Library: Kingdom gone

The first rays of morning sun are again penetrating the hours long darkness that covered these lands. Like every other night and day but this day is somewhat different. The rays reflect from metal surfaces all over one quiet hill. Reflections can be seen even from a long distance, but only when the ruins of an ancient watchtower, slowly falling apart, are not blocking the view. What cannot be seen from the distance is all the fallen warriors and the pools of blood decorating the hill. In the middle of all this is a man sitting. His breastplate torn apart, his golden crown turned red of blood. He has cuts and bruises all around his body. His long black hair is wet and dirty of blood and his eyes have an empty look. He sits on a rock, a battle axe next to him on the ground and a large two-handed sword between his legs. The man sits there doing nothing. He has no understanding of what has happened around him. It is already a late morning when he finally stands up, takes a sword in one hand and the battle axe in other. Spreading his arms wide he shouts. Shouts until his throat feels numb. Shouts because he came back to his senses and remembers everything that happened. He, the king, was hunting with his friends and some trustworthy members of the loyal guard when they were attacked. Although there should have been regular patrols scouting the area he had not received any warning. This was strange, not because of the famous skills of his scouts and rangers, but because they were attacked by two large groups of men blocking the road they were passing. Such a large number of men shouldn't have gone unnoticed through his lands. The king ordered his men to follow and they all rode as fast as they and their horses could. They got out of woods just in time to see a third group approaching. They had no other choice but to go to the direction of this old watchtower. And to there they got and there they defended themselves as best they could. Protecting the king was in everyone's mind the priority number one. Self-sacrificingly they fought and many a blow meant for the king were stopped by his friend or a guard throwing himself in the between. Still the king is breathing. They fought valiantly and he was also a good fighter. A warrior king, feared and respected at the same time. There was not a single person alive on the hill besides the king, who had now sobered from his nightmares and planning what to do next. It is obvious that there is a conspirator among his scouts. Someone in a high enough position to alter the patrolling routes. It was now for the first time that the king realised what was happening in the distance. There was lots of smoke rising from different directions around him. Smoke rising from where there should be his cities and villages. Now he smelled it too. Human flesh, lots of it, burning around him. So, he realised, it was not just an attempt to kill him but a full-scale invasion or attack. But who would dare to attack him? There shouldn't have been, according to his spies, a strong enough faction to resist his reign. Obviously there was and he had been misinformed. He called for his horse, who came running up the hill. He also took his weapons, too heavy for a normal man to use in one hand but the king wasn't just a man. Throwing himself on his horse and riding towards the capital as fast as possible he didn't see a single sign of life on his way. No animal nor human. Strange thing was that there were no corpses either and the only sounds came from him and his horse. When he had already got used to the silence he suddenly saw an old man standing on the middle of the road. He had a long silvery beard and his white robes and blue cloak were quite dirty and tattered. He was leaning to an ordinary looking walking-staff and when the king saw him he raised his view from the ground to the face of the king, who slowed down and stopped near the old man. Before he had any time to ask anything about what had happened the old man started to speak: "Greetings my king. I am here to save your life. If you continue your way to the capital you will surely be dead. Well, it is a small miracle that you are still alive but we are living enchanted times right now." "Who are you," asked the king who had expected to die soon in a fight till bitter death with the invaders. "My name is Fogfield. I represent the Wizards of Greythorn. We have a lot to discuss but may I now advice you to come with me. If you really want to save what is possible you do as I say." Normally the king would have not been so easily persuaded, but there was something in the way the old man spoke and stood in front of him. They walked into the forest and after some minutes they came to an opening, where only some grass was growing. In the middle of the opening was laying a huge silver dragon. It's scales glimmering in the sunlight. "This is my companion and my dearest friend", said Fogfield. "Now we must haste, please leave your weapons here since you won't be needing them where we are going." They both climbed onto the back of the dragon. When they were safely sitting there the dragon rose to his back feet and jumped in the air opening its wings and speeding up to the heights. "We will fly over the capital so you can see what has happened and it will save me the trouble of telling you. You also cannot deny what your eyes are saying to you," spoke Fogfield. The walls surrounding the capital were mostly collapsed. There were no sign of fighting anymore. In the marketplace were all his people chained, bleeding, crying, dying. In front of them stood a huge bonfire fed by the corpses of those who had already died. He also saw now who had attacked him. Apparently his spies had been truthful since the attackers were not human. There were demons as large as a two-story house shouting commands and whipping the humans. Their eyes were full of hellfire and they carried flaming weapons. In their feet ran a horde of damned souls who now had to serve as their warriors and servants. "What are them?" asked the king. "Who sent those misshapen creatures to torment my people?" The king was full of rage and was almost going to jump down to die with his people. "Your questions will be answered in our stronghold. We have to hurry since there is an important gathering. I can only say that this is just a beginning. The whole world has to unite against these foul creatures breeding in the pits of underworld. The reason I came for you is that you have an important role to play. As a king you could have done some things better but as a warrior there is no match for your skills. In the coming great war we would like you to command our armies. But rest now for we have a long flight ahead of us." In the king's life everything had changed in a day. From a king to an outlaw and now he was about to become a general. His head was full of thoughts, full of sorrow and full of emptiness and he could not sleep for many an hour. Finally, when they were in vast clouds he dozed off and woke when they arrived at the stronghold of Greythorn. They were escorted to the council room where an intense debate was already going on. There were dwarves, elves and humans from different guilds and factions. Actually no one even bothered to look at them until the head wizard shouted "Silence! May I introduce you the king of Farior. He has come here, summoned by me and fetched by one of my colleagues. Would you, dear king, tell us what happened in your lands." The king told them about everything that had happened after their "normal" hunting trip, about the battle, about his fallen comrades and about the ruined cities and most importantly, about the hordes of demonic fiends walking on earth. Especially the last part seemed to shake his listeners. After a moment of silence the head wizard spoke again: "Indeed we are now living hard times. Old prophecies have foretold this moment but we didn't expect it to happen in our lifetimes. Although we have made some preparations we are far from ready to challenge the forces of the very evil itself. I know what we must do to prevent the hell on earth. There is no other option but to travel to the realm's highest mountain, Lavador, and go to the ancient temple, where the gods still can hear us. We need help of all the Creators to fight this threat." "I know it is my duty to go to that mountain. I will take a few trusted companions with me and the command of this fortress I give to our king here. For if we fail our mission or the gods refuse to help us, this place is the only thing standing between light and darkness. We have to leave you tonight. Fogfield will instruct the king and stays here to be his advisor but also he will represent me when I am gone." The discussion continued in the hall though the shadows were beginning to deepen. They were also treated some food and drinks but no one couldn't eat much under these circumstances. Fogfield told the king about all the defence mechanisms of the stronghold. He also told him about the specialities of dwarves and elves and how it would be wise to use them in the battle. For everyone knew that if the stronghold falls, then there is nothing to protect the rest of the world. So they prepared to the upcoming great battle. Meanwhile the head wizard had left with his party riding golden dragons towards the centre of the world, where Lavador stood. Days went past quietly. More people arrived at the fortress every day and besides the military issues, the king had to ponder how there would be enough food for everyone. Especially if they will be under siege there is always the possibility of starving. These thoughts always made shivers go down his spine. Fortunately the stronghold was full of experienced warriors and the location was also in their side. He had learnt to appreciate the aid of Fogfield and others who knew the fortress better. Besides the food issue he was mostly troubled by the lack of information about the head wizard's journey and the fact that they had no idea what kind of forces the demons have in their disposal. Everything was running smoothly until one night he was wakened by the sound of a big bell, which is in the highest tower of the fortress. Quickly he put on his armour, took his new weapons, which still were a large two-handed sword and a battle axe, and ran on the walls. The whole fortress was surrounded by a sea of flame. Or that is what it looked like because almost every attacker had a torch and there were thousands of them. In the back of the oncoming army were the demons with their burning eyes and pitch black whips. Behind them stood four dark figures on horses. The king could only see them faintly but knew that these were the messengers of death. Then it began. Wave after wave of enemies threw themselves to the walls. The air was thick of flying arrows and soon it was almost impossible to look what was happening because you had to keep your shield up all the time. This disturbed the defenders very much and the demons took an advantage of that and nearly managed to come through the main gate of the fortress. Fortunately some dwarf engineers managed to launch a trap they had planned and tons of rocks fell over the fiends, blocking that passage to the fortress. When the demons found the main entrance blocked they pushed their army forward and sent the ones with ladders and attack towers to the front line. Men fought bravely against the legions of hell and managed to keep the enemy out of the inner yard. This is how the battle continued for hours. Men were already very tired and only the strong performance of the king kept their moral high. They also knew that fleeing was not an option. Not in this battle. The defenders also had a clear advantage because of the high walls that were occupied all the time. The leaders of hell realised this also. They chanted a powerful blast that they knew to took much of their powers. A shining ball of pure energy leapt from them and hit the wall few steps from the blocked passage. The following explosion was so powerful that many of the boulders fell apart with many metres of the wall and this is how the damned pushed themselves to the yard. Men, elves and dwarves had no other choice but to retreat deeper into the fortress. They knew that they couldn't escape from there but they could at least keep the demons busy for a while, giving the head wizard more time, since the tunnels and passages inside the fortress were many. More hours passed and almost every defender was dead. Bodies of warriors and wizards were in their eternal sleep on the floor. There was only one place of resistance left. The passage to the highest tower was difficult and steep. There was Fogfield, the king and a few survivors. They had managed to keep their position because the enemy could only send two at a time to fight them. The situation was still desperate. Fogfield couldn't cast fire on the attackers because he had spent the last of his powers to protect the tower from energy blasts outside. The king was also tired and they all had cuts and they were bleeding more or less. Then suddenly after the two enemy warriors there was no more of them coming. They all listened what was happening but there was no sound to be heard. After they had even regained some hope there was a clanking of chains coming from the passage. Then they heard heavy footsteps and breathing. A red glow started to fill the passage and the air started to feel hotter. Then they saw a black head of a whip appearing into the passage. Slowly they saw more and more of the whip but never they saw the hand holding it. A bright flash penetrated the red glow in the tunnel and they had to cover their eyes for not being blinded by it. When the king was able to look again he saw the whip still on the floor and there was no sign of the demonic being. The air was also different. If it weren't for the recent events he would have thought of roses. This all was very confusing but he wanted to hope for the best. There was not much to do but hope. He ordered the men to guard the passage and ran up the stairs to the bell. There from a window he saw to the yard. It was full of pure white horsemen and pure white knights with wings. There was no sign of the evil that had haunted them. Then he looked at the horizon and the first rays of morning sun hit his eyes. He sat down and smiled.

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Library: Kingdom gone