Lord Neb crossed the river cautiously as he saw the mass destruction that had taken place under the eaves of the forest. The smell of nearly one hundred thousand dead orcs was repugnant. His eyes were quickly drawn to the spirit creatures flitting about the shadows. Seda…why on earth are we working with them? This does not make any sense at all. These vile creatures are very dangerous and should not be trusted. Their treachery cost us dearly in the past…what have they done to gain our trust? I know that the guardian trusts them; however that does not mean they have earned mine. His thoughts continued to whirl about in his head as he moved away from the western bank of the Blaine River. Suddenly a wall of Seda appeared before him and looked determined to halt his progress toward the forest.
“Stop where you are! Declare yourself!” a raspy voice spoke unbidden in Neb’s mind. He flinched at the unwanted intrusion. The voice had a harsh quality to it that grated at his senses.
“You know who I am…the question is why you are blocking me” retorted the water lord sharply. He was not going to tolerate such nuisances.
“We serve the master of Tuwa and answer only to him…we do not recognize you, so we ask you once more…who are you?” the voice asked again in the guardian’s mind. The vile apparitions were being obstinate and he had little time for such diversions.
“Tell me what master you serve and I will tell you my name” replied Neb calmly. He wanted desperately to vanquish as many of these traitors as he could; however, his loyalty to Lord Adair was absolute.
“We are the humble servants of the high guardian. We desire only to serve him and he has ordered us to protect the forest and river from unwanted parties. Who are you?” the voice came again a little more impatiently this time. They knew who he was and they would test his loyalty as part of protecting their charges. Kana was a guardian at one time, so who is to say that another elemental would fall from grace.
“I am Lord Neb…servant of the guardian and member of the guardian council. I have come on my master’s orders to lead your efforts in defending this part of Tuwa.” He was slightly perturbed by this encounter and did not pretend otherwise. He also realized that they were doing Adair’s bidding. He did not believe it until now.
“Master Neb…” replied the voice as the Seda in front of him bowed and parted for him to continue into the woods.
As Neb moved past the Seda, he decided that a display of his power would probably ensure that these spirits understood who was in charge. He looked at the mounds of bodies strewn about the road and under the trees. He moved his arms and hands in a series of complex movements while he uttered aloud “Watnese”. A geyser of water shot up from the river behind the specters which caused them to move away from the river and from the water elemental. He motioned with his arms forward and the water raised high into the air and formed itself into a gigantic ball. The watery sphere hung suspended over the dead bodies for a few moments.
Neb dropped his arms dramatically which caused the watery orb to hit the areas that had the piles of dead orcs. The instant the water made contact; the bodies were liquefied and were absorbed into the ground. There was no trace of blood, guts, or even bones. The ground still had the scars from the battle that had taken place on it, but there was no evidence that dead bodies had been strewn about on it. There was a buzzing noise coming from the Seda and they came closer to Lord Neb.
“Master is truly powerful. We are honored to serve the guardians. We have destroyed this orc army as a token of our devotion to your cause. Does our master trust us now?” asked the voice of the Seda. There was an eerie quality to the voice that echoed in his mind. It almost had a hiss like quality to it. It made Neb think of snakes, which is what he compared these spectral creatures to. To him they were still slippery devils; however, killing the entire orc army proved they were truly on the guardian’s side.
“I do trust you…General Tomo’s army was a large and formidable foe. Did you lose any in the battle?” asked Neb questioningly. He did not know if the specters were susceptible to melee attacks. He knew full well that they could be killed by magical means, but they were able to defend themselves against most of these attacks.
“They had no magic wielders among them, so we are still fully accounted for. Our numbers appear small because we were ordered to protect the entire forest, so we had to spread out. We will not be able to defeat an army of that size again because the fallen guardian Kana would have realized by now that we have joined your side. She will make sure there are magic users in her ranks from here on out.”
“Very well then…let’s discuss some strategies then.” The light filtering through the black oaks of Renshaw cast odd shadows on the spectral creatures. The sight of Neb meeting with Seda in the forest had to be one of the most peculiar sights in Tuwa’s history.
Dagnolir Fortress
The mountain fortress echoed with the sounds of death as the battle for Mount Carrick raged on. Weeks had passed since the dwarves surprised their uninvited neighbors with a series of well-placed and timed artifices. The damage inflicted on the goblins and rock trolls was much more significant than merely a large number of casualties…the psychological damage was devastating. After some time Kana’s warriors regained their composure…until the arrival of the legendary brown bears that is. Huslu came roaring into view over the peak above Dagnolir’s castle with a sea of brown behind him early one morning. This avalanche of fur heartened the battered dwarves and caused the rock trolls to briefly halt their crushing barrage at the sight of this strange phenomenon. The impressive warrior druid Nariko was among the charging bears as they descended upon the trembling forces of goblins and bewildered trolls.
The snow had stopped days ago which left the mountainside slick with ice because of the heavy foot traffic in conjunction with the freezing rain that took the place of the unnatural blizzard. General Yuki’s goblin troops had only made it close enough to shoot long range arrows at the bearded cave dwellers. The slippery terrain had made it impossible to get any closer. The combined army was beginning to run low on supplies and ammunition because the supply line that led back to the place that Yuki had intended to make camp was too treacherous…even for the rock trolls. At the base of the mountain was a pile of goods that the goblin home guard had transported over the past few weeks. They had attempted to reach their general, but they too were driven back by nature.
The bears crashed into the temporarily stunned forces of Kana with extreme force. The goblins that were unfortunate enough to be at the front were torn to pieces like wet paper. Their black blood ran down the mountainside like a spring thaw before its time. The freezing rain began to turn into snow once more as the merciless assault continued. The rock trolls began hand to hand combat with the unexpected furry warriors from the north. This was a crucial point in the siege for both sides…if the bear army was successful in driving Yuki’s forces back to the base of the mountain; the new blizzard would likely keep them at bay for several days. This would provide the dwarves with a much needed breather during which they could regroup and rebuild. However, if the goblins and rock trolls were successful in slaughtering the advancing army, then they would have the tide turned in their favor once again. They would be able to re-establish their supply route which would help them be better prepared for the latest weather development.