Leftheria was the first of the Pact to rush into enemy ranks. With each swing of his axe, he sent heads flying in every direction. Blood splattered on his face and all could hear his crazed laugh even over the noise of thousands of men fighting. Grandfather stood with the Elder’s, all of them chanting, magic weaving around their fingertips. Van and Pippin stood with them, acting as their guards. Father stood from afar and shot at the enemy, with each arrow another soldier fell. I was in a daze. In my arrogance, I thought I was prepared for what it would mean to kill another human, I thought I knew what war was. I was unable to move, my mind lost in confusion.
“If you won’t fight, then I’ll just take your head!!!” I looked to see a large man on horseback come riding at me. He had a spear in hand and was inches from me. Without thinking, I summoned a spike of ice and impaled the man with it, hearing a crunch as he was skewered, his whole body froze and fell off of his horse to the ground, frozen and motionless. This now nameless man was the first human I had ever killed. This was war and every man and woman participating was prepared to kill, which also meant they were all prepared to die for what they fought for. It would be shameless of me to ignore that sentiment and try and fight without killing. Burying my emotions, I closed off my heart and focused only on the fight before me. Summoning two blades of ice, I held one in each hand and began to let them dance through the enemy
With each slash, another enemy froze and fell to the ground dead. No blood spilt from those I killed, their wounds freezing over immediately, followed by a cold and icy death. I eventually caught up to Leftheria. “Well boy, how does it feel to have your first taste of death? Tell me, are you an insane man like me who enjoys the kill or are you a normal coward who only shirks at it.” Remaining emotionless, even in the face of Leftheria’s question, I gave a cold and bitter answer. “It’s not about weather I enjoy it, if I don’t fight, I will die. This is kill or be killed. Nothing more, nothing less. I can’t and won’t ever enjoy killing another, but I will continue on… continue until this war ends.” Hearing my answer, Leftheria let out a huge laugh as his axe found itself stuck into the skull of some poor enemy soldier. “Good answer boy, make sure you never become like me, never let go of your sanity. The moment you do, then you are no different from the beasts that are hunted as food. A fight is no longer a fight when it is between a beast and a human, then it’s just a hunt. Keep that in mind.”
Saying this, Leftheria ran off back into the heart of the battle, death following wherever he went. Disappearing from sight, his maniacal laugh could still be heard by all. I thought for a moment of Leftheria’s words, not fully understanding what he meant, or their current importance. “He likely meant that a beast is someone who kills without understanding their opponents, who kills for the sake of killing. A warrior is someone who kills for a purpose, someone who acknowledges their opponent as a fellow human, as an equal,” I thought aloud. Focusing my attention on the battle at hand, I held up both blades of ice and ran towards a group of soldiers.
I lunged at the closest one and could feel the blade in my right hand effortlessly plunge into the man’s throat. His face went pale as the cold from my blade seeped into his body. Each of his limbs quickly froze in place as the cold spread. I withdrew the blade to see a perfect, blade shaped hole in the man's throat. He fell to the ground, death taking him almost immediately. “The least I can do for you all is give you a swift and painless death,” I said to the group of soldiers as I stood there alone. This obviously angered some of them, perhaps mistaking my words for overconfidence. Two of the men lunged at me, spears aimed right at my chest. I ducked under them and, dropping my blades, placed my right hand on the ground. The runes in my arm shimmered and hummed as I channeled my magic through the cold, frozen ground. Giant spikes of ice grew around me in all directions, impailing the two men that had tried to spear me.
The two limp bodies hanging from the spikes of ice and remained there motionless. The other men in the group of soldiers were now starting to back off slightly. “What the hell is he? What kind of mage attacks an enemy head on like this, it's not like your a magic knight or something,” one of the men yelled. Those words were his last as I dashed up in front of the man and grabbed his face with my right hand. “Goodbye,” I said softly to him as I channeled power through my arm. The man collapsed to the floor as his brian was frozen through and through. The last few soldiers started running from me in fear, all realizing they had no chance, though it was already to late. I summoned a bow of ice and fired several arrows that proceeded to impale the fleeing men. All three collapsed the moment the arrows made contact.
Having finished off this group, I ran over to Grandfather and the Elder’s. “Grandfather, how much longer,” I asked him. The old man grunted and looked over at me. “Hmph, you seem to have changed a bit Calder. I suppose taking a life for the first time does that to all of us. Anyways, help us with this ritual, the more mages we have on it the better. This will turn the tide of the battle for sure.” I got into the circle made up of grandpa, Elder Ragna, Elder Relith and the various other Elder’s from all the different tribes. I began to join in with the mages in chanting and poring magic into the center of the circle where a dense and glowing block of ice was slowly gaining mass.
***
We continued to pour magic into the block of ice for more than a half hour; the block was now glowing brighter than ever before, now almost tripling in size as well. “Can you guys hurry up a bit maybe, we can’t last here forever,” yelled Pippin. He and Van were working together to keep the enemy off us. The Iron Legion had already determined that the mage group was the current, and largest threat on the field. Wave after wave of soldiers came after us, only to meet their end at Van’s axe or Pippins arrows and daggers. While the two were doing a marvelous job of keeping the enemy away, it was true that both of them were at the end of their stamina. “Grandfather, we need to hurry, is there anyway we can speed up the ritual,” I said, slightly in a panic. “Rituals are not meant to be rushed boy but…” he stood there in thought for a moment. “Your right, we need to speed this up. Elder’s, get back and protect Calder and I while we finish this up.” All of the Elder’s backed up and joined Van and Pippin on the defense line.
“It’s been some time since I have been able to let loose,” cackled Elder Ragna, a large, toothless grin across her face. The air around her began to crackle and pop as magic hissed through her fingers. She let out a loud screech as a massive wave of ice appeared before her. Within an instant, she had changed the geographical state of the battlefield, the crushing surge of ice swallowing at least several hundred Empire soldiers. Relith followed suit with a similar spell. “Don’t lose focus Calder, you and I are going to finish the in a single strike. Focus all of your power on the catalyst and pore everything you have into it. Let every last drop of your magic flood the catalyst until it is fit to burst.”
I followed grandfathers lead and both of us channeled as much power into the crystal totem as possible. Light filled the crystal and the glow became blinding. “Not yet, it's not enough, NOT ENOUGH,” I yelled, trying to force myself to put even more magic into the totem. I collapsed to the ground, my head throbbing from overusing my magic. Grandfather was barely able to stand after squeezing the last bit of his magic into the crystal. He to fell to the ground next to me. “We did it Calder, we did it. Now watch, watch and see the pinnacle of ice magic, the tactical class spell, Sneachta Maisithe, the Cursed Snowfall.” Grandfather collapsed onto the ground completely unconscious. I looked at the brightly glowing totem and crawled forward to touch it. At my touch, a light flew up from the crystal high into the sky.
After a few moments of the light flying into the sky, a deep rumble could be heard. The clouds gathered, now shrouding the previously clear sky in deep clouds and snow began to fall, though it was unlike any snow I had ever seen before. The snow was pitch black, slowly falling to the ground. Some of the snow touched me but merely faded away. “Calder, this spell was created long ago by a tribe that hated it’s enemies so much, they wished to wipe them from existence. This spell will destroy those the caster views as an enemy but spare the ones they see as an ally,” Elder Ragna said while walking up to me. She had known me for long enough to know when I wished for an explanation on something. Looking over at the Empire soldiers, I saw the snow touch several of them. The moment it did, they turned to ash, leaving nothing behind but a pile of dust. This spell was one that destroyed the enemy completely, leaving nothing behind but ash and soot. “Elder, such a spell must come at a cost, a cost more than just magical energy. I can’t imagine a spell so convenient that it only destroys the enemy,” I said, feeling something was amiss. If this spell was truly made by a tribe that was filled with anger and just wished to destroy, it was likely that the spell required such dark feelings to use. Spells were like emotion, they changed based on the mental state of the caster.
Elder Relith of the Ivartar stepped forward. “Right you are child, the spell comes at a hefty cost. That cost is the life of the caster. By giving up their life, the caster can completely annihilate an army. The only problem remaining is the large amount of magic the spell demands to be cast, though that is the same for most tactical class spells.” The life of the caster; the Elder’s and I provided magic to activate the spell, but the actual caster was… “Grandfather,” I said under my breath. I crawled over to Chief Arnbiorn’s side. “Grandfather, why… why would you use a spell like that. Why did you give up your life like this, the Pact needs you to lead it,” I yelled at him while sobbing. The old man opened his eyes ever so slightly. “Calder… I did what any chief would do, give their life to protect what they love. Had the Empire not attacked so suddenly we might have had another choice, but...” Grandfather started to cough up some blood, his life obviously reaching its end.
“Calder, listen to me,” he said. “I have little time until my life burns out and there is much I wish I could tell you. Just know that you have made me and everyone around you proud, I leave this war… this Pact… in your...” Grandfather’s eyes closed before he could finish and his body went limp. “We need to get out of here, while the spell is still active,” I said, sitting up as best as I could, all the while tears streamed down my face as I started to bark out orders. “Van, I need you to carry me, I am unable move. Pippin, join up with Father and Frestia; order the retreat for now. There has been enough death for one day. Once we have fallen back, we will send a messenger to the Iron Legion asking for a ceasefire during the night.” Hearing my commands, Pippin ran off to find Father and Frestia while Van picked me up and ran, a great many Empire soldiers turning to dust all around us.
***
We fell back to our second basecamp. In fear of our first one being found, we had a second one set up just in case. The non combatants had already retreated to here and now the combatants, led by Van, were in full retreat. The Sneachta Maisithe spell forced the Empire into a full retreat. Our first basecamp was now covered in the cursed snow. If the Empire was to return there, they would only be met by death. In addition, since we did not know much about the spell, we deemed it wise to stay away from the first basecamp for now. We would need to go back later to gather what remaining supplies we could, but that would be for a later date. For now, we were all just relieved to have made it out of the first of likely several battles alive.
Having finally arrived at the second basecamp, we were greeted by members of the Capall logistics Coldmir. “Your all alive, I am so glad,” said mother. She was currently incharge of the basecamp when the combatants were fighting. She gave me a giant hug that nearly crushed my back. “Calder, thank the gods you are alive. Where is Father and Keldi, I would like to see them,” Mother said. Van set me down, my legs still trembling. “Mother, I…” I was having trouble getting the words out… trouble telling her Grandfather died. “Lady Ylva, please listen to me for a moment,” Van said. It was at this moment that Father came, having acted as rear guard for the retreat. “Van, what's the matter,” said Father, breaking in on the conversation. I raised my hand to Van. “I will say it Van, I was there in his last moments, please…” I recomposed myself and looked right at Mother. “Mother... Grandfather... Chief Arnbiorn; he has passed. I’m sorry. He used his life to cast a large, tactical class spell. Thanks to him we all managed to get away alive and cut the enemy numbers by at least a fourth. They took more overall losses than we did. I guess, we can call this a victory.” Saying this, I could hear my voice trembling, tears running down my face. Despite winning this battle, it did not feel like much of a victory to celebrate.
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Mother kneeled down next to me. “And Calder, what were my Father’s final words, would you please tell me?” I took a deep breath and repeated what he said to me. “He said that he is leaving the war and the Pact in my hands,” I said. Mother rose and patted me on the head. “Well then Calder, what are you going to do now? You have two choices before you, either fulfill your grandfather’s request and lead the Pact in his place or you can ignore his final wishes and your Father or Chief Leftheria will lead in your place.” Mother showed no sorrow over Chief Arnbiorns death; perhaps she perceived his plan from the beginning and had already prepared herself for it. I was unsure as to whether I was worthy of taking Grandfather’s place as head of the Pact, but at the end of the day, there was little choice. Father did not have any experience leading large numbers of people and leaving such a job to Leftheria, well, I didn’t even want to think about what might come of that.
I straightened up and faced towards Van. “Head Warrior Van, with the death of Chief Arnbiorn, who is to take his place as chief of the Ivartar,” I asked. The Head Warrior stared at me for a moment, and then answered. “You were named Arnbiorn’s heir, as such, you are the new Chief, so long as you accept the title.” I then looked at Father and asked him, “Father, if I asked you to step down as Chief of the Erantu, what would you say?” Father hesitated for a moment but answered promptly. “That should be obvious child, if you want me to step down as Chief so you can take my spot a bit early, so be it. You have more than proved your worth. It’s thanks to your plans and strategies that we have survived up to this point. No one in the Pact would deny you the rights of Chief.”
I pushed mother, who had been helping me keep my stability, away and struggled to my feet. “Father, Van, call together the entair Pact, I have an announcement to make that the whole Pact needs to hear.” I grabbed a walking stick that was in the corner of the tent and hobbled outside, still weak from using all of my magic earlier. Just as I exited the tent, I was greeted by Frestia Lokvan, son of Chief Leftheria Lokvan. “Calder, I need to talk with you, alone,” he said. I wanted to go to the area I would be addressing the Pact at but figured it would take Father and Van at least an hour to spread the word of what was to happen, so I nodded and followed Frestia.
***
Frestia and I had walked a ways, now on the border of the Forest of Torgoth, our second basecamp being just a few minutes walk from the woods. “What is it you wanted to talk about Frestia,” I said to the tall Lokvan. He took a deep breath and then, on his exhale, began. “I already heard the news about Chief Arnbiron and would like to say sorry for your loss but I have something more to inform you about. The Ivartar were not the only ones to lose a chief during this battle.” My mouth dropped in disbelief, already knowing the direction this conversation was going in. “You mean to say that Leftheria, that crazed berserker… he?” Frestia nodded his head. “That’s right, he passed in the battle. The fool rushed into enemy ranks all by himself and even managed to reach Elizabeth Duvark herself. From what I saw, it was not Elizabeth that took him down though.” I thought for a moment. “So you mean to say that, aside from Elizabeth, the enemy has someone else who is strong enough to take out someone as strong as Leftheria,” I asked. “It was some old man; he looked harmless enough from a distance, but…” he paused for a moment before continuing. “He moved so fast I couldn’t even follow. It seemed like, without even drawing his blade, my father just fell to the ground. I ran in fear and if I am to be honest, that old man might be even stronger than Elizabeth and her dragon put together.”
Hearing all of this, my fear of the enemy only grew. “Don’t go getting cold feet here Calder,” said Frestia. “The old man was not even the main topic I wanted to talk to you about. With my father gone, I am to be the one to be next chief of the Lokvan, but that’s a title I don’t want. Instead, I want you to take it. Let me and the Lokvan become a part of the Erantu tribe, let us serve you to the end. I think… I think that is what my father, what Leftheria would have wanted. He saw something in you, something we all see in you. A wisdom far beyond your years, experience and knowledge exceeding that of any normal human. You must be the one to lead us, you and no other.” Saying this, Frestia kneeled down before me, pledging his and his tribes loyalty to me and to the Erantu.
***
To my right stood Head Warrior Van with his giant axe and to my left stood Frestia Lokvan, holding a large syckle. Before me stood Father, and the entire Frozen Pact; every warrior and hunter, every person participating in the war stood before me. In total, close to seven thousand were gathered. Elder Ragna and Relith came up from behind me and both placed their hands on my back. After a moment of chanting, I could feel their magic in my back and move up into my throat. I opened my mouth and out came a booming voice, one so loud that all could easily hear me, even those standing far in the back of the crowd.
“Members of the Pact,” I addressed them. “Today, we fought the Empire head in the first of what is to be many grueling battles was grueling. Much was lost today, including two leaders of the Pact. Leftheria Lokvan and Arnbiorn Ivartar both passed today so that we might live to fight another day. With these words, I could see many in the crowd begin to weep along with a great many whispers amongst the crowd. “In Chief Arnbiorn’s dying breath, he entrusted both the Ivartar Tribe and the Frozen Pact to me.” the whispers and murmuring in the group grew ever louder. In my mind, it was obvious that the Pact would be extremely anxious. Few would have confidence in an young adolescent boy to lead an entire army. Father and Frestia both came forward, the Elder’s amplifying their voices as well.
“I would like to add something as well,” said Father. “As of today, I hereby relieve myself as chief of the Erantu and pass the title onto my son, Calder.” I could see a small group of Erantu hunters near the front cheering for me; at least had the support of my home tribe. Frestia followed after Father, addressing the crowd just as the two of us had. “Along with Calder taking over both the Erantu and Ivartar tribes, I, as the current leader of the Lokvan, hereby swear my loyalty to him and the Erantu till my dying breath. Out of respect for his valor in battle along with his wit and courage, I entrust my title as chief of the Lokvan to Calder, that he may unite the North under one true banner.” With this public announcement, I had control over the three tribes that made up the core of the Pact, the Ivartar with their massive size and resources, the Lokvan and their berserker warriors and the Erantu, with their hunters and scouts.
“Members of the Frozen Pact, I now hold your lives in my hands, as Chief Arnbiorn did before me. I ask you to entrust yourselves to me. I know that I do not yet match up to my Grandfather as a leader. I only ask you give me a chance to guide you to an era of peace and prosperity, free of these chains called the Empire, free of this burden called tribes, free of this responsibility called war, for here we now stand, for the first time in thousands of years, a North united under one pledge, one oath, one pact. Now I ask you, who will follow me, who will follow me to battle, to war, to vengeance?” Saying this, I stood there nervously awaiting for the crowds response. “I will follow ya lad, you've more than proven your worth, you’ll make a fine leader given enough time and help I wager,” said a familiar voice. I looked in the crowd to see the Ivartar Head Hunter, Pippin. Following this, more voices joined in. “I will follow you, prove your worth to us boy,” one voice yelled. “Let's take it to the Empire Chief Calder,” another screamed Many others said similar things, “Show us the might of the one Chief Arnbiron chose,” and “If you take out that war maiden, we will follow you to death.” Hearing the many yells of approval, I finished my speech.
“I hereby promise to drive out the Empire, but much more than that. I think it is long overdo for the North to stand center stage on this continent again. I hereby call for the rebirth of the Kingdom of the North, the rebirth of the Talamh na nDaoine, the Kingdom in the North. All tribes, I ask you gather under my banner and fight; fight for your homes, your families...” I hesitated before finishing my statement. Getting over my fear, I opened my mouth for one last time. Raising my glowing, blue arm, I showed it to the crowd. It was met by gasps and shudders. “Fight for me, for your lord, for your King.” This was met with a roaring boom, cheers from all corners of the venue could be heard for miles. I ended with this high note. I turned and walked off of the stage and back to the Pact Chief’s tent. I looked at Father, Van, Pippin and Frestia who were all gathered in the room. I sat down on the large chair that Grandfather once sat on and the other four followed suit, all pulling up chairs around me. Thus the strategy meeting began. “All of you, I want to ask something of all of you. I think I have a way to force the Empire back. I will outline the plan in a moment, just first let me say this. Elizabeth Duvark is mine and mine alone. No others will go after her, understood?”
***
The entire army of Talamh na nDaoine was gathering in a frenzy. Word of the rebirth of the Kingdom in the North spread fast among the tribes that did not participate in the war and among the people who had stayed in their respective village grounds as noncombatants. Day, more tribes and people came to swear their allegiance to me. I was not one to play the role of king but I felt I had little choice given the situation that the North was currently in. The people needed something to rally behind and a Kingdom was the perfect for achieving that goal. My purpose for calling myself king was to ensure that the other tribes would join us, almost doubling our manpower and war fund. All had gone according to plan. We had all the weapons, armor, men and money we needed to fight. All that was left was to confront the Empire, though this time on our own terms. We had already sent a messenger to the Empire declaring war on them and they had responded in kind.
The whole army of the North gathered onto the Frozen Plains, a vast flatland that was perfect for open combat. To the east was a sheer cliff and to the west, the Forest of Torgoth. The beasts of the woods could be heard, their eyes shimmering in the dark branches. We were stationed at the Northern end of the Plains. To the south was a massive host of iron and blood. There stood the Twelfth Legion, the Legion of Iron before our very eyes. At the vanguard stood the all to familiar Elizabeth Duvark with her massive spear and her dragon not far behind. She walked forward, no one from the Iron Legion followed her. I got off of my horse and mimicked her. We both met in the middle of the plains a good ways from our respective armies. Before me stood the armor clad goddess of war in all her beauty… and terror.
“Where is that old man boy, I have no need for pests. Surely you jest if you mean to tell me you are the leader of this army, if you can call it that.” Elizabeth's snarky comments were clearly meant to force me to strike her. It would give her an excuse to cut me down where I stood without soiling her honor. I merely looked up at her smiling, maintaining a calm and cool composer. “I would prefer it if you did not refer to me as an equal Duvark,” I said. “Know you have the honor of addressing Calder Erantu, first King of Talamh na nDaoine, the Kingdom of the North.” Hearing this, Elizabeth burst out laughing. “Kingdom in the North… boy, you are nothing but a ragtag group of rebels that refuse the rule of the Empire. But for giving me a good laugh, I will grant you, no not you, Talamh na nDaoine was it, an ultimatum.” I was intrigued by what she sought to offer us but could not let my curiosity get the better of me. I had to force myself to keep up my front as a King. “Speak then Duvark, what is this ultimatum you speak of,” I ordered her, though Elizabeth was clearly not pleased with being ordered by someone who was not her King.
“Careful with what you say, half-pint King, or I will skewer you where you stand. What I offer is simple, the return of lady Fran and the North swearing loyalty to the Empire and in exchange, we will let you live.” I clearly could not accept these terms. Even if they were fair terms in our favor, the people of Talamh na nDaoine would accept nothing less than the total destruction of the Twelfth Legion after what they had done to us so far. My choice was clear. I drew out my right arm and summoned a sword of ice and pointed it at her. Elizabeth seemed intrigued by what she saw. “My answer is obvious Duvark, we shall be at peace with the Empire when the Twelfth Legions blood has stained this field of white pure crimson and your head rests on a pike. You started this war, so we will end it. I turned my back on Elizabeth and went back to my army.
“Calder, what did you say to her,” Father asked. I smiled at him and got back on my horse. “I said what Grandfather and Uncle would have said Father, simply that we will end this war… here and now.” I turned to face the Empire and rode forth, sword in hand. I could hear the pound of hooves and the stamping of feet behind me as the men of the North followed my charge. The Empire to rode forth. Finally, the final battle began, the battle that would determine the fate of this land, of my Talamh na nDaoine.