Chapter 24

Riulan seemed to collapse into herself as the doors closed, letting out a sigh of relief. “Playing the part they expect is harder than I believed. You were right Narn. People looking at you like they do, especially the hatred and fear, is difficult to stomach.” She glanced up as the Scouts took up positions by the doors and looked about the massive entry hall. The only sounds in the hall were the boots of the scouts and the lingering echos of Riulan’s voice.

That hall was completely deserted and Riulan sighed again as she turned to Narn, “I would have expected the staff to be around but it looks like the staff of the mansion expect us to clean house or something so it may be harder than I expected to find the Governor’s office.”

“Tel’mar, detail most of the scouts to start patrolling the mansion. I want people identified and then get them back to whatever their normal jobs are. Have the clerks assembled so we can talk to them. We need to sort out of the paperwork and find out what information is here, and especially what supplies and the state of the forces here. We’re going to have to pull out as much of the guard as possible and likely recruit. So we can’t waste time. And get our injured settled in. And see to the bodies of our dead. How many did we lose?”

“We lost 6 m’lord.” Tel’mar’s response was quiet but he and Narn shared a glance, “And we have 12 injured to some degree. Most of those are serious and will require the Healer’s attentions for some time.”

Narn nodded in response, “See to it that Riulan has space set aside and the supplies she needs.” He looked to Riulan and smiled, “Why don’t you see what you can do for the worst of the injured now while the scouts find out where things are for us.”

Riulan nodded wearily, "Lead the way Tel'mar." She followed the scout as he turned, she gave a single glance back before vanishing from sight around a corner.

Narn turned and began giving instructions to the rest of his men, walking with them deeper into the palace itself.

Chapter 23

Khratoum awoke slowly as dawn lit over the cobblestoned streets and the light reflected off the stone walls of the buildings. The few guards at the gates were surprised by the strangers arriving on horseback and they weren’t particularly awake as the party rode up to the opened gates. The size of the party was a major concern, numbering nearly 50, but the guards didn’t see any signs of a larger party, and with the conflict between the Lords Terimak and Mistrew travelers had been traveling with larger entourages. What they hadn’t expected though was for the party to stop at the gates and a pretty young lady amongst them to politely ask for directions to the Governor’s mansion.

The grim, professional looks of the soldiers accompanying her were also unusual. Even odder was the tall, hooded figure that rode in the midst of the group and the conversation between the young woman and the hood figure sent a shudder down the back of the gate’s sergeant. They arrogant look the woman bestowed on him also suggested he really didn’t want an answer when he asked about their business in town. Best to let the Governor and his pet demons deal with these strangers if they really were a problem. After all, the guards were there primarily to watch for people smuggling goods into town, not to stop Sorcerers. And who else would ride with such a troop and such easy arrogance.

“I really don’t like riding around hidden like some criminal.” Narn’s annoyance was easy to read in his tone after they had ridden past the gate and headed towards the Governor’s mansion. He shifted the hood slightly, “It’s making it rather hard to see where I’m going, and the looks people are giving me, you’d think I was a demon or something come to eat their children.”

Riulan glanced at Narn in surprise, “That’s exactly what they think you are. Either a Sorcerer yourself, with me as your apprentice, which might as well mean you are a Demon. Or my demon that I keep hidden to prevent them from running at the mere sight of you.” Riulan seemed a bit confused by the vehemence in Narn’s voice. The cloak hid him completely in truth, and the depth of the hood made his face impossible to see, but it didn’t look like it prevented vision that much. “We had discussed this before we rode in and you agreed then.”

“I hadn’t realized how much I hated having children run in fear of me before. It’s not a comfortable feeling. It’s one thing to have your own kind revile you as being somehow less than perfect. It’s another thing to see children break down crying or hiding behind their parents terrified of you.” Narn glanced to the side briefly before fixing his gaze forward, “And worse to see the parents believe the children truly should be afraid.”

Riulan glanced to the sides of the streets for the first time and noticed the ripple of fear that seemed to run through the townfolks as they rode into town. “I hadn’t really noticed that before.” She glanced around, noting the children’s reactions before turning back to Narn, “we live in constant fear of the Sorcerers, it’s hardly surprising that they won’t look upon us as anything different. After all, this is why you and your companions are going to be leading us. So that we can change that fear.”

“I know that. Just..” He muttered something inaudible before continuing, “Just because I know something doesn’t mean I have to like it. And I don’t like scaring the very people we are going to try and help. Not like this. I feel dirty about the whole thing, like I was robbing them somehow or something.”

He’s like a child sometimes, not quite innocent but idealistic, Riulan thought with a touch of surprise, Like a child who cries when the butterfly they are pursuing becomes injured because they touch it. “Well it is only for this ride anyway. Once we’ve dealt with the Governor and his demon’s we will handle the rest of the town as we must. Luckily the protocol for these conflicts is pretty well laid out so we shouldn’t have to fight the guard if we can get to the mansion itself.”

Narn’s grunt was the only response and Riulan noticed that he shifted slightly as if to reassure himself of his sword’s presence.

They rode in silence through the rest of the town, though their passage marked a growing circle of whispered rumors. By the time they had arrived at the Governor’s mansion word of their approach had already reached him, and many of the prominent members of the town had also begun to show up to find out about these mysterious visitors.

The Governor’s mansion was a massive building, housing the administrative workings of the town and it’s region, as well as administration for many of the nearby towns as well. Khratoum had long been a major route of trade and had been part of Mistrew’s possession since he first set up his domain. The addition of administrative and economic power had allowed the Governor’s of Khratoum, a never ending line of Sorcerer’s bound to Mistrew, to indulge in opulence. The courtyard before the mansion was similarly built on a grand scale and was crowned by a massive pillar in the center. The current Governor, a Sorcerer named Yung-ta, had gathered up some of his personal guard and the demons he had control of, and stood at the top of the massive staircase leading from the plaza to the front doors of the mansion. Terimak had carefully groomed Yung-ta, working to get him placed in Khratoum in preparation of his coup against Mistrew. Terimak had recognized the power inherent in controlling the administrative details that reached Mistrew, as well as the economic power of the city, and had taken steps to ensure that it was loyal to him when the time came. It had been through those same administrative channels that he had managed to gather support and to prevent any word of his plans from reaching Mistrew. Yung-ta’s support was unquestioned and as such he controlled quite a number of demons, a full score of brutish demons. They stood before the Sorcerer on the steps so that their reddish-brown forms were the first sight that Narn, Riulan and the scouts got when they approached the steps.

Narn studied the demons as they approached, taking in the tall lean bodies of the demons. They stood nearly 7 feet tall and their arms were long, reaching nearly to the knees when hanging down at their sides. They carried halberds, further lengthing their already long reach, and they had the hungry look of predatory animals. They had little in the way of intelligence, making them ideal as simple brute force and their thick skin would be difficult for a normal sword or arrow to pierce, though a spear would likely give them problems if it was thrust with enough force. They looked quick, but only battle would reveal the full depth of their abilities.

Yung-ta, in comparison, was a roundish figure. His paunchy face red from the exertion of moving quickly. He was about average height but obviously overweight. His feature were haughty as he watched the approaching group and he drew himself up before speaking, his voice shrill as he tried to get enough volume to be heard over the entire plaza. “Who are you that come before the Governor of Khratoum, servant of the Lord Terimak, armed as though for battle?”

Riulan moved to the front of the party, the scouts spreading out into a line behind her and Narn, she twisted power from within herself, releasing the spell that had once again shield her fully from detection. She was quite pleased to see the smug arrogance vanish from Yung-ta’s face as he realized how much of her power had lain hidden. “We are the servants of the new lords in Mistrew’s realm. We have come to liberate this town from the Sorcerer's rule and put it under the rule of Lord Galdacil.” Her voice echoed across the plaza, aided by a minor spell.

The even tones, clearly heard by all, contrasted sharply with the Yung-ta’s voice and he could feel his hold over the crowd easing as the balance of perceived power shifted slightly. The strange name, Galdacil, was unknown to him and the woman’s obvious power confused him, as he saw no signs of how she had hidden it, nor had she obviously killed anyone to pull such power so quickly from nowwhere. He fell back on old, ingrained habits of arrogance, for surely even the single demon she controlled couldn’t be a match for the Trellin Demons that Lord Terimak had left under his control. They weren’t particularly bright but they were vicious and powerful physically. They should make short work of the upstart before him, and her protectors didn’t even have the spears that would be necessary to hold off his demons long. “Then you have come to die! Kill them!” he commanded to the demons, releasing them from their places and grabbing the nearest of his secretaries, ruthlessly draining the energies from the unfortunate individual as he built shields around him. He had no wish to win the battle and in the process lose his own life, something that was entirely likely should the strange Sorcereress choose to ignore her own death to kill him.

The demons responded immediately and Narn had a moment of annoyance at how fast the strange creatures were. Despite his first impressions he had hoped that their large size, and massive weapons, would make them slow. He had been wrong about that but their movements and way they held their weapons suggested that they weren’t particularly skilled, simply strong. Dangerous to be sure but as long as his scouts fought together they should be able to keep the creatures confused. He threw off his his cloak at that point, glad to be rid of the encumberance and spurring his horse to meet the first of the demons.

Behind him the scouts also did the same, and he knew that Riulan would be weaving protections in case the Sorcerer tried to attack any of them directly. He put all of that out of his mind though, concentrating instead on that area immediately around him as he deflected the first of the demon weapons and plunged his blade into its open mouth, before continuing on through with his charge.

The scouts, while outnumbering the demons, were more defensive, moving quickly, several using bows from horseback to distract the demons, while others darted in quickly to lash at them with light sabers. Trained to work togethor they deftly avoided the demon’s clumsy attacks, and supported each other. Here and there one of the scouts would fail to move quickly enough and he would be dragged down. But the companions of the fallen scout would move in and take the opportunity to finish the distracted creature, which normally drop it’s weapon to tear the unfortunate limb from limb. All of his scouts were also armed with weapons that would penetrate their hides. The Fae spells Erimbril and Riulan had embued their scimitars with allowed the scouts to penetrate the demon's hides.

Narn managed to kill a second demon before his horse was killed beneath him when one demon severed the left legs of his horse. Narn rolled from the saddle, avoiding the falling body of his mount, and came back to his feet, moving fluidly. His speed was very nearly a match for the demons he faced. He was further aided by his scouts who were watching out for him as well. Outnumbered as he was, for three of the demon’s had concentrated on him, his greater skill, and the arrows of his scouts, served to hold the demons at bay. He noticed vaguely though that several squads of the cities guards were even now forming up. They seemed fearful of joining the general melee already ongoing between the scouts and the demons, but the continuing harassment by the Yung-ta was beginning to wear on them.

He knew that his troops couldn’t hope to fight the demons and an equal number of human troops. And he had no desire to have to fight them since the entire reason for being here was to gain their support later.

“Riulan! We need some help here!” He pivoted and threw himself into a furious assault on the demons in front of him, slaying one of them quickly but feeling the wind of the axes of the other two, he turned to another only to see the shadow of a fourth behind him. He had nowhere to go before it’s blade came down. The sharp crack of noise that echoed across the plaza came as a surprise to him though the sudden blow to his side didn’t.

It took a moment for the realization that it had been a blunted blow not an axe blow that struck him. It was still strong enough to hurl him nearly three feet, but not the death blow he had expected. And while his ribs were bruised he was still in one piece. As he looked up he saw that all of the demons held little more than long poles, the blades having shattered under Riulan’s spell. The demons stared at the poles stupidly for a moment confused about the sudden change in their weaponry.

Narn’s scouts immediately took advantage of the hesistation to swarm over their demonic foes. Their blades, empowered by the Fae spells, bit deeply into the demons and the sudden shock and charge allowed them to finish off their foes in short order.

The sudden demise of his demonic forces left Yung-ta shocked and he cried out even more shrilly to the guards. His spells lashing at the guards though suddenly cut off as Riulan coldly spoke again, “You have lost Sorcerer. Your demons could not stand against us, why should your guards fare any better. Guardsmen, your lives are worth more to us than this creatures. Step away and you will not suffer the consequences of opposing us.”

Ignoring Yung-ta’s cries, growing more desperate with each of Narn's steps, the guards moved back, clearing the way for Riulan and her escort as they moved up the steps. Narn’s glowing blade was raised briefly, and despite Yung-ta’s frantic spells and cries, plummeted, ending the Sorcerer’s life.

Riulan turned to the plaza a final time, “We will expect the town’s leaders in one hour. Do not make us come looking for you.” Turning to the guards she continued, “The gates are to be closed. And nobody shall leave the city. Should I learn otherwise all of the guard shall pay.” And without another word Riulan and her entourage stepped into the Governor’s mansion. The closing doors echoing across the silent plaza.

Chapter 22

“We’ve decided that we will swear fealty to Galdacil, Erimbril and you, depending upon where our jobs lie.” Riulan said sweetly, “The scouts would swear to you, the mages to Erimbril and the army and the rest would swear to Galdacil. Galdacil would become the lord of Mistrew’s citadel and would be our leader overall.”

Narn’s response was choked sounding, “You are what? Are you mad?”

Riulan’s look was one of surprise, “You didn’t think we could elect any of our own to that did you? And we will need to have some kind of leadership if we plan to survive this thing.”

The normally calm demeanor Narn projected had completed collapsed under this surprise announcement as they neared the town and Riulan and begun explaining how she would introduce them all.

“But why us? I mean really, we’re not even from here, none of you know us and well. We’re not even human like the rest of you!”

Riulan shrugged, “All the better really. The populace would accept the idea of one of us, if they were a magic wielder, but they’d expect somebody like the sorcerers. Somebody who will punish the least disrespect. And none of Erimbril’s apprentices could either be trusted if they lived up to that, or would want to even try to live up to that. The first sign of decency and the populace would assume we aren’t strong enough to hold onto the rule. On the other hand your kind are already something new and they will accept rule under your hands, or rather Galdacil’s, more easily and when you start making things a little less restrictive we can pass it off as the odd rule of strange demons. It won’t be a sign of weakness because they won’t know what you are really hiding under it.”

Narn looked at Riulan his mouth gaping a bit as she explained things and then stopped a hasty reply. His look became thoughtful, “You’ve really thought this out haven’t you.”

Riulan nodded, “This is our chance and we have to think it out. Weldan and I spent three nights convincing the rest of the people that this was the best way. Strangely enough it wasn’t spent convincing them to decide you would be our leaders, it was more convincing them that we should tell you that we had made you our leaders. Making that shift from being merely observers and taking a role in our future by actively supporting you.”

“Well who am I to argue, though I plan to retire to wood carving if we ever win this war. So don’t expect me to rule over a bunch of people like some tyrant.”

The sweet smile was back as Riulan turned to Narn, “Of course not Lord Narn. We’ve decided you will be given control of the great forests when all is done. You will merely need to administer it’s usage and teach our people your wonderous ways of working with the forests and protecting it for all generations.”

The only response was a sour grunt for a time, “You are a tricky individual indeed Riulan. I’m going to have to remember that. I can only be thankful you are on our side. And I think I am going to pray for the townsfolk. They are going to need all the help they can get. Once you get into there and begin convincing them I think it’s going to be all over for them.”

Riulan’s smile became even more brilliant as she thanked the Fae Lord and even he had to grin slightly in response as they continued down the road, silently accompanied by the normally grim scouts. Now though those same scouts wore smirks, as they claimed Riulan for one of their own and Riulan claimed them in return. Their good humor was as much for the deft handling of their chosen commander and his discomfort as it was for the weather and the approaching town’s comforts.

Chapter 21

Erimbril stepped up next to Galdacil upon the wall. Beyond them, some distance from the wall, the forces of Terimak’s army were only now unfolding. A camp was even now being laid out by some of the forces while the rest drew up to present a unified front to the castles gate.

“I really wish that old Sorcerer hadn’t decided a single gate was all this place needed. It makes it entirely too easy to pen us into this place. He doesn’t even have to surround the walls since the only other way out is down ropes and he knows that’s not practical for any large body of men. Nor does it give them any way to escape quickly or easily.” Galdacil turned from the wall with a look of disgust and glanced at his companion. “At least Narn bought us some time and the report by the scouts he sent back are also encouraging. They’ve boosted morale in the castle greatly, and your work has ensured that everybody has a weapon that’s at least not going to bounce against the demon’s skins too often. If Terimak had come on with just his demons and Cavalry we would have had a chance of really inflicting some losses on him.”

Erimbril smiled slightly, “Unfortunately the enemy seldom does what you’d like them to do. And the unfortunate effect of Narn’s attack was that it did make Terimak cautious. But, by the same token, if we hadn’t taken that chance he would have been here earlier, and who could say what the troops would have done at that point. We could easily have had most of them surrender rather than fight. Now at least we know they will all stand and fight. The scouts who returned have been talking continually and the fact that Terimak felt threatened enough to reinforce his demons with humans has only improved the morale here.”

Galdacil waved his assent, “True. I just wish I knew more about what was going on. We’ve got an entire world to fight or defend and we know so little about the rest of it.” He scowled slightly, “Weldan and the rest only have the smallest glimpse of what is going on out there. Mistrew kept pretty much everybody here and the merchants who brought supplies met only with him or favored apprentices. None of which did you keep around after interviewing them. You probably should have killed them you know.”

Erimbril’s looked away then, looking out at the army, “I know. In fact I have a strong feeling that I will regret not killing at least one of those apprentices. But I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I know that they likely aren’t redeemable, which is why I turned them out, but I can’t kill them.” He looked at Galdacil, “we can’t become like our enemies Galdacil. If we do it leads down a path we both know ends badly. It’s what created the Sorcerers in the first place, those of us who felt the humans to be nothing more than sources of power for their spells.”

Weldan’s voice was a surprise to both of them, “Those of you? You created these sorcerers? But I thought you said you were the hated enemies of their kind and had never found these or you would have destroyed them!” His voice shook with confusion.

Galdacil whirled to look at him and his expressions rippled through annoyance, anger and finally to shame. “We did not create these sorcerers. Not the ones here. Rather we created the breed.” He looked out towards the army and then back to Weldan, “The truth of the matter is that the first of the sorcerers were Fae lords. Lords who had grown old and powerful. In their arrogance they felt that what nature had provided they could take, no matter the cost to others. Your race became their favored resource, for it’s strength and power. The first Sorcerers was kin from within my own family. A great uncle who first realized that he could easily strip the power from the unwilling, and that this would allow him to greatly multiply his powers. He was also the first to contact the demon hordes, those creatures that have existed in abyssal worlds from the beginning. He made several deals with them before being discovered. It was to our shame that many did not wish to believe how he had fallen, and still others took up his cause as being right. That your people were little more than cattle for our people to feed off of. And why shouldn’t the demonic forces serve our purposes.”

Galdacil glanced away, another age echoing in his words, “My family was torn apart during that time, as were the Fae we supposedly ruled. My family never really trusted the humans, and this seemed the perfect excuse to subjugate them, after all were we not the rulers of all creation? But others felt that while we couldn’t trust humans they didn’t deserve the cruelty inherent in the sorcerer’s way. That it was against nature herself to take in such a way as to cause pain.”

“Sadly it wasn’t my own family though who started the war against my uncle and his kind. It was Narn’s. The House of Oaks has always said that humans could be our greatest allies and friends. And they always held such friendships as key to a peace with the humans. When my great uncle’s servants came to one land allied with the house of Oaks they were met by Narn’s older sister. She defied them and fought them that day. If she had fallen in combat perhaps the conflict would only have been between the House of Oaks and a branch of the House of the Rising Sun. Instead though my great uncle used her life in one of his rituals and summoned one of the Great Lords of the demon world, binding it’s obedience with her blood. The House of Oaks was furious, as well they should have been, and they declared war upon our house and any who would side with the Sorcerers. My parents disowned and divorced our house from those who would side with the Sorcerers, the death of Narn’s sister was too much for them. Only that saved the Fae from becoming the Sorcerers entirely. The human alliances amongst the House of Oaks gladly threw in their alliegances with Narn’s father and the rest of the Fae houses stood with my parents and the House of the Rising Sun, as they were the rulers of our lands. And our long war began. Eventually the Sorcerers were driven from our homelands but not without cost. Against the advice of the House of Oaks we took our lands and hid them with magics, the wars having frightened us so much. We still search for our enemies but they too have pulled back and the war is sporadic, flaring up when one of us finds the other in the worlds we travel.”

Weldan looked at Galdacil and Erimbril warily. His spoke without fear though, only asking, searching for the truth from them, “And your own views of humans then? What of that?”

Erimbril answered, “My own view is that you are more curious, more likely to question and really no different from us. Shorter lives, different looks but as likely to be good or evil as we are. Galdacil can speak all he wishes about honor but in the end that is his house speaking, not him. Your people here have shown yourselves to be honorable and while you have served the sorcerers none could tell you otherwise when the choice is something that really never was offered to you.”

Weldan’s relaxation was obvious and he nodded, “Then we won’t regret standing beside you. And Riulan and I won’t regret what we’ve convinced the rest to agree to.”

Galdacil and Erimbril exchanged a look, “What you’ve agreed to?” was the cautious question.

Chapter 20

Terimak turned back to his Cavalry commander as he let go of the limp body of one of the captured scouts. “So these ‘demons’ that invaded our camp were little more than men painted to blend with the night.” His scorn was evident in his words and he savored the flinch he saw from the man. “And Mistrew is dead. The power apparently belonged to another. Regardless it seems Mistrew did indeed find a way to empower their weapons to be able to injure some of the normal demons.” He stopped considering before continuing, “No matter though. We will merely bring up the rest of the army. They can’t do more than delay us and you will see to it that no more of these infiltrators can get into the camp now won’t you. And set about rounding up the rest of the horses. We will continue south when the rest of my army reaches us. Now that I know we will face some partially trained apprentices, and these other demons we will prepare appropriately. Go. And send a messenger to the north for the army to begin moving southwards immediately.”

The commander fled from his lord’s wrath gratefully, glad he hadn’t shared the same fate as that lone insurgent had. He had been brought to Terimak, mostly dead, drained of blood from a surely deadly wound in the side. But he had screamed loudly enough to wake the dead when Terimak had realized that Mistrew truly was dead, and the attack had been lead by another. And the screams hadn’t stopped quickly either, for Terimak reveled in the pain. He had been upset when the man’s heart had given out quite suddenly, but it had lasted long enough to sate his anger.

The guards followed Terimak as he walked into his own tent and settled into his chair. The attackers had evaded him, some odd form of magics had prevented them from finding them, and even now he felt misgivings over the entire episode. Unraveling the strange shield had taken him some time and the weavings had been stronger than he would have expected, but of an unusual flavor. They seemed to lack the kind of pain he was used to finding in the spells and he had spent an inordinate amount of time looking for traps that just weren’t there. Who would weave a protective shield without giving it some teeth, something to injure those who contacted it. And who would leave such a shield without some trap laid into it to deal with the unwary and force your foe to be at least a little cautious. Either his foe was particularly stupid, the nature of the raid suggested against that, or they just didn’t think that way. That likelyhood seemed even more ridiculous than the fact that they were just magically stupid but it added to the feeling that he was dealing with something completely unknown. And that made him worried.

Chapter 19

The group that gathered at the rally point was smaller than that which had assaulted the enemy encampment. 10 of their number had fallen or were killed during the assault and another 30 were injured to some degree or another. The casaulties were light considering the disparity in numbers, but the surprise and panic caused by Narn and the scouts had allowed them to get in and out with minimal casaulties. They had further cause to celebrate for they had captured 200 of the cavalry horses, giving them plenty of remounts for their numbers, and had managed to drive off more than 1500 more of the horses, many of them would be injured in the resulting panic, and it would take days to round up those that they could. Until then fully half of the enemy cavalry would be little more than footmen. And they had managed to start fires through the enemie’s supplies. Fires that even now were burning through the camp uncontested as Terimak sent out his troops to track them down.

Terimak’s troops had been caught up in the illusion Riulan and laid down behind them and even now were pursuing the mirage through the woods northwards, getting ever further away from the recovering troops. As such the Scouts raid would escape without further pursuit, easing their burden of the wounded and easing the pressure on the small band.

Despite all of the successes and the light casaulties, it was the sight of the wounded Narn that paradoxically did the most to improve their morale. The very fact of his survival seemed like a miracle for all of them recognized the killing blasts used by the Sorcerer’s. And while he was lost in a world of agony until Riulan was able to get to him and begin healing the wounds, his very survival seemed to be a sign of their success.

“My Lord. We are ready to ride for Khratoum as soon as you order it.” Tel’mar addressed Narn reverently, as he stood back from Riulan and the wounded Elf. The scouts gathered around in concern waiting to see their commanders response. “Let us ride. It would appear that once again despite the odds we have survived. And you know, I do believe we’ve managed to anger the good Lord Terimak.” A light laughter followed his merry pronouncement and he rose, supported lightly by Riulan, “Let us go and pay a visit now to his city and see if we can’t convince them to choose another ruler.”

As the scouts turned to their horses only Riulan saw the low of pain that briefly crossed Narn’s face and he spoke in a whisper to her, “Bring my horse here if you would. I don’t think I could walk to it but I don’t want them to know that.” He looked at her with a smile and she nodded numbly.

All about her the scouts joked and laughed. She had already healed the worst of their wounds, and those wounded even now accepted the good natured joking of their compatriots on their luck. As she grabbed the reins of Narn’s horse, from among the mounts, she saw Tel’mar speaking to two of the scouts corporals who turned and immediately gathered the rest of the captured horses and half of the scouts, including all of the wounded, and rode away. Going to tell the our army of the success here. She thought lightly realizing how much of the morale rested on such tales and on the calm, confident image Narn even now projected.

She rode back to Narn’s side and watched with concern as he carefully mounted his horse. He was seated before he called out to Tel’mar, “Tel’mar, take point and have outriders to the sides. Try not to let anybody know we are coming and let’s see if we can’t ride a few more miles tonight before settling in to rest.”

The party set off, the scouts assigned to outrider duties fading into the trees around them as they watched their assigned sides. Narn and Riulan rode quietly amongst the remaining troops. As they set off Riulan rode closer to Narn and speaking quietly, “Your kind are even stronger than Erimbril had led me to believe. I know you aren’t affected by magic in the same ways we are, but that blast would have killed just about anybody without protections.”

Narn glanced over at the healer and a crooked grin turned his features almost boyish for a moment before he spoke, “I’ll tell you a secret Master Healer. My family is generally despised amongst the rest of the Fae for the very reason that I survived that attack. The males of the family are completely incapable of wielding even the simplest of magics. It runs through the males and has never skipped a generation that I know of. Even the females find magic difficult to learn, but they can learn it. I on the other hand can’t even manipulate the power around me to do something as simple as light a candle. Some of the families believe our blood is tainted. Some say by humans,” he smiles a Riulan briefly, “though only their arrogance would allow them to believe such would prevent us from wielding power.” He sighed briefly and then continued, “On the other hand, our own power resists change. It is generally harder to affect us with magics. That blast likely would have killed Galdacil or Erimbril if they hadn’t had protections, protections they almost always have ready. Only healing magics work well on us. I have a feeling that’s because healing magics are merely returning our bodies to the way they were, and our own power aids that or at the very least doesn’t try to stop it.”

Riulan watched him as he spoke and she saw then the pain of his statements. Not the pain the wounds still caused him, but the deeper pain of being reviled by his own people his entire life. “Please, call me Riulan, Master Healer is too impersonal,” she asked quietly, ”And Erimbril and Galdacil? They are not of your family?”

She was unprepared for the laughter that escaped him then, “Hardly Riulan.” His mouth quirked in that boyish grin again, “Erimbril comes from a long line of mages amongst the Fae lords. He himself had only recently finished his apprenticeship though. Galdacil though, he comes from the current ruling family of the Fae. Oh he’s something of a black sheep amongst them, since he spends his time with me and Erimbril, and he disapproves of his families traditional distrust, really call it hatred, of humans. But he’s still held in high esteem amongst our people. He’s born to lead and he was merely on a leave from our own guard when we were taken here. He’s been commanding troops for probably your entire lifetime and more.” Narn smiled, “In truth his desire to lead and command has led us on many an argument for I tend to be stubborn when I believe I’m right and don’t take well to being told what to do.”

“And what is it that you did among your people?”

Narn smiled again, “Would you believe I was a woodcutter?” Narn’s laughter at Riulan’s stunned look was light, not mocking, and the party rode on through the forest while she struggled to process all that he had told her.

Tel’mar grunted when Riulan told him Narn’s comment later that evening as the camp was set up. “Lord Erimbril had told me of the Lord Narn’s position.” Tel’mar explained, “Saying he was a woodcutter is like saying that Mistrew was a minor worker of magics. Lord Narn was the son of the guildmaster of woodcrafters. In addition he is a master wood carver himself. Apparently, as well, the woodcutters of the Fae are also the wardens of the land, and Narn was second in command of the militia they formed, and considered by many to be the logical successor to his father, when his father should choose to step down. His only failing was his inability to master the bow, but his stealth was such that he could hunt deer with a knife if he so chose to, though he never hunted himself.” He turned towards the fire as he finished brushing his horse and the two walked towards it, “Though it doesn’t matter what or who he was before. He’s our commander. And not a one of the men wouldn’t follow him wherever he will lead.”

Chapter 18

Terimak watched in annoyance as the confusion rippled outwards from the fires and looked with puzzled eyes at the bright weaving light that one of the enemies seemed to be wielding. The sword, as he realized it was after a moment, seemed to contained a great deal of power and with a start Terimak realized that this must be one of the strange demons. Though he looked more like a man than any demon Terimak had seen. Perhaps Mistrew hadn’t summoned up demons at all but had merely found a way to arm some of his retainers with weapons strong enough to injure demons. Pitiful to look at really but the blades power must have explained the confusion. He snorted once seeing that Ormang had arrived, finally, at the scene and watched with anticipation as his demon lord attacked the stranger. The conclusion of the fight left him stunned for a moment though before his anger got the better of him.

“Fools!” He stepped forward, the recent energy he had gathered pouring into his hands, merging with power from within himself as he bound power and pain into the spell, making it strong enough to stop a man’s heart. He would take the sword for himself and study how it was that Mistrew had bound such power into the blade. And he released the bolt at the stranger as they cleared the fearful ring of his troops, a eye searing bolt of power that struck the warrior squarely in the back. Terimak’s laughter was loud as he waited for his vision to clear. His laughter ended immediately though when he saw the stranger, staggering to be sure, his back smouldering from the spell, but undeniably alive. Terimak could only look in surprise and then somebody revealed themselves. The power blazing within the form could only be Mistrew himself, diminished greatly but somehow he had hidden his power to get this close to Terimak, and Terimak hadn’t prepared for such a challenge. Terimak fled from the hill to put it’s protection between himself and his foe, dragging his honor guard with him. He put that warrior out there with protections purely to draw me out! He knew I would strike him down! “After the strangers! Kill them all!” he screached even as he lashed about him with tendrils of pain to anybody within reach of his spells.

Narn staggered as the blast of power struck him, almost going to his knees and his teeth snapping shut in the sudden agony. It passed but the pain didn’t and he could feel the cracking of the skin on his back even as he tried to remain standing. He only vaguely heard Tel’mar’s shouts, but he could feel Riulan’s power as she released her cloaking spell. He felt the hands guiding him along as they left and managed to get on the back of a horse as they rode. And for a time all he knew was the pounding of the road and the pain searing through his body as he felt his horse led along the path.

Riulan saw the bolt strike Narn and she recognized the killing blast of power. Like all around her she was shocked to see him still standing but she knew that whatever hold he had on the enemy was broken now that they had seen him injured. She threw away the spell Erimbril had taught her to hide her power. She began weaving a shield, looking for the source of that bolt even as she heard Tel’mar ordering two of the scouts to lead Narn to the horses and the rest to cover their retreat.

Her spell snapped into place as the enemy troops and demons began moving and the first of them encountered the glowing blue shield she had tied into place with something akin to surprise.

Tel’mar grabbed her arm briefly, barely even giving the shield a glance and turned her back towards the horses behind them. “Come my lady. Lord Narn is mounted and we must escape now.” She nodded briefly and they ran to horses, two of the scouts already setting off with Narn’s mount guided between them. As the rest of them set off Riulan heard the sounds of the enemy as they went around the barrier she had left, moving through the forests. Tel’mar’s breathless words echoed her thoughts as they rode, “We’ll never escape them if we stay togethor.”

“Perhaps not but if we split up they will surely overtake and destroy one of our groups. I may have a better way.” Riulan began forming the power around her, holding on to the horse tightly, hoping that no branches came out of the night while she was busy, weaving again the spell to shield her power against detection. At the same time she formed images of the group, weaving the starlight into the images. Remembering the hounds she pulled the scent of the horses and bound it up as well into the spell, and pointed away from their path, towards the north. As soon as it was released an image of the group, running flat out shimmered into existence and raced to the north. Shuddering with the strain of the casting Riulan gathered power again from herself and used it to scour the path behind them, catching the scent and traces of their passage, and trying to hide them, at least for a time.

She came out of the trance, the group still racing headlong through the forest, to see all of the scouts glancing back at her with wonder and not a little fear in their eyes. She called to Tel’mar as they rode, “That should delay them at least and now nobody will be killed should they pursue.” His look was troubled before he nodded in acceptance and spurred to the front, “To the rally point!”

Chapter 17

Narn crept quietly, Riulan close by his side and his scouts spread out behind him. He had personally dealt with the few demon hounds that had been patrolling this side, and had done so silently. He could feel his blade pulsing with the closeness of the demons and it was only with effort that he kept it from lighting up again. He turned back and gestured with his right hand towards the camp, breaking up his scouts and giving them their targets. The plan was simple. Hit hard, and quickly. Kill what they could and then when they started seeing the first real sign of resistance, they were to get out again and ride. If they could get some of the army to follow them, all the better since they wouldn’t be heading back to the castle. The more of the army that followed them, the less that would be marching towards the castle and it’s defenders.

He lept up lightly and ran into the camp, invisible in the darkness until the last moment when he leaped into the firelight. His sword blazed up throwing the area around him into stark, brilliant lighting. He shouted his battle cry as he descended upon the demons and humans to complete the surprise and shock. He tried to move as quickly as he could, stopping to only to kill those that opposed him directly and to throw burning branches at tents and wagons on his way through. And he heard the sound of hundreds of voices raised in panicked cries as his scouts erupted from the forests edge and descended upon the enemy camp.

Narn and his glowing blade soon became the center of the enemies attention and he quickly continue moving, leaving humans alone as often as not, to cut down the demons amongst the camps denizens. Morale was all important and the ease with which he moved through their camp, and the disdainful looks he threw the cavalry often served as effectively as killing them as they fled before him and the path of demon corpes he left behind him. It further unnerved the demons to look upon the burning blade, and to feel it’s hunger as it cut them down, cutting through their tough skins like paper. Quickly Narn had created a general rout and his scouts immediately moved to burn the supply wagons and to escape with as many of the cavalry horses as they could. The rest they scattered.

Narn turned from cutting down a particularly nasty flying demon to give the orders to pull back. He saw the sudden look of horror in Riulan’s eyes as he did and with a sudden motion threw himself forward realizing his mistake. The massive demon blade whistled through the space he had just vacated and he felt the tug briefly of the wind of it’s passing. Rolling back to his feet Narn found himself facing a massive demon lord in armor.

Ormang’s sneered at his foe, “So small. I don’t know why they are all so afraid of you.” He stepped forward, his massive black blade whistling on the backhand, “You’ve annoyed me pest.” And with a clang and hissing sound the two blades met, Ormang’s turned to slide down Narn’s blade to bite into nothing but air.

By the Light that demon hit hard. Narn’s hands still felt slightly numb from the effort of turning that blade aside. He could feel Nyarhyanda burning as he turned his blade and thrust forward, hoping to stay somewhat out of reach of the taller demon. He felt the blade cut briefly and the look of surprise on demon’s face, as Narn’s blade cut through the side of his armor and nicked at his side, would have been comical if it had been on something less frightening. As it was the wound seemed to only enrage him more as though he were unused to being the recipient of pain.

This time Narn choose not to meet the blade though and he stepped back as his foe’s sword whistled through the area he had been. He dipped his blade briefly and scored lightly against the unarmored hand of the demon, the wound wasn’t deep but it begain oozing a greenish blood almost immediately and the demon Lord took a step back. The smooth counters and speed came as an unwelcome surprise. Ormang was obviously more used to brute force, and against most foes his blade would easily power through an attempt at blocking it. The two circled slightly testing each other’s defenses as a small crowd of soldiers and demons began to gather, watching the fight. Narn briefly realized that he was going to be hard pressed to escape if they all choose to attack, and he had another moment of shock when he realized that Riulan and Tel’mar’s squad had stayed, their weapons drawn, watching their commander battle.

The moment of surprise was noticed by Ormang and he rushed Narn, his blade thrusting towards the chest, his full weight behind the outstretched arm. Narn had time to react only by instinct and training as he twisted his sword through a circular motion, slowly pulling his hand back as he set himself. The sound of a blade entering flesh was clearly audible as Ormang’s blade harmlessly passed to Narn’s left, guided away by the manuever, and Ormang’s own hilt seemed to pull Narn’s blade up into the demon’s chest. Ormang never had a chance to make a sound as white fire erupted into his chest and the blade emerged from his back. And a sudden silence descended upon the scene as Narn stepped back and pulled his sword from the smoking corpse of the demon lord. The fight’s sudden end all the more shocking for it’s unexpected outcome.

Nobody moved as he turned to leave. Riulan and the scouts followed as he left.

Chapter 16

“Bastards!” The sound of a glass shattering against the basalt stone punctuated Terimak’s outburst. He turned angrily and began stalking back and forth in his tent. “Bring me a slave. Any slave! They continue to mock me.” Terimak’s pacing ended as he threw himself into his chair, his anger barely contained.

The sounds of struggling heralded the return of one of his demonic guards, carrying the unfortunate sacrifice.

Terimak rose, almost purring his satisfaction, “They will learn though and they will kneel before me. As all the world will kneel before me and I will destroy the council of Seven and put myself in their place.” His hand caressed the side of the slave before him before he started. The feeling of bliss began almost immediately as he began ripping the very life from the slave before him. Tearing all traces of power from the body as brutally as possible. He imagined doing the same to the Council and for a moment nearly lost control, his anger and power slipping its bonds briefly. He reasserted control with some effort and methodically began stripping the life from the slave as brutually as possible. He left the heart and brain for last, so that the slave would live as long as possible. The agony would be all the more exquisite for the care taken in prolonging the death.

When Terimak exited his tent, several hours later, the screaming had after a few hours, to be replaced with the giggling of the terminally insane, though that had ended before the death of the poor creature, it’s vocal cords drained of life shortly before Terimak had drained it’s brain and heart of all life and power. He idly savored the feeling tasting once again the combination of bliss that the infusion of power always brought, along with the satisfaction the screams and agony brought as well. He moved confidently to the command tent, “General Ormang. How goes preparations to destroy the fools who defy my new rule?”

The Demon Lord stood almost 9 feet tall, his massive frame held a brownish tinge to it, and added to the impression of bark that his tough skin provided. Even with the toughness of his skin though he wore plate mail, tinged red by the forging process. He bowed to Terimak, “It all proceeds apace My Lord Terimak. We should be at the castle tomorrow. All indications are that they have shut themselves in and are merely awaiting our arrival.” A hideous grin stretched across his face, stretching his lips over sharpen teeth, “Probably afraid to meet us in the open because we would tear them limb from limb.”

“Excellent. We will finish this quickly. You are to send your demons at the front gates immediately. Give them no time, break the gates if they have managed to repair them, and get in there. Bring me the three demons who are there if you can but kill them if you must. Regardless I want their bodies though, so no eating them. Make that clear.”

Terimak studied the maps, not that they made much sense to him but more to seem like they did. In truth, outside of the commander of his cavalry forces probably none of his ‘generals’, demons for the most part since he had excuted the others, really used the maps.

“My Lord!” A flustered cavalry officer came running up to the command tent, “Something’s happening on the western side of camp!” As though to punctuate his statement flames began leaping from tents and the sounds of shouts, roars and roars slowly began to become audible.

Terimak looked annoyed and glared at Ormang, “Too frightened to meet us in the open ehh? Go deal with this! Or you'll be serving me one last time!"

Chapter 15

“Mistrew is either dead, or practically powerless. Why will you and the rest of the council not accept me as one of the ruling Seven? I do not ask for Mistrew’s place, for I am much to new, but my power and ability is undeniable.” Terimak’s voice resonated with smooth, oily assurance of his power as the remaining six members of the Council of Seven faced his image in the council chambers. “Have I not proven my right to take his place by taking his power, and his lands, for my own?”

“The citadel still stands against you Apprentice Terimak. And if rumors are true it is even held against you by the former servants of Mistrew and the demons he summoned. Until you clean up this mess, and bind or destroy those demons we will not consider you for membership. The council of Seven can quite easily become the council of Six.” The speaker, Cal’rathon, was a gaunt figure, reminiscent more of a scarecrow than a man, if such things were clothed in the finest silks. He stood now first amongst the remaining council members and his obvious dislike of the younger Sorcerer colored his arrogant tones. “The Council has spoken.” With a disdainful gesture the image of the young Sorcerer vanished. “Arrogant child. He tries ones patience with his ridiculous babble.”

“Be that as it may, he is right. Mistrew is dead. We have confirmed it ourselves and the report is from one of Mistrew’s own apprentices who had no reason to lie to us. After all, he was encouraged to tell the truth.” The high pitched voice of Itharn was at odds with his massive girth. The overweight Sorcerer wasn’t terribly tall but his chair was specially designed for him. His laugh, more of a giggle, as he spoke of encouraging was particularly odd coming from such a large man.

Cal’rathon looked out at the other 5 Sorcerer’s gauging them.

Itharn was easily the largest of the three and quite frankly the most disgusting. His black hair was limp and oily, and his clothing, while made of the finest materials, showed recent stains of food and drink. And worse likely, since it was rumored that Itharn was more than happy to take a personal hand in torturing individuals and sacrifices before killing them.

Melurial was the only woman on the council, her beautiful features kept so by constant application of her power. Tall and willowy with long flowing blond hair, her graceful form did little to hide how deadly she was. Her brown eyes were hard and in the presence of the rest she lounged contentedly but with an aura of barely concealed power. His pale blue dress accentuated her figure and she sat, her latest lover kneeling on the floor by her.

Talten was a middling height man, non-descript in many ways and probably the smartest of all of the Sorcerers. He had passed for a normal human numerous times before and dressed relatively sedately, avoiding the silks his companions and their apprentices wore. He was currently dressed in comfortable but simple clothing. But Talten was a master of gathering information and his spies seemed to be everywhere. It was one of the reasons he was the only one of the Seven who had never needed to defend his position, since any apprentice who began to plot against him was disposed of quietly before it ever came to an open conflict.

Belkin, on the other hand, was a massive man. He seemed more of a warrior than a Sorcerer, standing over six feet tall, and massively built. Yet for all of his brutish appearance, Belkin was fond of the subtle approach. He had often used his appearance to undermine his opponents opinion of him and prevent them from taking him seriously. But he was content to use brute force when such a method was sufficient, and unlike the rest of the council, had taken the time to study military affairs. In fact his position as head of their master’s personal guard had been crucial to their betrayal of him.

The last member of the council, Gentern, was a quiet individual. None of his companions knew much about him for he had been a friend, if any of them could be said to have such, of Mistrews. He, like Mistrew, had taken few apprentices, apparently more interested in studies and exploration of magic, than in power. What was most remarkable though was that he, of all the council, was one of the Fae, one of those who had joined the Sorcerer’s and were perhaps the most hated of them. Changed by the darker magics they had used, he was also the most feared of the council for none could truly understand his plans and thoughts. His eyes, changed to a pure white by the magics, combined with his white hair gave him a washed out look, adding to otherworldliness of his appearance.

Cal’rathon himself had been the second to join the original conspiracy to overthrow their master and use his death to fuel their flight to this pristine world and seal the pathway behind them. With Mistrew’s death he could finally take up the reigns of power that had long been held by the first amongst them though he had no illusions that he would have to defend himself from challengers should he falter at any time.
“Mistrew’s death does leave us with an opening and once Terimak has cleared up the demons that Mistrew released in dying we can give him a position on the council. But we will not include him in the bindings of the Demon Lord, Karzander. Terimak is overly ambitious so we will want to watch him closely. Hopefully he will be satisfied with Mistrew’s position and consolidating his position. Though most of Mistrew’s former apprentices have already promised their support of Terimak.” Cal’rathon looked amongst the council members, “Now that we have handled that minor bit of business what else is there?”
Itharn’s immediately began speaking, glee easily apparent,“My agents amongst the plains tribes south of Taibriz have convinced them to attack Taibriz in 2 weeks time. I figured we could all send some of our demon forces down there and move the council meetings down. The tribes are ripe for culling and we could all use this to let our more restless minions play.”

“That sounds like a plan since it has been at least 2 generations since last we culled the tribes. I would like to see what specimens I can gather amongst those would survive the forces we will unleash.” Melurial’s smile was reminiscent of a tigress preparing to eat her next meal, as she petted her toy’s head.

The rest joined in the discussion as plans were made to move the council’s meetings to Taibriz and to personally involve themselves in chastising the nomadic tribes. After all, they all agreed that some semblance of ‘freedom’ was necessary to keep their slaves happy, and the tribes gave them a perfect group to occasionally toy with and use as hunting herds to keep their demonic pets happy. It was necessary to bleed the tribes heavily from time to time though to prevent them from becoming a real threat.

Chapter 14

Narn finished adjusting the cinch on the saddle before turning to Tel’mar. The younger man had just finished explaining, in patient detail, why Riulan couldn’t accompany the scouts as the healer. “I don’t care if she’s a woman Tel’mar. She’s the best healer we’ve got, and from what Erimbril tell’s me she’s learned more of the rest of the magics he knows than any other student. And she’s not any louder than the rest of you are going to be moving through the forests. And probably quieter than the others we could take. She comes.”

Tel’mar frowned and continued, patiently, trying to explain,“The Archmage Erimbril may indeed be right that she is the best student of his. But she’s a woman! We all respect her skills at healing Lord Narn, but how can we protect her if we are fighting superior forces?”

Narn sighed as he thought to himself, She’ll probably need our protection less than we’ll need hers if we really get into it. She’s the only one who’s likely to be able to stop Terimak’s spells if it comes down to that. Or Erimbril, but they need him here.

“I can protect myself Tel’mar. Or would you care to try me?” came the furious response, not from Narn, but from Riulan herself. A faint glow of power surrounded her as she spoke, and the fury in her voice was enough to cause even Narn to step back.

Tel’mar’s eyes widened and his stuttered response was drowned out by Riulan’s words, “And don’t you, or any other of the scouts even think about saying another word. I am coming, and you will accept it. We don’t have time to put up with your stupidity. Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I can’t fight in this war.” She glared at all of the scouts as she spoke, ending her sentence looking at Narn, challenging him to contradict her.

Narn’s response was patient, but easily audible in the silence after that challenge. “Why don’t you stop terrorizing the men who you will have to heal later Master Healer. I don’t think any here will further question your right to ride with us.” With that he turned to lead his horse out of the courtyard towards the road, “Everybody form up outside the gate. We will be leaving in shortly.”

Chapter 13

The sound of a thousand men, gathering equipment and falling into formation was plenty loud the next morning, but it was the sound of 18 horses and their riders which cut through the morning. The arrival of the wounded scouts caused a ripple of silence and sudden stillness. Garth got down off his horse as Narn approached the group, a grim look on his face. “M’lord. The Sorcerer’s army has started moving. And he’s left behind most of his human troops to push ahead with the demons and his cavalry. He’ll only be 3 or 4 days behind us at most. And he’s got demon hounds patrolling the area around his army constantly. We lost Rilen and another trooper to the damn things.We would have lost more if they hadn’t stopped to devour the bodies.” A look of revulsion crossed his face as he spoke and he looked back, “I’ve got several wounded as well though we did manage to kill one of those things before getting away from them.” Narn nodded said, “Take your men to the healers then. I’ll come to talk to you some more later. See that they get treated though.”

Galdacil spoke as he approached Narn, even as the scouts moved away towards the infirmary, “This sounds like an ideal opportunity to hit him. He’s left behind most of his footsoldiers, we don’t have to worry about hitting humans now.”

Narn shook his head though, “No it’s not. Those demons can move faster than your cavalry if they really choose too, short term anyway. And we wouldn’t have the time to play games with them out there. If he’s smart and we tried too he’d just force march to the castle itself and leave us with our best troops stuck outside the castle and too few to break through to the castle itself. It might not be too bad with a smaller group but if the three of us got caught outside the castle itself would be in some dire straights.”

Erimbril had quietly joined the two, “He’s right. On the other hand perhaps Narn can take his scouts out and ambush them a time or two. Morale here isn’t going to be great but if we can sting the army before it gets here it’ll do a lot of good to keep the men here fighting.”

“We can sting them, some ambushes against the demons and then fading back into the woods around here. I’ll need at least one healer to come with us though so we can take care of our wounded.” Narn looked back over the troops and sighed, “And I don’t think we’ll be able to stand by ourselves. We should really consider whether we can convince some of the towns further out to turn against their Sorcerer’s and join us. We are going to need help against these forces if he can bring up his human footsoldiers while the Demons keep you pinned inside.”

Tel’mar spoke up, “The town of Khratoum is only a week away by horse. And it’s one of the Sorcerer Terimak’s towns. He’ll likely have left other troops there and it’s traditional for the troops to surrender to another Sorcerer if the demons in the town are defeated.”

Narn nodded at that point, “Our best bet is to hit the army before it gets here and then head for the town. We aren’t going to be much help here once things settle in. And if it wasn’t for how low morale was I’d suggest just leaving the castle and making a run for it. Do you think you can hold out long enough?”

Galdacil looked around the castle and it’s walls, “We should be able to last at least a couple of weeks. When this is over though we are going to have to sit down and really put togethor a strategy. The rest of the Sorcerer’s aren’t going to sit around waiting for us to come to them and we need to figure out what we have to work with.”

Weldan grunted in response to that as he and the rest of the captains came up, “Let’s get through this first. The troops want to know if they are moving out or not.”

“Let them stand down Weldan, but the scouts will still be going out. We’ve go preperations to make though.” Galdacil nodded to Narn, “Take care out there.”

Chapter 12

“20,000 footmen? You have to be kidding, where did he get such numbers from?” Galdacil’s tone of disbelief was understandable, the population remaining in Mistrew’s entire keep and the surrounding farm lands was just under 5,000. “And another 4,000 cavalry. Where did he get all of these men?”

Narn shrugged briefly, “From what I can tell we are actually in something of an oddity. The Sorcerer who summoned us is apparently unusual for not keeping larger numbers of men and cities around his keeps. In fact he’s the only one who doesn’t have his tower in a major city. He seems to have distrusted large numbers of people, and his status as first of the Seven, combined with his magical prowess was enough to prevent any other Sorcerer from trying to move against him alone. And he never attempted to widen his power base directly, so he has never had need of an army. Up until this point whenever a former apprentice would challenge him he was able to raise enough demonic forces to route the other’s armies.”

Galdacil grimaced and rubbed his face, “This is much worse than we expected. There is no way we can meet those forces in the open, and supported by as many of the demon-kin as you report they are we’ll be hard pressed just to hold the castle walls even with the training I’ve been putting them through. How is it though that we defeated this Mistrew so easily if he was so powerful?”

Erimbril leaned back as he took up the explanation, “Simple really. Surprise. That and fatigue. The spell he had crafted was extraordinarily potent. From what I can tell we are even further from the lands of Fae than I would have originally thought, and there is mention as well of a barrier, one that prevents interaction between this realm and the rest of the worlds. It’s one of the reasons we’ve never found this stronghold before, and probably never would have. Mistrew was quite frankly exhausted. I don’t even think I could attempt the spell he used and the power required would have drained him. He also just wasn’t expecting anything like us. He never had a chance to put up any defenses against us. It’s been at least two thousand years since they fought the Fae and he likely doesn’t use those kinds of protections anymore. If he had.” Erimbril shuddered, “If he had put up the kinds of protections against us that he had against the demon lords there is no way I could have broken them before he recovered enough to at the very least send us back or to the demon realms.” Erimbril grinned slightly, “Of course if he had been fully with it he would never have summoned us in the first place, and if he had and sent us elsewhere he still would be in the same position he was before he used up all his power, that of losing a war to a student who is even more devious than he is and as powerful.”

“So, we aren’t going to be able to hurt Terimak?” Riulan asked, after exchanging a look with Weldan.

“I didn’t say that. This apprentice, Terimak. I doubt he has any clue as to what we are. And likely doesn’t even know the simplest protections against our kind. His spells still affect us of course, but the differences are enough that what would kill you will only injure us severely. That may be enough. And the addition of 15 trained mages, working in concert, should be enough to keep his demon princes busy and uncomfortable. But we really need to whittle down his army before he gets here.”

Weldan leaned forward at that point, “Then we are going to have to ambush them outside the city.” He looked at Narn at that point, “Your scouts are the only ones who have been training to hide in the woods and they know the terrain the best. What do you think you can accomplish?”

All four turned to Narn and he cleared his throat briefly, “I only have 100 scouts. As a force they wouldn’t accomplish too much. I could sting them, but that’s about all. On the other hand…” He stopped to think about it, his eyes unfocusing briefly as he stopped to think things over, “If.. If I could be given 500 of your best troops. One we can trust to follow orders and who can ride. I could make a quick strike, once, against the army. An attack at night should allow us to get in and out of their camp quickly without major losses. And if we do it right we can aim for the demon forces in the camp. Night would mean the humans in the camp would be sleeping, so we wouldn’t be fighting men. I’d prefer to concentrate on the demons because those troops, if we can defeat this Sorcerer, will be our best source of new recruits.”

Galdacil nodded, “That sounds good. And if Erimbril and one of the healers accompanies you then they can stop many of the magics and provide you with magical support.” He looked around the rest of the table and said, “In fact I think we could even mount 1000 of our best and I will lead them. Weldan has the training covered and the more damage we can do on this attack the stronger we will be later. We won’t get another chance to strike at him like this and the army won’t be expecting this kind of attack, especially without the telltale traces that a demon reinforced group would have.”

He looked around the room and nodded, “Good let’s put it togethor people. I want to have the strike force ready to move out by tomorrow. The sooner we hit them the less time they have to discover what’s going on here.” He stood, moved off with Weldan, “We will need to figure out which people you think I should take and make sure I leave you enough to keep the rest training and organized.”

Riulan looked at Erimbril as the two of them left, “I’ll go as the healer. None of the rest are strong enough or ready enough to be able to help more than a few people. And they can continue the training you’ve set them on while we’re gone.”

Erimbril looked thoughtful as they walked through the halls, “Your probably right.” He grinned at her as they walked into the area the Mage’s had claimed for their work, “But even if you weren’t I don’t think I’d want to argue with you. Your stubborn enough that it wouldn’t matter what I’d say.”

Chapter 11

Narn observed the camp and the captains departure from the command tent. His scouts had been following and observing the last stragglers from the defeated army for two weeks now. They had been able to confirm for Narn that they were indeed tracking the army they were looking for. Narn had learned, from many of the people of Mistrew’s keep, that it wasn’t unusual for several of the Sorcerer’s to attempt additional attacks when two such powers began to fight each other. Only the sudden surprise of the attacks, and the relative power of both of Sorcerer’s had kept any of the others uninvolved. Some also suggested that Terimak may have made certain deals with some of the local lords to buy their disinterest in the current power struggle.

Regardless of the reason, Narn had confirmed that this was indeed the army to be concerned about and the only one in the area. It’s size was such that he felt a little concerned, but he trusted Galdacil’s planning in these matters. Especially when such planning left him on the outside of the castle, free to do as he saw fit. But now was not the time to reveal that to his foes and so, without a sound, and barely a visible sign, he, backed down the slight hill and away from the army, vanishing into the woods, heading back to the meeting spot 2 miles away where the horses waited.


“M’lord Narn, we are all accounted for and indications are that we weren’t observed.”

Narn looked at Tel’mar his new second in command of the scouts spoke. The young man who had taken the lead amongst the original complement had turned out to be quite good with a bow, quiet in the woods and with a personality which proved useful in somebody who had to help lead the collection of hunters, soldiers and crooks that comprised the scouts. Narn had decided to set him up as Sergeant for the scouts, since he had been the one to gather the rest of them up. And he hadn’t found cause to regrett it.

“Good. Let’s head back. We’ll leave Garth and Rilen’s squads to watch the army from a distance, in case they start moving again. Galdacil and Erimbril need to know what we’ve seen here.” Narn mounted his horse as he spoke and his voice was tinged with a wary concern, “The army here is nearly double the size we expected. I think our Sorcerer friend is more cautious than we gave him credit for and he’s gathered up nearly everybody he could after his original army was defeated. And they are only 1 weeks march from the castle if they chose to push it.” He turned his horse and the rest of his scouts fell in behind him. “We’ll ride throught he night, we should be able to make it to the castle by tomorrow if we do. And we will need to know when this army begins moving again. So no delays.” The horses set off, while the two squads, 20 men total, split off to set up separate camps and begin watching the enemy encampment.

Chapter 10

“Three?” shrieked Terimak in anger, his voice nearly breaking. “How can three men defeat an army? Tell me that!”

The unlucky individual before him, a captain from the defeated army cowered away from the Sorcerer’s anger. “They were as powerful as the Demon Lords themselves m-m-m’lord.” was the pitiful, stuttered, reply.

Terimak, his black silk pants whispering as he paced, looked back at the man, his perfect features thoughtful, the earlier signs of anger erased, “As powerful as the Demon Lords ehh? It would seem so for I have been unable to recall the three I sent with that army. It doesn’t seem possible, since I know all of Mistrew’s spells and servants. Were could he have found three such powerful demons?” He glanced at the captain and then waved him out, “Take him away but do not kill him. He may serve later. The generals that have returned though are to be hung. Immediately. I do not tolerate failure.”

The captain’s collapse highlighted his obvious relief as the demon guards carried him outside of the tent.

He had been the last of the officers to have found their way to the approaching army, and the only one not of the defeated armies’ staff. Terimak had interviewed them all and the implications of what he heard did not bode well. Somehow Mistrew had summoned either demon princes whose names and existence were so well hidden that none of the rest knew of them, or he had created a new breed of creatures to serve him. Nothing else made sense, but nothing Terimak had learned suggested any way his former master could have made such creatures. And while Mistrew had been his master and teacher, Terimak had realized years ago that his knowledge of the arts had surprassed his former masters. And so he had built this army and had expected to take his place amongst the Seven, after of course eliminating one to make room for him.

He had immediately sensed the failure of his first army when the bonds of the demon lords he had placed within it had broken and with them the bonds of the minor demons attached to them. His attempts at scrying the castle had succeeded though for days, and only recently had he found them blocked by a barrier whose flavor was unfamiliar to him. But in that time he had found no trace of Mistrew. The only ones he had sensed were so slight and the energies so minor that they could be nothing more than the works of apprentices, hardly the work of one of the Seven. He had also seen no signs of magical creatures or demons. Even the minor little demons Mistrew kept around seemed gone, a realization that had left Terimak stunned with surprise.

The only explanation that offered itself was that Mistrew was either dead or had burned himself out. The building magic he had sensed weeks earlier must have been Mistrew creating those creatures during the very battle. He had held it together long enough to defeat the army and had then either died of the strain or burnt out his abilities and fled. That was the only explanation that made sense. It was entirely possible that his control of the creatures, if they had been strange demons, had wavered and they had snatched him even as they returned home, to feed upon. Even one of the Seven could be pushed beyond their limits, or make mistakes. After all, Mistrew had trained Terimak himself, creating the one who turned on him.

Terimak smoothed his shirt and picked up a goblet of wine. While drinking from it he turned over the idea of Mistrew’s death in his mind and then discarded it. His magical abilities being burnt out, that seemed much more likely and Terimak smiled. The castle had obviously been abandoned, and while Mistrew’s servants would likely fight anyway, fearing Mistrew’s return if they didn’t, they would unable to truly harm or even hinder this new army. He would continue as planned, and he would notify his troops that he wished Mistrew brought to him alive if found. It would be pleasant to have a chance to savor his victory and there were likely still things his former master could teach him. And in a weeks time he would occupy his former teachers lands, and regardless of whether Mistrew had been found, his very inability to defend his holdings would have signaled his end and that his position was open. Actually, that it had been newly occupied by his former student. As for the demons, they were likely the cause of the strange barrier, and he would find a way to contain them he was sure, when the time came and that would leave him that much more powerful.

With those thoughts he stepped out of his tent and headed towards the prisoners, perhaps he would amuse himself by executing some of his former General’s himself. They had failed him after all and their screams of anguish would be pleasant, as would the rush of power that would accompany their deaths, if he attended to it himself.

Chapter 9

The glow of power faded from Riulan’s vision as she finally released the her hold on the spell. It took her a moment before her vision cleared enough to look around the room and she realized that the rest must have stopped channeling some time ago for only she and the stranger, Erimbril, still sat in the training room.

“Ahh you have finally exhausted your power. I’m quite impressed. The rest lasted no more than an hour holding that shielding spell going. And they’ve been gone to eat and rest up for 4 hours now.” Erimbril looked at Riulan with a bit of an amused grin, “If I had realized how long you were going to hold that I would have suggested merely showing you how it was done and using those four hours more constructively.”

“Four hours?” Riulan looked about her in surprise, “But, I’m not even hungry!” Though even as she stated that her stomach gave the lie to the statement, surprising her with the sudden rumble.

“Come, we will talk along the way. Considering you have never had any training I’m quite impressed, and your own reserves of power are impressive, but depleted now. You’ll have to rest anyway before we can continue your training. Though if you are willing I’d like to start teaching some of the more advanced spells for healing and combat.”

Riulan stood and joined Erimbril as the two walked out the door, a look of stubbornness upon her face, “I won’t use such spells against men. That would make us no different from the sorcerers. So any which won’t be of use against the sorcerers or their demons don’t bother wasting my time with. I would rather heal and protect than kill.”

Erimbril looked at her wryly, “So be it. A mage who does not want to succeed finds it difficult to mold the power to their wishes. It is one of the reasons why forcing a mage is so difficult. Their own desires control the flow of power as much as the spell itself. And from what I’ve seen of your power so far, you will be a strong healer. And there is always need of such.”

The two entered into the dining hall and sat at a table, the room was mostly empty, “I wish I had more of the students who had your talents in truth and I wouldn’t begrudge them a lack of enthusiasm for the spells of destruction. In truth my own inclinations are to avoid such spells when possible. Unfortunately only you and two others show any skill with the spells of healing and only you show any skill with the protective barriers we will need. I am maintaining a barrier around the castle now, but I will have to ask you to take over maintaining it soon so I can begin to concentrate my energy towards the coming battle. The dozen of the students.” He shrugged slightly, “These sorcerers seem to only teach the apprentices spells of summoning for demons, not the greater magic weaves themselves. At least at first. If the books I’ve studied are any indication this is to prevent the apprentices from being a threat until later, when the masters have tied the apprentices in other ways.”

As Erimbril spoke a young woman came by, bringing cups of water as well as two bowls of stew and a loaf of bread to go with it. Riulan, truly hungry by this time, began eating immediately listening to Erimbril. “Why is it that I have so much more power than these others, yet the sorcerer never even tried to kill me or apprentice me?” She asked in the silence as Erimbril stopped for a moment to eat some of the stew.

Erimbril set aside the spoon and shrugged, “If I hadn’t seen you in the flesh and taken the time to look over everybody in the castle I wouldn’t have been able to pull out those that I did. Unless you are specifically looking for it the strength of those without training is impossible to see. Any kind of training will change that but simply walking past somebody, you won’t know if they have the potential for strength or not.”

Riulan looked at the Fae lord and asked, hope trembling in the question,“Do we have a real chance Lord Erimbril?”

The look of surprise on Erimbril’s face was a change from his normal demeanor but the sudden grin that followed it reassured Riulan, “Oh yes.. I think so. We know a few tricks that I doubt anybody here has ever seen before. And our little group of mages is coming along nicely. By the time that army gets here I think you’ll all be capable of countering any demonic magic. And I plan to have a few surprises for our Sorcerer friend.”

The look Riulan returned was fierce, “Good. Then let’s get started on teaching me some more. I may not be rested enough to cast them but teach me the basics.”

Ohh yes, Erimbril thought as the two stood and walked back to the training room, that Sorcerer is in for a surprise. The power of this one alone will be enough to equal a demon prince if we have enough time to teach her fully.

Gotta love the 'heavy' equipment

So, a couple of years ago my wife and I got tired of the mud arena called the 'Driveway'. So we ordered in 27 tons of crushed rock. Using a shovel, rake and wheelbarrow and the help of a good friend from time to time, I managed to move the rock around until I had a relatively nice driveway laid out. Not perfectly flat but not terrible either. And the mud problems were nicely dealt with.

Fast foward to today. With the reconstruction of our house, known as the "Great Foundation Caper", they had pretty much demolished our driveway. Digging it up to bury power and cable lines, combined with massive dumpsters and such had completely removed the crushed rock I had put down. And the contractor never got around to fixing it quite. Winter came too soon, in December(Funny that). So we took him off the project, took the money we had gotten back and we purchased some crushed rock today and rented a skid steer. My god. In the hour I've waited for the next load of sandy soil for the back.. I've gotten the same amount done on my driveway that took me WEEKS to do last time. See!

Chapter 8

With Riulan‘s acceptance of them the meeting broke up. Erimbril gathered together those of the apprentices he had decided could be trusted, as well as those like Riulan, who had the spark of power within them. Galdacil gathered up Weldan and the rest of the former officers and sergeants from Mistrew’s army. Narn though merely walked out into the courtyard and stood by the gates, looking them over and thinking. It was there by the gates, his eyes unfocused into the distance, that the group of men found him.

“M’lord Narn.” Narn turned, his thoughts brought back to the present by the comment. Before him stood several men, some obviously from the army, others seemed to possibly be hunters, and all carried bows and full quivers. The one who had spoken was a young man, no more than 18, who wore the tunic of the guard. “We’ve come to serve you m’lord. Some of us Weldan suggested come to you as scouts like these others and myself. We watched you fight, and we figure you and yours will be the first to be in any fighting. We want to be a part of that. We’ve got nothing left, Mistrew had killed all of our families by this point, or they had fallen in the battles we’ve fought. We want revenge and well..“ The young mans words trailed off, the anger still evident in his eyes and stance.

Narn looked at them all, two dozen of them standing before him and saw the echoes of anger and grief in all of them. And something more dangerous and frightening in several of them, almost a deathwish. His voice was soft, “And you wish me to help you get that revenge don’t you.” The group nodded almost as one and Narn nodded once in acceptance, “So be it. But you will all have to accept one thing.”

“What is it m’lord?”

“Life.” The looks of puzzlement amused him as he turned and headed out into the fields surrounding the castle, moving towards the forests to see what there was around.

Chapter 7

Narn awoke with a thirst and ache that he found entirely too familiar. His muttered, “The good news is that I live. The bad news is I required Erimbril’s healing spells.” Was heard by others and the conversation that had awoken him ended abruptly as the enterance to the tent was pulled aside.

“Narn! You’ve awoken. How are you feeling?” Galdacil’s first words held all good nature and little actual concern. His huge smile was reassuring to Narn though for only when as was right with the world was Galdacil quite so cheerful. Erimbril entered with the other Fae.

“I will survive. I presume we won from your own cheerful disposition.”

Erimbril nodded, “In a manner of speaking though I do not think it will be more than a momentary respite. Come, we have a council of war planned and you should be there.”

The three Fae sat next to each other at the front of the great Hall, the people of the keep sitting on benches before them, a soft murmur of questioning running through everybody until Erimbril stood and began to speak. “Our respite will be brief. Even now Lord Terimak will have learned of his armies defeat, assuming he didn’t realize it immediately. We can hope that he doesn’t realize the threat that we pose to him.” Erimbril’s words easily filled the room, though he seemed to have not raised his voice at all as he spoke with an easy authority. “From what I can gather he is not one of the original Seven and may not recognize us for what we are. I doubt your former master, or his companions, will have educated their students on an enemy they thought would never be able to threaten them. Regardless if he knows what threat we are, or not, we have no choice but to fight. And neither do any of you.”

Erimbril had immediately taken charge of matters once it had become clear that the besieging army had been defeated. He had quickly gathered all of the former apprentices and had told 3 that they should leave with that army, or by nightfall they would be killed. The others he had told they were now his apprentices and he would instruct them properly later.

Galdacil, recognizing Erimbril’s intent had gathered up all of the warriors and posted sentries. With Weldan’s support he quickly gathered what information he could on their forces and supplies. He also had the wounded, except Narn, moved into the castle and all the prisoners he had freed and fed. Both Fae realized that few here would be able to see right away what was necessary, and the people followed their directions without question.



All of this happened while Narn still slept, and by the time he had awoken the castle had pretty much settled back down. Erimbril had by this time a general idea of the state of affairs and already had his new apprentices gathering all of the former Sorcerer’s books of power. These he locked away until such time as they could be examined. He knew that many dark and dangerous secrets lay within those tomes but he also knew he did not have the time necessary to read them thoroughly enough to find the dangers now.

“What we must do now is determine a plan of action and a chain of command.” Erimbril looked out over the faces before him before continuing, “And we must also explain some things to you.” He turned to Galdacil who nodded in unspoken agreement before rising and taking Erimbril’s place.

“We are warriors of the Fae. We realize that name means nothing to you now. But I can assure you it means a lot to your foes. Our people are ancient enemies of the Sorcerer’s and if we had known of this holding of them we would have come long ago to wipe them from the face of the earth. Unfortunately we did not know of them and only your former Lord’s arrogance has brought us here. We are trapped here though and unable to summon others of our kind. So that leaves us to fight them, and we will do so with or without your help. Understand this, we will not force you. We have not come to replace your masters, but we will aid you and lead you should you wish us to. And we have no intention of losing to them. At the very least though you will be free of their wishes until then. Free to be your own people, and to make your own decisions. But you must decide now whether you will fight with us, or not.” Galdacil stood still as the whispers grew louder. They had started early on in his comments and now it seemed as though everyone spoke at once.

Finally one voice cut through the chatter, “How can we defeat an army of demons? The rest of your words mean little to us for one of the Lords has always held dominion over our people. Only the dimmest of our legends even suggest we have ever been anything but their slaves, and as soon as another of the Lords realize we have none they will move to claim us for their own. How can we hope to defeat them?”

“Demons can die, and they are not proof against magics. Magics I can teach the gifted amongst you.” Erimbril said, ”Others of our magics can provide you with protection and allow your weapons to injure your demonic foes. And many of you live today because of my spells. Those too I can teach you. And if we can defeat this Lord Terimak, then we can gather his slaves into our army and defend each other. Your legends hold a great deal of truth and we can show you how to make those legends real again.”

The same voice replied,“Yes, magics which require our blood. We know plenty about magic and the price of it.”

Angry mutters and calls accompanied these words until Riulan’s voice surprised everyone. “Their magics do not require blood to operate. At least not the ones of healing. For I have seen them myself.”

The mutters stopped immediately and whispers began again amongst the assembled people. Weldan’s movement brought silence to the room as quickly as Riulan’s words had halted the anger before. “We have no real choice in the matter since we will either be killed or forced to fight if we don’t aid you. What will you have us do?”

“We must organize our forces then. Weldan, I am told you are well respected, so I will put you in charge of gathering togethor what troops still survive from the army here. And identifying those who are capable of fighting. Erimbril will organize the apprentices he has kept, ones he believes will not betray us to the Sorcerer. And Narn, his skills in stealth and the woods are probably the equal of any of your hunters. We will give him those of the fighters who we know to be good with bows and stealth. And he will begin locating our enemy and providing us with the information we need to really begin planning.” Galdacil’s eyes looked out, “We can and will win this fight. And when this one is done we will continue on to the next. My people have never rested while a single of the Sorcerers still lived and I don’t plan to change that now. You are fighting for more than your lives. So let’s get started.”

The room erupted with buzzing converation as well as questions at that. Galdacil turned to the other two and smiled grimly, “Let’s hope we can deliver as promised.” The other two stood with him, all three joining hands between them as Erimbril spoke, “As in we’ve fought side by side, so shall we stand.”

Riulan’s voice carried to the three at that point,“And we shall stand with you, if you will let us.”
As the three turned they saw that Riulan stood there, Weldan at her side, along with several other of the humans. “We never expected to survive the battle let alone find ourselves free of the Sorcerers. We don’t want to go back to that if we can help it.”

The Fae looked at them for a moment before Erimbril’s smile broke the silence, “You won’t if you stand with us. Come, we have much to do. And you lady Healer, have much to learn as the first of my new students.”

Chapter 6

“Weldan!” Riulan looked around for the guard sergeant as she tried to hold up the strange warrior. The stranger’s blood was running down his back from a half dozen wounds that he hadn’t even seemed to have noticed before he collapsed.

The release of the strangers weight heralded Weldan’s arrival.

“Get him under one of the tents Weldan. I can’t help him out in this rain. It’s keeping the wounds from clotting. He’s bled out all over the place and I need to sew up those wounds on the back before we lose him.”

As Weldan gathered up the stranger and carried him towards one of the tents in the courtyard he spoke quietly with a simple bluntness, “The Sorcerer Mistrew is dead, lass. His apprentice is in unable to speak of anything but that. So these warriors can’t be his minions. Who are they though?”

Riulan’s step faltered for a moment, “Dead? But how could they still be here then? And if they aren’t Mistrew’s then why did they fight for us and help drive back that army. And their power.” Riulan stopped in astonishment, ”One was calling down lightening and throwing it from his hands as though he were one of the Sorcerer’s himself.” She looked at the stranger in the sergeants arms, “But they can’t be men either so what can they be but demons?”

“No. Not men but they bleed as red as men do. Unlike those black demons we’ve had to face. We’re lucky they decided to concentrate on the gate. All of their forces were centered on the gate feeling that if they could take the gates they could take the walls intact. They sent just enough to the walls to keep us busy there. If it hadn’t been for these three we wouldn’t have held even for that first charge through the gates.”

Riulan nodded even as Weldan laid the stranger down on one of the cots beneath the walls, “I had noticed. They move as though born to battle.” Riulan cut away what was left of the strangers tatter shirt as she spoke and gently wiped away the blood from his back. Riulan shook her head in confusion as she continued to work, “He’s pretty badly cut up. Weldan, hand me those rags. Weldan?” Riulan looked up as she heard Weldan move away from the bed quickly and looked at the Sergeant in surprise as he walked out the front of the tent. As Riulan stopped for a moment she heard the sounds of a ruckus outside. She quickly took the cleanest rags she had and laid them across the strangers back, hoping that the cloth would help the blood clot. That done she looked at him for a moment longer before rising and walking out to where the rising sounds of an argument were coming. She saw a crowd had formed and she suddenly recognized Weldan’s voice. Riulan ran towards the crowd and began pressing her way through it only to see the other two strangers surrounded now by the remaining defenders of the castle.

Galdacil was getting angry by this point, and the arrival of this new gray haired human hadn’t helped matters any. He kept telling them that Narn was all right but that he was being taken care of. Galdacil wasn’t particularly fond of that term and was about to draw his sword when Erimbril laid his hand on Galdacil’s arm, “Wait a moment Galdacil. I think our answer is coming.” As Erimbril finished speaking a young woman pushed through the crowd and stood looking at the two strangers. “Weldan, what’s going on?” she asked quietly. Weldan turned to Riulan with a smile, “They want to see their friend, though the taller one seems a bit hasty and is assuming we did something to him.” Galdacil seemed about to say something before a motion from Erimbril silenced him, and Erimbril spoke instead,“Our friend, healer. Might we see him?” Riulan nodded in surprise and turned, the crowd parting before her as she moved away, Galdacil and Erimbril following closely behind.

Riulan led the two into the tent where Narn lay wounded, Weldan followed closely behind and stood in the doorway keeping the rest of the curious outside. Erimbril looked at the bindings over Narn’s back and the blood, still soaking through the bandages, and splattered over Narn’s body.

“You know your craft healer with bandage and knots but don’t you have any salve or spells to stop the bleeding?” Erimbril looked directly at Riulan as he spoke and Riulan recognized something deeper to the question.

“Spells? None save the Lord Mistrew knew spells, save mayhap his apprentice. It is forbidden for any other to even look upon the books of power.” Riulan replied and looked at the two Fae uneasily. She glanced away and moved towards Narn’s form as she spoke her next words, “Where are you from? How came you to be here?”

Galdacil laughed loudly, causing Riulan to flinch where she stood, “Where we are from probably will mean nothing to you lass. The lands of the Fae have long been hidden from mortal men and will remain so. That your Sorcerer was able to pull us from suggests that there is a danger to our homeland that we hadn’t expected to see again. It has been hundreds of years since our kind drove the last of the Sorcerer’s from our homelands. But tell us lass where are we?”

Erimbril’s voice stopped whatever reply Riulan might have made, during Galdacil’s words he had moved quietly to Narn’s side and was kneeling beside him, “We’ll check the libraries later Galdacil. Let me see to Narn first, he always tends to pick up more scratches than the both of us combined.”

Erimbril’s next words were soft, but their meaning could not be hidden from Riulan, for she had witnessed the green light coming from the Lord Mistrew’s workshop when he was about, working his spells. She had never seen light as blue as that which glowed about the stranger’s hands though. He worked magic, and did so without any of the blood sacrifices she knew the Lord Mistrew required, unless his friends blood sufficed. But that seemed unlikely, for it was upon that very friend that the spell worked, as before her eyes the wounds closed over, healing as though they had happened weeks, even months ago.

“He will be weary, and thirsty. My magics can not replace blood within the body but the skin it can heal and it will prevent the corruption of the demon’s from infecting him.” Erimbril stood easily and looked at Riulan, “You do not know of these magics, as I had feared. Your surprise and fear are honest. Come, take me to your wounded and I will do what I can for them.”

Riulan wordlessly lead Erimbril towards the worst wounded as he finished speaking, and his next words took some of her hesitation with them.

“I am Erimbril lady Healer. We have not come to harm you or yours.”