16

Chapter 3

The first battle for earth

The next day Fadane left the tower and went to his homeland, lafitene. He traveled at a speed that would put a griffon to shame. This is the fastest I have ever gone and I set the speed recorded already! He thought happily. He loved to go fast and he got to lafitene in five hours. The quickest time ever to travel that far was ten hours. He got to the castle capital made of the strongest silk that no sword or catapult had ever damaged severely. He walked to the gate and the gatekeeper welcomed him graciously as did the king, his father. "I have come to gather an army to help destroy The Evil One." He said to his father... Greyhem left at the same time Fadane did, though he did not leave at the same speed as him. Fadane shot like a lightning bolt and left. "I hope the griffons don't go that fast," Greyhem said

"Oh they can if they want to... but they don't do that when humans are on them." Ulara said with a grin on her face.

"Two people will have to ride on one of the griffons to make room for the three-hundred." Narfemsar was saying and before Greyhem could protest, Ulara was riding with him.

He heard Ulara saying, "I wonder if I am the prophesized one that my father talked about so much."

"What prophesized one? What are you talking about?" Greyhem asked.

"The prophesized one that gives up being emotionless..."

She was cut off as they saw their first look at the village, or what was left of Greyhorime. Columns of smoke puffed up in many places and there were still fires brining in some places. They saw that there was a long line of people nearly all the way inside the fortes of Greyhorime. They landed in the fortress and found that there were only five hundred survivors from the village. The army that had destroyed the village was regrouping just outside shooting range. "They will be here by nightfall." The king of Greyhorime was saying to Greyhem. "I have never seen such a force as this, we will not last the night most likely."

Greyhem replied quickly, "Hope has come at last, an army of spiders, dwarves and humans come to help. Also we have a sorcerer with us, Gorlthon, a Gronsot queen, a ton of Griffons, three hundred Guards from the Tower of Narfemsar, an elf, a rebel Darkelf king, and a few well trained warriors."

"That will not be enough still! We will need many thousand more to win this fight. This foe is over..."

"Twenty thousand," Greyhem interrupted, "I know that is the largest army in one hundred years. But do you remember my grandfather? How he led only three hundred men against an army this big and came so close to winning that it was said that it was a victory? Do you remember that it was the goblins that had the fortress? No? I didn't think you remembered the story's my father told me about my grandfather."

"We don't have those kinds of warriors!" The king replied angrily "we have farmers, shepherds and ferry men!"

"But so did my grandfather! The army he led was not all well trained solders! It was mostly farmers and shepherds! Plus we have help coming!"

"Aye, I guess we have no choice but to fight anyway."

"WATCH OUT!" a man cried as a piece of tower flew of into the fortress.

"So the fight begins." The king said

The outer wall was twenty feet tall and seven feet thick, surrounding an inner wall thirty feet high and ten feet thick; this surrounded another wall that surrounded the keep. This wall was forty feet high and fifteen feet thick. The keep itself was sixty feet tall and was if it ever happened the last defense of the castle. The Goblin army ran forward and the humans shot arrows at them, severing their heads and arms. The goblins shot crossbows and arrows rite back at them. The goblins suddenly spread out and they reveled a bastilla on wheels! The goblins also had ladders. The griffons dived and picked up goblins with their talons.

Just then The goblins stopped the attack. They parted to revel a giant battering ram and large latter. Fifty goblins held the battering ram, they called in a cheer "Crush them, bash them, crush them, bash them!" they continued the cheer for a while, but soon the battering ram that the goblins held was at the gate. Hundreds of goblins kept dieing, continuously. They seemed invulnerable. As Greyhem noticed the ram not being a target, he did something about it.

"Turn that way!" he called and pointed, "Wrong way! Shoot that way!" He himself took out his bow and helped shoot. The Goblin army seemed to never even be afraid. The goblins took their strongest catapult and shot it at the main wall, the wall didn't stand a chance. The catapult broke a hole in it, many men died, more wounded. Greyhem saw Narfel fly into the air with the rest of the humans, but he suddenly had the black wings of a Darkelf. He flew over the broken wall. The goblin army ran forward into the fortress.

Gloren directed his Scorpion to were the loud BOOM sound came from. "Faster you dogs!" he yelled at his fellow dwarves.

Greyhem ran down the stairs to the place were the wall had broken. He got to the wall and saw a massacre! Goblins killing relentlessly, humans fighting for their lives. Greyhem charged forward and his sword flew like a hurricane, actually that was what he called the combo he used. He cut the goblins one by one, but there were too many. They over whelmed him, he fell back to the keep and waited for the goblins to break threw.

"Never thought I would die this way," He herd Glarthen say.

"I will not die here!" Greyhem herd Gorlthon say.

Just then Greyhem had an idea. "Make as loud of a sound as you can! Every body! The goblins might think that we have more men! They may slow down the attack and we may have a chance!" Just then they herd a horn blast. "That sounded like... The dwarves have come at last!"

Gloren took his first look at the situation and said "HALT!" The dwarves did just that. The goblins looked at the scorpions and put out their spears. "WE WILL FIGHT TILL THE LAST!" The dwarves cheered "TILL DEATH!" Gloren continued, "GLEMHAR, YOU WILL TAKE YOUR TEEM TO THE WALL. I WILL TAKE MY TEEM THROUGH THE GOBLIN ARMY! WE RIDE TO THE GLORY OF OUR ANSESTORS!" The dwarves cheered to "TO WAR!" They charged at the enemy army. What a bad idea this is. Gloren thought. The goblins took a great blow as the scorpions charged forward and stabbed them with sharpened feet that had no feeling. He saw but a bare fifty griffons were left in the air screaming and diving. As Gloren charged forward, he saw his warriors fall and die. By the time he got to the keep, he was the only dwarf left on his scorpion or otherwise. He fought the horde of goblins off for as long as he could. He herd cheering inside the keep and he climbed to the window twenty feet high. He looked in and saw a bare hundred left, there was a good twelve thousand goblins still besieging the castle. He climbed in and landed in the back. The humans looked at him and Glarsnal asked, "were are the dwarves?"

To which Gloren replied, "they have gone down into the west to meet our ancestors." He new they all new what that meant. He then said, "Let us not just sit here, let's fight! There's only twelve thousand left. We can at least meet them head on for the glory of it."

He waited for an answer, "I will go" Greyhem said.

"As will I!" Glarthen said.

"Do you think I would let you guys have all the fun?" Gorlthon said.

"Aye, let's kill them!" Glarsnal.

So they got on horses and opened the gates. "Ride for glory!" Glarsnal herd Greyhem say. The few people left rode forth. Glarsnal saw as they rode, a black cloud. It was coming on dawn. They had been fighting all night, since in the after noon yesterday. As the black cloud got closer, he saw Narfel leading rebel Darkelves into battle. He turned his attention to the goblin army and fought his way into the heart of the enemy. He herd a horn and remembered that Ulara had left to get an army for help. He herd a second horn and looked out at the mountain next to the fortress, Borathor was there he yelled "to the fortress!" and a loud cheer behind Borathor and he and his army charged down and then Ulara's army came into view at the same time as Fadane. The armies all charged at the goblins and the goblins had no rout of escape. Glarsnal continued charging and he realized that he was alone in the midst of the goblin horde. He took his sword and slashed at the hooks that tried to pull him off his horse. He managed to get into the united army and fought with them. He slashed and punched his way with the army and finally defeated the goblin horde.

Early before the battle ended, Gorugu waited at the front of the army, for he was not very good at shooting. He saw the wall break and Narfel fly, He charged forward and fought with all his might, cutting goblin heads off with his sword. As the others

Ran inside, He stayed

To fight. He never

Fell back to the keep

He destroyed a

Considerable amount

Of goblins. He finally herd horns in the distance, not Goblin, but dwarven and human, one he didn't recognize. "FOR GLORY!" He yelled. He then saw and horde dwarves, on their scorpions, they charged, Gloren in front of them all. Charging, dieing. He continued fighting and killing himself. A large Darkelf stood in front of him, drawing its sword. He went into his ogreish skill sword fighting. Die met kill, yikes met death, simple names for simple minds, but complex fighting. Death met flesh and the Darkelf fell. He was immediately surrounded by goblins.

After the battle was won Gorugu, Glarsnal, Glarthen, Greyhem, Ulara, Fadane, Gorlthon, Borathor and Gloren received a massage that a man with an arrow in his arm and another one in his back gave them, "The path... of the Grey" He said between gasps of breath "... goblins... infiltrated people destroyed and......." He then died from his wounds.

"What are we waiting for?! Lets get em'!" Gloren was apparently ready for more battle.

"It will be a blood bath for the Goblins!" Greyhem said.

"Oh Yea! Lets get em'!" Gorugu said loudly. One by one every one said yes and the journey began to retake the hole of the earth.