Six months had passed since my speech, I was stationed at a small castle near the border with the other four. Nearly eighty percent of the elven troops stationed on our border had been pulled out of Doltia because of an unexpected problem. A necromancer had appeared in their lands and killed quite a few nobles in the forest. This caused a few problems for Doltia as well. With half the soldiers, the orcs and goblins were getting braver. Goblin scouts were appearing on a regular basis. The invasion seemed on the brink of starting.
Dwarves reproduced slowly and only made up ten percent of the front lines. Meaning that Doltia would not only bear the brunt of the invasion but would be almost completely alone in defending itself. The elves couldn't be counted on until the necromancer was defeated, but that was easier said than done.
The five of us were still proving ourselves. Typically officers were the nobles that led men into battle but in the kings army officers were chosen by who distinguished themselves. The others and I had yet to do that. We were given tasks to complete. I helped mages train their attack magic, most graduated from the academy but were still weak in control. They knew the spells but still used incantations. I helped teach them to invision the spells (minus the science).
Atezor trained the infantry in swordplay. Some had been trained as knights but most were commoners or beastman slaves.
Wayne was surprisingly good at archery and helped train the archers.
Enis trained the healers, and Leviah the summoners.
It could be misconstrued that we were already officers because we were training men, but officers led men in battle, not exercises.
Overall, the castle held two hundred troops, one hundred infantry, thirty cavalry, twenty archers, twenty five attack mages, fifteen summoners, and ten healing mages. All under the command of the newly promoted Commander Orwell. We were assigned by the king to hold the castle at all costs. It was a key point on the supply line to Castle Forgust to the east, which held twenty thousand men and was situated where the invasion force was most likely to attack from. Our castle named Fargarand was vulnerable to attack from the north but the forest around it was so thick that a force larger than a thousand would be too disorganized to take the castle, hence the small garrison. Fargarand protected a small farming village to the south which supplied it with wheat.
One week the goblin sightings were far more frequent and the commander called the five of us to his office to receive orders.
As soon as we arrived in his office he started talking. "I've known the five of you for a year and a half now. I know your skills and I've never trusted a group of children more. That's why I need each of you take one of the best men that you trained and scout enemy movements. The increase in activity in the area makes me think they will try to sever the supply line to Forgust." He looked at us with the most serious look in his eyes that I had ever seen on him.
"If you see even a single goblin or orc, don't engage. Report back, do you hear me?"
"Yes, commander." We chorused simultaneously.
I already had a mage in mind. He was a fire mage with powerful attacks. Regerlus Artenius was a noble from the empire, but he was humble. His cunning would be an asset to the mission and his attacks would help us escape in case of ambush.
I went to the training grounds and called Regerlus to me. "Artenius, I have been ordered to take my choice of mage on a scouting mission with the other officer trainees. Gather what you need. We will be gone no more than a week so pack accordingly."
"Yes, sir." He said.
I went to my quarters to pack. My storage spell could hold the more cumbersome things such as my clothing, but I had to remove my sword, which I strapped to my belt. Donning my traveling cloak, I went to retrieve Artenius.
We made our way to the mess hall to acquire provisions and eat before we left at noon. After finishing, we went to the gate where Atezor and his swordsman had gathered ten horses. He explained that the commander had assigned a veteran that he trusted to accompany us. Enis would not bring a healer because there were not enough to spare.
Once we had all gathered at the gates, we mounted our horses and rode north. It was around mid-autumn and the leave's colors had turned to their usual oranges and reds. As we rode by, I didn't pay much attention to the conversation, only the trees.
Then the conversation shifted to me. Atezor was talking about how I had taught him everything he knew about swordplay. The soldier he brought had asked where he learned to use a sword like he did.
"Really?" asked the soldier "if you got that good training with him, then why is he training the mages? Why not infantry?"
Atezor laughed. "As good as he is with a sword, he's five times better with magic. He got into the academy with a perfect score in every element."
The soldier looked about a year younger than me. He had probably joined as soon as he came of age. If he had never heard of me then he was probably a commoner from the area bordering the empire. If Atezor had chosen him to accompany, than he must have been good enough to stand out.
"Who is he? If he's that good with magic, he must be a high ranking noble."
"He is. He's Alfred Von Earlheight son of the kings cousin." Atezor bragged.
"Don't talk about me like I'm supposed to be high and mighty. Here I'm just another officer in training." I interrupted.
"Yes, I forgot. You don't like people seeing you as a stuck up nobleman." He responded.
"I don't care how people think of me," I told him " I just hate people deferring to me based on who my father is."
"Of course." He then went back to speaking to the soldier he brought.
Artenius caught up to me and began talking. "You're related to the king? Wouldn't that make you royalty rather than a noble? All of the Emporer's relatives live in the imperial palace."
"It doesn't work like that here. It's true that I have royal blood, but the king assigns his most trusted relatives as powerful vassals, so he knows there won't be any infighting when war breaks out," I explained "the idea is that lesser nobility would be eager to prove themselves rather than focus on the good of the kingdom."
"The empire has been at peace for a hundred years. With Doltia on the border there is little risk of invasion unless Doltia falls. Our nobility is comprised of the oldest families. It seems you base your nobility based on magic power?"
"It started out like that, but apart from whoever the new king appoints to be Duke, it's based on hereditary rule. Since magic power is mostly hereditary, we never bothered to change the nobility to keep them as the strongest magic users. Now the nobility is old and rotting. It's perfect for the orcs that they waited to invade. Now we're at our weakest and their at their strongest."
"You don't seem to approve of your nobility system." He noticed.
"I don't. Let's just leave it at that." I didn't want to elaborate further. I felt like their were hostile ears listening to our conversations.
My silent ride continued for another six miles north. Soon, night fell and we made camp beside the road that enemy forces would have to take if they were going to take the castle. We tied the horses deeper into the forest where they wouldn't be visible from the road. Our tents were hid with illusion magic that I cast but I couldn't hold it after I fell asleep so I would be on first watch.
We made a fire and ate some of the provisions. Everyone was talking to each other and paying no mind to the dark forest around us. I was getting creeped out by the fact that I couldn't see five feet the fire. I wasn't in a very talkative mood and Atezor was the first to notice. He exited his conversation and moved to the spot of ground beside me.
"You okay?" he asked "you aren't your usual cheery self."
I laughed. "Who accused me of being cheery? I'll fight them myself." Somehow, my anxiety vanished with a few words from Atezor. He truly was the greatest friend I made in my new world.
"Was there something bothering you?" He pressed.
I decided to tell him the truth. "I don't like the low visibility of the forest. Between the trees and the darkness, I doubt that a night vision spell would help much. Not being able to use their eyes is a humans greatest weakness."
Atezor nodded. "Goblins have been scouting this area for weeks now. With an advantage in knowledge of terrain, we would be quite unaware of them until they are right next to us. But that comes with the mission, we'll just have to deal with that when it happens. Until then, we can only conceal our presence and hope we do a good enough job of it."
"I know that, but I'm not stupid enough to trust my illusion magic to conceal us forever. We need an escape plan."
"We have one: if they show up, we fight. If there are too many to fight, we run like hell."
Even if he did nothing else, Atezor had at least cheered me up. Soon everyone had gone to sleep and I started first watch. If an attack were to occur the invading army would move at night. Orcs were more effective during nighttime and had more energy. Due to the goblins, which were more active during the day, they could only move from the hours of dusk to three in the morning. Or so it was estimated. Doltia had very little information on enemy tactics and movements. Because of the estimation I would be on watch from eleven to three. Just about the estimated time range for enemy marches.
As soon as everyone got into the tents, I put the fire out. I was on watch with Atezor but I would be stationed on the road, separate from him who would be in charge of guarding the camp. I hid in the bushes and activated night vision to keep an eye on the road.
Nothing happened for a few hours. At around one in the morning, I heard something. It was getting closer until it came into view. I knew at once what I was hearing. The clatter of claws running across a paved road. Five heads came into my line of sight. They had green skin and pointed ears. Their noses were as pointed as their ears and extended three inches past their faces.They had mouths that seemed permanently stuck in devilish sneers. Goblins looked just they did in games, and if tradition held they would be easy sources of experience points.
The goblins full torsos came into view and soon their mounts did too. Giant dire wolves bred for war, also known as wargs. They didn't look anything like the overgrown hyenas depicted in Lord of The Rings. They had thick coats of grey fur and noble faces. They seemed to be creatures of some intelligence as well. Why they would ally themselves with creatures such as goblins was beyond my comprehension.
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The goblins I could take on, no problem. But if I was forced to kill a warg, I might have never recovered emotionally. I had to act quickly, despite the longevity of the goblin's noses they had nothing in the way of smell. But I doubted that the wargs weren't already aware of my presence.
As they approached, I sent a shockwave of lightning magic into the group. The wargs were paralyzed immediately but goblins seemed to have a resistance to electricity. The five of them were thrown from their mounts and landed ungracefully on street, two rolling further than ten feet away from the wargs.
Atezor heard the commotion and came rushing to help. I emerged from the bushes and pointed at the two furthest from me. He nodded in affirmation and drew his sword while he slowly advanced. I drew my own and approached the three closest to the wargs. The goblins were already recovering. I used binding magic on the wargs (I just couldn't bring myself to kill such beautiful creatures.)
One of the goblins growled. "Humans. This should be fun." The others cackled.
"Tasty! Tasty!" They chanted in unison.
I returned an arrogant grin. "If you want a meal, your going to have to come and get it." I pointed my sword at each of them.
One said to the others. "This human thinks highly of himself."
Another responded. "Good. Nobles have the best meat."
the three cackled in unison. They were really starting to get on my nerves.
I made the first move, teleporting behind one and cleaving his head from his shoulders. His body fell to the ground and the other two turned and jumped back. One drew his short sword, which was more of a long dagger for my height. He lunged toward me and thrusted. My sword was too long counter as such close range so I sidestepped and kicked the goblin in the small of his back, sending him stumbling forward and losing his balance.
I turned to the other goblin and he barely caught my overhead strike on his sword. I raised my sword and did another overhead stike. I didn't bother changing my attack and the goblin was soon overpowered and lying dead at my feet, head split down the middle. Behind me, the goblin had regained his footing.
I lunged at him in the same thrusting motion he had tried against me. It was not countered, instead my blade entered his gut. I could feel his flesh being broken against the edge of my sword, the vibrations of the handle gave me an intimate knowledge how deep the sword was. The feeling was unpleasant at first but as his torso reached the guard I was strangely enjoying the feeling. I had never understood how someone could be bloodthirsty, I never enjoyed the thought of killing in my old life, but that when there were only humans and animals. Neither of which would I even think of killing out of anything other than self defense. But in my new world, there were creatures of significant intelligence that would actively hunt humans into extinction. I didn't think I could relish the thought of killing them, but I wasn't going to let them have their way.
As I pulled my sword from the goblin, however, my heart longed for more blood. I stabbed him again once he fell to ground. The goblin was still alive. Again, was he still alive? Again, he may yet live. I kept stabbing the goblin. The feeling was intoxicating, I couldn't get enough of it. Was that how it felt to take a life? The feeling of bloodlust was greater than anything I ever felt.
I stabbed the goblin's corpse over and over. I may have laughed. It was a side of myself I had never seen before, but it only terrified me later.
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. "The creature is dead Alfred. You can stop killing it now." Atezor's voice snapped me back to reality. The red I hadn't noticed in my vision had vanished.
I looked at the goblin but all I saw was a mangled patch of red. I didn't know how I could justify stabbing a corpse twenty eight times. The horror of my actions came to me in a wave that hit like a truck. I fell to my knees and sat on my feet, leaning forward I rested on my forearms. I pressed my forehead on the ground.
"I'm sorry." I didn't know who I was apologizing to.
Atezor said something that I couldn't comprehend at the moment.
"I'm sorry." I repeated. Tears began to fall on to the stones of the road.
I stayed there, crying and apologizing to no one in particular until Atezor placed his hand on my shoulder and guided me into a kneeling position. He looked into my eyes and punched me directly in the face.
"Get a hold of yourself. You lost control, it happens. Get over it." His words were harsh but they gave me what I needed. I even forgave him for punching me.
"I'm sorry," I said, sounding like a broken record,bit that time I knew who I was apologizing to. "I'm better now. Thanks."
"No problem. I don't know what came over you but you need get control of it. Rage clouds your mind and you can only fight with a clear head," He nodded at the wargs behind me "what are we gonna do with them?"
"I don't know. They looked so noble that I couldn't bring myself to kill them." I told him.
One looked at Atezor. "You seem weaker than your friend, but you know how to control his bloodlust. It's no wonder the two of you defeated our riders so easily."
It then turned its eyes to me. "You said we looked like noble creatures. You couldn't be further from the truth. We were raised for war by our masters, so war is all we know. We blindly serve those who raised us because they allow us to satisfy our lust for blood. The lust that was instilled in us from birth. The same lust I sense in you. We are not noble creatures, we are like you: animalistic creatures seeking only to kill. We are no more than servants to our desires. Maybe you would be a better master than those weaklings. You could provide far more blood for us to spill than those goblins."
I was just getting over the fact that the warg could speak when his words sunk in. "You want to serve me?" I asked.
"Indeed." He confirmed.
"How can I be sure you aren't just trying to save your own life?"
"I am trying to save my life. But I meant every word I said."
"What is your name, creature?" I asked.
"I have none. My masters never bothered to give me one."
"Then I name you Lupeus and bind you to my will." I released the spell restraining Lupeus and turned to the other wargs.
"Does Lupeus speak for all of you?" I questioned.
I general murmur of consent came from them. It seemed that they saw Lupeus as their Alpha and only allowed the goblins to ride them in hopes that they would get to fight something. Now that I had subjugated the alpha, they saw me as the alpha.
It seemed that wargs used shadow magic, a form of dark magic that allowed them to be summoned from and morphed into shadows. I let them disappear into the shadows so I didn't have to compromise the mission with my new pets.
We explained the events to second watch but left out the true reason that one of the goblins was so mangled. Simply saying that the wargs tore him apart after changing sides. I couldn't get any sleep after everything that happened so it seemed that the illusion would hold until morning. When third watch went out, I was getting tired of repeating recent events in my head, so I decided to sit with whoever was on camp guarding duty until morning.
As I emerged from the tent, I heard a voice. "I knew you were awake," said the voice " the illusion was still up."
"I couldn't sleep," I said to leviah "did second watch tell you what happened?"
"They told us the same lie that you told them." She responded.
"You saw through that story?" I asked.
"You would be laying awake if all that happened was an encounter with goblins." She told me.
"You're too smart for your own good."
"So what actually happened?" She inquired. I moved closer and sat opposite to her around the relit fire.
I told her everything. About the fight, about me losing control, and about the blissful feeling I had that carved a hole in my humanity. I fully expected her to be revolted. I was waiting for her to tell me to get the hell away from her. I was prepared to hear words of scorn and disgust. But when I finished, the only thing she said was, "oh."
Then she did something I didn't expect: she got up and sat in my lap facing me. She embraced me in her arms, and she squeezed harder as I hugged her back. There was nothing romantic about the moment, just a friend comforting her friend. How could she be so calm when I was terrified, I was afraid that, in a major battle, I would lose control again and go to far to come back. I may have already gone to far. How could I live with myself.
I sunk deeper in her arms, resting my head on her shoulder.
"What if I go to far?" I asked "what if I lose my humanity in the heat of battle?"
"If you go to far, I will be there to pull you back. Even if your humanity is gone, I can try to retrieve it for you."
I didn't know if I felt any better but she did succeed in comforting me. Maybe a little too much.
I sighed. "Thanks for that, Leviah. I feel better now."
I let go of her. She stayed in place, not letting go. She leaned back and looked me in the eye. I've never seen such a look in a girl's eyes before. It seemed like the perfect moment to kiss her. I simply wasn't in a very romantic mood. How could I be? I let the moment pass and averted my gaze. The look in her eyes shifted to disappointment...no, not disappointment. This was something more. Not sadness but...what? I was confused. Was she feeling rejected?
She let go of me and stood up. She walked back to the other side of the fire and sat down.
"You should try to get some sleep." Her voice was cold, the scathing voice I expected to hear after I told her about losing control.
I didn't argue, there was more than ice in her voice. There was a hint that she was holding back tears. I returned to my tent with even more problems than when I left it. Was it my fault that she was crying silently outside my tent or was it her timing?
The rest of the mission passed in relative silence. Despite the scuffle at the beginning, nothing came to see what happened to the goblins. Either they didn't care, or they were used to scouts not coming back. It didn't matter to me, no orcs were good orcs.
We packed up camp at noon and prepared for the thirty mile journey to the south. I wasn't in any mood to talk, my first night had ruined all the fun that was in it for me. Leviah was also gloomy (more so than usual), and our moods affected the entire group. The ride was silent and long. At full speed, we could have made it back by nightfall, but at the rate we were going we would have to stop to make camp. It's funny how a mood can affect motivation to return somewhere.
The ride was long and boring. I sat on my horse, blankly staring at the forest I had thought so beautiful just six day before. No one said a word and no one bothered. Atezor started to say something but a sharp look from Leviah cut him off. I believed that meant she was still mad, she was even lashing out at people who weren't involved.
I was personally over the incident at the campfire. She chose the wrong moment to something that would've been great any other time. My thoughts were on my actions during the fight with the goblins. I was still horrified by my actions, but I was more focused on not letting it happen again.
The ride continued in silence at first the silence was deafening but soon it became an asset. During the early evening a sound was heard behind us. A rumbling was vibrating on the road. The sound of an army approaching.
They were approached with too much speed and we were too far from the castle to make it on our already worn horses. We decided to hide under an illusion in the forest. It wouldn't hide our scent from the wargs but hopefully they would be more focused on thought of fighting a big battle than killing a few humans.
The question on everyone's mind was why the orcs would be making a move so early. Orcs were creatures of darkness and they were supposed to act accordingly. Why they would be marching during light hours was unknown. Suddenly the answer came tome and I started to say something, but at that moment, the first orc came into view.
The orcs face was nothing like the fantasy adaptations on earth, and after seeing the real thing I understood why. Not even the grotesque creatures in Lord of the Rings began to approach the true horror of such unnatural creatures. The one was looking at was more muscular than the most roid-raging body builder, his face was most human except for the tusks protruding from it's mouth. It's nose had a ring made from mithril, and it had golden gadges in it's ears. The horror came, not from ugliness, but from the idea of having to fight it.
It was riding a warg that was larger than Lupus by one and a half times. Even it seemed to be struggling under the weight of the massive orc riding on it. The warg turned it head toward the spot where we were hiding and began sniffing the air.
The orc riding it got curious. "What do you smell, war-wolf?" It asked in Argish, the language of the orcs. I only understood it because I was tutored in Argish as well as Imperial, under the assumption that it would be an asset were we to go to war during my lifetime.
"Nothing, leader. Just some scurrying rats. Nothing important enough to distract from taking the castle by morning." Answered the warg in the same language.
The rest of the army marched closely behind the orc that was very obviously their commander. The rest of the orcs weren't as bulky or intimidating, the goblins even weaker than them. About eight hundred in all: two hundred fifty goblins, one hundred fifty orcs, and four hundred wargs.
They soon passed and we were in the clear. We emerged after about twenty minutes and began discussing our plan of action. We could keep going or we could stop for the night. If we kept going, there was the chance that we would get caught up in the army's movements. Camping for the night would risk being caught if the army decided to return tomorrow. After I told them that the warg said that they planned on taking the castle by tomorrow we decided to send a messenger pigeon and keep going. Hopefully we wouldn't return to a ruined castle, or that the potentially defeated force was too large for us to fight.
We mounted our horses in a formation that set our most powerful attackers in the front, and our most skilled magic users in the back. The apprentices of Atezor and Leviah were in the front with Artenius. I, Atezor, and Wayne were in the second row. Wayne's apprentice was in the back row with Leviah and Enis, leaving the Captain to bring up the back of the formation. This formation was designed to allow for speed dismounting in case of an encounter with the enemy. The horses weren't war horses, so they were likely to be spooked and run off.
the ride had suddenly gone from oppressingly silent to silence filled with tension. No one dared to break the silence. The ride probably lasted all night, we started to get closer to the castle.