by Tom Burton
“Let’s go!” Daniel orders. They sheathe their swords, and begin to run out of Meldom.
Aaron, Daniel, Jaylen, and Sam continue to run out of Meldom. They follow a narrow, muddy path leading back through the forest surrounding the burnt city. Eventually, Sam drops back, desperately trying to catch his breath. Daniel soon notices him.
“Everyone, stop!”
Aaron and Jaylen turn to see Daniel and Sam behind them. They immediately stop and walk back.
“I can’t go on,” Sam pleads.
“It’s fine, Sam,” Daniel says. ”We’ll catch our breath.”
Sam and Daniel sit down to rest. Jaylen remains standing, shifting his gaze left and right to look for anyone who might be following them. Leaving the others to themselves, Aaron begins walking away. Eventually, he sits down, leaning against a tree at the edge of the pathway. Daniel notices him and walks over to talk to him.
“Not like you to stray from the crowd….” Daniel remarks.
Aaron remains silent for a moment. Then, he looks down at the ground.
“I shouldn’t have killed him….”
Daniel puts his arm round his shoulder.
“This is not us, Aaron. We’re farmers…but now we’ve been thrown into something much bigger than ourselves. If we didn’t kill them, we’d be caught by the rebels and be executed tomorrow. Then the imminent threat in the North will go unnoticed until it’s too late, and even more men will die.”
He lifts his head back up and looks across to Daniel. Daniel proceeds to stand up. Once he is back on his feet, he offers Aaron a helping hand, which Aaron gracefully accepts.
They walk back to Sam and Jaylen.
“Ready Sam?” Daniel asks.
Sam gets to his feet. “Ready.”
Jaylen stands up, too. “We should be only a few days away now,” he says, “so keep vigilant…. I doubt any soldiers before us have made it past this point.”
The other men grab their equipment and continue walking down the muddy path.
A few days pass after the events of Meldom. Sam leads the way, with Aaron and Daniel following closely behind and Jaylen at the end.
The company notices the trees beginning to disperse. Their canopies are cut down viciously alongside the pathway, which is slowly turning muddier. Soon, the trees are so dispersed that for the first time since they entered the forest, the four men can see far ahead.
Sam immediately stops in the road.
“What is it?” Daniel asks.
Sam continues to look past the forest ahead of him. Eventually, Aaron, Daniel, and Jaylen look in the same direction Sam is looking. Black, dense smoke, rising in the distance.
“It’s true,” Sam whispers. “Redlock’s awake….”
Jaylen draws his sword. He paces in front of the group.
“Follow my lead,” he instructs. “We need to find out what is in there!”
Suddenly, they hear movements in the trees.
“Quickly!” Jaylen barks. “Rally around Sam!”
Aaron, Daniel, and Jaylen draw their swords and then surround Sam. The rustling continues in the trees around them, slowly growing louder and louder. Soon, they start to hear voices speaking in a foreign language—a language unknown to them. The voices then begin to quiet, until silence once again surrounds them. They relax, lowering their swords.
Suddenly, a creature jumps from out of the trees: a green, hunchbacked being wearing nothing but torn clothes and thrusting a curved, blackened sword. The hunchback thrusts his sword towards Jaylen. But Jaylen deflects this and plunges his sword through the creature’s stomach. Suddenly, more and more hunchbacked creatures pour out of the woods, all wearing similar attire. Aaron and Daniel are forced to fight alongside Jaylen. The creatures are slow to thrust and parry the swords, but their numbers make them a challenge for the three men. They break formation. One of the creatures goes for Sam; Jaylen takes a knife out of his belt and throws it into the creature’s neck.
“Sam,” Jaylen barks, “hide in the woods!”
Sam plucks the knife out of the creature’s neck and ducks behind a large tree trunk.
The last of the creatures disarms Aaron, Daniel drops his sword and draws his bow and arrow. The hunchback lifts his sword to strike Aaron down, but an arrow pierces his temple, shooting back out the other side. The creature falls to the ground, his arm still raised in a striking position.
Aaron turns toward Daniel. “Thank you…,” he whispers.
Daniel nods.
“You can come out now, Sam,” Jaylen shouts, struggling to catch his breath.
“What were those things?” Aaron asks, clearly in a state of shock.
“Orcs.”
The three men turn to Sam.
“In the book I was reading back at Dellmoor, the orcs served Mutaro in the War of the Wizards. Mutaro thought they were efficient, as they were made, not born.”
Daniel begins to shake his head, piecing the mystery together.
Suddenly, a hooded figure materializes in the center of the pathway. The four men turn and look at him, firming their stances and taking up offensive positions. The hooded figure raises his hands, beginning to pull his cloak down.
“Luke…” Jaylen whispers to himself.
The other three men turn to look at Jaylen.
“Hello, old friend,” Luke Snow says to Jaylen.
“Friend?” Jaylen asks sarcastically. He charges toward Luke.... Luke teleports to a spot just behind him and kicks Jaylen in the back. Then he stands, waiting for Jaylen to pull himself up from the ground.
“You’re a murderer and a traitor, Luke!” Jaylen avows as he gets up to face Luke. “You need to pay the price for that.”
“If I remember correctly,” Luke responds calmly, “it was you who betrayed me. You drove me down this path!”
Jaylen ignores his comment. He points his sword at one of the orcs, and questions, “Are these ‘orcs’ under your command?”
Daniel begins to knock an arrow.
“You killed my men,” he says aiming at Jaylen. “And you will pay the price,” Luke warns.
Daniel draws the string of his bow back then releases the arrow. Luke draws his sword, turns, and splits the arrow down the middle. Jaylen and Aaron then throw their swords and spear at Luke. But he simply teleports all of their shots to another location. Eventually, Daniel puts away his bow and draws his sword to join in the fight. But with one thrust of his sword, Luke slices open Daniel’s wrist. Daniel screams in pain, his weapon falling to the ground him Luke then kicks him in the chest.
Daniel flies through the air, his back smacking into a tree.
“Daniel!”
Aaron immediately runs to his aid. Daniel is unconscious, but breathing. Sam approaches the two.
“Go help Jaylen!” Sam shouts. “I’ll take care of him!”
Aaron turns and sees Jaylen’s spear on the ground. He grabs it and takes aim at Luke. Luke punches Jaylen in the stomach, and Jaylen falls to his knees. Luke then sets the tip of his sword against Jaylen’s neck.
“Sweet vengeance.”
Luke lifts his sword up. He tenses the muscles in his arm to thrust the sword in deep—but Aaron throws the spear at Luke. It slices Luke’s cheek.
This causes Luke to drop his sword. He presses his hand against the fresh wound. He looks at his hand and then vanishes into thin air, disappearing from their sight.
After Luke disappears, Jaylen looks toward Aaron and remarks, “Good throw.”
Aaron ignores this and returns to Daniel’s side. After a few seconds, Daniel wakes up, breathing very heavily. Aaron puts his arm on his soldier.
“What happened?” Daniel asks.
“Luke disappeared. We’re fine.”
“Who was that guy?” Sam asks Jaylen.
All three men loo
k at Jaylen. Jaylen remains standing while Sam and Aaron sit on either side of Daniel.
“A former pupil of mine whose methods of justice became more and more volatile by the day. We were eventually forced to excommunicate him from the army, to which he didn’t take well.”
Tears begin to fall down Jaylen’s face.
“Luke killed a friend of mine….” Jaylen says, struggling to comprehend his memories.
Sam stands up and approaches Jaylen. He places his hand on Jaylen’s shoulder to comfort him.
“Is he the one behind the attacks?” Aaron asks Jaylen.
“I would predict as much. He would want to accelerate a civil war between Greyshore and Dellmoor, so he and Mutaro could swoop in to take Neroman.”
“Wonderful!”
Aaron begins to lift Daniel up onto his feet. Daniel struggles for a moment but then is able to stay standing.
“What’s the plan, Aaron?” Jaylen asks.
Aaron takes a moment before he responds.
“We keep going. We need to find out as much as possible. But we are not to be seen.”
“Pack everything up, keep your eyes peeled,” Jaylen orders.
The three men gather their weapons and their other equipment and continue to walk down the path, until they finally leave the forest.
Night falls.
Hours after the orc attack, the four men of the company arrive at Redlock. They hide behind lone boulders, to avoid being seen and scout the city before them.
Redlock is a stronghold about half the size of Dellmoor. The city is surrounded by a blackened stone wall and a black gate; smoke continues to pour out of the fortress, billowing from two of the three towers behind the city walls. Even as they watch the billowing smoke, the four men of the company spot orcs, marching in and out of Redlock, carrying resources such as wood and taking prisoners inside.
“We can’t get in there, Aaron,” Jaylen whispers to Aaron.
“He’s right,” Sam says. “Let’s head back now and inform King Edmund before it’s too late!”
Aaron remains unconvinced. “We don’t know their plans yet, the cold visions didn’t bring us all the way here just for us to stop now.” He looks out to the fortress, and points at one of the towers. “There…one of the towers is not emitting smoke, it might be empty.”
Before anyone can argue, he moves toward the city wall. Daniel quickly follows. Sam and Jaylen join them. The three men follow Aaron nervously, waiting to be caught by one of the roaming orcs lurking outside of the walls. However, as they move closer, they realize that the tower is abandoned: the walls are more damaged and blackened, the stones at the top of the tower are beginning to crumble. Eventually, the four make it to the wall.
“Well spotted, Aaron,” Jaylen says.
“How do we plan to get over the wall?” Sam asks.
Aaron looks back at him then puts his hand on Sam’s shoulder.
“You’re not a fighter,” Aaron reluctantly tells Sam, “and we don’t know what we are going to find on the other side.”
“What would you like me to do?” Sam asks.
“Go back to the rocks we were at, and stay there. If the sun comes up and we have not returned, go back to Dellmoor without us. Tell everyone what you saw.”
Sam pauses for a moment, understanding what Aaron is saying, then hugs Aaron.
“Thank you,” Sam whispers into Aaron’s ear.
“For what?” Aaron asks.
“For getting my head out of the history books,” Sam answers, “and making me part of this….”
Aaron smiles.
Sam quickly departs back to the rocks. Once Sam is gone, Aaron asks Daniel, “Can you aim arrows into the walls? We can use them as a way to climb the wall.”
Daniel takes a dozen steps back, nocks an arrow, and draws back the string of his bow. He lets the arrow fly, watching it find its mark. He fires fifteen arrows in total, zigzagging them up the wall. Aaron and Jaylen then slowly climb up the wall. The arrows’ hold on the wall seems weak, but the arrows manage to hold. Daniel then starts the climb up behind the other two men. Suddenly, they spot a group of orcs, walking down the wall. The men stop immediately. As they dangle high up on the wall, some of the arrows begin to crack under the pressure. Daniel’s left foot breaks the arrow beneath it, and he holds onto the other two arrows. But the orcs don’t hear.
Once the orcs are out of sight, the three continue up the wall. Eventually, they make it to the top and look around.
“No one’s here,” Jaylen whispers,
“Let’s keep moving,” Aaron suggests.
The three men move down the staircase, onto the grounds of Redlock.
Back at Dellmoor, it starts raining. Outside the gates of the royal castle, protests begin. Screaming and jeering pierces the peaceful night; a small mob of men raise their pitchforks into the air. More guards are posted at the wooden gate than before. In the king’s chamber, King Edmund watches the protest from the window in the tower. One of the royal guards enters the room. He bows down to the king.
“Pardon, your grace.”
“Speak…,” the king instructs.
“It’s the protests, sir.” The guard hesitates. “They are saying that the Lord Commander has abandoned us…they are saying that their king is failing them.”
The king responds with complete silence. He just continues to look out of the window.
Eventually, the guard bows and walks out of the room.
Laura enters.
“You wanted to speak to more, your grace?”
The king turns to her. “Yes, Lord Commander, do come in.”
Laura closes the door behind her, remaining in a military stance.
“You were training Daniel Rane before he left with Aaron Silver, correct?” King Edmund asks.
Laura replies sternly: “Correct, your grace.”
“Do you think he can protect Aaron?”
Laura pauses. “Why is Aaron the one who needs protecting, your grace?” She relaxes her military stance, being more forward with the king. However, the king doesn’t respond, he only walks back over to the windows, watching the protests continue.
“I understand that the quest is on a need-to-know basis, but if I’m the Lord Commander of this city, then I need to know!”
The king then sighs.
“Aaron could be the key in the war to come, whether that is ‘man versus man’ or ‘man versus nature.’ We need him on our side.”
“Then Daniel will protect him.” The king smiles. “Thank you, lord commander. That will be all.”
Laura resumes her military stance. Then she leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.
Once Laura has left, Queen Kendra appears from one of the rooms within the royal chambers.
“Don’t do this to yourself, Ed,” the queen tells her husband.
The king sighs.
“What am I doing wrong?”
Queen Kendra walks to him, wrapping her arms around his chest.
“You are faced with something no other king has faced…. Stop being so hard on yourself.” She kisses him on the cheek then goes to bed.
Back at Redlock, Aaron, Daniel, and Jaylen walk through the abandoned tower. They see no sign of orcs…no torches…no light. Just the walls, which are slowly crumbling around them. Then Aaron spies a staircase, leading into a tunnel.
“Over there,” he whispers, pointing toward the staircase.
“That will take us further into Redlock,” Aaron deduces.
The others nod. They begin to climb up the stairs. After they get to the top, they enter the small tunnel. Aaron enters first, followed by Daniel. Jaylen goes in last, checking behind him to see if anyone has seen them.
The tunnel is small and narrow. They are forced to crawl through it on their stomachs. As they crawl, t
hey see light at the end of the tunnel.
“What’s that?” Jaylen asks.
The tunnel begins to grow wider and wider, until the three men can crawl side by side. The light gets brighter and brighter, until they arrive at the end of the tunnel. Here there is a high view of a hall. Inside the hall, a military operation is underway: orcs hammering away at large anvils, forging swords. More orcs laboring at huge furnaces glowing with white heat, trees fully grown lying on one side of the hall, ready to be burned. And they see battalions of orcs being trained to fight.
“Look how many there are!” Jaylen says.
“This is a military operation at its finest!” Daniel replies.
Suddenly, a huge roar erupts from another part of the fortress. The roar shakes everything in the hall.
“We need to go…now!” Aaron commands. The three slowly climb out of the tunnel, making their way down the stairs. They see a lone orc walking around the grounds at the bottom of the staircase. Jaylen immediately checks the surrounding areas then, seeing no other orcs, stealthily approaches the one lone creature. He grabs the orc by the neck and pushes it against the wall, disarming it in the process.
“What are you doing here?” Jaylen asks the orc. “Answer me!” He releases his tight grip on the orc’s neck.
“You’ve seen it for yourself, haven’t you?” the orc asks. Jaylen doesn’t respond. The orc continues: “You know, you’re outmatched in every way. You don’t have the men, you don’t have the weaponry, and you don’t even have a challenging leader….Say good-bye to your families and your loved ones, because soon they’ll be gone. Just like you.”
Jaylen draws his sword and presses it against the orc’s neck. The orc screams for help, but Jaylen pushes the sword clean through the creature’s neck, taking its head off.
“Someone will have heard that,” Daniel warns.
“Then, let’s go now!” Aaron instructs.
The three immediately go back over the wall from the one that they climbed over before. They make it back to the rocks. They find Sam, sitting on the ground and leaning against one of the rocks.