Elvangar

by Richard S. Tuttle

  “Almost everyone would succumb to basic human greed in such a situation,” interjected Yltar. “If not greed, then the fame would go to their head. Do not think poorly of those you cross off the list of those who might be eligible,” smiled the head shaman. “People are not perfect. We all have faults although we tend to hide them most of the time. Kaltara is guiding you and using you as a tool. He will keep you from becoming vain and seeking riches. Do not fight our God.”

  “I won’t fight it,” conceded Rejji. “I think the worst part of his pronouncement is what others will think of me. Because others would love to be in such a position, they will think that I have connived my way into power.”

  “Some will think that,” agreed Emperor Marak. “That is inevitable, but it means nothing. Kaltara has chosen you because he knows that you will act for the benefit of the people, not yourself. Accept it and move on.”

  Nods and encouraging murmurs went around the table. Finally Rejji nodded in acceptance.

  “I will do what Kaltara commands me to do,” declared the Astor. “I may not like some of the demands, but I will carry them out regardless.”

  “How are the Qubari going to accept the move?” Wyant asked Chief Dumo. “They did not appear to be happy with the pronouncement.”

  “They are not happy about it,” agreed Dumo. “I cannot blame them. We gave up our lives in Angragar and were banished to this jungle as protectors of the ancient city. We were not happy with the change then either, but we obeyed. We will obey this time as well. Can the same be said for the Fakarans?”

  “I was wondering that myself,” shrugged Wyant. “We have lived pretty much as nomads since the beginnings of our memories. The tribes have adjusted well to Rejji’s plans to rebuild the country, but Angragar will be different. The tribes have no real feel for Kaltara. We do not know of him. When they learn that Rejji is making decisions based upon visions from some god, they may revolt. They are not a very religious group.”

  “They need to learn about Kaltara,” suggested Lyra. “He is their only hope of survival. I have the same problem with Omungans, and I am sure that the Torak is in the same position in Khadora. How do we get our people to know God?”

  “An excellent question,” mused Emperor Marak. “It could be done over time by constructing temples and enabling priests, but we have no time for that. My hands are full just trying to get the clans to train together. We don’t have much time.”

  “Perhaps that is the reason for Kaltara’s call for the Three to go to Angragar,” Rejji said as he finished a bowl of stew. “He spoke to me about the need for us to go Angragar within a few days. I suspect that he has something to say to all of us.”

  “I had that feeling as well when he told me to organize the trip,” nodded the Torak. “Perhaps we should ask this question of Kaltara when he speaks to us.”

  “Were those few days from when you woke up?” asked Yltar. “Or was it from when you first entered? You were inside for three days.”

  “It was before I slept,” answered Rejji, “but I do not think the timing matters much. He knows that the three of us are here in the jungle. He knows our destination. The timing will be up to us.”

  “Is there any reason to wait?” asked Lyra. “I am anxious to see this painting that was described to me.”

  “We need a plan,” answered Emperor Marak. “We are tasked to kill hundreds of hellsouls. While the army of the Qubari may well be needed for this task, I am loathe to send hundreds of warriors into the city without a viable plan.”

  “My men will fight valiantly,” Chief Dumo declared. “We will scour every street and every building to make that city safe for our families.”

  “I have no doubts about the abilities of your warriors,” smiled the Torak. “I have seen them in action. I am concerned with so many people entering the city at one time. I think there would be many deaths, and the Qubari will be needed to fight the evil. We should discuss this before we depart.”

  “Could we make it to the temple and slowly eliminate the hellsouls one at a time?” asked Rejji. “They do not seem to want to enter that building.”

  “That might take a long time,” frowned Emperor Marak, “and time is not on our side. However, your question brings a thought to mind. If a small group of us entered the city and let it be known that we were in the temple, a larger force could then enter the city and attack them from behind.”

  “A trap,” Wyant nodded enthusiastically. “I like it. The small group stays in the temple long enough to make sure that all of the hellsouls gather around the building. Then the Qubari warriors attack from behind. It would be a slaughter.”

  “That does sound like a good plan,” nodded Chief Dumo. “We will need to keep the gates of the city open to allow the Qubari army in, but that will not matter. Any hellsouls trying to sneak out will be vanquished by my men.”

  “When can we all be ready?” asked Rejji.

  “Tomorrow morning would be fine,” answered Chief Dumo. “Who will be in the small group?”

  “I think twelve would do,” replied Emperor Marak. “It is large enough to draw their attention, and yet small enough to keep together if we have to make haste. How about the Three, and three more chosen by each of them? That would give us twelve.”

  “That conveniently coincides with your instructions for the size of an escort in the first place,” grinned the Star of Sakova. “Did you have this all planned before you left Khadoratung?”

  “I had a vision of it before I left,” conceded the Torak. “In fact, I knew who you would bring before you told me their names.”

  “What else did you see?” Yltar asked with suspicion.

  “I do not believe that my visions are absolute,” retorted Emperor Marak. “Just because this one has turned out to be accurate so far, does not mean that the visions are an unimpeachable picture of the future.”

  “You saw death in your vision,” accused Yltar. “Didn’t you? Who dies?”

  “It is not something that I will discuss,” declared Emperor Marak. “I cannot say for certain that I saw death in the vision. Let us leave it at that.”

  Chapter 10

  Angragar

  The Qubari army halted outside the gates of the ancient city Angragar. Hundreds of Qubari warriors with wicked-looking spears, which sported long sharp blades, lined the road on both sides. Rejji led the chosen twelve up to the gates. MistyTrail, Mistake, Eltor, and Caldal followed.

  “See the ruined buildings,” Mistake said to Eltor. “They are unchanged after thousands of years. You can still see the boulders that the elven siege machines threw over the walls.”

  “The boulders are there,” conceded Caldal, “but that does not verify that elves put them there. They could just have easily come from human sieges engines.”

  “Be quiet, Caldal,” MistyTrail said irritably. “I have heard enough human bashing for one lifetime.”

  Caldal looked shocked at the reprimand, but Eltor shook his head knowingly. He reached for Mistake’s hand and held it. She turned and looked at him questioningly.

  “I do not like the thought of you going into the city without me,” Eltor said softly. “I would like to guard you. Do you think the Astor would allow it?”

  “I have not been chosen to go into the city,” frowned Mistake. “I will be staying here with you.”

  “But I thought you were one of Rejji’s chosen?” replied Eltor.

  “Not this time,” sighed Mistake. “Bakhai and Mobi will go in as they did last time, but Wyant will be taking my place. I guess Rejji feels it is necessary that one of the Fakaran tribesmen see the city. I wish he had chosen me.”

  “Perhaps he has not chosen you because he does not want you hurt?” countered Eltor. “You are close to him, aren’t you?”

  Mistake looked into Eltor’s eyes and saw fear in them. It was not the fear of being at Angragar that she saw. It was the fear of losing Mistake to another man. She smiled sympathetically.

  “We are close,�
�� admitted Mistake. “Rejji and I met when his village was destroyed by Jiadin bandits. They killed everyone except Rejji. We have been through a lot since then, Eltor. We were captured by the tribes and sold into slavery in Khadora. We were captured and sentenced to die by the Qubari. We met the Sage of the Mountain and flew on the back of a dragon. We were together when Angragar first opened to Rejji’s touch. Yes, we are close. I know that is not the real question that you want answered, but I have no answer to give you for the other question.”

  “Do you mean that you do not know if you care for him?” asked Eltor. “Or is it that you do not know if he cares for you?”

  “I am not sure of either,” admitted Mistake. “As it stands, we are extremely close friends, maybe more, but I don’t know. I feel confused every time I think about it.”

  “Is there any hope for me?” asked Eltor. “Do I fit into your future plans at all?”

  “I can’t answer that,” sighed Mistake. “I have grown rather close to you as well, Eltor, but I sometimes wonder what that feeling really is. Am I just excited to know an elf? Am I just thrilled to be thinking about a trip to Elvangar, the land of the lost elves, or is it something more personal? I just don’t know. I am confused.”

  “I understand,” Eltor nodded and smiled weakly. “There are no conditions to my offer to take you to Elvangar. I want that known up front. If you do decide to come with us, I will not take that as any commitment to me. I want you to be happy, whatever path that may be. I will even understand if you chose to remain behind here. Even though you are an elf, you have the right to choose your own life. I will try to respect your decision.”

  “Try to?” asked Mistake.

  “Well, yes,” grinned Eltor. “If you decide to stay and do not marry Rejji, I might be forced to form an elven raiding party to come and kidnap you.”

  Mistake laughed and squeezed Eltor’s hand. “Thank you for saying what you did, Eltor,” she smiled. “I know that it must have taken a lot of courage to say those words. It shows that you truly care about me. I shall never forget them.”

  “They are going in,” MistyTrail said excitedly as she pointed to Rejji approaching the massive gates. “I wish Lyra had chosen me. It is so exciting.”

  The Astor approached the gates and turned to make sure that everyone was ready. He then turned and placed his hand on the gates. They swung open at his touch. The twelve chosen walked through the gates. Rejji turned and looked at the Qubari army on the other side of the gates. He fought the temptation to touch the gates again and make them close. Leaving them open just seemed wrong to him, but he turned and joined the others.

  Emperor Marak took the lead with Gunta and Halman flanking him and a step behind him. Axor followed close behind the Emperor. Lyra, Rejji, Bakhai, Temiker, and LunarSigh formed the middle of the procession. Behind them came Mobi, DarkBlade, and Wyant.

  “We will try to get to the temple with as little fighting as possible,” announced Emperor Marak. “If we must fight, everyone stay together. Our goal is the temple, not to see how many we can kill.”

  The Torak led at a moderate pace. He did not try to hurry, but neither did he dally. He proceeded at the fastest pace that would allow for stealth from each of the members of the group. They advanced over six blocks before the first hellsoul was sighted.

  “Three blocks off to the right,” Gunta said softly. “It was a single hellsoul.”

  The Torak merely nodded and continued at a steady pace. Just before the intersection two blocks later, Marak held up his hand and gave the signal for hellsouls. The group tensed. The Torak marched into the intersection and immediately swiveled to face his left. Gunta moved swiftly to stay on Marak’s right, while Halman slowed to avoid showing himself.

  Three hellsouls shrieked and charged. The Torak stepped forward and sliced into the lead hellsoul. He disappeared in a puff of smoke. Gunta repeated the procedure on another hellsoul by decapitating him with one stroke. Halman stepped around the corner and struck at the third hellsoul, which was trying to attack Marak from the side. The hellsoul went down under Halman’s strike, but the head was not totally severed. Halman stepped forward and completed the task, sending up another wisp of smoke. The Torak immediately turned and continued the path toward the central square. Gunta and Halman resumed their places.

  “This is almost identical to the last time we were here,” frowned Gunta. “Would they use the same strategy each time?”

  “No,” answered the Torak as he nodded ahead. “They are more ready than they were the last time.”

  The street in the distance was already clogging with hellsouls. Shrieks echoed from every direction, and more than one member of the group muttered an oath under his breath.

  “We are turning to the left at the next intersection,” Emperor Marak declared loud enough for the whole group to hear. “Close up the group now, and be prepared for a quick stop as soon as we are out of sight.”

  Everyone moved forward until the group was compact. Emperor Marak turned left at the next corner and stopped when he felt there was enough room for everyone. As soon as he stopped, he turned around.

  “Turn around and reform,” ordered the Torak. “This will not be much of a diversion, but it will gain us a few blocks.”

  Halman moved to the corner and peered around it as the group reformed into their original positions. They stood silently for a moment until Halman waved the group forward.

  Emperor Marak led the group out of the side street and continued marching across the wide boulevard. After he had gone an additional block, he turned to the left onto another wide avenue that paralleled the original one. There were no hellsouls in sight.

  “They will wise up soon enough,” Gunta commented softly.

  “I know,” replied the Torak. “Let’s take each block as we can. This avenue is the one that runs directly in front of the temple.”

  They made three more blocks before the hellsouls managed to discover where they had gone. Shrieks rang out from their left as they passed through another intersection. Halman looked to his left and saw a large crowd of hellsouls moving towards them.

  “The bulk of them are no longer before us,” Halman reported softly. “They are off to our left.”

  “There will be more ahead of us,” replied the Torak, “but be ready for anything.”

  They made two more blocks before a worried voice came from the rear of the procession.

  “There is a large group following us,” Wyant reported loudly. “Very large.”

  “And there are some at the next intersection in front of us,” added the Torak as he felt his sword warming in his hands. “I can feel them. We may need the help of you in the rear to get out of this.”

  Mobi immediately turned and ran up behind Halman. DarkBlade understood the move. He also went to the left and advanced, but not quite as far. He kept pace alongside the middle of the procession, making sure the Star of Sakova was protected. Wyant remained the sole rear guard. As the Torak stopped into the intersection, he saw a large group of hellsouls coming towards him from the left.

  “Stay on the lead, Gunta,” ordered the Torak as he separated from the group and claimed the center of the side street.

  As Halman moved into the intersection, Marak edged slightly to the right to make room for him. They guarded the left flank of the procession as Gunta kept the group moving forward. The hellsouls attacked.

  The Torak swung his long sinuous blade back and forth as he continued to edge to the right. Puffs of smoke rose rapidly as the Sword of Torak ripped through the hellsouls. Alongside Marak, Halman chose his swings carefully. His long sword reached out and decapitated hellsouls as they approached. Mobi soon joined him with his long spear slashing into the hellsouls. He aimed for the neck, but he struck so swiftly that some hellsouls fell to the ground with their heads intact. Whenever he could, he slashed at the necks of the fallen hellsouls as well as the advancing ones.

  Suddenly, brilliance lit the air. Axor tossed a light blad
e at the charging hellsouls. He aimed it at shoulder height. The blades of light ripped into the hellsouls, several columns of smoke drifted upward at the same time.

  “Excellent,” shouted Temiker as he watched the display. “It does not matter much how the heads come off.”

  “Aim neck high,” cautioned Axor as he released another light blade, “And don’t strike our own men.”

  “Marak!” shouted Gunta as he saw the crowd of hellsouls forming in front of him, “I need you.”

  The Torak looked over his shoulder and saw DarkBlade moving into the intersection. The group was half way through the intersection. With a final slash at the nearest hellsoul, the Emperor turned and ran towards the front of the procession. Halman immediately moved to the right, as did Mobi. Temiker turned and sent a light blade streaming past Wyant and into the group of hellsouls that were following them. Several puffs of smoke appeared and the hellsouls hesitated in their approach. LunarSigh joined Axor by sending light blades into the side street.

  “Warriors forward,” instructed Lyra as she saw the group in front of them. “Leave the side street to the mages.”

  Halman and Mobi dashed forward. DarkBlade faded back to join the procession alongside Lyra before moving forward. With the warriors out of the way, the mages sent light blades streaming into the side street. The hellsouls broke and ran. The humans turned to attack those behind them, but that group had stopped following them.

  At the front of the procession, Marak raced back to the lead spot just in time to help Gunta with the first of the hellsouls. The procession halted as the two warriors tried to stop the creatures from advancing. Halman, Mobi, and DarkBlade soon appeared and formed a united front across the avenue. As soon as the five warriors were in place, the Torak called for them to advance.

  Four long swords and a spear lashed into the crowd of hellsouls as the group began moving forward again. DarkBlade’s vicious severing of heads soon earned the admiration of the other warriors who had faced the hellsouls before. For several minutes the five warriors pushed into the mob of creatures, lopping off heads with almost every stroke. The swords of the hellsouls were too short for them to effectively defend themselves. The long two-handed swords struck before the creatures could do any damage. After several minutes, the hellsouls turned and ran.