After two more hours on horseback, with the forces completely exhausted, the army was forced to make a stand that lasted until the sunrise. They had set up their tents in a large clearing, but Urentir was not with the elves. After awakening, the druid prepared his horse, and decided to follow alone some footprints he found in a forest trail. Ruins of an ancient temple, forgotten by the time, called his attention. Urentir felt that, despite the place being completely destroyed, some evil force could be lurking in his footsteps.
In the Hanneris’s city at dawn, the druids gathered at the Council of the Leaves, worried about the strange men who came before the population. They seemed necromancers, because their black robes had unknown symbols, laying on their necks exotic necklaces of bones. Hanz noted with concern the huge group of men, and went with a parchment in his hand toward the main square. Desperate men and women entered into their houses and they was putting some medallions of protection on the doors. After reading the scroll and realizing the magic circle of flames against the undead was not created, Hanz yelled for help.
So the druids were being thrown into the air, others tried to get rid of the skeletons that appeared under the earth of the road. Hanz was surrounded by three men, and realized that he had no escape, he invoked a giant carnivorous plant, which attacked the necromancer with a fury and ruthless. But when Hanz looked at his waist, he noticed the blood dripping from the claws of one of the necromancers who went through his belly. He felt no pain, even compassion for the man, after the carnivorous plant attacked from behind, separating the head from the rest of the body.
The three necromancers were dead before him, that after a few minutes, knelt in front of a church, and no longer felt his body. His sight was blurry, he could see some figures approaching, and then saw a large scythe ripping the air toward his neck. Then a woman appeared desperate, he shouted loudly, crying and mourning the death of his master. Ellen did not believe that Hanz would be so cruelly beaten by the necromancers. The invasion of hours that have passed have been terrible for the Hanneris’s city, hundreds of people died, and those that remained were enslaved, further increasing the desperation of the population.
7
New Victories
Skeleton soldiers and spirits of elves, hundreds of them,
patrolling near the wall of the large iron gates of the Hanneris’s entry, invaded the night, scaring the peasants who passed hastily by the dusty roads. Edryon continued flying over the city, avoiding the temptation to approach the two towers of the city, now occupied by dozens of necromancers of the Order of Kordius. He would not be able to simply destroy all that army, so the gray elf felt that one day, nothing could be done to prevent the complete domination of the world of Fynge.
Around the houses, mounted on black horses and raising their bloody swords in the air, stitched on their right arms, the soldiers, whith malignant expressions of warriors, continued attacking anyone who dared to challenge their authority. Near the Sgnilliv’s tabern, a group of five elves seemed to be arguing with Gulinnar, the paladin, about the unexpected increase in taxes by the King William II, it was the second time in just two weeks. When Edryon looked near the left defense’s tower of Hanneris, he realized that Kordius had appeared suddenly and mysteriously, astride with his white wolf of war, and after some time, disappeared in the middle of a light fog.
The gray elf also knew that the dragon of hell went loose yet, and even though he was defeated, he would cause a great imbalance in the magic of Fynge. He continued flying mounted on Snow, who now was causing terror to all who saw him passing through the dark clouds. After going down near the city cemetery, the gray elf was startled to hear a shrill voice, but familiar:
“Honey, what are you doing here? I thought you was dead.”, said the skeleton faerie.
The damn green devil appeared once again to end his day, but at the same time Edryon felt that perhaps that faerie was smarter than the others of her race. If the proposal reminded him that she had done, to bring peace to the Kingdom of the Fairies, but he still did not know what would be his reward, and also he was already committed to many other missions.
“You again? It would be a pleasure to see you burning in hell. Do not tell me you came here to ask for my help.”
“No. We know that you are brave and determined, but you would never be able to destroy the dragon.”
Edryon was curious and thought about the possibility of facing more than a beast. But in the same time he was suspicious because the fairy could be lying. He walked a little further for Snow, he realized that the little creature followed him persistently.
“Hey, i don’t like your voice, so you can stop following me!”
“Do you want me to drive out of your life, fearful elf? I go with you.”, said the faerie, stroking her long green hair.
The gray elf walked without looking back. And when the faerie came again, Edryon said:
“Okay, damn green demon. Come on, wait for me here a minute, i’ll get food to fill your rotten belly.”
The little creature grinned in satisfaction and was flying near the skeleton griffin. The faerie could end up with the blood of any creature that was in her reach, and Edryon knew that green devil, the name used to call the fairy wings greenish, could not resist an offer of some animal. After a few minutes, Edryon returned with something in his hands, covered with red cloth.
“Do you like rabbits?”, asked the elf.
“Yes, i love the little ones, their blood is very tasty, but you have no ability to hunt them.”, said the faerie, looking forward to a circular-shaped object, covered by a red cloth.
“There’s two of them here. They’re yours, come on, eat soon before i change my mind.”
The skeleton faerie quickly flew toward the elf, who pulled the red cloth and imprisoned her within the iron cage. The little creature cried in desperation as she tried to free herself, then Edryon saw Urentir rapidly approaching on his black horse.
“Edryon, you irresponsible, the city’s north was invaded by the necromancers. They controlled the Council of the Leaves, and also all the entrances to the city, and you have not told us anything?”
“But the soldiers? They were protecting the towers and walls, were not they?”
“Yes, but it was not enough. I need you to help me drive them out of town.”
“But how?”, asked the elf suspiciously.
“The portal. They created a portal in the Forest of Spirits which gives access to the Kingdom of the Elementals. If we discover the hideout of the necromancers, we can destroy their allies.”
Edryon did not think twice, for a long time he wanted to travel to the Kingdom of the Elementals. His thirst for revenge still harbored hopes of destroying Kordius and his followers.
“How do i get there?”
“Take this map, i marked the location of the portal. And also take this scroll of teleportation with you if you need help, but do not waste any unnecessary action.”
The elf left the city mounted on Snow, scaring everyone who saw the griffin skeleton.
After two hours flying and watching some woods and mountains, Edryon seemed to have found the Forest of Spirits. The gray elf then remembered the stories his father told about the trees zombies. Many warriors lost their lives, facing the dangerous creatures that lurked behind the shadows. But Edryon felt they could be just legends, ancient tales to frighten the children. And even if it was true, he would fight with courage, the dragon hunter would not let anyone to destroy the undeads. He still had his silver spear, prepared to cross the necks of ancestral beasts. After looking at the map carefully, he descended with Snow from near a large creek.
He heard a loud noise that seemed to come from the direction of some smaller trees with dry leaves. The elf, after walking a few meters wielding his spear of silver, found a golden light so intense that he needed to protect his eyes with his coat of steel. As he was advancing towards the dimensional portal, he felt almost unbearable heat, but still wanted to keep walking. His wil
l to destroy Kordius now seemed to grow increasingly, to avenge the death of his wife and his entire family. And then he went through the portal quickly.
Riding on the road quickly while thinking of a way to discover the cause of the mysterious mist of the forest, Urentir approached the Council of the Leaves. His army remained investigating the remains found near the trail traced, and he preferred that their druid warriors were not even in Hanneris at least for now. The closed iron gates, in the main entrance of the Council of the Leaves, caused Urentir to stay suspicious because the gates were always open during the day. Down from the saddle of the horse, he drew the sword and his large steel touched the neck of a necromancer.
“Take me to the room of the grimoire, or die.”, Urentir said, with a whispery, but threatening voice.
The man was startled and raised his hands. When he said something different, knelt in agony, pierced with a sword in his throat. Urentir then dragged the body away from the curious, and after to have worn the clothes of the necromancer and picking up his keys, he putted his armor under a tent of apples. After unlocking the iron gates, he found that the Council was empty, then went through all the training hall to get in front of a strange altar made of bones.
A grimoire of brown cloak was on a throne decorated with emeralds and rubies, Urentir grabbed the book and when he looked back, realized he was surrounded by dozens of necromancers. He raised his right hand in a sign of greeting, and then said:
“Comrades, we can not leave the grimoire here. The druids already know his location.”
One of the necromancers seemed to have become very suspicious, and said:
“Why he entered the temple without telling us?”
Urentir thought for a moment, and replied coldly:
“I heard strange noises inside the hall, and decided to join.”
Then the men started a great discussion, Urentir left the place quickly, holding the grimoire, but he found twenty necromancers who approached the gates.
“Why are you with the grimoire?”, asked one of them.
“As from now the city will no longer be controlled by you.”
After removing the hood covering his face, Urentir drew his broad sword, and slowly, a pile of bodies was forming at the temple’s entrance. His weapon slashed the air with violence toward unprotected heads and necks. Ten were still alive, Urentir ran toward the main square, while looking for a deep cut on his left arm.
The blood flowing quickly reminded him that he needed to wear his armor. Then he came in the front of the tent of apples and heard a voice:
“It is useless to flee. Give the grimoire now.”
When Urentir looked back, a huge battle-ax struck grazed his left hand, causing him to drop the grimoire on the dirty road. The necromancer looked at him with an expression of revenge, a hatred that seemed to have increased after Urentir have pitched the tent over the man.
The druid tried to pick up the book again, but received a violent kick in the face, and when he rose, he realized that the grimoire was no longer on the road. He heard noises of chains, looked back and saw some druids dragging his legs with difficulty, he realized they were enslaved by some men with black robes. Urentir felt an urge to release them and destroy all the necromancers, but the group of men was growing. The druid took a magical book from his backpack and after flipping through some pages, he discovered that his spells of nature would not be very useful against them all.
A man a little more obese, with a black cloak and a staff made from bones in his left hand, seemed to be giving orders to the druids, but at the same time he humbled, saying:
“Your spells no longer exist in your minds. Kneel, and receive the symbol of Kordius.”
So the druids began to ware swords of steel, but its blades covered with tar was frightening the survivors who still remained in the city.
“You are warriors now, and should obey Kordius all your lives, the true savior of Fynge. He will help you to find a path of justice, peace and equality.”
In the Kingdom of Elementals, attentive and concerned, Edryon watched some volcanic mountains, which exploded a violent shower of lava, forming a river of fire that crossed the entire region. Farther away he saw something that looked like a city, but around them were strange creatures which were moving rapidly.
Edryon held the reins of Snow, and advanced flying on the skeleton griffin towards the place, hoping he could find the city’s gates. He did not want to be discovered by the monsters, so he sought to avoid approaching the high. He landed with his animal near some rocks and continued walking the path.
When he got closer to the huge stone gates, he saw that the creatures seemed to be fire elementals, and four of them were facing the entrance to town. Their bodies covered with flames mingled easily among the volcanic landscape.
The gray elf approached carefully, he realized that the creatures seemed to be watching the place, and so he could not try to go walking the earth covered with ashes. Edryon returned to near Snow, the skeleton griffin climbed on top and then flew over the city in search of a better place to land.
He looked down intently, and after realizing that many elementals was walking around the city, he decided to try to find another entrance or passage whatsoever. Edryon felt that although it represents a greater danger to fly over the local, he could not stand still, waiting for something worst to happen. He remembered with anger of Tharonnak, the dragon of hell, and decided never to let any monster to escape alive. Edryon did not want more problems, he did not wanted other realms to suffer new attacks of the dragon, to let alone more people dying.
So when he thought nothing would disturb his journey, two men dressed in black robes followed by the top, and they were holding sticks that emitted a strong gray light. Edryon soon realized that they were necromancers, but he did not understand why they were there in the Kingdom of the Elementals. The elf managed to get close quickly, but Edryon jumped from Snow on one of them with an amazing speed. The two clashed in the sky, between punches and attempted hangings, the gray elf managed to take the crook of the man, who had received heavy blows to the head. When they were hitting the floor, Snow flew beneath them, then the elf grabbed in the bones of the animal.
The other man, seeing that his companion was dead slumped over the volcanic soil, pointed his stick to Edryon, dropping a heavy load of magical energy. When the ray walked in, Edryon shook the rod without thinking twice, and a flash of fire erupted from the tip of the magical artifact. The two beams met, and a blast of various colors covered the sky so amazing. Realizing that the necromancer was concentrated to make a magic, Edryon flew with his emphasis on the man.
His spear silver spotted on the back of the necromancer, across his body violently. Edryon then shook his weapon to loosen the dead necromancer, causing his body to fall from the top to reach the lava of a volcanic river. The elf looked at his left arm, he realized he had been hit by a spark of lightning. He descended with Snow to a near safer place, he felt a sharp pain that caused his muscles to a standstill. He sat up and took a piece of old cloth from inside his bag, and tied his arm.
After a few hours, Edryon remembered satisfied with all the dragons that he had conquered, and his diary of victories, which was destroyed by the druids. He wanted to destroy most necromancers, and then withdrew from his backpack a book of black cape, but their pages were empty, with no word. It would be his new diary, but this time he did not want to write any more victory against dragons. He took a penalty and wet with the blood from his arm and wrote the first page:
“Kingdom of Elementals: it is a dangerous place, and i’ll still go through many problems, but today i killed two necromancers. But they are not the only ones, since i expect to fill more pages with more victories.”
8
Purified
When Sgnilliv crossed a region surrounded by thorny
bushes, he found what looked like a small drum beside a fallen pine trunk. The goblin approached the instrument and played his leather surface,
and then immediately noticed something familiar: that special form of fabrication of the drum was not something that all the tribes of goblins could produce. Around him, five grass huts were scattered near a creek, and a strange noise of agitated conversation seemed to come from within one of the primitive houses. Laughs, arguments, that language was familiar, it was the oldest and traditional language of goblins.
Sgnilliv approached one of the huts and opened the door, while looking carefully for its interior. Two spears of war were alongside three iron pots, thrown into the midst of the earth. The goblin knelt down and looked at the tip of a spear. The poison had been used to strengthen the weapon, it was not manufactured by any goblin in any tribe of war. After picking up one of the spears, the goblin hurried out of the grass hut, and continued to follow the path until to approach a clearing. A large iron pot shared space with pieces of wood scattered among the grass. The goblin took his leather boots, heels and played in green field, feeling the cool damp grass of the toes.
When he noticed the huge eagle design, painted in red, on the iron cauldron, Shiiv remembered his father and smiled. They were living in the Forest of Spirits, thought the goblin. And then he remembered that he could not tell them that he was a magician, not knowing how they would react. The twelve years he spent on the Island of the Gnomes made him to learn many fire spells with the mage Rasputin. Sgnilliv owed much to the gnomes, and Rasputin was still living on the island. The goblin still felt like one day to return and meet his master.
After traversing a difficult path covered with sticks and stones, Sgnilliv observed some goblins around a campfire. They seemed happy, as they talked and told stories. The goblin mage then realized that among his tribe was also Shiiv, his father. He was highly regarded by the goblins, as his combat abilities exceeded even the most experienced warriors. Sgnilliv then approached and said:
“You are now living here in the forest?”
Shiiv turned, and when he realized he was facing his son, ignored him and continued talking with the other goblins.
Edryon (Book 1 of Edryon Trilogy) Page 6