The forest was dark and the trees were ominous. Tashur thought of going back, but there was no going back now. He kept traveling, never stopping. He walked for two days and still he was not through the woods. Then he heard voices, but they were almost unearthly. He shivered in his clothes. Suddenly the voices stopped short and silence ruled.
“Who goes there?” a gruff voice called. It echoed off the trees. Tashur stepped into the light of a campfire. He shirked away from the sight. There was an army gathered together. No creature was quite the same as another. There were centaurs, goblins, trolls, kobolos, dragons, and in the front of all, Tarole. He sat flinching and turning as if in pain. Each time he moved Tashur could hear his bones creaking and groaning. His mouth was smeared with blood and his feathers were shedding on the ground around him. He was chewing on a bone, gnawing off the flesh. Blood and flesh dripped down his chin and spittle came out of his mouth.
“Who are you?” he asked.
Tashur turned away and thought for a moment. “I am Adrian from the Southern Falls.”
“Kill him!” they shouted.
“Wait!” Tarole quieted them. “Let us hear what he has to say first, then we may enjoy his flesh.”
“I have come to you with valuable information. I have with me a map that will help you with your attack on the Southern Falls. In eight days they are having Coronation Day and I have a map of the placements of the army.”
Tarole eyed him with curiosity. “Have you betrayed your people?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Why? I hate hate them, but why would one of their own?”
Adrian paused and was loth to remember it. “I have been crushed and pushed aside. I have lost everyone that was once dear to me. I have become a monster inside. I have been standing guard over a man that is nearly dead, and have watched as the world moves on, while I stood in my corner. I am done with them all!” he shouted.
“Well! I am glad to hear that they have lost yet another one! If you are a lover of darkness and plan to kill and devour, then you are welcome!”
They immediately got to work on plans and Adrian slowly became accustomed to the life of the creatures of The Black Wind.
“They have an army completely surrounding the village. If we split up and go different ways then perhaps with this force we will make their lines thin. One group will travel East to the Crossergate and cross the Rathlóriel river and camp beside the foothills of Southern Falls. The other will travel West to the Berun and camp on the Western foothills of Southern Falls. Before we do this however, we must send a fair portion of troops South. It will be hard. They will have to pass Nightsedge and Port Llast, cross the Isles of Gloom and finally, reach Lynwyn. One of the men are trying to get more soldiers to aid them. We must stop them.” Adrian layed out the plan for attack.
Tarole thought considerably about the plan. “Crossing the Rathlóriel will not be easy. It is a swift river and will have a thin layer of ice by that time. Berun is also the land of the Rangers, and if they see us they will alert the rest. Nightsedge is a heavily guarded town also! Surely they will spot us out. There must be an easier way.”
“Tarole, you have sat in these woods for far too long. It is time you move and make a battle plan. Do you want to see the spell kept forever? The only way to kill Calmar and all his country is to act quickly.”
“You are right. We must choose the best of our forces for this chore. You will lead them because you seem full of knowledge of the ways of men. I will select those that will go with you,” Tarole finished.
“There is one other thing. We must be very careful that we do not venture too far East, for we do not want to disturb those wandering in The Lost Hills. We will go only as far as Rathlóriel but only there,” Adrian pointed out.
Tarole worked on picking out the best warriors, fit for much walking and running. He divided the army into three companies. One to go West, one to go East and the other to go South. The first two would wait for another day, but Adrian was to lead the third company South right away.
They started out early one morning while is was still considerably dark and rainy. Adrian was rather thankful so that he would not have to look at the horrid creatures until daybreak. They walked for most of the morning and finally came out of the woods on the Eastern side. Adrian saw the The Lost Hills, covered in a mysterious darkness. They came to Rathlóriel and stood quietly at its edge. The waters roared and sputtered, misting the company.
“What are we to do?” someone shouted. Adrian looked South-East to where they would be traveling.
“It will take us four days from here to there and back. We have one day to build some kind of a bridge to that we may cross here.”
They immediately set to work building a rather unstable bridge across the swiftly flowing river. They worked far into the night securing and preparing it for the next day. Adrian leaned against a rock and watched the creatures work by the light of the torches. Finally someone was listening to him and could command something. The hammers and axes continued into the morning hours. Finally they were finished and they began to walk across. Everything worked out and they were once again traveling. Adrian looked ahead and saw Nightsedge looming in the distance. It was one of the most heavily guarded village in Yameaus. It was the central point for the whole country and they must walk right into the trap. But he was not about to be caught. Yes, he would walk into the trap, but he would defeat them. The battlements rose higher and higher in the sky.
“Quietly now,” he said. They were still a mile away and they turned right, into a forest. They walked quietly and silently. The ground rumbled beneath the weight but they continued on with a goal in mind. When they reached the edge of the forest they were about a hundred yards from the town’s walls. They gathered just within the forest in a straight line. There were about fifty thousand creatures gathered there. The town had seventy thousand. It was a fair fight and worth it, though Adrian. He gave the call that ran down the line. Then they burst out, shattering the silence. It was an earth-shattering scream that made Adrian wince. They were blood-thirsty and flesh-hungry creatures, ready to devour their prey. The alarm went out in the town and chaos ruled. The standard went up boldly and soldiers began to file out. They were like a snake of men ready for battle. The gates opened and they came out to meet their foe. Never had these men seen such creatures as came before them now. Some turned away in disgust and repulsion. The young men who had not seen battle began to vomit on the ground. They continued to march on until the two armies clashed. Swords slashed wings and axes smashed heads. Adrian told some of his forces to sneak into the city and set it on fire. He watched as one of the creatures slowly made his way toward the gate. Then someone, seeing what he was doing, cut him into pieces, leaving him a bloody mass. Adrian heaved a sigh of disappointment. He began to slowly and discreetly make his way to the gate. It stood before as an emblem of his life before. It looked similar to the gate at the Southern Falls. Thinking of the Southern Falls made his heart pound in his head. He coward down in the crowd, afraid of being the helpless victim of their weapons. He was now very close to the gate and tried with his whole being to reach the gate and sneak into the abode. He carried the flaming torch in his hand and finally reached the city gates. The houses were made of reed and other things gathered from the forest. He grinned as he made his way to the inner town. It was in a state of utter confusion that no one noticed him. He set the flames to the houses and a great roaring went up. Women began to scream and men shouted orders. The city was going down and Adrian smiled. He gathered his men together and left the town, desolate ashes upon the ground. The smell of the burning bodies floated up to the dark heavens, an aroma of death, as if it were a sacrifice to the unknown gods. Adrian turned and looked at the corpses, the broken dreams of yesterday. Then he turned his back on the city.
In memory of the lives that were lost and the grief that is still shared. A city forgotten, stands yet on the hill. As a beacon of hope and light, it shall shine for eternity. Never was a city built that could compare with this. It was a land of hopes and dreams, an unforgettable legacy. One day it shall be immortalized and it shall stand as a sign of hope and peace to the nations forever and ever.
But Adrian had turned his back, never to see the beauty of the ashes he had spilt. An unforgiving shadow barred his way and a unreachable darkness shrouded from his eyes the very fact of life. When he was little there was always monsters under his bed, now he had created a monster in his soul.
“We will conquer and destroy whatever shall come before us, whether friend or foe, they will die,” he whispered as he trudged through the puddles of blood.
The Spell of the Winterwolf 