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| Author | The Dying Soul |
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https://www.lordswm.com/forum_messages.php?tid=1917326 | CHAPTER 1
It was nearing noon in the city of Taerem and a large crowd had gathered in the city centre, around a circular area spanning about ten square meters, to witness an event that had become commonplace in the lives of people throughout the empire. Near the centre of the circular enclosure, three people could be seen kneeling on the ground. Their shabbily dressed appearance revealed their hard life spent in poverty. One of them was a child of about five, the second a woman aged nearly thirty and the third a man who seemed to have almost entered into his early forties. They seemed to be a family.
To the left of this group of three stood five men, all of them covered from head to toe in chain mail, wielding a reprisal sword in their hand. The sword looked stunning. Its handle was painted bright yellow and the afternoon sunlight reflecting off its long sharp blade added to its splendor. Their red colored tunic bore the royal emblem, which clearly declared that they had come here on the king’s orders. And they normally came to collect taxes.
“This is the last time I am telling this, give me the money” said one of the five swordsmen. “Please sir, give me three month’s time” said the man on the ground “We had very little rain this year, sir. We barely have enough money to eat a single morsel a day. I beg you sire. Just three months”. “Three months!” exclaimed the swordsman with an expression of astonishment on his face. He turned towards the other swordsmen and continued “Did you hear him? He just said three months!” Upon hearing this, all the swordsmen roared in laughter. “Three months!” the swordsman continued, this time to the kneeling man “Did you think we are fools to give you three months? I thought you might ask me for one day, and there you are, asking for a bloody three months! The king has given special instructions to have a timely collection of taxes. And I suppose you just said that you had some money to eat a single morsel a day, right? Bring that money out, and I might then decide to give you three days”. “Please sir, excuse me this one last time. It has been very hard saving up that money. My son here has not eaten since two days. Please sir, I beg you to spare us” the man said, tears rolling down his eyes. “So this child is the cause of all troubles” said the swordsman “I guess it would be easier if I end him”. Saying this, he pulled out his sword which was tugged in through his waist belt. “No sir, please” cried the helpless mother, bursting into tears. “Not my child sir, kill me if you want” said the man stepping forward. The four other swordsmen dragged both of them away from their child. They were constantly shouting and crying, pleading to have their child spared. But it seemed to have no effect on the swordsman, for he turned a deaf ear to their pleads. | The child burst into tears. The face of the innocent soul was full of terror as he sensed his approaching end. “Don’t cry child. It will hurt just a little. I will make this quick and easy” and saying this, he swung his swords towards the child. The blade was just inches away from separating the child’s neck from the rest of his body when an arrow pierced the back of the executioner’s head, and the blood splattered onto the child’s face.
Everyone was stunned. They looked around to find an answer, and as a possible explanation to their confusion, out of the crowd came three men. Standing in the centre of the trio was Eric, to his left was Kevin and to his right stood Mark. Kevin held a bow in his hand, giving a possible reasoning as to who had killed the swordsman. Stepping forward, Eric spoke “You insolent wretches, how dare you try kill a child”. “He was not paying us the taxes” said one of the four remaining swordsman to which Kevin replied “And why the hell should we? Your king has done nothing for us, except to burden poor people with his insane taxes. Go; tell your king that we don’t care a damn shit about him or his taxes”. With a bit of hesitation, the swordsmen got on the back of their horses, and rode off towards the north, to Great Capital.
“Thank you sir” said the man. “It’s nothing Lynch” said Mark “Those clowns ought to be taught a lesson”. “Sir, I fear they will be very soon coming for us again. Please sir, save us. If not me, at least save my wife and my child”. “You can come with us to the Narim forest if you like. You will be safe there. Those fools won’t be able to find us there” said Eric. “Thank you sir” said Lynch “I am extremely indebted to you”. “Let’s move then” said Kevin, and all of them headed towards the Narim forest, making their way through the crowd, which dispersed by the following minute. | CHAPTER 2
A day passed. It was evening in Taerem but it was already dark in the Narim forest, for the dense foliage prevented even a single ray of the evening light from penetrating through it to reach the ground. The trio Eric, Mark, Kevin and Lynch, his wife Isia and Lynch’s son Cheren were all seated in front of the trio’s hut on well cut and polished stones, before a huge bonfire they had made from the firewood they had collected early in the morning. Lynch being a woodcutter helped in chopping down the trees. An hour soon passed chatting with Lynch; he shared his experiences of a life spent in poverty with the rest, speaking of how hard his life has been because of the insanely high taxes. Minutes quickly passed by.
“Hey, look there” said Mark pointing to the east. They all stood up. Arrays of horsemen were pouring into the clearing where their hut was built. Kevin picked up his bow from the ground, placed an arrow in between the bow and stretched its string. They soon realized that they were surrounded by heavily armed horsemen, some with fire torches in their hands. One of them came forward and spoke “Your game’s up. You have been giving us trouble for quite some time”. “But how did you come to know our hideout?” asked a surprised Kevin, aiming his arrow towards the previous speaker. “You would never guess” said the horseman “This man, Lynch, he helped us to do so. We promised him ten gold coins if he helped us in finding your hideout. Clever, eh? Yes, that drama in the city centre was all set up, just to lure you into saving him in order to find your hideout. And we have done it”. “You Lynch!” shouted an angry Mark “We trusted you, and you gave us in?” “But how did he contact them” asked a confused Eric, unable to comprehend the fact that Lynch had betrayed them. “He must have done so when we went to gather the firewood” answered Kevin, his face full of rage. “Here Lynch, here is your gold” said the horseman. Lynch stepped forward and the horseman gave him a small brown bag of cloth, which supposedly contained the gold coins. “How could you betray us, Lynch?” asked Eric, his eyes moist “We risked our lives to save you, and then you do this?” “I badly needed this money” said Lynch “I am sorry Eric, but now we will never have to go hungry again. The king has promised to exempt us from paying taxes too. No one could refuse such an offer. You too would have accepted it if you were in my place. I had too much to gain, and pretty much nothing to lose” said Lynch. “Yes, you do” said Eric “You have lost your honor”. “Enough of this” said the horseman “Take them. You will be sent to Verdant Dell. You will suffer for all the trouble you have caused us”. | | Eric, Mark and Kevin were escorted out of the forest by the horsemen. Soon, the last of the horsemen left the place, leaving only Lynch, his wife and his son on the spot. A beaming Lynch ran up to his wife; hugged her and said “We are rich honey, we are rich. We will never have to live in poverty”. Contrary to the reaction Lynch had expected from his wife, she slapped him hard on his cheek and said “All that was a drama? You tricked them? How could you? How could you betray them? They have been fighting, fighting to keep the villagers of Taerem safe from the king’s tyranny, and you gave them up? You betrayed them for a few pennies? How could you Lynch. How could you. You were never such a man” said Isia, tears rolling down her cheeks. “What are you telling Isia” said Lynch “I did this for your happiness. I did this for our child. I…” Before he could complete his sentence, Isia drew out Lynch’s dagger belted onto his waist and stabbed him in his back. “I loved you Lynch, but you are no longer the same man” said Isia, kissing Lynch on his lips for one last time. A teardrop fell from Lynch’s eyes before he passed away into the void for eternity. | CHAPTER 3
Eric’s eyelids opened, paving way for the morning sunlight to enter his eyes. He slowly sat up. He looked around and realized that they were in some sort of a moving wagon. Both his friends Kevin and Mark were still asleep. Five armed guards sat in front of him, ready to attack at the slightest hint of danger. His hands and legs were chained to a wall of the wagon, and so were of his two friends. There was a small grilled window on his side of the wall, just above his head. And soon enough, Kevin got up and Mark followed suit.
“Where the hell are we?” asked an astonished Mark, examining the wagon they were in. One of the swordsmen in the wagon spoke “You are going to the prison in Verdant Dell. You must have surely heard about that, right?” and roared in laughter. “Well” said Kevin “as a matter of fact, we haven’t heard, if only you could enlighten us…” “Let’s see how long your jokes last. Everyone knows about it, how come you don’t? Ah! How can forest dwellers like you know the happenings in the empire? The prison in Verdant Dell, what can I say about it? It’s the most dangerous place in the whole world. Creatures violating the king’s order of all races are sent there, they are sent there till they die. You will never see the outside world ever again” replied the swordsman and he and his four other friends burst into laughter. | | “Seems to be a dangerous place” said Mike. A minute of silence followed. “We need to get out” whispered Eric.”What are you thinking dude? Do you plan on taking out these armed guards with our hands and legs chained? Man, you’ll get us killed” Mike whispered back. “Eric’s right, getting ourselves killed might be better than getting into that hell of a place” said Kevin. “Shut up you numbskulls” shouted one of the swordsmen. Eric signaled Kevin, as a response to which, he said to the swordsmen “Can I get a glass of water, my throat is too dry”. “Give him that bottle” one of the five swordsmen ordered, and another took a bottle lying at a corner and brought it to Kevin. “How am I to drink with my hands chained?” asked he, with a tinge of surprise showing up on his face. “You think you can fool us? He’ll pour the water into your mouth. What did you think? We were idiots?” Kevin sat with his back touching the wall of the wagon, so as to get as much slack as possible in the chain which bound his hands and feet to the wall and prepared to attack. The swordsman bent and brought the bottle of water towards his lips. With a swift movement of his head, Kevin hit the bottom of the bottle and it darted through the air and hit the head of the swordsman. This gave him enough time to draw the sword out of his belt. “Now what? I can’t reach my chains!” exclaimed Kevin as the rest of the swordsmen realized what had happened and drew their swords. “Use your brain man, cut mine” said Mark. “I really am an idiot” said Kevin and cut off the chain binding Mark’s left hand to the wall, as it was the closest to Kevin and handed him the sword. “Glad you realized it at least now” Mark said and with a quick blow of his sword cut through the chain binding his right hand. By then, the rest of the swordsmen had closed up on Mark, and one of them attacked him with a slashing motion of his sword. Mark defended the blow with his sword and with his other hand knocked the man in his groin. The others soon followed suit and dashed forward to hack at Mark with their shiny pieces of metal. “I can’t keep this up for long” Mark said “My chained feet make me pretty much immobile”. “Then cut this off” said Eric, bringing the chain binding his left hand towards Mark. Using all his strength, Mark thrust his sword into a swordsman’s belly and it exited from his other end. Taking advantage of the confusion the death of the swordsman had created, he cut off the chain as Eric has said. With his left hand free, Eric took up a silver utensil kept besides him and hurled it towards the swordsman rushing towards Eric sensing the danger. It hit his head and he fell flat on the ground. Mark used his sword to free his legs and gave his own sword to Eric and he picked up the sword of the swordsman Eric had just knocked out. Very soon, Eric too was free from his bondage. By then, the fight was pretty much fair, three swordsmen against the two of them. Very soon, Mark and Eric had them on the ground as well and released Kevin who picked up a sword from one of the fallen men. “That was a pretty good fight” said Kevin “But we missed the most important part, how the hell do we get out!” “Hmm…I guess you should have said this a bit earlier, now we are in greater trouble than before” said Mark. “We’ll find a way out” consoled Eric examining the wagon, hoping to find an escape route. | | “We could try breaking that grill up there” said Mark. “I don’t think we could. It looks too strong to be easily broken with these swords. “Hey guys, look up” said Kevin pointing towards a circular iron door on the wagon’s ceiling. “It’s bolted. But I guess we could easily break it” said Eric “someone raise me up”. Mark stood right below the iron door and hoisted Eric upwards. Eric started hitting the door’s latch with the blade of his sword. “C’mon Eric, do it fast” said Mark “You are too heavy”. Eric was still working his way to opening the latch when Mark’s powerful gaze fell on one of the fallen swordsmen. He was getting up, his hands had already reached the hilt of his sword and was about to pull it out from its sheath. “Kevin, watch out” Mark cautioned. Kevin saw the rising swordsman and charged towards him. Even before the man could stand up, Kevin thrust his sword through the man’s stomach and pulled it out, and he fell on the ground, motionless. By then, Eric had opened up the latch and had made his way out on to the top of the wagon. He looked around. There were many wagons in front of them, as well as many behind them. Soon with the help of Kevin, Mark was pulled up and then Eric and Mark pulled Kevin out. “We have to jump?” asked Kevin “I am scared of moving trains, you know that”. “We need to get off now” said Eric as he sensed the wagon slowing down. “Have they seen us escaping?” asked Mark. “Let's get off fast. On the count of three; one, two three, jump…” Eric said and the trio jumped off the wagon as it came to a halt. They landed down safely and saw a lush green forest spread invitingly before them. “We have no choice, we need to go in there” Eric said. “They are coming after us!” Mark said taking a look at his back. Hundreds of swordsmen swarmed out of the dozens of wagons that had stopped behind them. “Catch those fugitives, don’t let them escape” they heard one of them say, who supposedly was the commander of the army on their pursuit. “We need to run fast” Kevin said and they entered into the forest, unknowing of what lies ahead. | CHAPTER 4
“Keep running man” said Kevin as the group of three scrambled through the forest. “No matter what happens, stay together” said Eric. “Are those fools still pursuing us?” asked Mark. “I don’t know; I hope they have lost us”. They jumped over a fallen tree just to bump into one of the swordsmen in pursuit. “They are here” he yelled. Kevin took his sword out and in an instant sliced his body into two pieces through the middle of his torso. They dashed forward to reach a clearing within the woods, and realized that they were surrounded by the pursuing swordsmen. “This is gonna be bad” said Kevin, as they witnessed their enemies closing upon them. “What do we do Eric?” asked Mark. “I don’t know” said Eric, his breathing getting heavier with each passing second. “Man, I don’t want to die now, not at least before I defeat Kevin at least once” said Mark. “In what?” asked Kevin to which Mark replied “In archery of course, it’s the only thing you are good at”. “Could you guys just shut up” Eric shouted at them.
‘So this is how my life ends’ Eric thought. They had been surrounded by more than a hundred swordsmen and some archers by then. “You tried to run away, eh? What did you think, you would escape so easily?” said an archer. He took out a bow from his quiver, placed it in between his bow “Who wants to go first, let us see. Maybe you would like to have the honor” said he, pointing the bow towards Mark. “See the last of this world my friend” he said while pulling the string of the bow. Mark breathed heavily. His heart almost stopped beating. He knew his end was fast approaching. “Goodbye guys” he said and at the moment, an arrow whooshed past him and hit the archer in his forehead, rendering him dead on the spot.
“Eric, I didn’t knew you could do this!” said a surprised Kevin to which Eric responded “I really do wish I could have done this, but this wasn’t me”. “Whatever it was” said Mark heaving a sigh of relief “at least it saved my head. I might live for at least a few minutes longer”. The King’s forces looked stunned and fear gripped them, clearly visible in their eyes. And one by one, shadowy images of hundreds of human like creatures emerged from the trees. At the next instant, few arrows darted through the air and killed many of the king’s troops, apparently released by some of the supposedly tree dwelling creatures. Some of them jumped down, each of them wielding a long sword in their hand which was curved slightly at its end. That was when Eric and his friends finally had a view of the creatures, they were elves. | “Elves!” exclaimed a surprised Kevin “Have you ever seen one before Mark?” “Nope” Mark replied “Their tales are too popular, yet I never had the opportunity to see one. And here they are, right in front of my eyes. Fancy being saved by a creature you had never seen before but had fantasized meeting them since childhood”. “Eric fixed his gaze upon one of them. He was tall, muscular and well built and wore a green tunic around his waist. His back was extensively tattooed in black. All elves had long pointed ears and he was no exception. He was a good fighter, Eric noticed, far better than himself and the rest of the elves he saw. The elf made his way through groups of the king’s troops and irrespective of who they were, where they lived or what they did, he cut through the entrails of all those who crossed paths with him. In a matter of minutes, the peaceful forest floor had turned into a battlefield, with piles of dead men floating upon rivers of flowing blood.
“Wow man” said Mark “They killed ‘em!”. Eric spread his gaze all around. All the king’s soldiers were dead. Well, he was not sure whether all had died, but at least an alive human except them was not to be seen anywhere nearby. The elf that had gotten Eric’s interest turned towards the three of them. They positioned themselves so as to face the elves, their swords still drawn out. Eric heard the elf shouting out something in a language he had never heard. ‘It’s possibly elvish’ he guessed. “What did he just say?” Mark enquired to Eric. “I wish I did know”. Eric felt someone creeping up behind him, but before he could react, Eric felt the cold metal surface of the handle of a sword crush against his neck; and the next thing he saw or felt was complete emptiness. | | [Post deleted by moderator Pang // by requested] | CHAPTER 5
Eric slowly got up and realized that his neck ached and his head whirled in circles. He tried to recollect but couldn’t remember a thing that had happened after he blacked out. He looked around. His friends lay besides him, still asleep. They were in a small house, in a kind of a hut made of wood. He turned towards his right and was just in time to witness the rays of the morning sun entering their current place of residence through a circular opening and through the innumerable crevices that ran throughout the walls of the hut except the ceiling. The walls of the hut were extensively decorated with murals, each of them telling a story of its own. The hut had a triangular roof; a network of hay and leaves covered the ceiling, possibly to stop water dripping into the hut during the rains. To his left attached to the wall was a cylindrical wooden stand about half his height on top of which stood a vase made of metal with precious stones embedded on it, sparkling to the height of its splendor as the sun rays hit the gems.
“Where am I” Eric heard Mark speaking, who was trying to get up on his left. “I don’t know, I guess we are with the elves”. In a while Kevin also woke up and the three of them had a discussion as to where they were, what happened to them and where would they end up. “I say they are going to make our meatballs” said Mark. “Don’t you know elves are vegetarians?” Kevin said “I guess they will throw us over a cliff”. “Don’t you guys realize the seriousness of the situation?” roared an angry Eric.
They heard the front door creak. Eric stood up, and so did his friends. His right hand moved towards the left of his waist, where usually his sword would be tugged in through his belt, but couldn’t get hold of it. That’s when he realized that the elves must have stripped them of their weapons. “They took away our weapons” said Eric, his heart thumping fast. “See, I told you. They want to make our meat balls” said Mark. “No, they will throw us over a cliff” argued Kevin. “O God! How can you keep cool in such a situation?” asked a frustrated Eric. The door slowly opened, letting the morning light enter the hut. And when the door was wide open, they saw an expected visitor standing in front of them, the elf they had met the previous day. | | The elf entered into the hut. There were numerous scars all across his torso. ‘Might have happened during the battle’ thought Eric. “Welcome to Ellenora. Hope you had a pleasant stay” the elf said. “Where did you take away our swords?” enquired Mark. “What do you intend to do? We mean no harm to you or to any elf” Kevin continued on Mark’s words. “We took a risk bringing you here, since we had no idea if you were the King’s men. We had our plans to finish you off”. “As we have said” said Eric “we have nothing to do with the king. In fact, we were being sent off to the Verdant Dell prison for having disobeyed his orders. I would like to ask your leave so that we may return home”. The elf nodded his head in reproval. “We know who you are, and what cause do you serve. Our spies have complete information about you and we have verified that you have fought to keep your village free from your king’s ruthless policies, which is in itself a commendable act, considering only the three of you have stood up against the king’s might. But allowing you to return is dangerous for us as if you are caught by the king, he will take out each and every bit of your memory and the location of our land which has been kept a secret from the other races for centuries together would be disclosed”. “Then what are we to do?” asked Eric to which the elf replied “You can join us in the fight against your king”. “Our king!” exclaimed Mark “He is nothing more than a piece of shit to us”. “Then all’s well. You will stay and train with us till the war is over. I’d be frequently meeting you. One of my friends would be accompanying you to the training grounds in the afternoon. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot. My name is Manatel, would be your friend next door for a couple of years at least I guess, if the king doesn’t wipe us out sooner. See you later then”. Having said his part, Manatel left leaving behind Eric and his friends in the hut. “What the hell” said Mark “Now we have to fight alongside the elves?” “This might be our only chance” said Eric “If any race in this world would be able to bring the king to his knees, then that’s the elves. Anyways, wasn’t it always our desire to fight against the king and rid him of his duty?” “So what now?” Kevin asked. “We have to do as the elves tell. We have no choice”. “Man! What kind of a trap have we fallen into, we are now no longer able to do as we please, fancy being instructed by a creature that you had heard about only in fairy tales” said Kevin, nodding his head in dismay. | | [Post deleted by moderator Magier // true, but you should post this in the discussion thread] | CHAPTER 6
The sun was right overhead when they heard a knock on the door. Without any further notice, the door swung open and in the doorway stood a huge elf, or that they thought. Unlike Manatel, he was huge, taller in height and was much bigger in size. He had the appearance of a mini giant. He had a muscular body and wore green full-pants, his upper body was naked.
“Elves did have pointed ears, right?” Kevin asked Mark who questioned “So what?” “Well, he doesn’t seem to have one”. That is when Eric and Mark noticed it, the elf, or what they thought to be an elf, didn’t have pointed ears as was their common characteristic. Seeing the confusion in their eyes, the thought-to-be-elf smiled and said “Well, I am not an elf if you mistook me for one. I am a human just like you, the only one except you and Trans, in the whole of Ellenora”. “Fancy meeting a human in the land of the elves! Gosh! Who would ever expect to see a human here? As a matter of fact, I thought I would never see a human again” said Eric. Mark and Kevin looked at Kevin with astonishment. It was the first time in the twenty years they had known him that he hadn’t been serious. “I guess Ellenora is a land of the unexpected” said Mark and winked at Kevin who winked back. “The elves do feel insecure having anyone of another race around them. But due to the war, they have started to join forces with anyone who is in pursuit of the same goal as theirs. By the way, did I mention my name is GKH?” “GKH!” Mark and Kevin exclaimed in unison. “Is that a name?” asked Kevin. “There is a long story behind it” GKH said with a smile “It’s a story for a later time”. “It’s been a long time since I have met any new humans around and I was too engrossed in chatting that I nearly forgot what I am here for” he continued “Let’s head towards the training grounds. Manatel would be waiting for us there. It’s been a pleasure meeting humans once again”.
After about a day of confinement in the hut, they finally got a chance to get out and witness the outer environment; they stepped out of the hut through the front door. As they stepped out, they had a surprise waiting for them: they realized that the hut they had stayed in was constructed on the top of a huge tree. “How do the elves manage to build these?” asked Mark out of curiosity. “The elves are the best builders” said GKH “The buildings of no race can compete against their structures. Wait till you see more of Ellenora, only then will you fully agree to what I just said. These treetop houses are somewhat well concealed, the approaching enemies will have to waste a hell lot of a time to find and destroy each of them”. They descended down the wooden stairs which had been attached to the middle of the wide branch they were standing on. Once they reached the floor, Eric looked up and realized that the hut was really well concealed and it would be hard to detect one, especially during the night, providing good protection against the enemy’s onslaught. | Once on the floor, they began treading towards the north. It was a long walk to the training grounds and took them at least an hour to reach the training grounds. GKH showed them some elven houses on the way, but due to the dense foliage, the houses were not much visible as was the case with the one they had stayed in. They did meet some elves on the way who looked at Eric, Mark and Kevin as though they were some peculiar insects. GKH was gracefully greeted by everyone they met on their way. “Don’t worry about them. The elves are a bit hostile to anyone outside their own race. I have been with them for quite some time and have demonstrated my loyalty and this has earned me a place in Ellenora as one among the pure elves itself” GKH proudly said. The frequency of houses they saw on the way decreased as they tread along. “These areas are less populated. Most of the elves live to the South and East. I’ll one day tour you around Ellenora”. Though the walk was long and tedious, they didn’t feel exhausted nor did they come to know that an hour had elapsed, the walk with GKH through the streets of Ellenora was rather an interesting one. And even before they knew it, they were standing on the edge of a precipice.
Below them were the training grounds. Except a few barracks here and there and some archery ranges, it was an empty piece of land spread across several acres. It was the first time the three of them had seen a barren land in Ellenora, contrary to the fact that elves loved nature and they always spent their lives in lush green forested areas, or so he had heard. Thousands of elves were engaged in some sort of a combat or practicing their own numerous different ways of fighting below them on the training grounds. “Let’s go down” GKH said, and the four of them descended down the stairs made of stone right in front of them. There stood two elven archers covered in green tunic in front of them on the left and right ends of the first step of the stairs.
“101, 102, 103, 104…will this ever end?” asked a frustrated Kevin, counting each step they had descended. “You have to descend a total of 257 steps, excluding the first and the last. The large number of steps has helped increase our endurance in a physical combat. You will be running up and down these several times during your training”. The three others with him almost fainted upon hearing this. But GKH didn’t look as if he was even a bit tired. “Must be the result of years of rigorous training with the elves” Eric guessed. | Finally, they descended the last step and stepped on flat ground. “Hey GKH, what took you so long?” Manatel headed towards them with hurried steps. “Ha ha. Spent some time having a chat” said GKH, smiling back. “So, I hope you guys are ready for your training. We elves have planned out a training regime for all of you. You will be very much necessary in our battle against the king, and so you will be extensively trained for this purpose. As for today, all you have to do is take five rounds of this ground. Every day, you will report here at six in the morning, and increase your running distance by half a round each day. GKH will catch up with you guys after you have finished the rounds” said Manatel and went off with GKH. The three were left dumbstruck. “Did he just say five rounds?” asked Mark. “I guess so…” Eric replied. “Five rounds?” Kevin exclaimed “This is ridiculous. This ground spans several acres!”. “Whatever it is, we have to complete this. It will do us more good than harm. How good will it be if we went into the middle of a battle and fell exhausted midway through the fight?” asked Eric. Mark and Kevin nodded in response. And so they set off to do as they were instructed. A herculean task, they believed, but something forced them into at least trying to do what they considered was impossible. This something was the dedication and determination that they observed in the elves.
They ran around the edge of the training grounds, taking inspiration from the elves’ dedication with each step. The elves, they saw, were training so hard, they had come to know that they had been training since about five or so in the morning. Their dedication was commendable. ‘So all that I had heard about elves was true. If anyone can hope to defeat the king, it’s them’ Eric thought. They were so glued to watching them train that they finished their task even before they realized it, it was GKH who stopped them. “You must not overstrain yourselves” he said. And they headed back to their humble hut. | CHAPTER 7
Tap tap tap…the sound echoed in Eric’s ears. He woke up and so did his friends. “Who’s waking us up so early? Manatel has given us a day off” Mark said, barely managing to open his eyes. It was quite some time since the sun had risen but the previous days tiring activities made them crave for more sleep. “Come in” Eric said and into the hut stepped an elf. He looked very young, young enough to be in his late teens if he were a human, but the looks of an elf are deceiving, he had heard they were far older than one could guess from their appearance. “Here’s your breakfast” said the elf keeping three plates of food on the floor “Hope you had a good night’s rest” he said. “Thanks a lot for bringing this” Eric said and they saw portions of the elf’s face vanishing from their sight as it went behind the closing door.
“They have brought us food” said Kevin, picking up the plates from the ground and handing two of them to his friends. “No meat!” Mark exclaimed. Living in the forest for several years together, they had become accustomed to eating meat, and especially Mark couldn’t bear not eating it for even a day. “How am I to survive?” he asked. “You can survive being vegetarian for sometime” Eric said. The plates they had been served their food on were made of silver. Something was scribbled in the elvish language on the plates, which neither Eric nor his friends could comprehend.
Eric began eating, but Mark and Kevin sat still, staring at the plates of food as if the plate would gulp them the next minute. “I am sure they have added poison in this. They will throw us over a cliff once the effect of the poison takes place” said Kevin. “Nope, they will make our meatballs” Mark argued. “If both of you don’t shut up, I’ll make sure that both of you are made into meatballs, thrown over a cliff and fed to the alligators in the river below it” Eric said, and there was no discussion in the hut anymore. They finished their food quietly. | They had pretty much nothing to do. GKH had given them some books on the history of the elves, and had urged them to read these as they were going to spend considerable time with the elves. So that was what they did, they began reading the books GKH had given them. The series of seven books contained all the important historical events during the existence of the oldest race in the world. An interested group of three friends read on.
About a couple of hundred years ago, the elves comprised of much a much larger group. Their community had been divided into two clans, one lead by Lord Vlaer and the other by Lord Zenith. But this division had just been for namesake, they were like both a single community. This was until the powerful gaze of King Horst fell on this powerful unity. Trying to consolidate his position in the empire at that time, Horst saw this alliance with fear, and understood that he could never rule the world as long as they stood together. He thus set out to separate them, the possible last obstacle between him and the throne to rule the world. Horst’s plans soon succeeded as the elves split into two, one led by Lord Vlaer and the other by Lord Zenith. He had used his wicked plans to feed a deep feeling of distrust between the two groups, and hence had become successful in separating them. Lord Vlaer being powerful of the two, Horst began to support him in the war between him and Zenith that followed for the control over Pransr, the then home to the elves. Lord Zenith was badly defeated at the battle of Pransr, and had to retreat to the Zaire hills. But Horst had plans other than just defeating Lord Zenith. He had a fear that Lord Vlaer would sooner or later discover the truth that he had been the one who had spread distrust between the elves, and would have to fight Lord Vlaer in a battle he could possibly loose. So he set out to get Lord Vlaer’s army into his control, one by one. It took some time for Lord Vlaer to realize what was happening to his troops, but it was too late. His elven army had been transformed into horrible creatures, their mind were now controlled by Horst. Lord Vlaer was alone, but he didn’t give. With the last of his efforts, he fought against Horst, but he perished in the battle, it was obvious that he couldn’t have defeated the entire might of Horst and his army alone. Since then, Lord Vlaer’s troops have been called Dark Elves throughout the empire, though no one has ever heard or seen them after about a month since the battle. An angry Lord Zenith came to know of the seeds of misunderstanding Horst had sown into the elves’ lives, and swore to overthrow Horst. In a battle that followed, Lord Zenith was badly defeated and killed. The elves’ retreated into the interior of Ellenora and managed to conceal themselves in the forest, waiting for a time to defeat Horst and take their revenge.
“That’s quite a history” Mark said, reading the text. “I hope I had a chance to meet Lord Vlaer” said Eric “The most powerful creature of his time, I would have loved to see him”. | | | closed by Vlaer (2012-07-08 20:45:12) |
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