The Balinor Chronicles: The Celestial Herd

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Slaying the Sea

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.

---Hamlet, Act V, scene i.

Lotaringe, Lotaringe, never lies:
King of truths and of disguise
Lotaringe, Lotaringe, has slain the Sea:
By handing him over to murderers three.

---Child's bed rhyme of Balinor

LOTARINGE, LOTARINGE NEVER LIES

He can give Moloth Orcinus. Not that he thinks anything will come of it – after all, how do you slay and immortal?

First, you isolate him. You pull him away from the protection of numbers, from the safety of the Herd. It is preferable that all and any Sentinels are far and farther away from him – can't have those meddlers hanging about and already impossible task. Second, when you lure him in, you use an irresistible bait – preferably one that is expendable, should something go awry, which they often do when lying traps (for this I only need say Hamlet, and my point should be made). Thirdly, the trap should take place in a place with no or few escape routes. Wells, box canyons, and narrow passes work quite well in this effect, just ascertain before hand that you yourself are able to fight in such conditions. It would be absolutely dreadful should you be outmaneuvered in your own trap. It would be embarrassing, humiliating, and most likely fatal should such an even occur to you. Fourthly, you don't go alone. You never do anything with an immortal alone. Being alone with an immortal, while in a war situation with you as its enemy, is always a stupid idea. Always.

Fifthly, lastly, and to conclude, you must absolutely, positively, never, ever, ever play by the rules. Immortals know every rule in the textbook; odds are they've used them all once or twice before. So to kill one, not defeat but actual death, you must never play by the rules. Surrounding the Immortal to be slain helps lessen your odds slightly. Lack of parley and mercy are definitely good ideas, just as pity and tenderness should be avoided. Use only seasoned killers, with no qualms and no hearts. Cheat if you must, by using ambush, back stabbing, front stabbing, side stabbing, sand in the eyes, anything.

It may also advisable to enlist the aid of a demon.

Interestingly enough, something along those lines is about to occur.

KING OF TRUTHS AND OF DISGUISE

"Only a little farther," the blue-grey unicorn called out to the Elemental behind him. They were trekking along the edge of the mountains. The rocks extended vertically up on their left, and vertically down on their rights. Every now and then a misplaced hoof would send pebbles and smalls stones skittering down the steep mountain face.

"Almost there," Lotaringe reassured Orcinus. For indeed, they were. Lotaringe never lies.

So when Lotaringe had breathlessly galloped in on Orcinus, speaking gibberish about a new Twilight training camp, Orcinus asked to be taken there. No sense in not getting a lie of the land after all. Unfortunately for the Elemental, Lotaringe was lying. There was a new training camp…. It was merely disguised as an ambush.

Lotaringe sees a couple of rocks fall onto the trail in front of him. Almost there, indeed.

The duo turns the corner and stares deep into the box canyon. It's not really a canyon; they are a hundred feet in the air, after all. But here, the mountain the Unicorns are on meets its neighbor, so, while the trail widens considerably, it ends in a sudden sheer wall.

LOTARINGE, LOTARINGE, HAS SLAIN THE SEA

"That's funny. They were here yesterday." Lotaringe loads as much mystery and puzzlement into his voice as he can, hoping that he can deceive the Elemental. It doesn't work, but as Orcinus looks around suspiciously, the King of the Storms suddenly bolts for the far end of the canyon. He has scales the wall and quickly as hooves can, using a trail that he and the Twilights had discovered the day before while laying their trap.

Orcinus follows him his own hooves scrambling for purchase on the rocky cliff face. But as Lotaringe scaled the trail, he dislodged rocks and stones. As the dust settled, Orcinus realized he could not follow Lotaringe. He spun about, making for the way he had arrived by. But he found that way out was blocked.

BY HANDING HIM OVER TO MURDERERS THREE

Moloth stood in the center. With his already dark coat silhouetted against the only exit, he looked even darker and more ominous than ever. Arioch stood to his right, his coat the color of pitch, his wings the color of shadow, his teeth as sharp as fangs. The third was Proteus, a supporter of Lotaringe, his mane flying back in a spray of colors that showed his heritage of all elements. His dark coat was dappled with blue, yet he had no tie of heart to the Sea that was his grandsire. Proteus was a rising general in the war, and was one of the main designers of the trap that waits to capture Orcinus.

Moloth was the first to tangle horns with Orcinus. As the Twilight was thrown aside, Arioch took his place. As Orcinus met his match, Proteus slammed the Elemental from the side. It was only when Moloth rejoined the fierce horn battle that Orcinus realized he would not win this fight. He tried to run but there was no where to go.

Behind him was an almost sheer rock face. Lotaringe stood at the top, with a pose mockingly similar to The Sentinels. The wind blew his mane and tail back, creating a sight that Orcinus would remember until he died. In front of the Immortal were the Twilights and Arioch, blocking the way back down the mountain.

Orcinus pawed a hoof. He lunged, hitting Proteus square in the chest. Proteus slid backwards, back hooves falling down the edge of the mountain, letting out a squeal as he tried to pull himself back onto the narrow ledge. Orcinus didn't look to see the result back staggered down the narrow trail he had arrived on. He would have made it, too.

But Moloth gave a final, lunging blow to the Elemental. It wasn't the blow that killed him, for though Moloth's horn was sharp and the wound was mortal. But Orcinus, already weary with fighting slid on the gravel covered path slick with his blood. He fell off the edge of the mountain, and single enraged, almost fearful, bellow splitting the air as he fell. His feet pawed the air, even as Proteus managed to pull himself up.

"Noooooooo!" the Elemental called out, bringing cold shudder that began in the spines of the Twilights and Arioch and ended in their hearts. But Orcinus was falling, and Orcinus was already as good as dead. If the Twilights or Arioch has stayed to see Orcinus's death, they would have seen it. Had Lotaringe stayed at his post higher up the mountain, perhaps he would've seen it. As it happened, all rejoiced their seemingly impossible victory, so none saw it. None saw it, except for a pair of foals and their dam, trotting back from their foaling place.

What none saw, except for the foals and their dam, was Orcinus falling off the mountain. What was important about this was that Orcinus never reached the bottom. Before he reached the razor-sharp rocks that were strewn all over the Valley floor, Orcinus stopped pawing the air and started pawing mist. Orcinus's agonizing cry was muffled as if his was covered by something. Orcinus stopped falling into rocks; instead, he started falling into blank whiteness.

But what none saw, except for the twins and their dam, was Orcinus simply disappearing.

For a picture of Orcinus' death, please go to this link:

http/ img179. imageshack. us/ img179/ 6789/ ornicus4mp .jpg.

If you copy and paste into your browser, all you have to do is remove the spaces and you're all set.

Image copyright of Dark Unicorn Lurking.