The Dark Tide tgc-3

by Steven R. Burke

  "We know our vow! It would do well for him to remember that without us he has no chance of escape. Also inform him that we are confident that the weapon that will allow us to breach the barrier has been identified and we are working on locating it. The old man has moved the prize which has set us back a little. However, Kana is playing her part as we discussed and she should be in possession of the orb by the time we have finished with the giants" Lord Tyrienwalker said darkly.

  "Remember what they say about the messenger…" injected Selven smoothly. The shroud covered him entirely except his shimmering face.

  "Understood…let's get on with the summoning" he replied coldly. He had grown fond of Selven; however, he still represented the one holding his chain. He did not care for anyone to command him, especially a being who is trapped. He was not entirely stupid to think that the keeper could not find a way into the world of the living without him or his people, so he went along with the plan. Better to have some power than to be on the losing side.

  Several hours later the dark scouts returned with the necessary offerings for the summoning. When a life is taken there is a moment when the soul leaves the body to travel to the other side of the veil that separates the living from the dead. The Meleirelnar referred to this as the backdoor. They kill innocent, sometimes not entirely without sin, people in order to put a door stop in the temporary opening to the underworld. The souls that remain close to the veil are either lost, new to the next stage of existence, or they are those who were wholly in the service of the keeper. He was called this simply because he captured unwary souls and kept them in his realm. Those who were able to resist his evil influence in life were given safe passage to the next plain of existence. Exactly where they ended up depended on the level of service and devotion they showed to the creator while living in the world.

  The scouts had gathered twenty woodsmen that had unfortunately been working in the northeastern part of Tansanee. They were silent as they were herded to a gathering place that had been prepared for summoning. The trees that had been there were stacked in the middle of the new clearing in the form of a log cabin. A large circle had been carved into the ground with ancient symbols that glowed red and purple. A makeshift door in the middle of the cabin wall had the symbol of the keeper above it. It looked like a pair of hands making some important gesture. The men had no idea what the gesture meant…they simply knew they were about to die.

  “Welcome to your door to the next world” spoke Lord Tyrienwalker smoothly.

  “Black devil…I curse you and your kind! May the keeper rack your souls with eternal torment!” shouted one of the men bravely. He was going to die and he felt that he should at least fight back a little…even if it was only verbally.

  Raucous laughter filled the clearing at this bold cursing. It did not last long though. The men were roughly forced into their wooden coffin. The door slammed shut and the clearing went silent. The men inside pushed hard for escape with no success. They peered through the gaps in the logs and saw the elves making the sign that had appeared above the door to the death cabin. Their faces hardened as they peered out and saw clouds gathering overhead. They knew death was moments away. They all knelt in prayer to the unseen creator and asked that he curse the murderous black elves. A peace came over them as they waited for the inevitable.

  An eerie voice started to chant in a tongue not known to the mortal races of Tuwa. There was an increase in volume as the rest of the elves in sight joined in. The twenty victims would be granted safe passage into the station they were granted by the life they lived. The moment of departure opened a hole in the veil for each soul that leaves the world of the living. Twenty people leaving at once opened a sizable hole through which they would summon a creature worthy of the task it was being summoned for. The bodies along with the unwitting crows circling overhead would provide sufficient mass for the creature that would come forth.

  As the chant intensified, the circle around the cabin began to burn red and purple all at once. The flames slowly moved toward the cabin as predator would sneak up on its prey. The fire burned low to the ground as it approached its target. Just as it appeared that the cabin would catch on fire, a red hand and purple hand of fire shot into the air at the crows. Hundreds of birds were consumed instantly by the burning hands. Ash gathered some ten feet above the roof of the cabin, in the air, as the hand returned to the flaming circle.

  “Radesh…come forth and serve!” shouted Lord Tyrienwalker.

  The ash fell as the flames instantly consumed the log cabin. It happened so quickly that the men did not even utter a single cry or shout of pain. A black hole opened in the scorched circle which was empty only for a moment. The beast called Radesh clawed his way out of the underworld. He had clawed hands and feet with black wings spreading from his back. He stood nearly twenty feet tall and was black as night. His eyes were human in form but the pupils were entirely black. Once he was completely free of the world of the dead, the void closed.

  “Echten loche noh bin baden” the deep gravelly voice of Radesh rumbled slowly. He was ready to serve his masters. That was part of the dark magic…those who were summoned were bound to do the bidding of those who brought them forth. The one downfall is that the creature would have a body that could be damaged and even sent back to the realm of the dead. If the beast could avoid such damage, it could live forever. The dark lord is the perfect example of such a feat.

  “We are ready” Lord Tyrienwalker said as he looked back to the dark elves visible in the clearing. The sky cleared and the sun shone brightly overhead. The air smelled of burnt flesh and brimstone.

  ***

  The sky over Burien was clear and the sun was bright as it rose on another day over the western waste land. The giants did not think of it as such, but from outward appearances it did not look all that hospitable. The air was dry and almost completely devoid of moisture. This was what a giant would consider a perfect day. The tribes primarily resided in the western part of their homeland, however, with so many giants off to war, their numbers were considerably reduced. The young giants were in training to prepare for being called up to fight. The field where they trained was a big as the elven capital in Renshaw.

  The trainees rumbled out into the open arena where they practiced the noble art of throwing objects. The clear sky overhead gave the giants excellent visibility for the workout ahead of them. As a few of the giants looked to the southwest they noticed what looked like a dark cloud that appeared to swell before it disappeared. The other combatants did not notice the strange occurrence; however, they did feel an unnatural ease come over them. Everyone mechanically came to a halt and looked around for the source of the change that had sprung on them.

  “What changed?” queried one of the larger giant soldiers. He was nearly twenty feet tall and looked fierce in his obsidian stone armor. His movements were restricted by the bulky plating.

  “Something is happening over there” said another giant diffidently. He was pointing at where the mysterious cloud appeared and then quickly vanished.

  Off in the distance a black mist started to swell just north of the strange appearance. The blackness crept like a stalking predator into the sky. What was not clear to the giants was that this obsidian mass was also moving toward them. The distance between the practice field and the approaching danger was almost negligible. The speed of the unseen danger was hidden by the crude mist.

  Within moments blackness swallowed the giant soldiers on the practice field. They were momentarily stunned by the sudden nothingness. Many of the massive brutes swatted at the thick, dark moisture. Then, in an instant, the air was full of screams of terror and fierce anger. It is scary to hear such cries coming from giants and the subsequent shouts of anger would have chilled any sane person to their core. This is when the unthinkable happened…a full out assault on the giant homeland of Burian. Soon the sounds of battle replaced the brief moment of terror. Blood soaked the practice field as the giants fought unseen intrud
ers.

  Genocide

  “Try to get a hold of one of those vermin!” bellowed Captain Jargus. His ruddy face was covered in a mixture of mud and giant blood. His anger was his driving force at this point. The death toll was unfathomable to the giant captain and his soldiers were not having much success in fighting the invaders off.

  A cloaked figure darted across the giant captain’s line of sight right after his booming command. He deftly reached behind and grabbed the hooded intruder. With both of his saucer sized hands he squeezed forcefully which was abruptly followed by a sickening crack. The body in his hands went limp. He pulled the hood back of the fellow and stared at the black face staring blankly back at him. It was a dark elf…something from legend and myth. They were the scum who killed the Eldar and then were never heard from again. There were stories that some had escaped the guardians’ punishment, but that was just fairy tales. He held in his hands proof that they did exist.

  “Look alive! We are being attacked by dark elves!” boomed the captain’s voice dramatically. There was a moment, brief as it was where a cackling voice filled the air.

  “The brainless oafs can actually speak! Why don’t you say hello to our friend!” shouted lord Tyrienwalker. The malice was thick in the dark elf’s reply. The voice was magically enhanced which made it difficult for the giants to identify where the vile dark elf was.

  The black mist suddenly cleared and revealed a nightmare come to life. The beast in front of the Captain Jargus was the size of the largest giant and had a blackened armor to protect its rough hide. Radesh, the beast summoned by the dark elves, lowered its head and growled loudly in the direction of the giant captain. Quicker than anyone would of anticipated the beast was bounding powerfully toward the leader holding the dead dark elf. The beast panted as it rushed wildly into a group of giants. He swung his head about hitting giants as he rushed onward.

  Before the beast reached Jargus, the giant captain grabbed the dead elf by the legs and proceeded to swing him back like a club. Just moments before Radesh’s leap carried him to the waiting giant he was hit alongside the head with the dark elf. The hit temporarily stunned the gigantic doglike creature, which was long enough for the captain to get on the beast’s back. He swung down hard between Radesh’s shoulders with a boulder that was three times the size of a man’s head. There was a sickening crunching sound followed by the ground beneath them started to rumble. The ground shook as the underworld creature shook back and forth like a dog attempting to dry himself of water. After a few moments he was successful in dislodging Captain Jargus.

  “A creature summoned from the world of the dead…you fools do not know what evil you have unleashed” panted the giant captain. He used his considerable strength to stand up as straight as he could. He had broken his leg when he had been tossed from the beast which had a bone sticking out. The adrenaline of the moment blinded the captain to the danger he was in.

  “It is you who is ignorant. You were not watching as you should have been and discarded rumors of our existence over the centuries. Now, your failure will mean the end of the giants of middle Tuwa” laughed lord Tyrienwalker darkly. His gray eyes appeared to bore into the giant. There was lethal intent in that look.

  The momentary exchange allowed Radesh to end the encounter. He opened his massive maw while rearing up for his attack. The giant captain stood transfixed as the beast came down on him. Blood instantly gushed from where his head and shoulders used to be. The lifeless body fell to the ground like a mighty black oak from Renshaw forest. The raging battle seemed to pause briefly to watch the fall of their captain. He had been the battle master entrusted with the training of new recruits. He had been the greatest warrior left behind after the unification of the giant tribes and now within moments he was no more.

  Time sped up and the battle recommenced. The giants were losing ground slowly and with the loss of their leader, they started to give ground as though they were retreating. As the giant fighters backed into a circle for their last defense, they noticed that their attackers were only a small portion of the army that was now descending on the giant nation. There was no fear in them at this realization. They faced the vile elves with grim determination. They were outnumbered and they were going to lose. That did not mean that they would go quietly into the night of endless oblivion.

  Radesh, impatient to continue his feeding his blood lust, rushed into the twenty one giant soldiers. He bowled them over as he slammed blindly into the heart of their defense. Had he thought ahead, he would have used the tactic of attack and retreat. However, he had chosen to do an all-out assault since they clearly had the upper hand. He knew his mistake the moment he hit the first giant. They had simply given away instead of standing fast in front an enraged underworld beast. The instant he was in the middle of the giants he knew he was trapped. They immediately grabbed him by the legs. Two of the giants clasped his head in their massive hands.

  As they rent the beast into pieces, the dark elves attacked. They cast magical bolts at the giants’ backs. The magic had no effect. That did not dissuade them…after all; they could call on magic from the underworld. They thought that the giants may not be able to naturally fend off the keeper’s dark magic, so they changed their tactic at once. Before the first dark spell hit any of the giants, Radesh’s head was ripped free of its massive body by the two that had been grabbing the gigantic cranium. They quickly tossed the beast’s head at the nearest group of dark elves. The unsuspecting elves were knocked clean off their feet and were sent sailing through the air for about ten feet. After hitting the ground hard, the elves did not move again.

  “Enough of this!” spat master Shadowin. He had a pure black battle staff in his hands and with a flourish sent a black mist at the giants. The mist formed a huge hand reaching for the souls of the remaining giant fighters.

  It did not have the effect he had hope for. As the other dark elves threw their darkest spells at the brutes, they too discovered the truth. The skin of giants will deflect both elemental and underworld magic. This would make their mission more difficult and costly than they had anticipated. Many lives would be lost due to their arrogance and folly. They would have to change their tactics immediately to mitigate the losses as much as possible.

  The giants threw the remaining pieces of Radesh at random dark elves before reforming their circle. While the small victory gave courage to the giant soldiers, it only momentarily put off the inevitable…they were all going to die. Even though their magic could not harm them, they were simply too few against far too many. That did not mean that they were not determined to send as many of those filthy dark elves to the keeper before they took their journey to the paradise Kedem had for the strong warriors of Burien.

  The dark elves focused on using the one brand of magic that could give them the edge they needed. They moved closer so that they could make eye contact. They correctly surmised that these brutes would likely be susceptible to mind control. They did not know if this new attack would work and they were taking a huge risk by getting so close. The reach of a giant is much farther than one would think. It was never wise to get anywhere close to a giant regardless of whether you are a friend or foe. Giants typically smashed first which left no reason to ask any questions later.

  Just as the elves were starting their mind attack, the giants did the unexpected…they ripped their own eyes out. This proved that they were correct about what they were attempting. The dark elves were momentarily stymied; however, they opted for the less elegant method of attack. As master Shadowin pointed his staff toward the ground beneath the giants, a thousand dark elves which surrounded the twenty one giant soldiers attacked. Roots had sprung from the earth to ensnare the giants briefly which gave the elves a chance to get in close.

  Even with the loss of sight, these fighters were deadly accurate with the swing of their clubs. Some of the giants threw their eyes at their assailants to distract them. The elves that fell for this trick were crushed to death by the rock
that had been thrown an instant after the eye ball. Black elven blood began to pool in the rough terrain. Hundreds of broken elven bodies lay at the feet of the twenty one soldiers. The attack continued to escalate as the day wore on. At one point the giant fighters were successful in freeing themselves of the roots that had held them fast. The roots had actually made the battle go longer than need be and only added to the dark elves death toll.

  Lord Tyrienwalker watched from the hillside adjacent to the battle field. He looked impassively as hundreds of dark elves died at the hands of twenty one blind, bloody giants. He shook his head slightly and let out a slow, measured breath. The desperation of a dying race is beautiful to behold. These twenty one will be remembered for the great warriors they were. It is a real pity that they must die along with the rest of their primitive race. His face hid any sign of the awe he held for the brave giant soldiers below him. He was a ruthless bastard to be sure…that did not mean he could not appreciate the valor of a worthy foe.

  Master Shadowin looked up to where lord Tyrienwalker stood. The dark figure nodded grimly and turned to leave. The fearsome face of Shadowin became fixed as he walked slowly toward the giant circle. He slammed his battle staff into the ground and then drew out a wicked looking pair of swords from over his shoulders. The blades had a greenish hue to them that did not leave any doubt in the minds of the giant soldiers that these swords had been imbued with underworld magic. This did not worry them in the least as they felt sure that their magically resistant hides would protect them from the cursed blades.