Chapter Sixteen: On the Plain of Merado

"Have no fear humans and brother!" The elf in blue looked ever so jolly even though Klad, Jakk, and Bane all sported weapons. The elvish longsword hung limply in his hands, his bow strung on his shoulder like a knapsack.

"My name is Sira, serving with Lord Ellya's keldori."

Bane lowered his knives as he heard this, and then turned to Klad. "Help Jakk bury Tanka's body. I will talk to him." Klad met the mage's eyes and nodded, signaling Jakk to help him.

Bane turned back and walked towards Sira.

"Keldori? Does that mean Ellya is leading a rebellion against his own brother?"

Sira's eyes darkened. "Elles has gone mad. For power. He's massacred the friends of the elves, humans who live on the edges of the forest, while expanding his 'empire.' And many of my kinsmen are blindly following his lead." Sira bowed his head.

"Why? That doesn't make sense that Elles would do such a thing."

"It is because of omens," the elf's voice dropped to a whisper. "The seas are wild, and none but the sturdiest elven ships can navigate through its rage. Imps and trolls multiply in the mountains. From the north, Coneria shrinks and the traitors of Tekam and Amlador grow strong. And it is said the Light Warriors have been chosen for the final struggle. These things have led all to the unraveling of Elles. "

Jakk gave a panicked look as he listened to the elf, while reaching into his pocket. The sad silence disappeared at once as the elf brightened at once, looking at the three.

"I suppose you are the friends of the white mage Aki Arkya and Sara May'ana?"

"They are alive, then?" Klad asked.

"Of course! I have been sent by the Lord Ellya to look for you. Tell me your names."

Klad looked at Bane as he covered the last of the dirt on Tanka's grave, and then turned to Sira.

"Ryar Haasions, a knight of Coneria," he said, bowing.

"May'ana duon elsori ae Coneria." May dreams ever shine in Coneria.

The knight responded with the correct saying. "Aetael Alanner." Honor for the sea children.

The thief bowed. "Jakk Skyar."

"And your office in life, sir?"

Jakk answered smoothly enough, though he could faintly hear Bane snickering. "A minor lord of Coneria."

The elf bowed again. "Welcome to Elfland, Lord." The elf bowed, and turned to Bane.

"Tanna ae nowela Bane Elsor, Sira alanner."

Sira's confusion over these words was evident, though he tried to hide it. It was the name, Jakk thought. And what lay beneath that hat. The confusion from the elf cleared when a horse neighed from behind them, accompanied by several more brayings.

"Ah, my horses!" He whistled, and four tall mounts with saddles came from the forest view.

"How did you control four horses while searching for us?" Bane asked skeptically. Sira grinned.

"They're stolen, fresh from Elles' army. Only a few days have I had these beauties. Make your words short. Ellya will explain everything. We must hurry back to the camp of Ellya, on the Plain of Merado, many leagues away."

Bane nodded, apparently trusting this strange elf. The others followed him, trusting him in turn, though Jakk's suspicions remained. His mind cleared. For the weeks I have been in this strange party, almost forgetting why I was brought along, we are all still suspicious of each of our intentions.

"Ow!"

The thief ran straight into Bane's upheld hand. "What blasted thing made you do that?" He asked, rubbing his nose.

"Can you smell it?" the mage asked, ignoring the other man Sira's mouth tightened.

"Yes. A foul stench of Dark Elves. Kelsari. The forgotten. They frequent this area, though it seems their odor is stronger now." He leapt onto his mount. "Hurry! A foul smell means trouble for my kingdom."

Aki, for the second time, awakened in the dingy cottage. Rain splattered on the thatched roof, while gusts of wind howled, knocking on the wooden door. By the other wall, Taylas listened quietly as Ellya talked in a low voice.

"...he's moving elves, Emian. My scouts report stirrings at his camps. Not only that, he is drawing men away from the eastern garrisons to come and crush us. The imps...they may strike my kingdom as we shed blood of our brothers."

"We'll worry about that later, my friend. How long do I have to muster?"

"By tomorrow's morn, Elles and his army will be on the plain."

"Elles is attacking us?" Aki asked, staggering out of her bed. Her limbs were weak, her mind tired, but she knew ignorance of this information would not satisfy her curiosity.

Ellya turned around, smiling at her.

"Yes, my brother is attacking. But he does not know that Taylas is whole again; he thinks Emi is dying. I believe we own this to your skills, Akian Arkya."

He bowed once, low, and exited.

Emi smiled weakly at her.

"yes, I thank you, white mage Arkya. If I survive this oncoming battle, perhaps I can repay you fully."

"None is need, my lord," she said hastily.

Thunder crackled onto the ground, and Aki's nerves suddenly blackened her, and she grasped the rough edge of a table for balance as the world dizzied around her. Vision clouded, she saw only the image of a women, beautiful but sneering at her...Kary, the Fiend of Fire. Her head exploded in pain, sending her to the floor with a gasp.

Emi lifted himself out of his cot, taking her by the hand.

"Alright, Aki?"

She nodded, faintly. "I think I will have to sit this battle out, Lord Taylas. My soul and mind are not as strong as I need them to be."

"A wise decision. But I am afraid you will need to be transported to my fortress at Famul. There, you can recover your strength." He looked around at the cottage. "This will probably be the center of the battle."

Aki nodded slowly again, going to the stables while Taylas escorted her. Something was amiss, she thought. Her mind was too drowsy, her body too weak after constant rest. What was happening? She fought briefly to think this through, before she succumbed to the pain. In a breast pocket, her orb glowed feverishly, though not heat emanated from the sphere.

Sara looked worriedly as her friend, slumped on Rose, rode out to Famul. What was wrong with her?

"Lord Ellya!" Her hair fluttered behind her as she ran up to him. "Aki--what happened?"

Like the other times she had encountered her, he gave a smile, although she knew by now it was not genuine. Elves rarely showed their true feelings.

"Healing in Famul, or so Emi has told me. The magic she produced to save the First Lord was enough to sufficiently keep her in bed." He cocked his head towards the stables, where a groom was holding Daila by the bridle.

"Your horse awaits with an escort to Famul. This is no place for you to be."

Sara frowned. "Women of Coneria do not and have not slink when need calls them."

"But women of Coneria have also understood the necessity of surviving when hope may lost," Ellya replied wearily.

"You are saying that there is not hope for you and Taylas?"

"Not unless the Light Warriors themselves are present," Ellya replied. Sara saw that he meant that as a jest, but something, a flicker of recognition passed through his face, as though he knew something was odd.

"You need archers. I am one. I will not go back, slinking behind stone walls to wait your brother's final assault."

Ellya eyed her for a second, a hard gaze, holding her in paralysis. Sara felt a flush or red starting to creep up her face. She had disobeyed an elven prince!"

"Very well."

He stalked away.

Onward they rode, following the paths of those left over the years by elven scouts and messengers. With little rest, their horses bore them as swiftly as Jakk's own Basyi had. He felt a pang of regret, hoping Trickster was not in the bottom of the ocean, drowned in a ship.

But these horses they now rode on were not ordinary. With the little rest they did get, both Sira and Bane whispered to these steeds while stroking their manes, seeming to bewitch them to carry them further with little rest or food.

And though the forests looked untamed, with tall trees shadowing their four steeds, Sira lead them with no fear.

"In the days past, these trees were allowed to grow without fear, for though we come from the sea, we love all that is green and grown from the roots of Gaia," Sira said, galloping with Jakk while Klad and Bane rode at the rear. "But in days past, imps, fresh from the mountains, have used these trees as places of ambush and death, and to burn." Sira looked mournfully to the north. "Elles allowed imps to burn a large portion of the northern Tacylan forest, though it was to lead them into a trap in which those imps were annihilated."

For the second time in recent memory, Jakk, so caught up in Sira's words, felt a jolt as his horse buckled, and he fell off the rear, landing painfully on his rear. Vaguely human, the horse snorted, while the other three smiled. They had approached a steep path now, onto the mountain paths where the elven city lay in the basin of flat land.

Jakk grumbled, starting to rise before giving a gasp. On the edge of the path, where a steep drop lead down below to the Green River, there lay a sinuous snake of blue and green, moving on the other side of the blue waters. He pointed, and Sira's elven eyes widened. The snake was a long line of men.

"Elles' army. Rows of archers and swordsmen. By the light of Gaia, they're heading towards the Merado!" The elf's horse whinnied as he ordered his mount to move. "Quickly, we must go faster!"

Galloping faster, they shadowed the snake.

Nervously, Sara fiddled with her bow in the center of the group of elves. Ellya, clad in blue tipped, silver armor with a cloak that seemed to be made of the same stuff as Aki's mage cloak, smiled at her, his hair tied back in a topknot on his head. To the left and right of them, five hundred of Ellya's keldori, all of them in blue tipped, silver armor and with dark gray cloaks, looked silently at their approaching brethren.

They were on the hill, with the old cottage behind their backs, and below them, on the plain of Merado, the army of Elles. Thousands of elves, in green with yellow cloaks stood before them, the backdrop of trees blending perfectly with the mass of green. All of them, loyal to their Prince, Elles.

Taylas' men, bearing the bear banners, the emblem of the First Lord, stood below them, on that plain, barely a thousand swords and pikesmen. Taylas stood, armor glinting off the sun, his sword almost carelessly held in his hand.

"Fools," Ellya murmured quietly, as he surveyed the elves, as they separated into companies of spearmen, swordsmen, and archers. "Elles could not have summoned an army that big without emptying the eastern garrisons. Imps and trolls are now free to burst out from the mountain." He shook his head sadly.

"Aeleath ae kethan, mosa?" What do you seek to do, brother?

"Crossbows, Ellya. They'll run under the cover of their archers." The First Lord turned around and looked up at the low hill where the Elven prince stood. "May the Tari help us. Good luck, brother."

"The same to you, Emi," Ellya shouted back.

"They're coming?" Sara asked, trying to hold back the tremble in her voice.

"Yes," Ellya said, notching his bow with an arrow, "they come."

The first lines of green elven swordsmen unsheathed their weapons, the glare of a thousand swords blinding to Sara. Gulping down any fear, she notched a yellow-feathered arrow. For the Dream Kingdom, and all good in this world. May the Tari help me.

"Shields!" Taylas' roaring command was followed by perfect unity as hundreds of his men formed a shield wall comprised of tightly packed shields, each bearing the image of a black bear. As the lines of Elles' swordsmen advanced, followed by trails in the air, of short iron arrows.

In a synchronized, perfect line, hundreds of crossbow arrows made a terrific clanging noise on the metal shields, every one of them landing to form a perfect line. Sara realized the worse: this was no jest, and she was actually in a battle, waiting for a thousand elven swordsmen who had just demonstrated that their archers had the skill and accuracy as Ellya showed her with the troll shot.

Another hail of arrows. The first was probably a range shot, she thought. The princess was right. The second line of arrows hit the small cracks and chinks in the dense wall of shields, as men cried out, hit by thick iron shafts. Another line, more cries, and then Ellya raised his longbow and five hundred of his elves, with Sara, aimed towards the swiftly moving line of green cloaked swordsmen, all of them converging on the shield wall. Sara look for no particular target, knowing in her heart that just shooting her bow would result in some ancient elf dying in those neat lines of glinting swords.

The keldori line fired, and like elves fell in their green cloaks, blending into the grassy plain except for the dark stains on their bodies. Other straight line from the keldori. Another. By the time the shield wall of the First Lord had broke, advancing on the lines of Elles' men, hundreds of them were lying on the grass.

"Find individual targets, and ready your blades!" Ellya said calmly.

The organized lines of men and elves had become a melee of slashing swords and spears, men bearing the emblem of the First Lord clashing with the swift elves of Elles. Scatterings of arrows shot by Ellya's elves killed more of their brethren, while in the far distance, Sara could see the lines of elven archers with crossbows, waiting patiently for the battle to end, confident that their kingdom would prevail over the keldori traitors.

And they were. Despite the litters of wounded and dead on the ground, the thin blades of Elles, who still overwhelmed Taylas' men by hundreds, were pushing them back, up to the hill here Ellya and his archers stood. No more arrows came from the archers.

Another drawing of hundreds of blades glinted in the sun, the glare even more blinding. Ellya kissed his blade, and then, silently, without any wild battlecry, advanced swiftly down the hill to the fray. And Sara did too, thinking how good it would be to kiss Jakk for one last time. Clad in a blue cloak and armor like Ellya's men, she knew she would appear to be like one of the keldori.

The roar of thunder startled her. She looked up, as the surge of elves, from both sides stopped, looking towards the sky as if something was there to be seen. No rain was there, and the sun still shone brightly on the bodies of the slain. It took a second for everyone, elves and humans, to realize the battle had stopped, though some appeared intent on starting again.

The thunder rolled again before men could raise their blades and forget the odd phenomenon, before they could register in their minds as an omen of some kind. But it was not thunder, but a thunderous call, that, in a clear voice, shouted a single word.

"Mashi!"

Like the others, she looked back to where the forest gave way to lowland grassy plain, and there, riding out of the forest, four horsemen rode toward the still battleground.

She squinted, and the yellow straw hat, two swords, and a bow were visible over the tops of the helmets of tall elves.

Jakk! Klad! Bane! They're here...

From his horse, the elf known as Elles turned around to the back of his army, watching as the four horsemen cleared the trees. The Warriors!

Snarling, he turned his steed around to face them. "Give me my spear."

His retainer complied, holding out the silver spear for an instant before his Prince grasped it, hurrying his horse to meet them. His guards followed.

"Stay!" he bellowed, and then picked up speed, urging his mount on.

Sira, with the grace only an elf could possess, drew an arrow and notched it.

"May his soul rest in the soul of Gaia," Sira murmured, aiming for the charging prince.

"Sira, no!" Bane shouted, but the shaft flew towards the heart. Elles raised his free hand, as in the attempt to ward it off, and as the streak approached the arrow bounced off, hitting nothing but the swift wind.

The other hand held the spear, and the Prince threw it, skillfully and savagely, at the charging elf, hitting the surprised Sira in his heart. He gave a gasp, letting go of the reins, following to the ground.

Klad's stunned face could not see the elf prince's mutterings of an incantation, as a streak of blue flame burst from his mouth. The Light Warriors stopped their horses as Bane lifted up his hands, and the flame, like shaft, hit nothing but air and dissipated. Elles drew his saber before the streak hit, and slashed at Klad, who instinct blocked it with his sword.

Elles leapt back from the three, playing one last trick by hurling a knife at Jakk.

Another near miss.

The thief's experience dodging blows with the city guard of Tranmankand saved him. He threw himself to an awkward position on his horse, the dagger slashing his coat and landing onto his horse's neck. Giving a neigh of fright it threw him off, and he lay there, crumpled.

Astos snarled again. The surprised expression on the hard-eyed youth he faced changed as they circled each other, while the black mage drew much more than daggers out of his sleeves.

But before the mage could react with magic the Prince struck, gruesomely piercing the flesh of the horse and sending it wheeling, blood splashing everywhere, before the sword went up to block Klad's blade.

It was even now, two swordsmen.

On horseback they fought, the knight of Coneria diving in and calmly blocking and slashing elven saber. A feral grin, as one would expect on the face of a madmen, arose on the prince's face, as they moved their horses away from each other. The knight's heavy breathing indicated the elf's success, nine years of blade training was nothing to the nine hundred Astos had sustained.

They charged, blades clanging again as the elves on the plain, both keldori and the army of Elles, watched.

A rip on the shirtsleeve erupted blood onto Astos' blade, as the knight calmly took the blow. Another slice made his blade red, his own blood dripping on his sword.

The knight sagged on his horse, no longer straight backed. He back his horse away.

Astos smiled. It was almost done.

He flicked the reins of his mount, charging for one last time at the blood-drained form of the knight, and then leapt up, blade draw, to deliver the killing blow.

And quickly, Klad's blade penetrated, driving deep into the body as the Prince's blade stopped at his chest, drawing a prick of blood.

Elles slid lifeless onto the ground.

But it was not Elles' face on the ground, as Klad watched the hair slowly disappear, replaced by two horn-like objects. The skin was not fair anymore, but green, a pale shade of green that complimented the two lifeless eyes that had gone from orbs of clear blue to dark red.

Klad dropped to the grass, his sword hanging limply in his hand.

"A dark elf!" Bane said hoarsely, his blue robes covered in blood.

"It...it is not Elles?"

"No. An impersonator. By the Tari, Elles did not go mad!"

They could say no more. For out of the forest, hundreds of these green skinned elves in armor, not a hundred paces from where they stood, rushed at them, swords and spears at hand.

Behind the knight and mage, the keldori and elves of Elles were separating into rows, their expressions grim as they realized that the blood they had shed was due to the most unlikely of evils.

Sara watched as the three Warriors dragged themselves to their lines, pursued by the angry howls of revenge for the death of the elf in the disguise of Elles.