In a slight pause in the fighting, Malik found himself alongside Regent Jenner. The proud man was trembling from head to foot, and black goo had stained half of his face.
“Not a fighting man eh Jenner?” Malik said, slapping the Regent on the back in encouragement. “It appears you’re making yourself useful.”
“It’s horrible…” Jenner could only stutter. “Horrible…”
“Nonsense,” Malik replied, “this isn’t nearly as bad as I though it would be.”
The words seemed to cut through Jenner’s near catatonic state, and he gazed at Malik in utter disbelief.
“I’m not saying we’re done,” Malik continued, “not by a long way. We’re almost out of oil and arrows, and I’m fairly sure there are enough Orcs left to bash down the portcullis and get into the courtyard, but we’ve got a sizable enough force to meet them there.”
Malik paused to make a downward swing at the face of an Orc that suddenly appeared on the wall. The beast’s face separated into two equal parts before the whole body slipped, dead, back down into the dark masses from which it had crawled.
“By the time the night’s over, I expect we’ll have lost about eighty percent of our forces, but we’ll emerge victorious. More importantly, I’m confident I’ll be able to survive this.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?” Jenner replied. “Doesn’t it bother you that so many are going to die?”
Malik shrugged. “I didn’t pick the fight.”
“And what will you do when it’s over?” Jenner continued, an acid tone entering his voice. “What will you do when Ebulon still stands but all its brave defenders lie dead in the courtyard to the gate?”
At this, Malik smiled.
“I’ll stick around for a while and help repopulate the city. I’m assuming there will be plenty of widows who seek comfort. I intend to put on a display of heroic swordsmanship the likes of which Ebulon has never seen. My headache is gone after all.”
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Entry Point 3 - by Vanna Smythe
Kae and fifty other Protectors waited by the doors of the Priests’ Palace. The tops of the three triangular towers of the palace disappeared in the thick storm clouds. Kae had the hood of his black Protector cloak pulled low over his eyes against the rain. This was no day to ride, but the five corps of Protectors gathered were assembled and ready for battle. If the pleas echoing in Kae’s mind were anything to go by, they were to assist the Kingdom of Ebulon.
Fasten the scarf over your mouth, Kae! First Captain Entan ordered on the air. Kae obeyed immediately. He hadn’t spoken to Entan since the First Captain told him to obey the priests in all things. Kae had refused. The way he had argued with the captain shamed Kae now. Yet what was done was done. Entan should not have asked him to be a coward.
The Kingdom of Ebulon needs your help, heroes of the lands! Please come swiftly!
The strange voice drifted through Kae’s mind again, as it had countless times that morning, the desperation in the plea hard to ignore. Yet this was fifty Protectors answering the call, assembled to offer aid. Ebulon only needed to wait a little longer and all would be well.
Kae’d only been made a Protector three days ago, and this was already the second mission they sent him on. If the First Captain led them, it had to be important.
Ryon, another recently pledged Protector, nudged Kae and whispered. “If we are to leave for Ebulon, why must we enter the palace first?”
Kae shared his friend’s reluctance to enter the palace He had begun to doubt Ebulon was a real place, feared it was just another test performed by the priests.
“Who understands all the dealings of priests?” Kae said, loudly enough for all the gathered Protectors to hear. Some grumbled their agreement, spitting on the ground to better make their point. Entan looked at him sharply.
A grizzled Protector with a scar running down his left cheek laughed. “What does a pledge know of the dealings of priests?”
“I know enough!” Kae replied, keeping his voice steady and firm, mimicking a commanding tone Entan might have used. He was a Protector now, and would not stand for anyone’s mockery. “I know they like their secrets and demand absolute obedience.”
The priests wanted to take away Kae’s ability to use the Life Force, because they deemed him too powerful. Wanted him to obey and never question, desired to control him completely. Even the First Captain urged Kae to submit to the priests’ control. But Kae could use his Life Force in ways others could not. He had more to lose if he obeyed that command.
Enough of this talk, Kae! Entan ordered on the air. Kae cast the captain a glance, but Entan was looking straight ahead and not meeting his gaze.
The doors of the palace creaked as they slid open. A jittery priest beckoned them all inside.
Only a handful of the torches lining the cavernous entrance hall of the palace were lit, giving off more smoke than light. An ancient priest stood by the hanging staircase leading to the underground room, where Kae was finally made a Protector a few days ago.
From the corner of his eye, Kae noticed a hooded and masked Protector join them from behind the vast marble staircase leading to the upper floors of the palace.
Why would a Protector wait for us inside the palace?
The old priest clapped his hands to get their attention. “I will open the passage into the kingdom of Ebulon for you. Follow me down these stairs.”
The descent took a good while. The priest led the way, limping down the stairs and stopping often to catch his breath. Kae spent the wait counting and recounting all the Protectors. Ten men to a corps, five corps sent, fifty men. The cloaked figure made fifty-one. He was not a member of any of the corps sent.
In the underground hall, the priest laid his hands against a wooden plaque hanging on the eastern wall. He muttered words Kae could not hear, and then started humming. The wall vanished. The underground hall of the Priest’s palace opened onto a vast courtyard, filled with ranks upon ranks of mail-clad warrior. A clanking of steel echoed across the courtyard as many of the soldiers drew their swords, startled from the sudden appearance of Protectors.
The priest stood aside and pointed. “Ebulon. Your skills are needed there. May you all return safely.”
“But how?” Ryon asked in a high-pitched voice. The other Protectors laughed. Yet fear filled the air around them. Ryon was not the only one afraid.
“Worry not, the First Captain will see you safely returned,” the priest replied.
The Protectors filed past him and into Ebulon. Black smoke rose into the sky in the east, shading the bright morning sun.
Filling the air was a stench of excrement, old blood, rotting meat, garbage left in the heat too long, all mixed together into something so vile Kae had no word for it.
Ryon nudged him. ”What died here and wasn’t buried?”
“Separate and be vigilant!” Entan ordered and walked towards the ranks of soldiers.