Voll and a dozen of his mounted warriors raced through the forest slashing the foliage so that the archer and infantry companies could follow. They made quick time of it, rushing through a mile of hacking their way down spurs and back up the draws, until he came headlong into the northwestern side of the elven force.
They did not take them by surprise though, as Voll did not worry about how loud they were. Speed was of the essence in this charge. Voll hacked away at the elven ground forces as he charged his way to the elven commanders on horseback. When they realized that they were in trouble, they turned and scattered, fleeing alongside the eastern edge of the ravine. He mounted a chase, feeling excitement as everywhere he looked the humans were routing the elves.
“I guess we don’t need Aegyn after all,” he said aloud as he chased the commanders, but as he said that Aegyn flew over his head, and just three feet above him before landing with a thud in front of the elven commanders.
At the exact moment that Aegyn landed, the elven forces were skirting along the east side as Voll’s forces and were chasing them towards the open end of the ravine. They had intended to escape the battlefield by turning into the woods just south of the ravine and circle back north, but instead saw the dragon as she arched her back, spread her wings, and mimicked that she was about to spew fire on them.
The elves stepped back in fear and turned to run away from her, only to be met with Voll’s infantry that were right on their heels, leaving them no choice but to run into the ravine. The elven warriors scattered into the ravine like ants that had their scented path disrupted, including the commanders that Voll was chasing.
Voll looked at Aegyn in a form of thank you and she lowered her head to the ground and looked up at him, then stood back up, straightened, and beat her wings a number of times before she took flight and headed north.
Voll then rode back through the forest to the road and announced that they needed to follow him back to the ravine and off of the road in case more elves were coming. He also commanded one company on the road with instructions to announce with their horns if any elves arrive. Once he returned, he gave orders to surround the ravine.
“Take good aim, take your time, pick them off one by one!” Voll commanded.
His archers happily obeyed.
Chapter 27
Jaerick sensed Greynim was in trouble. He knew his son had disobeyed him when he heard the horns calling to muster. The sentry blew the horn from the tallest tower and within an hour, Greynim charged out of the castle with five companies of his favorite Spider Battalion. They marched out wearing their black and green leather leaf patterned armor with dark green mailed sleeves. Two of the companies were the Spider Archers, and the other three were the Spider Infantry. Jaerick was very proud of his Spider Battalion, and he rarely got to use them, so it did not surprise Jaerick when Greynim marched out of the gates with them.
He waited until the next day days for his son’s return, but could not wait any longer. He had to find his son, for this sensation that he was in trouble was just too strong. Now it was Jaerick’s turn to sound the muster. He assembled three battle companies of mounted cavalry to come to his son’s aid.
Jaerick would have found the day invigorating, to be able to stretch his legs outside of the castle had he not been so worried for his son. His heart pounded in his throat, and his chest felt heavy all day, even as his servants helped him put on his light combat armor. He wore his green leather mail and breastplate, covered by his green and yellow hooded leaf cloak. He did not don the hood though, as he wore his darkened silver crown with the dark green emerald rubies etched into the needles of the pine trees that extended out of the crown. This was his favorite crown to wear when he did not want to be too obvious, but still wanted to announce that he was the king.
He marched out into the staging area after his companies had mustered. His servant helped him onto his mount, and then just as his son had done the day before, he led his newly mustered battle companies out of the main gate south into what he hoped would not be a battle, and definitely not the battle that his dreams were predicting.
They rode south along the main road knowing that Greynim had to have made a stop at Fort Stone Elf along the way. He also knew that the humans wouldn’t be north of the their southernmost outpost, so they rode hard until they reached there.
When they reached the gates of Fort Stone Elf before sunset of that day, the elves at the post had his banners of the Elven Kingdom raised. The banner was of a star falling through the sky, split into four pieces by a smaller red star on a purple field. It rose high as they approached and the horns blared that the king was near. The Elven Kingdom Banner on the battlement rose higher between the two towers on the main gate followed by another flag raised just below it displaying a crown lying on top of the Sword of Valkilye overlaying a purple and white field. This was the banner of the king to signify that the king was now in residence. Jaerick did not see the banner of the prince, so his heart sank a little further, realizing that he still must be south of the outpost.
Jaerick commanded that his companies eat, and immediately find their billets and get some sleep, as they would be rising in four hours to continue south. Jaerick went straight to the King’s Tower and summoned the commander of the post. Within minutes, he heard a knock at his door before he even had a chance to get fully settled in.
“Enter,” Jaeirick said.
“My King,” Kaesting said, bowing before his king.
“What do you know of Greynim?”
“He left here yesterday very anxious to meet the large human force that our scouts reported had finally started moving north.”
“How large?”
“Over a thousand as far as they could tell. They have been mustered for weeks just north of the Dragon Cross Mountains, and last week they started moving north.”
“Why didn’t anyone send word to me?” Jaerick asked, feeling his neck redden in anger and fear.
“My king…” he said bowing in supplication. “Prince Greynim said he would inform you personally when he had the head of the human commander.”
Jaerick turned his back on Kaesting, and walked to the window overlooking the southern forest. “Of course he would.” Jaerick’s worst fears were beginning to come to fruition. The only thing he could not foresee at this point was what part Traelyn had in the dream.
They rose again an hour after midnight, assembled in the darkness and borrowed a squad of scouts from commander Kaesting. Jaerick sent the scouts out thirty minutes before their main force even began to assemble in the yard. Jaerick was impressed with these elven warriors. They had been well trained. Greynim took great care in the training of the entire elven force by taking an active role in as much training as possible, but more importantly, he supervised the entire training personally. As a result, the morale of their fighting force was extremely high, as Greynim loved combat, and especially in the use of his decorated Spider Battalion.
They had been travelling south for many hours by the time the sun rose, warming the forest and causing the dew to evaporate, creating a steamy fog as they weaved their way through the forested foliage. Two of the scouts led the way as they had been through this forest many times on patrols and knew every section of the forest in darkest of night as well as they did in the daytime. By midday the rest of the scout squad returned, their horses were lathered and exhausted from running so hard.
“My King, there is a big battle in the ravine south of here,” The scout commander reported.
“Could you tell the status of the battle? Are we winning? How is the prince?”
“We did not stay too long, we could not tell if they were winning or not, both forces were surrounding the ravine in full combat, mostly hand to hand.”
; “Did you see the prince?”
“Yes, but he and his commanders were scattering to join the fight, we could not tell if it was to route or be routed.”
“Then we need to ride hard!”
Jaerick kicked his mount and ordered his forces to ride hard and not fall behind.
They ran their horses hard for two hours, and were nearing the ravine when a dragon flew over their heads.
“What is a dragon doing this far north?” Jaerick asked rhetorically loud enough for everyone to hear. “This cannot be good.”
Jaerick turned on his mount and watched the dragon continue northward towards Fort Stone Elf. Dragons had never flown this far north before, and he was not about to have his fortress under a dragon attack while he was away rescuing his son. He turned to one of his lesser commanders and yelled at him to return to Fort Stone Elf.
“I want you to go back and keep an eye on that dragon. Capture it if it causes you any problems. The Castellan will know what to do, we have the harpoon that can take one down. We have never had to use it, but now would not be a bad time.”
The commander did not wait for further orders, turned his steed, and headed back north.
* * *
When Jaerick came out of the clearing on the north side of the ravine, he saw human forces attacking the elves that were now trapped within the ravine. The human archers were picking off the elves one elf at a time. Jaerick sent his forces to attack on the left and right sides of the ridgelines to stop them from killing his warriors and hopefully his son.
Then he saw him. He was not mounted on his horse and he had five elves encircling him, as he lay wounded with three arrows in his lower torso. This cannot be happening. Panic filled his heart as he looked on the ridge to see if he could find Traelyn, but did not see any sign of her. It wasn’t until he glanced down at his son and then back to the ridge that he saw her standing there. No one was there only a few moments before. He had no idea how she could’ve just appeared like she did. To make matters even more confusing, he saw that Naemyn and two other humans were standing next to her.
Just as she was in his dream, she was cloaked, but instead of a baby in her arms, she held the Quarterstar Talisman. From this distance, he could not tell if the Shard was imbedded in it, but when she lowered her hood, he saw that she looked exactly as she did the day she left. She then took the talisman, held it over her head, and yelled for someone named Voll to stop firing.
The humans stopped first, then Jaerick commanded the elves on the ridgeline to stop, and the battle ended. Jaerick immediately sent a small squad of healers from the rear to go into the valley to begin healing Greynim and any other elves that needed help.
* * *
Voll, incredulous at the cessation of fighting, began to issue orders to continue attacking, but Traelyn walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Where is Daegon?” he asked, confused as to what was happening, especially to the fact that they arrived out of nowhere. Was he that immersed in the battle that he just did not see her arrive, or did she really just appear over the ridge without warning? Not to mention his confusion at seeing this woman who sounded like the Great Mother, composed herself as the Great Mother, but clearly did not look like her, as this was a young and beautiful woman.
“We will explain later, but right now, we need to talk to the elven king.”
“Talk? You are not serious?”
“I am very serious. It is time we stop fighting, if only for a moment.”
Voll continued to look at her with dismay, and as she spoke, he noticed that the King was already on his way leading three of his commanders on the opposite side of the ridge.
* * *
King Jaerick Krowe rounded the south side of the ridge and entered into the crevice to see his son, while his three commanders watched from horseback atop the entrance to the valley.
“Will he live?” Jaerick asked the soldiers tending to him as he approached.
The soldiers that guarded him saluted as he rode up, but the healers continued to apply aid.
“He is badly injured, and has lost a lot of blood already my King, but he will live. He is unconscious now, but if we return him to Aalararae, with lots of care and rest he should pull out of this,” the healer responded as he applied dressing to the wounds where the arrows had already been removed from his body.
“Then return him quickly. He needs to live!” Jaerick said as he spurred his horse and returned to the top of the ridge. He was angry with the humans, but he could not blame them as much as he blamed his son. He took actions into his own hands and attacked the human force without proper reconnaissance. He would deal with him much later, but right now, he wanted nothing more than to confront these humans, Traelyn, and especially Naemyn.
Jaerick charged his horse up the ravine where they stood, stopping only inches in front of Traelyn and Naemyn.
“What is going on here Naemyn? I sent you on a mission to make sure the shard was safe, not to come back here and attack your own people with these humans!”
“I am responsible for this, Jaerick,” Traelyn said stepping forward in front of Naemyn. “Though, I am not responsible for the attack, I am responsible for Naemyn’s actions.”
“How can any of this be? Where have you been all these years, and why do you return now?” he said attempting to hide his anger, hurt, and confused feelings.
“I know you have a lot of questions, as do I, but many of them are going to have to be unanswered for a little while longer, at least long enough for us to end this war between the humans and the elves. My aggressive son is now held captive by your spirit ancestors at the catacombs, so now we can work on making peace and returning Daegon back to me, and maybe, just maybe, this whole endeavor has been started so that my father can return from his imprisonment.”
Jaerick dismounted his horse and his three commanders followed his lead. He walked over to Traelyn, wrapped his arms around her, and buried his face into her neck. He remembered her scent the minute he nuzzled into her neck. Traelyn did not return the embrace, but stiffened. Jaerick realized his embrace was not returned, so he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away, outstretching his arms, but still held on to her shoulders. “I don’t understand,” he said.
“Naemyn has been our hostage, my son killed every elf that was with him. Daegon must have sent Voll ahead to command this battle without my knowledge. I specifically told him not to attack, but rather to wait for us. Regardless, the fighting must stop.”
Traelyn grabbed Jaerick’s arms and forced them off of her shoulders, and then slid her hands down to his and held them. She looked into his eyes and saw hurt and confusion in them. She began to wonder if he had known she was even alive all of these years. She wanted to ask, she had so much she wanted to talk about, but now was not the time.
Jaerick put his right hand under her chin and smiled. “Naemyn, take Traelyn back to Fort Stone Elf.”
“Are you not coming with us?” Naemyn asked.
“No, I am going to escort my son back home to Aalararae, and I will take the majority of the forces I brought with us. Traelyn, we are done with hostilities here. I want you to tell your warriors to go home as well, and no longer fight us.”
“Great Mother…” Voll interjected, “you cannot do this. Commander Daegon has given me orders to advance, and not to stop until they are defeated.”
Traelyn’s neck turned red, and in her renewed youth, she felt the anger rage inside her in a form that she had not felt in years. She turned to face him, pointing her finger at him. “Who leads us? My son or me?”
“Forgive me, Great Mother,” Voll said looking at the ground, “you command us. I will do
as you wish as always.”
“Mother…” Traegon spoke, but Traelyn snapped her head back to Traegon interrupting him with her glare.
“You, my son, are in total command of this force. Voll, you will advise my son, but you will not deviate from my command. I want you to take these brave warriors home.”
Then she removed the Quarterstar Talisman from her neck and placed it over Traegon’s head amidst the shock of all those present. Incredulous and confused to her purpose they gawked and stared at Traegon.
“What do you want me to do with this?” Traegon asked holding the talisman in his hands.
“You cannot give that to him,” Naemyn objected, speaking at the same time as Traegon.
“I can and I have. King Keiyann Krowe gave it to me and he never said I had to return it, but rather to use it to my advantage. Now that I have done so, I no longer need it.”
“Then give it back to the elves,” Naemyn pleaded, then turned to Jaerick. “King Jaerick, please explain to her the importance of this talisman.”
“I no longer find it important to us, Naemyn. It has been nothing but a vision in a nightmare I had. Now that we have found it and now that I have found Traelyn, it means nothing to me.”
“But the prophecies?”
“They are the creation of the Sorae anyhow…I do not need it.”
Naemyn turned to Traelyn and tried again. “Give it to me,” he said looking at her, but holding out his hand towards Traegon.
“No, we will not,” she said spitefully. “Traegon, take these brave men home.”
“Yes mother,” Traegon acknowledged and walked away, taking Voll with him back to the force to spread the word.
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