by Tom Burton
“A false accusation concluding a false story—we suffered the same losses you have.” He stands as George draws closer. “You seem to forget, I grew up in the West the same as you, the same as everyone here. My home is burnt to the ground! All my family is dead by the hands of those monsters! I know the pain, I know the suffering.”
George glares back at him.
“Why should we help you?” he whispers fiercely.
Aaron takes a few moments before he responds.
“Because united strength is stronger.”
He breaks his gaze with George and looks at the men and women sitting around the campfire.
“Because the orcs have the advantage only in numbers. They may have been defeated tonight, but tomorrow there will be more. We can only win this war if we fight under one flag, one race. And if we don’t, I’m sure history will look back at us more sweetly if we died as one, rather than separated over distant lands.”
The men and women look at each other, seemingly nodding in agreement. George notices them. Aaron then looks back to George, more resolute than before.
“At daybreak, I will be leaving to fight with the Crown Lands. Will you fight with me?”
The men and women gathered around the campfire look to George, waiting for him to respond.
George takes a few moments. Then, he reluctantly nods his head in agreement.
Back at the royal forest, Daniel, Laura, and Jaylen remain in Jaylen’s tent, sitting around the map of Neroman,
Jaylen sighs.
“A tribe of humans lives in the sea south of here. They call themselves the Treno-Ban. They consist of warrior women who rule the island like no others can. They have lived there for centuries.”
Daniel and Laura stare at Jaylen, confused.
“How can they have lived for a millennium without any men?” Laura asks.
“There are men on the island, but they have no power; they are only slaves to the will of the women.” “So there’s a tribe of women, who I assume can fight, and you decided to keep this to yourself, even as the orc army was marching toward the capital?”
“The king had every reason to refuse calling for their aid,” Jaylen answers,
Daniel replies sharply, his voice rising: “Give me every reason then!”
“When the war of the wizards broke out,” Jaylen begins, “the Treno-Ban sided with Mutaro from the start, for they had no love of humans who were not under their flag. Once Mutaro lost, the new king elected to clear the names of the Treno-Ban for what they did, in an attempt to move forward peacefully. But the Treno-Ban turned to violence in reply, burning and raiding any village nearby, simply to display their fighting power. Eventually, the same king who had tried to negotiate peace declared war. Very quickly, the peoples of the West and the Crown Lands drove them from the mainland, and banished them from Neroman.”
Jaylen pauses. Daniel and Laura remain silent as he resumes.
“We have not heard anything of them since. The king gave specific instructions before the battle of Dellmoor that we were not to approach them, no matter what.”
Daniel shakes his head.
“I’m sorry, but the king is not here to give us those orders. We need to send an envoy asking for their support.”
“You don’t understand; history calls these people savages. The moment they sense vulnerability, they will kill us and take the throne for themselves. Or they might choose to side with Mutaro once again and hasten our downfall.”
“I understand the risk, but look around you. Do you honestly believe that a few thousands of us can defeat an army of tens of thousands and a wizard?”
Jaylen stares at Daniel for a moment then looks down.
“When the final fight comes, we need every person we can find,” Daniel tells him.
Defeated, Jaylen looks back up to Daniel.
“Okay…so how do we approach them then?”
“I’ll go,” Laura quickly says. Daniel and Jaylen look up, stunned. “If the tribe is as vicious as Jaylen claims, then we will get nowhere with a man at the head of negotiations.”
Daniel sighs.
“Laura’s right, we cannot send any men across the water. Do we have a ship?”
Jaylen answers: “The orcs have burned most of the ships down at the docks of Dellmoor, but we can check the area, try and salvage what remains.”
Daniel turns back to Laura.
“When a ship is ready, you must leave as soon as possible.”
Laura nods. Daniel and Laura then leave the tent while Jaylen continues studying the map of Neroman.
As the sun rises on a new day in the royal forest, Daniel and Kamara walk aimlessly around the campsite. After continuing on for several minutes, they hear horses neighing in the distance. Moments later, two soldiers come riding toward them.
“Rane!” one of the riders shouts. “Where is the lord commander?”
“He is at the Dellmoor docks,” Daniel replies. “What news do you have?”
“We searched as many villages as we could south of Meldom. But we found nothing…no sign of life across the Crown Lands.”
Daniel takes a moment to take in the news, then walks past the riders and heads out of the forest, toward the rubble of Dellmoor. Kamara watches Daniel walk off, and turns to the riders.
“Thank you for the news. Get some rest, we have a few big days ahead of us.”
The soldiers ride past Kamara as she looks back at Daniel.
Once Daniel reaches the outskirts of the rubble he hesitantly takes a step onto the first stones in front of him. As he does so, he closes his eyes, remembering all that had passed here. After a few long seconds, Daniel opens his eyes again and starts walking through the capital. As he walks carefully over the stones, he sees the outline of the royal castle, the main building collapsed in on itself, inside the broken castle walls. He continues on in sadness, walking over the stones of the former walls.
As Daniel walks through the rubble of the castle, he hears a metal clanging beneath him. He quickly looks down, seeing a golden hilt. He crouches down to the rubble then pulls on the hilt, revealing a sword trapped under a large stone slab.
Daniel pulls harder on the hilt and quickly withdraws the sword. He ponders the weapon for a moment. The light reflecting off the sword shines brighter than light from any other sword he has seen.
“The Sword of Neroman…”
He turns and sees Laura walking toward him.
“It was King Edmund’s sword, passed down from his father, and his father before him. All the way down to our first king. Crafted by Azdus and Goras themselves,” Laura explains.
Daniel slowly looks at the edge of the sword. A bittersweet expression forms on his face, and then he sniggers sarcastically.
“A few months ago, I was working on my farm, back in Greyshore. My biggest concern back then was when my next drink would be. Now look at us. The entire human race lies in the middle of a forest, just a few thousand of us left. How did it come to this?”
Laura looks at Daniel. Then, she starts to search through the rubble. She eventually pulls out the sheath of the sword and wipes away the dust.
“We looked to Aaron for leadership,” Laura says. “He was a Pioneer, the last of their kind. He chose to negotiate with the most powerful wizard in Neroman. Days have passed and he hasn’t returned; I fear the worst has happened, Daniel.”
“I can’t believe it…I will not!” Daniel replies sharply.
He glares at the rubble ahead of him. Then, Laura offers him the sheath.
“If he is not here to lead them, someone else needs to.”
Daniel takes the sheath and slides the sword of Neroman inside. Then he looks at Laura again.
“Are you leaving…?” Daniel asks.
“I am. Jaylen says he has found a ship that’s ready to depart. I’
ve just come to say my good-byes before I leave.”
“Okay—then let’s head to the ship,” Daniel suggests.
The two begin walking out of the rubble of the royal castle and toward the docks.
“Who are you taking with you?” Daniel asks.
“I found a few women who can handle the ship,” Laura answers, “but I will go down to the shore on my own.”
“On your own?” Daniel asks.
Laura merely nods.
“You need to be careful,” Daniel warns. “We don’t know these people. History calls these people savages—you could be walking into anything.”
“I understand the risks. But like you say, this needs to be done.”
As they continue walking through the rubble, Daniel pulls a sealed scroll from his pocket then hands it to Laura.
“What’s this?”
“It is an offering of peace to the Treno-Ban, a bargaining chip of sorts. Should the tribe accept our call for aid, and we win the war. We will grant amnesty to every citizen living on their island, and allow them back into the fold.”
As the two approach the docks, they see that they are relatively untouched by the desolation spurred by the orcs across the rest of the capital. However, only one ship sits at the docks, they see Jaylen watching on as some of the women board the ship, carrying crates of food and equipment. He turns and sees Daniel and Laura walking toward the ship.
“We have completed the final checks— the ship is ready to depart,” Jaylen tells them.
Laura looks at the ship with a worried expression on her face.
“How can we bring their battalions back on one small ship?” she asks.
“If they live on an island, they will most definitely have ships there,” Jaylen answers.
A few moments later, the three of them see Kamara walking quickly toward the ship. She has a pack on her back and two sheathed swords on her belt. “Are we ready to leave?” she asks. But as she walks past Jaylen, he grabs her arm.
“What are you doing?” Jaylen asks.
“Laura has no protection,” Kamara replies, “My experience is better with her than sitting around waiting to die.”
Jaylen shakes his head.
“It’s too dangerous, I cannot let you do this,” he says.
“What I do is not up to you,” Kamara returns.
She pulls her arm away from Jaylen and marches up the ramp to the ship while Jaylen only looks on in anger.
Daniel turns toward Laura, who looks back at him.
“Good luck,” Daniel whispers.
The two share a close embrace. They slowly release their tight hold of each other. Then Laura pulls her gaze away and walks up the ramp to board the small ship. She approaches one of the women on the ship.
“Set sail,” Laura instructs.
She then walks to the bow and joins Kamara. The two women look out to the open sea ahead of them.
“Are you okay?” Laura asks.
“I won’t be held back,” Kamara replies. “Not anymore.”
Laura nods once then leaves her.
As the sailors drop the sails on the ship and the ship slowly pulls away from the dock, Daniel and Jaylen walk along the docks, seeming to follow the ship out. Once they reach the end of the docks, they simply watch the ship sail into the distance.
“You should have told us about the Treno-Ban right from the beginning,” Daniel says.
“Any involvement relating to the Treno-Ban goes against the king’s law; forgive me if I tried to defend it.”
Daniel turns angrily to Jaylen.
“Tens of thousands of innocent people died in one city alone. And I blame those who knew this!” Daniel hisses.
He turns and walks away, storming down the docks and heading back to the Dellmoor rubble.
“Sam knew!” Jaylen shouts.
Daniel stops. He slowly turns back to Jaylen.
“Liar.”
Jaylen starts walking toward Daniel.
“A man who read books all of his life. He knew more about our history than most of the librarians in Dellmoor. Of course he would have known, yet he chose not to say anything. Would you blame him also, an innocent?”
“He didn’t ‘choose’ not to reveal it—you threatened him, didn’t you?”
Jaylen chooses not to answer. Daniel steps closer to him.
“You certainly have a lot of responsibility here,” Daniel continues, his disgust evident in the expression on his face. “Your actions may have just cost us the human race.”
Before Jaylen can reply Daniel turns and storms off the docks, rushing back through Dellmoor.
Far down the coastline, a group of orcs see the ship leaving the Dellmoor docks. A band of twelve orcs walk toward the cliffs to get a closer view.
“Fleeing, maybe?” one of the orcs suggests.
“Not possible, there is only one ship!” answers a second orc. “Perhaps they are scouting for new places to live?”
“Whatever their reasoning, we must report the ship to Redlock,” the first orc commands. “In the meantime, send the dragon.”
At the end of that same day, Laura is awoken by shouting.
“Land ahead!” one of the sailors yells.
Laura steps out of her cabin and walks onto the decks of the ship. She sees Kamara still standing at the bow. She looks on in concern, but eventually walks over to Kamara. The two see land in the distance.
“What do you suppose we’ll find?” Kamara asks calmly.
“I don’t know. But you won’t be there to find out; I’ll be going on my own.”
Kamara looks at Laura, stunned.
“You are a great fighter, Kamara. If negotiations fail here, I don’t want any more lives lost than my own. Instead, you will stay here, and turn this ship around.”
“I am not leaving you. You saved me back at Rylom…you chose not to give up on me. And for that, I will not give up on you.”
Laura smiles at her.
“I suppose there’s no argument then.”
As the ship draws closer to the island, one of the sailors approaches Laura and Kamara.
“Captain,” she says, her hands behind her back, standing tall, “your boat is ready.”
The two turn and see a rowboat ready to be lowered. Laura checks to make sure she still has the scroll Daniel provided her, then she approaches the first mate on the ship.
“Drop anchor here. If we do not come back by first thing tomorrow morning, sail back to Neroman.”
Having given her orders, she walks to the rowboat. Kamara follows behind her. The two climb over the gunwale and board the rowboat. They sit one on either side of the boat as they are lowered slowly down to the sea. Once the tackles holding their boat are released, Kamara grabs the wooden oars on either side of her and rows hard toward the island.
As they come closer to the island, they see a sandy shoreline.
“Aim for the beach, Kamara,” Laura suggests. “We can land there.”
Then, they watch as some female warriors emerge from the trees near the shoreline and start to walk on the beach. Kamara looks at her sword.
“We are here to negotiate peace terms with them,” Laura reminds her. “If we draw swords, we would then be fighting on two fronts.”
Kamara quickly focuses her attention on rowing to the shore.
When the boat reaches the shoreline, Laura jumps into the water then wades to the stern of the boat and pushes it onto the sandy beach. Kamara sets the oars into the boat then jumps out onto the beach and helps Laura pull the boat fully onto shore. Laura then looks up to see a dozen female warriors scowling back at her and Kamara. Kamara grabs a coil of rope from the bow of the boat and ties it to a nearby tree. Kamara then walks toward Laura.
“I’m glad you’re with me,” Laura whispers, as the t
wo stand side by side looking back at the warriors.
“Do you think this will work?” Kamara asks.
“It’s too late to debate now,” Laura replies.
Laura then approaches the closest warrior she sees. The warrior still scowls at Laura. Then, Laura takes out the sealed scroll and shows it to the woman.
“A message from Neroman. We have come to seek the one who leads you.” Laura informs the woman.
The woman looks her up and down.
“Follow me,” she replies, with an unfamiliar accent. She turns to walk down a small wooden path leading away from the beach.
Laura keeps hold of the scroll and turns to Kamara.
“Stay close.”
The two follow the group down the path leading them farther inland.
As the two are walking, one set of tribeswoman walk in front of them and another set walks behind them. Soon they see an open village surrounded by a dense forest. A battalion of female warriors stands in the village, blocking their path. But as the group approaches, the tribeswomen in the battalion make way for them to pass, remaining in a military stance.
Walking through the large village, Laura and Kamara grow discomfited when they see the village women scowling at them. The group eventually reaches the town hall in the center of the village. As they approach the doors, one of the women turns to Laura.
“Speak only when spoken to.”
Then she opens the door for Laura and Kamara to enter.
When they walk in, Laura and Kamara see a small throne room ahead of them. Three wooden pillars stand on either side of the room; a small hearth sits to one side of the right set of pillars. They also see a woman sitting on a wooden throne, looking back at them smugly. Six guards, all tall—and all staring sternly straight ahead of themselves, while holding their arms stiffly by their sides—stand on each side of the throne.
Laura turns to Kamara.
“Wait by the door. If things go south, get to the boat.”
Kamara stands at the door as she watches Laura walk toward the throne.
Laura watches as some of the tribeswomen from the beach enter the throne room, surrounding her. She then turns and walks toward the woman sitting on the throne. The smug woman then starts to clap sarcastically. Confused, Laura keeps walking. Stopping just before the throne, she bends down on one knee. The clapping then stops.