Journeying to the elves had undoubtedly been the right decision. He had obtained the armband of endurance, and with it, he would be able to wield the ambience throughout the entire battle. He also now had an army of elves. The fifty thousand elven warriors would double the size of the current Royal Army’s remaining soldiers. He had left in search of a symbol from his visions and returned with an object of extreme power, a better knowledge of who he was, and an entire army. The journey had been unquestionably worth it.
Pennon crested a rise and the camp of the galdaks came into view. Traven slowed his mount’s pace but continued forward. He could see movement in the midst of the camp, but it appeared that the majority of galdaks had advanced to the city and were fighting. The camp was set up just off the side of the road. He was tempted to leave the road and circle it at a greater distance but decided it wasn’t worth wasting the time. He turned to Darian and Giselle and let them know he was going to shield them while they passed the enemy camp. They nodded and continued silently behind him.
The three maintained their quick pace and soon reached the edge of the camp. Several galdak guards looked in their direction as they passed, but seeing nothing, dismissed whatever senses had alerted them of a potential threat and remained calm. Traven inspected the monstrous camp as they hurried past. It resembled a makeshift city more than it did a camp. It was gigantic in size with hundreds of thousands of tents stretching westward into the distance. They had left large avenues at equal distances throughout the camp to allow the numberless hosts of galdaks to enter and leave the camp quickly. There were also several enormous tents scattered throughout the tent city at equal intervals that no doubt housed supplies. Overall, the camp was fairly organized.
He carefully marked the locations of as many of the large tents as he could see while he continued riding swiftly to the camp’s southern border. Tonight, he planned to strike at the galdak horde on multiple fronts.
Once they had passed the entire camp and were down the road a short ways, Traven allowed the invisibility shield to drop. The fighting on the plains in front of them was now clearly visible, and the city of Kavar could be seen in the distance. He had been so focused on the galdak camp that the loud din of battle surprised him. They had finally arrived.
Traven scanned the plain. It was readily obvious the galdaks had a huge advantage in numbers. He could also see where the ancient galdak wielder was positioned near the center of the horde. He would have been able to pick the wielder out by his aura alone, but the galdak was even easier to find because he was intermittently sending balls of fire at the Kalian troops. It appeared several columns of cavalry had pierced the enemy horde and were struggling to return to the city.
“Should we try and go around the fighting?” Darian said. “I do not think we want to be stuck between the horde and their camp.”
“I agree,” Traven replied. “Let’s circle around on the east side of the battle. Hopefully, the destruction in their camp will cause them to retreat for the night. We don’t want to be directly in their path.”
“What destruction?” Darian asked.
“The burning of their supplies.”
As much as he didn’t want to alert the galdak wielder of his presence, he could not pass up the opportunity of destroying the horde’s supplies. Darian stared at him for a moment before an understanding smile spread across the elf’s face.
“Let’s hurry,” Traven said. “It looks like the Royal Army isn’t fairing very well.”
The three resumed riding towards the battle. As they grew closer to the galdak horde, Traven steered them off of the road in a southeasterly direction. He kept a close eye on the galdak wielder as they began to pass the horde. It appeared that the wielder hadn’t noticed him yet. He looked back at the galdak camp with a nervous fluttering in his stomach. It was time to announce his return.
“Be prepared,” he said as he pulled Pennon to a stop. “There might be immediate retaliation for what I’m about to do.”
“Go ahead,” Giselle said encouragingly. “We trust in your ability to defend us against the elements.”
“And we will defend you with our lives against anything else,” Darian added with a smile.
Traven was thankful for their encouragement and support. He took a deep breath and focused on the galdak camp. He could still make out several of the large supply tents and knew in general where the others were in relation to them. He concentrated and blocked out the sounds of battle. The air above the camp began to swirl and solidify. He began by creating a large fireball over each of the farthest ten supply tents nearest the road. He then pulled them into existence simultaneously. As the fireballs ignited the night sky and began to fall, he immediately formed ten more fireballs over the closest supply tents he had seen. Before the first ten had even landed, ten more balls of fire were falling towards their targets as well.
Moments later, twenty bright fires began raging in the midst of the giant galdak camp. Traven remained completely alert and focused on the galdak wielder in the distance. If he struck, Traven would be ready to throw up a shield around himself and his two devoted servants. It didn’t take long for the galdaks at the rear of the battle to notice the flames rising in their camp. Shouts and growls soon filled the air as a large number began racing back towards the camp.
The galdak wielder stopped attacking and began retreating towards the camp as well. Traven was sure the ancient wielder had to have noticed his presence, but the galdak made no move to attack him. Instead, he seemed to be focused on the clouds above the camp. Traven watched as the elements swirled above the tents and rain began to fall. He frowned. The rain would prevent the fires from spreading and would save some of the supplies, but sufficient damage had already been done.
Traven urged Pennon forward while keeping a close watch on the galdak wielder in the distance and the fighting that continued to take place nearby. The fire and subsequent rain had effectively turned the focus of the horde to its own camp. Hopefully, the distraction would allow the Kalian Army a chance to regroup. It already appeared as if the Kalian cavalry was making easier progress. It wouldn’t be long before they made it to safety behind their lines. He swept his gaze across the field of battle and stopped as something strange caught his eye.
“What do you make of that?” he asked as he pointed.
Darian and Giselle both peered where he was pointing. While most of the galdaks were either hurrying to their camp or surging forward towards the front lines of the fighting, there was a large clump of warriors towards the middle of the horde that were focused on something else entirely.
“It looks like there might be a small pocket of humans in the midst of the horde,” Giselle said. “I am not certain, but it appears the humans are putting up quite a fight. It seems there are many galdak bodies piled around them.”
Traven squinted in the darkness, trying to make out the details Giselle had described. The beautiful elf had incredible eyesight. He couldn’t see the specifics she had mentioned, but it did look as if the small group of soldiers surrounded by the horde were in trouble. It would be impossible for such a small number to fight their way through so many galdaks. He wondered how they had managed to push so deep into the horde.
Keeping an eye on the galdak wielder in the distance, Traven placed a shield over the small area where the Kalian soldiers appeared to be. He couldn’t be sure that he hadn’t accidently trapped several galdaks in the area as well but supposed the soldiers would be able to dispatch any of the beasts that might be trapped with them. He then carefully wrapped fire around the shield. He continued to wrap the fire upward in a swirling column around the protected soldiers.
The intense heat sent the nearby galdaks fleeing in every direction. Without letting go of the raging column of flames, Traven sent a handful of bolts of lightning thundering down throughout the horde. The surprised galdaks had seen enough and turned as one to flee back to their camp. Although they had witnessed their leader wield the ambience, i
t was probably the first time any of them had been attacked with it.
Traven sent several more bolts of lightning into the retreating horde for good measure. He then contented himself with maintaining the column of fire until the galdaks had all passed the courageous group of warriors. When it appeared safe, he let the flames disappear. Thousands of galdaks continued streaming by in the distance without paying any attention to him or his elven companions. It was apparent they didn’t recognize him as the source of the magical attacks. The galdak wielder was still visible in the distance, slowly making his way towards his camp. It appeared that the majority of the galdak warriors were attempting to get as close to the ancient wielder as possible.
“That was easy,” Darian stated with his arms sticking out to the sides and an amused smile on his face. “Some fire, a few lightning bolts, and the entire galdak horde has been defeated.”
Traven chuckled at the elf’s humorous assessment. It did appear that for the moment the battle had been put on hold, but he knew the galdak horde would be back soon with the ancient wielder at its head. The retreat took quite a while, but eventually the plains began to clear. As the last of the galdak warriors trudged away, Traven led the two elves out onto the battlefield. He had dropped the shield protecting the small group of soldiers but hadn’t seen any of them begin to head back to Kavar. He was worried he might have misjudged his placement of the shield and fire and was anxious to see if the Kalian soldiers had survived.
Traven remained alert as he crossed the trampled grass of the plains. He assumed the galdak wielder would wait to face him in another duel but didn’t want to be taken by surprise if his assumption was wrong. There were a handful of dead galdak and human bodies scattered about the plain, but the majority of bodies were concentrated closer to the city. There were also huge piles of dead galdaks surrounding the area where he had created his shield. The human soldiers responsible for so many deaths were certainly incredible warriors. There were at least a hundred galdak bodies heaped up in one large circle.
“Hello!” Traven called, but no one responded.
The galdak dead were piled high enough that he couldn’t see into the center of the large ring.
“I will investigate,” Darian offered.
The elf hopped off his mount, picked his way through the carnage, and nimbly climbed up the mound of dead galdaks. He carefully approached the top and looked over the edge. A gasp escaped the elf’s mouth. He quickly looked at Traven with wide eyes before jumping into the center of the mound and disappearing from view.
“What is it?” Traven called out. “Are they okay?”
“All of this was done by one warrior alone,” Darian yelled back.
“What?” he exclaimed incredulously.
One warrior, no matter how skilled, couldn’t be responsible for all of the dead galdaks. There had to be others nearby. Perhaps they were buried among the galdak corpses. Darian’s head rose up above the mound of bodies.
“You will understand when you see him,” the elf said solemnly. “Hurry, he could die at any moment.”
There was an urgency to Darian’s voice that was not missed by Traven. He quickly dismounted Pennon and scrambled over the corpses. It was revolting to climb over the bodies, but at the moment he was more concerned with the living than the dead. He climbed to the top of the mound and jumped down next to Darian. The elf was kneeling next to a huge human body that was burnt and bloodied.
He realized with a start that it was Blaize! He threw himself down next to the mighty warrior as he whipped out the healing stone. He didn’t even pause to check Blaize’s injuries or to see if he was breathing. The necessary particles in the air began swirling quickly and zooming downward into the stone. The light of the stone shone so bright that Traven had to avert his eyes. Even with the armband of endurance, he felt his strength quickly being drained. Blaize’s injuries were unquestionably very severe.
He continued feeding the stone for a few more moments before stopping. As much as he loved Blaize and wanted to completely heal the mighty warrior, he knew if he drained all of his strength he would be too weak to face the galdak wielder. As the light of the healing stone faded and disappeared, he returned it to his pocket and began to carefully inspect the mighty warrior.
Blaize lay flat on his stomach. The clothes on his back had been disintegrated by fire. Traven carefully wiped off the blood and ashes covering his mentors massive back. The blackened burns were gone, replaced by skin that was now only a red color. Much of the blood covering him appeared to be from the galdaks and not his own. However, he did have several cuts on his arms, back, and head. All had closed up but weren’t completely healed. They would leave scars, but he was fairly sure Blaize wouldn’t mind the mementos of his magnificent fight.
Traven heaved the warrior over onto his back to allow him to breathe easier. He watched with relief as he saw Blaize’s chest rise and fall with the steady breathing of a deep sleep. It appeared he had succeeded in healing any internal or life threatening injuries. His friend would no doubt be sore and exhausted when he woke up, but other than that, he should be fine. Traven stood up and shook his head as he looked around.
“Amazing, isn’t it,” Darian said. “I knew your friend was a great warrior, but I would not believe such a tale as this if I was not looking at the aftermath with mine own eyes.”
“He was the one that taught me how to wield a sword,” Traven said with a hint of pride in his voice.
“You truly learned from the best,” the elf stated.
“I agree,” he replied. “Help me lift him out of here. We should hurry to the city before the galdaks regroup and return.”
Between the two of them, they lifted the large warrior over the heap of bodies and carried him to Darian’s horse. Blaize’s breathing was normal, but he hadn’t regained consciousness yet. Giselle stared at the limp body with curiosity as they laid him across the saddle. She studied the still form for a moment before turning to Traven. She had been keeping watch while they were attending to Blaize and reported that the galdaks were still finishing their retreat. She also said the humans had spotted them.
Traven looked towards Kavar and saw a group of cavalry riding towards them. Giselle gave Darian a worried look. Traven realized it would be the first time she had been among humans. He gave her a reassuring look and motioned for her and Darian to lift their hoods. The humans would know soon enough about the elves, but there was no need to reveal them to the cavalry at the moment.
He swung up onto Pennon and rode forward to meet the cavalry. Darian stayed on the ground and led his horse after Traven. Giselle followed, but rode so close to Darian that Traven worried the horse might end up stepping on the elf. He gave her another reassuring smile as the cavalry reached them.
“You have returned,” the lead horseman said enthusiastically. “We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.”
Traven recognized the horseman as one of Blaize’s generals. The man’s enthusiasm lessened as he noticed the commander general’s body draped over Darian’s saddle.
“He’ll be okay,” Traven stated. “He’s just tired from taking on one too many galdaks.”
Darian stifled a laugh while the general tried to determine if Traven was being serious. The ease with which he had been able to scare the galdak horde back to their camp had left him feeling hopeful despite the dire circumstances that still existed. Regardless, he supposed he really shouldn’t be joking at the moment.
“Commander General Blaize will be fine,” he reiterated. “He just needs rest. I rode hard all day and half the night to reach here when I did. It appears my arrival was none too soon.”
“That is certain,” the general responded. “Allow us to escort you to the city.”
The horsemen formed an impromptu honor guard and rode on both sides of the small party as they made their way to Kavar. Giselle kept looking nervously at the surrounding soldiers. Darian reached up and patted her leg comfortingly. She finally seemed to relax
about the time they reached Kavar but then tensed up again at the prospect of entering a human city.
The ranks of tired Kalian soldiers who were lined up on the outskirts of the city watched with curiosity and anticipation as the small party surrounded by the cavalry approached. The troops looked tired and discouraged, but there was also a hint of hope in their countenances. Traven wanted to assure them that he was there to help in their cause. He raised both hands and shot two streams of flames roaring up into the dark sky. There was a moment of silence, and then a cheer rose up among the soldiers. It grew louder until it almost shook the ground. The troops were ecstatic. They knew they once again had a powerful wielder fighting on their side.
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The Kalian soldiers parted to allow the small party to pass through and enter the city. Traven couldn’t help but smile as the troops continued cheering. It always felt great to be able to offer others hope. The troops’ spirits had been lifted. Now, he just hoped he could live up to their expectations and actually defeat the galdak wielder. He was currently feeling as optimistic about his chances as he ever had, yet at the same time he knew it would still be incredibly difficult.
The small party left the cheering soldiers behind and passed through what would have once been the gate into the city. The majestic walls of Kavar had been reduced to rubble. Traven had seen them fall through his screeing dish, but riding next to the scattered stones and seeing the remaining portions of the wall in the distance created a stronger impression of what had happened. It also reminded him of how powerful the galdak wielder was.
The eastern part of the city was mostly devoid of soldiers and full of burned and destroyed buildings. He saw several bodies of galdaks lying in the streets. Apparently, the monsters had broken through the defenses earlier in the night. He wondered if there were others within the city and if the inhabitants were safe.
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