William, Loke, Rel and Keil are currently waiting on the edge of Loke's island, waiting for their transportation to arrive.

William:"So what will transport us to the High Elf city?"

Rel:"You'll see, I'm not one to ruin surprises, also call it by its name Heaven's Gaze."

Loke:"Ah, here it comes."

Off in the distance a figure could be seen coming towards the island.Closer and closer, the more visible it became. A white carriage with gold and silver designs, pulled by four beautiful Pegasi all of white fur.

William:"Is that a Pegasus? Incredible" William stared on as the mighty beasts precisely and majestically landed in front of him.

The Pegasi were quite large, much larger than any stallion, the carriage itself was also quite large with enough room to house twenty people on four rows of five seats having a small table in between each set of two seats that were facing each other with the middle seats being back to back.Inside around ten Elves in leather armour sat on the back seats and one Elf on the front who exited on arrival.

Loke:"This is Left General Teskol, Him and his Elite Guard will be accompanying us throughout the journey."

The General, was clad in White and Golden armour, edged on the guards and shoulders giving it a noble flair. The Elf himself had short blonde hair, blue eyes and many a scar on his face giving him almost a brutish look.It was obvious this Elf had seen Battle.

William:(This much security? For what?)"Why so many guards?"

Teskol:"You're an important person Ambassador, I'm sure the dwarves would love to have you unprotected"

Loke:"Watch your mouth Teskol, we have no proof!"

William:"Loke, I must know" William gives a resilient look at Loke

Loke:"Hhmm...*Sigh*...As you wish Ambassador. " Loke bows down his head in defeat "Back before the separation, The Dwarven Empire was the largest of us all, spanning most of the galaxy. The other races always held jealousy towards their grandness, the Dwarves's selfish actions and iron grip on the market did not help that."

William:"Why would that have anything to do with me?"

Loke:"After the separation,us races aided each other with resources and rebuilding, most races except the dwarves and demons. It was ignorant, but at the time we all thought their arrogance made them worthy of that treatment. In the end the Dwarves stopped looking for our assistance and instead allied with the demons who were regarded as unholy and corrupted by our Magi Alliance. The Dwarves though did not blame us, as they knew it was their fault for their arrogant behaviour and they simply could not blame the Gods either."

William:"So they picked to aim their hatred towards my race...The cause of the separation" William's face darkened, annoyed at this revelation.

Loke:"Indeed..."

William:(So selfishness isn't locked only to my kind....) He sighs

Teskol:"Dwarves aren't the only possible danger either sir, Bandits and Thieves still roam the lands as no society in war can hold a balanced community."

William:"What war? Who are you fighting?"

Teskol:"The void, we are at war with another invading realm. Over the recent millennia the void has been suppressed from our world, not counting certain weak species living with their counterparts."

Rel:"Like the Void wyverns, they live just like other wyverns but hold the element of chaos that is a joint element; Fire and Darkness."

Teskol:"Indeed, and as long as the portals remain protected the Void Hive mind cannot control them."

William:(So as long as the races hold the portals they can stop the Void creatures from coming into their realm huh...Block the enemy gates and the enemy is no more?... Foolish strategy but effective for some time...To buy time that is...)

Teskol:"Well enough dillydallying I believe, shall we go Ambassadors? "

Loke:"Yes, let's go William, Rel. Keil send my regards to the rest, I'll be away for a while my friend."

Keil who was standing in prayer at the mention of the Void responds to Loke.

Keil:"That the Gods watch over you my old friend."

The four of them climb into the front seats of the carriage, the Elf on the front holding the reins signals the Pegasi and the carriage flies off the island heading towards the south.

William:"Sir Teskol, about the Void, why not attack their realm? Surely if you can keep them at bay you can push them back?"

Teskol:"Young one...We did..." Teskol gives a sad look at William, then turns and looks at Loke

Loke:"Two thousand years ago every race sent an army through each portal at once, we pushed the voidlings back in their home realm, on arrival we saw something even more terrifying. The sky was littered with portals taking to Gods know how many other realms, each portal taking into its each deserted land or corrupted landscape. We could sometimes even see cities completely deserted through the portals in the sky, a depressing view indeed. For some time we setup temporary lines on the other side of the portals, Fortresses stopping anything that would try to pass, but we were foolish.Only five years after we had setup the fortresses, it appeared, The hive mind. The monstrosity broke the ground beneath our feet, showing a large gaping mouth in the ravine that opened and swallowed all that fell into it, we knew that day that the land we stood on was no land at all. The planet itself was alive, breathing, eating and giving birth to billions of voidlings. Some like my father survived that apocalypse, escaping through the portal. Many died trying to escape and made others were forced to stay on that side of the portal keeping the voidlings back, while on this side the portals were sealed."

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Teskol:"I wasn't even born yet, and I still hear stories of the destruction....We stood no chance from the start to pushing them back, the Hive Mind...It had killed so many other realms it was nothing but a daily regiment for it...."

William:"But isn't the hive mind just a collection of lesser beings all connected mentally?"

Loke:"Not exactly, A Hive mind is a collection of minds yes, but it is a mind still in the end. And that being... The Void Hive mind... Is no lesser being...No if anything it is on par with the Gods themselves."

William:(On par with the Gods...Portals...Terrif...) William's thoughts were stopped as an explosion was felt on the front of the carriage.

The carriage was hit and two of the Pegasi were injured, forcing the carriage to crash land into the deep forest beneath.Everyone holding on to something or someone screamed and shouted as the carriage fell then crashed.

Loke:"Is everyone alright?!"Shouts Loke as everyone gets out of the rubble."I was able to shield our landing, can't say much for the carriage and the Pegasi though..."

Teskol:"We will think of that when we come to it, right now we have other problems Ambassador. COME OUT AND SHOW YOURSELVES USELESS EXCREMENTS!" He raises his sword and shouts at the top of his lungs towards the forest and foliage.

Out of the trees and bushes and assortment of Elves, Weremen(Were-wolves,Were-bears,Were-foxes and Were-cats) and a single Giant come out. The bandits outnumbered them three to one, surrounded them and aimed their palms and gun looking weapons towards them.

Teskol:"Steamguns...Cowards...Ambassador, have any fight left in you?"

Loke:"I used most of my mana to shield our landing...My daughter is unconscious from the crash..."

Teskol:"Sergeant report..."

Sergeant:"Three unconscious Sir...Uninjured"

Teskol:"Well wake them up!"

Were-Bear Bandit:"Aqa General, no sudden movements now, I wouldn't want that pretty armour of yours full of holes..."

Soldier:"How were these scoundrels able to procure these weapons?..."

Teskol:"No matter now, without magical support we stand little chance...That said, men...ENGAGE!"

The General and his Elite Guard raise their shields and advance in each direction, each shield taking multiple shots to penetrate the thick shields. All around William the battle raged for a couple minutes, every soldier taking with them one or two bandits while the general and his sergeant fought the giant who rose about 12 feet bashing the ground were the two had just moved from. William spots a bandit aiming at the general as he is distracted.

William:"General behind you!"

Teskol:"What?!"

A single screeching sound ends the fight as the general falls to the ground blood splattered around him as the wound spills more. The remaining four guards stand in place looking at their fearless leader, dead on the ground.

Bandit:"Round them up!"

The bandits having lost around thirteen of their members round up the remaining guards, Loke, Rel and William. Having killed the unconscious guards during the fight and the sergeant who got crushed by the giant as he refused to stop fighting.

Bandit:"Yo boss what do we do with the extras?!"

The Were-bear with the other weremen shrink to human size with their features becoming less animalistic and speaks.

Were-Bear:"Kill the three guards and the mage, the girl leave her. She will warm my bed" He smirks at the last comment.

Loke:"No please! Spare my daughter! I'm a diplomat for the Magi Alliance! We have worth!"

Were-Bear:"We know who you are Ambassador Loke the RuneLord, we do not plan to fight you at full mana however."

Loke who was still holding the unconcsious Rel, puts her down and stands up.

Loke:"You w...."

*Schreeecchh* *Steam sizzling*

The Were-Bear has shot Loke in the chest, then proceeds to shooting the remaining three guards.William sat in horror next to Rel, as the execution proceeded.

William:"You monsters...."

Were-Bear:"Oh please, I have a name. Call me Yog kid, we have a long walk ahead of us so might as well know each other's name right? "

William was trembling, fear and anger ran through him like wildfire. He wanted to get up, he wanted to fight but his mind was too shaken by the killings.He feels something touching his hand, energy coursing through it. He looks and sees Rel sending her calm energy through to him, calming his nerves and letting him think more clearly.

Rel:"William...please....avenge them..." She speaks weakly, fresh blood still on her forehead.

William stands up and looks around... The dead bodies of twelve men littered the area...The ten guards...The general...Loke...He would be called a liar if he said he was no longer scared, he was very much still afraid but, most of all he was angry. 

Yog:"Pissed off at me human? Come now, you want a fist fight?" The Were-bear shouts at William as he moves face to face with him, spitting in his face.

William wipes off the spit:"You got close...Your last mistake..." 

---

Author: Next an epic battle!, hope you've enjoyed so far. Please don't forget to leave a rating and comment :D, only way I can tell if and what I need to change :/.