Black Thorn

by Brandon Killpack

Despite the pain, Gideon managed a laugh, “You will do no such thing! Anyways I can’t block all the blows they send at me Katrina. Would you heal me, please? I’m needed back on the front lines.”

  Katrina placed an already glowing blue hand upon the bleeding wound. Gideon let out a shuddering breath as the muscle and skin knit itself back together sending pins and needles feeling down his arm. He flexed his hand and rotated his shoulder experimentally making sure he had the full range of motion.

  “You’re getting good. I imagine you could become a healer yourself if you wanted to.” Gideon said appreciatively.

  Katrina shook her head sending her black locks tumbling around her head, and then she grabbed Gideon in a tight embrace,

  “As soon as I can I will come and be your Shield Maiden then no one will be able to hurt my big brother.” She sobbed into his shoulder, “I hate all of this, I have never seen so much hurt or dead. This isn’t like the last battle, this one is wearing everyone down bit by bit, and I can’t take it.”

  Gideon cupped her face in his hand, drying her tears with his thumbs. “Stop crying, Katrina, I need your courage. Please believe in me sister. Won’t you do that for me?” She did not reply, but bit her lip and nodded her head up and down.

  He headed back to the front lines before running into Joseph. The old sage looked aggravated and dangerous with blood and gore covering every inch of him.

  “There you are!” He snapped at Gideon, “Go and find the rest of your Guardians. It’s time to end this battle. Meet me back here when you have assembled them. Go now!”

  Gideon moved with as much swiftness as he could first finding Harth and Siegfried, then Asuna telling them to meet up with Joseph. Lastly, he returned to Katrina explaining that Joseph needed her. They returned to Joseph awaiting his orders.

  “It is time we finish this battle, I was hoping to draw the necromancer out, but it seems we will need to go to him. I have already informed Radavas of what we plan to do.”

  Harth spoke up, “And what do we plan to do?”

  Joseph looked annoyed, “We are going to climb that mountain and kill the bastard.” He said pointing a gnarled finger at the pass.

  “Oh, right, I figured it was something like that,” Harth mumbled sending a wide-eyed look over at Siegfried who bit back a laugh.

  They backtracked to the outside of the city going around the battle and up the side of the mountain. It was slow going, but worth the trouble as they were effectively bypassing the entire Orc army. They stopped on a ridge as they heard cheers coming from their side of the battlefield.

  “Sounds like the main army has finally arrived.” Asuna noted, “I do hope they are able to finish this without us.”

  Joseph grunted, “That is why we are going to end the necromancer, my lady. Kill him and the army will fall I promise.”

  At his words, they continued their climb.

  They came upon a large group of Orcs, in its center stood a dark-skinned Elf. This Elf was one of the Tioram desert Elves, known as dark Elves for their blue-black complexion.

  “There he is.” Noted Joseph. “Now you lot go and distract those Orcs while I finish off Sairrin.”

  Gideon gave him a wary look, but they did as he commanded, charging at the group but stopping short trying to draw them away from their leader. They took the bait and broke upon the Guardians like water on the rocks. They did not fall, however, seemingly being evenly matched. So the Guardians kept them in combat while Joseph approached Sairrin.

  “Well, well, Joseph, so you are the force that gives strength to these creatures.”

  “I could have said the same about you Sairrin. How far you have fallen from our father.” Joseph said.

  The dark Elf sneered, “Don’t talk to me about betrayal, Joseph, the Maker turned his back on us long ago, you are just too blind to see that. I have found a new father that is willing to give me the strength to do what is necessary.”

  Sadness enveloped Joseph, “Then it is true, you have taken up the dark arts, given yourself over to some demon… Very well I will do what I must.” Joseph drew his sword and grim determined look upon his face.

  “You assume I will be defeated so easily!” Sairrin screamed flying at Joseph in a fierce furry of strikes. Joseph blocked these easily, fending off every blow. Then Sairrin used his ill-begotten magic sending forked lightning flying for the sage. His block was too slow, and the shock hit Joseph. He did not fall, but took a severe blow to his flank, blood spraying the ground.

  Gideon screamed as he watched this, but was too preoccupied with the battalion of Orcs to be of any help.

  Joseph retaliated with a strike of his own, sending the very ground up to grab at the necromancer’s feet, rooting him in place and allowing Joseph to stab a mighty blow at his adversary. The necromancer broke from the hold and beat the sage back.

  The blood continued to pour from Joseph, and he staggered, the necromancer took this opportunity to send a great wave of magic sending the sage flying and crashing through the trees.

  Gideon watched this with horror, calling to his friends he said, “We must retreat for now!” and creating a mighty wall of flame Asuna covered their retreat as they ran to where Joseph had landed.

  They found him in a pile of brush; he lay there nearly severed in two. Gideon knew that no matter of magic could heal him, so he quietly knelt down to Joseph’s side cupping his hand in his own.

  “Joseph, what can I do? Can I ease your pain in any way?” Gideon asked panicked.

  Joseph opened a tiered eye to look at him.

  “No my dear boy. My end is near, and I will go willingly to my father’s house. But before I depart let me tell you one last story.”

  Gideon nodded but did not trust himself to speak as he willed back the tears and pushed down the ice that was chilling the pit of his stomach.

  The Guardians circled around standing in a quiet vigil. Paying their respect to the sage.

  “No evil, have I witnessed all these long years that I have walked the earth, come close to the evil Sairrin is capable of. He is ensnared by the demons and must be stopped. They have twisted him, and I fear that this war is only a small stone in his plans. You must stop him. I know you can do it. I believe in you.”

  Gideon tried to argue, he was no match with something that powerful, but Joseph silenced him.

  “Now I go home to the Maker, don’t weep for me my dears.” He said as the circle of Guardians now beheld tear-streaked cheeks.

  “We all must return to our father in the end, and I have earned my rest. I have finished the race, and now I see the end.”

  He took one last ragged breath and was no more.

  G ideon stayed there a long time holding the old sage’s hand for comfort. He had lost so many and now to lose his friend and mentor was a terrible blow. It seemed all the will Gideon once had was now gone.

  Asuna came to him then, placing a hand on his as she knelt close to Gideon, whispering gently in his ear.

  “He is gone Gideon, and we must give him a proper send-off, but not yet for we still have the final task he gave us.”

  She guided him away from Joseph’s body, taking his haunted face in her hands she kissed him gently on the lips. He gasps taking her sweet breath into his, a pleasant look of shock on his face.

  “For luck,” She said, “Come we need you to lead us.”

  They marched back to the clearing at the top of the pass, and they found Orc reinforcements awaiting them. The clash was furious and brutal as the bodies fell around them. At one point Katrina fell, knocked out by an enemy. Siegfried and Harth covered her body urging him and Asuna to continue forward for they could see their target at the top of the incline.

  He sent down another group of Orcs, and Asuna skillfully dispatched the first three. Gideon took on the other three. He ended the first two quickly enough, but the third one struck him above his brow, it was a glancing blow, but it sent blood cascading down his face. Asuna struck down the foe who injured him and m
et the next wave urging Gideon to continue and finish this.

  The blood cascading down Gideon’s face poured over his eyes, blurring his vision and casting everything in a shade of red. The cold high laugh of Sairrin filled his head.

  “You cannot win, there is nothing you can do to defeat me. Look around you, look at your fallen friends.”

  Gideon spun around and cast a glance back down the pass. The Orc’s had all been dispatched, but his friends now lay in a huddled heap. Further down a sea of blood and gore covered the pass. The necromancer sent yet more Orcs down to meet Gideon. He evaded their attacks and stabbed them each quickly in the throat. He could no longer delay, he must end this. If he couldn’t, the last living people he loved would die. He staggered forward as the last of the Orcs fell upon him. Their blood lusted eyes gave him pause for but a minute, but he had no time for the likes of them, and he stabbed them in the same manner as their comrades.

  A smile touched Sairrin’s lips. “You are a slow learner.”

  He outstretched his hands sending a black force emanating from the palms. The bodies rose and grabbed after him, they groped for their swords and spears and lunged as a group at Gideon.

  Gideon backed away from their animated corpses. With a mixture of rage and disgust, Gideon sliced each body in half, imbuing his blade with power for each stroke. Then he set the ruins ablaze ensuring they would not return.

  “Don’t you understand? This is a battlefield. I can send body after body at you. You’ll never reach me.”

  With this, he rose yet more corpses from the Orc’s he had already killed. His only choice was to render each body unusable, slicing off arms and legs, or burning the bodies after rendering them in half. The work was slow and took a strain on Gideon as he marched his way up to Sairrin.

  The necromancer did not look so pleased or nearly as cocky now that Gideon was within striking distance.

  “Fine, have it your way. I shall kill you myself.”

  And he drew a crimson blade from his side. His strike was swift and trained. Gideon only having time to parry the blows as they came from all angles. Twisting and turning his blade Gideon managed to make a counter attack, cutting a deep gash into the necromancer’s side. Not a fatal blow like Sairrin had done to Joseph, but it shocked him long enough for Gideon to go on the offensive.

  With a mighty roar, Gideon barreled into Sairrin, knocking him to the ground. Sairrin recovered quickly, but not without injury. He had received several nasty new cuts along his arms and one deep stab in his thigh.

  Gideon observed the necromancer, his dark skin glistening with sweat and gore. His breath coming in ragged gulps.

  The time to end this was at hand. For better or ill one of them was going to die. Gideon took an offensive pose and ran his hand over his blade imbuing it with magic. In one fluid motion, he turned and sliced clean through Sairrin’s sword, halving it in two and stabbing the Elf deep in the chest. Not wanting to take any chances Gideon used what strength he had and shoved the sword clear though. He was now face to face with Sairrin, so close that he could smell the Elf’s acrid breath.

  “Fool.” Sairrin cried, and he drove the blunt half of his sword deep into Gideon’s side, sending a brilliant pain surging through him.

  “I’m not done by far, boy.” He spat, and the necromancer’s body began to glow red hot. Gideon dislodged his sword and staggered to the ground. The necromancer became a blinding light before exploding sending magical energy pulsing out in waves.

  This had no discernible effect on Gideon, and he didn’t know what the dark Elf had done, and at that moment he didn’t care. Half staggering, half crawling he made his way back down to the prone figures of his friends. He didn’t know if he could, but he sent out the last of his magic, forcing his body to heal the others as best he could. The calming blue light faded and Gideon collapsed in the dirt.

  Chapter 19 The Guardians

  G ideon lay propped up in a bed in the city of Evenstar. After his defeat of the necromancer, the Orc army had stopped fighting as if they were coming out of some type of spell and fled back into the mountains in a confused mass. It seemed that everyone was ready to have the fighting over, for once the Orcs were high upon the Blackridge, they stopped their pursuit.

  Despite his brother's urgings, he had stayed off any further healings until the people who really needed it was taken care of. Although the Orc’s had fled, they left many wounded in their wake. Gideon and the Guardians had been found as the army pursued the fleeing Orc’s. Seeing that they were still alive, they hastened to bring them back down the pass. From there all the injured were put on carts and made their long journey back to Evenstar. The uninjured staying to defend the border and help the Elven people with the rebuilding process.

  To keep the time passing Gideon had requested reports from all over the country, since the fall of the necromancer something had happened that he first noticed right there in Evenstar. It seemed that demon activity had begun to increase, at this time nothing more than a few imps have been spotted, but still, the implications bothered Gideon. The rise of demons crossing over was a matter of concern, but little in the reposts stated as to why this was happening. He, of course, had his own suspicions on the issue but had so far kept his silence until such a time as he had sufficient evidence to support his claim.

  His sister and Asuna had been to visit on a number of occasions, and they shared his belief that something had happened to the vail that separated the fae lands from this world. Harth and Siegfried were of the opinion that this was just due to so many demons escaping the necromancer’s hold, which Gideon conceded was a perfectly logical explanation and with no way to test his theory it remained just that. But his gut told him otherwise, so he insisted on receiving any reports that dealt with demons or anything unnatural. There wasn’t many, but as the days passed into weeks, a few would pop up.

  A month later Gideon had been sufficiently healed, his comrades having all been treated weeks ago and his brother informing him that the army was all in fighting shape, even if they still showed signs of exhaustion.

  Gideon paid a visit to his brother to see how he was fairing. A sad smile played on Gideon’s lips as he sat down. His brother was very much a young man, but the strain of ruling and the stress of the war had taken its toll on him. His blond hair now shown the barest hints of premature grey. His smooth face had started to wrinkle around the mouth and eyes. His eyes were the most startling. Dark circle and bags showed that in true Levi fashion, he wasn’t sleeping until the work was done.

  “It’s good to see you, Levi. How are things fairing?”

  Levi gave a sigh, sitting back and holding the bridge of his noes he said,

  “Resources are stretched, and we’re having trouble getting healing supplies to the Orcs. You were quite right. They came crawling to us, speaking of bewitchment and asking for aid. Naturally, we want to help and take them into our fold, even if it’s just to keep an eye on them. I tell you Radavas was not pleased about my decision to help them, but he changed his tune when a large group of Orc women and children came over the pass to help rebuild Glenwallow. The problem now is the pass itself, and all our supply trains are being turned back by the dracken people. Those damn drackens are claiming the main pass is now a holy sight and they have been very bothersome. I’ve had to send out a group of soldiers to protect the supplies so we can get them to ShadyFair.”

  It sickened Gideon that the dracken people would praise the location of the necromancer’s death a holy site, but then again a people who thought themselves part dragon and part Elf did have problems.

  “Also,” Levi continued, “the council has asked me what we are to do with the Guardians now that we’re no longer at war, any suggestions?”

  Gideon looked long and hard at his brother then said, “I think I have found a purpose for us, but give me time to collect some more evidence before I put forth my suggestions.”

  “Does this have anything to do with those reports you req
uested?”

  “It does... Again I really don’t want to put anything out there until I know more.” Gideon said.

  Levi took a deep and weary breath, “Very well. I’ll buy you the time, just remember I can’t hold them off forever.”

  “Thank you, Levi. I’ll keep that in mind.

  The passing days went about reasonably quickly as the country began to settle back into a nominal way of living. There was some talk of rebuilding some of the villages that were burned in the beginning and some even begin to petition the council for aid in the rebuilding process.

  Levi directed groups of the army to split off and to be stationed at the various cities, trying his best to park men and women in the villages they lived or had family. The Council of Kings unanimously agreed to stay in Evenstar, even Radavas who would be traveling back and forth requested to remain and his sons were considering becoming permeant residents. Some brave Humans and dwarves ventured into Elden to join the Elves, and Radavas was encouraging to this, hoping it would bring the races together. Although Asuna and Siegfried were skeptical about their chances. Not to say they believed peace impossible, but as Asuna noted,

  “Elves have long memories, and there are many who still remember the days in which we warred. If we as a people can move past this, it will be for the better, but I don’t think it’s going to be as smooth as King Radavas believes.”

  The dwarves were everywhere a good trade could be found, although miners and craftsmen at heart. All of them had the heart of a merchant. In time you would discover Dwarven shops in every town of the Rosenkar Empire. Their king Jarvis deiced that he would stay where ever Levi was, feeling bound to the young ruler. Levi for his part felt the same. Professing that Lord Jarvis was as much akin to him as his father was.

  The Orc people did their best to assimilate into empire society. Their entire royal line had been killed off in the war, and most of the men were now gone. This led the Orc people to their first ruling Queen, Lady Garlamish. Levi guided her as best he could and welcomed the people to Evenstar.