The griffins and their riders flew high into the air to help rally the troops and to encourage them to scale the sides of the cliff. As soon as they reached the precipice, several ballistae launched magically enhanced arrows at the griffin’s defenseless bodies. At the same time, the giant beasts had unleashed a powerful shriek that moved toward defenses of the elves and giants. The sound wave could not penetrate a magical barrier that had been put in place. One of the creature’s had not been fast enough to avoid one of the giant arrows and was hit full on in the head. The eagle-like head was engulfed in a blue flash of light as the magic was released from the projectile. Its head exploded violently and sent its rider falling to his death. Lieutenant Linfilian was dead before he hit the ground with a sickening thud! He had died at the same moment that his griffin’s head had exploded because of the magic released from the massive arrow.
General Dukker rushed to the front of the army of high elves as they paused at the base of the cliff. The griffin’s carcass fell on top of one of the soldiers, killing him instantly. His spider steed was crushed to its death as well. Ignoring the unfortunate turn of events, the enraged warlock charged up the side of the mountain at an unbelievable rate of speed. Before he reached the top of the cliff, he uttered a powerful counter spell to remove the magical barrier between himself and the elves. With the wall down, the griffins and their riders resumed their attack with much greater success. As Dukker crested the cliff’s edge, his steed shot out a cloud of green gas from his wicked maw. Several elves died instantly from the poisonous attack. Dukker looked behind to see the entire army following him up and over the wall.
The elves were pushed back initially, but they dug in and would not budge from their defensive positions. They directed their attacks at the spiders in an effort to equalize the battlefield. Several of the elven magicians took control of the beasts’ minds and had them attack one another. Chaos was about to consume the high elves’ efforts, and then the giant spider brought his spawn back to their senses. The wicked beasts used their legs to stab elves and their pincers to cut them to pieces. As they continued forward, they laid piles of webbing that contained lethal gas for anyone unfortunate enough to inadvertently release the toxic fumes. This trap was designed to ensnare their victims while they were slowly poisoned to death. The process was slow and extremely painful. The giants rushed forward to assist their little pointed-eared friends.
At the South Gate, the orc armies crashed against the gate with such terrific force that it toppled over, crushing several elves to death. The wolves went mad when they engaged the well-prepared elves. They had erected several towers high over the battlefield so that they could rain down arrows on the exposed orcs. The wolves were not affected by the piercing arrows, which caused some concern among the elven soldiers. As the orcs continued to advance through the newly constructed gauntlet, a thunderous boom echoed through the air and flashes of lightning lit the darkened sky. Rain started to pour down the next instant, which caused the orcs substantial difficulties as they tried to traverse the incline at the South Gate.
The wolves were not deterred one bit by the muddied ground as they continued to press forward deeper into the plains. They grabbed any soldier near enough to them and rent them in twain. The elves had been unable to stop or even kill one of the wolves before the bears came to the rescue. As the bears rumbled down the gauntlet toward the wolves, the elven foot soldiers retreated to higher ground outside the path of the rampaging bears. The gigantic beasts roared as they neared the wolves that, for the first time, looked frightened. As they neared each other, it was hard for the elves in the towers to not take notice of how the bears looked like a massive tidal wave that was threatening a much smaller wall. The clash between the two titans erupted like a volcano. The ground shook tremendously as they collided. The giants also went unnoticed as they sent deadly projectiles flying through the air.
The bears swiftly killed several wolves and their riders as though they were nothing more than an annoying sapling. Blood soaked the ground as the violence escalated to the point of absolute pandemonium. While the battle for South Gate raged on, the northern cliffs and North Gate were under siege as well. The defenses held while both sides fought with such power and strength the likes of which had not been seen in the land of Tuwa for many millennia. Lake Lachlan became engulfed in an unnatural mist as the soldiers of Aran waited for something to happen. In the west, Mistress Kana unleashed her substantial powers on the defenses along the western cliffs. Her dragon sent fire lancing out in all directions as they tried to disrupt and weaken the defenses. The rain put out the fires started by the dragon and Kana’s magic. After an hour of unleashing hell on the army of Aran, she left the fray heading in a northerly direction. The war of the races had begun, and no one would be safe from its wrath for very long.
Unspeakable Carnage
General Yukio and his army had gone undetected by the enemy’s spies as they prepared for battle. They had been given horses by King Leroy so that his soldiers could ride as cavalry in the north. The horsemen of Landen would take on the much larger orc armies in the south, so Yukio was left to help the giants defend against the wicked high elves. The general’s army had been reduced to just twenty-five thousand strong, but this did not faze him or his men. They were determined to repay the vile and wretched witch and her accursed high elves. They were encamped by the northeastern shore of Lake Lachlan as they awaited the signal from General Lang and Lord Marcello to ride out. The giants had consolidated their forces in the north so that their army was unified along the northern cliffs and the North Gate.
The giant army had about seventy thousand soldiers in the north, so they were much stronger in numbers and strength than the high elven army. The other half of their army was spread out along the other borders of Landen. The disadvantage was that they only had one real magic wielder among them, and the men of Nairi had General Yukio and his abilities. The high elves knew this and thought that this gave them an advantage. They should have realized that almost all magic would be useless against the massive brutes, but they were learning that lesson the hard way as they giants and high elves exchanged blows. General Yukio was dressed up in his kingly attire that he had been given by the high elves when he married Queen Kira. The memory of his murdered wife made his blood boil. His ability to restrain himself from joining the hot battle was waning as he sat there brooding on his valiant steed.
“Lord Marcello, is it time yet?” yelled the general impatiently.
The massive wizard nodded slowly to the general’s question and set his heart racing at the thrill of joining the battle. Yukio made sure he had his sword ready along with a javelin. He then checked his armor for any looseness, as well as his horse’s armor. Once he was reassured that he was completely ready to go, he looked back at his men who had been following his example. A loud booming sound shook the heavens above as lightning lit up the dark sky. Then as the general motioned his troops forward, the rains came down in blinding sheets. The armor made tinkling noises as the heavy downpour pounded them as they began to trot toward the North Gate.