NaNoWriMo 26–Betrayed

NaNoWriMo 26

I had the grand goal of finishing up last night, but in the end I just did not quite have the steam to push across the finish line.  However I did manage to get to 48,723 word count.  This puts me roughly 1200 words away from 50,000 which I am certain I will make.  At this point there are two chapters left that I planned to write.  Even if I do make it over 50,000 I will go ahead and write the two chapters I feel need to be there to finish off the novel.  I am shocked at just how well overall the pacing has worked.  I honestly expected to be “done” and come up way short of the target goal.

Here is the story to date for those wanting to catch up.  Found out last night I have a contingency that is waiting for me to finish before starting.  Hopefully they all realize just how raw the novel is!

  1. Shadowed Stone
  2. Little Giant Girl
  3. Birthday Wishes
  4. The Gifts
  5. The Incursion
  6. The Watch
  7. Rough Landing
  8. Dragon Bone
  9. People of the Storm
  10. The Lady
  11. Cambridge Beneath
  12. Prisoner of War
  13. Woodbinding
  14. Parting the Veil
  15. People of the Earth
  16. The Pack
  17. Brittagus Escape
  18. The Lightskimmer
  19. The Nightlords
  20. Hagengarde
  21. Homecoming
  22. Reckoning
  23. Best Laid Plans
  24. The Siege
  25. Serendipity

26 – Betrayed

The castle facade was hidden behind a wall of thick smoke streaming up from the strew carcasses of the metal machines that previously guarded it.  The skyship payloads had found their targets and sent a scattered mess of gobbley mechanics trying to vain to repair them.  Behind the black cloud Merowyn knew lay a portculus, and hopefully in the confusion they could slip into the castle proper relatively unnoticed.  She raised her hand waving the gathered group of valkore and her sprites ahead into the dense hanging smoke.  They moved along silently ajusting their course periodically to miss a frantic mechanic.

They could see the wall of the castle when the smoke began to break a bit.  From directly ahead of them there came a bolt of fire streamed with little rivulets of lightning coursing up and down its length.  The bolt missed Merowyn barely but she managed to react and raise a barrier spell moments before the next one would have struck her.  Instead it bounced off the barrier sending it careening into a gobbley warmachine causing another fury of sparks and even more black smoke to belch up from it.

Peering through the smoke she recognized her attacker as Baigan, son of Oakswurv and the Winter Prince.  Jace and Kale had told her about the events of the farmhouse, but until she saw him herself she had not quite believed that one of the councils children would betray them.  When the next of stormfire came, she pushed out on the shield and sent it deflecting back in his direction.  The bolt struck at his feet causing him to jump back slightly.  Seizing the opportunity of his momentary distraction she pushed the barrier harder sending it out in front of her like a wave of force.  The shield struck Baigan squarely in the chest knocking him back pressing him against the castle wall.

He tried in vain to hurl another bolt at Merowyn but she quickly raised another barrier sending it crashing down upon him.  How could this be, the power of stormfire was the most destructive magic known in the wildlands.  How could a simple barrier spell be getting the best of him.  He needed time to regroup.  He threw a bolt of stormfire at the ground beneath one of the crashed warmachines sending up an explosion of parts.  Reaching out with the power of the north wind he directed the cloud of machinery down upon Merowyn and the others.

“Get to me now!” Mero yelled already extending out a protective barrier and wrapping it around them.  The others managed to get inside the bubble moments before a stream of debris crashed down on the bubble trapping them under a dome of spent machinery.  Merowyn strained at the weight crushing down upon her bubble, sensing her struggle the sprites clamped around her just like they had done before.  She became a luminescent sculpture of green light as the little fae gave back some of the light she had given them.  Emboldened by the strength surging into her… she pushed with all her might upon the barrier and with an eruption of force the pile of machinery flew off in every direction raining down upon the frightened gobbley who were still hopelessly tending to their creations.

When the dust cleared Merowyn looked around frantically expecting another round of attacks from the traitor.  Instead she saw nothing, he had vanished, most likely into the castle.  She took a moment to catch her breath as the others made their way up to the portcullis.  The gate was down and no matter how much Kale tried she could not budge it.  When she finally gave up on lifting it she began pounding the door with her great big fists, each blow causing the door to echo like a drum.

Jace grabbed her arm trying to stop her, the knuckles of her hands already bloody and cracked from pouding against the dense wood.  “We will find another way Kale, you aren’t doing anything but hurting yourself”  Jace chided as he tried to think of another way.  Merowyn said he was a wood binder, and that was why he could change his staff into a sword.  She said he could also manipulate wood and other living and once living things.  He wondered if that included a wooden gate on a castle.  While he didn’t really understand the specifics of why he could do what he could do, he understood the basics and that was enough to try.

He managed to get Kale to stop, and moved in front of her placing his hands on the wood of the gate.  Reaching out with his mind he tried to meld with the wood, sense it, feel it moving behind his fingers.  He closed his eyes and imagined the wood of the door parting for him, peeling apart at the grain moving to one side and leaving a wide opening.  As he visualized the change in the door he heard a creaking noise and as he dared to open his eyes he watched the wood slowly bending to his will.  Cracking down the grain and slowly folding back until there was a warped opening in the door just big enough for them to pass through.

Kale looked at him dumbstruck “How did you do that?”  Jace shrugged slightly “Merowyn said Benj and I were woodbinders… I just took a leap of faith that it meant any kind of wood… not just my staff”  He was as confused by it as she was, and quite honestly completely surprised by the success.  Standing there it felt as though the ground was rushing up at him, and then moments later he realized that it was him falling to the ground.  Kale rushed to his side helping him back up.  “Are you okay?”  He nodded wearily feeling completely drained “I guess it took a bit out of me, I will be fine.”

His head was spinning but as he stood there assisted by Kale the world began to right itself and stopping moving around so violently.  Within a few moments the dizzyness had passed, but he felt as though he needed to stand completely still for a few minutes just to make sure.  He looked over at Merowyn and similar the Sprites were helping her up.  I guess these abilities they had, came with a bit of a price.  He was certain they would both be fine they just needed a moment to rest and recover before going further.  If they were to encounter Baigan in this state they would both likely end up dead.

Using the shower of machinery as cover Baigan had indeed escaped into the fort and was now streaming through the halls on his way to the throne room.  Passing Orts along the way he screamed “Get to the western facade, defend me you oafs!!!”  The magical exchange had drained him greatly as well and he needed to gather his strength.  Shooting down the skyships and then the exchange with Merowyn had tapped a good bit of his power.  He needed a moment to rest and then he could finish them off after the Orts were done with them.

He ascended the stairs leading to the throne and collapsed down into his chair.  How could this have gone so wrong he asked himself.  Did he not have the most powerful army at his command?  Was he not able to wield the most destructive magic?  How could these misfits be tearing his army apart at the seams.  The Orts were undisciplined brutes, that had to be it… they were not used to fighting without cheating.  The Trogjan never fought fair, and they rarely had to defend.  They were almost always the aggressor.  He had simply miscalculated their strengths.

He could still be the victor.  His superior magic would be the key.  He had to regain his strength so he could strike down these fools with his mighty storm fire.  As Baigan sat there trying to rationalize away his failure he felt a sensation unlike any he had ever experienced.  He felt a coldness against his neck and a pressure.  He found himself unable to speak, and there was a flurry of movement as at the last moment he finally realized it was a blade slicing into his neck.  

The assassin had been completely silent, and his aim true and steady.  In a single flash of motion Baigan the traitor was no more, and the other was sliding his head into a leather bag and dropping it into a pack on his back.  Reaching out to a pouch on his waist he removed a large crystal, one much larger than the one used to trap the queen, but relatively similar in design.  The assassin touched the crystal to the chest of Baigan’s lifeless and now slightly twitching corpse.  The room erupted in a cascade of lights that vacillated between a deep cyan and a warm glowing orange.

When the light had faded the assassin stood there holding a crystal that contained a deep fire within it and underneath the surface pulsed with jets of lightning.  The stormfire crystal was complete, and the master would be pleased.  The assassin slid the crystal back into the pouch at his waist.  He looked at the corpse of Baigan and frowned slightly.  It was troubling to see any shade die, even a pompous and arrogant one like him.  The masters plan however is absolute, and he would get the crystal to him before high night fell.  With that the silent shadow of a man slipped out of the throne room, and melded with the corridors rushing out of the castle and into the dim twilight.

NaNoWriMo 25–Serendipity

NaNoWriMo 25

I was a very bad person yesterday.  I ended up resting on the laurels of the weekends progress.  I do however intend to remedy that tonight and maybe make a push for the goal line.  It seems like each time I get too far ahead I let myself relax and skip a day.  I started off this two chapters ahead and over time that lead dwindled to nothing.  However at this point I am less than 5000 words away from the finish line and hopefully tonight I can buckle down and finish.

Here is the tale so far for those catching up, once again posted raw and unedited.

  1. Shadowed Stone
  2. Little Giant Girl
  3. Birthday Wishes
  4. The Gifts
  5. The Incursion
  6. The Watch
  7. Rough Landing
  8. Dragon Bone
  9. People of the Storm
  10. The Lady
  11. Cambridge Beneath
  12. Prisoner of War
  13. Woodbinding
  14. Parting the Veil
  15. People of the Earth
  16. The Pack
  17. Brittagus Escape
  18. The Lightskimmer
  19. The Nightlords
  20. Hagengarde
  21. Homecoming
  22. Reckoning
  23. Best Laid Plans
  24. The Siege

25 – Serendipity

Merowyn had been badly wounded from her act of sacrifice to free her wildfae children.  As a result Jace decided that they should spend the light in the keep and hopefully by morning she would be able to move on.  The sprites lovingly nursed her throughout the night, wrapping themselves around her, and in the morning she seemed invigorated.  Jace did not really understand what had happened, but he was happy to see that she was doing well and seeming in better spirits than he had seen her on the journey.  He was also happy to see that Dimcy more or less was doing well.

Her sacrifice the day before had also had consequences, but it seemed that she had been reborn as a child version of herself.  The younger Dimcy seemed to be quite a bit more playful than her previous self and delighted in buzzing around their heads as fast as she could making a little halo of flame.  Kale delighted in this and as they walked Dimcy spent most of her time resting on the large girls shoulder.  It was the love of Kale that rekindled the firesprite and the bond only seemed to grow stronger.

As they exited the keep Jace noticed that a large storm had appeared shrouding the Fort in the distance.  As they moved closer to it he began to hear sounds from within the mists.  It sounded as though a battle was waging.  He looked over to Merowyn and she returned his it with a worried glance.  “Someone is fighting at the Fort” Jace said feeling like he was stating the obvious.  “I sure hope they are friendly, and not an even worse army than the Orts.”  Merowyn could not imagine who would be striking against the keep.  The elfen armies were in a state of disarray after the Winter War, and no other standing army had the power to strike back against the keep.  The Valkore were powerful enough but they were scattered in individual clans, and seemed to lack the will to band together against anything after being driven out of their homelands.

The Sasquatch were also powerful enough, being able to wield the power of their earth where their shamanistic geomancy.  But they were scattered and tribal and once again lacked the force of will to join together to face anything head on like this.  Merowyn wondered who could possibly be behind the strike, and if they would be willing to help them achieve their own goals.  “We have to continue, and hope for the best.” She proclaimed as she pushed forward with her army of sprites in tow.  “Too much rests on us reclaiming the queen and protecting the summerwall.”

As they neared the keep they heard a great commotion from the western face as something erupted in fire sending great plumes of smoke rising up from the ground.  Jace could see what looked like a boat hovering over the fog bank.  “What is that? Some sort of airship?” he said pointing up at the shapes above the fog bank.  Mero looked at where the boy was pointing and sure enough it was a fleet of Valkore Skyships.  “I guess that answers the question, the those are Valkore skyships.  They are dropping fire down on something below them.”

Merowyn watched in horror was she saw a bolt strike out from the fort and hit the ship in its hull sending it crashing to the ground.  She was uncertain if she just saw what happened.  Another bolt came flying out catching another ship and sending it to the ground.  She watched the magic more closely this time.  She saw a plume of flame wrapped in lightning.  It made sense, but that meant that the traitor had managed to harness the power of the queen.  “They are using stormfire!” she yelled fear lacing her voice.

She had heard of it in legends but never thought that a person could actually wield such power.  “Baigan has harnessed the queen and is now using the most destructive of magics, the combined strength of summer and winter.  He is using stormfire and is destroying those ships.”  She watched as a group of ships broke off, diving down below the fog bank for cover.  They sped along the ground for a long ways and came to a stop on a flat spot just ahead of them.  “We need to go see if anyone is hurt” yelled Jace already breaking into a run heading towards the ship.

As Jace got to the ships, he saw a woman in leather and fur armor disembark the ship, sword drawn and held high as though she was rallying her crew.  Following closely behind her was another woman with black hair, bright pink highlights and dressed in a manner he was not expecting for the shadowlands.  She was from his world, there was no mistaking it… and the Doctor Who t-shirt if nothing else was a dead give away.  He waved his arms while running screaming “Is everyone alright?  We can give assistance!”

Pico watched as a boy and very tall girl closed in on their location.  Much to her shock she recognized both of them.  One of the dirty secrets of the watch was the fact that they kept files on all betweeners.  While they might not know the significance of each they cataloged their abilities.  The boy was Jace, he was a known woodbinder but had not really come into his own ability at the last the file was updated.  The girl was Kale, she was half ort and with it had all the powers of a small giant.  Her 6’10” stature tended to make her stand out as being something different.  She wondered what exactly they were doing, and why they were being followed closely by an Elfen woman and literally hundreds of forest sprites.

Barret stepped in front of Pico raising pointing her sword out in front of her and staring down at the oncomers.  “Who are you?  What side are you with?” she screamed making sure the others understood her clearly.  Jace slowed his pace and held his hands out to his sides showing he meant no harm “We didn’t know there were sides?  We are coming to save my mom…  err the Summer Queen.”  he motioned to the keep “We have to get in there and save her.  Can you help us?”  Jace looked at the captain pleadingly.

Barret lowered her sword and could not suppress a chuckle.  “It seems you are a bit behind the times boy.”  She motioned to the fog behind her “There is a battle waging, and we too have come to rescue this queen and save the summer wall.  We have a joint force of Valkore, Sasquatch, Elfen… “motioning to the army of sprites behind him “and it appears we have a whole slew of Wildfae as well, all trying to accomplish the same task.”  She looked at her crew, and they gazed to the other ship crews that had begun to assemble.  “We do have a few wounded, we would appreciate any assistance.  When everyone is bandaged up we can push to the fort and cover you.”

Merowyn motioned to her sprites and they spread out throughout the crowd mending those that could be mended and stabilizing those who could not.  Pico rushed up to Jace and held out her hand “Hi, I’m Pico”.  She gave a sheepish grin “I did not expect to see betweeners here.”  Jace thought for a moment, Kale had used the term before but he never really thought that he too was a betweener.  Kale had joined him and whispered in his ear “I think she is with the watch, be careful”  Jayce nodded and looked Pico over carefully.  He had also heard about the Ward Watch from Kale, and was a bit leery.

“How exactly did you get here Pico?” Jace questioned trying to make small talk as the sprites tended to their the Valkore.  “It’s a really long story, one we don’t really have time for right now.  Hopefully after this is over though Bemel will hold true to his word and get me back home.  If not I might need to beg one of you betweeners to shift me across.”  Jace looked dumbfounded and replied quickly “Did you say Bemel?  He’s okay?  He’s here?”  Pico nodded “He is leading up the strike from the south.  This entire alliance was his idea.”

Jace’s mind reeled, maybe they all made it out okay from the farmhouse.  “What about Benj, Josah and Morrow?”  He had watched Oaks fall to Baigan, but maybe the others were fine.  All this time he had expected the worst.  Maybe everything was going to be just fine.  “I’ve not heard the name Benj, but there are two other Elfen named Josah and Morrow.  They are leading up a force of Valkore striking from the east.”  She looked at Jace with a puzzled look on her face “Are they family of yours?”  Jace nodded with a wide smile “Yes they are, they are my aunts and uncles.”  Jace hoped that Benj was fine as well, surely we all ended up here at the same time for a reason.  For the first time in a long time he felt like maybe everything was going to be just fine.

NaNoWriMo 24–The Siege

NaNoWriMo 24

Really pleased with my progress yesterday.  In all I wrote three of my normal sized chapters and pushed it across the 45,000 word count line.  This should let me rather easily finish by Wednesday unless I start slacking again.  I am not sure why but I really want to finish before Thanksgiving.  If I can knock out another 2000 words or so this evening I will definitely be on track.  I think pacing wise I will be there as well.  The main event that has been leading up to is under way, and I have a few chapters dealing with the fallout but that should put me well over the 50,000 mark maybe even 55,000.

Here is the story to date for those that want to catch up, like always super raw and super unedited.  Even to the point of confusion at times.

  1. Shadowed Stone
  2. Little Giant Girl
  3. Birthday Wishes
  4. The Gifts
  5. The Incursion
  6. The Watch
  7. Rough Landing
  8. Dragon Bone
  9. People of the Storm
  10. The Lady
  11. Cambridge Beneath
  12. Prisoner of War
  13. Woodbinding
  14. Parting the Veil
  15. People of the Earth
  16. The Pack
  17. Brittagus Escape
  18. The Lightskimmer
  19. The Nightlords
  20. Hagengarde
  21. Homecoming
  22. Reckoning
  23. Best Laid Plans

24 – The Siege

“Are you sure this will work?” The short valkore man asked as he opened the tiny grey box to see an even smaller orb contained within.  Shaking her hands furiously Pico pleaded “Be careful with that please… it is very sensative.  As far as if it will work, definitely…  what it will do that is an entirely different matter.  It should detonate on impact and disintegrate a bunch of those big brutish things in the process.  The real question is are you going to be able to drop it successful in the fog?”  Captain Barret looked incredulous “Egan is the best munitions man we have, he will do his job just fine.”  With the vote of confidence Egan carefully loaded the payload into the bomb bay of the skyship.  Looking back and Pico and Captain Barret “We are ready to fire”.

The ship glided over the top of the sunwall and out onto what seemed to be an ocean of fog.  The valkore stormcallers had crossed the wall hours ago and worked up a great storm providing a foggy cover for their approach.  Pico thought to herself, if only this sort of thing worked in the real world.  Being able to control the weather was a massive stroke in their favor.  When she was first introduced to Valkore, Bemel said they were the “people of the storm”.  That moniker did not really have much meaning until this morning, but they very much earned every syllable. 

In the distance there appeared to be a parapet of a keep jutting up slightly above the fog bank.  To her relief there did not appear to be a spotter yet in the tower.  As they got closer to the keep she could see flashes of lightning within the fog.  The shaman were doing their job keeping the Orts confused and engaged as they slipped onto the battlefield.  Their mission was to drop the bomb on the keep below, and then rejoin with the rest of the skyships attacking to the west.  For whatever reason the enemy had chosen to protect the western facade of the keep with their war machines, and what better to take down a siege machine than another one from above.

Egan signalled to the captain “We are over the target zone captain, this is the area where we have calculated will have the highest concentration of Ort backbreakers.”  The captain stared down at the gunner with a steely gaze.  She thought about the actions and responded cautiously.  “Prepare to fire on my mark”  She looked out over the bow of the ship to the storm swirling below.  She could see large shapes half forced in the mists, and as they glided over a large mass of these she gave the order “Fire!”.  The gunner released the clutch that held the payload in its place screaming at the top of his lungs “Brace for shockwave!”

The little orb drifted down through the cloud bank plummeting towards the rocky earth below.  When it landed there was not much of a reaction at first, and then as though the boat had hit a giant wave it was pushed upwards and back riding the cloudbank.  Pico rushed to the front of the boat and watched as a ring of fog rose up away from the ground and then from the center there came a giant thrust upwards in the bank.  As the fog started to dissipate she saw a great empty void in the forces below.  As though they had simply been erased from existence.  On the edges of the blast radius she saw orts cut in half, missing limbs, as though the force of the tiny bomb had simply deleted parts of their bodies.  The weapon had worked better than she could have ever imagined.

On the ground the brutes were scrambling, completely confused by what had just happened.  No magic of the wildlands was capable of doing that.  It was all that Varus could do to keep the beasts from routing.  “Stay together!  We have to regroup, there are more things than that in the fog.”  The gorund general shouted as a peal of thunder shook the area and a lightning bolt struck an ort not two feet in front of him sending it to the ground in a sizzling pile.  He could not wrap his head around what had just happened but he fought hard to keep the meat beasts in line.  Baigan had clearly underestimated the level of resistance.  If they failed he hoped his assassin could dispatch the traitor quickly and they could make their escape.

Bemel heard the explosion of the bomb hitting and felt the wave of force rolling backwards towards his forces.  In the attack plan, he had been tasked at leading a force of Elfen archers to act as a protective cover for the Stormcallers striking out from behind him.  They had done an amazing job at confusing the Orts, and real resistance was crumbling around him.  To the left the Sasquatch warriors were advancing on the keep with Torklah and his rock shaman following behind.  The shaman gifted in the ways of earth were erecting physical obstacles to protect the charging warriors.  The way the two of them worked together was truly amazing to watch.

Bemel saw an Ort emerging from the mist charging towards his group.  He nocked an arrow, drawing it back slowly.  He stopped his breathing for a moment and let the arrow fly.  It soared over the battlefield trails of fog spinning off the fletchings behind it.  It struck the Ort squarely between the eyes sending it collapsing on its own weight, causing the one coming up behind it to trip and fall as well.  The Ortan were powerful, but they lacked any grace of battle.  His elfen brethren loosed their own arrows, each one finding home deep within an approaching ort.

To his right Bemel saw the Valkore approaching with Morrow and Josah leading the charge.  Morrow looked almost gleeful as she brought down her big hammer to bear against the kneecap of an Ort who had the misfortune to swing at her.  She followed up with a grace that should ahve been impossible given her girth, bringing down her hammer upon its skull silencing its growling.  Josah sliced a path in front of him, the flashes of lightning reflecting off the dual spinning blades.  Bemel thought that alone any one of these forces would have struggled to defeat the Ortan horde.  However together in this makeshift alliance we were mighty.

When the Barret’s skyship arrived on the western front, the other ships were already dropping whaleoil bombs down upon the machines below.  The battering engines were blazing sending black plumes of smoke up into the air.  Barret moved the ship into the fray and Egan dropped their own whaleoil bombs striking a ballista sending its crew scrambling off of it to avoid the flames.  Pico looked down at the carnage in amazement and dread.  If this force were ever turned on her world, what would they possibly do to stop it?  She had to marvel at the cooperation being shown from so many different groups.

Behind Pico there was a sudden and searing light, it struck one of the skyships in the hull causing it to errupt in a shower of light and list to the side before ultimately crashing down to the rocky ground.  She spun around to see that a figure was standing on top of the Keep Parapet above the mist firing these bolts of what looked to be fire braided with lightning.  She had never seen anything like it.  To her left Captain Barret screamed “Evasive maneuvers” as a bolt of the magic shot out striking another skyship.  Barret scanned the horizon finding a smooth flat spot in the rocky ground “Signal all skyships to land, we’ve done our part.  We need to hide in the fog.”

The ship lurched speeding up and dipping down into the cloud bank.  Another ship was taken down by the magic but two more joined them below the cover of the fog.  They watched as the ground sped past them finally slowly as they touched down on the desolate ground.  Barret screamed “What was that?” Pico only managed to shrug.  In all of her books she had not heard of anything like that.  Whatever it was, it was able to decimate these ships.  Maybe there was some fight left in the enemy after all.  “Everyone ready to disembark.  Prepare for battle.  We will fight on the ground.”  Barret said as she grabbed pulled her sword out of her scabbard raising it into the air.

NaNoWriMo 23 – Best Laid Plans

NaNoWriMo 23

I did not really end up writing much more yesterday after I crossed the 40,000 word line.  However this morning I have been up and writing for awhile now.  I just knocked out one chapter so I thought I would post it really quick.  My intent is to write another one here in a few minutes.  The final action is starting to play out and I think timing wise things are going to line up just fine.  Give me enough time for the conflict resolution and a chapter to hint at things to come.  The only problem I have is I have not been able to kill off any characters.  I like them too much…  I know the whole kill your darlings bit, but it seems cruel.  The more I think about the more I think I will probably remove the very limited cursing so I can target the young adult market.

Here is the story so far, for anyone wanting to catch up.  As always completely raw and unedited.

  1. Shadowed Stone
  2. Little Giant Girl
  3. Birthday Wishes
  4. The Gifts
  5. The Incursion
  6. The Watch
  7. Rough Landing
  8. Dragon Bone
  9. People of the Storm
  10. The Lady
  11. Cambridge Beneath
  12. Prisoner of War
  13. Woodbinding
  14. Parting the Veil
  15. People of the Earth
  16. The Pack
  17. Brittagus Escape
  18. The Lightskimmer
  19. The Nightlords
  20. Hagengarde
  21. Homecoming
  22. Reckoning

23 – Best Laid Plans

“What do you mean they have an army?” screamed Baigan and the cowering gobbley advisor.  Firg visibly shaking at this point repeated the news.  “General the scouts report that there is a force amazing on the other side of the wall at Hagengarde.  It appears to be a combined force of Valkore, Sasquatch, and Eflen.  The group has coalesced  over the last few days starting only with the Valkore and quickly being joined by a large group of Sasquatch and Elfen.”  Baigan beyond livid screamed at the quivering Gobbley once more.  “How could this have happened and it went unnoticed?  This was not supposed to happen.  These races have no treaty or pact, they have no reason to fight together.”

“Oh but Baigan you are wrong, they have every reason to band together.”  Another voice spoke up from the corner of the room.  It was of the gorund advisor that Mogo has left here when he returned to House Bain in Tjorba.  As Mogo put it, it was his assurance that everything go smoothly.  Baigan thought the intruder was here to undermine him, but up until now he had remained quiet in his opposition.  “You have taken too long, and shown your intent.  Our forces have been in place for weeks letting everyone in the wildlands know our intent was to attack.  Now these people have done what any logical people would, band together against a common enemy.”

“Sir there is more..” the gobbley continued feeling a bit strengthened by the comments of Firg.  Baigan stared at the stammering advisor as though he was going to make him explode by the mere act.  “Well then? What is this more?  What other bad news do you have for me whelp?” Baigan had lowered his scream to somewhat but was no less frustrated.  “There is a keep to the west, that contained a Nightlord Assassin of Lord Bain.  A strike team has disabled the keep, and as far as I can tell has killed the Nightlord Khaloth.  They are heading this way now as well, bringing with them a small army of wildfae.”  The gobbley advisor finished waiting for the anger to return.

Baigan mulled this news over for a moment.  Why did Bain have a Nightlord waiting nearby and not tell him.  They were trying to undermine him, steal his glory for themselves.  Everyone was conspiring against him, he had to be careful now, he had to make sure the masters will was done.  He wanted to flay the gobbley and gorund with his stormfire, but he could not.  He needed the big dumb brutes to fight against this so called army.  “This is what you Trogjan are supposed to be good at right?  Waging war?  Then we will wage war on two fronts.”  Baigan said without delving into his suspicions.

“We will array our war machines to the west to face the smaller force, and bring the weight of our Ort Backbreakers down to bear on the larger force from the south.”  Baigan pronounced having decided this was the best course of action.  “I will ride out to give the machines support with my magics, and you Firg will command your Ortan army.”  The gorund admitted surprise, this was in fact the best course of action given the disparity in the sizes of the groups.  The machines were better suited for the west as it gives them the high ground to attack down from.  Maybe this impudent mage did know a thing or two about making war.

The gorund stepped forward from his chair in the corner.  “I agree with your assessment.  It is better for us to fight meat with meat and focus the bulk of our numbers to the south.”  He stepped around to face baigan, his long flowing royal blue cloak trailing behind him.  He was every vision of a general, broad shoulders encased in a rugged body armor.  “I will now go prepare the troops for the assault.  It could come at any time.  Your magic will be most useful supporting our gobbley machines.  I look forward to reporting our victory to Lord Bain.”  He gave a mock salute and walked out of the main chamber. 

Firg shuddered at the thought of the alternative.  He knew that if they were defeated, Lord Bain would expect Baigan’s head as tribute for his offenses.  The lord had expected him to fail, and in doing so he would finally be rid of the shades from his court.  He could use this act of Baigan as a greater sign of the weakness of the shades and purge the Trogjan empire of their spindly filth.  There was a time during the Winter war that they were needed, but that time has long passed and they add nothing that cannot be made up with machinery.  Firg made a mental note to assign one of his assassins to the western front.  In case of defeat he would need to capture Baigan’s head quickly and retreat with it to Tjorba.

The news about Khaloth was the most troubling as he walked out the castle to the southern front.  Who had the power to destroy a Nightlord?  They were beings of pure shadow, that resisted all known forms of attack.  This combined with their almost unique code of loyalty to complete a contract at all costs and never turn upon the contractor made them absolutely terrifying opponents.  Khaloth was their contingency plan, a way of getting through the sunwall if Baigan failed.  He was to find a weak point in the wall and slip through as the main battle was going on and strike them from behind.  He wondered if the Nightlord had in fact already breached the wall, but with the impending strike against Fort Kraken he could not risk sending someone out into the countryside to check.  Anyone who could have bested Khaloth and his reavewolf pets is someone to certainly be wary of.

“This is not going as planned, none of this was supposed to happen” Baigan thought to himself as he left the throne room and descended into the bowels of the keep.  The farmhouse had gone better than planned, how was he to know that this would not?  In all the centuries since the Summerwall was raised, never once had the Elfen lowered themselves to associate with the Sasquatch primates or these Valkore scum.  Someone was conspiring against him, that had to be it.  Someone wanted him to fail, wanted him to look bad in the eyes of the master.  Who could possibly be his rival, who would have the power to oppose him from behind the shadows.  The gorund was far too brutish to carry this level of deception out, someone would have to be working behind the scenes bringing together these forces against him.

“I will get my answers” Baigan thought as he strode into the dungeon.  He stopped in front of the cell of Benjanatos Waxwood, the Woodsblade protector of the queen.  If someone was conspiring against him, it would likely be one of his companions from the council of seasons.  As he entered the cell, Benj was slumped against his chains bound by his hands and feet to the wall.  “Benj my old friend.  You are going to give me some answers.”  Baigan said cloyingly as he crossed the room to stand in front of the slumped man.  “You… have never…  been my friend.  I have no answers for you”  Benj mustered with as much force as he could put behind his words in this current weakened state.

Baigan thrust his arm out grasping the mans neck and squeezing slightly as he stared into the other man’s eyes.  “Why are the Elfen cooperating with Sasquatch, Valkore and Wildfae?”  He squeezed a little tighter “Why have they raised an army to defy my will?” the loosened his grip letting the mans head fall back down.  “We have no army, but any free man would oppose you if given the chance.”  Benj gasped, his voice barely a whisper.  “They will retrieve the queen and free her, and destroy you in the process.”  Benj summoned his strength and lifted his head to stare at Baigan, and with as much strength as he could muster spat into the others face.

Baigan screamed madly coalescing his rage into his palm coating it with shimmering ice.  The pressed his palm into the other man’s bare chest and almost immediately there was a sizzling sound of flesh being burned by the cold.  Benj scowled in pain as he writhed against the chains trying to back away from the icy cold, only finding a wall pinning him in place.  Baigan sneered as his palm drove into the flesh of the other man, causing Benj to start panting as it applied pressure to his lungs cutting off his air supply.  Baigan removed his hand, and the other slumped against the chains once more.  On his chest a bright purplish scar began steaming as the flesh warmed to the temperature of the cell.

“No matter how badly I want to kill you.  You will live Benjanatos.”  Baigan said forcing himself to calm down.  “I want you to see how futile this little rebellion is.  I want you to watch as I take the heads of your alliance for trophies.  I want you to see as the summerwall falls and the wildlands are ours.”  Baigan leaned in close to the other who was now writhing in pain “Your suffering has only just begun”.  Baigan crossed the room, and strode out of the cell, leaving the other hanging there suffering.  He would crush this alliance, and in turn all of the races of the wildlands.  He would further the masters plan, and be elevated as his greatest champion.  Baigan Derrow would be a name feared everywhere.