Pagewalker

by C. Mahood

  grabbed them the horseman fell to the ground dead. Elessa looked round, hoping that Dertrid or Keldon was the one who killed him but as she looked into the horseman's bloodshot

  eyes she saw a slow trickle of green liquid cover the surface of his eyes. "THE POISON!" she cried in delight as she picked up his bow " it must have got right into his bloodstream" She muttered to herself as she walked up the long stairway but as she did so the ground started to crumble beneath her feet. She ran toward the surface just making it out in time to watch the whole temple fall into the large hole behind her.

  "ELESSA!" Keldon called as he ran toward her and picked her up and spun her round "your alive" he said as he kissed her head "You had us all so worried" moaned Penla who was still staring toward the temple of strength "but its good to see you any how" he said with a small grin creeping across his face. Elessa walked toward the only temple left standing praying that Dertrid would come out of it any second, but he didn’t so she sat down weighting for her hero to arrive.

  Dertrid [strength temple]

  Dertrid ran down the stairs toward the large doors at the bottom. As he ran closer he saw a figure standing in the open door way. He ran faster to try and see who it was before the doors closed but as he was jumping down the stairs he could see the doors closing and the figure getting closer and closer. As he reached the last few steps he jumped toward the closing door and just managed to slide his sword into the slot between the closed door and the closing door stopping them from closing. The doors flung open as Dertrid got to his feet and a large bright light shone through the doorway blinding him for a short moment. Then a voice came from the light saying "You’re too late Dertrid my brother, the horseman has already been slain. He fell upon my blade therefore the elemental sword is mine which means you can not join it with the other two." As Dertrid’s eyes became used to the light he could see a tall man with long hair and wearing full plate armour but he could not see his face for his helmet covered it.

  "Who are you?" Dertrid asked quite puzzled and scared of this brave figure in front of him,

  "Show yourself!” he ordered.

  The figure took off his helmet and flung his hair behind his head

  "Good to see you again brother,” he said.

  Dertrid looked closer at his face and he could not believe what he saw. Standing in front of him was the man who tried to execute him and have him hunted down and killed. "SAMUEL!" He gasped

  "But no....no I killed you, This is not possible" Dertrid cried.

  "I’m afraid it is my brother, but I have no time to stand around. I have got some business to attend to, farewell."

  As Samuel ran up the stairs Dertrid ran after him and dived at the sword of strength but Samuel just kicked him down again and ran out the door.

  Dertrid dived out through the door as the temple seemed to crumble behind him but not in time to catch Samuel who ran past the group and jumped on his horse that was tied up behind a large

  Pile of rocks. "Damn it!" Dertrid yelled as Samuel disappeared over the horizon. "What are we going to do now Gladwin, he has the third element. How are we going to get it back now‘? We are all doomed and its all thanks to me! I could have stopped him,” Dertrid cried as he fell to the ground.

  "There is one other way my child but I was not going to dare go near it" Gladwin said " Now however, it looks like we have no choice. We must head for Xill where we will enter the great catacombs and find the water sword. The problem is that it is in the land of the dark elves. It is very dangerous ground. Going there might not be the most sensible thing we have ever done" Gladwin joked sarcastically . "That’s settled then, its off to Xill, off to brave the endless caverns and dangers that await us as we head to confront the dark elves" Dertrid muttered as the group gathered their things and jumped aboard Penla’s cart.

  Chapter 7

  Arrival at Xill

  There was an almighty crash of lightning against the cliff in front of the group of adventures as they pulled up beside a large doorway that seemed to be sucked up into the cliff. The doorway was stretched up at least 200 feet high. The doors themselves were engraved with some of the most amazing pictures. From what Dertrid could see there were two groups of elves from the look of it.

  Dertrid was guessing it was something to do with the great division of elves. Keldon turned to Dertrid who was still reading the wall inscriptions and asked “What was the division of the elves all about? Why did they give up their strength in numbers for solitude in a large cliff cave?”

  When Dertrid turned around to explain the old story to Keldon the doors Crumbled open and a tall dark skinned figure emerged from the darkness. He walked over toward the group very slowly. He was not armed as far as Dertrid could see. He was wearing a large silk robe that covered his entire naked body that was concealed beneath. He had long white hair that stretched down as far as his knees. He had a large tattoo that covered his whole face and most of his right arm as well. He kept walking toward Keldon but stopped before Dertrid and bowed. “Welcome to the city of Xill master Dertrid.” He said. His voice was very low and very calming; it had only one tone and no expression. The man himself had no expression. As he talked his lips barely moved. His facial expression had not even changed from when he had emerged from the darkness and spoken to Dertrid. Dertrid bowed back to the elf and introduced the rest of the party. The elf then walked over to Keldon and looked him in the eye and said, “you would like to know the history of the great division yes? Well let me tell you. Years ago when the king of Sáann was killed in battle his wife Shannon fled the city leaving Dertrid with the new queen. She came to the great elven city of Ralvon seeking peace and help. When she arrived she fell in love with an elfish prince named Broach. The two lived in peace and tried to raise a family but then Broach was found stealing from her and bringing the pieces back to his wife. Lady Shannon developed a hatred for elves, which mixed with her love for brosack she was transformed into a spirit of darkness that when she touched someone she would act like a disease to some but a blessing to others. We are called the children of the night. We were a minority group for a short while but as lady Shannon touched more elves they were turned into the dark elves. Then when the numbers were even we fought the true elves and destroyed the city. The survivors left the region of Northland and headed west with the goblins. We took refuge here and awaited the arrival of the second prophecy. The son of the king. Dertrid.” Dertrid spun around to Gladwin who was standing at the entrance of Xill city doors.

  “Is this true” Dertrid asked Gladwin. Gladwin nodded to Dertrid “Why didn’t you tell me?” Gladwin walked over to Dertrid and ruffled his hair then looked him in the eye and said, “Because I was worried about your ego exploding my boy” The group laughed then followed the elf into Xill. As the group entered they saw a small room filled with people all sitting round some kind of water fountain, AS they walked past it everyone followed the group with eyes that could have pierced the strongest armour. As they walked on they could see that they were walking toward a large building shaped like a church. They walked inside the large metal doors and looked around the building, it was the largest library they had ever seen but they were not here to look at books they were here to get the elemental weapon that would be used to destroy the queen. The elf stopped in front of a large marble rock that was sitting in the middle of the circular building. “Dertrid I know why you are here and I know what you seek so I will not dawdle in giving it to you.” The elf chanted the first line of the elfish division prophecy; the marble rock glowed then started to melt. After about two minuets of melting Dertrid could see a blue light glowing from inside the rock. “Go and get your prize Dertrid. Only you can touch it” announced the expressionless elf. Dertrid walked over to the rock that was still melting and put his had through the molten rock but there was no pain. Dertrid felt around a bit trying to find the blade he came here to get. “Ah there it is” Dertrid exclaimed as he pulled the blade from its resting place. Dertrid took a st
ep back after pulling the blade out and looked at it. It was glowing more than ever now that Dertrid was holding it. “Gladwin, its time to attack Sáann now, I think we are ready now that I have the things that we need” Dertrid said as he

  held the sword in the air and swung it about a bit to get used to the weight. Gladwin turned to the elf and said, “there is but one more thing that we still must do. We must get the elves to form an alliance with the dwarfs so that we can assist the rebellion that is taking place in the city as we speak.” The elf walked forward toward Dertrid and knelt before him “we are at your command Dertrid the chosen one” The elf then walked over to Penla and shook his hand. “A friend of the prophecy is a friend of ours. WE will set out toward the dwarf cave tomorrow but tonight let us prepare and rest” The elf led the group to their rooms and showed them around.

  He then left them to go and ready the troops as they had a long walk and a hard battle ahead of them. Dertrid sat down on his bed and looked out of the large oval shaped window. The shutters were held back with a strong thick twine that seemed to be made out of horsehair that had been very tightly wound together along with some string and waxed to give it extra strength. As Dertrid looked out the window he noticed that on the other side of it there was not rock or cave like the rest of the city but there were green fields and green trees, deep valleys and large mountains. Dertrid realised that his room was built on the front of the cliff edge. The sat and wondered why was he the one that got the best room in the city? Why is he treated like a god? Why was he the only one out of the three that was not able to retrieve an elemental sword out of the three towers of the brotherhood? It then dawned on him that he was not as strong as his two companions he was the weakest of the three and he had no hope of defeating Samuel and the queen. He might as well just stay here and let the queen poison the lands with her evil and cruelty. As Dertrid laid his head on the pillow he heard a voice in his head that sounded just like the voice he had heard in the burning village when they had first met Keldon. The voice said “stay strong my boy, if you were not the strongest then why would I have you bear this burden?” Then it slowly and softly drifted away from Dertrid’s ears the same way that Dertrid drifted off to the world of dreams.

  Chapter 8

  The road to destiny

  The whole dark elven city of Xill was bustling with the sounds of shouting, cheering, laughing, women crying, black smiths working and hammering, priests teaching and chanting, sergeants ordering and armour and metal clanging. Dertrid walked out of his room with his full adventure gear on his back and his newly found blade on his side sheathed in a golden elven made sheath. He walked over to the rest of the group who were rallying troops and inspecting armour. Dertrid stood on a large wooden crate and called over to Keldon who was rallying the troops into platoons of 500 men each.

  “Keldon, we will take a large platoon each which will later be split into four groups when the dwarves are combined with us, from then we will march the next morning to Sáann and take back what is rightfully mine!” As Dertrid said this he realised that it was rightfully his and he would fight with his life to claim it back for him and his people. Keldon was joining the small groups of 500 into larger groups of 2000. Elessa was doing the same on the other side of the city. Dertrid walked outside of the main doors and sat down on a large fallen statue outside. It seemed like decades before Gladwin came out to tell him that the troops were now ready to depart, but they need some inspiration or a reason to fight. Dertrid decided to go back in and make his final speech before the battle that would decide the fate of the whole of Northland. As Dertrid stood on the large stone altar, there he was able to see most of the city of Xill but the thing that stood out was the army of troops with at least 5000 dark elven warriors waiting to die at his very command.

  Dertrid opened his mouth but nothing came out. Everything that was in his head was going to be a waste as he could not speak it. But one small trooper shouted out of the crowd toward Dertrid saying “Do not fear chosen one we know what you are trying to say and we treasure the thought that we were alive in the same era as you and will fight and die to fulfil the prophecy.” Dertrid stood back in amazement as the whole cave and city seemed to cheer as Dertrid bowed toward that young soldier who could not be much older that 16 in elven years. Dertrid stood back up upon the stone altar and said one sentence which would later be engraved onto a large stone slab in Xill’s temple. It would go on to be framed in every house and written in every story book and told by every explorer to their young to give them hope and strength when they are left to defend themselves. The very words of this sentence gave hope and strength to the elven troops. The sentence was “Alone the world is nothing, but as we stand together with our hope we will never be defeated. Even if the devil himself rose from the underworld we would drive him back with not only our blades but our love for life and the things it brings to us.” As Dertrid said this he stood back to see and hear the loudest and most spectacular display of brave men walking out of the main doors singing an old elven hymn of hope. As they left, the sky seemed as if it was raining flower petals. The whole cave was filled with colours of yellow and red petals that fell from the tallest buildings thrown by the women of the city that can only wait and hope. Dertrid was the last to leave the city on his black horse that the dark elves had given to him. The horse was no ordinary horse, though. It possessed the power of everlasting strength. They said that if the horse has the right rider then it will never grow tired from ruminating or it will never fail its rider in combat even if it has been wounded by a thousand arrows or stabbed by one hundred spears .It will keep on running until the rider dismounts at his destiny. Only then will the horse be vulnerable to death.

  After about three hours of travelling Penla was seen standing on a large rock on top of the farthest hill. They said he was holding a large double-sided axe and holding it up high in the air. He held it here until the troops arrived at his position. Even though his arm muscles were burning and tearing he stood strong with his axe in the air and his beard and hair blowing in the wind. Dertrid knew from his stance that he had fulfilled his mission to get the dwarves to form an army and march with the elves into Sáann. He left the city of Xill early this morning on a mission to go the dwarf’ s city and rally the troops together into an army and March toward Sáann to meet the dark elves before the battle for Sáann commenced. Dertrid rode hard and fast over to the hill Penla was standing on. while Dertrid was nearing the top of the hill he could see the heads of hundreds of troops waiting on the other side of the hill, but as he got higher up the hill he noticed that there were not hundreds of troops but thousands of them. By now he could not just see them he could hear them banging their axes against their shields shouting SHALA KLACK! SHALA KLACK! hear them banging their axes against their shields and shouting Which is dwarf for battle hungry! Battle hungry! The higher Dertrid rode up the hill the more of the troops he could see until he reached the top and looked

  down on the troops with Penla and marvelled at the thousands upon thousands of dwarfs standing at the bottom of the hill. “Where did they all come from?” Dertrid said as he got off his horse to try and reach Penla’s eye line. “They are our cousins from the east planes, they came as soon as they heard the news about the troubles of Northland.” Penla replied as he tried to clip his axe back into place on his back. “They are strong and ready to give their lives for us Dertrid, and they have also agreed to sign the alliance with the dark elves,” Penla commented then patted Dertrid on the back and yelled '97 “Together we will win back our freedom for life. As he ran back down to his cart Dertrid could hear both races cheering at the brave words said by Penla. Dertrid mounted himself back onto his horse, which he had now named Remus, and rode out onto the middle of the planes until he could see both races following him side by side. After a few days of travelling and a few nights of games and drunken activities, Dertrid looked back at his army and saw that both races seemed to have formed into two large platoons but th
ey were not a platoon per race but in fact the two races had mixed into two platoons and were walking laughing and telling jokes, rhymes and stories to each other as if they had forgotten that in a few days time most likely half of them would be passing into the underworld. Dertrid looked to his left to see Keldon and Elessa riding beside him chatting and laughing at each other’s childhood stories. He then looked to his right where he saw Galdwin bored stiff as Penla told him how he was related to each and every dwarf in the army behind him or her. Dertrid felt stronger now than he did when he set out from Xill a few days ago. He wondered why this was for a few more hours of travelling until he finally realised what it was that made him feel stronger. It was the feeling of accomplishment. It was a very strange feeling because the battle of Sáann had not yet been fought, but he knew why he felt this. He felt it because he had brought two races together in peace and harmony. He talked to his companions who were riding beside him about what he had been thinking all this time Then after they had all finished talking about this Dertrid said in the silence “We have already won this battle, We may not have defeated the queens men yet, But we have joined these great races together and that is more than a group of five people have ever done.” Dertrid was interrupted by the call of the elven scouts who were now sitting at the top of a large rock on the top of the next mound. They called that they had seen Shari just through that forest up ahead and that Sáann is at most a day’s march away. Dertrid dismounted at an opening in the forest and gave the order to set up the alliance’s final camp here for the night. A few hours later after the camp had been made and the troops had eaten their supper, Dertrid walked around the camp marvelling at the troops who were going to give their lives for him. He later rode to the edge of the wood and stopped beside an old cobo tree. As he touched the old tree he realised that he had stopped here about a month ago only he was facing the other direction. He was trying to escape From Sáann, not knowing that in a month’s time he would be attacking it. He walked over toward the large opening of trees and looked upon Sáann. Gertrud’s eyes watered as he saw the queen’s flags flying from the castle walls and not his father’s ones. As he looked closer he could see that the statue of his father had also been destroyed and replaced with a statue of the queen instead. Dertrid muttered an old verse out of the book of war then spat in the direction of Sáann. The verse was a curse on the opposition and the act of spitting was showing bravery and disrespect toward the opposition. Dertrid mounted his horse again then rode back toward the camp to rest before the fate of Sáann and Northland were to be decided by the gods and the races the next morning.