Chapter Three: The Siragons
The wind was blowing fiercely as Captain Targalth of Siragoth and his men pushed up a treacherous mountainside while they approached their base of operations. By the time they arrived, the sun had already been absent from the sky for five hours. When the Siragons finally made it to their base they were all let out a loud cheer, grateful they would soon be out of the night's mind-numbing cold and the knee-deep snow that they had pushed through for the last several hours. Captain Targalth was quick to order his troops to begin transferring their loot to the inside of the base and the Siragons obeyed the order even quicker. However, before the demons could transport the contents of their recent raid into the base, they had to find its entrance.
The Siragons' base was not detectable from the outside. In fact, if the Siragons had not known what to look for, they would have passed right by their headquarters, disregarding it as just part of the mountain terrain. The base consisted of a series of underground caves that had been carved out thousands of years in the past. The entrance to the caves was hidden by a magic illusion, which caused it to look as though it was just another part of the mountain. Once the exact location of the base inlet was located, the Siragons proceeded to carry all the supplies they had obtained from their raid through what appeared to be solid rock.
Captain Targalth remained outside the caves until the last of his soldiers entered in. The instance Targalth made his way through the illusion he was meet with the hellish red eyes of his commanding officer, general Mygar.
"Uruk karmek talther nolcal? Askere urkel norith antar!" Mygar said in the Ulrian tongue. The Ulrian language was the official language of Siragoth, but nearly every single demon from that realm was also fluent in the common speech used by the other races of the world. Though Ulrian does not translate well in to any other known language, the rough interpretation of what Mygar said means, "Captain, where are the rest of your men? You left here with three dozen units!"
"We encountered a bit of resistance," Targalth replied in Ulrian.
"What?' Mygar said a bit confused, "there should not have been any form of a garrison in that village. It was too small for the Lorshimnenites to worry about, especially considering the fact that they must now defend Ulron-Chi."
"There were no Lorshimnenite soldiers in the area," Targalth explained. "We were taken off guard by a villager or some drifter."
"One man killed over a third of your warriors, including one of the Rimgard?" Mygar said more interested than angry. "Tell me Captain, this man was dressed in green and had blonde hair, did he not?"
"That is… correct," Targalth responded more than a little perplexed about how Mygar knew what the attacker looked like.
"Link is here then. Just as I hoped," Mygar said under his breath, "This means it is time for me to spin the web that will ensnare him."
General Torqin of Siragoth awoke to the sound of one of his men calling out his name. The Siragon opened his eyes quickly and turned his head toward a bright orange light that was emanating from a near by doorway to find one of his soldiers holding a torch.
"Torqin, Morikel calon salrimog," Torqin's subordinate said in the Ulrian tongue.
"Ulka malkir nantoth, alrakir nakor theth," the Siragon continued. Torqin slowly rose to his feet, however he could not stand entirely upright, for he was over seven feet tall and the ceiling in the room in which he stood was only six feet high. Torqin quickly dressed and made his way through a series of narrow torch lit corridors. Along the way he observed many of his fellow demons marching along their patrol routes, making sure the base was free of any intruders. After several minutes Torqin arrived at a large chamber with several long tables and hundreds of chairs. Sitting at the head of one of these tables were three of the most influential demons in Siragoth. They were each a member of the Ulrian high council, the main governing body of Siragoth.
The high council was composed of five members. General Torqin was the youngest member and the most recent addition to the governing body. He was appointed after one of the former associates was slain in a battle with the Asreans. The other three members that were waiting for Torqin were general Ulgor, admiral Forraeos, and the high priest of Sokor, lord Morikel.
"Ishtak Torqin, tak calar uruk," said Ulgor, who was clad in full armor, including his helmet. While most Siragons' movement would be severely hindered by the heavy armor, Ulgor's immense strength allowed him to move around unencumbered. The translation of what Ulgor said is, "Greetings Torqin, I trust you slept well."
"Actually," Torqin said, still speaking in Ulrian, "The bed that was provided for me is far too small, but I doubt that any of you care about that."
"Indeed," Forraeos admitted, who unlike Ulgor, was not completely covered. He wore a pair of tight-fitting black pants and a pair of boots, but his grey scaly chest and face were exposed, as well as the long tendril-like black scales, which grew out of his head and made it seem as though he had some kind of hair. "The reason we have summoned you before us is to question you about your actions in Carthor. According to several reports from the officers under your command during the last battle of the Carthorian campaign, you ordered your men to pull back before the fortress Adorik was taken. It is our understanding that the fortress keep was breeched and our troops were successfully pushing the opposing forces back when you called them back."
"Surely you, a fellow member of the high council understand that it is the charge of the Ulgerons to destroy our enemies when ever possible," Morikel said before Torqin could respond to Forraeos's comment. Morikel's attire was unique among the Siragons, for he wore a robe of scarlet, which was a color rarely encountered in Siragon society. The robe was embroidered with many Ulrian characters, sown into the cloth with a dark blue thread. The robe covered most of Morikel's flesh with the exception of his face, though the robe did have a hood, which when draped over the wearer's head, hid his face quite well. "Why then," Morikel continued, "did you pull your forces back when the Carthorians were clearly defeated?"
"Why do you ask such a pointless question," Torqin inquired in an irritated tone. "You three know as well as I do that general Mygar had operational control over that mission. Mygar ordered me to call all forces back as soon as the dark stone was acquired. It was not my decision to retreat.
"You see my brethren," Ulgor yelled suddenly as he slammed his massive fist on the table, which collapsed under the tremendous force of the blow. Morikel and Forraeos were quick to push the broken shards of wood that fell into their laps while Ulgor stood up and began pace back and forth in front of Torqin. "Again, general Mygar has shown compassion towards our enemies and has practiced bad strategy. The Carthorians will no doubt be eager to take up arms against us again, especially considering all the villages we raided and the thousands of people we killed. Not to mention the fact that Mygar stole the Carthorian king's soul. If they were to unite with the Asreans… we do not yet have enough strength to repel them both.
"Perhaps, "Forraeos nodded, "but we did defeat the Acromiarians, with only four hundred troops. Our army now is nearly five hundred times the size it was then."
"That may be so," Morikel replied, "but do I need remind you that the Acromiarians were weakened significantly by the demon hordes long before we even began our assault. The hordes are all gone now. We can not call upon their strength again."
"With all due respect," Torqin interrupted, "I wish to know exactly why I have been summoned before this council."
"General Ulgor has called into question the merits of Mygar," Morikel said, "He has motioned that we remove Mygar from the high council and place him in the dungeons of Lorcmar."
"What, and cut off our only link to Sokor's power? That's madness," Torqin rebutted. "Without Mygar we will be unable to locate anymore of the Ulrian relics, besides that the general has done nothing to deserve such a punishment."
"He deliberately disobeyed orders by leaving survivors in Adorik," Shouted Ulgor.
"Besides, we have already located most of the relics we need and Mygar has already led us to Ulron-Chi, where we'll find the great key."
"However, there is still the matter of the final stone," Forraeos said. "Without out it the key will be useless to us."
"Yes," Ulgor nodded, "but Mygar can't seem to locate it anyway, he has served his purpose, now let us be rid of him before we regret it."
"Is this how you will repay the one responsible for all the progress we've made in the last three years, by imprisoning him?" Torqin objected, "Besides he is one of us, we should be united in a way that the other races aren't. That is how we will be victorious."
"You forget general, that Mygar is not of our kind," Morikel responded. "He may profess to believe in our cause, but he has his own agenda. He does not care for the restoration of our past glory. He is only concerned with cleansing this world of his own people. I agree with Ulgor, Mygar has served his purpose and now we must dispose of him. Forraeos, what do you say?"
"While my distrust of Mygar is very great indeed," the Admiral answered, "Our victory is not yet won. We still must destroy Ulron-Chi before we can retrieve the key and as you know my brethren, that fortress gave us many problems in the past. I think we should allow Mygar to conquer this last nation before we rid ourselves of him. Besides, if we are lucky, our enemies will kill him for us and solve our little problem."
"Callror elkul makorik talruk tathe uk mukar aren," said general Mygar in a furious tone as he entered the chamber, dressed in standard black Ulrian clothes. In the common tongue Mygar's statement meant, "Or perhaps they will kill you three treacherous worms and rid me of your ignorance."
"Trying to convert Torqin to your cause are you Ulgor?" the general said in the Ulrian language. Mygar then tuned to Torqin and asked, "What lies were they spreading this time?"
"No lies," Ulgor said slyly, "we were only discussing your cowardly retreat back at Adorik."
"If you consider saving thousands of lives of both the Carthorians and our own soldiers cowardly then I am guilty indeed!" Mygar snapped.
"That's just it Mygar," Morikel said calmly, "Your orders are to kill any member of the other races you encounter. Long has the high council looked away from your sparing the lives of those who do not fight back, but your actions in Carthor were unacceptable. Those men were clearly retaliating against us and yet you spared them."
"It was part of my strategy," Mygar explained. "It was my intent to leave Carthor with as many Ulgerons in fighting condition as possible. Though in truth, I do wish Torqin had hesitated to call back our forces for a few more minutes."
"Why is that?" Forraeos inquired.
"Let us just say, I ran to an old friend," Mygar said hesitantly. "In any case it was my plan to head directly to Lorshimnen and capture Ulron-Chi as soon as I acquired the stone in Carthor. I figured that it would be best to get out of Adorik with as many troops as possible so that we would have a large enough force to capture and hold Ulron-Chi."
"If that was the case, why are we not conversing in the old fortress right now instead of these lousy caves?" Ulgor asked while trying to mask his anger with his colleague.
"By the time I reached Ulron-Chi the Lorshimnenites had already fortified it," Mygar answered, "I attempted to take it with what troops I had, but I was ill-prepared for such a large task."
"You admit then that your plan failed?" Ulgor growled.
"I admit that Ulron-Chi presented a greater challenge than I had anticipated, I did not think the Lorshimnenites would find it before we did, however with more preparation I will succeed where you faltered in the past."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Morikel inquired, "the last time the Ulgerons attempted to conquer the old fortress we were stuck without its walls for years, even with the power of Sokor on our side we could not take it. What makes you think you can win?"
"The world is not united now the way it was back in your day Morikel," Mygar replied, "The garrison at Ulron-Chi at present, only consits of the Lorshimnenites and a small fraction of the Asrean army."
"This may be true at the moment," Forraeos said, "but Asrenath is now actively seeking allies to aid them in their fight against us. By the time we gather enough of our men here to launch an effective assault on Ulron-Chi our enemies will have already gained enough support to hold the entire Ulgeron army at bay."
"But they don't know that," Mygar said coldly.
"What difference does that make?" Ulgor asked with a snarl.
"It is not my aim to conquer Ulron-Chi through strength of arms," Mygar answered. "On that note I have sent orders to all ground forces not already within the boundaries of this land to fall back to Siragoth. However the whole of the naval fleet is still en route to Lorshimnen."
"What?!" Ulgor shouted. "We only have fifty thousand troops in Lorshimnen now. There are already thirty-five thousand of or enemies held up in the fortress and only more will come. We will never take the fortress with so few."
"I already told you," Mygar interrupted, "numbers will not give us victory here. Besides, we have been strangely fortunate in Asrenath's interference. They will likely think we will concentrate our efforts on Ulron-Chi and in turn they will send the majority of their troops north to protect Ulron-Chi from us, but in doing so their homeland will be left all but defenseless. This will give us the ability to destroy our greatest enemy's homeland at a moment's notice."
"What do we care of Asrenath?" Ulgor interrupted, "We should focus our attention on Ulron-Chi. If we achieve victory here, no army in the world would be able to defeat us."
"Remember Ulgor," Mygar scoffed, "Your race and many other forces have failed to conquer the old fortress in the past. It is important we have a fallback plan in case our current one goes awry."
"Plan, what plan?" Ulgor roared, "It seems to me that you are intentionally going to lead our troops to slaughter. Fifty thousand can not conquer a hundred thousand, especially not in that fortress."
"Quite so," nodded Mygar, "but fifty thousand can easily conquer an empty fortress."
"What do you mean?" Forraeos inquired.
"Our enemies do not know how many troops we have here or how many of our allies now inhabit this world," Mygar explained, "It is my intent to scare our enemies out of Ulron-Chi and then destroy them as they flee. A simple siege is not the answer in this case my brothers. It is time we take a different approach to the problem that is Ulron-Chi."
"I agree with Mygar," Forraeos said, "More troops aren't going to help us in this particular situation and if we don't need them here they should be put to use somewhere else."
"I too wish to try Mygar's plan," Torqin stated.
"How can you two join with this outsider?!" Ulgor yelled at the top of his lungs, "He hasn't even given you a real plan yet!"
"A unanimous vote is required to remove someone from the high council," Mygar said coolly, "I take it then, by Forraeos and Torqin's willingness to heed my advice that I am to retain my position?" Both Forraeos and Torqin nodded at the general's comment. "In that case Ulgor, the majority of the council has voted in my favor and I may now proceed however I see fit."
"Very well," Morikel grunted while trying to mask his fury, "It appears that you will continue to guide the Ulgerons. But before you act on your plan, tell the council more about your ideas. What exactly did you have in mind?"
Mygar turned to Morikel and in an otherworldly voice said, "Something that will make sure the other races will never unite against us."
