"I do," nodded Alex. "In battle, any outcome is possible."
"Maybe," Fredrik said, "but I do not see the benefit of starting a battle with demoralized troops."
"Demoralized?" echoed Alex. "You misunderstand the situation. Our troops are not demoralized. They merely understand the long odds of victory." Alex turned and waved to a Red Sword who was passing by. "This is Randi Witzak. Randi, give us your thoughts about tomorrow's battle."
"Well," Randi shrugged, "sometime tomorrow a bunch of uglies are going to gather before our walls. They are going to charge and attempt to kill us and destroy the city. We are going to try to kill them. That is the short version."
"And will you be victorious?" asked Fredrik.
"Hard to say," shrugged Randi. "The odds are hard against us. It is bound to be a bloody battle in any event. I will say this, though, even if we lose, there won't be much left of the uglies to go around and attack other people."
"You win," Fredrik laughed and shook his head.
"Thanks, Randi," smiled Alex as he slapped the soldier on the back and sent him off.
"These are good soldiers, Fredrik," Alex declared.
"So this is where you have been hiding," Niki said as she walked to Fredrik and stood beside him. "I looked all over for you."
"Sorry," Fredrik smiled to his bride. "We were just talking about what may happen tomorrow."
"Everybody is," frowned Niki. "Did you hear about the two mage towers they built?"
"We saw them on the way into the city," nodded Fredrik. "I heard that Jenneva will be in one of them, but nobody seems to know who will be in the other one. Do you know, Alex?"
"That decision is up to King Arik," Alex replied.
"I bet it is you," Niki said proudly. "You might even be a better mage than Jenneva now that you had all those lessons."
Fredrik blushed and looked at Alex apologetically. "A few lessons will never match the years of devotion and study that Jenneva has put into her magic," he responded. "I would be very happy if I could ever get close to her proficiency in the arts."
"Let's go ask the king," Niki suggested enthusiastically.
"Sorry, Alex," Fredrik said sheepishly as Niki dragged him away.
The king was surrounded by dozens of people, and Niki found it hard to penetrate the crowd, but she finally managed to drag Fredrik to a point a few paces behind Arik and Tanya. Tanya saw the couple and made her way out towards them.
"Fredrik! Niki!" greeted Tanya. "It has been a long time. You must tell me all about your travels with Master Khatama and your wedding."
"Maybe latter," Niki replied. "We need to speak to the king right now."
"I don't think that will be possible right now," shrugged Tanya. "He has been talking to everyone all evening, and he just mentioned to me that he needs to get rid of the mug of ale that he drank earlier. He will be back soon though, and I will make sure that you get a chance to speak with him."
As Tanya spoke, the crowd parted and King Arik made his way into the Royal Palace. Niki pouted, but Fredrik looked at Tanya and smiled.
"I have had some great lessons," he said. "Master Mustar taught me much, as did Podil and Balamor. They are very talented mages."
"I am not familiar with their skills," Tanya replied. "You must tell me about it."
"Of course, you aren't," retorted Niki. "They are great mages. You would not even understand what they are talking about. Warriors can never understand magic."
"That is not nice, Niki," scolded Fredrik. "If Tanya is interested, I would gladly tell her about my lessons."
"What is wrong with what I said?" countered Niki. "Tanya has never understood magic. She always laughed at me when I used magic. She cannot understand how hard it is to control."
"I never laughed at you," frowned Tanya. "If anything, I tried to help you, but you would never accept any help. I do not understand why you dislike me."
"I apologize for Niki," shrugged Fredrik. "Please do not take what she says personally. Her heart is big, but her way of expressing herself is rude at times."
"I take no offense," soothed Tanya. "I have always known that Niki thinks differently than most people. I just don't understand what I did to make her hate me."
"I don't hate you," scowled Niki. "And you two don't have to talk about me as if I was not here."
"I apologize, Niki," smiled Tanya.
Niki's eyes enlarged as she stared at Tanya. "Really?" she said.
"Yes, really," Tanya smiled. "I guess I can be rude at times, too. I shouldn't be."
"I like it better when you two get along," chuckled Fredrik. "We wanted to see King Arik about the mage towers. Do you know who is going to occupy them during the battle?"
"I do know," nodded Tanya, "but it has not been announced yet."
"Can you tell us?" pleaded Fredrik.
"I would prefer not to," Tanya replied as she glanced at Niki.
"I think Fredrik will be one of them," brightened Niki. "His skills are impressive now."
"You assume that the best two mages will occupy the towers," Tanya said diplomatically. "That need not be the case. Also, Fredrik was not in the city when King Arik drew up his battle plans, so I doubt that he could have counted on Fredrik being in one of them."
"I hadn't thought of that," Niki conceded. "So Fredrik will not be in one of the towers. What part will we play in the battle?"
"I understand that you have great skills with animals, Niki," responded Tanya. "I should think that skill might prove to be very valuable tomorrow. Have you ever tried communicating with yaki?"
"No," replied Niki. "I do not like yaki. They tried to kill me once."
"I remember that day," nodded Tanya. "It was scary."
"I could be of help on the wall, I suppose," stated Fredrik. "Maybe with shields or illusions?"
"It is important that we understand your new skills," Tanya said enthusiastically. "You may be of great help tomorrow. Perhaps I can get Arik to set aside some time to discuss this."
"That sounds great," grinned Fredrik. "Let's do it."
Tanya led Fredrik and Niki into the Royal Palace. As they entered the main corridor, they saw King Arik emerge from a room. Tanya called to him, and he came towards them.
"Fredrik has new skills," Tanya announced. "I think we should know his capabilities before the battle."
"An excellent idea," nodded the king. "Why don't you talk with him and discover how he can be of help. I have to meet with Prince Garong and Prince Darok. They are both rather angry with me, because I have not been allowing them to protect me as they feel a need to. Join me in the library when you are done."
King Arik turned and walked away. Niki frowned and pouted as if she had just been slapped across the face.
"How rude?" Niki scowled. "He acted like we weren't even here. He only spoke to Tanya. How would she be able to evaluate your skills?"
"I don't think…" Tanya began.
"I did want to ask him about the mage towers," frowned Fredrik.
"You don't…" tried Tanya.
"I wonder if we should even be helping King Arik," stormed Niki. "He certainly doesn't appear to care about us. Maybe that is why Master Khatama is no longer working to see the Ancient Prophecy fulfilled."
"Let me explain…" attempted Tanya.
"We should return to Master Khatama and help him work against King Arik," steamed Niki. "We should…"
All of a sudden Niki's voice halted, although her mouth kept moving. Her eyes widened in fear and her hands began shaking as she pointed to her mouth. Fredrik's eyes darted along the corridor in both directions and two throwing daggers slipped into his hands.
"If the two of you will just let me explain," sighed Tanya.
"That is not important right now," Fredrik said softly. "Someone is trying to attack us."
"There is no attack," Tanya said, her voice rising in frustration. "I silenced Niki, just as I have on numerous occasions in the past."
"You silenced Niki?" Fredrik as
ked in surprise. "But that is impossible. Only a mage can do such a thing."
"Finally," sighed Tanya as Niki's eyes stared at Tanya as if she had seen a ghost. "That is what I have been trying to tell you. King Arik did not ignore you. He left you in the hands of someone who is quite capable of evaluating your magical skills. I will be the second mage to occupy the mage towers."
"Release Niki," demanded Fredrik.
"Oh, that witch," Niki blurted out as she rushed to Fredrik and threw her arms around him.
"So it is true," Fredrik said with surprise. "You are a mage. You hid it exceedingly well, but why?"
"That is a long story, Fredrik," shrugged Tanya. "I would prefer to still keep it a secret, but I fear that is not possible now. I will tell you the whole story, but not at this time. There is too much to be done tonight."
"How can you stand there and talk to that witch?" asked Niki. "You saw what she did to me. She is trying to kill me."
Fredrik slid his throwing daggers back into their sheathes and placed his hands on Niki's shoulders as he pushed her away to arm's length.
"She has never meant to harm you," soothed Fredrik. "At times you do not know when to stop talking. Her acts were meant to stop you from saying things that you truly don't mean to say. Calm yourself."
"Thank you," Tanya said softly. "I truly never meant to hurt Niki. Or any of the old Alcea Rangers for that matter."
"I know," nodded Fredrik. "You must have considerable skill to be selected for the mage tower. I want to know your whole story and tell you mine so that we can work well together, but I must now take my leave to comfort Niki. Can we meet later tonight?"
"Certainly," smiled Tanya. "I will go to the library and attend to King Arik. You can find me there when you are ready to talk."
Fredrik put his arm around Niki and walked her towards the gardens. Tanya sighed with relief as she hurried to the library. When she got to the library, King Arik was just entering.
"I got distracted again," King Arik shrugged with embarrassment. "I cannot walk the length of a single corridor without someone wanting me for some reason."
"So goes the burden of office," giggled Tanya. "At least you didn't have to cast magic on Niki to get a word in edgewise."
"You didn't?" chuckled the king.
"I am afraid that I did," admitted Tanya. "She is quite shaken up."
"The image of your encounter brings back fond memories," laughed the king as they entered the library together. "It has been a long time since I saw Niki gagged."
"At last," fumed Prince Garong. "I thought perhaps you had slipped out of the city again."
"My apologies," King Arik smiled sheepishly. "I really am not trying to avoid you. Look, I know that you are upset about my running off without you, but I must do what I feel is necessary. There is often not enough time available to take you with me."
"Prince Garong is just upset about missing out on all the action," grinned Prince Darok. "We dwarves have learned to be more patient in our endeavors."
"Sluggish would be more like it," retorted the elf prince. "We elves take the protection of Valon to be our most important duty. We will devote ourselves to it with fervor."
"We'll not be outdone by some skinny forest critters," growled the dwarf prince. "It will be a dwarf that saves Garala. You mark my words."
"I am glad to see that the two of you are still getting along so well," grinned King Arik. "If it matters at all, I am in Tagaret now and not planning on going anywhere until we defeat Sarac's army. Both of you can surround me with your protection all the time now. Just keep your hands off of my food plate."
"How can you have humor at a time like this?" questioned Prince Darok. "Everyone else thinks that we will all die tomorrow."
"What is life without a little humor?" retorted the king. "Whether we die tomorrow or not, my humor will have nothing to do with the outcome. Are the two of you really upset with me? You know that I have just been doing what must be done."
"We are not upset with you," admitted Prince Garong. "We are upset with ourselves. Our task is not only to protect you, but also to assist you defeating the Dark One. We have been a failure, through no fault of our own, at the first objective. We need to discuss our efforts in regards to the second objective."
"I am sure that you will fight to death like the rest of the people of Tagaret," sighed King Arik. "I would release you from your vow and let you leave the city if I thought for a minute that you would accept the offer."
"But you know that we will not," affirmed Prince Darok. "Our vow is more important to us than you realize. Our peoples and yours are one in the same. We are all Alcean, not just the humans. This is a point that I think you either have not grasped, or you keep forgetting."
"He is right," agreed Prince Garong. "While Darok and I may fight amongst ourselves, we do so as brothers now because of our common vows to you."
Suddenly, a shrill horn blasted through the air. The noise echoed off every stone in the Royal Palace and reverberated for several long moments.
"Enemy sighted," worried the king. "They were not expected until morning. I must get to the watch tower atop the palace to see what has brought this alert."
The watch tower was the tallest tower of the Royal Palace. It rose high about the palace, which was situated on the highest knoll in the city. The view from the tower covered leagues in every direction.
King Arik raced for the stairwell to the watch tower. Tanya, Prince Garong, and Prince Darok followed close behind. They were all gasping for breath by the time they reached the top of the long circular staircase. King Arik moved immediately alongside the lone guard who had sounded the alarm. He gazed out over the city and beyond. Far out towards the western horizon, lights flickered through the forest.
"I am not sure that this is the vanguard of Sarac's forces," the guard reported, "but my orders are to sound the alarm when anything was seen."
King Arik gazed up at the sky and saw the near-full moon hanging in a field of pale stars. He looked back again at the lights in the forest and tried to understand what he was looking at. It could be the campfires of the Dark Riders or the Black Devils, but the lights appeared to be moving, not only moving, but heading straight towards the city.
"King Arik," Garong began.
The king held up his hand for silence as he continued to stare at the lights. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw more lights to the north. As he scanned the entire horizon, he also saw more lights to the south. It made no sense. The lights to the west and north he could understand, but the Dark One could not have gotten men to the south of Tagaret without someone reporting it.
"What is it?" he wondered aloud.
"It is the army of those who call you Valon," Prince Garong declared.
"Elves?" questioned the king.
"Aye, Valon," grinned Prince Garong, "elves. The southern string of lights are the people of Sorelderal. Those coming from the west are from Elderal, and from the northwest, Glendor. Thousands of elven archers are arriving to stand beside their human brethren in defense of Alcea."
"Glendor?" inquired King Arik. "I have not heard of it."
"Nevertheless," smiled Prince Garong, "they have heard of Valon."
King Arik stared at the lights with new understanding of the meaning of Alcea. "I must be at the gate to welcome them," he declared.
"They would be most appreciative of that," nodded the elf prince.
King Arik opened his breast pocket and stirred Prince Midge from his slumber. He pointed to the lights in the forest and issued instructions for Prince Midge to spread the word of the coming elven archers. Prince Midge darted over the edge of the tower and disappeared. King Arik led the way as he raced down the stairs and out the front of the Royal Palace. Chaco and Frea were waiting when they got there.
"Prince Garong can ride with me," stated the king as he leaped onto Chaco's back and extended his hand to the elf prince.
Tanya nodded her approval and extended her hand to Prince
Darok. Together the unicorns sped through the streets of Tagaret to the western gate.
"How did you know they were coming?" King Arik asked Prince Garong.
"I sent for them," the elf prince replied. "As I was starting to say in the library, the elven people had two objectives in vowing to our Valon. Protecting you was only the first. The elves of Sorelderal had the longest march. Runners have kept the other groups informed of their progress. I was worried that they would not arrive in time."
"Their timing is fantastic," grinned King Arik as Chaco slowed to a halt at the western gate.
The four riders dismounted, and the king ordered the gates to be opened.
"How many archers are coming?" the king asked as the vanguard appeared through the gates.
"I do not have an accurate count," answered Prince Garong, "but I would estimate about ten thousand."
"Ten thousand!" exclaimed the king as Tanya whistled approvingly. "That will double our forces. "Where will I house them?" he added after a moment's pause.
"I have already thought about that," smiled the elf prince. "The area between the old wall and the new wall had been used for foundries and tradesmen. There is plenty of room there for the elves. If you could have one of your men show them to that area, I think they will do fine."
King Arik summoned a guard and instructed him to guide the elves to the appropriate place. The guard scurried to get helpers while the curious from the Royal Palace, and the city itself, began to gather to see the arrival of the elves. The guard and his helpers instructed the watchers to form the sides of a path to guide the elves. Prince Garong approached the guard and whispered in his ear. The guard nodded and moved the watchers some more until there was a large open area just inside the gates.
When the first elf appeared, the citizens of Tagaret roared with approval. The elves marched in single file, the three branches merging into one. As each elf entered the human city, he bowed to King Arik and placed his burning candle in the area cleared by the guard.
"What are they doing?" King Arik asked the elf prince. "Why carry candles on a moonlit night?"
"Those are the Candles of Devotion," answered Prince Garong. "They symbolize the elven commitment to Valon and his struggle."
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