Chapter 5: The Great Bastion
Despite finally being back in the mortal realm, Malekith still had a very strange conception of time during the long trek south. He couldn't remember the last time he slept, but for whatever reason, he felt his body starting to fail him.
Perhaps it was because the winds of magic could no longer consistently power his armour of midnight in the mortal realm, or maybe it had something to do with him being normal again. Whatever the case, the further away from the chaos wastes he got, the more weary and tired he became. He had also felt hunger for the first time since the Circle of Gluttony but ignored it as he kept his torturous pace. He wanted to gain as much distance from the polar gate as possible and still had the fight or flight adrenaline to stay conscious. Unfortunately, it was finally starting to wear off, but he was clearly in the Eastern Steppes now and out of immediate danger.
The skies had been permanently night for the majority of his journey thus far, so it made it impossible to track the number of days he had probably been traveling. He was familiar with this phenomenon. Near the poles of the world, one could experience perpetual day or night. According to elven scholars, it had something to do with the tilt of the planet. It was also snowing heavily, which had finally forced him to accept the possibility that he would have to seek refuge.
He eventually found shelter from the eternal blizzard outside when coming across a cave. It was fortunately empty and went deep enough to shelter him from the storm. Shen Zoo had been unconscious the entire time and he was beginning to fear the worst for her. Malekith expected her to wake up, but she didn't. She had been so still and cold, that he actually thought she was dead at first.
If it wasn't for her extremely slow and light breathing, he would have thought she perished. Being familiar with dragons and their anatomy, it did not surprise him that she had fallen into a wakeless slumber. Their kind was known for that. What troubled him was the fact that it was extremely difficult to wake dragons up when they got like this.
It seemed inevitable to him now that he would have to take Shen Zoo all the way back to Cathay or take her to Naggaroth. The latter option was not much of an option at all. He could not leave Shen Zoo unconscious even in his own tower. Plus, then it could also cause a political incident with Cathay believing he abducted her or something along those lines.
'I can't believe I've been carrying her this entire time…I better not hear any complaints about me riding her after having to haul this dragon wench all this way on my own back.' he thought to himself as he looked for a good spot to set the woman down. In Naggaroth it was practically unheard of for druchii to let others near them...let alone touch them. To the highborn, a comrade might be allowed within two sword lengths and a bodyguard within one. Only intimate partners would ever get closer than that. Malekith himself did not tolerate anyone touching him or breathing his air. Even Kouran Darkhand his most trusted follower had never been closer than a sword length to him before. Yet despite that, here he was actually carrying someone who wasn't even an elf across a tundra.
Malekith let out a heavy sigh as he finally took the dragon off his back and rested her against the wall of the cave. The witch king stared at her briefly as he turned to face the blizzard outside, 'I can't keep going through that…I hate snow! What I wouldn't give to be in a forest right now…with Allisara.'
It felt strange thinking of her at a time like this, but Malekith missed the warmth of his youth right now. Everything seemed so dire back then, but compared to his life now it was practically heaven. He shook those pointless comforts aside from his mind as he focused on setting up a campfire in the cave. Upon finishing his work, he leaned against the cave wall and slowly began to slide down next to Shen Zoo. There was no way he could keep going without rest any longer. He began to stare at the flames as the endless howling gale outside began to drown out his hearing and numb his thoughts.
They were far enough away from the entrance to be unaffected, and he didn't sense any inhabitants in this cave, but they would likely be snowed in if they stayed. He sighed heavily and let go of his concerns for the first time in ages. He was finally out of the Realms of Chaos, and this was an opportunity for rest that he had to take. While he certainly didn't feel safe, Malekith doubted he would get another opportunity to sleep again and finally allowed himself to relax.
As he gazed into the fire, he felt Shen Zoo fall over and lean against him. He looked over at her somewhat bewildered for a moment believing that she was awake, but sadly she wasn't.
He felt unusual about the situation as the sight of this woman in such a vulnerable state made him think of Allisara again. Looking deep into the flames again, Malekith could almost see Allisara's face. Memories of her came pouring back to him. All the silly and pointless things she used to insist upon him suddenly felt missed. What he wouldn't give to be back in the colonies and investigating forest spirits with her and Ariel right now.
He spoke softly to himself as the image of her burned in his eyes, "I wonder what you'd say if you could see me now, Allisara? You always did give good advice even if I chose to ignore it. I wish you were still here…you'd be able to help me temper the druchii. You'd be my queen…"
His exhaustion had finally taken over and Malekith soon fell fast asleep at the thought of better days and unfulfilled dreams.
Malekith's Dream
A dragonship sailed into the port of Athel Toralien along with its escort fleet. As the fleet began to dock, Malekith found himself standing over the bow overlooking the beautiful city ruled by his underling Alandrian. Said underling stood next to the prince of Nagarythe and let out a smile of pride, "I never get tired of this view. Athel Toralien truly is a jewel among the colonies. I owe you a great deal for entrusting it to me, your highness. It's been thriving greatly since your last visit."
Malekith said nothing in response as he watched the fleet beginning to dock. There was a massive crowd of elves waiting there for them as if they were conquering heroes returning home. While he did find this place quite nice, Malekith felt deep in his heart that none of these colony cities compared to the great Tors of Ulthuan. He didn't care what these people thought…he cared about what the elves of Ulthuan thought about him.
"It's no Tor Anlec, but it's certainly the jewel of the colonies," Malekith finally responded.
Alandrian immediately backtracked, "I didn't mean to insinuate that it compared to your great city in any way, my prince."
"I know that Alandrian…" Malekith replied blankly as he watched elves exiting their ships and mingling with the excited crowd. He felt himself scowling in disgust at it.
He didn't know why he felt such contempt for these lowborn gallivanting around like mindless drones. Maybe it was his mother's mood wearing on him, but Malekith could not understand how people could live such meager and blissfully happy lives. Perhaps it was his own childhood, but he had spent his entire life feeling like the sky would fall down one day unless he did something to hold it up. He felt the weight of the world and the elven empire on his shoulders, and he was disgusted by the sight of peaceful ignorance to the sacrifice that the elves of the prior age had to endure for others. The great war was not over…it would never be over. Malekith remembered his father's words vividly, 'There's always someone left to fight…'
"Is something wrong, my prince?" Alandrian asked with evident concern that Malekith was in a bad mood.
The black-haired prince turned to face his underling, "Has it occurred to you that Nagarythe is the only kingdom in Ulthuan actively protecting these colonies?"
"Cothique and Eataine have also been sending fleets out. Yvresse has also been repelling greenskins in the south I hear." Alandrian noted.
Malekith scoffed at him, "If it weren't the dwarves and us, they wouldn't even have colonies down there. They're protecting THEIR colonies…and yet Bel'Shanaar still calls on me to babysit every last one of these cities any time something happens. Am I simply imagining things, or do you get the impression that I've been relegated to being his dog? Look at those people down there, Alandrian…reaping the benefits of our sacrifice."
"Isn't that what we do it all for though? So that others may live?" Alandrian asked.
The prince shrugged, "I suppose…but it certainly seems thankless to me."
"The colonies are well aware that you are their biggest defender. As for Bel'Shanaar…The Phoenix King thinks highly of you Prince Malekith. I'm certain he just trusts Nagarythe to handle this type of thing more than the other kingdoms since we're the most battle tested," Alandrian replied slowly.
"That's just it, Alandrian. That's all they see me as. All they see us as. A weapon and a tool. They're too proud to associate with me in Ulthuan, but I'm the first one they call on for every little thing. We're more than simply warriors. Why do I have to sacrifice the lives of Nagarythe elves for the colonies of other kingdoms that hate me? I'm the son of Aenarion…and yet here I am Malekith the emissary…Malekith the hero of the colonies…I find it rather humiliating. They don't even invite me to court and yet I'm still expected to invest all my time in their interests. What I wouldn't give to see one of those spineless politicians fight in a battle. A king who fights his own battles…wouldn't that be a sight to see in this pathetic age," Malekith snarled hatefully.
"I agree with you sire, but I just want to say that you have my personal thanks for all the aid you provide to Athel Toralien. The people here and even my own family think very highly of you," Alandrian noted.
Malekith looked at him briefly, "Your wife Mirieth doesn't seem to like me."
"I assure you that she thinks very highly of you and your trust in me. She is just wary of your mother, my prince…and she tends to get a bit too invested in the political gossip. I've told my daughters a lot about you. They have always wanted to meet you," Alandrian tried to reassure his senior.
"How old are they now anyways?" Malekith wondered.
"Hellebron is about 65 and Lirieth is 50," Alandrian replied.
"I was even younger than that when my father made me fight in my first battle…" Malekith trailed off in brooding thought.
"Mirieth coddles them too much, I think. I guess that's what I get for marrying a Cothique noble. I keep looking for potential marriage partners for them, but nobody important from Ulthuan would marry a princess in the colonies. They lack skills and experience to really have any renown either. They are quite beautiful, but I don't think they have the tact for politics. Hellebron keeps begging me to bring her along on our next expedition, but obviously I wouldn't impose that on you my prince," Alandrian sighed.
"A girl who actually wants to see battle? That's rather unusual," Malekith noted.
Alandrian chuckled, "I think it's more along the lines of she wants to learn from you. You're her hero from what I understand."
The two began to walk from the bow as they made their way down some stairs and headed for a ramp to exit the dragonship. Malekith glanced over at Alandrian and shrugged, "I don't really care…but having some young girl around would be a distraction. My mother is a big enough distraction when she comes along."
"Hellebron seems quite smitten with the stories about your mother as well. Maybe she could keep an eye on her? I think it would do my daughters some good to get out of the tower for a while and see the larger world," Alandrian suggested.
"That's between her and my mother…I have more important things to worry about." Malekith shook his head.
"Between me and who?" a voice interrupted their conversation.
Malekith and Alandrian glanced back to see none other than Morathi herself. She had her entire entourage of handmaidens with her as well.
"Nothing, mother…we're here," Malekith immediately deflected her question.
His mother narrowed her gaze at him suspiciously as she strutted closer, "Is there something you want to tell me, my son?"
"Lord Alandrian was just saying that his wife Mirieth wanted to host us for a banquet since she heard you were coming with us. I told him that you would probably be tired from the trip," Malekith lied.
Morathi smirked at him slyly, "Oh? How cute…well I have been curious to see how this city has been progressing since my son named you regent Lord Alandrian. I hope your wife is up to my lofty standards."
"O-of course, my lady. I will go ahead and let her know that you agreed. Farewell my prince," Alandrian bowed his head to Malekith before departing at a brisk pace.
After he left, Morathi glanced at Malekith, "You're a great liar Malekith…but don't start thinking that it works on me. I'm your mother and I know you better than anyone. What's your little minion actually want?"
"Let's go," Malekith completely ignored her smug question as he turned to exit the ship.
Morathi and her entourage of handmaidens immediately followed. As they walked over the ramp to the dock, Malekith felt Morathi bat his hair with her hand, "Your hair is filthy and unkempt. When was the last time you bathed? I'll have one of the girls brush it later."
"Unlike you, I actually get dirty because I don't sit around all day scheming and playing games. You would know that if you bothered to do anything besides indulge yourself in your quarters," Malekith countered rudely.
Morathi immediately took ahold of his arm as she walked beside him, "Look at them…they're cheering for us. Smile and wave, my son."
Seeing his mother soak up the attention of the crowd sickened him for some reason. Many elves ran up to greet the duo and the beautiful handmaidens following behind. He didn't understand what his mother was so proud of. She didn't do anything to earn the adulation of this crowd and the way she walked at his side was somewhat emasculating to him.
Finally fed up with seeing his mother's smug haughtiness, Malekith shot a wave of fire into the air to clear the crowd and let out a callous grunt, "Make way!"
The elves immediately backed off and quieted down as they passed. Shortly after leaving the dock, Morathi poked his cheek and laughed playfully at his antics, "You're so serious like your father. It's alright to let to the peasants worship us."
"What have you ever done to deserve worship?" Malekith asked bluntly.
Morathi gave him a nasty look, "I see you're in a foul mood. I've taught you everything you know in case your forgot."
"You didn't teach me how to fight or lead…father did. You certainly didn't teach me how to sail or forge either," Malekith shot back.
"Ughh…you drive me crazy when you act like this. It sounds like you could do with some recreation to untwist your britches," Morathi huffed.
"That's exactly what I intend to do, but we have very different ideas about recreation. I'll catch up with you at the banquet later, mother. I have some business to attend to. Go make yourself comfortable in the palace and I'll make sure to bathe so I don't offend you with the sight of dirt and grime," Malekith pulled his arm free as he began to pick up the pace.
"Ahahaha, Kerissa, make sure you put my son in a good mood when you groom him later," Morathi chuckled before ordering one of her handmaidens.
Said handmaiden beamed with eagerness, "It would be my pleasure to comfort the prince, mistress."
Malekith rolled his eyes at his mother and her entourage of beautiful handmaidens, "Is trying to bed me a rite of passage to your sycophants, mother?"
"No, but you clearly need to release some stress because you're acting insufferable right now. Why? Is there something wrong with Kerissa? Is she not your type? I mean I know she doesn't compare to me, but you'll scarcely find a prettier elf maiden in this backwater city" Morathi grinned.
"That won't be necessary…I'm leaving now," Malekith responded stoically as he began to walk away from the giggling handmaidens and his bizarre mother.
"She's here…isn't she?" Morathi's cheerful voice immediately turned dark and sinister.
Malekith stopped dead in his tracks and met his mother's glaring eyes, "So what if she is? She is my wife after all…"
"You poor boy…she's already got you wrapped around her finger. Playing games with you like this. Are you so certain she stays faithful on all your long voyages around the world? I highly doubt that. What's that treehugging bumpkin even do? Is her family even noble blooded? It's bad enough you had to lower our social status by marrying some colonist bitch. You couldn't even pick one I approved of." Morathi said venomously.
"She's a high priestess of Lileath. Her family is noble blooded. They came from the highborn of Avelorn and Yvresse colonists. Besides, what does it matter to you? I wasn't named phoenix king, so I didn't see a point in a political marriage." Malekith countered.
"Oh, I get it now. You do seem to have a thing for those Avelorn girls. Perhaps I'll pick some up when I go back to Ulthuan." Morathi said knowingly.
Malekith shook his head, "No I don't have a 'thing' for them…"
"Do you think I'm blind?" Morathi asked.
"I think you're unreasonably involved in my personal life," Malekith sighed in annoyance.
"For your own good! You could have married that princess from Saphery that I painstakingly tried to set you up with. She was a great mage, she fancied you, and she was a supporter of Nagarythe. You don't think, Malekith…having that kind of political connection to Saphery would have greatly boosted our standing at court. Instead, you had to go off and marry some backwater Avelorn colonist. What do you even see in that girl anyways? I genuinely want to know. Is it her looks? Does she satisfy you sexually in ways no one else can? Tell me," Morathi ranted.
"What's your problem with Allisara? What is it about her that bothers you so much?" Malekith countered her question with his own.
Morathi crossed her arms, "Hmm, well let's see here. Other than manipulating my precious son? I can think of a few things. I've been around a long time Malekith, and that girl is using you. She's trying to elevate her pitiful status and gain notoriety so she can monkey branch to the next best thing. It's what girls like her do. Mark my words, she will leave you eventually after she gets what she wants."
"And you don't think some princess from inner Ulthuan would do the same? I'm not a fool…nobody fancies me there." Malekith rolled his eyes.
"At least you'd be gaining prestige in court. Plus, I could certainly work with her since she's a talented mage," Morathi noted.
"The last thing I need is my potential wife being another one of your handmaidens. People are more than status and abilities. I married Allisara because I like her and for no other reason. I'm going now…I highly suggest you bite your tongue when I invite her to the banquet tonight or this will the very last trip that I take you on. In fact…don't bother get comfortable here. I'll have a ship take you home in a few days," Malekith spat before leaving Morathi behind.
"Malekith! Ughh! Come back! MALEKITH!" Morathi called out in vain as Malekith angrily stormed off.
He seethed with rage as he passed through the streets and felt a sickening hole in his stomach. Malekith was drawn from his thoughts when he heard someone run up behind him, "Prince Malekith!"
The dark-haired prince glanced at the arrival curiously and saw that it was another one of his underlings, Captain Yeasir.
"What is it, Yeasir?" Malekith asked.
"Sorry to disturb your highness, but your wife was asking about you. I confirmed that she is in port waiting to meet you," the elf answered.
"Where is she? I was just looking for her," the prince wondered.
Yeasir pointed, "Out by the lighthouse. She asked if you would meet her there at your convenience."
"Thank you, captain. I'll go now. Enjoy your leave," Malekith nodded before making his way to the lighthouse.
After a short trip, he found himself at the lighthouse. While it wasn't as impressive as the one at Tor Alessi, it was still quite symbolic. Malekith remembered meeting Allisara for the first time at that lighthouse.
As he walked up slowly, his beloved wife turned around and met his gaze. She seemed a bit crestfallen and depressed much to his confusion. Malekith immediately greeted her, "Allisara."
"Malekith…" she said his name distantly as they approached each other, "it's good to see you again, my love. Eight years, four months, and two days since last time."
"You counted?" he asked surprised.
Allisara nodded, "I always do…I worry about you out there. You've never been gone this long before. I was relieved when I got your message that you were coming to Athel Toralien."
"Is something bothering you?" Malekith asked confused by her weird mood.
"Well…I crossed paths with someone who wanted to meet you. Promise you'll at least hear her out, Malekith," Allisara began anxiously.
The prince narrowed his gaze suspiciously at Allisara, "Someone wanted you to set up a meeting with me?"
"She knew you wouldn't accept the request if it came through some other means. You can come out now," Allisara waved someone over.
Malekith tensed up as he glared at the person who would dare use his wife to get to him. It was an elven maiden. Her age was difficult to discern, but she looked older than an adolescent and younger than a full adult. She had honey gold hair and a very similar appearance to his own sister Yvraine. She was wearing the attire of one of the Everqueen's handmaidens which was all Malekith needed to see in order to sour his mood.
He leered at the young elf maiden as she nervously stood next to Allisara. She kept trying to make eye contact with the prince but would look away every few seconds as if she was petrified about being there.
Malekith looked down at her briefly before turning to his wife, "Is there a reason one of the Everqueen's handmaidens came all the way out here to see me? Does the Everqueen want something from me?"
"N-no, Prince Malekith…I came on my own. The Everqueen Yvraine tasked me with investigating sacred forests out here in the colonies. I have been in Laurelorn for a while along with a host of Avelorn colonists. I…need your help," the handmaiden began nervously.
"You have some nerve, contacting my wife…" Malekith spoke darkly as he took a step closer.
Allisara quickly moved up and placed a hand on Malekith's chest to hold him back, "Wait, love…you should hear her out. This isn't some thankless chore from the courts. I ran into her when I was at Laurelorn with Ariel. They're having trouble out there and I told her that you might be willing to help."
"Your heart is too big for its own good, Allisara…don't volunteer me for things without consulting me first. My soldiers are on leave right now and I don't want to get involved in anything while my mother is here," Malekith sighed in annoyance.
"At least hear her out, Malekith…please?" Allisara tried to reason.
"She can ask the Everqueen for help…I'm getting sick of fighting other people's battles for them," Malekith shook his head.
Finally, the elf handmaiden spoke up again as she met Malekith's gaze and held it, "I don't mean to be presumptuous, your highness, but I can't turn to them for help. Not only would it be shameful, but it would take too long for an army to arrive. Plus, I'm not purely from Avelorn. Half of my lineage is from Nagarythe…so I do recognize your lordship. Not only that, but I'm like you. I'm also cursed I mean. I figured if anyone could help me, you could."
"Cursed? What do you mean by that?" Malekith's eyes widened in disbelief as his tone darkened.
"The Curse of Khaine…I have it too. It's part of the reason the Everqueen sent me away. I have…issues. I know this might be informal and unwelcome to say, but you are my uncle," the elven girl answered timidly.
"What?!" Malekith seemed shocked by this news as he glared at the girl.
She briefly looked up at him again, "I'm Morelion's second daughter…your niece. I share the blood of House Tinuron and King Aenarion. I'm not asking for your help as a political favor but as a family member."
"So, you're my brother's daughter? What has he told you about me?" Malekith wondered.
"He says nothing but good things about you and all the heroic things you do for the elven empire. As for the Lady Morathi…he's wary of her. I've seen her at court a few times. She doesn't seem to like my father or my aunt the Everqueen," the girl replied honestly.
"What's your name, girl?" Malekith asked slowly as he found it bizarre that his niece would actually go out of her way to meet him.
"Maruviel," she answered gracefully as she bowed her head.
Malekith sighed heavily, "Would your father or the Everqueen approve of you associating with me? Your reputation is bound to plummet back in Ulthuan if word gets out that we're working together."
"I don't care…people in Avelorn already don't like me. They say I'm too much like my father…too much like the Nagarythe elves. The Everqueen thought it would be best if I operated as an agent on her behalf out here in the colonies. If I asked them for help, I'd be admitting my incompetence. We share the same blood…please help me, Prince Malekith," she pleaded.
"I wasn't aware the courts saw Morelion that way," Malekith shook his head.
"Why do you think he lives in Cothique with my mother now? He just wanted to get away from it all." Maruviel sighed.
"Hmph…so what's going on out in Laurelorn Forest?" Malekith changed the subject.
"There's turmoil in Tor Lithanel. The local regent and her court have been acting very unusual out there. Lady Allisara and her sister told me that the forest spirits were also acting strangely. I think it's chaos corruption, but I don't want to delve into that without someone experienced to help me. From what I understand, nobody in the empire is better at dealing with chaos threats than you are." Maruviel stated hopefully.
"If it really is a chaos threat, then I can't ignore it. I will aid you, Maruviel, but I can't leave just yet. My mother is currently here in Athel Toralien and I don't want her catching wind of you coming to me. For your own good, I'd ask that you wait a few days for me to send her away. I'll gather my best soldiers and we'll make the trip out there within the fortnight," Malekith finally agreed to help.
"Thank you, uncle. I won't soon forget your help. I need to start heading back now, but you can meet me at Tor Lithanel in a few weeks. I'll have my people keep an eye out for your banners," she thanked Malekith before leaving.
"Girl…" Malekith spoke up as she began to leave.
Maruviel stopped in her tracks and looked back at him confused, "Yes?"
"Don't do anything reckless. If things get too dangerous there fall back and wait for my forces. The last thing I need is to be blamed for your death," Malekith ordered the girl.
She bowed her head politely, "I'll be safe, uncle…thank you. Also, thank you for setting up this meeting, Lady Allisara. It was an honor to meet you both."
Once she was gone, Allisara let out a light smile, "I'm sorry for dropping that on you right after your return, love. I'm honestly surprised you agreed to help her so easily. I thought you hated your brother and sister."
"I don't hate them…but they hate me. I'm shocked Morelion's daughter would even humor the idea of speaking to me. Are you certain this isn't some type of trap or set up?" Malekith asked suspiciously.
"You're as paranoid as ever…she's your niece. Also, Ariel thinks she's a nice girl…and you know how my sister is. We'll be going with you, and I'll let you know if I get any visions or premonitions of a betrayal," Allisara said reassuringly.
The prince nodded his head, "We'll deal with that later. Right now, I'd prefer to just spend my time with you."
Allisara beamed at him warmly as she grabbed ahold of his hand, "Of course, Malekith. Let's go for a walk and you can tell me all about your trip."
He smiled lightly at her as the couple began to walk. He immediately felt his bad mood go away and all the nonsense with his mother vanish. Nothing quite cured his anger like Allisara did. He couldn't understand why his mother disliked her so much. She was a pure and innocent soul, and she made him happy.
They walked along the streets waving to various soldiers or civilian colonists as they spoke about Malekith's trip and what Allisara and her sister had been up to recently.
"So…Snorri passed away? That's why you were gone so long?" Allisara spoke sadly as she empathized deeply with her husband.
Malekith nodded, "He did…I was at his bedside when he died. It was an honor never granted to an outsider before. All of the other kings and thanes were there as well."
"That's so sad. From all the things you've told me about him, it sounds like he was your best friend," Allisara smiled weakly as several tears came down her cheeks.
"As he passed, we swore to each other that we and our peoples would always be friends. It's so surreal to know that he's gone. I don't have many friends. Other than you and a few of my underlings I don't even like most people. I wish he didn't have to die…I wish I could have helped him," Malekith spoke with distant sadness.
He had been repressing his emotions ever since the ordeal in order to not look weak in front of his soldiers and officers, but it was something deeply emotional to him and Allisara was one of the very few people in the world he would trust with these feelings.
Allisara had a full face of tears and hugged Malekith tightly as they came to a halt. She sobbed emotionally as he stood there with crestfallen stoicism, "Death is just a part of life. We're all going to die one day."
'I won't…' he thought distantly.
The prince then looked at her confused after a moment and spoke up, "Why are you crying? You didn't know him."
"I'm crying because I know you won't…" she sobbed lightly as she looked at her husband, "and it wounds me to see you hold in your pain. All for that vaunted Nagarythe pride and toughness. Friends like that are irreplaceable. It hurts me to see you alone. You're a great person and I wish others could see that too. Your friend certainly did."
"At least I still have you," he said distantly as he stared off again in distant thought.
"You'll always have me…" she said assuredly as she squeezed even tighter.
After calming herself, Allisara let go and looked into his eyes with deep passion, "I love you Malekith."
"I love you too, Allisara," he said quietly before his wife leaned up to kiss him.
This beautiful moment was ruined by an echoic and otherworldly laughter. It was far louder than that of a person and a voice which was clearly not elven spoke up with cruel amusement, "Your mother was right…she did abandon you. She was a liar and she never loved you at all."
After breaking the kiss, Allisara then smiled at him very creepily before speaking in a voice that wasn't hers, "Did you think it would that easy? Do you think I don't see your dreams and your desires? Well, now you are here FOR YOUR NIGHTMARE!"
All of a sudden, the elven city immediately disappeared as Malekith found himself back in the palace of Slaanesh of all places. He could see hundreds of purple and pink eyes lighting up the darkness as thousands of voices laughed at him.
He then saw Allisara transform into Slaanesh right before his very eyes.
"You will never escape me. Your soul is mine, Malekith!" the god hissed. Slaanesh then grabbed ahold of him and began to grin wickedly as he started tearing Malekith's limbs off one by one. He let out a cry of horror as the god lowered his mouth to his and started to slurp his soul out of his own body.
End of Dream
Malekith snapped awake screaming in terror as leapt up and ignited his weapons with magical fire. He was panting heavily and had nearly forgotten where he was or what he was doing. Upon realizing that it was just a dream, he finally calmed down.
Despite calming his mind, it did little to ease the stress of the nightmare he had just experienced. A quick glance at Shen Zoo showed that she was still unconscious and now lying on her side from where he had just leapt up.
The witch king shook his head at her as he slowed his breathing, 'She's still asleep…I need to find something that can get me to Cathay faster. At this rate it'll take a month or more.'
Glancing at the cave entrance, he saw it was completely snowed over. Other than the glow of his own armour it was pitch black in the cave since the campfire had long since gone out. There was no telling how long he had been asleep, but he felt much better and less stressed out now.
Reaching down to pick Shen Zoo up again, Malekith put the girl on his back before making his way for the cave entrance to burn away the snow. Upon exiting the cave, he was relieved to see that the blizzard had subsided, and the dark skies were clear.
Scanning the horizon for some clue as to where to go, he saw mountains in the distance. It seemed as good a place as any to head for and after triangulating his position with the winds of magic, he confirmed it was also south.
One week later
The next days of travel were extremely tedious. Malekith was able to ignore his hunger initially, but it started becoming a requirement the further away from the north pole he got. The terrain he had to cross was treacherous and wild but compared to the chaos wastes or the realms of chaos, it wasn't too bad for him. In some ways it reminded him of Naggaroth. Over the past few days, he had been able to find shelter relatively easily each time he had to stop, and he also been fortunate enough to find wild game to kill and eat.
The gods truly threw him a bone however when Malekith found a wild horse roaming around and managed to catch it. It had significantly expedited his travel speed and made the journey less awful for the past few days. His endless travels had been paying off as he was definitely clear of the chaotic wracked landscape of the far north. The part of the Eastern Steppes he was in looked almost like an untamed wilderness as he could even see vegetation and pine trees now as well as a vast plain in the distance. Malekith was currently sitting on some type of strange cairn watchtower that looked ancient. It gave him a great view of the surrounding landscape and was most likely a remnant of the Scythian Empire if he had to guess.
He found this structure interesting, but also unsettling. It had provided good shelter from the previous night, but it was definitely haunted. With his witchsight, he could see spirits and ghosts in this place, but chose to ignore them.
Taking a bite of his seared deer flank, Malekith stared south at the mountains. They were much closer now and hopefully the Great Bastion was behind them. After finishing his breakfast, Malekith picked up Shen Zoo, placed her on his new horse and once again and began his day's journey. He could have gone over the mountains if he had to, but it seemed completely pointless as a vast empty grassland plain was all around them to the west and it would be easier for the horse to travel that way.
Malekith chose to take the easier route and simply go around. He had kept his eyes peeled something faster than the horse and kept hoping he could find a manticore. A few days prior he had spotted a wild manticore, but it simply flew away before he could get near it. For whatever reason, not one wild creature tried to attack him on his trek. No bears, no wolves, and no monsters. Part of him almost wished a manticore would try to attack so he could break it and ride it south.
His traveling had shown significant progression though as the perpetual night of the far north was gone and he could see the sun rising each day now for the first time in what felt like centuries. For all he knew, it could have been centuries.
The elf found himself in a good mood the further south he went for whatever reason even despite the annoyance of Shen Zoo still not waking up. He never thought he would miss the sun so much, but watching the sunrise each day was truly a special and peaceful experience for him now. It was something he had taken for granted his entire life. He would never take it for granted again. While this trip was counterproductive, he was actually grateful to be alive and wasn't too bothered by the chore of taking Shen Zoo home now that he was free of the chaos wastes.
His silent travels had given him a lot of time to think about the past and the best ways to deal with the Puzzle Box of Xholankha, 'Why would he tell me where the keys were? Does he want me to find them? It doesn't make any sense.'
The thought of Kairos Fateweaver trying to manipulate him did seem entirely possible and more than likely the case. Malekith shook his head, 'Even still…I might be able to find Oxyotl if I go to the location of one of the keys. If he came out of the Southern Chaos Wastes, then he could either go to Khuresh or Zlatlan to get one of them. There are some lizardmen in Khuresh he could regroup with, but I think he said he wanted to see Lord Chiccotta first. I imagine he's going to the Southlands to get help and maybe gather an army. His next destination would more than likely be Khuresh…and we could probably cross paths there. Though I wouldn't dare go near that place without a few black arks and a full invasion force. I might be able to deter the corsair fleets from attacking the Old World or Cathay if I tell them about Naga treasures there. I don't know that part of the world very well. It's been millennia since I've been out this far east. I'd need one of the sea elves or the Fellheart Clan to help me navigate Khuresh. I wonder if Lokhir Fellheart would work with me and stay loyal? He's not completely selfish like the other corsair admirals…but he isn't like his predecessors. All of them would do anything I said. Lokhir seems very likely to rebel if I try to deter slaving and reaving. I know Laithikir would help me. I'd hate to even ask mother, but she might know things about Khuresh as well. No…I can't let her get involved. She CAN'T find out about this Puzzle Box of Xholankha. So, assuming Oxyotl gets the key in Zlatlan and I get the key in Khuresh…how would I get the last one from Kislev? Their royal family has it? Druchii don't really raid Kislev, and we do have northmen as a common enemy. Maybe I could figure out a way to convince their Tzar to give me the key if we promise them aid? Then I run into the problem of having to explain why I want it. Or worse…how the smallfolk interact with the humans. Stealing the key is probably a better option, but I don't know much about Kislev. I'll most likely have to get that one last. Maybe Oxyotl could infiltrate the palace with his camouflage?'
Malekith shook those thoughts aside as he looked down at the puzzle box and held it up with his free hand, 'If this thing can really open a doorway to the heavens, then I can't ignore it. It's probably best to give it to the Lizardmen after I find the keys. I believe Kairos was right about that part…there is no way their Slann would be able to get a key from Khuresh or Kislev. Hmm…maybe I should at least get the one in Khuresh so the Naga can't misuse it. I won't be going to Kislev anytime soon though, so it's probably best if I focus on the immediate future.'
As he rode along on his horse, Malekith heard thudding in the distance. At first, he thought it might be a wild pack of animals, but a quick glance to his right showed that horses were approaching from a distance.
With his keen elven eyesight, he could barely make out the sight of people riding on them. Malekith slowed down briefly as he stared at the oncoming horde of horsemen. While normally, he would be completely angry about something like this ruining his good mood, Malekith saw an opportunity running straight for him.
'These people can tell me where the bastion is…' he thought wickedly as he waited for the horsemen to close in.
Trotting along for a few minutes on his steed and pretending to be oblivious to the 'danger' he was about to be in, Malekith waited patiently for them to notice him.
"I see someone!" he heard one of the riders call out. The rider spoke in the Hung's language which clearly signified that these were Hung warband marauders. He was used to seeing these northmen in Naggarond and many of the early humans enslaved by the druchii were Hung raiders. The fact that they were Hung and not Kurgans though was a benefit however since many Hung tribes were loyal to his mother.
Stopping in his tracks, Malekith watched as the horsemen aggressively charged in and surrounded him on all sides. Within seconds, he had dozens of spears and javelins pointed at him within a sword length and dozens of archers with drawn bows ready to fire. He looked around briefly as he waited for one of the humans to speak.
Finally, one did, "What in the world is that? Is he a chaos champion? He has a girl with him!"
Another one, which clearly was a chieftain of some kind spoke up next as he cleared his way through the others and stopped in front of Malekith on his horse, "It looks like a dark elf. He's too thin to be a chaos warrior…and that armour looks fancy. I've seen some wear fancy spiked armour before, but nothing like this. With a helmet like that, he must be someone important."
"We should loot his stuff and take the girl," another one laughed.
"I want those swords!" another exclaimed.
"I want his horse," another man added.
Another laughed in excitement, "Haha, I want his helmet!"
Malekith said nothing as he looked around and thought about the best way to deal with these savages. A normal person would probably have been terrified to be in this position, but these barbarians were no threat to him.
'Hmm…these people won't help me unless I scare them first,' Malekith thought calmly as he wondered about what spell he was about to use. Without any incantation, he began to start gathering winds of magic as subtly as he could over his Circlet of Iron.
"I don't like this, Khadagan…this elf gives me the creeps. He couldn't be easy prey if he rode through the Eastern Steppes by himself like this. I sense magic on him…a lot too. We should find out who he is first," a more rational human spoke to the chieftain.
"You're saying he's magical, Subetei?!" the chieftain asked the rational human concerned.
"He's gathering magic right now," the human Subetai which was clearly some kind of shaman answered.
Upon hearing this, many of the horsemen tensed up as they pointed their weapons even closer and vigilantly stared the mysterious elf down.
"Do you speak our language, dark elf?!" the chieftain demanded calmly as he focused his attention on the completely unfazed elf.
Malekith responded in their guttural foreign language, "Yes…I understand you, Khadagan."
"That will make this a lot easier then. What are you doing out here in our lands? Who's that girl? She looks like a Cathayan lady," the chieftain asked.
"I'm taking her to the Great Bastion. I suggest you reconsider whatever it is you think you're going to do. If I wanted, I could kill every last one of you and ride away from here unscathed. I doubt those crude excuses for weapons could even scratch my armour. I find myself in need of some information though...so perhaps I'll let you live if you answer my questions," Malekith answered carelessly.
"He really is a dark elf…they all talk big like this," one of the Hung marauders spat.
"Are you threatening us elf? You plan on killing all two hundred of my war party?! Quit stalling and hand over the girl as well as your weapons and helmet!" Khadagan demanded, "I'll let you go if you do."
Malekith scoffed beneath his helmet at the threat, "The word of a Hung means about as much as the word of a druchii…nothing. Your people only understand fear and power. I can show you plenty of both. I'm a sorcerer and a very powerful one too. I'm sure your people have heard tales about what the druchii sorceresses can do to northmen savages with a flick of their hands. That's nothing compared to what I can do to you."
Malekith's calm threat caused many of the marauders to back away a bit hesitantly and the shaman Subetei to go wide-eyed with fear.
"You don't seem to understand the situation you're in elf," another Hung marauder added.
"I am not the one in danger here…I am the danger." Malekith stated factually as the runes on his armour began to glow. This greatly spooked the Hung marauders who started moving away even further now.
"Kill this arrogant el-" Khadagan didn't get to finish his statement as he grabbed his throat and started choking.
Dark ice began to creep out in all directions from the hooves of Malekith's horse as he ominously stared the chieftain down, "Here's what's actually going to happen…you are going to answer my questions and let me pass or I'm going to tear out your soul."
"Kill him! KILL THE ELF!" an over eager marauder shouted as he attempted to throw a spear at Malekith. The crude iron tipped spear glanced off his armour without even leaving a scratch. Several others opened fire with arrows, but none of them could pierce the armour of midnight causing them to bounce off or shatter.
A large glow of magical energy began to swirl outward from Malekith now as the armour began to crackle with black lightning.
Khadagan managed to speak through his choking breath a moment later, "S-stop everyone!"
Malekith mercilessly held the magical choke for a few more seconds before releasing it and staring the man down. He was gasping for air and looked stunned by what had just happened.
The other marauders were also backing away on horseback skittishly as the elf looked around at them and spoke, "Who wishes to die first?"
"Everyone back off," Khadagan ordered his war party before locking gazes with Malekith, "this elf wasn't bluffing. Alright, we'll answer your questions if you answer ours!"
'Hmm…that was easy,' Malekith thought calmly. He was not expecting them to back down before he could even kill anyone.
"What direction is the Great Bastion from here?" Malekith asked.
Khadagan immediately pointed past the mountains to the southwest, "That way leads to Turtle Gate...the easternmost entrance."
"Who do you answer to?" Malekith followed up.
"We serve the high chieftain Shan Yu," the Hung chieftain answered.
Malekith nodded, "Good...I'll be on my way now."
"We'll let you pass elf, but I do want to know what you're doing out here. Our leaders will certainly be interested in knowing," Khadagan risked Malekith's wrath by asking.
'I should learn more about their leaders in case I have to kill them later...' Malekith thought tactically.
"I'm curious…do any of you know who Morathi is? The Aghol, Mung, and Avag certainly do. I'm affiliated with her." Malekith used this opportunity to gain some information.
"I know of the dark lady Morathi…" a female Hung shaman interjected as she rode up next to Khadagan on her horse, "I'm from the Mung tribe across the glacier. If he knows Morathi, we should listen to him, Khadagan. She's a herald of the gods."
'So that's how mother convinced all these foul barbarians to serve her…and here I thought it involved copulation. I don't know which one is worse,' Malekith thought to himself.
"Yesui…what's this elf going on about? Who is Morathi?" Khadagan asked confused.
"Listen to her, Khadagan. Morathi is the consort-queen of Shaarnor," Suebeti interjected, "Yesui knows all about dark elves and about the dark lady!"
Yesui nodded her head before addressing the chieftain, "Morathi is the dark elf queen and a powerful witch…even more powerful than him. If this elf knows her, then maybe we shouldn't incite her fury. I heard what she did to the Kurgans."
'Mother told them that she was the queen of the druchii?! Also is Shaarnor their name for Slaanesh?! Ughhh…' Malekith thought incredulously.
"I suppose it's worth taking him back to the others to make sure. Are you willing to come with us to meet our leaders? We won't risk the wrath of the dark elf queen and we might be able to help you with your quest...whatever it is," Khadagan asked.
'This sounds like a bad idea, but it will make my return trip much easier if they think I'm an ally. I might be able to find a manticore too,' Malekith thought hopefully.
While he didn't like the idea of going with these foul-smelling human barbarians to gods know where, Malekith saw an opportunity worth taking. These humans could help him…and he could cross back through their lands without having to deal with this nonsense again. He didn't consider them any threat and wasn't opposed to finding their nest and learning more about what the barbarians were up to.
A normal person would be a fool to ever turn their back to a Hung marauder, but Malekith had no doubts that they were certainly too afraid to try anything after failing to do any damage to him. Plus, for whatever reason, their shamans were afraid of Morathi and wouldn't dare interfere with one of her plots.
"I'll go with you for now and meet your leaders, but don't try anything stupid...I can and will kill your entire tribe if you give me a reason to," Malekith spoke darkly.
The Hung marauders nervously nodded in understanding as they were clearly afraid of him now. Khadagan gestured for the horde to move and rode next to Malekith as they went northwest, "So what's the deal with the girl? I want to know why you're taking this girl to Cathay?"
"The girl is cursed…Morathi put a powerful curse on her and sent me to deliver her to the Cathayans so that we could infiltrate their Great Bastion. I would advise not touching her. She's going to unleash a plague once I get her through the walls," Malekith lied.
"Oh…well that makes sense. Is that why she's asleep?" Khadagan asked.
The Hung barbarians seemed much more at ease after hearing Malekith's lie. For reasons beyond his understanding, the humans were actually laughing with excitement now.
"So, the dark elves are going to help us destroy the Great Bastion too? The masters are going to love this!" Subetei asked eagerly.
Malekith nodded, "Yes…I thought word had already been sent to you, but it seems our messengers must have died along the way. I had to kill a lot of people to get this far, so clearly my purpose for being here wasn't relayed to your leaders. I suppose I can explain it in person."
'If only to spare me the drama of fighting my way back across Ironfrost glacier.' Malekith thought.
"Why are you traveling alone out in the Eastern Steppes though? It's rather dangerous to cross without a warband or a party," Yesui asked as they rode along.
"I had a party with me, but they all died in the chaos wastes. I took this horse from some humans that tried to rob me after mine died," Malekith lied again.
"And you still went on alone? You're a tough dark elf, I'll give you that," Khadagan noted.
'Even through my helmet I can smell them…these northmen tribes are going extinct the moment I get back to Naggaroth. I can't believe I ever humored mother's idea to tame these savages. She seriously told them that she was the queen of the druchii?! I can't wait to get back there and publicly strip her of all authority,' Malekith thought angrily as the horde rode on.
"What tribe are you, anyways?" Malekith asked.
"Yesui here is from the Mung tribe, but we took her in a year ago. The rest of us are the Dreaded Wo tribe," Subetei answered.
"Why did you leave the Mung tribe?" Malekith asked the female shaman.
"You don't know? There's been a calling…all the northern tribes are coming together to unite and finally destroy the Great Bastion. We've even allied ourselves with the Kurgans and Tong which is quite rare. The gods have also sent champions to aid us. The masters will be very happy to hear that the dark elves sent help as well," Yesui answered.
'Wait…what?! They're gathering for a massive attack?! Maybe coming with them was a good idea after all. I can figure out what they're planning…' Malekith brooded seriously.
"So, what's your name, elf?" Khadagan cut in curiously.
"Malekith," he answered honestly to see if these savages would recognize him.
To his surprise, none of them did. Yesui tilted her head perplexed, "I've heard that name before. We saw dark elf hunters patrolling the glacier asking us if we'd seen someone by that name a few years ago. Are you some kind of important lord?"
"Something like that…" Malekith smirked beneath his helmet.
"They must have been looking for you for quite a while. Even my father's father said the dark elves have been searching for an elf named Malekith north of their towers ever since he was a boy," Yesui stated.
Malekith shrugged, "Well I have been gone for a long time."
"I heard the dark elf queen Morathi was even looking for you personally. She came to ask all of the Aghol and Mung chieftains to help her find you. I'm guessing she finally did then?" Yesui asked.
The elf nodded, "She certainly did…"
'These people are so stupid…how do they not know I'm the Witch King? Literally the only active male sorcerer who also wears a full-face helmet with a coiled crown. It sounds like mother still thinks I'm alive if she has her dark riders patrolling the chaos wastes looking for me.' he thought to himself.
It seemed odd to him how much the humans appeared to like him all of a sudden as they asked him a variety of questions along the way. The two shamans in particular were very curious about elven magic and Naggaroth.
"So, I have a question, Malekith…can Queen Morathi really summon the Chotgor?" Subetei asked curiously.
"Daemons you mean? Yes, she can. I also can," Malekith nodded.
"You can summon Chotgor?!" Yesui gasped.
Malekith nodded, "Greater Ones as well. I had one called N'kari that helped me attack the high elves. My kind calls them a keeper of secrets. They're the greatest daemons of Slaanesh or Shaarnor as you people call him."
"So, you are affiliated with Shaarnor the serpent god?!" Yesui seemed amazed by this information.
"I am. Also, the Raven God and the Blood God," Malekith lied.
The barbarian shamans exchanged looks of awe with one another before Subetei spoke up, "The masters will love you then."
"Who are these masters anyway?" Malekith wondered.
Khadagan quickly cut into the conversation, "The Kurgans call them the Warriors of Chaos. They have sent many sorcerers and champions to aid us in destroying the Bastion. The Windlord even sent a greater chotgor to lead us. The Kurgans and Tong call him Ashenwing."
'Great…a lord of change and chaos warriors. Just when I thought I was done dealing with daemons for a while. They'll definitely know who I am, and the lord of change will probably know what I'm doing. I should figure out my escape plan. Maybe they'll have a manticore there I can steal. It would be better to kill these people and make a run for it now, but I need to figure out what they're planning first,' Malekith thought grimly.
Later that day
As the sun was beginning to set, Malekith and the Hung war party had finally come upon a massive gathering at some type of fortress. It was surrounded by camps as far as they eye could see. Malekith was horrified by the sheer number of barbarians he saw. True to Khadagan's claim, he spotted Kurgans, Tong, and many other northmen tribes there. That wasn't really the worst part though.
He also saw chaos dwarves…and lot of them too. The fortress had massive plumes of smoke coming out of it and he could see dozens of warmachines being rolled out into the camps as well as hundreds of wild monsters. These included chimaeras, manticores, giants, and especially war mammoths.
The barbarians seemed fascinated by the sight of Malekith riding in alongside the Hung marauders as they pushed deep into the massive encampment and closer to the dark fortress.
'I need to steal a manticore…there's no way I could fight my way out of here on the ground,' Malekith thought urgently as he took in the sights.
There were easily twenty to thirty thousand humans here and several thousand chaos dwarves. While he didn't particularly care about Cathay, Malekith doubted they would be prepared to deal with an invasion of this scale. Hell, he doubted Naggaroth itself could repel an attack this large from the north.
'Stay calm, Malekith…' the elf soothed his inner stress as the warband rode up to base of the dark fortress where more prestigious looking tents were set up.
"Khadagan, you're back? I take it your scouting went well…who's that?" a burly and slightly scary looking marauder with long black hair and small eyes asked as he walked up to the horsemen. He was flanked by what appeared to be several other chieftains. Based on their vastly differing appearances, Malekith guessed they were probably Kurgan and Tong chieftains as well. The Tong ones were distinguishably mutated and unnerving. Several massive warriors of chaos were standing further back as well.
"Shan Yu," Khadagan bowed his head briefly before dismounting, "we encountered this dark elf out near the edge of the Red Wastes and the Bone Mountains. He says he's taking a cursed girl to Cathay to unleash a plague on their Great Bastion. He says someone named Morathi sent him. We were going to kill him, but he's very powerful. He agreed to meet with the warhost and explain his intentions to us. My shamans assure me that he's an ally."
Shan Yu cocked his head curiously, "A dark elf is helping us? Do you know anything about this, Lord Lothar?"
By this point, all of the Hung marauders were off their horses including Malekith himself. He made sure not to get too far away from it and patiently kept his cool as he worked through several escape scenarios in his head.
A massive and horned chaos warrior without a helmet stepped forward. He was actually taller than Malekith himself, which was very rare to see from a human. Granted chaos warriors were barely human anymore. The man had large unaesthetic horns and looked heavily corrupted by chaos. He was bald, he had glowing eyes, and wore he very heavy looking black armour.
The chaos lord looked at Malekith briefly before turning to Khadagan, "Do you have any idea who this elf is you fool? The fact that he didn't kill you is truly astonishing to me. He's certainly here to help us if he spared your lives."
"What do you mean, Lord Lothar?" Khadagan asked fearfully as the towering human stomped closer. His entourage of chieftains and chaos warriors followed. There was even a chaos dwarf lord there.
"He said his name was Malekith and that he worked for Morathi," Yesui added as she bowed her head low to the horned chaos lord.
"Malekith is the Witch King of Naggaroth…the King of the dark elves. The lady Morathi is his mother. He is a very ancient, powerful, and hateful being. It's a wonder he didn't kill you. I hear he's quite formidable and merciless," Lothar explained with a scoff as he turned his evil gaze upon Malekith.
The Hung marauders looked petrified by this information as they backed away fearfully and turned to look at him in disbelief.
"Our weapons couldn't even pierce his armour…and he's a sorcerer." Khadagan stated.
Lothar nodded, "Yes…the Witch King wears armour almost as strong as the Warriors of Chaos. I hear his only real weakness is the Flames of Asuryan."
"You're quite well informed for a Northman," Malekith noted.
Lothar nodded, "Indeed…though I was born a Khazag, I have gained much knowledge from the mighty Raven God and his apostles of change. Knowledge is power and I firmly believe in knowing my potential allies and enemies."
"W-w-wait…he's the leader of the dark elves?! He said he was working for Morathi!" Subetei exclaimed.
Lothar stomped over towards the elf and met his glowing emerald gaze, "I'd also like to know what the Witch King is doing out here all by himself. I heard that you had died attacking Ulthuan."
"You should check your sources again. Is that what they're saying out in the world? Clearly, I'm not dead," the witch king replied unfazed.
Lothar grinned malevolently as he nodded his head and began to pace around the elf, "You are quite well known to the warriors of chaos. We aided you in that invasion as I recall. Are we allies then, King of Naggaroth? I know full well that you are no friend of the weak men to the south. The fact that you would risk coming here to our horde leads me to believe that you seek to join forces?"
Every surrounding onlooker was practically holding their breath in anticipation to see what would happen next. Based on the skittish way the humans would wince when Lothar got near them, it was quite clear that this man was one of the primary leaders of the invasion army primed to attack Cathay.
"If such a thing exists among your kind, then I would say yes. That's why these Hung marauders are still alive. I had heard about a gathering out here, but I spared these people when I found out that they were part of it. Morathi sent messengers out here, but they didn't make it. I came personally to deliver this girl to the Bastion, but all of my escort died to humans which is why I've been attacking them," Malekith lied.
"I see…what is your interest in breaking through the bastion? Can't your kind raid their eastern shores?" Lothar asked seriously.
A normal person would be pissing their pants at the intensity this chaos lord stared, but Malekith was not a normal person.
"There is something I want in Wei-Jin…and the best way to get there is through the Bastion. I had also heard that your people were preparing to attack it from my mother. She asked if I would go deliver this cursed girl to the bastion. My people are also preparing an invasion on the eastern shores right now. They will meet me by the time I reach Wei-Jin. Consider it a blessing that I'm about to unleash a plague on their little wall. I came this way personally, because only I can keep the curse contained on the girl." Malekith made up an elaborate cover story on the spot.
"There's been no sign of you for nearly two hundred years…I find that unusual," Lothar noted.
'So, I was in there for nearly two centuries?!' Malekith thought angrily.
"I didn't die at Finuval Plain. I escaped to the Realms of Chaos and made my way back to Naggaroth through the northern polar gate a few decades ago. Most of my people still think I'm dead, as do the Asur…I'm using it to my advantage," Malekith kept his elaborate lie going.
Lothar tilted his head curiously, "That makes sense to me. What are you after in Wei-Jin though?"
"The dragons of Cathay have a powerful artefact that can unbind the vortex if used correctly. Acquiring it is my new priority. I wish to see Ulthuan destroyed and the Asur eradicated once and for all. Let's just say Slaanesh promised me something better than Ulthuan," he continued.
"Ahahaha! So, you're a champion of Loesh now? Well then, I'd say we're definitely on the same side, Witch King. If you want to help us destroy Cathay, then I'll gladly welcome your aid," Lothar finally seemed convinced.
Malekith was slightly surprised how well his lie worked as the humans all seemed to ease up and relax a bit. Lothar gestured for Malekith to follow him, "Come, we were just discussing our attack plan. It's quite convenient that you seek to reach Wei-Jin. We were actually going to attack Turtle Gate, the furthest one to the east, and closest to the capital. Their arrogant storm dragon neglects that gate the most. The majority of her forces are at Snake Gate and Dragon Gate closer to Nan Gau. We've had Kurgan warbands show themselves in masse over there…so they've been garrisoning the west heavily as a result. They'll never see us coming. Our sorcerers are also working day and night to cloud any prescience. I'm guessing that's probably why your people couldn't send any magical messages to us."
"That would explain a lot," Malekith nodded.
"We should rework our strategy now that we have this plague of yours to consider. How long will it take to start working?"
"A day at the most…it's rather potent from what Morathi tells me," Malekith answered.
Lothar nodded, "Good…that will keep us from delaying. How do you plan on getting this girl inside though? Cathayans attack everyone who comes from the north, and I hear they hate your kind as much as they hate us."
"I was going to sneak close and drop her outside of their walls. Knowing how soft-hearted humans are, they wouldn't be able to help themselves and try to rescue this defenseless damsel. I'd then break the hex on her once she was inside. It'll cause her to wake up and unleash a curse on the inhabitants within the gate. Initially, I planned on sneaking through once they were all dead, but having your help would certainly expedite my mission. Your aid will also be useful in dealing with the dragons," the elf lied.
Lothar nodded with approval, "Yes, that's a good idea. Even if it just takes out half of them, they won't have the manpower to operate all of their rocket towers or cover every entrance. We can then send in the chaos dwarf warmachines to breach the gate while they're weakened."
"How did you convince this many chaos dwarves to help you?" Malekith asked.
The chaos dwarf lord standing there then spoke up in his own language, "Lord Lothar has promised us the resources and laborers in Cathay to fund our new drill. He has also promised us Nan Gau, the city of smoke, and all the raw materials we want."
"Save some of those slaves for my people. You can have the west, we want the east," Malekith pretended to hardball the dwarf.
The chaos dwarf lord looked a bit surprised that Malekith could speak Zharrilid but grinned, "You can have the shores, but we get the rest. Although, I'm certain the Lords of Zharr Naggrund would be interested in trade dealings with Naggaroth."
"I might be willing to trade you slaves in exchange for guns and hellcannons then. They're rather potent against asur walls and I've always thought our black arks could use something more powerful to destroy dragonships," Malekith feigned a deal.
The chaos dwarf started to laugh as he smiled with amusement, "An elf wanting guns and cannons?! Hahaha, I never thought I'd see the day. I'll send word to Zharr Naggrund. I'm certain the Tower of Zharr would gladly trade with the dark elves. Your people have a skill for acquiring laborers and I hear you're quite rich in resources as well."
"That's not all we promised the Dawi Zharr," Lothar interjected with a laugh, "Our leader, Ashenwing, also informed them that there is an untapped gromril mine deep beneath Nan Gau. Dwarves can't resist the allure of a virgin mine."
"What's the purpose of this drill they're making?" Malekith asked.
"It will breach the Realm of Hashut," the chaos dwarf answered.
'Add that to the growing list of things I have to deal with…' Malekith groaned mentally at this terrible news.
Malekith nodded understandingly, "Alright, so how do you want to proceed now that I'm involved? All I want is the artefact in Wei-Jin. My people will probably just want slaves and plunder. We'll work out a trade deal with the chaos dwarves. Is there anything you want for helping me, Lord Lothar?"
"Having the dark elves help us destroy Cathay is more than enough to satisfy the dark gods. I think it would be best if we sent you with a vanguard to unleash this plague at Turtle Gate. I'll have the horsemasters gather around dragon gate and rush for turtle gate before the Cathayans can mobilize in time. The Chaos dwarves have their own plans on actually breaking through wall itself though. They have dreadquake mortars, ironbreakers, and hellcannons to create breaches. We won't be able to count on that being enough to deter the ones at the High Wall from mobilizing a defense long enough for the other gates or Wei-Jin to send help. For that I have dozens of war mammoths, giants, K'daii fireborn, and cavalry to fight them through the breach. Meanwhile we'll have the manticores and Lord Ashenwing to take down their rocket towers. Once we have a breach, I plan on sending all the marauders I can in to start raiding and sacking the Northern Provinces and dividing their forces. If they can somehow survive all of that, which I doubt they can, they'll also have to defend a two-sided assault on the capital from our people and your people. As for the dragon emperor himself…Ashenwing told me that the gods would deal with him personally," Lothar explained.
"Ashenwing is the official leader of this attack then? Is he a lord of change?" Malekith asked.
Lothar nodded his head, "Yes, a very powerful and wrathful one too. He's leading the assault along with myself and everyone here. Would you like to meet him? It can be a bit frightening for most mortals to see a lord of change in person."
"I've seen a lord of change before. I even met Kairos Fateweaver in the Realms of Chaos. The two-headed one. He helped me in there and we're actually allies," Malekith lied again.
Lothar's eyes widened in disbelief, "You've met the sacred oracle of fate?!"
"I've met many daemons in my life," Malekith shrugged nonchalantly.
"He must have known you would come to help us then. The oracle sees all things," Lothar spoke somewhat mystically.
"Indeed, he does…" a daemonic voice echoed around them.
Malekith felt his heart skip a beat as a massive winged avian monster landed nearby. Lothar immediately bowed his head to the lord of change as the creature walked up to the group and looked down at them.
'This is NOT good…I planned on making a run for that manticore the moment they turned around. I shouldn't have been too greedy and ran when I had the chance,' Malekith thought dreadfully.
The fact that a lord of change was in front of him wasn't the worst part of this situation. He recognized this lord of change…it was the exact same one that he saw in the Palace of Slaanesh. How it got here was a mystery to him, but that boded extremely poorly for his escape.
"Ah…Malekith, we meet again, just as I said we would," the lord of change spoke eerily.
"So, you're called Ashenwing?" Malekith didn't know what to do except ask the daemon a question.
"You've met him before, Lord Ashenwing?" Lothar seemed confused.
The greater daemon nodded its avian head, "Yes…Malekith freed me from my prison inside the Realms of Chaos. I told you that keeping that girl around would end poorly for you, Malekith. It seems you've played right into Fateweaver's hand. Exactly as planned."
"What are you saying Lord Ashenwing? He's promised to aid us in the attack," Lothar said confused.
Realizing that he was in way over his head now, Malekith immediately ripped Destroyer off his waist and cut down three of the marauder chieftains in the blink of an eye. Before the humans even knew what was happening, the elf leapt onto the horse that Shen Zoo was on and kicked it into running.
"A clever deception, Malekith…Tzeentch will be most impressed," Ashenwing's voice amplified loudly throughout the camp.
"HE WAS LYING! AFTER HIM! KILL THE ELF!" Lothar shouted at the top of his lungs. It didn't take long for every surrounding northmen or chaos dwarf to pursue Malekith. He weaved and ducked from gunfire, arrows, javelins, and ground troops as he bolted as fast as the horse could carry him for a nearby monster pen.
Without breaking his poise, Malekith immediately cut off the chains on a manticore and grabbed ahold of its mane to jump on its back. He held onto the unconscious Shen Zoo as tightly as possible while the monster bucked and roared in defiance.
Putting his sword away, Malekith hexed the creature to soothe its fury and shouted at the creature in black speech to move. To his relief, the manticore obeyed as it took to the skies. This one had a saddle on it which implied one of the chaos lords or sorcerers was probably its rider.
Hundreds of arrows, spells, and gunshots lit up the sky as they tried to shoot Malekith down, but he countered them with a magical barrier as the manticore took off at high speed. Remembering the way, he came to get to this place, Malekith ordered the creature to fly southeast.
Just when he thought he was home free, blue firebolts began to swirl and home in on him from the air. Malekith braced another barrier to block the magical missiles and saw that Ashenwing was now flying after him at high speed.
"I warned you that she would be your doom, Malekith!" Ashenwing cawed as he closed in.
"Your moronic followers will be your doom! They were fools to tell me their plan! Let's see how well your invasion goes after I warn Cathay!" Malekith shouted back.
"They didn't tell you EVERYTHING we had planned! Turtle Gate will fall regardless of whether they know or not!" Ashenwing screeched.
"You told them I freed you?! That was a lie!" Malekith shouted back as he countered another blue fire spell with black lightning.
"Was it? I shall earn Tzeentch's favor for laying waste to the Great Bastion of Cathay! The oracle has told me so! He also sent you here to deliver the puzzle box to me!" Ashenwing howled.
"He doesn't even know that I have it!" Malekith shouted back.
"Are you so sure about that?! He wanted to separate you from the skink, and he wanted me to recover it for him!" the daemon countered as it ignited the skies in front of Malekith with streaks of magical fire and explosions.
Malekith was forced to dive low on the manticore to avoid it and almost dropped Shen Zoo. It was nearly impossible to stay stable on the manticore, hold onto the girl, and cast spells against Ashenwing all at the same time.
The daemon swooped into a low dive and was right behind him in pursuit. Thinking fast, Malekith pulled up and managed to slash the daemon's neck in an impressive quickdraw aerial maneuver.
The lord of change hissed and gurgled as it began to writhe erratically in the skies and grab its neck. As it began to heal itself, Malekith focused on trying to unleash the flames of Asuryan in a jet stream against the daemon.
His effort paid off as a flamethrower of white flames erupted from his hand and engulfed the daemon. Ashenwing let out a deafening caw of agony as it completely caught on fire.
The daemon's body began to disintegrate moments later, but oddly enough, the creature was able to stop the burning. Malekith didn't stick around to wait for the daemon's recovery as he kicked the manticore to go flying as fast as it could again.
Glancing back every few seconds, he could see the daemon flapping its wings but not following him any longer.
"A shame you couldn't learn the whole plan…Turtle Gate will fall regardless of what you tell them, and Naggaroth will fall next! The oracle has foreseen your demise and my return to glory!" Ashenwing's voice projected loudly throughout the skies as the daemon gave up its pursuit.
Malekith let out a breath of relief as he turned forward again, 'Maybe I'm lucky after all…I don't know how I got out of that alive. With an army like that, they're sure to break through the Bastion even if I warn the humans ahead of time. What should I do now? Shen Zoo still won't wake up. Maybe her sister can help me. What was her name again, Miao Ying? Gods…those chaos marauders are going to be extremely angry when they see me again. A shame I didn't have time to kill their whole war council. At least I took out a few of their chieftains before I got out of there. After this, I can forget about a return trip across the chaos wastes…and with Shen Zoo unconscious, I doubt Cathay is going to just let me sail home. Ughh…I'll have to figure that out later. I can't let that army breach Cathay. If they break through here, then Naggaroth is next.'
The Next Day
Malekith had flown nonstop without even humoring the idea of taking a rest as he desperately rushed southeast to find the Great Bastion. He had flown all day and night and was determined not to stop until he got to the bastion. His manticore had clearly been getting exhausted as it flew erratically, but Malekith kept a steady influx of painful hexes to keep it awake and energized.
After passing over what seemed to be a desert like wasteland, he eventually saw it…and to his absolute awe, the Bastion was a lot larger and more formidable looking than he ever could have imagined. Even from miles away, he found its sheer scale to be mind-blowing. He had no idea that humans could build such things and he found its architecture to be equally as impressive as some of the dwarven strongholds he saw in the dawi's golden age. No…it even rivaled the greatest of elven structures. He was truly impressed and only now could he understand why the chaos forces needed such a large army to break this wall.
The Bastion was well over a thousand feet high, and it stretched from east to west as far as the horizon went. A colossal outer settlement with several layers of smaller walls was built into the structure from what he could see, and a gate beyond imagining stood behind it. The gate had the symbol of a turtle and lion like creature on its design which implied that this was indeed Turtle Gate. From what he remembered, there were two others like this one, the Snake Gate and the Dragon Gate which were likely the only three entrances through the colossal megastructure.
As he got closer, Malekith could see thousands upon thousands of humans scurrying around the gate and the higher walls behind it. From his distance, it reminded him of a hyperactive anthill. Deciding to fly lower so he wouldn't cause alarm, Malekith ordered his manticore to land a safe distance away. He then paused as the manticore took the opportunity to lie down for a quick rest.
'Now…how am I going to get close without getting killed?' he thought urgently as he pondered various ways to approach the gate.
'It might frighten them if I show up with my helmet on. They could mistake me for a chaos warrior like those Hung originally did. Humans instinctively recognize elf ears…but Cathayans hate dark elves though,' Malekith thought as he removed his helmet and secured it to his side.
At the very least, he would seem less menacing if the humans could see his face.
After a wakeup kick, he gestured for the manticore to walk towards the gate as he kept thinking of ideas, 'They won't shoot me if they see me carrying one of their people. Having her on my back or shoulder isn't the best idea either. They need to see her clearly…I suppose I can carry her in my arms when I get close. That would present me in a vulnerable manner. I should definitely get off the manticore as well, so I don't look like I'm trying to attack. Worst case scenario, I can jump back on the manticore and fly away.'
The manticore walked nervously as Malekith got closer and closer to the bastion. He then heard a horn sound, gong chimes, and a faint shouting in the distance. They had clearly spotted him now. Dismounting the manticore, Malekith looked at it and spoke in black speech, "Follow me and don't attack anyone."
The creature obeyed him as Malekith picked Shen Zoo up bridal style and began to walk closer to the outer wall of the Turtle Gate. The humans had mobilized in mass as he walked calmly and closer. He could see strange pegasus like creatures with draconic features swooping down to get a better look at him and countless humans lining the wall with guns and crossbows pointed his way.
"HALT!" he heard one of the humans shout from the wall in Cathan, "you approach Turtle Gate! State your intentions outsider!"
"I'm not here to fight! I have one of your people with me! I'm here to talk." Malekith immediately responded in Cathan as he stopped walking.
The manticore behind him was starting to get anxious as it paced fearfully at the swarm of longma riders landing all around them.
On one of the pegasus like creatures, Malekith spotted a regally dressed and armoured woman. She was wearing a crazy looking helmet and had a half-mask over her upper face, "A dark elf?! Don't move elf or my men will open fire!"
"I have princess Shen Zoo with me…I don't intend on attacking you," Malekith responded calmly as he gestured to the woman in his arms.
A chorus of gasps erupted amongst the longma riders and even the Cathayans lining the walls who heard him. The regal woman immediately dismounted her longma as she walked closer towards Malekith with a cautious stare.
"You have…Shen Zoo?! The Light Dragon?!" she asked disbelievingly.
Malekith nodded, "Yes…"
If it weren't for the chaos army he knew was coming, Malekith would have gladly handed her over immediately and flew off before the humans could do anything. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that now. Shen Zoo was his leverage, and he wasn't going to hand her over until he explained the situation and he was sure that they wouldn't try to kill him.
"You…found her?! Where?! The light dragon has been missing for centuries!" the woman gawked before scowling with suspicion.
Malekith sighed, "Look…I know how this looks, but I don't mean you any harm. I know your people hate my kind, but Shen Zoo saved my life. I'm repaying the favor. I think it's best that she explains how we met whenever she wakes up. Is her sister here…Miao Ying? I have important information for her."
The woman seemed rightly suspicious of Malekith as she examined him and the manticore behind him, "What's a dark elf doing north of the Great Bastion?"
"I just escaped the Realms of Chaos with Shen Zoo. I was going to go back to Naggaroth, but she fell unconscious when we got to the north pole. I decided to bring her here instead of back to Naggaroth since she wouldn't wake up. It was a risk I was willing to take." Malekith told her the truth.
The woman shook her head, "What?! You're lying! You were in the realms of chaos?! Are you with them?!"
"No…I'm not. Druchii actually hate northmen just as much as your people do. We despise the Hung more than any others," Malekith stated rationally.
"Then how do you have a manticore with a saddle on it?! I've only ever seen chaos warriors ride those!" the woman demanded.
Malekith sighed, "Druchii can as well, but this one I stole it from a chaos warband northwest of here. Hung Marauders took me there when they found me crossing the Eastern Steppes. I found out that they're planning a massive attack on your Great Bastion. I think Miao Ying will probably want to hear what I have to say about it. All of their tribes have united and they're even working with chaos dwarves and daemons of Tzeentch…or Chi'an Chi as your people call him. They're coming for Turtle Gate."
This news caused a wave of horror to sweep through the ranks as the humans began to gossip with one another in disbelief.
One man quickly shook his head, "You're saying they're going to attack Turtle Gate? That's impossible though. Our scouts saw kurgan warbands amassing around Snake Gate."
"It's a ruse, human…they have twenty thousand or more warriors and several thousand chaos dwarves gathered at some dark fortress northwest of here. I overheard their plans. The Snake Gate sightings are a diversion to distract the Storm Dragon and draw your defenders to the west. The real attack is coming to Turtle Gate…and they'll be here in a few days I'd wager," Malekith elaborated.
"That's impossible…our scouts would have noticed a gathering like that!" the man shook his head.
"Their sorcerers and the lord of change leading them have shrouded their real army from prescience and kept them concealed. I swear to you that they are coming. Where's Miao Ying at? She needs to know about this," Malekith looked around.
"Who are you to demand an audience with the Storm Dragon, elf?! Why should we trust you?! The word of a dark elf means nothing! This could also be some trick to help the barbarians divide our forces!" the woman spat.
"I'm the Witch King…I rule Naggaroth and I certainly have the status and authority to speak to your leaders. If you listen to me, I'll put an end to the raids on eastern Cathay. Killing me won't make a difference since my people already think I'm dead. Don't bother trying to ransom me either…they won't believe you. I didn't have to come here. Do you really think I risked coming all this way alone to try and deceive you?" Malekith admitted after a brief and awkward silence.
He had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but the Cathayans were less likely to kill him if they knew he was a king. They would save him for their leaders to deal with.
"T-the Witch King?!" the prestigious woman gawked in shock.
"Yes…I rule all the dark elves and I have the authority to stop them from raiding your shores. Shen Zoo convinced me to help your people. Be grateful that she did, or I wouldn't be here to warn you about what's coming," Malekith nodded.
The woman seemed stunned by this turn of events as she looked Malekith up and down, "So assuming you're telling the truth, why were you in the Realms of Chaos?"
"It's a long story…but I was sucked through a portal. While I was in that accursed place, Shen Zoo saved my life. She said she was looking for her brother Yien Li. Listen…I'm not making any ridiculous demands here. It's not like I'm asking to meet your Emperor or telling you to do anything that isn't already a part of your duties here. I just think you should send word to the Storm Dragon that I'm here on behalf of her sister and that I will help her fight this invasion army if she accepts," Malekith sighed.
He obviously embellished his story a bit so that he looked less opportunistic to the Cathayans, but in a strange roundabout way, Shen Zoo did sort of save his life. He didn't feel it was necessary to mention that he saved her multiple times as it would make both Shen Zoo and him look bad.
"Is that really princess Shen Zoo? If it is, then the storm dragon will want to hear about this, Shugengan. Dark elf or not…if he really came here to help us, then maybe we should send word to her? I mean, we don't have the authority to execute a foreign king without royal permission." a nearby longma rider officer spoke to the woman.
The shugengan sighed, "Go immediately…send word to the Storm Dragon that we need reinforcements at Turtle Gate and that…a dark elf claiming to be the Witch King says he brought the light dragon here."
The longma officer nodded before taking off to the skies along with a large escort of other riders. As he departed, the shugengan turned towards Malekith cautiously, "Why have you done this? Your kind is a known enemy of Cathay. What do you hope to gain by helping us?"
"I didn't do it for you or Cathay…I did it for Shen Zoo. Also, I've had a bit of a revelation ever since my near-death experience in the Realms of Chaos. All this time, the druchii have been attacking Asur and humans. We shouldn't fight each other when there's a very real and powerful common enemy shared between us all. Regardless of whether you accept my aid or not, I will stop the raids on Cathay…but I need to get home first. I can understand your hesitation in trusting me. By all means, I'll gladly abide by your terms until this attack is dealt with. You can put me in a cell if that's what it takes, but I need to speak to the Storm Dragon," Malekith sighed.
The shugengan woman looked like she was very hesitant to accept. No doubt it was the crushing weight of possibly being wrong about making a decision this important.
"I want to believe you elf…I do, but this is unprecedented. You're asking me to jeopardize the lives of my men. Their lives matter to me…yours does not. How can you assure me that I can trust you within these walls? If I'm wrong about it, I'll be shamed and executed." the shugengan asked.
"You already sent word to Miao Ying, so clearly you do believe me enough to take this seriously," Malekith countered.
The shugengan scowled at him, "A sign of trust then…hand over Shen Zoo."
'This is not going to end well…' Malekith thought as a nearby longma rider walked up to him skittishly and reached for the girl in his arms.
Malekith reluctantly handed her over and made no sudden moves as he stepped back and looked at the Shugengan.
"Toss your weapons on the ground now…" she commanded.
Malekith did as she instructed and threw them a decent distance away. Right before one of the Cathayans could pick them up, he spoke calmly, "Careful touching the black one. The blade can hex people."
"Are you willing to be cuffed? I can't rightly allow you to wander freely within the Bastion without royal permission." the shugengan asked.
Malekith nodded, "For now. Go ahead…"
He remained completely motionless as several of the longma riders came up with shackles and chains to chain his arms and legs. The fact that they were carrying them already seemed to imply that they wanted to take him alive from the beginning.
'Gods this is ridiculous…it would sure save me a lot of trouble if Shen Zoo would wake up,' Malekith thought annoyed.
"Bring him inside…I want a full detail watching him around the hour. Take him to the plaza and chain him to the gallows. I'll leave his fate in the Storm Dragon's hands," the shugengan ordered.
"What do we do about the manticore?" a man asked timidly as he saw the creature pacing around with anxious dread.
"Send it away…if the elf really is here to help us, then he won't need it anymore. Is that fine with you, elf?" the shugengan asked.
"Fly away…I release you for now. Come back in a few days," Malekith spoke to the creature.
His use of black speech intimidated a few of the Cathayans, but the manticore immediately took off upon hearing Malekith's command.
"It's rather suspicious that you can speak that foul tongue and order a monster like that around." the shugengan shook her head as she followed Malekith inside the opening gates.
"I speak almost every relevant language in the world and commanding a manticore is a lot easier than a…" Malekith stopped himself before he could say dragon and said something else, "hydra or helldrake."
"I'm honestly shocked that a dark elf would agree to be put in chains. I find it rather ironic," the shugengan noted.
Malekith sighed, "And here Shen Zoo assured me that I wouldn't be imprisoned or executed if I came here…"
"I will confirm if she really is Shen Zoo. I will leave your fate in the hands of the Storm Dragon. If what you say is true, then we need to prepare for an attack on Turtle Gate," the woman explained.
'Wait…so they're going to just leave me chained up until her sister gets here? If she's on the other end of the Great Bastion, that could be days! That army will be here by then!' Malekith thought annoyed.
The next day
For the past day, Malekith sat in some courtyard next to gallows as he watched humans come and go. Many were spooked by the sight of him and would scurry away in fear if he looked in their direction. Countless more came by to insult or denounce him in some self-righteous way. He had not been given any food or water and had been under constant watch by a ridiculous number of soldiers.
He could see some humans with long guns pointed at him from various buildings along with bored looking crossbowmen. No less than two dozen jade armoured warriors with halberds had also been watching him like hawks on his flanks.
He was already regretting his decision to come here as one man even threw something at him and vented about divine justice and karma. Malekith showed no reaction to their antics as he stared off in distant thought. He could easily break these chains and fight his way out of here if he had to, but that would cause an incident. He had to trust that somehow things would work out if he endured this humiliating nonsense. As much as it pained his elvish pride to subject himself to this humility, Malekith forced himself to stay stoic. He had to do the right thing for once and he had to be diplomatically savvy. He couldn't help but wonder what his father would do in a situation like this.
A part of him almost felt like he deserved the self-righteous hate the various humans showed…that this was some kind of ironic punishment for his decision to allow slavery all those millennia prior. The old Malekith would have mercilessly slaughtered his way out of this place and ripped the souls out of any these pitiful humans that dared to throw things at him.
The new him did not though. He felt truly humbled now…this is what his kingship was to the world. This is how he would be remembered, and no amount of good deeds would ever change that. If this was how the humans acted, then he couldn't even imagine the self-righteous vindication the Asur would revel in at seeing the great Witch King chained up and powerless. He imagined their faces laughing at him and thought about how fruitless his efforts would probably be in changing the druchii. The only thing that kept him from despair was the thought of Oxyotl and the Puzzle Box of Xholankha.
The humans had fortunately not taken it or his crown which were both still strapped to his waist. He was grateful for that at least. Turning his gaze to the horizon, Malekith watched the sun rising and felt a wave of peace fill his mind.
He smiled almost subconsciously at the sight of the sun creeping up to kiss the skies. True to his word, he would never take it for granted again and Malekith stared at it tranquilly as he ignored all the humans around him.
'It's not about me…or the elves…or anyone else's pride. It's about the world and the dreams of better days. A new dawn and an age of peace. That's not so bad I suppose. It's worth dying for…so that others may live huh? Alandrian always did have a way with words. It's what father would have done. I miss him. I miss all of them. Alandrian was right. Allisara was right. Snorri was right. Everyone was right except for mother and except for me.' Malekith reflected deeply as he enjoyed the sunrise.
"May I please speak to him?" he heard someone draw him from his inner thoughts.
Malekith glanced up groggily and saw a human woman approach. This one didn't seem afraid of him or spiteful. She seemed genuinely curious and non-hostile much to his confusion.
The nearby guards watching Malekith alertly intercepted the woman as she came up. They hadn't stopped most of the humans from trying to say something to Malekith, but they quickly stopped her, "What is your intention, alchemist?"
"I just thought he might want some food and water. He's been chained out here for over a day. Has anyone fed him? We don't want him dying," she said empathetically.
"Lady Sung Lian has express orders that no one is to get near the prisoner. Step back, sorceress," a jade warrior commanded.
Malekith decided to ignore this interaction as he looked back at the sunrise and pretended not to be here, 'I can't believe mother told those chaos tribes that she was the queen of the druchii…I wonder how I should deal with mother when I get home? She's too powerful and influential to outright declare war on. I'll need to publicly expose her lies and make an example out of her sycophants first. I'll have to tear down her entire powerbase quickly and quietly before publicly denouncing her in front of everyone important.'
"He's been nothing but cooperative the entire time. We should at least feed him. How do you think the dark elves are going to react when they hear we treated their king like this?" the alchemist protested.
One of the jade warriors shook his head, "Orders are orders Xu Feng…besides, dark elves are evil and deserve no hospitality from Cathay."
Malekith continued to ignore them as he kept pondering his future plans, 'Sicking Hellebron on mother would be a good idea if it wasn't for the fact that the Cult of Khaine is going to declare war on me the moment I ban death night and start enforcing my new changes. I'll need to amass power before I make any immediate changes. That way I can quickly crush any rebellions.'
"It's just unnecessarily cruel. He said he came here to help us. Have you ever heard of a dark elf wanting to help Cathay before? This could anger the Light Dragon when she wakes up. He brought her all the way here," Xu Feng protested again.
"You don't find that suspicious at all? I mean if this is really the dark elf king, I highly doubt he would allow himself to be captured. I've heard crazy stories about the dark elves. Their king is some kind of immortal and insane demigod. This elf doesn't seem insane to me…but he's definitely up to something. I doubt he's actually their king," the jade warrior shook his head.
'I think the smartest thing to do first is to seize all of the black arks I can. I have to either force Lokhir's loyalty or kill him. He has the reputation to incite rebellion within the fleet against me. After that I need to take over the Sorceress covens…but how to I wrest them from mother? There were a few of her followers that tried to kill her. I should go rescue them from Ghrond. Furion would certainly help me if I asked him to, but what about Anethra? Is she loyal to mother or to me? I actually don't know. The dark convent will undoubtedly be upset when I remove the ban on male sorcerers. I'll have to proceed carefully once I get to that stage,' Malekith continued to think.
"Please…can I at least ask him a few questions then?" the alchemist pleaded.
The jade warriors exchanged a few looks with one another before nodding in agreement, "Make it quick, sorceress. Though the elf hasn't spoken the entire time to anyone, so good luck."
To Malekith's annoyance, the human started to wave her hand in front of his face as she spoke to him, "Hello, may I please speak with you, dark elf?"
He glanced at her carelessly and said nothing. Malekith expected this to be another self-righteous monologue about the glory of Cathay or some other nonsense. To his surprise, the woman asked him an innocent question, "How old are you?"
Malekith stared at her blankly before looking away again, 'I know Kouran and Rakarth are loyal to me. I can probably easily secure the allegiance of all the autarii clans as well if I uplift their status and promote their leaders. I think once I gather all my true loyalists and the majority of our black arks, I should immediately take out Ghrond and Har Ganeth. I'm going to have to kill Hellebron…there's no other way. I have to completely destroy all the cults and rebuild them in a more sensible way. I'll have to kill Tullaris Dreadbringer as well. I wonder if he's a better warrior than I am? I guess I'll find out…'
"My name is Xu Feng. I am a scholar and an alchemist from Shang Yang. Could you please answer some of my questions? I've always had a fascination with elves, and I heard the rumors say you're the dark elf king? Is that really true?" the annoying woman seemed undeterred by Malekith ignoring her.
He couldn't think straight with this annoying human interrupting his thoughts and finally just decided to answer her questions so she would go away, "Yes, I am Malekith the Witch King. By now I'm pushing seven millennia old,"
"So, you really are the King of the dark elves?! Amazing! Wow! What's it like living for thousands of years?!" the woman seemed giddy at his answer.
"Depressing…" was all he said in response.
She tilted her head confused, "You're depressed?"
He didn't respond to her as he looked away again waiting for this annoying human to go away.
"So, what's Naggaroth like?!" she asked with eager curiosity.
"Cold, cruel, and unforgiving…" he said without even looking at her.
The woman's childish fascination with him was starting to wear on his nerves. What exactly did this human want from him?
"Why do your people attack Cathay?" she followed up.
Malekith shrugged, "They attack everywhere…Sigmar's Empire, Estalia, Tilea, Bretonnia, Cathay, Norsca, Ind, Nippon, Ulthuan, and even Lustria. My people are slavers…and have been for millennia. I don't really know much about what they do out here because until recently I didn't even care. I am their king, but most corsair admirals do whatever they want the further away from Naggaroth they get. I've been gone for nearly two hundred years, so I haven't the slightest clue what they've been doing in my absence nor am I the one authorizing the raids currently. They usually require my permission to raid foreign empires."
"I heard some of the garrison rumors that you said you're going to end the raids on Cathay?" she followed up.
"Once I finally get out of this gods forsaken place…yes. Don't mistake it for a good deed. I'm only doing it for Shen Zoo and to spare our black arks from being destroyed in some pointless conflict with humans. There is no benefit in warring with your kingdom." he sighed.
"Whatever your intentions, that will certainly please the Sea Dragon knowing that dark elves won't attack us anymore. Why do dark elves and high elves hate each other? I've always wondered about it. I mean I've read stories from westerners, but elves don't really share their history with humans all that much. I've always wanted a firsthand account, but as you can imagine, it's rare to see elves this far east and rarer to get a chance to speak with one." she trailed off.
"It's a civil war over a succession dispute. The druchii believe I'm the rightful king of the elves and the Asur don't. It's as simple as that," he answered.
"How long have the dark elves and high elves been at war?" she wondered.
Malekith shrugged, "Well over five thousand years now. I nearly won the war several times, but after my last attempt, I don't see a reason to continue it. I'd rather my own people give up slaving and reaving and build better northern defenses like your Great Bastion here. I'll admit, it's the most impressive structure I've ever seen…and I saw the dwarven holds during their golden age. It's hard to believe humans built this wall."
"You are impressed by the Great Bastion? I never expected an elf would say something like that," Xu Feng seemed stunned by Malekith's words.
He shook his head, "Naggaroth also has northern defenses to keep out the Hung and Kurgans. We have walls built over the mountains and watchtower fortresses along the entire span of our border with the chaos wastes. When Shen Zoo described this Great Bastion to me, I didn't expect it would be this large or better than what we have."
"Dark elves have a bastion too?!" the alchemist seemed fascinated by this insight.
Malekith nodded, "Yes…but it's not all one structure like yours. We live much further north and don't have the luxury of building a structure like this with the eternal winters. With that said, I'd certainly like to attempt it. Seeing that army out there, I doubt Naggaroth could repel it from the north, and they said it was their next target once they've despoiled Cathay. I'm not really here to help you out of some sense of altruism…I'm helping my own people by keeping this army away from the Ironfrost glacier."
She nodded her head as she absorbed his words like an eager student, "So how did you survive out in the chaos wastes? You must be really powerful to have survived alone out there."
"Let me put it this way…I could break out of these chains with magic right now and leave if I wanted to. There's not a person here who could stop me," Malekith spoke darkly as he sent a menacing glare to scare the girl away.
"Y-you're a sorcerer?!" she jumped back a bit spooked.
"You truly are clueless if you didn't know that…even the Hung shamans noticed I was a sorcerer right away." Malekith shook his head carelessly.
The surrounding guards looked equally frightened by Malekith's claim as they gripped their weapons tightly and glared at him intensely. For whatever reason, none of the humans had suspected that he was a mage the entire time and now they looked extremely on edge.
For the ever-briefest moment, he thought about killing them all and pondered why he was being merciful and humble. He quickly snapped out of those dark thoughts before calming his mind and looking away again.
The guards watching him looked terrified now that they knew Malekith was a mage. One quickly ran off to likely go warn their leaders. The others all moved a bit further away but had their halberds brandished.
"S-so you can break out of those chains right now?" the alchemist Xu Feng asked for confirmation.
"Of course I can…and if I wanted to kill you all, I doubt anyone here could stop me. Stop trembling you cowards. I'm not going to attack you. I'm enduring this ridiculous nonsense to prove a point…that I'm not your enemy. The real enemy is out there beyond these walls and they're very powerful. You humans hate my kind, and I don't even blame you for that. I hate my kind too. So put those weapons down…if I intended to break out and escape, I wouldn't have told you that I could," Malekith explained logically.
The guards slightly eased up as Malekith began to stare at the ground motionless.
"What kind of magic can you use? I'm a sorceress of Chamon as the westerners call it. I've been trying to learn Aqshy, but learning multiple winds is really difficult." Xu Feng relaxed and went back to asking him questions.
"Why are you still talking to me?" Malekith sighed in annoyance.
Xu Feng frowned, "Well…I just think it's honorable that you're here and you're trying to help us. It's not every day one gets to speak to an elf and as an eager student, I would never pass up a chance to expand my knowledge and experiences. The Iron Dragon encourages us to learn more about the west and I've always been intrigued by elves. Sorry to bother you, but I just can't pass up this opportunity. Plus, it's like you said…you would kill us if you wanted to. Clearly you don't if you're subjecting yourself to being chained up and ridiculed by the garrison."
"Ughh…I know all eight winds of magic. Most of the greater elven mages do. I also know how to combine the winds into Qhaysh and Dhar," Malekith answered.
"Oh, you can use all eight winds?! Did you master them all?" the alchemist seemed amazed by this information.
Before Malekith could answer he heard a familiar voice call out his name, "Malekith?! By the emperor, why are you in chains?!"
Looking up, he was relieved to see Shen Zoo was awake and running in his direction. A large group of important looking officers including the Shugengan were following her. They all had crestfallen looks of shame and regret.
"I'm glad you're finally awake, princess. Took you long enough," Malekith acknowledged her dryly.
"You seriously carried me all the way here?! Shugengan Sung Lian said you brought me here on a manticore. Last thing I remember was us going through the portal," Shen Zoo announced.
Seeing Shen Zoo awake and confirming Malekith's words caused all of the nearby jade warriors and the alchemist to go wide-eyed with disbelief. All of them immediately bowed when it became obvious that Shen Zoo really was the light dragon.
"I guess you got your wish…I came to Cathay with you. So much for me not being imprisoned though," Malekith said dryly as he rattled his chains to show her.
Shen Zoo looked appalled by the sight of Malekith chained up at the gallows and spoke slowly, "Why did you let them chain you up?! You rescued me!"
He shook his head, "Is it really that surprising? This is why I didn't want to come here…"
"I'll handle this!" Shen Zoo said angrily as she turned to look at the Shugengan behind her, "You put him in chains and left him out here?! What's wrong with you?!"
"Princess Shen Zoo? I couldn't be certain if he was telling the truth and-" the Shugengan didn't get the chance to finish her sentence before the dragon ripped off Sung Lian's helmet and slapped her to the ground. It was odd seeing Shen Zoo act in such an aggressive and cruel way as Malekith was used to her being naïve and friendly.
"You disgrace yourself. Malekith saved my life…multiple times and he even brought me all the way home to Cathay! You have the audacity to repay someone who would do such a heroic thing like this?! Where is your honor and decency?! Do you have any idea just how stupid you are?! He was going to end the raids on Cathay…he was going to meet the royal family. I'll make sure Xen Yang hears about how you treated my rescuer! I can't believe this! All of you should be ashamed of yourselves! You dishonor the royal family!" Shen Zoo ranted on.
Seeing her get this angry on his behalf was strange to say the least. Malekith didn't know what to say as he stood up.
He quickly broke all of his chains and restraints with magic before walking past the stunned guards and speaking up, "This is unnecessary princess…we have more important issues to deal with right now."
The shugengan and the various magistrates and officers looked shocked to see Malekith easily break out of his chains.
Sung Lian gasped, "H-he's a mage?!"
"Don't you look like a fool now? Malekith is the Witch King. Of course, he's a mage! He and I fought off four lords of change together when we fled the realms of chaos including the two-headed oracle of Chi'an Chi. He's probably more powerful than me. Be grateful he didn't kill you…I wouldn't have even blamed him for it," Shen Zoo announced.
Malekith cringed slightly at her telling these simple humans such an outlandish thing. He did not want anyone to know about what he experienced in the realms of chaos. For reasons beyond his understanding though, the humans there all seemed to believe Shen Zoo without question or doubt.
"I-I…didn't know, princess…" Sung Lian stated shamefully as she stood up and bowed her head low.
"All of you will be stripped of your positions! You're relieved of your post until my sister decided what to do with you. I told Malekith a lot about the wonders of Cathay, and this was his first impression of it? Being put in chains? You should be ashamed for your lack of diplomatic tact, shugengan. He's a king and deserves more respect than what you've shown him," Shen Zoo shook her head in disgust at the woman.
"No…" Malekith spoke up calmly as tried to stop Shen Zoo from championing him as some kind of hero, "the Bastion will need her. There's a massive chaos army heading for Turtle Gate right now. Tens of thousands of marauders, thousands chaos dwarves, mammoths, giants, war machines…you name it it's coming. I told them to warn your sister, but I'm not sure when she'll get word. We need to be prepared for the attack. By my estimate, that army will be here in two days."
"What?! There's a chaos army coming?!" Shen Zoo looked shocked by the news.
Malekith nodded, "That's what I've been trying to tell them, but they put me in chains and had me sitting out by the gallows for the past day. Maybe you can talk sense into them. I saw the chaos army and their leaders. There's a chaos lord named Lothar leading a united horde of Hung, Kurgans, and Tong. There's also a lord of change leading them called Ashenwing. He's the same one you and I saw when we first met. He spoke of my doom for helping you and seems assured that the Bastion will be breached."
"You're serious?! Where's Miao Ying at?! Answer me!" Shen Zoo shouted at Sung Lian.
"Princess, the storm dragon is at Snake Gate. There was word of a massive Kurgan horde being spotted over there and most of the west side has been heavily garrisoned. K-king Malekith said it was all a ruse and that they're actually coming here. I sent longma riders to Snake Gate, but that was a day ago. They won't be here for a week at least…assuming they even believe it at all. I also sent out scouts to confirm the elf's claim. They should be back tonight," Sung Lian answered timidly.
"Malekith says I should let you keep your position…you owe him thanks and an apology. Maybe I'll overlook your shameful actions if you redeem yourself and do your duty for Cathay," Shen Zoo said sternly as she magically lifted up the helmet and handed it to the Shugengan lady.
To say the shugengan looked emotionally wounded was an understatement. She was practically on the verge of tears but held it in as she looked down at the ground, "Forgive me, princess…I will rectify my failures and work hard for your forgiveness."
"It's not me you have to apologize to. Apologize to Malekith…" Shen Zoo said coldly as she pushed the Shungengan towards the elf.
Malekith shook his head in protest, "This isn't necessary, princess…we're wasting time. I don't care what your people think of me. I just want to make sure that this army is defeated."
"I'm sorry, King Malekith…I was just trying to do what was best for Cathay," Sung Lian apologized much to his complete and utter disbelief. She couldn't even look him in the eye and had her head held down in shame.
He couldn't remember the last time someone apologized to him that wasn't about to be executed or begging for their life. Granted, he doubted she actually cared and was only doing this because of Shen Zoo. Malekith noticed his swords on her waist and ripped both of them off without saying a word.
Without even acknowledging her apology, he walked past her and sheathed his weapons. He then spoke to Shen Zoo with a calm tone, "How long does it take to travel from Snake Gate to Turtle Gate?"
Sung Lian looked even more emotionally wounded by Malekith ignoring her and simply returned to her entourage in shame.
Shen Zoo crossed her arms, "That depends. A forced march with group troops could probably get here in a week or so if they left right now. Cavalry maybe four days. Flying would probably be two to three days. Miao Ying could easily get here in two days. The skyfleet could certainly send reinforcements in time, and longma riders could get here too. If we need to reinforce the manpower in Turtle Gate, we could also call on the local peasants to the southern villages and conscript them since it's an emergency. I think we should send word out to all the surrounding areas to send us reinforcements. They could certainly make it in time. The Bastion can outlast their siege until reinforcements arrive."
"If you saw the army I saw, you wouldn't be so confident. This is a formidable garrison, but it's not equipped for fighting what I saw. If you don't object, I'd like to make some adjustments to the defenses. Though I need a briefing on all the capabilities of this bastion first," Malekith replied.
"Find us a war room," Shen Zoo ordered the Shugengan.
Later that Day
For the rest of the day, Malekith and Shen Zoo worked with the leaders of the Turtle Gate garrison to fortify defenses. Many of the magistrates, officers, and the shugengan seemed a bit wary about telling Malekith about all the capabilities of their defenses, but they had no choice thanks to Shen Zoo's presence.
Malekith found the information quite astonishing. Turtle Gate was practically a city fortress built to withstand endless siege. It had its own water supply, endless stores of food, underground bunkers which were reinforced to keep out skaven, and many scores of artillery and ammo. He found the rocket towers built all over the outer walls and throughout strategic areas in the city to be quite interesting. It was technologically impressive and reminded him of something he'd expect to see from dwarves.
Some areas built higher up on the high wall housed many flying air balloon ships. To Malekith they seemed like a Cathayan version of dwarf thunderbarges. He learned that this was part of the skyfleet. The bigger ones were called sky junk and the smaller ones were called sky lanterns. According to Shen Zoo, the Cathayan navy had even more impressive ships than these. Each sky-junk or sky lantern had many crane gunners who fired long rifles from the air, and some could even drop explosives from over the side of these zeppelins. The sky-junk ships themselves also had a cannon on the front.
The Pegasus like creatures with dragon features were apparently called longmas and there was also a very large garrison of them of them as well in the floating rocks or high up on the wall. This aerial cavalry would certainly be useful in taking out warmachines before they could get close to the gate. Many of the remaining humans had spears, halberds, crossbows, and various types of guns.
Malekith had always considered guns crude, but he was slightly impressed by how the Cathayans built and used them. Their crossbows were also far superior to the ones he was used to seeing men of the Empire using. To his astonishment, they were repeater crossbows and weren't that different from druchii ones.
He was currently examining one of these crossbows as Shen Zoo and several other important figures were issuing out orders to the frantically busy humans near the barracks building.
'Hmm…a golden crossbow. It's a repeater too. This thing is remarkably well-made. High quality jade and steel bolt tips as well. This could puncture armour without much trouble. The double shot is just like a druchii one. The only flaw I can see in this weapon is the design of the cartridge. They have to manually load these too often, and this would certainly jam if used nonstop,' Malekith thought as he examined a celestial dragon crossbow whilst ignoring some pointless drab from the concerned leaders about which areas were the most vital to defend.
Most of the various human defenders were very wary about talking to him directly, but Malekith didn't mind. He was glad that Shen Zoo could tell them what to do and that she was taking his advice on ways to improve their defenses.
Malekith had suggested several changes that baffled the garrison leaders. To start, he suggested that they focus more of their engineers on the high wall and not the outermost gate since those rocket towers could fire for much longer without being attacked or overwhelmed. He also suggested that the elite troops wait in reserve.
"What he's asking is absurd, princess…" a magistrate stated boldly but with enough of a respectful tone to not risk Shen Zoo's wrath.
"How so?" she shot back, "Malekith says that the real dangers are going to come from the air. Holding the outer gate will only get more people killed."
"With all due respect, celestial one…" another leader who was armoured in gold spoke up, "the storm dragon's tactical policy demands that we hold the outer gate. We can't let these barbarians break into the city…it will disrupt everything. Our ammo resupply, rotation of duties, and especially our defensive advantage to clog up their forces against the wall. We can't hold them in the siege for nearly as long if they break the outer walls."
Malekith finally decided to join their conversation again and sighed, "That wall is going to fall no matter what you do. It's better to expect breaches and funnel them into the city. You can line the buildings with missile troops and set up formations at key positions to hit them on all their flanks. I already drew up the most optimal formations to use on your map. Hold your more advanced troops in reserve and put the chaff on the frontline."
The celestial dragon guard captain looked at Malekith appalled, "You're saying we should leave the outer wall's defense to the conscripted militia?! Not only are they spineless and incompetent peasants, but they'll be killed without any support. It makes no sense to keep the sky-fleet that far back either."
"I'm saying you have to do that…because it would be a waste to put your stronger forces on the front where they'd be overwhelmed by marauders. You need to keep the stronger troops in reserve for when the real army breaks through. You need to preserve your balance of power. I've fought these chaos warriors for millennia. Their tactics have barely changed. They flood the frontlines with chaff and slaves to tire out your forces and exhaust your ammo. Then they'll send in their elite troops and flyers to take down your watchtowers and artillery. You have to be especially careful about this army as well because they have a lot of artillery…which I doubt you're used to combatting from northmen. You want them to commit into the breach and send your air forces to intercept theirs before they can touch your rocket towers. Your longma riders should take down their artillery while it's happening. Having the peasants on the front is also useful because they can also move faster since they barely have any armour. Most of them can probably fall back in time and lure the invaders into these three kill zones. Get a few experts to operate your rocket towers until the bulk of enemy army gets to the walls. After that, they should fall back and fight in the streets where they'll have better cover from artillery and tactical positions to flank the invaders. It's also worth explaining to your men what their priority targets are. Archers should be hitting marauders and not heavily armoured chaos warriors or dwarves. Don't waste crossbow ammunition or bullets on marauders. The peasants and spearmen can kill them. Your gunmen and crossbows should be shooting manticores and chaos warriors since their armour is too thick for conventional weapons to deal with. You won't have the luxury of an extended siege. They have the forces to break through and you need to make sacrifices to gain the advantage. They also won't expect it," Malekith lectured.
"We'll look like cowards if we order the peasants to the front and keep all the jade warriors and celestial dragon guards in reserve. I understand your reasoning elf, but I can't ask those men to sacrifice themselves for your whims," the celestial dragon guard captain shook his head.
Malekith stared him down intensely, "They won't be alone…I'll be up on that wall with them."
"You…what?!" the captain seemed shocked by this reveal.
"You will?! That's dangerous Malekith…you said it yourself. It's probably going to fall. You're going to hold the front line?!" Shen Zoo asked.
The elf nodded, "Yes…I'll lead the ground and missile troops at the front. You should coordinate the sky fleet Shen Zoo and make sure Ashenwing can't reach the high wall. My being at the front will also distract their leaders. They will be very focused on trying to kill me."
"I'll lead the assault on the artillery with the longma riders," Sung Lian volunteered out of the blue.
A longma officer next to her quickly shook his head, "My lady, that's unnecessary. I can lead that attack. You'll be needed to lead our core troops."
"No…I'll leave that to the captain. I'm not going to sit around and wait while people are dying," Sung Lian shook her head in protest.
"Are you sure, shugengan? I assure you that I can lead that assault. The men and women of the bastion need you more than they need me," the longma officer shook his head.
Sung Lian seemed almost determined to regain her honour as she countered aggressively, "They have the princess here with them! It's my duty to defend Turtle Gate and I will!"
"So…we're committing to the elf's plan then?" the celestial dragon guard captain asked.
Shen Zoo nodded, "We are, Captain Zhu."
Captain Zhu sighed before turning his gaze to Malekith, "Don't be surprised if those peasants run away before you tell them too. I doubt they'll die for you. My men certainly won't."
"How many mages does this garrison have?" Malekith ignored the captain's comment before asking a nearby magistrate.
The older man looked a bit intimidated by Malekith directly speaking to him, but quickly answered, "I believe there's five here if we're discounting the Shugengan, the princess, and you."
"Who are they and what can they do?" Malekith asked.
"Xu Feng is an alchemist from Shang Yang. She is skilled in the art of metal magic. I'm sure you already know her. We have two water mage sisters Kang Wu and Kang Sui that are healers. Both are young women and not trained in combat. I would advise them to remain back to heal our troops. There's an astromancer named Cao Han who is skilled in martial arts and spellcraft. He usually works with the jade warrior captains on the gate and is a veteran sorcerer of Turtle Gate. The last one is a fire monk from the southern provinces named Jin Tao. He's quite skilled at fighting...though he has never been through a large siege before. They're all here…should I get them?" the magistrate asked.
"I want that astromancer, at this kill zone here, the alchemist at this one, and the fire mage at the middle one near me," Malekith ordered as he pointed on the map.
"That's dangerous to keep our mages so close to the front…" the magistrate said skittishly as he tried to avoid Malekith's intense glare.
"I see no issue with it," a man's voice sounded as he walked into the meeting unannounced.
Everyone turned to look at him disbelievingly that he would interrupt, and the magistrate was quick to address him, "Jin Tao? Have you been listening in? Where are the guards at? You're not allowed in here."
The human man looked a bit rugged by Cathayan standards as he had a slightly grown in beard and wild long hair. He was wearing some unusual combination of monk attire and armour that was very different than the rest of the Cathayans. He was also a bit tanner than the lighter skinned humans which implied he was certainly from the south.
"Guards, who authorized this man to enter?!" the magistrate protested as several dragon guards chased the fire mage into the war room.
Malekith looked at the man curiously before speaking, "So you're the fire mage?"
Jin Tao shrugged off the guards as he moved in and stood unusually close to Malekith and stared into his eyes, "That's right…Jin Tao is my name. The only person here from the southern provinces. I hear you're going to be on the front. I want to be up there too!"
"Fine, you can join me on the wall," Malekith nodded without any objections to the man's demand.
"Hahaha, and here I thought you'd tell me no. I like the way you think elf. A lot of these northern mages are spineless. The fire dragon believes all mages should be warriors too. You look like you're one…and you rescued the princess too," the man chuckled eagerly.
Sung Lian quickly voiced her displeasure, "You must leave, Jin Tao…this is unacceptable behavior."
The fire mage then turned towards Sung Lian and Shen Zoo before bowing his head with respect, "Forgive me Shugengan...princess…I just wanted to make sure I could do my part. The Fire Dragon would have my head if I made the southerners look bad."
"Too late for that…" the magistrate muttered quietly.
"I want Li Dao to know that I was here to defend his beloved sister…the great dragon of light," Jin Tao said almost reverently to the dragon.
Shen Zoo smiled at him, "I see my brother's people are still just as enthusiastic as he is. Thank you, Jin Tao…and thank you for volunteering to fight with Malekith at the front."
"You're really going to do it, huh? Help us fight some chaos army? I have to say…it's hard to believe. Though if you're fighting for Cathay, then I'll gladly fight beside you," the over eager man expressed with masculine swagger as he looked at Malekith.
Before Malekith could respond to the man, a longma rider came charging into the room, "Shugengan! You have to come quick! The scouts…they're all dead except for one! He asked to see you!"
The messenger looked awed to see Shen Zoo standing there awake and nearly fell over himself as he bowed his head.
Without a word, everyone in the war room quickly dashed outside. The longma messenger wasted no time leading them outside to a plaza area where a wounded longma rider was currently being tended to by several people. A massive crowd of onlookers were standing around in horror as they saw several soldiers trying to stop the man's bleeding.
As the leaders got outside and ran over to the man, Malekith said nothing and watched as the Shugengan and several of the officers surrounded the wounded rider and tried to speak with him.
"What happened?!" Sung Lian demanded as the man looked at her groggily and half-dying.
"S-Shugengan…the elf was right. They're coming! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" the man shouted in a panicked painful roar.
"Calm yourself! I'll heal you! Just tell us what you saw!" Sung Lian tried to calm the man down.
The onlooking crowd was murmuring like crazy, and a clear air of fear was beginning to sweep through the ranks at hearing a distinguished longma rider cry out like a madman.
"Chi'an Chi is coming! I've never seen an army that big before!" he said eerily as he writhed in the grips of the people holding onto him.
Sung Lian quickly began to start healing the man with magic as the nearby longma officer grabbed and braced the screaming man.
"Lieutenant Kongyu, calm yourself…we need to know what it is you saw?" the longma captain spoke up calmly as Sung Lian tried her best to heal the man's wounds.
"T-The elf was right! There's tens of thousands of them! Hundreds of monsters and warmachines! They're crossing the desert right now! They'll be here tomorrow night!" the man whimpered.
"Move," Malekith quickly pushed Sung Lian aside as he leaned in and grabbed ahold of the man's scarf, "you said Chi'an Chi was coming? How many daemons did you see, human?!"
The man, Kongyu, shook fearfully beneath Malekith's gaze but answered him, "You were right elf…there was over a hundred manticores and a lord of change. I saw all kinds of daemons too and chaos warriors on flying discs."
"Flying discs? Doom knights?!" Sung Lian gasped.
"We...we were spotted, and they attacked us. The greater daemon of Chi'an Chi called out to me as I fled. He wanted me to tell you something, Malekith," Kongyu shivered as he kept his gaze pinned on the elf.
"What did he want to tell me?" Malekith asked calmly.
"He…he said, 'the flames won't work this time.' He said you're going to die with us!" The man answered.
'The flames of Asuryan I assume? Great…' Malekith thought as he stared at the man unfazed.
"What spell did he hit you with? This isn't an ordinary magical wound," Malekith asked as he looked at the man's seared skin starting to turn black as purplish veins radiating up across the man's cheeks.
"We can't win without the dragons' help…there's just too many of them out there! We're going to die! Xen Yang save us!" the man cried out hopelessly.
"He's dying! Let me heal him!" Sung Lian shouted.
Malekith ignored her as he began to channel magic and harmonize the winds. He used Qhaysh to heal the man much to everyone's disbelief.
Sung Lian looked shocked by the act as Malekith's healing actually stabilized the man's injuries and caused his wounds to close. The purplish black veins began to recede as well.
Lieutenant Kongyu seemed shocked by Malekith healing him and calmed down slightly. His gaze then looked over towards Shen Zoo who was standing right next to the elf. Upon seeing her eyes, the man quickly realized that she was indeed a dragon.
He spoke disbelievingly, "Y-you really are the Light Dragon?!"
"You're lucky that spell didn't hit you in your torso, or you'd be dead," Malekith stated carelessly as he backed off.
"What was that?! I've never seen magic like that before," Jin Tao exclaimed with interest.
"He's healed…go get him some follow up treatment," Malekith said emotionlessly as he turned to walk away.
"Woah, how did you heal him like that? I've never seen anything like it before. Was that Yang magic?" Jin Tao asked.
Malekith briefly glanced at the man, "It's Qhaysh or high magic. That spell is called apotheosis. It's far better at healing wounds from chaos magic than ghyran."
"Amazing…wow, hey can you teach me how to do that?" Jin Tao asked eagerly as he followed behind the elf.
"Not unless you can use all eight winds," Malekith shrugged.
"King Malekith!" the alchemist Xu Feng spoke up with amazement as she ran up, "did you heal him?!"
"Obviously…" he said dryly.
Jin Tao looked at her and nodded, "You should have seen it Xu Feng…he said that spell used all eight winds."
"You really are a great sorcerer, aren't you? Maybe you can teach me Aqshy then?" Xu Feng asked.
"What, you don't want to learn it from me?" Jin Tao asked with a scoff.
She politely shook her head, "You and Lady Sung Lian have been helpful, but he's thousands of years old! Imagine what he could teach."
"I'm not teaching magic to humans. I don't even teach it to other elves," Malekith objected immediately.
"Well, that's a waste…" Xu Feng sighed.
Jin Tao blinked several times in bewilderment, "Wait…you said he was thousands of years old? He's a Xian? So, the dark elf king really is an immortal demigod?"
"I'm not a demigod, but I am immortal…we don't have time for this. Since you're both here, I should probably explain what I want you to do," Malekith rolled his eyes at their childish awe of him.
Sung Lian quickly sank into a pit of shame and embarrassment again as she watched the two mages marvel at Malekith. The elf continued to make her look bad in front of her own garrison and officers.
Seeing the crowds gossiping and staring at the garrison leaders uncertainly, Malekith knew he had to say something to calm them down.
Before he could though, Shen Zoo was quick to address the crowd, "Brave men and women of Cathay, please do not panic! We have already been preparing for this attack and between myself and everyone in charge, I assure you that we will hold out until reinforcements arrive. I swear to you as a daughter of Xen Yang, that Turtle Gate will stand! Miao Ying will come to our aid, but we must stand strong and be fearless for all the people of Cathay depend on our bravery!"
Everyone began to cheer, and a wave of relief started to wash over the crowd as everyone seemed to wholly believe in Shen Zoo's assurance that they were not doomed.
"Please return to your duties and keep faith. All of us are sworn to defend the bastion, and Malekith himself has even volunteered to fight on the frontlines. Send your captains and officers here at once! We need to relay our new strategy to the garrison."
"You're fighting on the front?" Xu Feng seemed shocked by this news.
"I'll be there with him! I can't make Li Dao look bad by hiding in the back with all the women," Jin Tao laughed enthusiastically.
"Go wait with the others…Shen Zoo and I will relay the new battleplan to all the officers shortly," Malekith commanded.
Several Hours Later
Malekith stood near the inside of the outer wall as he inspected the defenses personally. He walked past training peasants as he thought about the best tactical positions to place them in. The past few hours had been a frantic distribution of orders and duties to the entirety of the garrison, and it had been far more socially taxing than he cared for. He was not a people person and he found it exhausting to interact with this many humans. For reasons beyond his understanding, a lot of the humans wanted to ask him questions and they seemed far more at ease about him being there now that Shen Zoo had vouched for his integrity.
He had done quite a lot to aid various areas of the bastion and had even given some advice to the warriors that would listen to him about the best ways to kill chaos warriors and various warbeasts. Some were obviously still uneasy or bitter towards him, but many more seemed receptive to his words. He had explained in great detail to a group of crossbowmen about how to make a bigger makeshift cartridge to they could fire more volleys on their crossbows without reloading.
To his disbelief, they didn't proudly reject his idea, but seemed thrilled about doing it. One man had even remarked that he always wondered how the dark elf crossbows could fire so often. In some ways, Malekith didn't like the idea of teaching humans a military boon that druchii utilized with their advanced crossbow cartridges, but the humans eagerly began to trust him when he made one to demonstrate.
This one simple thing had done more to make the crossbowmen trust him than even Shen Zoo's assurance that he wasn't evil. They had been tirelessly working with blacksmith peasants to craft more and practiced excitedly with them. Every so often, one would run up and ask him questions about it.
Malekith had also given some advice to the spearmen about how to improve their formations. Most were hesitant to accept a foreigner's input since they were proud of their formations, but the peasants seemed receptive to learn elven formations. After convincing a group of them to try it, Malekith was actually amazed at how much the peasants seemed to like it.
They were certainly clumsy looking compared to your average elven spearmen, but they seemed to grasp a lot of the ideas very well and had been eager to learn about the best ways to kill mammoths and manticores.
Malekith found it somewhat odd that the peasants seemed so ignorant to the art of war. Obviously, most lowborn were, but all elves were trained in warfare…and especially the druchii. Most of these people were clearly civilians who had never been in a battle before. From what he learned, many had regular jobs as farmers, shopkeepers, tanners, and blacksmiths. Some had shown a bit of veteran prowess, but they appeared to be neglected by the other military personnel in the garrison. Maybe that's why they were so willing to listen to him since the jade warriors and celestial dragon guards didn't treat them like real warriors.
It was rather easy to galvanize their confidence when Malekith told them that most elven armies were made of militias. Some of the newer arrivals that had been forcibly conscripted from the villages to the south were extremely fearful of Malekith, but they didn't take long to get over it after hearing all the outlandish rumors that had been sweeping throughout Turtle Gate about him.
Malekith almost couldn't believe some of the strange things people were saying. Things such as he had rescued Shen Zoo from Chi'an Chi and fought off and army of daemons. The rumors of him healing the injured longma rider were true, but people had blown it out of proportion by making claims that he could heal any wound and that he was a Xian…whatever that was.
"King Malekith! There you are!" Xu Feng called out as she ran past the training peasants and workers.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to watch curiously as the alchemist stopped in front of him, "I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Why?" was all Malekith said in response with a monotone voice.
"All of the other mages were talking about how you've been helping everyone out and…well we were wondering if you had any time to train us?" Xu Feng asked eagerly.
"Us?" Malekith glanced at her confused since she was alone.
Her statement made sense a moment later as four more figures came up at a brisk pace led by Jin Tao.
"Ughhh…" Malekith sighed as the five mages lined up in front of him. He had seen the astromancer and the two water mages earlier but hadn't spoken to them yet. Obviously, Jin Tao and Xu Feng wouldn't leave him alone.
Malekith inspected the other three mages curiously as he turned to face them and inspected the humans. The Astromancer was a middle-aged man with a goatee and a calm demeanor. He almost came across as condescending and haughty due to the affixed look of disinterest on his face.
The two water mages, or life mages as Malekith had recently discovered, were barely out of adolescence and were twins. Both were mostly identical with long hair that was tied up and they wore bluish green robes that one might expect a human shaman or druid to wear.
"This had better be worth my time, Jin Tao…I have to observe the heavens tonight," the astromancer stated.
"I assure you, Cao Han, he's a powerful sorcerer. Surely, you'll at least humor hearing his advice?" Jin Tao replied.
Cao Han frowned, "What can an elf teach me about astromancy that the the Jade Dragon cannot?"
"He can use all eight winds. I mean, are you really going to turn down a chance to learn from an elven mage?" Xu Feng added.
The astromancer sighed, "I'll observe for now…"
"Well, I guess we should introduce you to the other mages here, Malekith. This is Cao Han. He's a skilled astromancer and a bit of a grump. These two girls are healers who use water magic. That's Kang Wu and that's Kang Sui," Xu Feng introduced the others.
The two water mages looked terrified of Malekith even without his helmet on and the astromancer looked wary and uncertain about the situation.
"You want me to what…teach you spells? I don't have time for that. Magic isn't something you just pick up without endless study and discipline," Malekith remarked callously.
"The elf is right about that…this is a waste of time," Cao Han shook his head as he began to walk away.
"I'm not a teacher and I won't pretend to be," Malekith nodded in agreement.
The nearby peasants seemed confused by this remark as Malekith had literally been teaching them how to fight better for the past hour and a half.
Xu Feng was quick to point that out, "You're teaching them, aren't you? C'mon, please?! At least show us what you can do. I didn't get to see you heal lieutenant Kongyu."
The two water mages Kang Wu and Kang Sui perked up with interest at Xu Feng's suggestion.
Jin Tao nodded in agreement, "That's right, and I want to see how you can use Aqshy. I mean, can you really bend all eight winds?"
Cao Han stopped in his tracks and turned around after hearing this. He quickly spoke up, "I would be interested in seeing that as well."
Malekith groaned mentally at them as everyone watched him anxiously. He looked over at the nearby peasants, "Make way for a moment."
The peasants swiftly moved aside and stood around behind the mages as Malekith began to channel magic in his hands. He said nothing as he went through progressions showcasing magic from each of the winds. He didn't cast any prominent spell with them but bent the different colored winds from the air individually one at a time. With them he created fire, caused a gust of wind, bent a metal frame, conjured roots from the ground, released a flash of light, summoned forth tendrils of shadow, and finally ordered a pair of oxen pulling a canon to start walking in circles. With Shyish, he caused the roots he conjured up to wither and die.
The mages were staring at him with amazement after witnessing his display and the peasants even more so. They were a bit spooked by the use of magic but seemed to be in awe.
"Can you show us that healing spell you used? I keep hearing about it, and I want to see it," Kang Sui spoke up hopefully.
Her twin sister nodded, "I want to see it too."
Malekith was silent for a moment before answering, "You'll see it plenty soon enough."
"You're willing to heal people after the battle?" Kang Wu asked surprised.
The elf shrugged, "I'll probably have to during the battle. These people here don't have much armour."
Upon hearing that Malekith could heal them in battle, the peasants perked up with confidence and seemed overjoyed that Malekith would even humor such a notion.
"The light dragon truly is a wondrous being. I've heard tales about her ability to bring out the inner light in others. They must be true if she could make the dark elf king help Cathay," Kang Wu stated.
"Princess Shen Zoo really likes you…I can see why. You're nothing like other elves," Xu Feng nodded.
Malekith narrowed his gaze at them and was about to say something but stopped himself. There was no point in even acknowledging their cluelessness. He couldn't wait to get out of Cathay. For whatever reason, Malekith disliked their adulation even more than their initial hatred of him.
"Is it true that you rescued the light dragon from the realms of chaos? You fought off an army Chi'an Chi's daemons to save her I hear!" Kang Sui interjected.
She and her twin sister seemed less skittish now and more trusting of Malekith after seeing him tolerate Xu Feng's friendly behavior.
'Why are these people so adamant about asking me questions like this? How did the rumors get this out of control? Gods, I can't even imagine what the rest of Cathay will be saying once word of this spreads across their kingdom. The garrison alone has blown it out of proportion and most of these people have seen me in person. Shen Zoo must be laughing about this…I can imagine her smug grin right now. Why did she have to tell them I saved her from daemons? I tried to make her look good and she turned around and tried to make me out to be some kind of hero. How ridiculous…I don't want these people thinking I'm something I'm not.' Malekith thought annoyed.
"Well, it's getting a bit late…I have studying to attend to and observations to calculate," Cao Han said stoically before turning to leave.
After he left, Jin Tao shook his head, "That guy really needs to lighten up."
"Everyone has their own ways of dealing with stress…" Malekith said distantly.
"Well, I guess it is getting pretty late. Have you eaten at all, Malekith? We should go to the inn and have some food and drink. Don't worry, I'll pay," Jin Tao suggested.
Malekith did not want to accept his offer, but he hadn't eaten in about two days now and knew he would need sustenance for the upcoming battle. Reluctantly he nodded, "I suppose I could use a meal."
"Oh, I'm coming too!" Xu Feng exclaimed.
"May we join?" Kang Sui asked.
"Of course, let's go eat," Jin Tao nodded.
After a short walk and an awkward walk-in to the inn, Malekith found himself seated at a table with the human mages as they ordered food to eat. The following hour had been uncomfortable for him as he watched the humans banter with one another or ask him weird personal questions.
They had also ordered alcohol to drink along with the food and had been pounding down bottles of the stuff. Malekith tried his best to ignore the stares from everyone in the inn as Jin Tao droned on talking about a story. All of the humans had been telling stories about their homes, families, and various love interests.
"And after that, we got married. I still have that tigerman's tooth and make a necklace for my son with it," Jin Tao finally finished the story about how he met his wife and saved her from a tigerman.
All of the mages were drunk now much to Malekith's dread…even the young life mages. He was grateful that they weren't arguing anymore since Xu Feng and Jin Tao had also gotten into a huge argument about whether the Iron Dragon was better than the Fire Dragon.
"Alright, your turn now, Malekith…tell us a story about your past. Everyone's already given one except you," Jin Tao chuckled with flushed cheeks.
Malekith looked around awkwardly at the not-so-subtle eavesdroppers staring at him from all directions. Xu Feng quickly slid over a bottle of alcohol for him, "You have to drink or tell us a story! That's the rules!"
"I'll drink I guess," Malekith said carelessly as he picked up the bottle and downed it in one graceful gulp.
"Woo! Look at him go! You drank that whole bottle in one sip? Are you challenging me to a drinking competition?!" Jin Tao slurred excitedly as he picked up a bottle.
"You'd lose…I'd have to drink a dozen of these to feel anything," Malekith stated carelessly as he took a bite from his bowl of food. He was eating rice and some kind of beef along with exotic vegetables. It was his first real meal if he discounted all the wild game he ate on the way to the Bastion and despite being human-made, he found it enjoyable.
He wasn't worried about the humans trying to poison or drug him. His mother made sure to build up his immunity to such things long ago and Malekith had practically gained an immunity to most poisons as a result.
"You're on!" the fire mage laughed as he plopped two bottles in front of them.
Malekith looked at the man bewildered, "You're already drunk…"
"So catch up…or tell us a story!" Xu Feng added as she actually pat Malekith's shoulder.
He couldn't remember the last time he let some nobody touch him like this and almost reflexively attacked the drunk alchemist.
"Fine, but don't touch me," Malekith said as calmly as he could before grabbing another bottle of the human booze to down.
"Ahahaha! Get him some more!" Jin Tao beamed.
To everyone's surprise, Malekith started downing bottle after bottle. He didn't want to tell them a story, and he didn't feel much from drinking the bland human alcohol.
After downing about fourteen of them, he felt a slight feathery warmth, "Hmm...I think I starting to feel a tingle."
"Aww, c'mon…I really wanted to hear a story from you," Jin Tao slurred. He was clearly wasted by this point.
"You people are ridiculous…fine. I'll tell you one story. Anything in particular that you want to know?" Malekith finally conceded.
"Have you ever been in love?" Xu Feng slurred with a laugh before anyone else could say anything.
"Xu Feng, don't go stealing our one chance to ask about his past. I want to know something more interesting than that!" Jin Tao protested.
Kang Sui giggled with her sister before interjecting, "We had to hear about your wife. Plus, I want to know that too. Is there a dark elf queen?"
Malekith's tolerant mood darkened considerably at hearing them talk about this. He was quick to shut down their enthusiasm, "My wife died a long time ago after leaving me. Ask me about something else."
"Oh…" Xu Feng trailed off before looking at the others who seemed more sober all of a sudden.
"I have a good request…who is the strongest person you've ever fought before?!" Jin Tao quickly saved the jovial atmosphere.
Malekith didn't answer the question as the sight of Shen Zoo entering the inn drew his attention. She was quick to walk over and looked surprised to see him mingling with the human mages, "Malekith? There you are. I was looking everywhere for you. Are you drinking?! Can we talk?"
"I was just finishing here. Let's go," Malekith seized the opportunity to get away from the jovial drunk humans. As he left the inn, Shen Zoo looked over the mages who were all falling over themselves trying to bow to her.
"P-princess, sorry…this was my idea," Jin Tao tried to take responsibility.
She shook her head, "Don't be…I'm glad to see you're all getting along with him. Remember to show him the proper respect though. Malekith is a king after all."
"O-of course, your majesty," Xu Feng nodded nervously.
"Get some sleep…it'll be the last night before their army arrives," Shen Zoo ordered before following Malekith outside.
Right after she left, Jin Tao nudged Xu Feng, "Is it just me or do you get the impression...him and princess..."
"What!? Don't be ridiculous, Jin Tao!" Xu Feng exclaimed.
"I hope not...I thought dark elves would hideous and scary, but he's really handsome and nice," Kang Wu said with a drunken giggle.
"It sounds like someone has a crush, ahaha!" Jin Tao laughed.
"No...I didn't mean it like that!" the water mage began to blush with embarrassment as everyone in the inn started to gossip about what they just overhead.
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Alright boys…that's another gigantic chapter down and it was a long one. 30 thousand words to be precise. (Yeah, I'm crazy...I know). A LOT of wild stuff went down and as usual we'll go over it.
Malekith has an interesting dream after his first stop at a cave and he dreams of riding into Athel Toralien and meeting Maruviel. It probably goes without saying that this scene isn't canon. Malekith meets his brother's daughter who is a handmaiden to the everqueen. Now a quick lore tidbit…Maruviel really is Morelion's daughter and she becomes the first queen of Laurelorn and the Eonir elves. Oddly enough, the current ruler of Laurelorn is Marrisith and she's her great granddaughter. Marrisith is blood related to Malekith, Tyrion, Teclis, Alarielle, and other heirs of Aenarion. It's not understood by most, but Laurelorn elves (known as Eonir) aren't entirely the same thing as Asrai even though the live in a magical forest. They're more like survivors of the ancient elven empire that haven't gone full hippie like the ones in Athel Loren. Their woodland spirits are a lot less hostile and violent than the ones in Athel Loren and they're more like a strange hybrid between Asur and Asrai culturally. What's neat about the Eonir is they're kind of democratic and they get along fairly well with the Empire. Oddly enough, they're actually sympathetic towards druchii. (Or they were for a long time) and they are the most commonly seen elves in the empire. Needless to say…Malekith will be taking a trip there at some point when he makes his way to the Old World. Marrisith will not object to working with him if he stops the raids on the Old World.
Now I'm not entirely certain where Athel Toralien was, but I think it's in Nordland somewhere as it was close to Tor Lithanel (where Laurelorn is). The dwarves completely destroyed in the War of the Beard, and Nordlanders think the ruins are cursed as most of the city has fallen into the sea. I imagine it's very close to where Dietershafen is.
So Malekith spends the first half of the chapter hauling an unconscious Shen Zoo all the way across the Eastern Steppes. Now in the official world map, (and not Immortal Empires One) the Eastern Steppes are freaking huge…like it's essentially Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia all in one up there. He spends a long time traveling that far. Close to a month at least, but his conception of time is all fucked up due to the endless night in the far north and from his Chaos Realm excursions. I kept it somewhat vague because I didn't feel like doing the math or charting the distance. In our real world, to walk from the north pole to Mongolia would be 3 thousand or so miles or 5 and half thousand kilometers. However, in the Warhammer Fantasy World, Cathay (and most of the Eurasian supercontinent) is much further north than the one in our world is as they're all connected to the northern pole and each other. If you want to know which world map that I specifically reference, go look up the "Cartographically correct world map of Warhammer" Look for the first result that has the "Terraqueous Globe". When Malekith came out of the northern wastes, he went south between the creepling glaciers and frozen wasteland into the Great Eastern Steppes between Kurgan and Hung Territory. He gets picked up near the Bone Mountains which are fairly close to the Bastion mountains and the Great Bastion itself. Hope that makes sense in case you're a purist that cares about realistic travel times and hate Game of Thrones level teleportation from Dragonstone to the Wall in like one night (Looks at Daenerys).
Keep in mind, Malekith is an elf so he walks faster and he barely slept or stopped the whole way. He also found himself a horse to ride. So, the travel time may seem outlandish, but he wasn't lollygagging or taking breaks much. He manages to get to the Bone Mountains which are the edge of the Red Wastes (which is like a desert wasteland south of the steppes) and he encounters Hung Marauders.
Now to be clear since most people don't really know the difference between all the chaos northmen tribes, the Hung are essentially a savage caricature of Mongolian type people. They're also east Asian looking compared to other northmen. Norscans are Scandinavian looking and culturally similar to Vikings (minus the whole chaos worship. Norscans are the ones that have trolls and skinwolves). The Kurgans are more like the Huns and various other steppe peoples. So, they're kind of Eurasian in appearance with a lot of diversity. They were also the ones who first tamed mammoths. There's a bit of a cultural overlap between Kurgans and Hung since both tribes are renowned for horseback archery and nomadic hordes. The Kurgans essentially rule most of the far north from Kislev to Cathay. Kislevite people (specifically Gospodars) were originally Kurgans who followed Khan-Queen Miska to the land and subjugated the Ungols and Roppsmen. Kislev isn't entirely Russian as some of these tribes are based on Ukrainian, Polish and Lithuanian peoples as well.
The Hung people (lol...get your mind out of the gutter) are primarily found in the far east of the Great Eastern Steppes and typically migrate over the land bridge and the Ironfrost glacier (Alaska) to cover half the land north of the sea of chaos. In some ways they're kind of like Mongolian Eskimos and the Nanai peoples native to Siberia (granted not as culturally advanced or peaceful as the real-world variants). The various tribes north of Naggaroth (Mung and Aghol primarily) are Hung tribes. Kurgans and Hung are "racially" and culturally different, but they're fundamentally similar and they do interbreed with each other. The Tong are a different story though. The Tong tribes live closest to the chaos gate in the extreme north and are often mutated savages that scare other tribes. They're usually north of Norsca between Hung and Kurgans. The Tong are very scary people since they even scare Kurgans and Hung. Your average Tong northmen makes a Norscan look like a Reiklander by comparison. These guys have no fear and no concern over their own well-being. They're literally savages that make other northmen look cultured by comparison. Most end up as forsaken or become chaos warriors. There's not much in between and no real-world culture to compare them to. Just imagine the terrifying appearance and savagery of the vampires from 30 days of night and mix in some chaos mutation and daemon worship…that's essentially the Tong. These guys are barely human and could probably classify as manfiends (similar to beastfiends which are daemonic beastmen hybrids in the south pole).
So…Lothar the chaos lord that Malekith encounters is a Kurgan, or a former Kurgan I guess since he's a chaos warrior now. The Khazag Tribe is a Kurgan tribe that was renowned for being the among the first to tame mammoths. Their banners have a mammoth on them. The various northmen tribes will kill each other all the time, but they do unite on occasion when strong leaders direct them against the forces of order (namely everchosen champions or great leaders). Now Malekith encounters the Dreaded Wo tribe of Hung who are actually neighbors of the Khazag Kurgan tribe in the eastern steppes. Their banner is a horse within the eye of chaos. I named one of their chieftains Shan Yu kind of as a homage to the Hun leader (who seems more Mongolian) from Mulan. Just a fun little reference. If GW can do it than so can I damn it!
Malekith also spots some chaos dwarves and finds out that they want resources to fund their new drill…because of course I had to shoehorn in that subplot too! I think canonically, the bastion actually does fall when the chaos dwarves help Archaon's warhost destroy it…so I mean this could be lore accurate. It also makes sense because northmen lack the warmachines to really destroy the wall, but the chaos dwarves don't. Obviously, chaos dwarves do trade with northmen and forge them stuff like hellcannons and their armour. Now something I didn't mention at all in this chapter were hobgoblins. Don't worry…I haven't forgotten them. If chaos dwarves are in on this invasion, you can expect the big super goblins to be there too.
Also, Ashenwing is a known alias of the particular lord of change that Malekith encounters (again) in this chapter. A quick google search would easily tell you which one it is, so I'll just tell you now. Ashenwing is Aetaos'Rau'Keres…now if you're familiar with 40k lore, you know who this lord of change is. He's a fucking monster and he's a psychopath even by daemonic standards. Other daemons of Tzeentch are afraid of him. Cultists won't risk trying to summon him unless they desire apocalyptic destruction. Like Shalaxi, he's primarily a 40k greater daemon…but guess what he's in this story too. A wonder that Malekith encounters him originally in Slaanesh's palace…why was he there you might ask? What has Kairos told this other lord of change? Where does he fall on the oracle's web of grand complexity? How powerful is Aetaos'Rau'Keres? (let's put it this way…he's stronger than Kairos on tabletop, so he's one of the top Lords of Change). What's interesting about him though is he is probably stronger magically than Kairos or Amon'Chakai but he's sort of a lone wolf that other Tzeentch daemons don't like to deal with since he's freaking crazy. Obviously, Kairos set him up to fight Malekith at the bastion since Ashenwing knew Malekith has the puzzle box and that he would be there. SO, imagine a Lord of Change with the temperament of a bloodthirster and the obsession of a keeper of secrets. He's nuts and he wants Malekith dead.
Needless to say, Malekith has some seriously angry people to deal with in the next chapter as well as this infamous lord of change. What other sinister additions does Ashenwing have in store for the defenders? The daemon seems wholly confident that Malekith is doomed…but why does Kairos want him to fight Malekith if he wants Malekith to find him the keys? Schemes my friends…SCHEMES!
While he was sitting in chains for a while, Malekith reflected on ways to depower the rival druchii leaders that will undoubtedly object to his new changes. Will he be able to convince leaders like Lokhir or Malus to stay loyal? Will he have to kill Hellebron? Obviously Morathi can't be allowed to live in his new Naggaroth. What's interesting about this is…Lokhir and Hellebron obviously rebel against Malekith in the end times when he becomes the Phoenix King while people like Teclis, Aislinn, and Imrik become his homies. Lokhir won't care too much about the Cult of Khaine being disbanded (since he worships Mathlann), but he's doubtfully ever going to give up slaving and reaving. Malus on the other hand, is sort of loyal to Malekith and he could certainly accept changes if Malekith helps him get rid of Tzarkan. Malus is an interesting druchii since he's not super evil like most of them even though he's a cruel asshole like Malekith. Our beloved Witch King does come up with a good idea though…winning over the autarii clans. He'll have an easier time convincing the lowborn to follow him when he elevates their status and starts offing various dreadlords, hag queens, and sorceresses. The Naggaroth return is going to be bloody and wild, but it's not impossible to cause a cultural shift if Malekith dethrones the wackjobs leading the cults like Hellebron and Morathi. Malekith himself won't ban Cytharai worship as he does venerate Khaine and Hekarti, but he's not going to let shit like Death Night go on anymore and he is no longer going to tolerate Morathi or Hellebron dictating what "Khaine's Will" is. He'll more than likely shift the khaine worship into what the aspect warriors of 40k are like. As you know, the Asuryani craftworlders worship Khaine and Asuryan in 40k. Malekith will try to make the druchii more like that. The dark eldar in 40k actually don't worship khaine at all except for the Incubi (my people). So, expect the Druchii to become more like Craftworld Eldar. They'll still be dicks, but they'll be less blatantly evil and murder happy.
Other than that, we had some fun interactions between Malekith and various humans throughout the chapter. The Cathayans were understandably wary of him initially, but many seem confident in his help after Shen Zoo started singing his praises. What will they think after the battle is over? They're already exaggerating the stories of him and they're only going to get more grandiose after the battle…will Miao Ying get there in time? Will other help arrive? Wait and see!
Stay tuned for the next chapter and the battle for Turtle Gate. Malekith is about to shake up the whole world.
