***
Prekihar swam deeper into the greenish depths of Lachlan laughing to himself about the feeble defenses employed by the elementals. The lord of water demons was still overwhelmed by the decision Kana had made. He did not think a guardian would ever summon him from the underworld. He did not know that any of them had the knowledge to do such a thing. He still marveled that it was an elder elemental, which happened to have stewardship over fire and air, which had brought him out of the void. He gained a better understanding of her choice once he knew how desperate she was after losing the powerful dark lord to imprisonment. He was simply in awe of how much power she had gained in such a short period of time. Having lived for as many years as he had, he knew immediately to be wary of Kana’s quick temper and her new found dark powers.
The demon lord had elected to appear as the legendary leviathan because of the effect it would have on those who were foolish enough to try to fight him. He was under strict orders to make his way as quickly as possible to the heart of Landen. He was the arch nemesis of Lord Neb and was almost equal in power to the aged elemental. Prekihar respected Neb and his substantial abilities. He did not wish to meet his foe this early after his rebirthing into the world of the living. His powers were still growing and were not nearly sufficient to take on any of the guardians. That was why he did not attack Necia and Hilzarie. However, he was already more than a match for the elven mages. The defensive barrier the elementals had put up was no match for magic of the underworld.
He continued north along the shoreline to deal with the elven mages that had taken up posts there. The first group he reached after dispatching their friends did not have an elemental with them. So, without any hesitation he pounced. He was able to snatch up two of the magicians before they could do anything to ward off the surprise attack. The other three responded much quicker than the leviathan had anticipated. His binding spell did not work as well on these elves as the first group he had attacked. They shot their own binding spells at him that held him fast. For several moments he could not move at all. While they held him bound, they sent sparks up into the sky which was clearly meant to signal to the others that they were being attacked.
Unfortunately for Prekihar there was an elemental close by when the warning went up. Lady Necia responded instantly to the summons. She appeared just as he had managed to break loose of the binding spells. She knew at once who they were dealing with and made a decisive move toward the retreating beast. She burst into dark red flames and shot straight at the water demon. The impact caused a small quake and sent a significant tidal wave eastward. Necia reared back and sent a barrage of fire balls at the stunned water lord who was zigzagging wildly as he attempted a retreat while she rained down fire from above. She had fiery red wings that helped her hover above the trapped demon lord.
Prekihar transformed into his human form and summoned a trident to his side. He threw up water all around him to diffuse the fiery assaults. The elves were transfixed by the battle that was taking place some twenty feet above the water and did not see the long tentacles of a kraken reaching out for them. All three were grabbed by their ankles and hoisted into the air. They all screamed in terror as they were whipped about by the ancient sea monster. This particular beast had lived many years in Lachlan and was not serving the wicked water lord. He had merely taken advantage of an opportunity in snatching up his prey. He had not had much to eat with the dark fiends on the water. They had shielded against attacks from anything below.
Lady Hilzarie joined the fray shortly after the elves had been snatched by the kraken. She quickly created a massive vortex in the water that began to pull the kraken back into the depths. This distracted the beast long enough for the elven mages to electrically shock the creature into releasing them. They were caught by a friendly gust of wind and alighted on the shore. They quickly attacked the kraken with a mix of fire, ice, and lightning with great affect. The ancient beast exploded into tiny pieces and the swirling water calmed instantly after the creature was dead.
Necia was trying to hold Prekihar in place but was losing the battle. She turned around to check on the others for the briefest moment. When she looked back, her quarry had slipped away. The mist grew thicker at this point and edged ever closer to the western banks. The fiery elemental returned to the shore where the others had gathered and landed with a little more force than she had intended. She was clearly frustrated by her inability to deal with the dark lord’s replacement.
“Well, at least we know who is leading the demonic hordes now” said a windswept Hilzarie. She always tried to look at every situation in a positive light. Her approach had proven to be most effective over the years.
“Someone will need to inform Lady Khalida about this” replied Necia irritably. Flames momentarily encircled her and then faded away. Her frustration was not related to the encounter as the others thought. She realized that the encounter she just had was because of her former master. While she was still struggling with loyalties, it was no longer possible for her to delude herself as to what Kana was doing. She had summoned a powerful creature from the underworld. There was only one way to do that and that was with the darkest magic. She must have made a deal of some kind with the keeper himself.
“Tirornil…you need to return to the capital to request siege warriors. Our magical barriers did not protect us in the slightest, so we will need numbers on our side as well if we are to protect against the demon army” Hilzarie ordered the elven mage calmly. She was oblivious to Necia’s internal struggle because of the recent conflict. She knew that dark magic from the underworld was being used and they could do much less than they had hoped to protect eastern Landen.
“Yes mistress…” replied the wizened elven mage as he spread magically generated wings. He summoned a strong wind that picked him up and ushered him briskly toward the capital. Hilzarie sent a gust of wind to aid the mages flight. The elf was not expecting the help and was surprised by the additional thrust. His wings struggled to hold against the violent push.
“I will deliver the message to our mistress while you work with the remaining elven mages to create barriers that will stop their attacks” Hilzarie said decisively. She did not look at Necia as she spoke…she was already focused on the next task. They would have to use non-magical means to properly defend themselves.
“Good idea…I have some different methods of defense that I think will be more efficient than what we had in place. Hurry back” Necia said with a warm smile. Her frustration had slipped away and was replaced by a sense of purpose. Hilzarie always had this effect on her.
“I will.” She shot up into the air with unfurled wings and was gone from sight within moments as strong winds push her toward her destination.
***
Lord Keb walked slowly along the western cliffs looking down at the Blaine River. Lord Neb had just left to tend to the defenses of Renshaw and the river. Keb stood still as stone contemplating the various ways of defending this part of Landen. There were several cities and towns along these cliffs which worried the elemental considerably. The capital was also close to the western edge, so he was trying his best to think of ways to defend such vital areas of Landen. The eagles were going to help defend the high plains, so that did ease his mind slightly, but he was still overcome by the feeling that he was not thinking of something very important.
Keb had many of the Landen soldiers stationed at the defensive positions along the cliff. He was now focusing on what strategies he could use to defend the walls without harming any friendly forces below the cliffs. It was a tricky proposition at best. As he continued to ponder the choices before him the sun began to set on yet another day. The earthen lord didn’t know that Necia and Hilzarie had had their first encounter with the new leader of the demon hordes earlier that day. His task of preparing the defenses had gone smoothly enough that he spent most of the day planning out different stratagems he could employ based on ever changing circumstances.