander! I have something I need to show you!” I yelled across the resting column to him, waving my hand still clutching the gravel for him to see.

  The man had been walking among his soldiers, checking on them and trying to raise their spirits. He waved me off saying something I couldn’t hear. “Get your young noble ass over here you dimwitted
moron!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Ailsa poked her head out from the satchel and looked down at the hole I had made.

  “Why is there a skeleton under those tiny rocks?” Ailsa asked confused. I didn’t respond, still waving and yelling for the young man to come see what I had found. When he started stalking back towards me his face a storm of anger, I sighed in relief and looked down at the fairy. “I have no idea, but I don’t like it,” I said and rummaged in the satchel.

  “Hey watch where your hands are going,” Ailsa complained as I gripped her hip by accident in my blind search.

  “Sorry, trying to find the map.”

  “Well I’m not a map, here stop. I’ll get it.” She ducked into the bag, rummaged around a bit, and lifted the object I had been looking for out of the opening. “Here meathead. Now you can stop groping me, and get back to work.” I felt heat rise in my face, as I pulled the map open and laid it on the gravel in front of me.

  “Sorry, I was just…”

  “Yeah, yeah, you were just using your little map as an excuse to cop-a-feel!”

  “No way! I swear, I would never!” She broke into giggling laughter and pulled the satchel flap over her body so that only her head was exposed to the cold air.

  “I’m just teasing you! Goddess, you are too easy.” The redness in my face faded as I breathed in, and out, as I unfolded the map, and looked at my hand-drawn notes.