“Now with that order, the mines will now restart and begin production. Now we must vote for the final matter that is requires the most concern. Without the laws and new orders of the reformed kingdom, this request from the Unibeltrasian Forces will not have been heeded in the first place—” the lord councilor said when another stood.
“Get on with it, we’ve been rushing everything since three weeks ago, don’t slow down on us now, Lakuna!” another councilor shouted to the head councilor, wearing silver and white robe with iron bracelets. The room got a good laugh, including the lord councilor himself and so was he.
“Fine councilor Wandel,” Lakuna said with a smile and he cleared his throat. “The first request — or rather invitation of the Imperial General and Commander of the Unibeltrasian Forces, his majesty prince Tamiron Lluch, for the Iron Kingdom to join the united forces will be put into discussion. Since we have already rebalanced and solidified the hierarchy of the army, we now call on the Lord Paramount of the Iron Kingdom of the Kra’ens, Graveloth Demio to step forward,” the lord councilor said and everyone suddenly faced him.
Graveloth stood up and slowly walked towards the center, facing the lord councilor and the others who greeted him with a smile.
“After much consideration and deliberation, we grant thee Lord Paramount, authority over all of the Kra’en Army and grant thee permission to join the united armies. We hereby declare the Iron Kingdom of the Kra’en as part of the Unibeltrasian Forces.”
The councilors stood up and applauded him, wearing his newly forged armor, with his chest plate bearing his own insignia as Lord Paramount.
He was relieved hearing those words from the lord councilor. He could finally join his comrades with an army with him. The applause within the room slowly died down and they continued.
“As for the second request, I am afraid this will deplete our own supplies dearly,” Lakuna said.
“For how many again? Seven hundred fifty thousand men? That is certainly a lot,” a concern of another councilor asked him.
“I understand the request is a bit absurd—” Graveloth said but he was interrupted.
“It is, lord paramount, it is. Why can’t the empire lend their own ores for that?” another councilor asked.
“Are you joking councilor?” another one stood up then looked at him, “That is even more than what we can supply! They will drain the entire kingdom just for this war!”
“It doesn’t have to be armors, the weapons and kra’enite-tipped arrows would do,” he defended the request.
“It is still unreasonable, Lord Paramount. You of all people should know this,” the same councilor said. “So I echo what the good councilor asked you. Why can’t the empire provide their own ores for that?”
He sighed as he tried to salvage what was left of the request. “The holenshartz is far too heavy for any normal being here in the continent to hold. The only thing comparable to the strength and durability of the holenshartz is kra’enite. And because of that they had come to the conclusion that the metal has enough strength to land a blow on the enemy Xerxecians, whatever that creature may be,” he explained but another stood and asked.
“If these beasts are as dumb as we think they are, why do we need such fine ores be turned to weapons and armors — for all seven hundred fifty thousand of them?” a councilor asked next.
He sighed before he answered, “Because of the recent battle in the plains of Termosad, my noble councilor. We learned that the weapons and armors of the Xerxecians were man-made.”
The room gasped and but was silenced. He understood this for he had the same reaction when he heard about it. He looked at the floor after he said this. He already knew what to expect from the council.
The lord councilor hushed the room, “Are you certain of this?”
He looked at him and the others and simply nodded. The councilors themselves began to murmur.
They are going to decline the request. I can feel it, he thought. He was going to fail Tamiron.
He held his breath and already started to think of another way. Another way for him to help his comrades. He already felt the pressure when Tamiron tasked him of convincing the Iron Kingdom to join and now about the weaponry and armor of the entire united forces is at stake. The army won’t be able to fight properly and will always be in the defensive rather than offense.
The murmuring from the councilors finally stopped and they all took their respective seats. He took another deep breath, expecting to be declined on their request for the weapons and armors and looked up at the lord councilor.
“After careful consideration, knowing the implications that our kra’enites may have to the war effort. I, myself knowing full well what a man-made weapon is and its craftsmanship, we hereby agree to the new requests of the commander of the united forces,” Lord Councilor Lakuna said. He was dumbfounded by the lord councilor’s answer. “We will begin the forging of such weapons and armors and we will have the army bring more ore towards the war front along with our smiths in order to have a standing chance of fighting the Xerxecians,” he added as he hammered his gavel down.
I did it, he thought.
He was speechless. It was finally done, the hardest part of his task was done. He bowed politely to the iron council as he left the room and the people started to leave as well. He walked outside and saw the snow started to fall. He looked up to the sky and finally he smiled as he pumped his fist to the sky.
He immediately ran towards the army headquarters to tell the good news to Tamiron and the others. He opened the door to the center of the room where people were startled by the slamming door, and so was the Orderian owl that was there.
“Cervantes adlum, Termosad,” he said the command spell for the orderian owl and it quickly flew to a swing hanging from the ceiling and began to project in the middle of the room. He was anxious to tell Tamiron, Sevidon, and the rest of the news.
But his smile was wiped off when it was Aderon, not Tamiron nor Sevidon, that greeted him.
“I trust you have news for me?” Aderon asked as he looked at some of the reports he had with him.
Confused, he asked, “Aderon, you’re back. Where is Tamiron and the others?” he stuttered a bit.
“The others are preoccupied with tasks. The elven armies are only one and a half month away so the elven generals are busy prepping up the camp,” Aderon said then looked at him, “Now I ask again, I trust you have news for me?”
A hard, but obvious swallow was all he could do at that point, he was somewhat, indifferent and reluctant with Aderon, much less trust him. “I have news for the Commander of the Unibeltrasian Forces. I need to speak to him,” he said with much confidence he could muster.
“You are speaking to him,” Aderon said as he was handed several papers then he put them to his desk behind him and returned to him. “I think we forgot to mention it to you. Forgive me for it was supposedly my responsibility to let everyone know in the inner circle that I am the Commander now of the forces. For the time being of course,”
“How — when did this happen?” he asked.
“It was a long story. But all in all, something happened in the empire that required Prince Tamiron’s personal time. In order for him to focus on that, he temporarily handed command of the forces to me, with the agreement of the others of course — well more than half of them, really,” Aderon said with a smirk.
“Did he really?” he suddenly said and Aderon’s smirk was wiped off. He just noticed what he said and was surprised as well. He looked at Aderon as though he was disgraced.
“I don’t have much time. This is not a matter of catching up, speak now or end this conversation,” Aderon suddenly said with seriousness in his voice.
He once again cleared his throat and stood attention, to at least give Aderon his well-deserved respect, “As of the moment you are looking at the Lord Paramount and Commander of the Kra’en Army of the Unibeltrasian forces,” then smiled with boastfulness to the clearly still unimpressed Aderon, bu
t at least he smiled.
“That is good to hear then. We need men, and we need them immediately. I trust you will be able to march within the week? The storm there in both our kingdoms will be a bit severe this time of the year,” Aderon asked.
“I assure you, Commander, that we will be able to march without any hindrance,” again, he boasted at him, making his smile a bit bigger.
“Good and the second request? Did the iron council grant it?” Aderon asked again is he read the papers he took again from the table.
“As of now, Commander, the city of Mathron and every town in the Iron Kingdom are preparing for the march. The iron council has granted our request and we will be able to bring some of the finished weapons and armors, while the remainder will be smithed and forged there at the camp,” he said and Aderon quickly put aside the paper and looked at him directly.
“That is indeed good news. Good job on your part, Lord Paradog. I expect you to be here within a month’s time or two?” Aderon said as he turned to the reports again.
Lord Paradog? he thought, caught off guard by Aderon’s snide remark. The people inside was looking at each other when he composed himself and answered. “I believe so, Commander,” he said, “and it’s ‘Paramount’.”
“Whatever. By the time you arrive, the elves will be here too. Go on and prepare, we have work here,” Aderon said and the imagery ended, while the owl looked at everyone, as if waiting for a new order.
“He is a snarky prince isn’t he, Lord Paramount?” someone said from inside.
He took a deep breath and walked outside to prepare. “Oh he is far from snarky — he is much more than that,” he said as he walked out when the war bell suddenly rang.
Everyone was surprised and so was he, for the fact that it hasn’t rang in ages. He immediately ran outside to see onlookers pointing towards the highest point of Gredostad Mountains. It was alight by flames and glowed of red.
He looked at it as some of the soldiers did not know what to do and then shouted, “All able men with me! We will see what’s going on up there.”
He immediately rode on a horse nearby and a handful of men followed behind him.
The flames came from a tomb on top of the mountain. It was not guarded but it held great importance to Mathron and its people. As Lord Paramount it was his duty to make sure that Kra’ens will be safe and everything related to it will be treasured, even an old tomb.
They were closing in on the tomb when he saw a pinkish glow along with the fiery flames that raged its roof. When they reached the top, a cloaked figure stood in their way.
He was filled with rage as he saw the tomb burning and the fire only got stronger. He deployed his blades and sound of its hiss caught the attention of the cloaked stranger.
“Who are you!” he shouted and the cloaked figure only turned to him to see glowing maroonish eyes.
It said nothing.
The guards that came with him were stunned. The figure then began to conjure some spell as a pentagram appeared mid-air.
Wasting no time, he immediately summoned and harnessed the wind, and immediately charged towards the cloaked stranger and then he turned to a raging whirlwind, heading straight to the cloaked figure.
He closed the gap between him and the enemy until suddenly, the stranger faced him, with its palms against his chest and the armor of wind he made froze. He struggled to move as though he was frozen in mid-air. The only thing he could make up of the cloaked stranger was its glowing pinkish almost maroonish eyes.
“Who are you,” he struggled but the stranger only tilted its head. He still had no control over his body and heard that his men were already charging towards this figure.
“Get back! He’s dangerous get back!” he warned his own men as he struggled to turn his head. He watched in vain as the stranger called upon a mist that enveloped the guards. The mist dissipated in seconds and the men were left frozen solid.
The cloaked figure hovered around his frozen comrades, as he was held by the enemy’s palm. The enemy stopped in front of one them and then, it touched it.
He gasped and tried his best to break free of the invisible shackle the enemy had had him.
“Stop this,” he said as he struggled but the shackle somehow tightened around his neck and his entire body.
The enemy only glanced at him then pushed one of his soldiers and who immediately shattered to pieces upon hitting the ground.
His breathing became erratic and he struggled more and more, until he screamed, “Stop this! Don’t you dare touch them!” he shouted but the enemy seemed to take pleasure from his actions.
The enemy waved his hand and one by one, the men fell to the ground and shattered in front of his eyes. His lips trembled before the sight of his comrades dying without any fight or honor.
He struggled but managed to turn his head towards the cloaked figure when it pushed its hand against his fist and then was suddenly thrown towards Mathron with sheer force. The figure surrounded himself with a pink sheet and disappeared.
He struggled to regain control of his own body and finally succeeded, but lost consciousness and the last thing he was able to make up for, was the arrival of their supposed reinforcements before he blacked out.
Graveloth then woke up and was surprised to see that he was in one of the rooms in the palace.
“What happened?” he frantically asked. “How long was I knocked out?” as he asked one of the attendants there.
“You were out for two days, my liege,” The attendant said as she changed his bandages.
“I need to get out now,” he struggled as the attendant tried to stop him but at that moment the head councilor arrived.
“I see that you are doing well,” the head councilor smiled at him.
“How are the preparation for the march? Are we still on schedule?” he worried and the councilors had a laugh.
“Do not worry, Lord Paramount. Everything will be taken care of. By tomorrow you should be able to march, I suppose?” the head councilor said as he looked at his attendant, to which she nodded.
“Good to know then,” he sighed. “Do you have any idea what could be under that temple. Why was it attacked at the first place?”
The councilors looked at each other and until one said, “No need to rush yourself, Lord Paramount. For now, you need to rest. We will be on our way.”
The attendant was about to leave when he stopped her, “I need you to deliver a message to an old friend of mine,” he said.
The following morning, Graveloth was all rested and walked towards the camp. The Kra’en Army prepared to march to Termosad. He could see the smiths were hard at work to make the thousands of weapons and armors of the united forcesin their make shift forgeries.
A feat nonetheless. But he knew that they need to work faster. He went back in his tent to eat supper and to finally read the book he requested before he left. A book that could lead him to who was buried in the temple that was destroyed by the shadow. He could still remember the shadow’s maroon colored eyes, and till that moment, he could still feel its cold presence upon him. He would never forget what the shadow did to his men.
He sighed,barely touching his food. He could not eat from the thought of it. He set it aside for and instead grabbed the book.
A leathered-back book with its text fading into time, but was preserved properly by the maesters of the Iron Kingdom. He gently dusted it off.
The last howl of the snow wolf.
A history of people that was wiped out of existence. The people whom wrongfully received such judgement, bestowed upon them by their lesser counterparts.
History was not so kind to the people of the Kra’en’Ur. Their race blessed with command of the wind, in a terrain of such unforgiving chill. Only the wind was their shield and protector.
Much of these ancient people’s art and literature was the same of those of their lesser counterparts, the Kra’ens but both had the same affinity and love for craftsmanship and forgery. It was p
assed down to them by the Race of Men, long gone from this world, as judged and seen by the Grand Elves of Old.
Many wars were fought amongst each other because of differences, with one being the greatest and one being the weaker. The Kra’en’Ur had a good homeland at the foot of the mountain as they have shielded themselves with the wind from the harsh blizzard and weather of their realm. The lesser beings were forced to live with the nightmares of the land given to them by their Gods and Animos.
They did not take this kindly. This was the very contention point that was always the reason for their war.
The other had enough bounty and blessing that they could grow food that could never grow in such climate, while the other had no choice but to fend harder for food and hunted for the meat of a goarac.
He felt his stomach sink. Eating a goarac, really? He couldn’t even think of them as edible meat. Now at least he knew the initial reason why they fought over and over again throughout those years.
He turned several pages in advance to know a little bit more about his people’s past.
Before the Great War, the old king of the Kra’en’Urs finally decided to assimilate their lesser kin, in an effort to heal old wounds and to be one with their brothers and sisters.
There were those who agreed to it and welcomed it with open arms. While there were those who disagreed, saying that they will be taken advantage of, and the most vocal of this voice was Krongrad, the snow wolf old prince of the Kra’en’Urs.
He saw through the deception of his lesser kin as they started to kill, with his father’s leniency and false advisers of the lesser kin.
He could see right through this so called advisers, as they ill-advised his father to the point that he got banished because of it.
At that point he knew that this false unity was the tipping point and it would be irreversible if he did not intervene. He threw his father and took up arms against him. He gathered all of those who view the threat of this false unity and began to plot to overthrow the so called rulers and to correct the mistake that his father was told to be correct, for the sake of unity, he was advised.
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