Chapter 42: Landfall

After the battle we took a basic stock of the casualties, in the last attack we lost mostly sailors. The main force took surprisingly few casualties, the Grey Eagles and the Bronze Bulls only had injured and no dead. The report from the other ship revealed the same story. The entire fleet lost about 100 sailors including the 40 that were lost with the escort ships. The ships themselves took moderate damage as well, the captain said chances are when these ships pulled into port back in Marineburg it’ll take about a month to repair the damage.

Overall this is a much better outcome than I expected. I honestly thought I would lose at least a quarter of the task force. If Modred hadn’t shown up in time the bombardment from the ships would have killed a good number of the mages and knights.

“What were you doing before you got here?” I asked as I looked at the giant serpent calmly swimming next to the ship. I saw its large yellow eyes shift to me and its head emerged from the water. Modred’s head turned as she continued to easily keep pace with the ships as they sailed.

“I was dealing with a larger fleet of ships. The demons have never sent out ships in such numbers before, I read it as an open challenge to the dominion of the waters around Alvuan. So I answered their challenge, but I know now it was a trick…” Modred said.

“The fleet you fought first was a distraction.” I said.

“Yes, they wanted to buy time for the fleet you faced to sink you. To stop you from reaching Alvuan. The demons may appear to be dull creatures but their queen is no fool.” Modred said with a snarl.

“You mentioned the queen earlier, who is she?” I asked.

“In truth I do not know, no one does. I have spoken with the other ancients and they do not know as well. The great wolf of the searing wastes, the wise treant of the forest, the raging dragon of the forsaken crags and all the others. None know from whence she came. We the ancients call her the Fallen, we suspect she is a sinner condemned to eternal servitude by the Dark God. What we do know is that the Queen’s Lieutenants are the souls of those that once bargained with the Dark God.” Modred replied.

“So the Dark God sends the Rifts?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes. After all, Styx stopped me from questioning that demon…

“Perhaps, perhaps not. It is obvious the Dark God does not wish for the destruction of the world. There are many mysteries wrapped around the Rifts, I have pondered this great question across the eons.

The demons wish to destroy the world, we know the greater demons are sinners who bargained with the Dark God. Yet the Dark God sends heroes like yourself to battle them. A simplistic assumption, in this case, would assume the Seven face the Dark. However, if that was the case wouldn't there be seven heroes facing you? Seven Heroes against the champion of the Dark.” Modred said as she gave me a look.

I raised an eyebrow at that last bit, did she know I’m not a Dark Hero but instead a Dark Champion.

“I know what you really are, Dark Hero, I have spoken to many Champions of the Dark God. Some have told me many things…” Modred said.

“I see…” I replied calmly as I stared down the massive serpent.

“Fear not Dark Hero, I have no intention in meddling with your affairs.” Modred said I saw her mouth widen slightly as if to smile.

“That’s good, so you were talking about the heroes?” I asked.

“Yes, there are eight gods but only four heroes, curious don’t you think? What’s more the Dark God adds his Champion among the heroes. Do the other seven gods allow one spot to be taken? Or does the Dark God merely take the slot?

Even then why only four? Why would the Dark God play both sides of this conflict? Don’t you think it almost seems like bad theater?” Modred said.

“I think that red eyed asshole is just playing games with us, to be honest.” I replied.

“Perhaps, although I feel there is some grand design to this madness. The cyclic nature of the Rifts and the advent of Dark Heroes that reshape life in this world, heralding a new age.” Modred said as she looked away.

“You have not seen as much as I, young Champion of the Dark. I have seen history repeat, again and again, the civilizations here follow the same patterns of evolution and the same patterns of dissolution. They rise, they grow proud, thinking themselves masters of this world… Then they fall…

A Dark Hero arrives and the old order collapses, the old world left as a smoldering ruin. From the corpse of the old world the champion of the Dark God brings rise to a new world order and the people rise again from the ashes. It is almost poetic, the death of one world order giving birth to the next.

Carpe Diem, Carpe Noctem, Sine Fine est Exolvuntur...” Modred said with a sigh.

“Earlier you said, Sic Semper Tyrannis, Divina Octo, Libera Nos. I asked Charlotte what that meant. She told me it’s Latin and it means, thus always to tyrants, divine eight, deliver us. If you feel the gods are tyrants then why pray for their deliverance?” I asked as I saw Modred continue to face forward refusing to face me. I saw her eyes narrow slightly and she blinked as if recalling some long distant memory.

“I do not know what your world called it but here, that language is called the old tongue. It was abandoned because the contextual nature of the language made it difficult for the heroes to understand us. Although the early heroes did speak it to an extent.

Though I feel the gods are tyrants they are also the only ones that can release us from this cycle. We are but puppets in their plans, Dark Hero, our lives, our fates, they are not our own. We are and always will be who we are meant to be…

And as for what I just said it means, seize the day, seize the night, endless is the cycle…” Modred said.

“So what we just accept it? We accept that no matter what we do, it won’t matter? We are just pawns and that’s all we will be?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms.

“Hahaha.” Modred laughed and the sound shook the whole ship. I turned around and saw the entire deck now staring at me. I motioned for them to continue what they were doing and the movement on the deck resumed.

When I turned back around I saw Modred staring at me and I just gave her a look. Indicating to her that I wanted her to tell me what the hell was so funny.

“I envy you, young one.” Modred said.

“Huh? Why?” I asked, confused.

“Champions of the Dark are always the same. You refuse to bow to any adversary, you all are often those dealt the worst hands possible by life. Still you make more with that bad hand than most do with a set of aces. Endless is your defiance, bottomless is your well of tenacity. I wish I had your strength, to have the will to resist the gods… despite how futile your efforts are...” Modred said.

“Well the alternative is just to roll over and die. If the Dark God wants me to break then he might as well just kill me to save time.” I reply as I narrow my eyes.

Modred smiled at those words and she turned away. She looked down at the water as if preparing to dive back into the waters. Before she did I saw one of her eyes turn to look at me.

“Careful what you wish for... Champion…” Modred said as she smiled and then she dived back into the sea without waiting for my reply.

After that I made my way to bridge and calmly stood there as we approached the Alvuan. We should be there within the hour and I could see the landmass of Alvuan now. I turned my gaze to the northern tip of Alvuan and I saw the great forest was ablaze. A great column of smoke towering up into the atmosphere. The green glow of the demonic fire casting an ominous flickering glow on the black cloud.

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs to the bridge and I turned to see Ella and Charlotte walking up.

“Hey.” I greeted.

“Hey.” Charlotte replied with a smile.

“Doesn’t look good does it…” I say as I look back at the approaching landmass.

“No… I suppose it doesn’t.” Charlotte said as her smile faded and she turned to follow my gaze.

“Was it this bad when you left?” I asked as I looked at Ella.

“No… it’s worse…” Ella replied softly as she gazed at the towering plume of black smoke.

“It doesn’t look like the fighting has spread very far…” I heard the captain say from behind me.

I turned to see the captain looking through his enchanted spyglass at the raging forest.

“What do you see?” I asked as I walked up to him.

“See for yourself.” the captain said as he handed me the spyglass.

I peered through the spyglass and was surprised to find the spyglass was almost telescopic. I peered at the edge of the forest and I saw the trees consumed with green fire. Funnily enough although the trees were on fire they don’t seem to be… well burning…

It looked like if you set fire to concrete, like the concrete is covered in fire but the concrete itself isn’t burning…

This is strange to say the least considering I could see the burnt out husks of trees to the left, so why weren’t these trees burning…

“Those trees seem really tough.” I say as I hand the spyglass to the captain.

“Aye, they are, I’m sure your Alv friend can explain why. I just know that carving living spaces in the Alven forest is a bloody nightmare.” the captain replied gruffly as he took the spyglass back.

“That's because you humans try to carve your way into our forest.” Ella replied coldly as she placed special emphasis on the word “Carve”.

“So why is it so difficult to carve your way into the forest?” I ask as I turn to face Ella.

“Because, the Alven forest is alive, take what you do not own and the forest will stand its ground. We ask and we request, when we take we also give back. We never attempt to steal the bounty of the forest.” Ella replied.

“So the forest is sentient, it knows what’s going on?” I ask as I turn my gaze back to the burning forest.

“In a way, we are protectors of the great forest and in return the forest offers us shelter, food and safety. When threats approach, we march to defend our home. There are many who wish to steal the forest’s bounty, our lands are more fertile than any other, we do not want for food, the trees grant us their great amber and the creatures share their silk, their fur and their companionship.

The other races may try to make nature bend to their will but not the Alvs. We know that it is better to coexist with the world rather than attempt to dominate it.” Ella replied.

“So your forest is also a fortress, I’m guessing the creatures also work with you when you fight?” I ask.

“They do, all that lives within the great forest work hand in hand to defend our home. The Alvs are just the most powerful among them. But we do not oppress weaker than us, we do not break and bridle our steeds, we do not starve hounds to turn them into monsters, we do not slaughter livestock for their flesh and hide… and most of all we do not enslave the creatures around us…” Ella said darkly as she looked across the ship at the many sailors and soldiers bustling along the deck.

“Whatever issues you have with the humans I suggest you put them aside, I suggest you help convince your people to put them aside. If you need any motivation just look at that.” I say as I look back at the rising plume of smoke.

“If we don’t work together every inch of land in this world will soon be a black charred waste land and the only thing left alive in this world when the dust settles will be demons.” I say as I turn back to look at Ella who is looking at the plume of black smoke.

It’s going to be hard to undo a hundred years of hatred, but I’ll have to do it regardless.

I have this little saying that Shuji once told me…

If we fail we die.

So that makes it quite simple doesn’t it?

Don’t fail…

When we approached the shoreline we saw small ships begin speeding towards us. I looked at the deck and saw the scorpions start to be manned. It looks like the sailors were preparing for a fight...

“Tell your men to hold their fire, no one shoots anything that isn’t glowing green.” I say to the captain and he quietly nods before barking orders at the sailors.

Luckily for us the Bronze Bulls and the Grey Eagles seemed to be keeping their weapons at their hips. I saw Jerome walk over to one of the sailors manning a scorpion and he started pulling him off the weapon.

I saw Ella leap down from the bridge as she sprinted towards the front of the ship. She leapt on the long wooden rod sticking out the front of the ship. She immediately began waving to the ships. I walked over with Charlotte in tow, there was no rush the ships would take a few minutes to get here anyway…

When we reached the front of the ship I peered over the edge and I saw the Alven ships were small, with only about a ten man crew. They were also really fast for sail ships, I noticed their sails were glowing, probably some enchantments to allow them to move quickly across the waves.

As the ships got close I saw them turn and keep their distance. I could see bows drawn and pointed at us. I saw their eyes shifted all to me, then again my armor did stand out the most. It was the one that looked the most modern of anyone here…

“Brothers and sisters lower your weapons!” I heard Ella shout as she balanced on the pole protruding from the front of the ship.

“Princess? What is this? I thought you planned to bring back the heroes, why have you brought human warships?” one of the Alvs said, still they did not lower their weapons.

Then Modred emerged from the waves and she turned to face the Alven ships.

“Great Modred? You allowed their ships into your waters?” one of the Alvs asked with a confused expression on their face.

“Lunari valnu ortae, retinamu eelam partitionum.” Modred said, I saw the Alvs eyes widen at whatever the hell she just said and they lowered their weapons.

“What did she say? That’s latin right?” I asked as I looked at Charlotte but she had a quizzical look on her face.

“Not really… it sounds kind of like Latin but not quite… best I can tell it means… The moon rises, remember the division?” Charlotte replied looking confused.

“No… it’s not the old tongue that she speaks, Modred speaks Alvish it is a language that has been created with the old tongue as its roots.” Ella said as she hopped back onto the deck once she saw the Alven ships start to pull up next to the fleet.

“So what does it mean?” I asked and Ella let out a small sigh.

“Remember the price of the moon's rise, remember disunity.” Ella said.

“I assume that phrase has some significance to it?” I ask as I watch Modred sink back below the waves.

“Yes it is a proverb of our people, it speaks about a Queen long ago who danced too close to the dark and nearly destroyed us… Suuk wahleh masendeh…” Ella muttered as she turned away and headed back down the deck.

“That last bit sounds nothing like Latin…” Charlotte said before I could ask.

“Hmmm... I guess this translation thing isn’t exactly a perfect solution…” I reply as I look down at the stern faced Alvs as they escorted us towards Alvuan.

“If Alvish is based on Latin then it would make sense that it doesn’t get translated. Latin is an extremely contextual language, with the reordering of the words and the addition of a few letters at the back of the word changing its meaning. It makes sense that the languages of this world eventually became languages that could be easily translated into the languages used by the heroes.” Charlotte said.

“You think the heroes are always from earth or some version of it?” I asked as we began walking back to the bridge.

“I suspect so, such a language development path can only occur if the heroes come from a consistent place. I honestly suspect the common language here is a giant mess of our world’s languages. Like for German and Japanese both languages use very different systems and seeing as I don’t hear broken German coming from your mouth or anyone else. My best guess is that the language here has developed in some very strange directions, I also suspect the language used here is extremely literal to allow for easy translation.” Charlotte explained as we walked up the stairs to the bridge.

“So the older languages will be untranslatable.” I say.

“I suspect so…” Charlotte said with a nod.

When we finally reached the shore and pulled into an Alven port I saw Alven soldiers standing at the docks. They were holding tall shields and had spears pointed at us. I could also see archers positioned on nearby rooftops and in some of the trees. I counted at a few hundred of them weapons poised and aimed at us.

I see Ella look down frantically before she leaps down before the ship can even be secured, she lands lightly on the deck even though the drop is almost 5 meters. Then I see her speaking with what looks to be a captain or some sorts. I could tell they were arguing, I guess Ella bringing us here probably broke a few dozen rules at least. Well let’s see if I can smooth things out…

I follow after Ella and leap down onto the dock. I landed with a forward roll, not as graceful as Ella’s landing but I had made it nonetheless. I hear the shifting of weapons and the sound of bow strings being pulled. I look up to see Ella and the rest of the Alvs looking at me. I rose to my feet and began walking forward.

“STOP! Not one step further.” the captain said as he drew his curved saber and pointed it in my direction.

“Regall, enough, put your weapons down, all of you!” Ella shouted as she pulled the captain’s sword down.

“I am the Dark Hero, I heard you have a demon problem?” I say as I continue to walk forward ignoring the dozens of bows now pointed at me.

I saw the Alves lower their weapons for a moment as they heard my words. Then I saw the captain’s face turn to snarl and he raised his sword again.

“We will not fall for your human tricks.” the captain said and again the Alves raised their weapons.

I sighed as I reached up to the side of my helmet and flipped the switch and my mask folded down. As I expected, all the Alvs in front of me widened their eyes in fear.

“Styx make yourself useful.” I say and I sense him appear to my left.

I turn to see him smiling at me as usual. I’m still pissed at him for killing that demon but I’ll use anything that I can. I saw his eyes narrow as his smile widened, he knew that no matter what he did I still needed him once in a while…

Then with that moment of silence he turned without a word and smiled at the Alvs. I did the same and I saw this really spooked them. I can easily understand why, the glowing red eyes and that wicked smile is the face of the devil to most people in this world. Now to see two of these faces smiling at you would make anyone fear…

“Need any more convincing?” I ask and I note how the Alvs twitch at the change in my voice. The mask makes me sound a lot more… demonic I guess you could say.

“A divine companion… so you truly are the Dark Hero…” the captain said as he lowered his sword.

“Now then, my men, they are coming ashore and we are going to see who’s in charge here.” I say as I look at Ella.

“I assume that's your father or mother?” I ask.

“Yes, my father rules Alvuan.” Ella replied.

“Your soldiers wait here, I will not allow human soldiers to enter the capital.” the captain said.

“It wasn’t a request, if you want my help to close this rift they are coming with me. If you don’t like it I can always get back on that boat and head back to Regus. Then all of you are demon food so I suggest you find a rope and tree to spare yourselves some pain and suffering. Although judging by the look of this place you’ll only need to find the rope…” I say coldly as I turn to face the captain.

I expected him to look away in fear as they always do but the captain just narrowed his eyes and his lips curled into a snarl. Impressive, I could sense the fear there but still he held his ground. Bravery is hard to come by, there might be hope for these Alvs…

“Hmm not bad, most would look away. I’m going to see the king, I’m not here to start a fight. If I wanted to, do you think I would just bring two ships? If I did, do you think Modred would let me through? That serpent has probably lived longer than everyone on this island combined, I don’t have the means of tricking her. If a human could, do you think you all would still be here? Regus would have all of you in chains long before I arrived here in this world.” I say as I stare down the captain.

“Very well…” the captain said after a moment's contemplation.

“But know this Human, if you betray our trust I will burn your ships and you will die here along with the rest of us…” the captain said with a dangerous edge in his voice.

At those words I smiled, nothing I like more than seeing a soldier with backbone.

“I would expect nothing less, it seems you didn’t last this long because of luck.” I say.

“Whether you are friend or foe, the king will decide…” the captain said as he sheathed his sword, the other Alvs followed suit and sheathed their weapons.

With that I turned around to see my party walking off the gangplank onto the docks followed by the soldiers. I turned back around and I smiled as I reached forward and patted the captain on the shoulder. He flinched at my touch but he didn’t move, then I said,

Don’t worry friend

If I am your foe, believe me...

You would know...