by Tom Burton
“Do they still only allow one hundred soldiers in the Red Riders?” Jaylen asks Mace.
“Indeed, they are still the best warriors in Neroman. No place for softness or weakness in their ranks.”
They slowly walk past the battalion. Jaylen soon turns away in another direction to look over a battalion of soldiers training with short swords. Mace and Laura follow Jaylen. He focuses on a man and woman sparring with one another. The woman is clearly the dominant fighter.
“Are you really trying?” Jaylen shouts, smiling as he does so.
The young, blonde woman turns to him, then looks away and finishes off her opponent with ease. Sheathing her sparring sword, she quickly runs over to Jaylen—and the two embrace. Mace smiles, but Laura waits silently nearby, confused. Finally, Jaylen looks over to her.
“Apologies,” he says. “This is Kamara Vance, my half-sister. Kamara, this is Laura Hutton, my right-hand woman.”
“A pleasure!” Kamara says.
Laura returns the smile.
Jaylen looks back at Kamara.
“Have you submitted your training for the Red Riders guild?”
Kamara stutters for a moment, but Mace steps into the conversation.
“We require extra training for Kamara. But, her attitude and discipline match up to those of the highest quality among the Red Riders.”
The captain’s words please Jaylen. He smiles at Kamara.
“What are you doing here?” Kamara asks.
Jaylen’s smile fades away.
“I am here on urgent orders from the king—I must speak to the lords of Neroman, who are gathering here.”
“Kamara!” the sparring partner shouts.
Kamara quickly looks back then looks back at Jaylen, seeking permission to leave.
Jaylen nods. “We will speak when I return.” The two hug and Kamara runs back to her sparring partner. Jaylen watches her spar for a few moments, proudly admiring her dominance. Then he walks toward the main facility on the base.
“You never spoke about Kamara,” Laura tells Jaylen. The two walk side by side, while Mace trails behind.
“If the people here were to find out that I was Kamara’s half-brother, Kamara might be treated differently for it—whether for better or for worse. It just seems easier to keep it quiet,” Jaylen says.
“How old is she?”
“Nineteen.”
The revelation stuns Laura.
“About to join the Red Riders at that age…it’s unheard of!” she exclaims.
Her words put a smile on Jaylen’s face.
“She’s a Vance!” Jaylen replies.
The three approach the gates of the main facility. Mace stops.
“This is where I leave you,” he tells Jaylen and Laura. The two turn around to face him. “Good luck in there! They can be a little…difficult to persuade at times.”
Jaylen and Laura do not respond. Instead, they look at each other worriedly as they open the gates and enter into the building.
A corridor leads to another set of double doors. As Laura and Jaylen walk down the corridor, they hear jeering and shouting, coming from the other side of the door. As they approach the doors, they take a moment before they walk in. Jaylen slowly opens the left door, and the two sneak into the room. They see two benches facing the speaker, seated on a large chair, presiding over the chamber. There is also an empty podium standing just before the speakers chair, facing towards the benches. There are six lords on one side of the room sitting on one of the benches, and five lords on the other side of the room. The two benches have vertical wooden panels that separate each bench into six slots; however, one of the slots on one of the benches is empty.
“The Lord of the West is not here,” Jaylen whispers to Laura. “That worries me.”
As they watch, one of the lords rises from the bench and begins to speak; the other lords listen respectfully.
“The military needs to cut back…the money saved can enable us to reduce the taxes currently applicable on the poorest of the Crown Lands, especially now that the winter is coming around.”
The lord’s suggestion is met with mixed reactions. Some lords boo and shout, others applaud. The presiding lord looks around to note the response of the other lords. He notices Jaylen. “Lord Commander?” the lord says.
The others in the room also turn to look at Jaylen, who waits with Laura before the double doors close.
“Our laws clearly state that neither the king nor anyone under the king’s guard shall enter the chamber while the chamber is in session,” the speaker observes. Jaylen looks over to the speaker. “But, I have received word from Captain Mace regarding the matter as to which our lord commander wishes to speak,” the speaker explains, “and I can assure you his matter is one that must be heard.”
The speaker’s decision is met by the shaking of heads from some of the Lords.
“The lord commander has the floor,” the speaker proclaims.
Some of the lords now begin to stand in order to show their disapproval.
“That is not our law!” one of the lords shouts. He points aggressively at the speaker of the chamber.
“He has no place here!” another lord says.
Jaylen ignores the outburst. He storms past the lord and stands behind a wooden podium, facing all the lords before him. Laura chooses to stay by the double doors. She smiles smugly at the lords as she leans against the door.
As Jaylen stands on the podium, one of the lords stands and shouts, “What do you know of politics?”
“Has the king dealt with his riots yet?” another lord snidely remarks.
Jaylen looks at this lord. “I do not care for futile politics—” he shouts “—nor for the men sitting on these benches, who are stealing a living from those who they are supposed to protect!”
Jaylen’s retort only causes more anger from the lords. They rise and start pointing and shouting at Jaylen. Jaylen can only listen as the lords get louder. Finally, the speaker stands, and the lords keep quiet.
“We are supposed to be civilized, but this is not that. The lord commander has been brought forward, and his motion must be heard—and it will be heard, however long it takes. So if everyone can take a breath and calm down, the debates that we are here for can begin.”
With that the lords slowly sit down. Jaylen calms his nerves before beginning his defense.
“We may have fundamental disagreements, yes. But I would not be here unless it was something very, very serious—which this is. I ask only for patience as I bring very dark and dangerous news to your doorstep.”
Jaylen’s words grab the attention of all of the lords in the room; now, some even lean forward in their seats.
Jaylen closes his eyes for a moment; then, he opens them again.
“We have irrefutable evidence to believe…the ancient Mutaro has resurfaced and has an army fit for an invasion.”
The lords scoff at this. Jaylen quickly tries to bring them around.
“The king has sent me and Laura to Rylom to warn of Mutaro’s rise and fortify weaker areas across the Crown Lands; we need you to pass this motion.”
Jaylen concludes his request. But the lords remain unconvinced.
“How do you know so much of this incoming invasion?” one of the lords asks.
Jaylen answers: “Around a week ago, three other companions and I were sent North to quash the rumors circulating around the capital—but what we found were anything but rumors. We went into Redlock and found an orc army, in the middle of production.”
“Orcs have not been seen in Neroman since the days of the wizards’ rule,” one of the lords tells him.
“You must at least provide evidence of these orcs, if we are to seriously consider passing this motion,” another lord suggests.
“I have no evidence to provide you,”
Jaylen reluctantly informs them.
Some of the lords shake their heads at Jaylen.
After a few moments, Laura walks toward the two benches and faces the lords.
“Dellmoor received reports of anonymous attacks taking place in the North and the West—surely that must account for something?”
Several of the lords turn to look at Laura.
“There has been hostility between the Crown Lands and the West,” one of the lords argues. “Just as it has been for decades, now with Lord of the West failing to show today, it is more reasonable to think that the feud has only grown to a level where violence is not occurring.”
Laura remains stern.
“If that were the case, then there would be a civil war, and yet we do not have one on our hands.”
“For now,” one of the lords whispers.
The other lords turn back to Jaylen.
Another lord says: “It would not be reasonable of you to ask us to pass a motion that would deliberately waste the taxpayers’ hard-earned wages to provide and maintain a fully provisioned army scattered meaninglessly across villages for a slightly possible attack sourced by a man who cannot provide any proof of the enemy’s existence.”
“The king can override this position,” Laura tells them.
Some of the lords laugh at her response.
“The king you so love and adore,” one of the lords tells Laura and Jaylen, “has allowed the West to build a great wall between the two states, and here we are cleaning up his mess. His influence over Neroman is waning faster than you both seem to think.”
Hearing this, Jaylen closes his eyes. To keep his anger at bay, he tightens his grip on the podium.
The speaker of the chamber slowly stands up.
“I think the debate on this subject is becoming too embroiled with personal insults. Jaylen, would you like to submit a request for this motion?”
Jaylen turns to face the speaker. He nods, once.
“Very well. Unfortunately, for this part of the assembly, only lords and ladies may be present within the chamber.”
The speaker points at the door, gesturing Jaylen and Laura to leave. Jaylen slowly steps off the podium and walks toward Laura. As the two leave the chamber, Jaylen slams the door behind them.
“You did everything you could in there; they would never have believed you straight away,” Laura tells Jaylen reassuringly. “It’s their job to not do anything about anything.”
Jaylen clenches his fist in anger.
“You have no idea how much I hate politics,” he says. “None of the lords in there would have given their lives for the people they claim to protect!”
“But we most hope they pass this motion, otherwise we will have lost another battle, here today,” Laura says.
An hour passes by; Jaylen and Laura are still waiting at the door to hear the verdict. The speaker steps out of the chamber and approaches them.
“The lords of the Crown Lands have left; the verdict for your motion has not been rendered.” The speaker hands a closed piece of parchment to Jaylen. “The vote was unanimous, I’m sorry.”
Jaylen stares at the speaker for a moment, then slowly opens the parchment, reading for himself that the motion failed to pass. Annoyed, he rips up the parchment viciously and then storms out of the building.
Laura quickly follows him out.
Outside of the main facility, Captain Mace sees Jaylen and Laura walking out, clearly displeased at what happened during the assembly of the lords.
“Good news?” Mace jokingly asks. But this is met by scowls from Jaylen and Laura, who walk right past him. Captain Mace follows them anyway.
“I apologize for the lords, Jaylen. They can be very difficult to convince of anything.”
Jaylen does not respond to this. Instead, he walks over to the southern bridge. Once he is on the bridge, he walks over to the wooden railing and stares down at the river below him. He then squats and rubs his head fiercely, disappointed at not being able to convince the lords of the incoming threat. Laura slowly approaches him.
“If we lose our strength in the East, the war will be over before it even begins,” Jaylen warns.
“So what do we do now, lord commander?” Laura asks.
Before Jaylen can respond, a woman runs up on the bridge. “Captain!” she shouts.
The three turn around to see the woman breathing heavily.
“We’ve found something,” the woman tells them, “come quick.”
She runs back the other way. Captain Mace and Laura run quickly behind her. Jaylen follows after them as well.
As the three follow the woman, they soon enter the area of the prison cells. Jaylen had caught up to the others. They see a crowd gathered round one of the cells.
“That’s enough, everyone!” Captain Mace orders. “I’m sure you all have jobs to be do!”
The crowd quickly disperses, as the woman enters.
The captain approaches the cell. Inside the cell, chained to the steel bars—with more chains wrapped around his body, forcing his arms on either side—is an orc.
Stunned, Laura quickly turns to the captain.
“Where are the lords?”
“They have left already — long gone!” Captain Mace tells Laura.
“Send your fastest horses after them!” Laura orders..
The captain nods. He walks quickly away from the prison cell.
Jaylen now approaches the orc. He slowly squats down, keeping his eyes on the ugly creature, who stares back at him. The lord commander sees that the orc has a wound in the stomach; someone had stabbed it in the stomach.
“What do you want?” Jaylen whispers.
The orc only laughs at him.
“You know exactly what we want. Your race is nothing but fools pretending they are heroes and legends. Your hope for survival is nothing but a fool’s hope!”
Jaylen remains unshaken by this warning.
“Your race is full of ill-made, disgusting little creatures full of envy for every race around them. You know nothing of war, and you will soon find that out if you rise against us.”
“It’s not just orcs that are going to take back what is rightfully theirs. Mutaro’s power has never been stronger; his rule will spread over this land like water over sand, and there is nothing any of you can do about it.”
“How many of you are there?” Laura asks, standing over the two of them.
The orc slowly looks up at her. “We have forty thousand in our legion.”
“Liar,” Jaylen whispers. The orc snaps and snarls at him.
“Why would we lie? You will soon see our flames of war; they will bring your death.” Even as he delivers this warning, he looks down at his wound. The life in his eyes soon begins to escape him.
“What is your purpose here?” Jaylen asks, seeing the orc’s eyes beginning to close.
“To scout,” the orc mutters.
His head slowly hangs limp as he breathes his last.
Jaylen sees his death and becomes intimidated by his warnings.
Before Jaylen can say anything else, a loud horn sounds across Rylom. Immediately, Jaylen and Laura walk out of the cell, leaving the dead orc in the prison cell. As the two head out to find what was the horn meant to signal, Jaylen sees Captain Mace ahead of him.
“Captain, what is it?” Jaylen shouts.
“Something is coming from the North,” the captain explains.
The three then look over to the northern villages. Their view is unimpeded. They hear chanting; Jaylen can see the villages are still full of civilians.
“Get everyone from the North across the bridge and into Rylom, now!”
Captain Mace musters the soldiers and gives them their orders. The soldiers of Rylom then charge over the bridge and gather the families, who soon begin to cross
the bridge back into Rylom.
“When all the families are safe,” Jaylen instructs turning to Laura, “we will mount our soldiers at the bridge: we will use our enemy’s numbers against them by bottlenecking it. I need you to gather the archers and place them on the sides of the bridge.” Laura nods. She rushes off to the base to find the archers. Jaylen then follows Laura back to the base, actively avoiding the panic around him, he sees the Red Riders gathering their weapons.
“Red Riders!” Jaylen shouts aimlessly. The battalion sees the lord commander in the distance and marches toward him.
“You will be with me,” Jaylen orders the riders in the battalion.
Soon the chants of the rallying orcs get louder and louder; smoke rises from across the northern bridge. Panic sweeps over the civilians who are still evacuating; the guards of Rylom bring everyone north of Rylom onto the base. The soldiers then blockade the closed door of the military base. Jaylen and the Red Riders move halfway across the bridge. They form a line extending across the full width of the bridge. In front of the Red Riders, six soldiers form another line across the bridge. They place their great shields in front of them, forming an impenetrable wall of shields. Some soldiers behind them place their shields above them, others place them to the side. All soldiers aim their spears and pikes outward, between the soldiers.
“Stay strong! Hold this line!” Jaylen barks.
The Red Riders chant in response:
“Hold this line!”
They repeat this line a few times, as they wait for the enemy..
Back in Rylom, Laura gathers all the archers. They rush toward the base of the bridge, where they line up on either side of it. Laura stands in the front, her bow and arrow ready. The chanting continues to grow louder.
“Steady…” Jaylen orders.
Jaylen, Laura, and the army around them suddenly see the orcs appear on the hill in the distance. Once the orcs see the villages and the Rylom base, their chants cease and they halt. The orcs simply look down upon the hill for a moment.
Jaylen and Laura keep their eyes fixed on the legion of orcs. Soon the orcs cheer. They begin to rush wildly toward the bridge. Even as they charge, their legion continues to run over the hill, their numbers ever growing. The orcs quickly burn down the villages north of the bridge.