Urentir left the place trying to understand the reason for such bigotry, at the same time he felt sorry for failing to help his army. Riding slowly along the road, observed a group of goblins seemed to be the tribe of Sgnilliv. Among them were also some goblin women, they wore short skirts made of torn cloth. Despite not being human, they had the body attractive and delicate.
“What do you do here in Hanneris?”, Urentir asked while his eyes shone with delight to see the goblin women.
“It was a tragedy.”, said one of the goblins, “Shiiv has lost his mind and cut the left arm of his son with an ax.”
“Where’s that bastard?”, Urentir drew his magic sword, while three men approached, mounted on impressive and strong war horses.
Ornell went ahead and Heng Lawf was holding a beautiful elven bow, riding a white horse, between the other two bards. Behind them, Kimiru watched impatiently from side to side, holding his double hatchet.
“Urentir, we had know of your defeat in the Forest of Spirits, and we’re sorry. If you need, we will be by your side.”, said Ornell.
After meeting with Urentir, the three bards prepared their saddles and rode toward the Kingdom of the Lights. Ornell went ahead, as he tapped his heels against the hair of his brown warhorse. Heng Lawf looked at his canteen, he noticed that his water was gone, then said:
“My water!”
“It’s a stupid even, next time do not waste water to clean the face.”, Kimiru said, quite annoyed, and then opened his leather bag, pulled out a bottle of milk and threw it to the bard.
“Milk? Do you think I’m gonna take this crap? “
Heng Lawf thought some more, removed the cork from the bottle and took two sips. After two hours, they crossed a region that there was almost no trees or vegetation, the few trees that remained were dried and dead. Ornell spent with your horse near a pile of bones, mixed with some old clothes, and then said:
“Let’s hurry, this place is freaking me out.”
The night was approaching, and then the three bards saw a magnificent castle, which was located in a region surrounded by small mountains.
The next days spent in the Kingdom of the Lights were decisive for the King William II to find a new government for the Council of the Leaves. The majesty always had more confidence in the three bards, so he decided they were the three leaders of Hanneris.
“We are very proud to continue working and helping your Majesty.”, Ornell said, as he knelt.
“From today, I want you to start the secret training of druids. Urentir will show you all the procedures and magical rites of initiation. Get ready, Hanneris can not remain abandoned.”
Thelron quickly followed on his thin horseback, while crossing an extensive trail within a forest, toward the Kingdom of the Lights. He remembered that King William II was a generous man, and therefore thought he could help him in any way to slow his aging. Thelron did not wanted to die without even having done something important in the world. He heard spooky howls echoing through the tall trees, then sped the cavalcade as looked if he still had water in his canteen. He was never been afraid of strange places, and he was already used to dealing with the deads.
When he passed with his horse near a beautiful waterfall that flowed in a stream of clear water, he heard some female laughing that caught his attention. Thelron got down from the animal gently, carefully walked up to hide behind a tree. A group of eight beautiful nymphs was bathing in the waters. Their naked bodies, delicate and sensual, fluttered lightly and gracefully. Thelron looked increasingly fascinated by the beautiful creatures that seemed to be caressing, in friendly soft games. He then approached a little more to see better, while stumbling on a stick that was stuck in the middle of the wet grass.
The nymphs, realizing that Thelron was lying in front of them, were frightened and ran to pick up their clothes. Then dressed in a hurry, and then climbed into imposing unicorns. Thelron never seen so elegant and delicate creatures. For a time he managed to forget all his problems, the rays of sun that crossed the covered trees were now weaker. Walking slowly, he returned to near his horse, Thelron felt that the creatures could be passing by a big danger with the threat of mutant elves lurking in the woods.
The creatures that once seemed to be just having fun, and sensual-looking, now slowly become deformed when they approached a clearing with a better lighting. Thelron stared, he realized that they were witches, fur covered with open wounds, with worms bigger than their fingers. He climbed on his horse too scared until he heard a horrible voice:
“Do not run away. Come here, dear.”
Thelron not looked back, his thin horse went into an incredible speed toward the end of the woods. The witches were following him flying and gliding through the icy winds.
After two hours of countless attempts to hide from the horrible creatures, Thelron finally managed to move away and find an area covered with a dense vegetation. He rushed inside a cave, leaving his horse outside. He had arrived in the Kingdom of the Lights, and felt that it was the right decision to be taken. The witches did not seem to be totally wild, so he thought maybe they were part of some group or sect. He heard noises, looked out carefully and found a large group of soldiers walking with Edryon and piling the bodies of mutant elves.
“I do not believe you’re wasting time helping these idiots.”, Thelron said, slowly approaching the elven army.
“Listen to one thing, if you did not come here to help, so go away!”, cried Edryon, very nervous.
“Hmmm, I see that at least you ended the mutant elves. But do you think even the king will give you a good reward?”
One of the soldiers got down from his horse and quickly replied:
“It does not matter. It’s not money what we want. Our people could not keep on dying, without hope, leaving orphan children and widows.”
Meanwhile, other soldiers dragged the bodies of mutant elves, piling them on a bonfire. The black smoke that spread throughout the kingdom covered the forest, with a horrible smell of burnt flesh, and Edryon also helped the elven soldiers with great determination. He felt that this time the Kingdom of the Lightss could have been saved from the mysterious plague that killed the population quickly. The King William II came astride his white war horse, raised his right hand and said:
“Edryon, I am very proud that you have decided to help our kingdom.”
The gray elf was about to reply, but then an army of hundreds of clerics approached near the forest. Salur went in front of the elves, raising his magic sword and shouting war words. Thelron then began to understand the reason for the Salur’s trip. The clerics did not seem to be from the Hanneris’s city, they wore steel shields with symbols of Shannen, the city where Salur spent almost his entire life.
“Thelron, I want you and Edryon to follow the road with the clerics, toward Hanneris. This time I am confident that we can expel and destroy the necromancers.”, Salur said.
After several hours riding in the middle of an extensive trail through the forest, Thelron remembered when he was unprotected with his friends inside a cave, while still a child. The three elves had decided to hunt bears, and a heavy rain just was upsetting their plans. The cave was the best place to protect themselves, but after five days, they were completely lost in the woods with no food and very weak. When they abandoned their hopes, they were waiting for the death, wich would be certain. A strange man riding a white wolf of war appeared behind some trees and saved them.
From that day, Thelron decided to follow the path of Kordius, and became involved with ancient magic in the fortress of the sorcerer. His two elven friends were not so lucky, died on the way, but Kordius knew that they would not have the same dedication and willingness to learn as Thelron. Eight years have passed, the fortress was ever more full of new apprentices who were chosen to be necromancers. They received more promises of power, so Thelron never discussed the terrible forms of rituals and sacrifices to strange animals.
Realizing that the clerics were increasingly eager
to get to the Hanneris’s city, Edryon approached one of them, who seemed to be preparing his armor with holy spells, and said:
“Do you think that we can even drive off the necromancers?”
The cleric raised his war club and shouted:
“But of course we can not win without the help of God, if we have faith and confidence in our shields, the enemy will be defeated. I have no doubt of it.”
“Hmmpf… you talk as if it were that easy. They are now in greater numbers, and Kordius would not be so stupid to let the city be taken over.”, replied Thelron, riding ahead with his skinny horse.
“But the most important is that I faced Tharonnak once more.”, Edryon said, showing a big smile of pride.
“You managed to kill him this time, I hope.”, Thelron said.
“No. But you should have seen, he was very afraid of my spear. I jumped on him, then Ornell appeared with the other bards. They cheered and they were eager for me, to exterminate the dragon. I kept attacking the horrible creature without pity until I decided to jump on top of a tabern, to change the attack position.”
“But then?”, asked the cleric. “After that, Tharonnak was very scared and ran away again. But the next time he does not escape!”
After a few more hours riding fast, the clerics have crossed the gates of the Hanneris’s city, while most of them was preparing magical auras of protection over their silver armors. Thelron felt that this time he should be more responsible in helping the city as he was taking a big regret of his mind. Edryon flew over some houses, mounted in Snow, and noticed that there were not many necromancers on the roads.
When the whole army of clerics were gathered near the main square, Thelron was shocked to see several strange men appearing mysteriously before his eyes. The necromancers seemed increasingly greater in number, holding their bloody swords, that when they hit the enemies, stuck to their bodies, sucking blood. Two of them wore clothes that showed special authority, then large black flames appeared from the sky, hitting the clerics with violence. Their bodies were burning, ravaging and consuming even the bones. Edryon looked amazed as he advanced on some necromancers, attacking with his war spear.
Suddenly, dozens of giant carnivorous plants sprouted from the earth, shaking the road covered with dead bodies of clerics. Agmar emerged among the necromancers, exploding the evil men with powerful bursts of magical energy. Thelron ran near a fallen priest, and took his sacred sword. He moved with violence, destroying necromancers with great skill, until approaching Agmar. For many hours, Edryon attacked along with the cleric survivors. The carnivorous plants were devouring necromancers furiously under the command of Agmar. The cold night approached, and then the Hanneris’s city seemed to have been defended successfully.
Sitting in a luxurious chair adorned with emeralds and rubies, the King William II remembered that Edryon had not yet come to his castle to discuss the problems of the Kingdom of the Lightss. He advanced with the bishop and then stopped the move near the white tower of Gulinnar, the paladin. Despite the momentary calm of the kingdom, the king knew that the evil forces were still lurking, waiting for the right moment to act.
“Checkmate.”, Gulinnar said, placing the queen in front of the black king.
William II felt that the same way as his pawns were eliminated, his soldiers could face further losses.
“Gulinnar, what do you think about Edryon? Do you really think he could be a good solution to our kingdom?”
The paladin was thoughtful for a while, and remembered when Thelron had entered his castle, in search of sacred spells.
“Your majesty, Edryon is very confused, he does not know how to solve his own problems. I feel that we should find another way.”, Gulinnar said, while positioning the white pieces in their places.
The king then rose worried, he do not knew what else to do, every hour that passed, he grew more anxious and frustrated with the situation in which the kingdom was.
Gulinnar then finished placing the black pieces, when suddenly a big fireball hitted the board with violence, blowing up the wooden table into several pieces that flew on all sides. He stared at Kordius, which emerged as a mist, alongside King William II.
“I’m sorry for the incident. This table was already old, i will bring an immense golden table to replace it.”, said the sorcerer, smiling, riding his white warfare wolf.
“What are you doing here in my castle?”, the king cried, and drew his broad sword of steel.
“Calm down. I did not come to bring more tragedy. I know you’re in need of support.”, Kordius got down quickly from the wolf and then twenty elven spirits appeared high, surrounding Gulinnar and the king.
“You bastard! Do you really think you will win allies by the use of force? You were the cause of the invasion and deaths of all our people.”, said Gulinnar, which looked increasingly nervous.
“Your Majesty does not want to stand next to weak people, is not it? Is exactly why I came here to offer you a power that no other magician in this world could give.”, Kordius withdrew a scroll that was kept in his belt, and then handed to the king.
“But what is this? I can not accept such a thing. Kordius, when you left our people alone, you made the worst offense against a king. You betrayed the kingdom, you…”, William II did not say another word .
Gulinnar then realized that it would be impossible trying to convince him, Kordius seemed to have achieved successfully to invade the king’s mind.
13
Forbidden Spells
Edryon, while walking along the road with shaky legs, felt
the air came each time in smaller quantities in his lungs. When he prepared to catch his breath, strong cries from some creatures echoed around the main square of Hanneris. The gray elf at the same time knew that the city could be experiencing more problems, but this time the sounds of groaning and cracking of bones did not seem to come from all the directions.
Maybe the undeads were attacking the infecteds’s market, but it had been two hours and Edryon has not heard any talk of peasants about a new invasion. Walking carefully until approaching a pit full of slugs and beetles, which encircled the earth covered with mud, the elf thought those noises could be coming from inside the pit. The fatigue did not seem to give him a rest, but Edryon still wanted to discover whence came the sounds of the gravestone’s creatures. After having looked carefully into the deep ditch, and had not heard any noise that would identify a living dead, the gray elf followed the road until to hear a sharp snap of a whip, coming from inside his house.
He then opened the front door, and across the aisle, Edryon realized that it were not sounds of the undeads, but Thelron, who cried a lot, inside his bedroom. The elf opened the door slowly, and when he saw his brother in front of the window, kneeling, shirtless and with his back bloodied, he ran toward Thelron. Covered with thorns, a whip of iron was in his right hand.
“What are you doing? Drop it now!”, Edryon shouted.
“This voice, damn voice, it wants… it wants me to throw away my sins…”
Edryon pulled the whip, in an attempt to pull him out of his hand, but Thelron rose sharply and pushed Edryon violently against the wall.
“Edryon, help me… the voices are… disturbing me.”
His naked and bloodied body revealed an astonishing weakness, because his legs were shaking, his limp arms struggled to make small movements. Thelron no longer seemed to show any sign of arrogance. Edryon then pulled his brother out and shouted:
“You can not continuing like this, killing yourself this way!”
After bringing a large wooden bowl filled with water that was near his stall, he putted Thelron carefully and said:
“You need a bath. Stay here, Ellen will heal you.”
When he began, walking near the main square, Edryon remarked with sadness three chained druids, their skeletal bodies were covered with deep wounds and marks of beating. Around the local, twenty necromancers seemed to be watching every person who entered or left their
homes. The gray elf took care, to make sure wich that men could not see him, and finally reached the front of the house of Ellen. The door was locked so Edryon took three hard hits, and waited for an answer.
“Do you want to break my house, right?”, Ellen said as she walked hurriedly along the road, holding a wet cloth stained with blood.
“Is that… is that… you know… I’m a little impatient.”, Edryon shook the hands with anxiety, “My brother is badly hurt.”
“What happened?”
“I do not know, he sounds confusing. He wants to stay away from those things. He lashed himself with a whip, luckily I arrived in time.”
Ellen looked at the gray elf, who seemed very worried, and replied:
“You should be careful, Edryon. Look at yourself, you’re dirty, covered in blood, with sores all over your body! If you don’t heal this arm, you will lose it in a few days.”
Then the gray elf returned to his home with Ellen, he realized that Thelron had his eyes closed and was saying words without any meaning. The healer pulled into a box of some medications, and said: “Thelron, can you hear me?”
“Who is…?”
“Ellen. I’m here to help you, stay calm.”
“I don’t need anything!”, Thelron yelled, very nervous, stood up very agitated and went into his house.
Edryon quickly followed him, and then saw his brother in his bedroom, crouched, holding the blade of his silver scythe.
“Drop it, what will you do?”
“Here, it’s yours. You… always told me you wanted it. Take it.”
After a few minutes Edryon came out the house with his brother, and said:
“It’s all resolved. Ellen, put the blade on my arm.”
“But this is risky, Edryon…. You can lose a lot of blood, I do not know if your body could handle.”
“Okay, I do not care.”, said the gray elf, “Do the cures and put the blade on my arm.”
Walking in the middle of the road, very thoughtful, Urentir remembered that he should start training the three bards, but he still felt it was not the right time. The path of a druid was not so easy, the magic of nature should be learned slowly, lest it be necessary to resume the rituals of initiation. When he approached two houses totally destroyed by a fire, he realized that there were many elves amidst the charred ashes. It was a great tragedy that could have been avoided, but now he felt that the city could now be better protected.
Edryon (Book 1 of Edryon Trilogy) Page 10