by C. Mahood
Chapter 9
The fate of all
The noise in the camp was tremendous. The troops were awaiting a battle and were readying their equipment. The camp was shaped in a circular shape; the large armoured tents were on the outside with night guards stationed on them. The smaller tents were on the inside where the troops could get some rest but if the rest of the troops felt like Dertrid then they did not get much rest as they were either sleeping with one eye open and their sword still in their hand or they were awake all night worrying about the day that was coming ahead of them. When the sun finally crept over the hill Dertrid exited his tent while trying to pull a large full body sheet of chain mail over his head. When he popped his head through the neck of his garment he looked upon his troops and watched them preparing their equipment and leaving behind what they did not need. Dertrid walked around the camp patting nearly every soldier on the back and telling him or her how he or she would come through this and be adored and loved when they return home. It saddened Dertrid when he said this because he knew only half of them stood a chance of surviving the conflict that day. He knew he had to give the troops hope. Without that they were only men with weapons, not soldiers. They needed that fire in their hearts if they were to fight with meaning and passion. Dertrid walked over to where Keldon was sitting. He sat down and looked upon Keldon’s face. His face was rosy red and his cheeks were soaked with tears, which were dripping off the end of his chin. "Why are you crying?" Dertrid said as he put his hand on Keldon’s back. "I...I had a dream...about myself and Elessa and you...we were all walking down a path of golden leaves...then Elessa disappeared. She faded away. Then.... then I faded away as well until it was only you walking alone. Then a crown of gold covered with the richest jewels and gems was placed on your head by a small child which reminded me of my son...."
Dertrid stood up again and turned around facing the direction of Sáann.
"We won’t let that happen Keldon. You have my back don’t you?"
"Of course I do Dertrid, and I will until the end. You must promise me one thing though...make sure the queen dies slowly, let everyone see it, have NO mercy"
At that Keldon stood up and grabbed Dertrid by the shoulder and swung him around.
"PROMISE ME DERTRID! !" Dertrid pulled away and looked Keldon square in the eyes.
"I promise I will Keldon...but you will stay by my side, promise me that"
"I promise Dertrid," Keldon hugged Dertrid, the two laughed and started to walk toward their tents but they were interrupted by the cry of a dark elf from the entrance of the camp. "SPY, SPY " the elf shouted and pointed toward a human that was running toward the forest of Sáann. The elf took up his bow and fired toward the human but missed, He shot again and again but the human kept dodging them until he made it to the forest. Dertrid knew that if the spy made it to Sáann then the defences would be placed up and the advance would be a failure so he stood up on a large weapon rack, dived onto his horse and ordered the attack. The whole camp jumped to their feet and ran toward their weapons. "Keldon, rally the troops and lead them into attack. I will scout ahead and take out this spy! !" Dertrid said as he was galloping toward the forest. On the way out Penla threw a spear to Dertrid along with his famous elemental sword of ice. Dertrid was quickly gaining on the spy who was dodging his way under branches and forcing his way through vines and thorn bushes. Dertrid was quickly gaining on him and did so until he was only an arms length away from the spy. Dertrid could now see that the skilful spy was no more than l5 years old. Dertrid stood on his horse’s back, bending his knees and balancing as best he could. He was planning the descent onto the boy but he had little time as he could see a rather large sloped tree that would cut him off from the boy. Dertrid waited a few seconds until the boy looked back. The boy slowed his pace as he realised that there was a large white stallion chasing him with a barbaric warrior mounted on it. Dertrid took a dive at the boys mid section but missed. The boy was tripped up by the impact but managed to get back up again. Dertrid took to his feet and stood there thinking about what the consequences would be if he killed the boy or if he let the boy live. As much as Dertrid hated to do it he knew there was only one option. He lifted the spear and threw it toward the boy. It impaled the boy on a nearby tree. Dertrid could not bear to look upon the body, as he knew it was the wasted life of an innocent. It was one of the people he was fighting to protect. Dertrid walked back toward his horse. When he looked back he could see that the boy had side tracked and led Dertrid in the wrong direction. Dertrid looked ahead to see the final descent of his legion upon the city of Sáann. The troops were running down the hill with their weapons raised high above their heads. Dertrid raced toward the front line do lead the attack but he was too late. He could see Keldon standing on a nearby rock leading the troops. The action was going according to plan. The elves would take out the guards on the walls by climbing up a few ladders to breach the walls. The dwarfs were to set explosives at the front gate to blow the door so that the second platoon that was waiting in the trees near by could enter. Dertrid raced toward the front gate as soon as the explosives had been detonated but the one thing they had not expected had happened. The queen was ready for a counter attack. Out of the front gate came flooding full armoured human and goblin troops. The first platoon had been surrounded and the elves had been destroyed on the walls. The dwarfs were engaged in close combat but were outnumbered three to one. Elessa had told him that when the second wave came in she would create a distraction so that Dertrid could sneak in through the hole blown by the dwarfs. Dertrid had only one choice if he wanted to succeed in this mission. Before he turned toward the door he saw Keldon fighting off at least 5 human guards. Dertrid raced toward Keldon. He had his sword raised above his head as he dived off his horse again and straight into the middle of the action.
Dertrid fought his way through the endless amounts of troops. His blade was making short work of the guards. As Dertrid was approaching Keldon he saw his blade start to glow. Keldon’s blade was also glowing a deep red. When the second wave came into attack he could see Elessa's weapon glow as well. He knew there was no turning back now. The first wave was almost wiped out but there were a small number of troops up close to Dertrid and Keldon. They were backed up to a wall but as their numbers were rapidly dropping Dertrid spotted an opening in the wall. "Keldon help me destroy this" Dertrid shouted as he demolished the few guards behind them. Keldon ran toward Dertrid and helped him bash down the wall. "Come with me" Dertrid shouted to Keldon as he dived through the small gap in the wall. Elessa was now standing on the wall firing arrows down at the large mass of war underneath her. She looked across the large open field that they were standing in and all she could see were bodies and blades swinging around in the middle of this mass of carnage. She looked behind her to see Dertrid and Keldon climbing through a small crack in the wall. She shouted toward the few elves that were upon the wall with her to jump down to where the new hole was made. The few elves that were still alive on the wall with her did as they were ordered to without question. They stood at the hole as if forming a shied with their own bodies. Dertrid looked up at the glowing green light that was coming from Elessa but as he got further away from it he could see a silver light quickly running toward her green one. There was only one other person that possessed a weapon with elemental attributes. Samuel! Dertrid called to Elessa But it was too late. The silver light had knocked the green light off the large wall. Keldon ran toward Samuel followed by Dertrid. "DERTRID go and complete the quest. I will deal with Samuel! " He shouted. Dertrid stopped running and dived into combat with a few guards that were in the same street as him. Keldon finally reached where Elessa had landed to find Elessa lying mangled on the ground surrounded by a large pool of blood. Keldon knelt down and kissed Elessa on the forehead.
He then looked up to see Samuel running toward him down the nearby stairs. Keldon lifted his sword again and slowly walked toward Samuel. The fire was burning inside Keldon’s heart n
ow ashe walked toward Samuel. Samuel stopped as he reached Keldon. He could not see Keldon’s face as it was covered with his long brown hair. Samuel sniggered as he looked toward Elessa’s body then he looked back to Keldon. Keldon slowly lifted his head and flicked his hair back over his shoulder. Samuel took a gasp of fear as he looked into Keldon’s eyes. He did not see the green of Keldon’s usual eyes; He saw fire burning inside Keldon’s soul. Samuel took a step back and tried to back off from Keldon but Keldon was slowly perusing him not letting his blood red eyes leave Samuel’s.
"Its not you I have a problem with its.... its Dertrid... I...I...I will let you leave alive now” Samuel said with his stomach in his throat. Keldon still said nothing as he walked toward Samuel.
Samuel lifted his sword and swung at Keldon but he missed him. He swung again but missed again. All this time Keldon did not flinch but kept walking slowly toward Samuel until after Samuel had missed for the third time. Keldon stopped. He raised his blade and pointed it toward Samuel. Samuel lunged at Keldon and attacked a numerous amount of times but each time it was parried by Keldon. Samuel turned and ran but as he turned around he could see the dwarfs breaching the gate and flooding in past the remaining guards and goblins still fighting. Samuel turned around again to see Keldon swing his blade toward Samuel and let out a blood-curdling scream. Samuel stopped, dropped his blade, and fell to his knees. When he landed on his knees he felt Keldon slice his blade straight through his chest. He knew now that it was the end. His eyes started to flicker then as he felt the cold stone under his head he knew that he was passing into the underworld. He bled for a while until the darkness set in. The last thing that he saw was Keldon ripping down one of the queen’s banners and setting it over Samuel’s head. Keldon took one step back and lifted Samuel’s blade. He started running toward the Large keep in the middle of Sáann where he would hopefully finish the quest just as Dertrid’s father had instructed them. As he reached the keep he saw Elessa's body lying in the same pool of blood, which had soaked into her long blond hair and her beautiful white silk gannet. Keldon said a small prayer as he reached the keep. The prayer was for Elessa.
Dertrid drove his blade into the 30th odd guard on the same keep. He had climbed up 4 staircases and he had still not reached the throne room. He knew that the room was on the floor above him so he turned around and ran up the last set of stairs. He walked over to the large wooden doors at the top of the stairs. He stopped as he reached them. He just stared at the doors and remembered the times he had waited to enter, as his father was always busy in there. He knew now why his father had not let him set foot in that room. That room would change his life. His father always used to tell him that but he never knew what he had meant. He knew now though. When he enters this room he will kill the queen and then have Sáann back to the way it was meant to be. But would it be that easy? Dertrid kicked the door open to see a large circular room with nothing in it except a large chair at the far end. The odd thing was it was empty. Where had the queen gone? Dertrid walked into the centre of the room and looked all around him but the room was empty. As he walked over to leave the room he saw the doors slam shut in front of him but no one closed them, they shut themselves. Dertrid stopped and stood perfectly still. He could hear two types of breathing. He could hear light womanly breathing, but he could also hear heavy deep manly breathing. As he turned around he saw the queen and Gladwin standing side by side on either side of the chair. Dertrid looked at Galdwin in absolute disgust. Before Dertrid got time to do anything he was thrown up against the wall by Gladwin magic. Dertrid was pinned up against the wall by the one man he had treated and trusted like a father since he had first met him. The queen walked over to Dertrid and ran her hand down his side. She felt his whole body until she stopped her hand on his waist and reached into his trousers. Dertrid struggled as the queen rummaged inside his trousers until she pulled out a small knife that Dertrid kept in his inside pocket. She used this knife to slice down Dertrid shirt and through the chain mail. She had unbelievable strength. She made it look like is if she was slicing through butter when in fact she was slicing through impenetrable chain mail. During all of this she said nothing and neither did Gladwin. Dertrid's mouth was magically sealed shut as well so the only sound made was that of the armour and clothes being sliced off. The queen took a step back and drew Dertrid’s father’s sword from her back. She raised it above her head and lunged at Dertrid. The blade came down with enough force to kill a wild ogre but it stopped just millimetres away from Dertrid skin. She turned and looked at Gladwin who seemed to be concentrating on the blade as well. Dertrid fell to the floor as the magic seal around him was broken but the one around the queen was still in motion. She screamed and shouted at Gladwin to let her go but Galdwin walked over to Dertrid and helped him to his feet. "I have a debt still to pay to your father so please let me join him today." Gladwin said to Dertrid as he walked over to the queen.
"Gladwin what are you doing?" Dertrid asked "Avenging your father". Y At that Galdwin ran at the queen and smashed him and her through the window beside them. "NO" Dertrid yelled at he watched Gladwin and the queen plummet towards the ground. He watched them until they hit the ground and the blood formed a large puddle around them. Dertrid stood back and walked toward the door where Keldon was standing. "Is it done then?" Dertrid asked Keldon "Yes it is ............................ ..your majesty"
Keldon knelled to the ground and held Samuels sword high above his head. Dertrid walked over to him and ‘said Arise SIR Keldon. The two laughed and hugged again. They both walked over to the window where they could see the last few‘ goblins and guards being executed by the remaining alliance. "So then, we have finally won" Keldon said still not taking his eyes off the queen’s dead body. it _ "We had won before we even set foot in the city of Sáann"
"I suppose you’re right ............. ..well I guess we had better go and address your next kingdom then Dertrid huh?""Yeah 0k then lets go" Dertrid could not believe that he heard that. HIS kingdom...finally it was his. He could almost hear his father say, " I am proud son proud." Dertrid walked out of the keep and unto the pulpit in the city centre. There he could see doors open in all the houses and the civilians coming out to stare at the crowning of their new king. On the stage stood Penla, Keldon and Dertrid. Dertrid was the First to speak "We are missing two people on the stage with me today so the first law I am going to make as king is that they must be in everyone’s prayers tonight. The second law will be...the City of Sáann is now a democratic city. This means you make the rules not me. That’s all for now thank you" The crowed started to cheer and cry with happiness but were hushed when Penla stood up. "The third and final law is...we have the best party ever to be recorded in the history of Northland tonight" As Penla said this everyone laughed and cheered at the same time. That night the third law most definitely was fulfilled but it was fulfilled twice as well as Penla had expected. It was a night to remember, and is still talked about throughout Northland to this very day.
The End