Chapter 33

The world could be a harsh place, but it at least made sense most of the time.

Now was not one of those times. Now…

Irweth sniffed at the air, sensitive for any signs of pursuit. While the invaders were slow, there were many and her people were inevitably being driven into a corner. Her spotted fur went flat as bitterness filled her.

Why was it that Humans and Undead could fight together while the tribes whose survival depended on defending their jungle could not?

Even with the threat bearing down on their homes, threatening them with annihilation, she couldn’t bring the races together to drive out the invaders. The Trolls and Ogres were confident in their strength and resilience, content to let the invaders come to them. The Troglodytes couldn’t understand what was going on. The Dragons were too suspicious of everything and wouldn’t allow those under their control to band together with anyone else: even news that their siblings were being slaughtered was some convoluted ruse in their minds. All that she had managed to gather were the Gnoll tribes and the Goblins running amok in the chaos.

After the first day of organised fighting, she felt confident that the situation would quickly become untenable for the Humans. Though the reasons were unknown, the fact that the powerful Undead appeared to be tied to them in some way was encouraging. If the Humans left, then the Undead might leave, as well.

When the Humans next advanced, they did so as a massive horde that focused on crushing all of the tribes and Dragons that had stubbornly refused to band together to repel them. Irweth felt no satisfaction in witnessing their demise: only a sense of waste. In a situation where all were in peril, the loss of fighting strength would exact its toll on all who remained.

Things started looking up when the Viridian Dragon Lord finally appeared and scattered the Humans into the jungle. She wasn’t sure where the Dragon had disappeared to afterwards, but Irweth took advantage of the opportunity to hasten the Humans’ retreat.

Several hours later, however, the fortunes of war were reversed again. All at once, the Humans and Undead came out from their holes and reorganised themselves. It didn’t take long for Irweth to realise why. A Human Lord had fallen upon the hill camp that they had once occupied: a female far more powerful than the male Human Lords who had been leading their tribes through the jungle.

Initially, Irweth didn’t know what they were dealing with for she appeared absent of strength. As far as they knew, Human Lords were not female like Gnoll Alphas. The Viridian Dragon Lord occasionally spoke of Humans as ants, so maybe the female was something like a Human Matriarch or a Human Queen.

Regardless of what she was, the Human Lord’s power was made clear through her actions; her wrath, terrible to behold. Those who challenged her simply died. Arrows could not reach her so a confusing melee ensued. She went up and down the hill like an enraged Raptor who had discovered rats in her nest, leaving piles of dead Gnolls in her wake. The terrain that hampered most of the Humans did not impede her and she showed no signs of tiring.

Belatedly, Irweth realised that the Human Lord was going after anyone visibly carrying the Humans’ things so Irweth told her people to drop them and flee. Those who stubbornly held onto them were hunted down. To their great relief, she did not give chase to the rest.

For the next two days, the Humans remained at the hill, cleaning up their camp, resting and fortifying their position. When they stirred again, they proceeded with a confidence suggesting that they no longer feared an attack from the Viridian Dragon Lord. Worries over the Dragon Lord’s fate and what it meant plagued Irweth, but her worries did not help with what came.

A long, bitter fight ensued and the Gnolls’ losses gradually took their toll. The Undead were the main problem: despite their inability to catch the Gnolls, their tireless nature wore their quarry down. Rest was impossible and exhaustion weighed heavily on everyone once the Undead stopped adhering to the Humans’ habit of being active during the day. Human hunters took turns guiding them through the jungles in pursuit of their prey.

How could they fight better? Was there anything they could do to improve their situation? Countless questions filled Irweth’s weary mind.

The answer, of course, was that the world was never so kind. Whatever was, was. Wishing and wanting changed nothing. The powerless were at the mercy of those with power. Those who had no one to rely on could only struggle to survive. Without the strength of the Viridian Dragon Lord, they would be ground to dust by their evil adversaries.

She wasn’t even sure if they could flee. The Humans’ territories surrounded them and there were likely more Undead waiting. No – even a chance was better than nothing.

Irweth went to inform the other leaders of her decision. She caught a whiff of something unfamiliar and her head snapped to the side. Standing not ten metres away was a strange-smelling Gnoll with a nick on her right ear and a scar running down her cheek. Irweth snarled at the unexpected intruder, nocking an arrow to her bowstring.

“Greetings, sister,” the stranger said. “I mean you no harm.”

Hackles raised, Irweth narrowed her eyes. Her ears swivelled about, keen for signs of further intrusion.

“My sisters are all dead,” she said. “Even if the dead could return to life, you cannot claim to be one of them.”

“We are not of the same litter,” the strange Gnoll agreed. “Nor are we of the same pack or even the same forest. But we are both Gnolls and, beyond that, there is something else that we share: an enemy.”

“The Empire?”

“Not the Empire, but their masters. The same masters who brought the Undead that are destroying the balance. The Sorcerous Kingdom.”

A low, vehement growl filled the air at the last. It was a name she had never heard before. If the Sorcerous Kingdom was where the powerful Undead had come from, however, it was surely a desolate wasteland filled with evil and suffering. A kingdom of darkness.

“War comes, sister,” the stranger said. “A war that will make the one you waged for your home seem like play-fighting between pups. A war for our world. The Sorcerous Kingdom has only recently revealed itself; only begun to cast its evil shadow. Other evils rise alongside it and in those shadows teem all the horrors that will be visited against what is good and right. We still have time to prepare – we must prepare. As one who has seen the ruin that they bring, you understand this, yes?”

“Understanding is nothing,” Irweth snorted. “Knowledge is nothing. There is nothing we can do, nowhere we can–no, how did you get here? Who are you?”

The strange Gnoll seemed to realise that she had not named herself. She nodded her head with her introduction.

“Ysvrith,” she said. “Ysvrith, Matriarch of the Ember Wood. I would have you join us, sister.”

“What…what about my tribe?”

“That goes without saying,” Ysvrith’s teeth flashed in the firelight as she grinned. “For what is a Gnoll without her pack? Gather all that you can; gather the other races who will follow you. Tell them to come to the entrance to the Dragon’s lair overlooking the lake. I will wait for you there.”

With that, Ysvrith turned and disappeared into the undergrowth. Irweth stepped forward absently, eventually breaking into a run. She sprinted forward on all fours, silently making her way through the ferns and bushes.

Could Ysvrith be believed? Irweth smelled no deceit. She also did not doubt that the stranger was a Matriarch. Her strength was far beyond that of Irweth’s old Matriarch – perhaps exceeding the Undead that were being sent against them. Irweth still did not know where Ysvrith had come from or how she had come to their jungle, but the stranger appeared to understand the threat that faced them far better than she.

She ran to the Gnolls harrying the Humans’ advance, ordering them to retreat to the meeting place. She sent runners to find all who could be found and convinced to join. For hours she ran and thousands of desperate families had gathered at the lake by the time she arrived at the Dragon’s lair.

Ysvrith was standing at the entrance, which was absent of its usual Troglodytes. Her expression brightened at Irweth’s approach.

“I spoke to the Troglodytes,” Ysvrith said. “It took a while, but they understand what is going on now…I think?”

“They are simple and require patience,” Irweth said. “What did you have them do?”

“I sent them down to the Dragon’s lair to gather her treasures.”

“…why?”

Ysvrith tilted her head at the question, turning her gaze towards the clouded night sky.

“You know it too, yes? The Dragon Lord will not return. She no longer needs her hoard, but we can still make great use of it. Come, hm…I don’t believe you’ve mentioned your name?”

“Irweth.”

“Irweth. Tell your people to come with us, Irweth – the way to safety lies below.”

Deep in the bowels of the Dragon Lord’s lair, they came to the largest cavern with its steaming lake. Within was an island formed of treasure. Troglodytes teemed over it, snatching up gold and gems and other valuables to throw into fibrous sacks. Those who had filled theirs lined up to disappear into a hole hovering in the air.

“What is that?” Irweth asked.

“Our way out,” Ysvrith answered. “A magical portal that will take us to a place far from here. It is there we begin our preparations for what will come. Tell your people to do as these Troglodytes do. Tell them to not be alarmed at what they see on the other side. There are many others there. This hoard; this tribute that you and your ancestors helped to build – it will help you pay for what you need.”

“…pay?”

“Trade. One of many things you will learn. I was aware of this before, but there were still many other things that I was ignorant of. As your knowledge grows, you will come to understand the extent of the evil that has been visited upon us.”

The first Gnolls approached cautiously, stopping at the edge of the water to sniff the air. A few dipped the pads of their feet into the water before wading over to pick up the sacks left for them on the ground to use. Gems and ores were sometimes bartered between tribes for various things, but most of their value lay in how they appeased the Dragon Lord.

“Come,” Ysvrith stepped forward. “We should go on ahead. Our leader will be most pleased to see you.”

“Leader? Are you not Matriarch of the Ember Wood?”

“I am,” Ysvrith’s mottled fur rippled in acknowledgement. “I lead the Gnoll tribes, but there are many other races, yes? Whom I speak of is the one who has brought us together; a benefactor far more powerful than your Dragon Lord.”

The Gnoll Matriarch leapt over to the island and gestured for Irweth to follow. They went through the portal together and Irweth looked about in alarm as they entered unfamiliar surroundings. Her nose twitched and her ears swivelled at every sound.

They had emerged in another wooded area near a cliff, but it was drastically different from the jungles of her home. There were more unfamiliar scents than familiar ones. The trees…

It took a moment for Irweth to realise that the cliff beside them was a tree. A tree that was massive beyond compare – many times larger than the greatest trees she knew. Yet, it was not just a single tree: they were in a forest of them.

Above them, colossal platforms ringed the trunks. Broad wooden walkways spanned from platform to platform. Structures formed levels that rose into a canopy so high that clouds formed below it.

“What is this place?” Irweth asked, “Where are we?”

“Far to the southeast,” Ysvrith answered. “Far from the evil of the Sorcerous Kingdom. We are in the sylvan realm of Arborea, where a thousand different races of the forest dwell. The place we build here will be a bastion of nature that stands tall against the plague of the Undead and their depraved associates who have turned against life itself.”

Irweth followed Ysvrith. She watched a group of unfamiliar Beastmen speak to the growing crowd of new arrivals as she and the Matriarch walked by. Races that looked like nothing she had ever seen before walked every which way to unknown destinations. Some had paws, some had claws while others had hooves or walked about on roots like an Alraune. Horns, hair, scales, and shells abounded. In the understory and the gargantuan boughs above, beings with wings of every sort traversed.

“There are so many here,” Irweth said. “Where will we stay? Surely the territory required for all these people is vast.”

“Arborea is vast,” Ysvrith replied. “It is the great forest of the south that spans the continent from coast to coast. Even in my time here, I cannot comprehend its entirety. Both of our old homes combined are but a speck in comparison.”

Ysvrith led them to a wide walkway that spiralled its way up the nearest tree. They followed a line of Beastmen with heads like wild boars who were carrying eggs taken from the Dragon’s lair in their arms.

“Your existence here will be vastly different from what you experienced in your old home,” Ysvrith told her. “For evil has long taken root in that part of the world. Undead and Humans who worship an Undead god have constantly worked to destroy any tribes who dare to create something better for themselves. Here, that dark hand holds no influence. Here, we are free to build a future for our people.”

“B-but where will we settle? Forgive me, Ysvrith, but this is overwhelming…”

“Be at ease, sister,” Ysvrith replied with a smile in her voice. “As I have said, things work differently here. It is not like the places that you and I are from where all one can rely on are kith and kin. Trade flows between all places, so, for the time being, you may use the treasure from the Dragon’s hoard to sustain yourselves until your people mark out their new territory.”

They reached one of the platforms that Irweth had seen from below, which must have been a hundred metres above the forest floor. Through the gaps in the canopy, the skies were brightening to the east, many hours before the sun should have risen. Even without the hot springs and steaming lakes of her jungle home, it felt the height of summer. The overcast skies had been replaced by a field of unfamiliar stars.

“Before you send your people afield to find new homes, however,” Ysvrith said, “it would be best to introduce yourself to our leader and convey your gratitude.”

“Your leader is here?” Irweth asked, “Not in his territory?”

“Lords often dwell in their territories, but they are just as often here. The reasons are simple enough to understand once you experience life in Arborea. As for our leader, he, too, must dwell where all of the other leaders may easily find him, yes?”

After a short while, they rounded the massive trunk to approach a huge building carved out of its side. A long, winding walkway went up to end in a grand platform in front of an ornate door.

“He is within,” Ysvrith told her. “Our leader is a being of great patience, wisdom and understanding, but show him no disrespect.”

“O-of course,” Irweth’s ear twitched in agreement. “I would not dream of doing so.”

Beyond the door was a spacious room of some kind. With so many new things, Irweth grew uncomfortable with her lack of vocabulary. She could only think in terms of ‘structures’ or ‘dwellings’ or ‘huts’, but it all seemed woefully inadequate. Torches lined either wall and something like a hide had been laid out from the entrance, leading to a large seat that looked like it had been carved from a single block of basalt.

Lounging upon that seat with one leg crossed over the other was a being that Irweth at first mistook for a tall male Human with long red hair. Then she noted the two horns protruding from his temples and a pair of bat-like wings folded behind his back. A scythe as black as obsidian leaned against the side of his pleasantly dark seat.

They came to stand before him and Ysvrith lowered herself to a knee, bowing her head. A pair of eyes gazed out at them with a strange intensity that Irweth found difficult to describe as she followed the Matriarch’s lead. Was he blind? Or did he see things that she could not?

“A new sister has joined us in our struggle,” Ysvrith said, “Lord Samael.”