Although we didn't have much time to execute on the plan, I managed to make it work out. I informed Zeb and Zaka of the full details, including the Baron's secret. Then, in the early morning hours, we moved the commanders down to scouting base for the handoff. Honestly, if the Baron had planned to use this as an opportunity for an extra ambush, it wouldn't have been a bad idea.
We had safety concerns given we were transporting prisoners who knew where we were keeping the king, so after the commanders were out of where we were keeping them, everyone had to relocate to even further hiding spots. Thankfully, that ended up being unnecessary, as the enemy only picked up the prisoners, then left. I was running on only a few hours of sleep, so I was happy to finally get some sleep after retreating to a hiding spot.
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Within a few days, the majority of the enemy troops had left the island, matching the agreement we made during negotiations. We had to send out a lot of individual scouts to inform as many of our hiding soldiers as possible about the temporary ceasefire. For good measure, and to keep tensions from escalating again, we sent a handful of our own troops as an escort for the enemy as they moved back to the beach on the far side of the island. We didn't move back into the city right away though. We decided it would be wise to carefully re-explore the city, just in case any soldiers left a parting gift.
I was also at a loss as to how the dark elves were going to get back to the mainland. They had ridden over in other countries' ships, so they didn't have ships of their own, but when I brought it up, they said they had sent a message, and that they expect some ships to be picking them up not long after the remnants of the Rathland military would be leaving.
I was intrigued as to how they sent a message over such a long distance, but was slightly disappointed that it was done by using a courier bird. Though I was glad to hear that the bird itself used magic to fly at extremely fast speeds. According to the dark elf, it can travel from one continent to the next in a day, so they suspect the message was received on the same day it was sent. For good measure, they even sent three of the birds to ensure the message got through.
I was surprised I hadn't seen them using the birds, or for that matter, I haven't seen one yet. The dark elf told me that they keep them hidden and secret because of their rarity and value. Even their allies aren't shown them unless absolutely necessary. I checked the info the dark elf gave me with a dwarven soldier and commander, and both agreed that they'd heard of their use, and the commander said that Kao has supposedly seen one before.
Since we had some time until the ships arrived and we needed to do the prisoner exchange, I told Zaka and Zeb to stay at the city with the other injured and a handful of soldiers who were in better condition to start securing it, and making sure that everything was safe before beginning repairs. As for myself, I'll be going with the dark elves, a handful of our soldiers, and a bunch of the dwarven soldiers as an escort to bring King Besmond III to the Baron of Compfur, Darius.
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As the day of the handoff finally arrived, I found myself feeling somewhat apprehensive. I basically haven't talked with King Besmond III since we basically agreed to hand him off to be executed. I'm sure there was information to be gained from interacting with him, but it felt wrong to try to squeeze more info out of him. Practically speaking I knew I should, but on the other hand, a small part of me was worried that if I ended up empathizing with him that I would have trouble handing him over. It's one thing to kill someone on a battlefield, but it's an entirely different thing to sell their life for your own.
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Though I came to regret not keeping a closer eye on King Besmond III and his mental state. When the time finally came for the handoff, it was mid morning, and not long after handing him over to Darius, a physical fight broke out and escalated to a full battle. I was taken aback, and we retreated to the edge of the beach. I suspect that King Besmond III came to the same conclusion as I did about who probably orchestrated this whole war, and realized the predicament he was in.
Either way, the loyalists are outnumbered three to one, and King Besmond III is still a quadriplegic, so I don't expect the battle to last very long. I'm not, however, looking forward to the cleanup. I suspect we're going to be left with the task of disposing of the bodies and covering up the whole event.
As the battle raged on, the King's forces took up positions within the abandoned fort, turning the battle into a protracted endeavor. Just as I was starting to wonder just how long the battle would potentially go on for, I spotted three ships coming toward the beach from the horizon. I suspected that the ships were here to pick up the dark elves.
As the ships got closer, I recognized the flag to be the same symbol that marked Elloetta's goods and letter. As the new ships got closer, the fighting parties on the beach seemed to call a temporary cease-fire until they figured out what was going on. The ships parked some distance from the battle, and approximately one hundred elves disembarked from the ships. The dark elves started travelling towards the ships, and I assumed that would be the end of it.
Darius started shouting something, and there was a brief back and forth between him and King Besmond III from inside the fort. That, however, was cut short by an extreme amount of magic obliterating nearly half of Darius's forces in an artificially amplified wave of water from the ocean from which hundreds of spikes of ice spurted out stabbing through individual soldiers.
It happened so quickly that I nearly missed it, but the dark elves were now forming a vanguard in front of the elves from Elloetta. I stayed as far away from all of this as I could with the dwarves and my small number of hobgoblins. Whatever is happening now, I don't want any part in it.
The two human forces on the beach reacted and Darius's forces retreated into the fort, joining with King Besmond III's forces. However, that didn't delay the elves by much. Their magic was simply on a different scale, and made me realize that, although I thought our defenses were pretty solid, against some unknowns they were far too inadequate.
Another magically enhanced wave towered at least ten feet over the top of the twenty foot walls of the fort, filling the inside with a large amount of water. The gates, which had been hastily repaired by King Besmond III's forces were blown open, and soldiers were washed out by the water. While they were being carried out by the water, they too were skewered by ice.
Between more ice and water magic, all the human forces were wiped out within less than forty minutes. A total massacre. Only two elves and seven dark elves died from the ordeal. A handful of powerful soldiers from the human side managed land lethal blows in the end. I was hesitant to reveal ourselves, but then a powerful, yet soft, voice called out.
"Representative of Kembora and those with you. I know you have watched what has transpired. I merely wish to speak, feel free to send some away with knowledge of what has happened if you fear for your life. I am not here to harm you, though there are things that must be discussed immediately."