Prologue
The world was at a time of great change. New boundaries were being forged between old lands. Old blood was boiling again. They did not want this change to happen… Not at all. Change for them represented a loss of power, a chance for their enemies to rise up, to gain power and start war never-ending! This change would be the bane of all existence for them! So they decided to do something about it, this war that would come would not be started after tentative peace talks and border agreement disputes. NO! They would strike preemptively…. Yes that was their plan; they must eliminate the threat before it could overwhelm them. So the Elves of Lordinac prepared for war.
The human nation of Fargonia had just thrown off the rule of an oppressive tyrant; he killed his own people, enslaved them and made them beg for deathe. But he had been defeated by a band of warriors who came from no-where leading a powerful revolt then melted back to the shadows. The humans knew that their fortune for this was great and would do their best to live prosperously and avoid another rule of evil. So fifty years had passed and the old humans who had fought were now ruling kindly but ambitiously. They sought to regain lands lost to the elven countries in the wars started by the insane tyrant Kointra. They only wanted peace and no war. They even went so far as to only have a decorative army. It was there but knew nothing of militaristic tactics and battle, except for the Veterans that attempted to train them. The humans prevented this by strict decree, but left a loop hole to let any who wanted to of their own free will to train. So, very few of the army even close to resembled a battle ready force. But that did not matter to the humans. They only wanted a peaceful land where they could farm, and mine, and eat cake, delicious cake, delicious crumb cake, with sprinkles, and live their lives in quiet, with their cake. But now the humans had to expand. Due to lack of mass genocide of their own, they had a rapid growth of population. So they went to the elves and asked if they would allow them to have back the land that was theirs in a previous time… The elves staunchly refused. And thus the fear was born unto the elves that these humans would attack and force change upon them. These humans, they knew, would bring blood and war onto them; they would burn their beautiful forests. NO!!! That would not be allowed. The elves were, are, warriors! They would not let their lands be burned! So to war they would go, and drive the humans to the brink of extinction!!!
All the while a figure sat and watched events unfold, gazing into his crystal ball. For the fifty years he watched, but he had for far longer, far longer than anyone, even himself, knows. There would be bloodshed soon... His bonds were waning he felt it... This war would give him the strength he needed to break free at last.
Chapter 1
The humans in the early days of the world had been nomads, wandering the lands in search of a nice place to settle. So they wandered through the land hunting the herd beasts and using the forests, and nature around them to live quite well. They thought little of battle; they fought when they had to and lived well when they didn't. They stumbled across a land that seemed nigh impossible to get into except through a small pass in the mountains and in there were vast plains and hills riddled with forests plentiful with herd beasts, and land that would later become excellent farming areas and plentiful mines. They did not even think of the defensible applications of this until much later in their civilization after they had built cities in the land. Only after that did they expand out wards and had a fair amount of land beyond this point until Kointra had lost them in foolish war with the elves. And now in the present the mock army was positioned and camped in that pass.
They had fortified it under the mad king's rule so all they did was man the pass and monitor activity coming in from other nations or trade caravans leaving the country. The entire army was here but that was not saying much as it was only ten thousand strong and of them only one hundred had been trained by the veterans of the Civil war. But even untrained soldiers could hold this pass in an enemy attack as numbers would have little to do with the battle in a confined space such as this. The pass was about one hundred and fifty yards wide and stretched for a mile and a half. The opening of the pass had a gate on it and every five hundred feet were guard towers manned with archers and patrols were always going up and down the pass. About half way through an area had been mined and hollowed out of the mountain walls and a base which mostly consisted of housing and mess halls for the solders was built. There was also a messenger pigeon out post and a decent war room with maps and the such for preparation of war or defending. Most of these were not used often (except the mess hall and living quarters) but the Commanders knew they should be prepared even though all they wanted was peace.
These men had the few trained soldiers at the main gates defending them. The archers were of little worry as every man was an experience hunter and could shoot very well (almost as good as elven archers). The army was roughly segmented into two thousand cavalry, five thousand foot soldiers, fifteen hundred pike men, and another fifteen hundred archers. So even though it was a small untrained force it was well organized. There were three commanders at the outpost Sven Barcrdish, a man of average build who was excellent with a sword and who's favorite tactic was to rush the enemy as fast as possible using surprise to give advantage, Brennan Cooldrin, a small man deadly with a bow but knew strategy in and out and could devise and change a battle plan at a moment's notice, and Solith Grandish, a big man with a kind heart and the ability to whip men into a frenzy with his battle speeches and skill with his great two handed blade. Solith had tried his best to get more men to participate in the training but even his charismatic way could not convince the pacifistic men to train as they felt they wouldn't need it and were horrified by the thought of war. Brennan though, had devised a way around this. While training them was prohibited the drills that had to be done were mandatory for all of the soldiers. This proved to keep them vigilant if nothing more which, Brennan knew, could determine the course of a battle before it even began. The three men thought that even with all of the restrictions placed on them by the new regime they had done a pretty good job at preparing this meager force for an attack. They thought they had.
Chapter 2
Sven was holding a training exercise with his swords men within the pass about half a mile from the gate. He had the men running though form after form designed to build their stamina, endurance and knowledge of sword play. They had been at it for three hours and every man was tired to the bone but Sven was unrelenting and would not stop till he was satisfied that they had learned the forms correctly. He watched his men run through the paces over and over until he saw that they had it down quite well. He blew a whistle and called for attention. "All right men listen up!" he called "You seem to have this down pretty well but will you be able to use it in battle?" there was an affirmative roar from his students. "Good to hear that you are all so enthusiastic about this. Now I want you all to duel with a partner using this technique. I have taught you how to execute this perfectly and to defend against it, now pair up!" the men all gathered in lines spacing themselves well apart each with their sparring partner. He blew his whistle again and watched them go at it. He felt a sense of pride as he saw them attack one another using the new skill and blocking it perfectly and he grew even more delighted when he saw them start to improvise and alter it so that it might slip though the guard of their partner or after deflecting the attack that they might be able to follow up with a successful attack to win the match. After fifteen minutes of give and take the soldiers stood silent the victor standing and their opponent on the ground. "Very good!" called Sven "I am glad to see you work in new attacks and different forms to defeat your opponent but now how will you fair in an attack with more than one foe? Now half of you grab a red tabard and the other half a blue one! When I blow the whistle I want you to attack using the skill today and all others to win. Remember this is much different than a one on one fight! Now as you get hit I want you to lie down and play dead. This way we will know when we are done and you will pose as the same obstacle as a corpse would on the battle field!" The men scrambled around getting situated and stoop as two armies facing one another waiting for the battle cry. "Now remember that which-ever side wins gets to go to town with Solith and get two free hours no questions asked!" The Men heard Sven say this and sent a roar into the air so loud that anyone who heard would have thought there must have been at least 1000 men ready for battle. Smiling Sven blew his whistle and the mock up battle began!
Up above the mock battle an elven scout sat watching. He had used some of his arcane arts to make it possible to scale the mountain so he could get a good reading on the enemy's defenses and how prepared they were. He saw that though the area was well manned and could very easily be defended and an invading army could win through but with heavy losses, the men here were untrained and not ready for even a small band of goblins. If they were attacked in any way they would have many casualties before they repelled the enemy. But if an opposing army of even slight training attacked they would be routed and the human lands would be ripe for the taking.
The scout snickered. These stupid humans had the gall to want to start a war and they did not even have a trained force! Either they are incredibly stupid, or very sure of themselves, either way they would get slaughtered. This would be an easy win for the elves. The scout smiled quite evilly as he made his way out of the mountains back to his war camp.
Chapter 3
The scout seemed to materialize out of the shadows in the tent of the elven commander Torrgenarth Engreilon. The commander poured himself a cup of wine, his back turned to his scout before speaking. "And what is it you have to report Scout?"
"My lord, it seems that tomorrow at dawn would be the best time to attack! Their only trained warriors will be tired from an intensive exercise from today and half of them will be in town with Commander Solith getting supplies, and being.... entertained" The Scout was obviously disgusted by the humans tendency to mate without much thought, but he was grateful for it as it would provide the perfect opportunity for the elves to attack. Engreilon smiled as he sipped his wine, this would be quite amusing…. The humans would not know what hit them until it was too late and their feeble attempts of defense would be laughable at best. Yes this would be most enjoyable, and he might even wet his blade on some fools blood tomorrow.
"Alright Scout I hear you. If all goes well tomorrow and what you have relayed to me is accurate then you shall be leader of the Eastern Scouts, if not then well… I bet you can imagine." The commander was grinning now and so was the Scout, who was eager to be in such a position that granted him so much power. "Now my scout send word to the others that the war shall begin at dawn!"
"Sir!" said the Scout with an affirmative sound in his voice, and with that he disappeared with small puff of smoke. And not half an hour later the war camp was buzzing with activity, armor being polished and checked out for the hundredth time, swords being re-sharpened. And the cries of eager elves ready to spill the blood of their enemies.
Chapter 4
The sun was just peeking over the horizon as the two guards in blue met each other at the center of the gate, along the pathway at the top. They were from the training grounds yesterday and were not in the best of moods. They had been beaten badly and laughed at as their comrades went into town, plus they were dead tired and wanted to get another hour of sleep or some hot coffee. They had just completed their round and now were waiting for the relief guard to come along. The men at the gates bottom would be their awhile longer. Then they heard a call as two fresh guardsmen came through the trap door.
"Alright you two are free to go."
"About damn time! I need some coffee right now or I am gonna kill the next thing I see!"
"Ha-ha alright then go get your coffee and if you see any of them smug red tabard bastards ram your boot up their ass for me will ya?"
"Yeah we can manage that. We were planning on it anyways"
With that the two walked off almost running into camp to the campfire they knew would have water just perfect for a pot of coffee. The new guards took up the patrol and made it back and forth twice before they saw the massive tide of black moving to them. It was the elven army Five million strong with its flags flying proudly.
"By the gods" exclaimed the two
"Sound the alarm! SOUND THE DAMN ALARM!"
They were frantic this was going to be a slaughter and they knew it. But they would be thrice damned if they didn't go down without a fight! The one ran to a large bell and pounded it relentlessly till the entire valley sounded of it. Men scrambled around hoping that this was another drill, but as soon as they heard the Horn of the Gatesmen sound, and the resounding reply from the army of elves, now sweeping out of the forests and across the road and grounds like an evil living tide. The Gatesmen only sounded that horn when it was serious. So the men gathered their weapons and got into formation. Sven and Brennan came running out and saw the terrible sight of that army and knew what must be done. Brennan ran to the archer units while Sven ran to the line of soldiers at the gate.
"MEN LISTEN UP!!!" he began "I don't know what the hell is going on but I know for damn sure that if we let even one of the skinny-tree-hugging-long-eared-bastard-elves get past this line then our whole way of life is threatened! To every man I say this! Not only are you in danger here today but so is every other woman, child, and living creature in our land! They say men who fight as if they have nothing to lose are unstoppable, but I say that men who fight as if they have everything to lose have the ability to level mountains and make the earth tremble in fear! SO I SAY UNTO YOU, TODAY FIGHT AS IF YOU HAVE EVERYTHING TO LOOSE!!! Because sure as the sun will rise, we have everything to lose should we fall this day."
The men looked at their proud leader and saw that he was deathly serious and he truly believed what he said. They were scared to fail him, and even more freighted for their families, friends, and all of their loved ones. They gripped their weapons tighter and were filled with an odd sense of resolve mixed with a burning blood-lust for all who endangered them or their way of life. They had been oppressed before; they had been beaten and down trodden. They knew how that went and refused to let it happen again. This time they would fight to preserve their peace. Sven saw the change in his men and smiled a grim grin. This would be a battle to remember, this would be the end of them but they would kill many of their enemy this day.
"TO ARMS MY BROTHERS! WE WILL MEET OUR EMEMY AND THEY WILL SEE NOT A SMALL ARMY OF HUMANS, BUT THE INSTUMENTS OF THEIR OWN DEMISE!!!!" Sven shouted out the last of his pre-battle pep talk. And was rewarded by the fiercest cry for war that had ever been heard on this plain. He turned to face the gates ahead of him as the elves began their assault on it.
"Form up, and hold tight! They are almost upon us!"
Chapter 5
Sven saw the gates start to buckle from the massive pounding they were taking and before they broke apart he glanced around and saw Brennen had just gotten his archers in to place in area made specifically for them to have easy shots at the invading enemy and give them sufficient cover. Brennan looked to Sven and nodded grimly. This would be their last stand.
Suddenly a great crunching and cracking noise split the air. The gate exploded in towards the army and in charged the elves screaming for battle! The archers all loosed their arrows at the elves all of them hitting their mark felling several hundred elves creating an obstacle for the next in line. The archers fired shot after shot but the elves poured in soon streaming past to meet Sven's forces. Sven flourished his blade in a warrior's salute and with a great cry charged forth with his blade held into the wind. His men followed with similar gestures all charging with everything they had. The two forces met with a mighty clash! Bodies flew into the air and swords flashed in the light of the rising sun. The air was filled with the scream of elves as they were slain. The humans held the line valiantly fighting with everything they had, their hearts, souls, their very being; all of it went into every swing of their weapon, every parry block, and killing stroke. The elves fell in droves and the humans stood resolute. This would be their final day but it would not end till long into the night if they had ANYTHING to say about it! Sven was at the front of the lines in the heart of all the action, swinging his blade with great dexterity and skill, his shield blocking all things meaning him harm. He let loose a great cry and charged into the enemy ranks and stood surrounded by them laughing as he cut them down. No movement was wasted, as he turned elven blood spilled to the ground, arms were separated from their bodies, along with heads, and were soon joined on the blood soaked soil by their old bodies. He brought his sword up above his head, cutting the face of an elf about to stab him as he did, and with a concentration of his will, he manifested energies into his blade drawn from deep within himself. Energy surrounded his gleaming blood soaked sword causing a wind to form. The power of it was so great it seemed his blade was screaming, howling for battle, yearning for blood to feed its insatiable appetite! And suddenly with a maniacal laugh Sven brought the blade down releasing a wave of pure energy that crashed through the enemy ranks cutting straight through all it hit! A path was carved into the elf ranks but it soon closed as more and more came to meet this great foe. For every one Sven killed five took its place. He was tiring rapidly the years taking their tole on his body. But he didn't seem to notice. He only cared about who he had to kill next. He could not get a good look at his surrounding so he did a powerful spin attack quickly surveying his position. He was deep within the enemy ranks. They had pushed the humans back about one-hundred feet. The archers were not able to hold back the elves at all. They now only focused on big group thinning them out before they hit the line of foot soldiers. Sven knew he was in a very bad spot but he had no choice but to fight on. He felt the adrenalin pump though his veins giving him strength to fight on wards. He pressed his attack trying to rally his troops.
"TO ME MY BROTHERS!! GATHER TO ME!" He cried out over and over. The men at the line heard their beloved commander and pressed forward almost moving the elves back twenty feet before they were halted. Nothing they could do seemed to work. So Sven fought on. His knee suddenly gave out on him for some reason as if it was kicked form behind. He looked up and saw a warrior mage in front of him. A swordsman trained in the arcane arts. He did not have the strength to fight this enemy. He was ready to die but he wanted to do so with pride. HE unleashed a great battle cry and started to charge at this new foe only to see it and others around it get mowed down by a rain of arrows. Brennan landed next to Sven holding his bow with an arrow knocked. He fired the bow and cried out an arcane word and the one arrow suddenly became five. Sven gathered his strength and charger forward destroying the ranks of the elves now backed up by his archer friend.
"Well my friend, it seems this is the end and it will be a damn epic one!" Sven called to Brennan
"Aye! I believe our names will be remembered in song forever! These elves will learn it was a bad idea to stir up shit with us!"
Both of them were laughing now as they continued their slaughter. They continued fighting on for an hour killing elf after damn elf. The human line did not move at all they held the elves at this spot neither gaining nor giving any ground! But suddenly in the back of the elf ranks a figure appeared on a white horse. Their leader was on the field now! The elves took heart and now fought twice as fiercely as before. The humans started to fall back. Their commanders could not move they were stuck in the ranks with no hope of escape!
Sven and Brennan were becoming increasingly tired and were starting to gain many wounds. They bled freely from many spots; their breath came in labored gasps. Now they stood back to back preparing for the end to come. Both waiting to see that beautiful warrior woman dressed in armor riding upon a great horse. Come to take them to the golden hall. They closed their eyes and a fireball came from a warrior mage waiting for the end. But it never came. The blast was deflected and as they opened their eyes they saw 11 figures surrounding them. They were human and dressed oddly. They had strange armor and odd weapons. Some kind of forging technique the humans did not have.
"Who are you people?" coughed Sven. One of them turned around. He looked young, no more than twenty years old. He had a sword of that odd make, the same as his armor Sven could tell, and he spoke.
"You wanna know who we are? Well that can come later, Just be happy know that we are the ones that are gonna save your sorry asses!"