I awoke with a start from a hazy dream, drawing my curved dagger instinctively. It was only my trusted lieutenant, the arch-lich Rithrin.
"Lord Oderic, the troops are assembled as per your order. It is time to make ready m'lord and to lead the troops against your arch enemy, Aedan"
"Yes, Rithrin, soon we will wash the remaining Defenders of the Holy Vale, along with Aedan and his paladin scum from the face of this world!"
With a wave of my hand, I dismissed the lich, turning to my armor, covered with spikes and chains, blackened in the fires of the Dark Portal. I had one of my personal undead servants assist me in attaching the armor to my body. As the assembly of the armor was neigh in completion, runes glowing with darkness started to appear on the blackened plate, conforming around the plate giving it the visage of a demon.
When the armor was completed, I reached for my enormous flamberge, forged and imbued with forbidden magic unknown by any living man. Gripping it in my enormous gauntleted hand, I felt the dark energies wash over me, making me stronger than a hundred men and enhancing my battle prowess.
As soon as I was finished preparing for combat, I walked out of my great tent, taking my place on a great stage in front of a gigantic fire pit, glowing blue with the souls being siphoned from the underworld and placed into my ever growing legion of undead soldiers. Rithrin was overseeing the necromantic productions.
"Lord Oderic, our scouts have reported that the dwarves have joined the humans at their base!"
"Dwarves, those potato sacks with beards!?!" I exclaimed. "Lich, finish up this final company, then rally the others, they will feast upon the flesh of humans tonight!"
He sent runners to gather the Orcish legions, the Goblin tribes, and the Keshian Gnoll soldiers. Waiting for the demi-humans to assemble, I watched Rithrin finish up the last of the zombie soldiers, awaiting their orders to attack at nightfall.
"Orcs! Goblins! Gnolls! For too long have the humans mocked you! By joining me and my warriors, you will have your vengeance! We attack at nightfall! Thanks to our newly developed "packages" specially fit for you goblins, your sacrifices for your war-tribes will not be in vain, for you will take many human lives!"
A howl of approval sounded from the masses of warriors, the clang of their swords upon bronze shields rang out in the cold morning air. I walked slowly to the make-shift stables, holding many large animals being fit with war drums. Turning at a cage with an unsettling amount of bite marks upon the bars. Ordering a pair of goblins to open the fel-steed's pen.
The demonic beast charged out, baring fangs dripping with bile. I calmed the flaming beast by grabbing the pentagram infused onto its forehead, quickly mounting the creature of the twisting nether and spurring it to the front of the camp waiting for the sun to go down.
Near nightfall, I had thousands of goblins, orcs and gnolls underneath my banner, standing silently waiting for the command to march. I raised my hand, and four trolls riding the massive beasts outfitted with drums started a slow, steady beat. At the sound of the drums, the orcs set off at a steady run, leaving the gnolls as reinforcements, and the goblins to move the catapults.
On the high outcropping of rock over the Human encampment, many fires could be seen, and an alarm had been raised at the thundering advance of the orcs and gnolls.
"FIRE THE GOBLINS!" I roared over the howls and cries of the troops below.
Rithrin shot a ball of flame into the sky, which burst into a light, bright enough to rival the sun. At this signal, a great commotion among the goblins began, many of the goblins outfitted with barrels of explosives climbing into the catapults five at a time.
As soon as the goblins loaded themselves into the catapults, troll overseers launched them at the tents made by their human oppressors, hearing the goblins screams as they soared through the air and exploding in the middle of the camps, causing fire and death and destruction. It was all too perfect.
I watched the orcs overrun the first line of defenders, slaughtering their warriors as they went. The screams of men filled the air, as the lich's fire orb in the sky cast grim shadows about the field of battle. The undead warriors still stood at their positions, ready to assist the orcs at the first sign of failure on any front.
I saw that the orcs were tiring in their advance, I signaled for the doglike gnolls to charge and help whip the orcs into a frenzied state. The gnolls charges on all fours, leaping at any surviving humans and dwarves that got in their path, tearing their throats, spraying blood over their brethren, increasing their fervor.
The battle raged on for hours, I sat silently upon my fel-steed, waiting for an opportunity to send in a rushing wave of undeath at the defenders who had eventually rallied near the middle of their camp. I saw my opportunity when the dwarves began to use their mortars to great effect on my warriors.
Suddenly a beam of pure energy shot from the middle of the human ranks, spreading out and raining down like a summer storm, swirling among the fallen ranks of humans, reviving them and giving them new vigor. The gnolls and orcs and goblins were being forced back after being surrounded on all sides by revived attackers.
"Aedan!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, forcing my honor guard to back up slightly. "Send in the undead warriors! I will take care of Aedan myself!"
Turning my fel-steed toward the path down the overlook, and set off at a mighty gallop. Quickly being followed by my honor guard, charging into the fray letting my demonic steed trample many men in my way. Soon the bodies had gotten too thick to charge through.
I unsheathed my flamberge and set about striking every human in sight, cleaving many men in two and absorbing their essence into the blade, making it glow a dull red.
The bloodlust had taken over the Fel-steed, causing it to whip from side to side, cracking bones and rending flesh with its spiked barding.
My honor guard pushed a narrow wedge through their ranks heading toward Aedan and his "mighty" paladins. Bah, paladins are of no worry to me.
I motioned for my sergeant, a large half-ogre, to accompany me, he growled in acknowledgement, raising his screaming war axe above his head and letting out a blood curdling roar, causing man and beast alike to jump out of the way.
I spotted Aedan, sitting atop a majestic warhorse covered in gold barding, he was wielding his "trusty" war hammer, crushing my warriors where they stood, casting holy spells that destroyed my undead warriors.
The half-ogre and I hacked our way through the bodies. We were an unstoppable machine of death; our rage fueled our lust for the battle. Many dwarves and men tried to stop my advance, only to be cut down, feeding my blade, making me stronger for it.
"AEDAN!" I yelled once more, gaining his attention this time. He was only 20 yards away, only with three of his paladin brethren. My sergeant rushed the four men, crippling his warhorse and separating the three men from Aedan. I charged, only to have my fel-steed fall out from under me. I rolled from the fallen beast, only to face Aedan.
A circle of calm in the fighting surrounded me and Aedan, allowing us to hear each other over the sounds of battle.
"So, Oderic, you are the one behind this fruitless war! Call your warriors back, or we will be forced to unleash our full powers against you!"
I laughed mockingly at Aedan. "This war is not fruitless, you naive fool!" bringing my flamberge over my head.
I swung a ferocious blow at Aedan's head, only to have it parried by his hammer. Titanic amounts of energy exploded from the blow, forcing me and him away from each other. Regaining my footing, we both charged at each other, swinging away with fury.
Each resounding blow caused the earth around us to shake with terrible tremors.
"Oderic, I cannot believe we ever called you brother paladin!" Aedan raggedly gasped. I swung for his feet, causing him to back up and throwing him off balance, I saw my opening and threw my shoulder into him, piercing the flesh underneath his golden plate. I watched as his face contorted in pain, blood frothing at the corner of his mouth.
I pulled my shoulder out of Aedan's gut, backing away slightly, then swiftly grabbing his pauldrons with my hands, and bashing my helmet into his unprotected face, gashing it with the fangs of the armor.
"I sincerely hope there is a special place in hell for you Oderic!" he screeched at me.
"Well Aedan, we may never know, because I plan on living forever!" I coldly said to him.
With those last words, I grabbed Aedan's shoulder, raising my flamberge over my head; I thrust it into his chest, sucking the life out of him with every passing second. After I was sure the last ounce of life had left his limp body, I viscously pulled the sword from his chest, knocking his circlet from his head. I ground it into dust with my boot.
The other paladins had seen their leader fall by my hand; many of them broke and fled, fearing for their forsaken lives. My sergeant and I started to cut a swath through the retreating paladins, overtaking their fastest runners. All around me the battle raged filling me with great joy at the fall of my greatest opponent.
My warriors flowed over the distraught and broken defenders, they were on the run, the Holy Vale was my land, and the others were soon to come under my banner, for my hunger for conquest will never burn out of my veins.