Fury of Molith (Fengysha Series Book 2)

by Jordan Cramm

Wolflen’s hair had grown a few inches since his last haircut, and as such, it hung just below his ears now. As he looked upward to the clear sky, it flopped gently toward the back of his head, and it seemed to be lighter now, bleached by the sun perhaps. It wasn’t quite golden-blonde in color now, but the brownish tint it normally carried had definitely lightened somewhat. He was dressed in his armor now, save for his helmet, which was tucked away in a pack hanging over his back. He stepped forward, leading Katrina on and making room for the others to begin their disembarking.

  “Well,” he said, “Molith doesn’t look too bad so far. So this is Elender then?”

  “Don’t look at me,” Katrina remarked, “I have never been here.”

  “Yes son,” Shamus stated as he walked forward, “this is Elender.”

  Ayvock and the others looked on, scanning the surroundings just as Wolflen and Katrina were. And while everything seemed peaceful there at the docks, they were on high alert just the same.

  “Something smells good anyway…like beef or pork perhaps,” Ayvock noted.

  “Something not fish anyway,” Ravenshade added.

  “Alright then, come on. We need to find the magistrate, or constable, or whoever is in charge of this city,” Wolflen said with a sense of urgency.

  “Don’t you want to wait for Jakarta and Trevel to join us?” Katrina asked.

  Wolflen looked back as some of the Paladins began disembarking. He considered her question momentarily, but didn’t think such a suggestion was necessary.

  “Nope,” he said simply, “They’ve been here before. And who knows if we arrived ahead of the horde we track or behind it. Besides, with these docks, ships will be docking all day long. And if we don’t get ahead of this thing, this city might take the landing of troops as a threat. Dad, will you see everyone gets ashore that needs to be?”

  Shamus nodded and turned back toward his ship.

  “Elender is run by Humans and Dwarves alike,” Ravenshade offered. The Dwarves run the underground and the Humans are topside. If I remember correctly, this city has a governor that runs things. It has been a while since my last visit, but if you want to follow me, I think I can find the building again.”

  Wolflen, Katrina and Ayvock were each surprised to hear that Ravenshade had been there before. They each looked at her with questioning glances but she merely shrugged. She told them that her people were not hated everywhere in the world, and that at last check she could move through Elender unmolested. The explanation was good enough for the others, so they agreed to follow.

  “Have the Paladins help the others get off the boat, and secure us some lodgings. We may not be here long, but I want to find out where the army can camp, even if it means outside of town. In fact, make that the goal. I am sure the city doesn’t have lodgings enough for all of us. As for my Black Cloaks, they are with us.”

  Flint seemed happy to have the assignment, and the 20 other Izenian Knights he had hand-picked when they were still back in Elven lands stepped forward in formation to follow. So together they moved through the city interior, passing merchant buildings, a few taverns, a guild-house of sorts, and other structures that Wolflen guessed to be homes. Together they each walked over brick and stone streets. Onlookers began to raise quiet commotion, noting Izenians, an Elf woman, and also a Night Elf walking together, each adorned in armor, and each armed.

  “Seems like our presence here is being noticed,” Katrina said.

  “Kind of hard to hide an army.”

  “Speaking of armies…” Ravenshade interjected, “troops coming our way up ahead.”

  It was true, nearly 50 soldiers of the city moved in their direction, and they too were in armor and had weapons ready. Their armor was not quite like theirs of course, being only chainmail. Wolflen told his group to halt, and Ravenshade fell back from the lead position to stand so that she was in line with Katrina and Ayvock. They were reaching for their own weapons as well, but Wolflen raised a hand to stop them. He wanted to avoid a skirmish if he could. Then he stepped forward and told the others to stay where they were as the oncoming soldiers closed the distance between the two groups by only about 30 feet before they too came to a halt in the street.

  “What’s your business here?” one of the soldiers asked of Wolflen.

  Wolflen stepped forward slowly to speak with the soldier, but kept his own hands in the air as to not provoke an attack.

  “We are tracking a horde of Werewolves that we believe made for this continent. We also have urgent need to travel through your city and beyond. We mean you no harm, but do have an army in tow. Many of them are disembarking even now.”

  “We got word of your arrival. We closed the port gates until we sort this matter out.”

  “Look,” Wolflen replied, “as I said we mean you no harm. Ravenshade, our Night Elf friend there was leading us through your city to see your governor. Can you take us to him?”

  “That governor you speak of is a woman, and sure I know the way. But for people claiming no ill intentions, you look to be armed for battle. I don’t think I could allow you to proceed so armed.”

  “Well that is going to be a problem…” Wolflen retorted.

  Katrina and Ayvock both looked at each other as they overheard Wolflen speaking. They figured he would do more to negotiate, even if it meant giving up arms, but now it seemed, he had no such intent.

  “You see,” Wolflen went on, “war is coming to all lands very soon. And I take my armor and weapons off only when I feel at peace. And with all due respect, I don’t know you anymore than you know me. But I tell you what…if you think this force of yours stands reasonable chance of taking our weapons you are welcome to try. On the other hand, it might go more smoothly if you just take us to this governor of yours. Because if you do believe you can stop us by force, then what difference would it make if you did it here, or down the road? So either you escort us, in which case I have no doubt you will be vigilant to protect your governor, your people and your city, which is actually part of what we are doing here, or you try to stop us, in which case those things will not last long.”

  “Oh I see your armor, and your weapons alright. I see your men standing there as well. I know there is an army at your back, but they have not yet entered the city. So the way I see it, you have no leverage to negotiate. Even now archers are on our walls in the port sector. No more will enter this city until this is sorted. So I say again, I cannot allow you before the governor so armed, no matter what your intentions are. So what’s it to be?”

  “You sure you want to go down this road with us?” Wolflen asked.

  The soldier did not budge an inch, but drew his sword. It was an action that all of his soldiers mimicked at once.

  “Okay,” Wolflen said, “but remember this could have gone a different way.”

  Wolflen pulled his own swords free of their sheaths, and they burst into flame at once. He knew he would have to fight now, and this time Sespa was not with him to help. Still, he had Katrina to fight for, and who would fight with him, as well as his best friend, Ravenshade and his Black Cloak Guard. But before the battle could be joined, bells began ringing throughout the city. They weren’t chimes for the timekeeping either. They were bells of alarm.

  Wolflen stood ready, but the soldiers ahead of him now seemed to pause. Moments later, their confusion was only multiplied as another soldier of the city ran toward them, screaming that they were under attack. Neither force moved at first; the standoff was fierce. But as the newly arrived soldier began blurting out the details, there was talk of Orcs at the other end of the city, trying to break through its walls. As the report went on, the soldier reported that some Orcs had entered the city but had been killed, but that the Eastern gates were under attack. In that moment, the captain of the soldiers from the city asked rhetorically if the city was under siege by two armies.

  “We can help,” Wolflen said quickly. “Open the port gates and our troops will assist you.”

  “I can’t do
that, whoever you are. If you really want to help, then this group you have here will have to do. If your service proves helpful, we can revisit the issue of the port gates later. That’s as good of an offer as you’re going to get.”

  “Agreed, lead the way. I am Wolflen Darkmoon by the way, and this may well be your lucky day.”

  “Yeah so far its sunshine and rainbows for me. I’m Captain Dirk. May I suggest we save the rest of the introductions until we settle the Orc problem.”

  “Agreed. We are at your disposal then.”

  Captain Dirk nodded and huffed. He didn’t much trust the situation at hand, but he at least figured if someone had to die it might as well be the Izenians new to his city. If they died it would rid him of that problem, and if they killed some Orcs in the process, it would be a win-win for him and his men. As they ran, Wolflen asked the Captain how many men were at the Eastern gate, and Captain Dirk told him hundreds guarded that area. When he asked how many Orcs were invading, the other soldier said it was more like thousands. Wolflen rolled his eyes, but began to follow them with his own group following behind. It took some time, but they made their way through the city to the Eastern gates. Along the way, the scenery was becoming more panicked. Bells still rung, singing the alarm, and soldiers moved swiftly all around them to get to where they were going. Some were on foot like them, and some were on horseback.

  As they ran, Wolflen was giving Sespa the run-down telepathically. She then took it upon herself to get off the boat, and she jumped into the ocean water and began swimming. She informed him through the telepathic link that she was going to circle round the city and run toward the Eastern gate. He told her not to get shot by the city archers.

  The Eastern gate was being reinforced when they arrived there. Captain Dirk led them all up the stairs to the battlements, and from atop the walls, they looked out and saw the Orc force from beyond the wall. Most were on foot, and several were slamming into the gates below, trying to make it budge while archers from atop the wall were raining arrows down on them from over 40 feet up in the air on the wall.

  “Kesper help us,” Captain Dirk whispered as he saw the invading force. “Damn those Dwarves. Damn them.”

  “Dwarves?” Wolflen asked.

  “They have been tunneling. We were told they found a new cavern system that is quite massive from their telling of it. It happens sometimes, and they drive the Orcs or Goblins topside, but nothing like this. I don’t know if we can hold the gate with this large a force out there.”

  Wolflen smiled.

  “The city will not fall this day.”

  Instantly, Wolflen thrust both hands forward and sent a way of telekinetic force striking into the front lines of Orcs. As he did, arrows fired from the top of the wall missed their mark as the Orcs were all slammed backwards, crashing into their own lines. Wolflen looked at Katrina quickly, and already she could see in his eyes that he was about to do something she would disapprove of.

  “Ready your bow and cover me,” he said.

  Before she could object, he dropped his pack on the ground that had his helmet inside and he used his teleportation powers to put himself on the ground outside the gate. He vanished and reappeared with the gate at his back where he had blasted a small gap in the Orc line. His Black Cloak Guard, Ayvock, Katrina and Ravenshade all looked on shaking their heads and wanting to help. However, they could not do what he did. Captain Dirk jumped backwards when he saw what happened.

  “What…” he stuttered, “what the hell was that? How did he…”

  “That,” Katrina said as she knocked an arrow back on her bowstring, “was the first Izenian War Mage preparing to make his first mark on the world.”

  “Blazes, that was cool,” Captain Dirk remarked before shouting an order to his men to fire another volley of arrows. “But without a helmet the mark is more likely to be left on his head.”

  On the ground Wolflen thrust his hands forward once more, and this time an entire wave of Orcs slammed backwards into others in a more even-looking wave. They pressed forward however, and Wolflen readied his swords. He began cutting through them as they approached, while atop the wall, his company began using bows of their own to fire upon the Orc masses. Of course most of them had to borrow bows and arrows both from the city guard. Meanwhile, Orcs on the ground were firing arrows upward as well, and Wolflen could sense that they were becoming a problem. Behind him, a couple human bodies had already struck the ground and each time, the thud made Wolflen jump just a little bit. He had to remind himself to press forward, and that the Orcs could not teleport the way he could, so no enemy was yet behind him. Of course he knew that could change as they continued swarming him, now sensing that he was a major threat to their plans on the field of battle.

  Wolflen continued swinging his swords, which cut through the Orcs like a hot blade through butter. They were filthy and savage creatures really. Most had rudimentary armor, the likes of which he noted, he probably wore during his trek to Elven lands. Of course it was different now. The Orcs also carried weapons fashioned of steel, wood and stone. Wolflen wondered about that—how if they had come from underground, where they found wood, and armor as well. As he struck another blow with his swords, he severed an Orc's head clean off. He shuddered, thinking how disgusting they were. Then his mind began to shift slightly, recalling days in Prep school back in Akartha.

  “The Orcs are a terrible plague known to all lands,” the professor said, “they often move against target cities, creating sieges as they do. Their strength lies not in their individual combat skills, but in their numbers. They have a tendency to swarm and overwhelm their opponent…” Gee professor, you ain’t kidding. Damn buggers.

  He snapped his thoughts back into focus and tried another wave of telekinetic force, noting that the Orcs were in fact swarming him now. This time though, many more Orcs dug their feet in and raised shields, now getting wise to the maneuver and doing their best to adapt. Some still fell, but much less than Wolflen had hoped for, and still they pressed forward afterwards. Wolflen continued swinging his Flameblades, and was still in good condition, but the Orcs now saw him as a threat to be dealt with immediately. He heard the gargled and gnarled voices of Orcs calling out to their archers to aim for him.

  Wolflen back-stepped, still swinging swords, but now using his own magical shields to deflect the first rain of arrows that came at him. He took a deep breath, thinking it had been a close call to get his shield up in time to save himself. With a grin he turned and looked back up toward the battlements behind him at Katrina. Her own face did not have the smile he did, but rather a look that asked him “What are you thinking?” He saw her let another arrow fly, and the others atop the wall were doing the same. Still he knew, his own Black Cloaks were not bowmen at all, and he knew Ayvock yet had no skill with a bow. Wolflen knew he had to do something else, or soon enough he, and the city would be overrun.

  As the blackened, grayish forms of Orcs came at him again in a swarm, he thrust his hands forward once more. This time however, he was not trying to call upon telekinetic force. Instead, he swung to the left slightly, and with his swords still gripped in hand, he spread his fingertips slightly in one fluid motion. The onlookers could scarcely believe what happened next, but streaks of lightning went forth and blasted a giant section of Orcs, killing close to a hundred with a single shot.

  Wolflen pressed forward in the gap he managed to make, still swinging his swords and dodging arrows all the while as he stepped over fallen Orc dead. He began a slight run and used a fallen Orc body to spring-board himself into the air, coming down with dual sword strikes on the nearest Orcs.

  “I’ll say this for the man,” Captain Dirk said as he fired another arrow, “he knows how to kill Orcs.”

  “He’s moving though, and trying to…flank them? If he keeps at his route the archers here won’t be able to cover him for long. Do you have horses we can use to ride out? The gateway is clear now.”

  “Riders!” Captain Dirk shou
ted as he turned to the other side of the battlements to look below the wall within the city, “Open the gates and ride now, and for Kesper’s sake, I want those gates closed again. Follow the Izenian trail out to the left!”

  “We need horses,” Flint barked out now, “that Izenian is our leader.”

  Captain Dirk nodded after eying Flint a moment. Orders were given, and the Black Cloak guard began descending the stairs to the battlements, followed by Ayvock and Ravenshade, who commented that she was glad to be able to do something now, as she had no skill with a bow whatsoever. Katrina too soon turned from the wall after she realized Wolflen was intent on pressing forward and taking the offensive rather than just keeping the gateway clear below.

  The gates were opening and nearly 100 soldiers of the city were galloping out on horseback with swords drawn. At the same time, the Black Cloak Guard and the rest of Wolflen’s company within the city were mounting horses of their own, and they too began their ride out of the city with weapons in hand. It didn’t take them long to reach Wolflen’s position on horseback, and he was still violently swinging his own swords while on foot. Quickly, the Black Cloaks surrounded Wolflen, and Katrina hopped off her horse once she was on the ground. Now, she had her own single Flameblade out, burning with fire.

  “Katrina…Ayvock…Ravenshade on me. We fight back to back in diamond formation.”

  “Aw damn,” Ayvock muttered.

  “What?” Ravenshade asked quickly.

  “He’s gonna try and punch another hole through these Orcs. Back to back means enemies on all sides.”

  They began fighting in formation as the Black Cloaks also dismounted, forming a line on each side of Wolflen’s group, which acted like the spearhead for the attack. Throughout the whole group, people were yelling back and forth, and the clamor of weapons clashing was continuous. Overall, they were punching quite a hole in the Orc army, and it was getting increasingly difficult to move over and around their dead. Katrina soon realized that back to back with Wolflen was getting her nothing; their line was spread out enough that nothing was getting through, and she began thinking maybe he was trying to protect her again by keeping her from battle. So she spun round, and faced the Orc force head on just as the others did, and all of them began to fan out into a crescent-shaped line, hacking and slicing.