by Tom Burton
Aaron falls to his knees.
“The visions…” Aaron mutters.
As the horn stops, the pain slightly fades. He manages to get up from his knees and make it to the front gates—but he is unable to push them. He realizes that the royal castle gates are locked from the inside.
“No, no, NO!” Aaron screams.
He looks around for help. He sees a tower next to the royal castle above him.
He grabs a wooden slab and lights it on fire using the fire sprayed by the dragon on a building next to the tower.
Then, he goes inside the tower to climb the flight of stairs.
As Jaylen and Sam run toward the broken gates, they see a battalion of orcs charging toward them. Sam draws his sword. Jaylen charges in and begins to slice them down. Sam eventually joins the fray, fighting two of the orcs. Jaylen continues to slay through the orcs, killing each one quickly. When only one orc remains, he breaks its leg then cuts the orc’s throat. Then he turns to find Sam has killed the two orcs he was up against.
“Nice.”
Sam turns to Jaylen. He holds his hand against his stomach. When Sam removes his hand, Jaylen sees he is bleeding across his stomach. Sam looks at Jaylen vacantly, then falls to the ground. Jaylen drops his sword and rushes over.
“Sam? Sam?” Jaylen cries, using his hand to keep pressure on the wound. “You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”
Sam slowly regains consciousness. He stares blankly up at Jaylen, all life gone from his eyes.
“This is the end of the road for me.”
Jaylen shakes his head at this. Sam then sets his hand atop Jaylen’s hand as Jaylen keeps pressure on the wound.
“This war wasn’t made for me, it was made for you, and Daniel Rane, and for Aaron Silver.” Tears form in his eyes. “What were our words of old…?”
Jaylen replies bittersweetly: “Born free. Live free. Die free.”
“Win this fight, Jaylen,” Sam tells him. “Win this fight.”
He slowly closes his eyes and takes his last breath.
Jaylen sheds a few tears over Sam’s lifeless body. Soon, he hears orcs coming toward him. He slowly rises to his feet then walks back to his sword. As the orcs charge toward him he, too, charges the orcs.
He screams as he slices down the first few in front of him.
Daniel, Laura, and Kamara—along with thousands of Dellmoor soldiers—rush through the streets of the city, making their way to the secret passage. A large battalion of orcs swarms in from a side street. Their surprise attack cuts off the larger part of the human army, which is now forced to fight the orcs. Several soldiers make it through, including Daniel, Laura, and Kamara.
“We must go!” Laura says.
“No,” Kamara argues. “We need to help them!”
Laura grabs Daniel and runs. A handful of soldiers escape with them. Kamara eventually follows, glancing back only once to watch thousands of soldiers get massacred.
Aaron eventually makes it to the top of the tower. He looks over to the king’s tower at the Royal Castle, and frantically waves the burning wooden slab—but this is met with no response.
In the royal chamber, King Edmund and Queen Kendra sit by the prince’s crib. The king looks toward the balcony, but cannot see Aaron’s signal.
At the top of the tower, Aaron continues to wave the wooden slab, but the fire spreads too close to his hand. He drops the slab; it falls to the ground below the tower.
Soon after Aaron drops the wooden slab, he sees orcs charging the royal castle. They are pushing the same battering ram they had used to attack the front gates of Dellmoor.
Aaron looks around. Orcs are beginning to surround the tower. He hears the dragon fly overhead, soaring quickly toward the castle. The dragon then lands on a tall building next to the tower. Aaron watches as the dragon draws its head back—its neck muscles tightening ferociously—then snaps its head forward and spits a fireball at the tower.
In his chamber with the prince and the queen, King Edmund sees the fireball charge toward the tower. The king closes his eyes in peace.
As the fireball hits the top of the tower, Aaron sees the tower fall in on itself. The damage spreads across the grounds of the entire royal castle.
“No!” Aaron exclaims. The orcs below and the dragon turn their attention to him. The orcs begin to storm up the tower stairs.
Aaron leans over the stone railing at the top of the tower; he sees a river streaming past the tower’s foundation. He then looks up to see the dragon, pulling its head back, preparing to breathe fire.
Aaron jumps over the tower just as the dragon’s fireball scorches the top of the tower.
He splashes down in the river and begins to swim downstream.
Eventually, Aaron resurfaces. He looks around. Instead of orcs, he sees the entry of the secret passage. He swims over to the riverbank and struggles to pull himself to dry land. He then races toward the secret passage—where he finds Luke Snow standing in front of the entryway.
Luke Snow looks straight at Aaron.
“You fought bravely,” Luke tells him smugly. “But you were never going to win.”
Aaron unsheathes his sword.
“What did you do to my family?” he asks.
Luke only continues smiling.
“They got the honor they deserved.”
Aaron charges him. Luke rushes Aaron as well. As the two fight, Luke transports around Aaron to gain the upper hand: he quickly disarms Aaron and throws him to the ground. Then he wraps his arms around Aaron’s neck.
“No mother, no father, no brother. You are all alone.”
“He’s not alone!” a voice behind them cries.
They turn to see Jaylen Vance.
Luke glares at Jaylen; then, he throws Aaron across the street. He lands against a building and lies there, unconscious.
“You’ve hurt too many of your own race, Luke,” Jaylen tells him.
“Humans hurt themselves, thinking they’re superior to everyone else.… Not anymore!”
“We’re not going to lose,” Jaylen tells Luke.
Angered by Jaylen’s words, Luke takes two quick steps, charging him, then magically transports himself to stand right before him. He immediately starts fighting Jaylen.
Jaylen struggles to recover from the initial shock of understanding that Luke can transport himself. But soon the fight becomes more even, as Jaylen begins anticipating Luke’s disappearance and reappearance. Luke disarms Jaylen then fly-kicks him in the head. Jaylen falls to the ground.
“Told you…you’re weak,” Luke says.
Jaylen pulls a dagger from his boot and stabs Luke in the foot, pushing the knife through the foot and into the stone fall. As Luke is stuck to the floor, he is unable to teleport away.
Lying against the building where Luke had thrown him, Aaron regains consciousness. He watches as Luke slowly falls to the ground in pain and Jaylen stands up, approaching Luke with his sword drawn.
“It is you who is weak, Luke Snow.”
He turns to see Aaron slowly getting up and begin to approach the two. When Aaron reaches them, Jaylen offers his sword to him. Aaron accepts it, and points the sword toward Luke’s chest.
“I have Mutaro on my side…who do you have?” Luke says.
Aaron softly smiles back.
“We have Azdus and Goras,” he replies.
Aaron watches the shock register in Luke’s eyes. Then, he drives Jaylen’s sword through Luke’s chest, and leaves it there.
Luke’s body collapses to the ground.
Aaron turns to give Jaylen his sword. Then he walks over to retrieve his own.
“I thought it would feel good,” Jaylen tells him.
Aaron cleans his sword using a dead body next to him.
“Death never feels good, Jaylen,�
� Aaron replies. “It only drives us down a darker path.”
He walks back to Jaylen. The two then hear a creaking noise, and watch as the entrance to the secret passageway begins to cave in. The two rush to the entrance and dive down into the dark. The entrance caves in behind them.
Aaron and Jaylen then stand up. Although no natural light found its way into the passage, a cool, eerie glow illuminated the walls, allowing Jaylen and Aaron to see.
“I can’t believe we lost the city,” Jaylen mutters sadly.
Aaron then looks at him in confusion.
“Where’s Sam—?”
Jaylen slowly shakes his head.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t protect him.”
Aaron breaks down. After his crying spell has stopped, Jaylen embraces him.
“The king…” Aaron whispers.
“I know,” Jaylen says. “It’s okay.”
The two release their hold. They hear the orcs storming past, as screams of straggling civilians can still be heard echoing from within the city.
“We couldn’t save everyone,” Aaron says.
“We so rarely do,” Jaylen replies. “Let’s go meet the others.”
The two start to walk through the passageway.
After walking for a mile, Aaron and Jaylen make it out of the secret passage. As the two resurface and start walking across a grassy plain, they turn to see fire continuing to consume Dellmoor. The dragon no longer flies over the city.
Jaylen turns to see Aaron looking on in sadness. He drapes his arm around him, and the two continue walking toward the royal forest.
Aaron then sees Daniel running toward him. Aaron runs back toward the city, and the two embrace as they meet.
“I thought I lost you!” Daniel says.
Aaron cries on his shoulder.
Laura then walks out of the forest with Kamara. They head across to Jaylen; who paces toward Kamara. Kamara smiles, and Jaylen hugs her.
“She’s a great fighter,” Laura admires. “I wouldn’t—we wouldn’t—be standing here without her.”
Jaylen looks down at Kamara proudly. Amid the calm of the forest, civilians start to come out of the woods and gather around them.
Laura then looks over to Aaron.
“Where is our king?”
Aaron shakes his head.
“The dragon consumed the tower before I could get them out.”
The crowd gasps. Several men and women, after recovering from their shock, look at Aaron in disgust.
“Easy, friends,” Jaylen says. “Aaron was the one who came to the capital with the cold visions; he is the one who went to Redlock to discover what was going on; and he is the one who encouraged the king to prepare the city’s defenses, and ordered the evacuation early enough to save as many of our citizens as possible. We are all standing here because of Aaron.”
The civilians’ disgust and shock soon fade with Jaylen’s words. They look to Aaron.
“What shall we do now, Aaron?” Jaylen asks.
Aaron takes a moment to comprehend the question. Then he looks over to the tree line, and to the crowd before him.
“We need to head farther into the woods, so there is less chance the orcs find us.”
The band of humans then slowly turn to move back into the royal forest. Kamara and Jaylen rush to the front to guide everyone into the woodland. The others—Daniel, Laura, and Aaron—remain at the back, ensuring no one follows them. Kamara then stops for a few moments. Jaylen notices.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sam…” Kamara mutters.
She turns back and begins to search through the crowd. Jaylen tries to follow her, but Kamara’s desperation leads her to more quickly pick her way through the crowd.
“Sam? Sam?” she asks with a raised voice.
As she searches through the crowd, she begins to fear the worst. Eventually, she sees Daniel, Laura, and Aaron at the back of the crowd, and Dellmoor burning behind them. As though in a daze, she begins to walk toward the ruined city.
Jaylen appears from behind her and wraps his arms around her body.
“He’s gone,” Jaylen whispers. “I’m so sorry.”
Kamara begins to wail. Jaylen slowly drags her back toward the crowd. Eventually, she starts walking beside them again.
After a short while, the human crowd makes it into the central domains of the royal forest. Aaron and Daniel look back. They are unable to see the burning city of Dellmoor, as the woodland covers the view.
“We make camp here tonight,” Aaron says.
Weary with fatigue, several civilians drop their bags. Others begin to set up tents they carried from the keep.
Jaylen walks toward Aaron.
“We will instruct the remaining soldiers to help the people with anything they may need.”
He then walks over to the soldiers ahead of him.
Aaron turns to Laura and Daniel.
“So what do we do now?” Aaron asks.
Daniel ignores this; he merely looks to the crowd.
Laura looks back to Aaron.
“One step at a time. I say we regroup in the morning.”
Aaron nods. Then he walks over to a tree and removes his armor. He tosses his armor next to the tree, then throws himself on the ground and leans his back against the tree trunk. He falls asleep virtually right away, resting his weary head against the tree.
The next morning, Daniel Rane wakes up in a tent provided to him by another man. He slowly gets up and walks out of the tent.
The woodlands block the sun shining through the campsite, but Daniel feels freshened by his rest. He begins walking through the campsite, seeing the few thousands sleep silently as the smoke continues to rise in the fire pits they had made during the night. The soldiers’ armor and weaponry are spread out across the campsite. Amid the stillness of the campsite, Daniel sees Aaron packing up a bag and sheathing his sword.
“What are you doing?” Daniel asks, coming over to Aaron.
Startled, Aaron places the bag on his back and turns toward Daniel.
“I’m leaving, heading for Redlock.”
“Why?” Daniel asks.
“The violence and bloodshed needs to stop here. So I am going to try and negotiate a cease-fire…or I will try and kill him.”
“Kill him? You do know he is the most powerful person in this country? He’s a wizard!”
Aaron remains firm.
“We cannot stay in the royal forest forever—Jaylen made it very clear that this is a short-term solution. We have a few thousand people here. At best, half of us are soldiers. Mutaro has thirty-five thousand orcs; their numbers are growing every day. This needs to be done if we are to have any chance of survival.”
Aaron’s sternness makes Daniel back down from his argument, but he continues to look at Aaron disapprovingly.
The two men start walking toward the edge of the forest.
“Did you receive the visions last night?” Daniel asks.
Aaron shakes his head.
“My visions came true last night: the assault on Dellmoor was my warning.” He sighs with relief. “I received no visions last night.”
When the two make it to the edge of the royal forest, they see the desolation of Dellmoor in broad daylight for the first time. Huge columns of smoke billow from the capital, but no orc army is in sight.
“Where do you think they have gone?” Daniel asks.
“With Luke Snow dead, perhaps the orcs retreated to Redlock to receive further instruction from Mutaro.”
“You stay safe,” Daniel says.
He turns to look at Aaron, who then looks back at him.
“You too.”
After the two embrace, Aaron checks to make sure he has remembered everything, then begins to set off to Redlock.
; “Aaron.”
Aaron turns back to him.
“Come back.”
Aaron nods then continues to walk away.
Daniel watches as Aaron becomes a smaller and smaller figure in his sight.
In Redlock, the orc army returns to the blackened city. The dragon lands on the roof of main castle, exerting a huge roar. Inside, the orc commander strides into the throne room. He finds Mutaro sitting on the throne. The wizard looks straight back at the commander as he enters.
“What news, commander?”
The commander continues walking toward the throne.
“We razed Dellmoor to the ground. But after Luke’s death, we were forced into a retreat.”
Mutaro shoots from his seat and walks toward the commander.
“Any survivors?” Mutaro whispers. “We are unsure, your grace,” the commander says timidly.
This visibly angers Mutaro.
“The one who killed Luke Snow…his story could unite the humans, make them stronger,” the orc commander informs Mutaro.
After a moment, Mutaro turns back to the commander.
“Heal the wounded, and gather every orc you can find. We are going to prepare for a full-scale invasion.”
Within the central domains of the Crown Lands, Goras trains with his melee staff outside of his hut while Azdus reads a book inside the hut. While training, Goras suddenly hears screaming inside his head. He stops his practicing to listen to the screams intently. Then he drops his staff and runs inside. He finds Azdus in one of the bedrooms.
“Do you hear that?” Goras asks.
Azdus turns and nods his head.
“The attacks can’t have started yet, surely?” Goras asks.
Goras’s eyes then turn blue, and Azdus’s eyes turn yellow as the two wizards fall into a trance, some sort of clairvoyance that allows them to see beyond the physical. The two look over the attack on Dellmoor the night before, they see the city being burnt to the ground.