The Guardian Chronicles: Book 03 - The Dark Tide (18 page)

The cottage door opened inward to show a clearly relieved elven king.  He opened his arms in a warm welcoming gesture to his daughter as he stood to greet them.  He smiled as he looked at Kishi and Yukio standing before him.  He had always thought that if this scene was ever played out before him that the mad general would have Kishi’s head in his massive hands…not standing there with his little girl at his side.

“I must say that I would have never thought things would have turned out this way.  It is good to see you” he said as he gestured to the both of them to enter the quant cottage.  They both walked through the door which promptly shut once they were through.  He gave his daughter a fatherly hug before releasing her.  His eyes twinkled for the first time in years as he looked down at his eldest daughter.

After talking for nearly an hour, the three leaders re-emerged from the cottage.  They all had determined looks on their faces as they looked at the assembled high elves that were surrounded by the Landen home guard.  In the middle of the square was a stump of a rather large willow tree.  King Ciel climbed to the top of it to address the anxious crowd.  Rumors had been running wild through the high elven army over the past hour.  The civilians had also heard about the possibility of an end to the hostilities.

“I have news my friends…an accord has been reached between the elves and the high elves.  First, the nation of high elves will be allowed to continue their existence, but they will ultimately be under elven rule.  Second, they will no longer have a queen, but they will have a representative of the royal family at the head of their high elven council.  Finally, as repayment for their crimes against us and the free peoples of Tuwa, they will be responsible for rebuilding the elven capital as well as the affected areas of Landen” explained the elven king.  He spoke with greater confidence and ease than he had in over a year.  Having his eldest daughter at his side had seemed to wipe away most of the hurt and internal struggles he had been experiencing.

A cheer greeted this good news.  The high elves were worried that the punishment would be much harsher.  They had even anticipated the possibility of slavery or some kind of indentured servitude.  The question that was on all of their minds now was what they were going to do for the immediate future.  The quandary showed on their faces as the elven king looked down at them.

“For now you will be sent back to your homes on Mounts Quang and Konane.  You will defend your mountain homes and provide medical aid to our causalities of war.  This is an important service which will not go unnoticed by those you previously fought.”  He gestured in a fatherly way toward both the elves and high elves.  He was happy that this event had occurred.  The elves had been through so much in the last year that it was heartening to see his people reunited.

Lord Dükker renewed his assault on the southern cliffs after the council had met in the enchanted Forest of Renshaw.  He was on the back of Razi, his faithful gigantic spider, leading the charge.  His army of high elves that were on the backs of spiders was climbing the southern cliffs in another attempt at over running their enemies.  As they crested the top of the rocky precipice, they were astonished to see Queen Kishi standing there next to General Yukio.  They were surrounded by the knights of Landen who were armed to the teeth for a fight.  The high elven general narrowed his eyes at the pair.

Lord Aellenas called for a halt as soon as his troops had joined him on top of the plains.  He reached out immediately for Kishi’s mind so he could figure out what was going on.  As he found his mark, he found that she had no defenses up…this caused him a brief moment of pause.
  “Kishi, what is going on?  Are you a prisoner?”
asked the bewildered general.  He did not like the presence of the maniac Nairian general.  He liked it even less that he was right next to Kishi.

“I am not a prisoner…we have surrendered.  Please give me a chance to explain what has happened” yelled Kishi back to her longtime friend and mentor.  She wanted what transpired between them to be public.

“No, that is not true…you have been brain washed by that vile man!” spat the dark general in the direction of General Yukio.  Dükker’s eyes seemed to smolder and burn with a purple flame.  He rose slightly on the back of Razi as he sneered at the man he hated.  He was already drawing on sentient beings and sucking their life force out of them to bolster his attack.

Before anyone could do or say anything more, the irate General Aellenas twirled his staff as he turned to face his troops who had a momentary look of relief on their faces.  That is until they saw what their dark leader was doing.  He pointed his staff at his own soldiers with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes.  A purple vapor issued forth and literally killed everything in its path.  The spiders bucked their riders off as they flung their thick bodies over the cliff’s edge.  A thousand high elves died from that initial, unwarranted attack.  The spider steeds died as well from this attack either by the death mist or the fall down the cliff.

“Dükker…you fiend!” bellowed General Yukio viciously.  He charged at the imperious murderer as he sat atop Razi.  It was obvious that the high elven general had complete control over his steed because it did not revolt when its spawn were murdered needlessly by his master.

“Stop!” yelled Kishi as she tried to grab Yukio.  Her hands grabbed at air and she also fell to the ground when she missed her mark.  Noric took flight and gained as much height as possible.  It was clear that he was going to provide his new master assistance from above.

As the maddened general approached the still unaware Aellenas, he pulled two broad swords from their sheaths strapped to his back.  His eyes burned red as a flame engulfed the two blades.  He whirled them with tremendous force at the hind quarters of the giant spider.  They struck with such terrific force that its backside completely exploded.  A shock wave knocked Dükker onto the ground where his faithful soldiers lay dead or dying.  Razi turned to face his attacker completely consumed by the fire.

“Die you demon spawn!” Yukio raged at the dying spider.  He put his hands together and pushed at the charging monster.  A ball of red fire hit Razi square in the eyes.  All the flames seemed to suck into the creature’s head and then the remaining parts of the ancient spider exploded with a deafening boom.

The spawn of Razi that were still living shrieked in terror as they too exploded and fell lifeless to the base of the cliffs.  After their master had died, the perverse magic used to create them ceased to exist.  The fallen form of Lord Aellenas lay motionless for quite some time while the high elves ran to the Landen knights.  Fear gripped the heart of Queen Kishi as she realized what was going to happen next.  She had to prevent the demise of the most valiant warrior druid that Tuwa had known in centuries.

“Yukio, look out!” yelled Kishi while she ran to his side.  She had her battle staff out and was twirling it as though it was second nature to her or actually a part of her.

The Nairian general turned to look at a now standing General Aellenas.  The dark figure had already hurled a purple ball of lightning directly at Yukio’s back.  He threw up a red shield at an angle to deflect the attack.  The missile shot straight up into the air and quickly dissipated.  Storm clouds formed quickly overhead as the two generals squared off for what would be a memorable show down.  The air was literally electric now and the shadow of Noric flashed in the sky above.

Queen Kishi was not about to let the good general fight her battle.  She bounded in front her protector and sent a massive black shock wave at her former master.  The blast knocked him to the ground momentarily.  He was back on his feet in a blink of an eye.  He summoned a gruesome looking gollum from the ground right in front of Kishi and Yukio.  Nearly a dozen high elves died instantly as their life force was stolen to create the creature.  Blood dripped from the solid form of the underworld beast as it grabbed Kishi.  The blood gollum twirled the helpless high elf through the air before releasing her.  She landed quite a distance behind Dükker right at the edge of the cliff.

General Yukio timed his jump just as Noric swooped down from above and he flew straight for the vile beast that had Kishi.  Noric grabbed the gollum’s head with its talons as Yukio jumped to the ground and pulled on the gollum’s legs.  Noric ripped the brutes head clean off and flipped completely and hurled it at the watching warlock.  As the head approached its target, Yukio set it on fire.  Dükker was able to deflect the burning projectile at the last moment.  The impact was gruesome; however, it did little more than annoy the dark general.  As he prepared to retaliate Kishi drove two flaming daggers into his shoulders.  She flipped gracefully over the shocked high elven general’s back and hurled him with terrific force forward.  He landed with a sickening thud at Yukio’s feet.

“Hello there…ready to look death in the face?” asked Yukio meaningfully.  He began to reach down menacingly with the lethal intent of ending the conflict here and now.

Before he could place his hands on him, he rolled out of the way and hit Yukio with his own shock wave.  General Ibreshri flew high into the air as though he was in slow motion.  In the space of time that the good general’s body floated in the air, Aellenas appeared at his former apprentice’s side.  Before anyone noticed what had happened, a poisoned dagger was sticking out of Kishi’s chest.  As Yukio’s body hit the ground, Dükker let out a triumphant shout.  He had blood all over his crazed face as he ripped out his deadly instrument from Kishi’s back.  She fell silently to the ground as her troops looked on in horror.

“You will all rue this day” shrieked Lord Dükker wickedly.  He smeared the blood all over his face and head.  He had clearly lost it from most of the observers’ point of view; however, he was actually planning to summon an even more fearsome beast from the underworld.

The dark general did not sense the approach of the powerful druid behind him.  Yukio’s chest heaved up and down as he glowered at his bloodied prey that was in the process of summoning something.  He brought his hands to either side of Dükker’s head as he prepared to end this vile betrayer’s life he said, “Dükker give my regards to the keeper of the underworld!”  Aellenas turned in time to see the last thing he would ever look at in his long dark life…the blood red eyes of the most fearsome druid warrior ever.

The high elf’s head imploded from the sheer power of the druid’s rage!  After decimating the vile warlock’s head, he lifted the lifeless body into the air to let Noric obliterate the dark elf’s remains.  After ripping the body to tiny pieces of the coward Dükker, Noric flew off to the south.  Meanwhile, Yukio bent down to attend to Kishi.  She was still breathing, but it was clear that she had been dealt a blow she would not recover from.  As he reached to take her hand he noticed the blood covering them.  He ignited them briefly with fire to cleanse the impurities from their skin and then took her hand.

“Kishi, what can I do for you?” he asked kindly.  He knew that there was precious little he could actually do as the poison coursed through her veins.  The dagger had struck home close enough to the heart that the poison was being pumped from there.  Any attempt to stop the flow would kill her instantly.  He cradled her in his massive arms as he would a baby.

“Could you seal my wound so that I can be taken to my home?  I think I have strength enough for that and I would like to leave this world at home” Kishi said with a sad smile.  All the defenses she had employed against her brother-in-law were down.  She trusted him completely…sad that it came with so little time left in life.  Tears threatened to streak down her now serene face.  Her body convulsed from the ravages of the poison.

Yukio bent down moved his hands slowly over her chest.  A blue white light filled the hole that Dükker had created with his poisoned blade.  Within moments there was no sign of an entry or exit wound.  Her breathing eased slightly, but it was still clear that she was not long for this world.  He then pulled her closer to him and they both glowed red for what felt like forever.  He then helped her to stand up, but that did not last very long.  She leaned on the general for support and whispered to him, “Please carry me…I do not have as much strength as I had hoped.”  He gently stood up with her still in his arms and began to march away from the scene of obscene carnage.

As they approached the knights and high elves, Kishi rested her head on the muscular shoulder of her hero.  She could not believe how quickly she was able to change her feelings toward the man that had forever altered her existence.  She now realized that it was for the better and not for the worse.  She closed her eyes briefly as pain racked her body.  The poison had worked quicker than expected…she was using what strength she had left to keep her organs from failing.  Yukio had somehow stopped the poison from spreading more; however, the damage was done.  She wanted to make it back to her homeland before passing beyond the veil of mortality.

“My queen…what’s wrong” asked one of her soldiers quietly.  He was tentative because he no longer knew how to refer to his former queen and he did not like the look of Kishi in the arms of Yukio.  She looked unbelievably frail.

“I am preparing for the eternal voyage to the home of our ancestors.  Now, let’s go home friends” said Kishi weakly.  Absolute silence met this response.  Everyone knew that she was dying and that the long journey to Mount Quang would be out of the question.  The general had performed a major miracle by keeping alive.  The poison had had the taint of the underworld and should have killed her within a minute.