They waited in the brush and watched their enemy march past. It was close to dawn and none of the men wanted to fight such a large number of foes without the light of day with them. They are not rouges or assassins, though some had the skill of those that frequented those professions, they were soldiers under King, the true ruler of the Kingdom of the Winds.
Many of the men that waited looked on at the forces. The Queen's army numbered in the hundreds of thousands, comprised of Orcs, Goblins, Mercenaries, and every other species and rank of creature that kept to the dark places in the world. Though hated by others... they were powerful.
An Orc could easily take out a small squad of new soldiers, seasoned veterans did better in groups but alone it was nearly always a death sentence. One man shivered as he thought he saw a large stone creature turn to the reeds and gaze at them. The man to the left of him gestured that the creature was blind and as long as they kept quiet it would not ⌠see" them.
At the forefront of this group of men was the 2nd in command of his majesties armies, Cartus of the Demon Sword. His glasses were in his pocket so not to give a reflective surface and the sword he usually kept on his back was left at the camp nearly 3 miles behind them. The sword could easily be detected by their Seekers (Small squat creatures that could detect magical items) and he was sent here only to view their forces... not to engage them.
After two hours of watching the march Cartus turned and slowly made his way back through the brush. His men soon followed. Their count for the march was nearly eight hundred thousand troops, one hundred thousand of which were heavy archers and another hundred thousand of cavalry.
Against the entire army of King (which numbered only four hundred thousand at its height) they would have been destroyed. Cartus had decided before that they needed many more troops but King had told him before that their numbers were not the issue.
Morale was.
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King was back at base camp... his mind locked on the flames of the fire pit in front of him. He was thinking about how he was going to get his kingdom back... how he would be able to lead his people to victory.... and most important of all, how to get his revenge on Queen Tessla for the death of Jeddan.
It has been a year since he had joined with his people and left the Palace. A year since the day he blacked out and woke up next to the body of Jeddan. He did not know what happened; he told Tessla that he would never enter that room unless it was okayed by Tessla herself. Krynn had been killed and he nearly escaped with his life.
Cartus had found him in a village outside the eastern reaches of the Kingdom. He was sitting in a bar, downing ale. Cartus brought him to Syn of Tongues, a childhood friend of his, and a small band of loyal soldiers to King. Syn had nursed him back to health and eased his aching heart.
Syn of Tongue was daughter to two of the most talented royal interpreters in the entire continent, or perhaps even the world. Syn herself gained her parents talents but was also an accomplished fighter. Trained with Master at Arms Krynn along side King, they had both grown up together until the age of nine, where Syn left with her parents to go overseas to work for Orros, King of the Kingdom of the Plains.
Syn had come back to the Kingdom of the winds when King reached the age of twenty summers, by then King had met and married Jeddan of the golden sands, the daughter of farmer and servant to Fallan, Princess of the Kingdom of the Sands. She told King how she felt about the man he had become and smiled as he had told her that she was his friend. To King friends were like precious jewels... he treasured them above all others. She had stayed with him as a personal Guard and interpreter for his court.
This lasted until four summers had passed and Queen Jeddan became ill. A healer named Tessla of the Fires, came to the palace and began her care of the Queen. Syn learned of what Tessla was planning, how she was poisoning the Queen so she would not conceive an heir to the throne and convince King to take her as a bride.
Syn told King of this and Tessla was questioned. However Tessla was a powerful Mage and had been drugging King with a highly potent hypnotic. King believed Tessla and Syn left as a result.
Now that King had lost his kingdom he spent most of his time with his friends, Syn and Cartus, trying to make up for the lost years. For his past mistakes towards his people.
⌠King?" a voice called to him, breaking the hold of the past on his mind and forcing him to look up. Before him stood Syn. Her hair was pulled back into two ponytails. Like always she was battle ready with her bracers on her arms and her staff in her right hand, yet her face was still kind, something an enemy on the field would never have the pleasure of seeing.
⌠Yes?" he asked feeling the roughness in his voice then took a swig of the water that was beside him,■ What is wrong, Syn?"
Syn slowly made her was beside him and sat down, ⌠Cartus states the enemy is large. Much larger than our own. They outnumber us greatly."
⌠So what you▓re saying is they have a lot of men." He smiled, knowing she would push the subject on how large the numbers of the enemy were until Evening feast.
⌠And Orcs ... and stone elementals"
King nodded, ⌠and we have?"
⌠Four Hundred thousand men ready to fight for our kingdom."
He smiled and reached out to her and pulled her to his side, " And how many of our people can easily take out an Orc or stone elemental?"
Syn sighed," King if we are to win we are to need more men... I say we should go to the Dark Jungles to the south... ask for help from the Allons... their number are great!"
⌠And they hate men." He shook his head, ⌠They like you Syn because you are a woman and a great warrior. They like me because I was not above making a fool of myself for them." He shut his eyes and slumped his shoulders, " If they came here then the men would be distracted and they would kill everyone they would see... including our own soldiers."
⌠We would win!" she growled.
⌠I not will slit the throats of my own men just so I can get my throne back." He countered, ⌠They deserve someone like my father that kept his mind and his kingdom through the worst of times."
Syn leapt to her feet and kicked King hard in the side, ⌠Your father would spit on you if he was here. Seeing his son acting in such a way." She stomped to the other side of the fire and stared at him through the flames. In her mind she was yelling at him cursing him for acting in such a manner... her heart however was wishing to take him into her arms... like the first night he was brought to the camp.
⌠You are strong... but living with that witch has made you question yourself." she continued... her voice had softened... but not by much. ⌠Do you not see that every one in this camp would grab a sword, spear, or bow and follow you into the gates of the underworld just if you told them to."
He nodded, " However I need to know what happened during that time I blacked out at the palace.... I need to see the Grand Oracle." He kept his eyes on Syn and watched her reaction. She did not move or bat an eyelash. " I have a feeling he will be able to tell me what happened to me."
Syn nodded and felt her body grow cold despite the heat of the flames. She did not like the Grand Oracle or the sect that he commanded. Granted her distrust of him stemmed from two sources. From the follower of the Grand Oracle that now sat on the throne in the kingdom of the winds and of the prophecy the Grand Oracle had given her when she was eight summers old.
" So when do we leave?" she asked King.
" We will leave as soon as Cartus returns... I need him to watch the men and if needed unleash his sword on anyone that tries to attack." He replied as he stood and walked out of the command tent and out into the parade grounds. His men were busy keeping weapons sharp and their mounts fed. A few of the men were sparing to the east of him while another group were test firing arrows.
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Cartus made it back to the camp before Midday with his men. They were lucky that they did not meet anyone on the way back for it they did they would be sorely out matched, most had taken only daggers and light leather armor to scout ahead. However not to say these men would have not come back for they would have but they would be worse for the wear.
" King they have a large army... I doubt that we will be able to defend against such a large number." Cartus explained to the King in the command tent. Syn was sitting between the two, Cartus' right and King's left.
Syn nodded. " We need to get some more people to help us."
King folded his hands and then sighed, " Cartus... I am going to see the Grand Oracle. I need you to stay here. Depending on what he says I will make a decision on what we will do."
Cartus nodded. " Can you leave the mages with me then... I need to make sure there are people powerful enough to take me down if I lose control of the sword." Cartus' eyes were hidden by his glasses now and many would not know if he was kidding or being deathly serious.
King however knew his friend well and nodded in return. " I will leave the mages with you."
Cartus smiled and nodded, " Now then sir... about Gen. Ryston?"
King lifted his hand. " When we return. no sooner... and in private."
Syn was angered by this. She was his friend and his first in command. Why was he not discussing with her General Ryston? She knew the man and hated him as well.
General Ryston had been one of the many Leaders of the guardsmen. He was also another friend of King. However when Tessla took power Ryston stayed behind due to the offer of money from the Queen. He had lead many battles against King's troops and many had died because of him.
However she quieted herself. She did not wish to upset King before meeting with the Grand Oracle. He would want to leave her behind with Cartus and she wanted to use this time with him to show him how much he meant to her. And hopefully hear how he felt about her.
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The march to the Grand Oracle was long. The temple of the Oracle had once been dedicated to a Goddess of Light and joy, now the priests inside asked for instructions from the Goddess's of Time, Mortality, and Death. Those were seen to the priests as the offspring of the Goddess of Light and Joy.
It was located on and island in the middle of a lake. A boatman lived next to the shore and would ferry food and supplies to the priests every month and if needed patrons to the temple if paid for his work. One man had joked that he was the son of the Goddess, Greed. However that man's skull was now attached to the bow of the medium sized boat that the boatman would use in his labors.
When they arrived the boatman was gone and King decided to wait until his return while Syn and the three meant that followed (Gal, Trist, and Den) walked to the boatman's hut and searched for info about the man.
Several hours passed until King called out to his group. The boatman was coming and he had passengers. Syn and the three men dashed into the brush while King hid into the boatman's home... watching the arrival of the group through spaces in the hut's boards.
The boatman was hunched over and had a large smile on his face. Whoever it was that he had taken across the lake had been very wealthy for he had two large bags beside him... probably filled with gold. Behind him were two Orcs and between them was a woman wearing a crown. King bit his cheek as he watched the woman get out of the boat and head to a garrison of mounted Orcs and goblins. Queen Tessla had visited the Grand Oracle and King felt his hand reach from the sword at his side. He didn't know how close he would have gotten to her before her Orcs cut him down but he felt the burning urge inside him to take this creature down.
Syn slipped up behind him and held him down as the Queen rode away. Her Orcs followed her slowly... until only one Orc was left in the boat. That Orc drew his sword and thrust it through the boatman. Syn used every martial arts technique she knew to hold King into place... and it wasn't until the sound of the horses hooves were long since a memory that she let go of him.
King jumped to his feet and glared at Syn. Cursing her for letting the Queen go. Then slowly he left the shack to remove the body of the boatman and call out the others. They would have a long boat ride ahead of them.